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|Own your ow legal marijuana business||
Your guide to making money in the multi-billion dollar marijuana industry
Repealing National Prohibition
by David Kyvig
Copyright 1979 by the University of Chicago
Chapter 1 - Adopting National Prohibition
The crusade to abolish the use of alcoholic beverages through an amendment to the Constitution hit the United States like a whirlwind in the second decade of the twentieth century. In November 1913 the Anti-Saloon League of America first publicly appealed for a prohibition amendment. By January 1919, scarcely five years later, Congress had approved and forty-four state legislatures had ratified the Eighteenth Amendment, which proclaimed:
1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States, and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
3. The article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
A tremendously significant social reform affecting the lives of millions had suddenly become part of the nation's rarely altered basic law.
Proponents of the so-called dry law faced little organized resistance as they marched to their triumph. Only brewers, distillers, and other commercial interests made strenuous efforts to block the reform. Individuals and groups offended by the challenge to their ethnic cultural traditions or by the limitation of their right to choose what to drink objected to the national liquor ban, but they lacked the channels and agents to give their protest focus and strength. New opposition to the Eighteenth Amendment began to form, however, in the midst of the prohibitionist victory in response to the law itself the manner of its adoption, and the political assumptions upon which it was based. The reaction against this important constitutional innovation, therefore, can only be understood in light of the circumstances of national prohibition's creation.
The Eighteenth Amendment was the product of a century-long temperance crusade, the early-twentieth-century progressive environment, and a temporary spirit of wartime sacrifice. Various historians of the reform have tended to emphasize one or another of these factors.' However, it is hard to imagine national prohibition being adopted without all three interacting.
The temperance movement's long and rich history began early in the nineteenth century as clergymen, politicians, business leaders, and social reformers became concerned about American society's increased drinking.' They appealed for moderation in the use of intoxicants in the interests of health, morality, and economic well-being. From the start, evangelical Protestant churches stood in the forefront of the antiliquor movement. These churches felt that intemperance seriously interfered with their soul-saving mission because it destroyed man's health, impaired his reason, and distracted him from the love of God. Intemperance also undermined society by producing poverty, crime, and unhappy homes; this conflicted with the church's obligation to create a Christian social order. Finally, sobriety was considered to be the foundation of economic success and political liberty visible signs of God's grace. For all of these reasons, evangelical Protestants became increasingly militant temperance agitators as the nineteenth century wore on.
In the mid-1820s the Reverend Lyman Beecher and others started urging total abstinence. They had come to believe that even moderate use of liquor started people on the downward path to drunkenness. The argument that intemperance was a disease preventable only by complete avoidance of spirits became a crucial article of the prohibitionist faith. Never again would moderate liquor consumption satisfy most temperance reformers; the complete elimination of intoxicants became their goal.
By the 1840s, temperance advocates had been disappointed several times by the results of crusades to win individual abstinence pledges, and they began asking for statutory curbs. Initial efforts in Massachusetts to confine the sale of alcoholic beverages within taverns and in New York to establish local option-the right of a community to ban the sale of intoxicants within its boundaries-proved unsuccessful. Next came the first attempt at statewide prohibition, the Maine law of 1851 which outlawed the manufacture or sale of "spiritous or intoxicating liquors." A dozen states quickly followed suit, but for the moment the movement had abated. The Maine law and others imitating it were repealed before the end of the 1850s. Then, for a time, the turmoil of the Civil War diverted reformers.
A new wave of temperance agitation began with the formation of the Prohibition party in 1869 and the Women's Christian Temperance Union in 1873, two organizations which put prohibition at the top of a list of desired social and political reforms. By the 1880s their efforts had helped make prohibition a vital issue in many states and territories. Five states adopted prohibitory legislation during the eighties, though only Maine, Kansas, and North Dakota retained their laws for long. The rising tide of populism soon overshadowed and pushed aside the antiliquor crusade. Although once again aborted, the crusade for enforced temperance at this time recorded one significant achievement: the creation in 1893 of the Anti-Saloon League.'
The Anti-Saloon League proved the most single-minded and politically effective of all dry organizations. Established by men willing to confine their efforts solely to temperance reform, the league operated as a nonpartisan pressure group. Recognizing that whenever two political parties or two factions of the same party competed with approximate equality the support of a relatively small unattached group could be crucial, the league sought to demonstrate that it controlled enough votes to make the difference between election and defeat, thereby gaining candidates' acceptance of its program in return for its endorsement. Drawing its support primarily from the evangelical Protestant churches, the Anti-Saloon League became a political force to be reckoned with by the early twentieth century.'
Prior to 1913 the Anti-Saloon League and its allies in the temperance campaign concentrated on winning local option elections and obtaining state statutes or constitutional amendments barring liquor sales. Nine states and many communities by then had adopted some sort of prohibition, though generally their laws allowed the continued sale of beer and wine and often permitted residents to mail order distilled spirits for their own use from outside the dry district. (Only half of the twenty-six states which instituted prohibition laws before 1920 went "bone-dry," banning alcoholic beverages totally.) Encouraged by such signs of progress as six state prohibition laws since 1907 and congressional passage early in 1913 of the Webb-Kenyon Act, a long-sought federal statute against transporting liquor into states that wished to block its entry, the Anti-Saloon League declared in November 1913 that it would seek a federal constitutional amendment providing for nationwide prohibition.
An amendment to the Constitution obviously appealed to temperance reformers more than a federal statute banning liquor. A simple congressional majority could adopt a statute but, with the shift of a relatively few votes, could likewise topple one. Drys feared that an ordinary law would be in constant danger of being overturned owing to pressure from liquor industry interests or the growing population of liquor-using immigrants. A constitutional amendment, on the other hand, though more difficult to achieve, would be impervious to change. Their reform would not only have been adopted, the Anti-Saloon League reasoned, but would be protected from future human weakness and backsliding.
"Although the Eighteenth Amendment would probably never have materialized except for the [Anti-Saloon] league," observed James H. Timberlake, a perceptive historian of the prohibition movement in the 1910s, "it is equally certain that the league would never have attained its success had not temperance reform been caught up in the progressive spirit itself."' Progressivism and prohibition were, in his view, closely related middle-class reform movements seeking to deal with social and economic problems through the use of governmental power. They drew on the same broad base of support and moral idealism, and they proposed similar solutions to society's ills. Examinations of temperance campaigns in such varied states as Texas, Washington, Tennessee, New Mexico, Virginia, California, and Missouri support Timberlake's conclusion that "prohibition was actually written into the Constitution as a progressive reform."'
Progressivism, the reform spirit which gripped the United States in the early twentieth century, involved a variety of impulses, some parochial, some national, some complementary, some independent, some innovative, and some conservative. The various strands of progressivism were United, however, at the level of basic assumptions. Sensitive to the upheavals caused by the rapid industrialization and urbanization of America, Progressives rejected the populist response of opposing modernization and instead sought to impose an order on the emerging society which would be consistent with their own values and interests. Far more optimistic than the preceding generation about man's capacity to solve problems and mold a satisfactory world, Progressives believed that their goals could be reached by creating the proper laws and institutions. Whether the particular task into which they plunged was raising the quality of life for the urban working class, conserving natural resources, establishing professional societies and standards, improving governmental morality, democracy, and services, or controlling business practices, Progressives repeatedly displayed their unshakable confidence that legal and bureaucratic instruments could be found which would permanently uplift that aspect of their environment.' "They believed," as Ralph H. Gabriel put it, "that man, by using his intellect can re-make society, that he can become the creator of a world organized for man's advantage."'
From the progressive viewpoint, temperance arguments made sense. In a modern society, liquor both reduced men's efficiency and spawned a multitude of social, political, and economic evils. Such a phenomenon should be reformed or outlawed for the common good. It is wrong, suggests Paul A. Carter, to think of prohibition as "exclusively the work of moralizing Puritans compensating for the repressions of their own harsh code in a spurious indignation at the pleasure of their neighbors." In his study of progressivism within the Protestant churches, the so-called Social Gospel movement, Carter found "thousands of sincere and not particularly ascetic folk who believed that they fought liquor, not because it has made men happy, but because it has made men unhappy." He concluded that "the dry crusade spoke the language of social and humanitarian reform-and had the profoundest kinship with the Social Gospel."'
Arguments in behalf of national prohibition by the Reverend Charles Stelzle, a Presbyterian Social Gospeler and ardent prohibitionist, suggest some reasons why liquor reform appealed to many Progressives. Ste1zle, in a 1918 book, Why Prohibition!, held that banishing alcohol was essential for the material advancement of American society. Drinking, he asserted, lowered industrial productivity and therefore reduced wages paid to workers; it shortened life and therefore increased the cost of insurance; it took money from other bills and therefore forced storekeepers to raise their prices in compensation; and it produced half of the business for police courts, jails, hospitals, almshouses, and insane asylums and therefore increased taxes to support these institutions."
Stelzle held that the burden of these social and economic costs for the whole society outweighed any individual right to use intoxicants and legitimized the restriction of personal liberty. "There is no such thing," he wrote, "as an absolute individual right to do any particular thing, or to eat or drink any particular thing, or to enjoy the association of one's own family, or even to live, if that thing is in conflict with the law of public necessity." Antiprohibitionists would charge drys with insensitivity to individual rights and liberties, but this was not the case. Prohibitionists simply felt that social betterment outweighed other factors. "The first consideration," Stelzle argued, "is not the individual, but society. Therefore, whatever injures society is not permitted." Small sacrifices of personal liberties may significantly enhance the common good. Therefore, he concluded, "You may exercise your personal liberty only in so far as you do not place additional burdens upon your neighbor, or upon the State.""
In insisting that the requirements of modern life necessitated an end to the use of alcohol, Stelzie reflected the position of many progressive advocates of prohibition in the 1910s. The doctrine of environmentalism pervading much of progressive thought held that poverty, child neglect, crime, vice, and other social evils largely resulted from the unfavorable setting in which an individual lived. Corrupt urban political machines, for instance, relied upon saloons as bases of operations and election-day recruitment centers where drinks bought votes. The solution of a wide variety of problems lay in the improvement of the environment, usually by legislative action. Outlawing saloons would allow the political system to function more democratically. Calling alcohol "the mother of felony," a writer in The American Journal of Sociology argued that in its use and traffic alcohol appears as a powerful antisocial force. Especially is it a social menace with respect to crime. The results of the most cautious research show that it is a producer of criminals and of crime on an enormous scale. What else could one expect. Has not the scientific laboratory proved that the habitual use of alcohol, in whatever quantity, disintegrates the moral character? It impairs the judgment, clouds the reason, and enfeebles the will; while at the same time it arouses the appetites, inflames the passions, releases the primitive beast from the artificial restraint of social discipline. 11
The only responsible course, he concluded, was to close the saloon and ban the use of alcoholic beverages. Many social workers and economists of a progressive inclination joined the chorus of voices demanding suppression of the saloon and adoption of prohibition for the health of society."
Businessmen and manufacturers often favored prohibition in the belief that it would increase industrial efficiency and reduce accidents. They felt that drinking even a small quantity of alcohol impaired a worker's mental and physical faculties, made him more careless, and lessened his productivity. Following the lead of the railroads, a number of firms, including the Henry C. Frick Company and the American Sheet and Tin Plate Company, forbade their employees to drink alcohol either on or off the job. Other companies strictly prohibited drinking during working hours." Inevitably, many businessmen turned from their individual efforts to enforce sobriety to the attempt to achieve abstinence through law. Their enthusiasm for prohibition had a deep tint of self-interest but clearly shared the progressive attitude that rational men should use the power of the state to promote the general good as they understood it.
Not all Progressives felt it wise to banish intoxicants. In particular, eastern urban Progressives who represented alcohol-using ethnic groups opposed antiliquor legislation. Yet for the most part, prohibition drew upon the same broad base of support as other progressive reforms. Most Progressives in Congress voted to pass the Webb-Kenyon Act over President William Howard Taft's veto in February 1913. " The pattern continued when the Anti-Saloon League began asking for constitutional action.
Congress first took up the amendment question in December 1914. The resolution won a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, but not the necessary two-thirds for submission of an amendment to the states for their approval. During the next two years the resolution failed to come to a vote. In 1916 considerably more supporters of constitutional prohibition were elected to Congress, and drys became more optimistic.
The entry of the United States into World War I produced an atmosphere in which enthusiasm for prohibition accelerated. The need to sacrifice individual pleasure for the defense and improvement of society became a constant theme. The war centralized authority in Washington, loosening restraints on activity by the federal government. The importance of conserving food resources became apparent, and drys seized the opportunity to emphasize the waste of grain in the production of alcoholic beverages. Finally, the war created an atmosphere of hostility toward all things German, not the least of which was beer.
Called into special session to declare war in April 1917, the new Congress adopted temporary wartime prohibition as a measure to conserve grain for the army, America's allies, and the domestic population. The Lever Food and Fuel Control Act of August 1917 banned the production of distilled spirits for the duration of the war. The War Prohibition Act of November 1918 forbade the manufacture and sale of all intoxicating beverages of more than 2.75 percent alcohol content, beer and wine as well as hard liquor, until demobilization was completed. Although some regarded these measures merely as ploys to speed the imposition of national prohibition, they reflected the depth of concern generated by the war and the prevailing belief that alcoholic beverages ought to be sacrificed under the circumstances."
In the midst of the wartime emergency, Congress took up the proposal for constitutional prohibition. The brief debate over the prohibition-amendment resolution repeated long-standing arguments and centered around four issues: revenue, property rights, the effectiveness of statutory prohibition, and the wisdom of increasing the power of the federal government. The debate proceeded along conservative-progressive lines. Opponents of the amendment argued that an end to liquor taxes would eliminate about a third of the federal government's revenues and cause a corresponding increase in general taxation. Proponents pointed to the existing prosperity and the new federal income tax to undercut this argument. Destroying the value of liquor-industry property without compensation was criticized as unjust and as setting a bad precedent. Drys replied that property injurious to society's health and welfare had long been subject to confiscation. Besides, they pointed out, the liquor industry would have one year to liquidate its property, between the amendment's ratification and the date it took effect. Skeptics questioned whether people accustomed to drinking would obey the law, but prohibition advocates argued that violations of criminal laws had never been a sufficient reason for abandoning them and that, furthermore, the overwhelming sentiment for prohibition would make the law enforceable. Some southern conservatives expressed concern about the growing power of the federal government and the intervention of that government into local affairs. Prohibition supporters generally ignored this argument, although they tried to blunt it somewhat by conceding that state governments would have concurrent enforcement powers. Clearly, the debate changed few minds. I I
By 1917 so many congressmen were prepared to vote for a constitutional amendment that the doubters found themselves brushed aside. On August 1, 1917, by a vote of 65 to 20, the Senate approved an amendment prohibiting the manufacture, sale, transportation, import, or export of intoxicating liquors. The House, after revising the resolution to specifically grant state and federal governments concurrent power of enforcement, approved it 282 to 128 at the end of one afternoon's discussion on December 17. Senate acceptance of the House alterations on December 22 sent the proposed Eighteenth Amendment to the state legislatures for their consideration.'s
Partisanship was notably absent from congressional action on prohibition in 1917. The Anti-Saloon League had asked legislators, whatever their positions on other issues, to endorse national prohibition in return for its support. This pressure apparently influenced many individual congressmen without having any noticeable effect on either major political party. In the Senate, 29 Republicans and 36 Democrats voted for the resolution; 8 Republicans and 12 Democrats voted against it. In the House, 137 Republicans, 141 Democrats, and 4 independents supported the proposed amendment, while 62 Republicans, 64 Democrats, and 2 independents stood opposed. More than a decade would pass before the major parties adopted distinguishable positions on the liquor question.
Some Senate opponents of the amendment, rather than attacking it outright, had sought to sabotage the proposal by requiring that it be ratified by the states within seven years. They assumed that the twenty-six states which by then had adopted total or partial prohibition laws would not be joined by ten other states in ratifying the amendment within that time span. This proved a major miscalculation. By January 16, 1919, little more than a year after the amendment was placed before the state legislatures, it had been fully ratified.
The lop-sided vote of Congress in submitting the resolution, and the rapid ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment by state legislatures provides an indication of the wide acceptance of the prohibition concept. In only thirteen months, forty-four state legislatures gave the proposal their endorsement, making it one of the most rapidly approved of all amendments. The absence of a direct national referendum or reliable public opinion survey makes it impossible to judge precisely the degree of popular support for the new law. Yet the very requirements for a constitutional change-approval by two thirds of each house of Congress and ratification by the legislatures of three fourths of the states-suggests that the assent of a major portion of the body politic and not just the enthusiasm of an aroused minority was involved. Confirmation can be found in the results of referendums on statewide prohibitory measures held in twenty-three states during the five years preceding ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment. The issues voted upon differed in detail, as did the circumstances surrounding each election. Nevertheless, only in California and Missouri did voters persistently reject prohibitory legislation by wide margins, in both states doing so more than once. In three close elections, Ohio voters twice turned down and then adopted statewide prohibition. In Iowa and Vermont state prohibition was narrowly defeated. But in eighteen other states, majorities ranging from 52 percent in Colorado up to 73 percent in Utah and 76 percent in Wyoming approved varying degrees of prohibition. " While votes on state measures ought not to be considered as identical to endorsement of a national law, these returns provide impressive evidence that liquor bans enjoyed broad support in the 1910s.
The adoption of the Eighteenth Amendment did not complete the creation of national prohibition. One of the most critical steps followed. The constitutional decree needed enforcement legislation to become effective. Congress in 1919 approved a strict enforcement act drafted by the Anti-Saloon League's general counsel, Wayne Wheeler, but known by the name of its sponsor, the chairman of the House Committee of the Judiciary, Andrew J. Volstead of Minnesota. The Volstead Act established procedures and agencies for enforcement and, in its most controversial section, defined intoxicating beverages as any containing more than one-half of one percent of alcohol. The .5 percent provision-advocated by the Anti-Saloon League and other militant drys-surprised considerable numbers of persons who assumed that, as had been the case with many state laws, only distilled spirits would be banned. Even beer and wine were outlawed under the terms of the Volstead Act.
President Woodrow Wilson, a temperance advocate but an opponent of prohibition, maintained an absolute neutrality toward the Eighteenth Amendment as it progressed through Congress and the state legislatures. Wilson disliked the drys' use of the continuing technical state of war as an excuse to implement prohibition even before the amendment was due to become effective on January 17, 1920, and gave this as his reason for vetoing the Volstead Act on October 27, 1919. Only a month before, however, the president had collapsed while campaigning for the Versailles peace treaty, and he was in no condition to fight for his beliefs regarding prohibition even if he had been willing to risk his little remaining political capital in such a battle. Congress immediately overrode the presidential veto by a vote of 176 to 5 in the House and 65 to 20 in the Senate. The Volstead Act, with its extreme program for implementing national prohibition, became law."
A brief summary can only hint at the rich history of the crusade which led to the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act. Nevertheless, it should make several points apparent. The idea of incorporating prohibition into the Constitution to protect against a legislative reversal arose only in the final stages of temperance agitation. The banning of liquor had long been discussed, trials had been undertaken on the local and state level in many parts of the country, and extensive support had accumulated. Progressive attitudes regarding the purpose and possibility of reform reinforced earlier temperance notions and created new sympathy for a dry law among those who previously had little interest in it. A wartime atmosphere of self-sacrificing patriotism provided a final boost. A righteous spirit of reform carried national prohibition into the Constitution of the United States.
As soon as the Eighteenth Amendment was adopted, some troublesome legal and philosophical questions which earlier had been glossed over began to surface. Several important challenges to the national dry law came before the Supreme Court just as the law was taking effect. Although the high court's reaction further demonstrated the support which national prohibition initially enjoyed, the arguments and decisions in these cases drew attention to some disturbing implications of this major constitutional innovation. Even as the adoption of the law received final confirmation by the Court, its popularity began to erode.
At almost the same time that the Volstead Act was being passed, a controversy erupted over Ohio's ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment which undermined the image of substantial majority support for the liquor ban. In November 1917 Ohio voters, at the same election in which they narrowly approved a statewide prohibition law, adopted overwhelmingly (508,282 to 315,030) a state constitutional amendment reserving to themselves the power to review the general assembly's action on federal amendments. This plan, placed on the Ohio ballot by opponents of national prohibition, stipulated that no ratification of a federal amendment by the legislature should go into effect for ninety days. During that time, a petition signed by six percent of the state's voters could be filed to force a referendum, and the assembly's ratification would then not take effect unless approved by a majority of those voting. "
On January 7, 1919, the Ohio General Assembly, by a vote of 20 to 12 in the senate and 85 to 29 in the house, ratified the national prohibition amendment. Governor James M. Cox forwarded the joint resolution to Secretary of State Robert Lansing, who counted Ohio among the thirty-six states having ratified when he proclaimed the Eighteenth Amendment adopted as of January 16, 1919. On March 11, 1919, opponents of national prohibition filed a referendum petition with Ohio Secretary of State Harvey C. Smith. Thereupon Smith ordered a referendum at the November 1919 general election on the state's ratification of national prohibition.
George S. Hawke, a Cincinnati attorney and prohibitionist, immediately sought an injunction to prevent Smith from spending public funds for a referendum which, said Hawke, was unconstitutional. The Ohio courts refused Hawke's request. On November 4, 1919, Ohio voters rejected the national prohibition amendment by the slender margin of S00,4-50 to 499,971. The first state referendum ever held to consider ratification of' a federal constitutional amendment had overturned the action of the starts legislature, or so it appeared."
Had Ohio ratified the national prohibition amendment? George Hawke immediately asked the United States Supreme Court which was valid: the Ohio General Assembly's "yes" or the voters' "no." When the Court heard the case on April 20, 1920, Hawke and his attorneys, including Wayne Wheeler of the Anti-Saloon League, argued that the legislative ratification should stand and that the referendum was unconstitutional. Article V of the U.S. Constitution specified that amendments proposed by Congress were valid "when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three-fourths there of, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress." Ohio could not, they asserted, impose any limitation upon the ratification process set forth in the federal Constitution."
Defenders of the Ohio referendum contended that the Constitution did not require states to have any particular form of legislature. Indeed the people of a state had the right, if they wished, to abolish their representative assemblies and take all legislative matters into their own hands. Or more practically, the people had the power, affirmed by the Supreme Court in another case brought by Ohio in 1916, to suspend legislative acts pending a referendum vote to accept or reject them. In other words, the argument ran, the term "legislature" included the entire legislative power of the state, not only the two houses of the general assembly but also the popular will as expressed in a referendum."
Wets and drys alike awaited the outcome of Hawke v. Smith with great interest. Referendums on national prohibition had been sought in other states besides Ohio. In Maine and Oregon, courts had refused to sanction them, while in California a referendum bill failed in the legislature. In Washington state, wets obtained a mandamus order from the state supreme court ordering acceptance of a referendum petition on the legislature's unanimous ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment, but all went for naught as the secretary of state then found the petition lacking sufficient signatures to place the question on the ballot. If the Supreme Court upheld the Ohio referendum, antiprohibitionists indicated they would probably seek referendums in several states in the hope of invalidating enough legislative ratifications to bring the total below the required three-fourths of all states. Encouraged by the referendum defeat of national prohibition in Ohio, even though by only 479 votes, wets felt they might still overturn the Eighteenth Aniundment."
On Tuesday, June 1, 1920, a unanimous Supreme Court upheld the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment by the Ohio General Assembly:
Ratification by a State of a constitutional amendment is not an act of legislation within the proper sense of the word. It is but the expression of the assent of the State to a proposed amendment.... It is true that the power to legislate in the enactment of the laws of a State is derived from the people of the State. But the power to ratify a proposed amendment to the Federal Constitution has its source in the Federal Constitution. The act of ratification derives its authority from the Federal Constitution to which the State and its people have alike assented. "
In the opinion of the Court, when the Congress stipulated that a constitutional amendment be ratified by state legislatures, it neither authorized nor permitted a referendum. Six days later the Supreme Court firmly reiterated its view that state referendum provisions could not constitutionally be applied to the ratification process."
Regardless of the logic and legal soundness of the Supreme Court's ruling in 11awke v. Smith, the Ohio referendum controversy left an impression in some minds that national prohibition had been foisted on an unwilling American people by a crafty, well-organized minority using undemocratic means. Will Rogers, the widely read humorist, wrote, "Ohio was voted wet by the people and dry by their misrepresentatives. "" The image of a reform achieved by undemocratic means would fester and grow. The validity of legislative ratification in other states would be brought into question by the disparity between the lopsided general assembly action and the close but contrary popular vote in Ohio. The results of many earlier referendums on state prohibition in other states would be largely forgotten, as would the fact that the Eighteenth Amendment had been ratified by the same procedure as all previous constitutional amendments. Instead people would remember that the Eighteenth Amendment became part of the Constitution without a direct popular vote in most states and despite a hostile majority in its only test of public acceptability.
Brewers, distillers, and liquor distributors desperately challenged the legality of the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act in the courts. Employing some of the best legal talent in the country, these opponents of prohibition questioned the constitutionality of the amendment as well as the validity of the Volstead Act. The Supreme Court, reflecting the widespread support for national prohibition, peremptorily rejected their plea on all counts.
The strength of the Court's defense of prohibition can best be appreciated by examining the details of the appellants' arguments and of the Court's judgments. The first challenge to the law came from a New York brewer, Jacob Ruppert, who sought an injunction to restrain the federal government from enforcing, prior to the effective date of the Eighteenth Amendment, the wartime prohibition sections of the Volstead Act which forbade the manufacture and sale of beer with a 2.75 percent alcohol content. On the Supreme Court upheld the act as within the government's war powers and, very significantly, affirmed the right of Congress to limit the alcoholic content of beer by defining as intoxicating all beverages of more than one-half of one percent alcohol. This opinion was considered so broad as to leave little hope that other objections to prohibition would be sustained."
The Supreme Court issued its most sweeping decision concerning the Eighteenth Amendment in June 1920. Seven cases, each raising fundamental questions concerning the constitutionality of the amendment, were consolidated by the Court and labeled the National Prohibition Cases. A host of highly regarded attorneys, including Elihu Root, William D. Guthrie, and Levy Mayer, as well as Herbert A. Rice and Thomas F. McCran, attorneys general for Rhode Island and New Jersey respectively, represented the appellants. The oral arguments lasted for five days, an unusually long time for even the most important cases.
Attorney General Rice began by arguing that the amendment invaded the sovereignty of Rhode Island and her people, an invasion not contemplated by the amending clause of the Constitution. Rhode Island had not ratified the Eighteenth Amendment. The amending power, Rice contended, was provided to allow for the correction of errors in the fundamental instrument of government. The first ten amendments were adopted to insure against the encroachment by the federal government upon state functions and powers. If the amending power were to be construed as to allow any type of amendment, the boundary between federal and state authority could be shifted at will, and the people of a state would be at the mercy of others in matters of political institutions and personal rights. Attorney General McCran, arguing along the same lines, stressed tha4 the Tenth Amendment reserved all unenumerated powers to the states and to the people. The right to surrender such rights and powers, McCran contended, belonged exclusively to the people themselves and not their legislative representatives."
The argument of Elihu Root attracted the most attention. The former Secretary of War, Secretary of State, and senator represented a New Jersey brewer. Drys jested that "Hires Root Beer" had been changed to "Beer Hires Root," but they were clearly worried about the impact this distinguished attorney might have on the Court. Root asserted that the Eighteenth Amendment was simply unconstitutional. The substantive portion of the so-called Eighteenth Amendment, he said, did not relate to the powers or organization of government, as constitutional provisions ordinarily do. Rather, it was a direct act of legislation. He denied that the amending provision of the Constitution, Article V, authorized this type of amendment. Root pointed out that if the validity of the prohibition amendment were to be upheld, its repeal could perpetually be prevented by a minority. Repeal could be accomplished only by the passage of another constitutional amendment which, of course, would require the approval of three-fourths of the states. He distinguished between a constitutional amendment which granted the Congress power to prohibit the use of intoxicating liquors and an amendment which required such a prohibition. An amendment of the former sort would leave the question within the control of a majority of the people, but one of the latter type, such as the current amendment, thwarted the democratic process. Finally, Root contended, the Eighteenth Amendment undermined a fundamental principle of the federal system by directly invading the police powers of the states and encroaching upon the right of local self-government. If the amendment were upheld, he told the Court, the states would no longer be indestructible and the federal system of government could be completely subverted. "
Root from the outset opposed the form, spirit, purpose, and effect of the Eighteenth Amendment. He told friends that its denial of personal liberty, its potential for eroding respect for law, and its alteration of the balance between local and national government alarmed him." Most members of the bar, however, did not share Root's belief that the amendment was unconstitutional. Even his colleague William D. Guthrie thought his argument weak." But Root gave a memorable peroration:
If your Honors shall find a way to declare this so-called Amendment to the Federal Constitution valid, then the Government of the United States as it has been known to us and to our forefathers will have ceased to exist. Your Honors will have discovered a new legislative authority hitherto unknown to the Constitution and quite untrammelled by any of its limitations. You will have declared that two thirds of a quorum of each House of the Congress, plus a majority of a quorum of each of the two Houses of the Legislatures of three fourths of the States, may enact any legislation they please without any reference to the limitations of the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights itself. In that case, Your Honors, John Marshall need never have sat upon that bench."
Neither Root's reasoning nor his emotional oratory moved the Court. On June 7, 1920, it rejected every argument of the appellants in the National Prohibition Cases. Unanimously upholding the constitutionality of the Eighteenth Amendment, the justices also approved the method by which the state legislatures had ratified it. They held that the prohibition embodied in the amendment was within the power to amend reserved by Article V of the Constitution, and that therefore the amendment must be respected and observed. Commenting upon the role of the states under the amendment, the Court declared that the phrase 'concurrent power to enforce" did not include the power to defeat or frustrate prohibition. Concurrent power did not mean joint power or divided power, nor did it require that congressional legislation to enforce the amendment be approved by the states. The power to prohibit granted to Congress was not exclusive; it could be exercised by the states as well, but the law did embrace the entire territory of the United States and could not be avoided by any state. " The National Prohibition Cases decision, therefore, resoundingly endorsed the new and untried law.
The announcement of the Supreme Court decisions of June 1920 completed the process of embedding national prohibition in the law of the United States. Drys, as they won victory after victory in the Congress, in the state legislatures, and in the Supreme Court, easily brushed all opposition aside with compelling arguments about the benefits to be obtained from the reform. The prohibitionist success seemed total and permanent. Elihu Root had pointed out to the Supreme Court that once the amendment was emplanted in the Constitution, removing it would probably be impossible. No amendment to the Constitution, once adopted, had ever been repealed. Both supporters and critics of the law recognized this. To its advocates, the reform brought joy. Their arguments appeared to have the support of legislatures, courts, and the masses. To opponents of prohibition, the loss seemed irrevocable. Their objections had been ignored; their influence appeared nonexistent.
National prohibition took effect at midnight, January 16, 1920, one year after ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment. America entered the new age quietly, accepting the law as a great step forward or as a fait accompli and in either case believing that its reversal was quite out of the question. The following morning the New York Times reported, "John Barleycorn Died Peacefully At The Toll of 12. " Had Mr. Barleycorn been in a position to reply, he might have chosen Mark Twain's famous response, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."
Contents | Feedback | Search | DRCNet Home Page | Join DRCNet
DRCNet Library | Schaffer Library | Historical Research | Repealing National Prohibition
Schaffer Library of Drug Policy
Major Studies of Drug and Drug Policy
Marihuana, A Signal of Misunderstanding - The Report of the US National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse
Licit and Illicit Drugs
Short History of the Marijuana Laws
The Drug Hang-Up
Congressional Transcripts of the Hearings for the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937
Frequently Asked Questions About Drugs
Basic Facts About the Drug War
Charts and Graphs about Drugs
Information on Alcohol
Guide to Heroin - Frequently Asked Questions About Heroin
LSD, Mescaline, and Psychedelics
Drugs and Driving
Children and Drugs
Drug Abuse Treatment Resource List
American Society for Action on Pain
Let Us Pay Taxes
Marijuana Business News
Reefer Madness Collection
Medical Marijuana Throughout History
Drug Legalization Debate
Legal History of American Marijuana Prohibition
Marijuana, the First 12,000 Years
DEA Ruling on Medical Marijuana
Legal References on Drugs
GAO Documents on Drugs
Response to the Drug Enforcement Agency
|Drug Information Articles|
Taking a drug test:
How To Pass A Drug Test
Beat Drug Test
Pass Drug Test
Drug Screening Tests
Drug Addiction Treatment
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For several years, Nobel Laureate Al Gore and his media sycophants have been telling the nation that a movement away from fossil fuels to biofuels is necessary to save the planet from the Left's bogeyman known as global warming.
A new study by the Marine Biological Laboratory raises series questions about this premise.
According to MBL's Thursday press release, "Carbon emissions caused by the displacement of food crops and pastures may be twice as much as those from lands devoted to biofuels production."
Beyond this, "increased fertilizer use for biofuels production will cause nitrous oxide emissions (N2O) to become more important than carbon losses, in terms of warming potential, by the end of the century" (h/t Glenn Reynolds):
"Our analysis, which we think is the most comprehensive to date, shows that direct and indirect land-use changes associated with an aggressive global biofuels program have the potential to release large quantities of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere," says [MBL senior scientist Jerry] Melillo. [...]
"Large greenhouse gas emissions from these indirect land-use changes are unintended consequences of a global biofuels program; consequences that add to the climate-change problem rather than helping to solve it," says Melillo "As our analysis shows, these unintended consequences are largest when the clearing of forests is involved."
In their model, Melillo and his colleagues also simulated N2O emissions from the additional fertilizer that will be required to grow biofuel crops in the future. They found that over the century, N2O emissions will surpass CO2 in terms of warming potential. By 2100, Melillo and his team estimate that in both study scenarios, biofuels production will account for more than half of the total N2O emissions from fertilizer. "Best practices for the use of nitrogen fertilizer, such as synchronizing fertilizer application with plant demand, can reduce N2O emissions associated with biofuels production," the scientists say.
Nice. So rather than acting as the well-touted global warming panacea, biofuel production is anything but.
Given pending cap and trade legislation currently before Congress, one would think this study would be of great importance.
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Five Dictionary tricks
Mac OS X’s modestly named Dictionary application is a handy resource that offers much more than simple definitions. You can look up information about words and topics using dictionary, thesaurus, Wikipedia, and Apple modules. (Apple’s module explains tech terms.) But few people realize how many ways there are to access this information without having to launch the Dictionary application itself. Here are five to get you started:
1. Use the Dashboard widget
For fans of OS X’s Dashboard feature, the Dictionary widget may be the most convenient alternative to launching the application. Just activate Dashboard, choose your data source (Dictionary, Thesaurus, or Apple—there’s no Wikipedia option here) from the source pop-up menu, and enter the term to be defined. (The source menu also lets you see the results from other sources after the search has finished.) Click the letter button to the left to view other words with the same root.
2. Use Spotlight
Much to many Mac users' surprise, you can use OS X’s Spotlight feature to quickly look up the meaning of a word—Dictionary definitions are among the myriad types of data Spotlight can search. Just activate the Spotlight search menu (by clicking the Spotlight icon in the menu bar or by pressing Command-spacebar) and type your word. In a fraction of a second, the first definition from OS X’s Dictionary appears in the menu. Few definitions will fit on a single line, so hover your cursor over the text to see the full definition, or select the definition to open the Dictionary application to that word.
Although you can change, via the Spotlight pane of System Preferences, the order in which most types of Spotlight results appear, Dictionary results are always listed near the top of the menu, just below the Top Hit.
3. Use a launcher utility
“Launcher” utilities such as LaunchBar, Quicksilver, and Butler are popular OS X add-ons, and many of them provide a way to quickly look up a word’s definition in the Dictionary program. For example, as a longtime LaunchBar fan, I use LaunchBar’s this feature several times each day: I just activate LaunchBar, type
di (for dictionary), press the spacebar, and then type the word for which I want the definition. LaunchBar launches the Dictionary application directly to the definition of my word.
4. Use pop-up definitions
One of my favorite OS X features, and one that too few people take advantage of, is systemwide pop-up definitions. In most recent Mac applications—including Safari, Mail, and most other programs that display text or let you edit text—just position the cursor over the word you want to define and then press Control-Command-D. A floating balloon appears containing the definition(s) of that word.
You can switch to the Thesaurus entries for that word using the pop-up menu at the bottom of the balloon, and clicking More will open the Dictionary application and look up the word.
A nice touch is that if you hold down Control-Command-D while you move the cursor around the screen, the definition balloon updates continuously to display information about whichever word is beneath the cursor.
5. Use OS X’s auto-complete
Sometimes you don’t care about definitions or synonyms; you’re just trying to remember a particular word, or you’re looking for similar words. OS X includes an auto-complete feature that can help. After typing a few characters in a text document, e-mail message, or Web form, press Escape. OS X will display a list of all words that start with those characters. Choose one (by clicking it, or by using the up and down arrow keys and then pressing Return) and it will be inserted immediately.
Unfortunately, this trick works in fewer programs than the previous one. For example, while I can look up definitions of words from within Bare Bones Software's BBEdit, the auto-complete feature doesn’t work in that program.
MSRP: $29 (single-user upgrade from Leopard); $49 (five-user upgrade from Leopard); $169 (Tiger upgrade as part of Mac Box Set with iLife ’09 and iWork ’09)
- Generally faster than Leopard
- Most applications run in 64-bit mode
- Rudimentary malware checking
- Supports Exchange
- Improvements to Exposé and Dock
- Many features won’t truly be exploited until Mac hardware evolves
- Lackluster QuickTime Player update
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Between Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, and the
commencement of military action in January 1991, then President George
H.W. Bush raised the specter of the Iraqi pursuit of nuclear weapons
as one justification for taking decisive action against Iraq. In the
then-classified National Security Directive 54, signed on January
15, 1991, authorizing the use of force to expel Iraq from Kuwait,
he identified Iraqi use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against
allied forces as an action that would lead the U.S. to seek the removal
of Saddam Hussein from power. (Note 1)
In the aftermath of Iraq's defeat, the U.S.-led U.N. coalition
was able to compel Iraq to agree to an inspection and monitoring
regime, intended to insure that Iraq dismantled its WMD programs
and did not take actions to reconstitute them. The means of implementing
the relevant U.N. resolutions was the Special Commission on Iraq
(UNSCOM). That inspection regime continued until December 16, 1998
- although it involved interruptions, confrontations, and Iraqi
attempts at denial and deception - when UNSCOM withdrew from Iraq
in the face of Iraqi refusal to cooperate, and harassment.
Subsequent to George W. Bush's assumption of the presidency in
January 2001, the U.S. made it clear that it would not accept what
had become the status quo with respect to Iraq - a country ruled
by Saddam Hussein and free to attempt to reconstitute its assorted
weapons of mass destruction programs. As part of their campaign
against the status quo, which included the clear threat of the eventual
use of military force against the Iraqi regime, the U.S. and Britain
published documents and provided briefings detailing their conclusions
concerning Iraq's WMD programs and its attempts to deceive other
nations about those programs.
As a result of the U.S. and British campaign, and after prolonged
negotiations between the United States, Britain, France, Russia
and other U.N. Security Council members, the United Nations declared
that Iraq would have to accept even more intrusive inspections than
under the previous inspection regime - to be carried out by the
U.N. Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC)
and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - or face "serious
consequences." Iraq agreed to accept the U.N. decision and
inspections resumed in late November 2002. On December 7, 2002,
Iraq submitted its 12,000 page declaration, which claimed that it
had no current WMD programs. Intelligence analysts from the United
States and other nations immediately began to scrutinize the document,
and senior U.S. officials quickly rejected the claims. (Note
Over the next several months, inspections continued in Iraq, and
the chief inspectors, Hans Blix (UNMOVIC) and Mohammed El Baradei
(IAEA) provided periodic updates to the U.N. Security Council concerning
the extent of Iraqi cooperation, what they had or had not discovered,
and what they believed remained to be done. During that period the
Bush administration, as well as the Tony Blair administration in
the United Kingdom, charged that Iraq was not living up to the requirement
that it fully disclose its WMD activities, and declared that if
it continued along that path, "serious consequences" -
that is, invasion - should follow.
The trigger for military action preferred by the British government,
other allies, and at least some segments of the Bush administration,
was a second U.N. resolution that would authorize an armed response.
Other key U.N. Security Council members - including France, Germany,
and Russia - argued that the inspections were working and that the
inspectors should be allowed to continue. When it became apparent
that the Council would not approve a second resolution, the United
States and Britain terminated their attempts to obtain it. Instead,
they, along with other allies, launched Operation Iraqi Freedom
on March 19, 2003 - a military campaign that quickly brought about
the end of Saddam Hussein's regime and ultimately resulted in his
capture. (Note 3)
As U.S. forces moved through Iraq, there were initial reports that
chemical or biological weapons might have been uncovered, but closer
examinations produced negative results. In May 2003, the Bush administration
decided to establish a specialized group of about 1,500 individuals,
the Iraq Survey Group (ISG), to search the country for WMD - replacing
the 75th Exploitation Task Force, which had originally been assigned
the mission. Appointed to lead the Group, whose motto is "find,
exploit, eliminate," was Maj. Gen. Keith Dayton, the head of
the Defense Intelligence Agency's Directorate of Operations. In
June, David Kay, who served as a U.N. weapons inspector after Operation
Desert Storm, was appointed special advisor and traveled to Iraq
to lead the search. (Note 4)
By the time of the creation of the ISG, and continuing to the
date of this publication, a controversy has existed over the performance
of U.S. (and British) intelligence in collecting and evaluating
information about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction programs. The
reliability of sources has been questioned. It has been suggested
that some human intelligence may have been purposeful deception
by the Iraqi intelligence and security services, while exiles and
defectors may have provided other intelligence seeking to influence
The quality of the intelligence analysis has also come under scrutiny.
The failure to find weapons stocks or active production lines, undermining
claims by the October 2002 NIE and both President Bush and Secretary
of State Colin Powell (Document 16, Document
27), has been one particular cause for criticism. Controversy
has also centered around specific judgments - in the United States
with regard to assessments of Iraq's motives for seeking high-strength
aluminum tubes, and in the United Kingdom with respect to the government's
claim that Iraq sought to acquire uranium from Africa. Post-war
evaluation of captured material, particularly two mobile facilities
that the CIA and DIA judged to be biological weapons laboratories,
has also been the subject of dispute. (Note 5)
In addition, members of Congress and Parliament, as well as potential
political opponents and outside observers have criticized the use
of intelligence by the Bush and Blair administrations. Charges have
included outright distortion, selective use of intelligence, and
exertion of political pressure to influence the content of intelligence
estimates in order to provide support to the decision to go to war
with Iraq. (Note 6)
The material presented in this electronic briefing book includes
both essential pre-war documentation and documents produced or released
subsequent to the start of military action in March 2003. Pre-war
documentation includes the major unclassified U.S. and British assessments
of Iraq's WMD programs; the IAEA and UNSCOM reports covering the
final period prior to their 1998 departure, and between November
27, 2002, and February 2003; the transcript of a key speech by President
Bush; a statement of U.S. policy toward combating WMD; the transcript
of and slides for Secretary Powell's presentation to the U.N. on
February 5, 2003; and documents from the 1980s and 1990's concerning
various aspects of Iraqi WMD activities.
Key documentation related to the controversy that has become available
in recent months makes up almost of all of the 14 additional documents
contained in this updated briefing book. These records include:
- The full Top Secret key judgments section of the October 2002
National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's Continuing Programs
for Weapons of Mass Destruction (Document
- The CIA-DIA evaluation of two specialized tractor-trailers (Document
- Reviews by the British parliamentary committees concerning the
quality and use of intelligence on Iraq by the British government
(Document 34, Document 36)
- David Kay's unclassified statement on the ISG's interim findings
- Congressional critiques of U.S. intelligence performance (Document
37, Document 41)
- Administration rebuttals of those and other critiques. (Document
35, Document 38, Document
40, Document 43).
Much that is of interest concerning intelligence and Iraqi weapons
of mass destruction has appeared in articles, monographs, and studies
published by magazines or research groups. A list of key publications
is provided immediately after the notes section. Other important
materials have been posted temporarily on government web sites.
The documentation provided in this briefing book collects many of
the most significant of these records in one place, allowing readers
to substantially augment their understanding of the issues by directly
comparing the different sources and conclusions, and ensuring that
these materials will be accessible for the long term.
Note: The following documents are in PDF format.
You will need to download and install the free Adobe
Acrobat Reader to view.
Document 1: Interagency Intelligence
Assessment, Implications of Israeli Attack on Iraq, July 1,
Source: CIA Electronic Reading Room, released under the Freedom of
On June 7, 1981, in an attempt to prevent Iraqi acquisition of
a nuclear weapons capability, Israeli aircraft bombed Iraq's Osirak
nuclear reactor, before it became operational. This assessment,
produced by the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies, examines
Arab reactions to the attack as well as both the immediate and short-term
repercussions of the pre-emptive strike.
Document 2: CIA, Iraq's National
Security Goals, December 1988. Secret.
Source: CIA Electronic Reading Room, released by Mandatory Declassification
Written after the conclusion of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, this
CIA survey examined Saddam Hussein's likely regional and international
objectives and strategies - including his relations with other Arab
states and the PLO, his desire to reduce Iraqi dependence on the
USSR, and his goal of preventing closer ties between the US and
USSR and Iran. With respect to weapons of mass destruction, the
analysis briefly discusses Iraqi attitudes toward chemical and nuclear
weapons. The first are considered a "short-term fix,"
while the latter represent "the long-term deterrent."
Document 3: CIA, Iraqi Ballistic
Missile Developments, July 1990. Top Secret
Source: CIA Electronic Reading Room, released under the Freedom of
During the Persian Gulf War, Iraq made extensive use of its Scud
missile force to attack both Israel and Saudi Arabia - a Scud that
hit a U.S. barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killed 28 U.S. servicemen.
This paper completed a month prior to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait
noted that "Iraq has the most aggressive and advanced ballistic
missile development program in the Arab world" and that it
already had two modified versions of the Scud B - the Al Husayn
and Al Abbas.
The paper examines the origins, development, and results of the
Iraqi missile program - in the form of the Scud B and its variants.
It also examines warhead options - including chemical, biological,
and nuclear. In addition, it discusses Iraq's missile production
infrastructure as well as foreign assistance to the missile program.
Document 4: Central Intelligence Agency,
Prewar Status of Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction, March
1991, Top Secret.
Source: Freedom of Information Act
This study, completed by the CIA's Office of Scientific and Weapons
Research after the conclusion of the first Persian Gulf War, examined
the status of the four components of Iraq's WMD programs -- chemical
weapons, biological weapons, nuclear weapons, and ballistic missiles
-- as of January 15, 1991, the day President George H.W. Bush signed
National Security Directive 54, authorizing the use of force to
drive Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
The report asserted that Iraq apparently believed that it needed
chemical weapons both as a deterrent and to fulfill its role as
"protector" of the Arab world. There were strong indications,
according to the report, that Iraq was prepared to use chemical
weapons in any conflict with the United States. The author(s) characterized
Iraq's biological weapons program as "the most extensive in
the Arab world." With respect to nuclear weapons, the report
concluded that Iraq probably had the capability, if combined with
clandestinely acquired foreign technology, to develop nuclear weapons
in the late 1990s. Iraq's ballistic missile program was "the
most advanced in the Arab world," the report also concluded.
Document 5: CIA, Project Babylon:
The Iraqi Supergun, November 1991. Secret.
Source: CIA Electronic Reading Room, released by Mandatory Declassification
From 1988 to 1990, Iraq was involved in an unusual weapons program,
codenamed Project Babylon. The project's objective was the development
and production of several large caliber guns, including a 1,000-millimeter-diameter
supergun. In addition, the project included development of both
conventional and rocket projectiles for the gun. The gun was intended
to deliver the explosive devices to military and economic targets
up to 620 miles away. The project was being managed for Iraq by
a foreign company, Space Research Corporation, headed by Gerald
By early 1990, a 350-mm-diameter version of the gun had been successfully
built and tested. In addition, many of the components for the 1,000-mm.
gun and two other 350-mm guns had been delivered to Iraq. In March
1990, Bull was murdered. The following month, the United Kingdom
customs service seized the final eight sections that were to be
used in the 1,000-mm. gun barrel. Other nations followed by seizing
other components of the supergun. The seizures prevented Iraq from
completing the project. In July 1991, after initial denials, Iraq
acknowledged the project. In October 1991, Project Babylon components
were destroyed under U.N. supervision.
This document discusses the rationale, origins, technical details,
and history of Project Babylon.
Document 6: CIA, Iraqi BW Mission
Planning, 1992. Secret.
Source: CIA Electronic Reading Room, released under the Freedom of
This information report states that in the fall of 1990, Saddam
Hussein ordered that plans be drawn up for the airborne delivery
of an unspecified biological agent. The probable target was Israel.
The plan envisioned a conventional air raid employing three MiG-21s,
to be followed by another raid involving three MiGs and a SU-22
aircraft that would disperse the biological agent.The first mission
was shot down over the Persian Gulf and "no efforts were made
to find another method to deliver the BW agent."
Document 7: United Nations, Note
by the Secretary General, October 8, 1997 w/att: Letter dated
6 October 1997 from the Director General of the International Atomic
Energy Agency to the Secretary General.
Part of one of the report describes the work done by the IAEA,
during the period April 1, 1997 to October 1, 1997 in montoring
and verifying Iraqi compliance with the nuclear disarmament provisions
of U.N. resolution 687 (1991). It includes an extensive summary
of the technical discussions between IAEA and Iraq. The second part
of the report provides an overview of IAEA activities since 1991
related to on-site inspection of Iraqi's nuclear capabilities and
the destruction, removal, or neutralization of Iraqi nuclear weapons
or nuclear-weapons related material or facilities.
Document 8: United Nations, Note
by the Secretary General, October 6, 1998 w/att: Report of
the Executive Chairman of the activities of the Special Commission
established by the Secretary-General pursuant to paragraph 9(b) (i)
of the resolution 687 (1991).
This report from the executive chairman of the UN Special Commission
on Iraq (UNSCOM) covers developments in the relationship between
Iraq and the Commission, priority issues with respect to disarmament,
and ongoing monitoring and verification activities through October
11, 1998. Two months later, on December 16, UNSCOM, in the face
of Iraqi refusal to cooperate, withdrew its staff from Iraq.
Document 9: United Nations Security
Council, Letter Dated 8 February 1999 from the Secretary-General
Addressed to the President of the Security Council, February 9, 1999
w/enc: Report of the Director General of the International Atomic
Energy Agency in connection with the panel on disarmament and current
and future ongoing monitoring and verification issues (S/1999/100).
This report summarizes the status of the International Atomic Energy
Agency's implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions concerning
the dismantling of Iraq's nuclear program as of February 1999 -
two months after U.N. inspectors were withdrawn from Iraq. It includes
an examination of the remaining questions and concerns and their
impact on the IAEA's ability to develop a "technically coherent
picture of Iraq's clandestine nuclear weapons [program] and on the
IAEA's technical ability to fully implement its OMV [on-site monitoring
and verification] program."
Specific questions and concerns noted in the report include: lack
of certain technical documentation, external assistance to Iraq's
clandestine nuclear weapons program, and Iraq's inability to provide
documentation showing the timing and modalities of its alleged abandonment
of its nuclear weapons program.
Document 10a: Forged correspondence
to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Niger, concerning visit
to Niger by Iraqi ambassador to the Vatican, February 1, 1999.
Document 10b: Forged correspondence
within Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Niger, concerning
transfer of uranium to Iraq, July 30, 1999.
Document 10c: Forged letter to the
President, Republic of Niger, concerning agreement to supply 500 tons
of uranium per year to Iraq, July 27, 2000.
Document 10d: Forged letter to the
Niger Ambassador to Italy, concerning protocol of agreement to supply
uranium to Iraq, October 10, 2000.
Source: Documents provided by journalist
The only publicly acknowledged evidence for the claim that Iraq
had tried to acquire uranium from Africa, which President Bush made
in his January 28, 2003 State of the Union address, based on British
intelligence information, are these documents that were claimed
to have been official correspondence involving officials of the
Republic of Niger. The charge that Iraq had sought to purchase uranium
had been deleted from a previous speech due to the CIA's objection
that the information had not been confirmed.
Documents 10a-10d were all determined to be crude forgeries - which
included names and titles that did not match the individuals who
held office at the time the letters were purportedly written - although
the British government has insisted it has additional information
that would support the claim that Iraq was seeking to purchase uranium.
The inclusion of the claim in the State of the Union despite its
removal from an earlier speech, combined with the revelation of
the forged documents, produced further criticism of the Bush administration
and CIA Director George Tenet. Tenet, and then the president, took
responsibility for the inclusion of the unvetted information. An
FBI investigation into the apparent forgery that commenced in the
spring of 2003 is now "at a critical stage" according
the Washington Post (Mike Allen and Susan Schmidt, "Bush
Aides Testify in Leak Probe," Washington Post, Tuesday,
February 10, 2004; Page A01).
Document 11: UK Joint Intelligence
Committee, Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Assessment of
the British Government, September 2002. Unclassified.
This extensive analysis of Iraqi WMD programs was produced by the
British Government's Joint Intelligence Committee, which is responsible
for overseeing the production of national and strategic intelligence.
One part of the document focuses on Iraqi chemical, biological,
nuclear, and ballistic missile programs for the years 1971-1998
and in the post-inspection era (1998-2002). Other parts of the document
concern the history of UN weapons inspections and "Iraq under
In the foreword, Prime Minister Tony Blair writes (p.3) that "In
recent months, I have been increasingly alarmed by the evidence
from inside Iraq that ... Saddam Hussein is continuing to develop
WMD, and with them the ability to inflict real damage upon the region,
and the stability of the world."
Document 12: Defense Intelligence
Agency, Iraq - Key WMD Facilities - An Operational Support Study,
September 2002 (Extract) Unclassified.
This extract is part of a larger DIA study, produced for the United
States Central Command to assist it in planning military operations.
It notes the absence of reliable information on whether Iraq was
producing and stockpiling chemical weapons. The authors do express
their belief that "Iraq retained production equipment, expertise
and chemical precursors and can reconstitute a chemical warfare
program in the absence of an international inspection regime."
It also summarizes intelligence on possible chemical weapons activities,
such as renovation of two facilities formerly associated with the
Iraqi chemical weapons program.
Document 13: U.S. State Department,
A Decade of Deception and Defiance, September 12, 2002. Unclassified.
Three pages of this document focus on U.S. charges concerning Iraqi
failure to comply with the restrictions pertaining to weapons of
mass destruction placed upon it as a result of the Persian Gulf
War. It charges, inter alia, that "Iraq is believed to be developing
ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150 kilometers - as
prohibited by UN Security Council Resolution 687" and "Iraq
has stepped up its quest for nuclear weapons and has embarked on
a worldwide hunt for materials to make an atomic bomb." With
respect to chemical weapons, it charges that "Iraq has not
accounted for hundreds of tons of chemical precursors and tens of
thousands of unfilled munitions, including Scud variant missile
Document 14: CIA, Iraq's Weapons
of Mass Destruction Programs, October 2002, Unclassified.
Issued a month after the British assessment (see Document 8), this
CIA study is the unclassified version of a Top Secret National Intelligence
Estimate completed shortly before its release. The study contains
analysis, maps, tables, and some satellite photographs of apparent
Iraqi WMD sites.
Among the study's key judgments is the statement that "Iraq
has continued its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs in
defiance of UN resolutions and restrictions. Baghdad has chemical
and biological weapons as well as missiles with ranges in execess
of UN restrictions; if left unchecked, it probably will have a nuclear
weapon during this decade."
Document 15: Director of Central Intelligence,
National Intelligence Estimate, Iraq's Continuing Programs for
Weapons of Mass Destruction, October 2002. Top
Source: The White House
In response to the post-war controversy over U.S. intelligence
estimates of Iraqi WMD programs, the White House released the entire
key judgments section of the Top Secret October 2002 national intelligence
estimate on the subject. (An unclassified version of the NIE had
been released that same month, see Document 14).
The estimate concluded that Iraq continued its weapons of mass
destruction programs despite U.N. resolutions and sanctions and
that it was in possession of chemical and biological weapons as
well as missiles with ranges exceeding U.N. imposed limits. In addition,
it was judged that Iraq was reconstituting its nuclear weapons program
and, if left unchecked, would probably have a nuclear weapon before
the end of the decade - assuming it had to produce the fissile material
indigenously. If Iraq could acquire sufficient fissile material
from abroad it could construct a nuclear weapon within several months
to a year, the estimate reported.
With regard to both chemical and biological weapons, the NIE reported
not only that Iraq had maintained stocks of the weapons but was
actively engaged in production. The released section contains the
assessment, based at least in part on human intelligence, that "Baghdad
has begun renewed production of" a variety of chemical weapons
- mustard gas, sarin, cyclosarin, and VX. It also stated that all
key aspects of Iraq's offensive biological weapons program were
active - including R&D, production, and weaponization - and
that most components were larger and more advanced than they were
before the Gulf War. It also reported that Iraq possessed mobile
facilities for producing bacterial and toxin biological warfare
The estimate also examined Iraq's possible willingness to engage
in terrorist strikes against the U.S. homeland and whether Saddam
would assist al-Qaeda in conducting additional attacks on U.S. territory.
Iraq would probably attempt clandestine attacks in the United States
if it feared an attack that threatened the survival of the regime
were imminent or unavoidable, probably with biological agents, according
to the NIE. In addition, in the event that Saddam concluded that
al-Qaeda was the only organization that could conduct the type of
terrorist strike against the U.S. that he wished to see take place,
he might take "the extreme step of assisting the Islamist terrorists."
The released key judgments section is also notable for its reporting
of dissents within the Intelligence Community on two related issues
- when Iraq could acquire a nuclear weapon, and its motive in seeking
to obtain high-strength aluminum tubes. The State Department's Bureau
of Intelligence Research (INR) argued that while Saddam wished to
acquire a nuclear weapon, it did not believe that Iraq's recent
activities made a compelling case that a comprehensive attempt to
acquire nuclear weapons was being made. INR, along with the Department
of Energy, questioned whether the high-strength aluminum tubes Iraq
had been attempting to acquire were well-suited for use in gas centrifuges
used for uranium enrichment.
16: The White House, "President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat,"
October 7, 2002. Unclassified.
This speech, given by President Bush at the Cincinnati Museum Center,
presents his administration's view concerning the threat from Iraq.
It discusses Iraqi chemical, biological, ballistic missile, and
nuclear programs - as well as concerns about possible Iraqi connections
to international terrorist groups. With respect to how close Iraq
is to developing a nuclear weapon, Bush notes that "we don't
know exactly, and that's the problem." He went on to state
that "If the Iraqi regime is able to produce, buy, or steal
an amount of highly enriched uranium a little larger than a single
softball, it could have a nuclear weapon in less than a year."
Document 17: Letter, George J. Tenet,
Director of Central Intelligence, to Senator Bob Graham, Chairman
of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, October 7, 2002. Unclassified.
This letter from the DCI provided an unclassified CIA assessment
of Saddam Hussein's willingness to use weapons of mass destruction.
According to the letter, Iraq "for now appears to be drawing
a line short of conducting terrorist attacks with conventional or
... chemical and biological weapons against the United States,"
but if "Saddam should conclude that a U.S.-led attack could
no longer be deterred, he probably would become much less constrained
in adopting terrorist actions." The letter also discusses the
question of Iraqi links to Al-Qaeda and the basis for U.S. assessments
of the links.
Document 18: DoD, Iraqi Denial and
Deception for Weapons of Mass Destruction & Ballistic Missile
Programs, October 8, 2002. Unclassified.
The day after President Bush's Cincinnati speech (Document
12), the Defense Department provided a briefing on Iraqi denial
and deception activities with respect to their WMD programs. These
slides were used in the presentation. They include a variety of
satellite photographs (from commercial as well as a intelligence
satellites), tables, and charts that concern Iraq's assorted programs
and select facilities (for example, the Abu Ghurayb BW Facility).
In addition, the presentation focused on Iraq's denial and deception
strategy and concealment apparatus.
Document 19: George W. Bush, National
Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction, December 2002.
This strategy document is an unclassified extract of Top Secret
National Security Presidential Directive 17.(2)
The unclassified version asserts that "We will not permit the
world's most dangerous regimes and terrorists to threaten us with
the world's most destructive weapons." It also notes that "because
deterrence may not succeed ... U.S. military forces and appropriate
civilian agencies must have the capability to defend against WMD-armed
adversaries, including in appropriate cases through pre-emptive
Document 20: Table of Contents, Currently
Accurate, Full and Complete Declaration December 7, 2002, w/covering
letter from Mohammed A. Aldouri, Permanent Representative to the U.N.
This table of contents describes the content of the report submitted
by Iraq to the United Nations with regard to its nuclear, chemical,
biological, and missile programs, as required by U.N.Security Council
Resolution 1441. It shows the varied methods Iraq used in trying
to produce nuclear material suitable for a weapon as well as the
large number of sites involved in the nuclear program.
Document 21: Kenneth Katzman, Congressional
Research Service, Iraq: Weapons Threat, Compliance, Sanctions, and
U.S. Policy, December 10, 2002. Unclassified.
This paper, updated from an earlier version, discusses a number
of issues concerning Iraq. Outside of the WMD area, it examines
human rights/war crime issues, international terrorism, Iraq-Kuwait
issues, reparation payments, sanctions, and the oil-for- food program.
With respect to weapons of mass destruction, it focuses largely
on the U.N. resolutions placing limits on Iraqi WMD programs and
the work of U.N. inspectors in attempting to monitor Iraqi chemical,
biological, missile, and nuclear programs.
22 : Department of State, Fact Sheet: Illustrative Examples
of Omissions From the Iraqi Declaration to the United Nations Security
Council, December 19, 2002.
At a December 19 press conference, Secretary of State Colin Powell
stated that U.S. experts found the Iraqi declaration "to be
anything but currently accurate, full, or complete." He also
charged that the declaration "totally fails to meet the resolution's
requirements." The same day the State Department issued a fact
sheet providing several examples of omissions from the declaration.
23 : Hans Blix, An Update on Inspection, January 27,
In Resolution 1441, adopted in November 2002, the U.N. Security
Council called for progress reports from UNMOVIC and the IAEA two
months after renewing inspections in Iraq. As head of UNMOVIC, Blix
is responsible for overseeing inspections whose objective is to
verify Iraqi chemical and biological warfare disarmament. Part of
Blix's report reviews the sequence and content of U.N. resolutions
dealing with the disarmament of Iraq.
The key part of his paper, however, deals with the extent of Iraqi
cooperation - with regard to both substance and process. With regard
to process, while he states that "Iraq has on the whole cooperated
rather well so far with UNMOVIC in this field," he does note
a number of problems, including Iraq's refusal to guarantee the
safety of proposed U.N. U-2 overflights as well as it insistence
on sending helicopters into the no-fly zone to transport the Iraqis
who serve as the inspectors minders. In addition, Blix notes "some
recent disturbing incidents and harassment."
With regard to cooperation on substance, Blix's report is more
negative, noting that Iraq has failed to engage in the "active"
cooperation called for in Resolution 1441. He questions Iraqi claims
concerning the quality, quantity, and disposition of VX nerve gas
produced by Iraq as well as claims that Iraq destroyed 8, 500 liters
of anthrax. In addition, he reports that Iraq has tested two missiles
in excess of the permitted range of 150 kilometers.
The final portion of the report specifies how the inspection process
can be made more fruitful - including the turning over of more relevant
documents, lists of key personnel, and the facilitation of credible
24: Dr. Mohammed ElBaradei, The Status of Nuclear Inspections
in Iraq, January 27, 2003 w/att: IAEA Update Report for the Security
Council Pursuant to Resolution 1441 (2002), January 27, 2003.
While UNMOVIC handled inspections relating to chemical and biological
weapons, the IAEA was charged with trying to verify Iraqi nuclear
disarmament. This report from the IAEA director ElBaradei's update
report provides background on previous resolutions, the IAEA's findings
before the end of inspections in 1998, and his agency's activities
since the resumption of the inspection regime on November 27.
The review of agency activities addresses the establishment of
a Baghdad field office, Iraq's declarations pertaining to the status
of its nuclear program, the request for and discovery of relevant
documents, the inventory of nuclear material, ongoing monitoring,
interviews, and specific issues raised by states - including the
U.S. charge that aluminum tubes procured by Iraq were intended for
use in centrifuges.
While in his cover letter ElBaradei observes that "we have
to date found no evidence that Iraq has revived its nuclear weapons
programme since the elimination of the programme in the 1990s,"
in the update report it is also noted that "little progress
has been made in resolving the questions and concerns that remained
as of 1998" and that "further verification activities
will be necessary before the IAEA will be able to provide credible
assurance that Iraq has no nuclear weapons programme."
25: Colin L. Powell, Briefing on the Iraq Weapons Inspectors'
60-Day Report: Iraqi Non-Cooperation and Defiance of the UN, January
The same day that Blix and ElBaradei addressed the UN, U.S. Secretary
of State Colin Powell gave a short briefing to reporters on the
U.S. view of those reports, followed by a question and answer session.
Powell noted the statement by Blix that "Iraq appears not to
have come to a genuine acceptance, not even today, of the disarmament
that was demanded of it." The secretary went on to mention
several specific issues, including Iraqi failure to account for
the anthrax and VX it had produced, as well as the development of
missiles exceeding the allowed range. Powell also noted impediments
to the work of the inspectors, including "a swarm of Iraqi
minders," an incomplete list of Iraqi personnel involved in
WMD programs, and the inability of the inspectors to interview Iraqi
scientists in private.
Document 26: The White House, What
Does Disarmament Look Like?, January 2003.
As part of pressing its case that Iraq was not truly willing to
disarm, the Bush administration released this short paper contrasting
the nuclear disarmament process in three other countries - South
Africa, the Ukraine, and Kazakhstan - with Iraqi behavior. It identified
several characteristics of importance - high level political commitment,
national initiatives to dismantle weapons of mass destruction, and
full cooperation and transparency. It then asserts that "the
behavior of the Iraqi regime contrasts sharply with successful disarmament
examples." It goes on to note the activities of several Iraqi
organizations, including the Special Security Organization, and
the National Monitoring Directorate, and the areas where Iraq's
"currently accurate, full, and complete" declaration"
falls short - including with respect to biological agents, ballistic
missiles, and attempts to procure uranium.
27: Colin L. Powell, Remarks to the United Nations Security
Council, February 5, 2003.
In the face of requests and demands that the U.S. provide further
evidence in support of its position that Iraq was failing to comply
with U.N. resolution 1441, was impeding the work of UNMOVIC and
IAEA inspectors, and that a resort to military force would be necessary
unless Iraq's behavior changed, Secretary of State Colin Powell
addressed the U.N. Security Council. The bulk of Powell's remarks,
as contained in the transcript, involved his provision of "additional
information [about] what the United States knows about Iraq's weapons
of mass destruction, as well as Iraq's involvement in terrorism
The intelligence provided came from a variety of sources - including
satellite imagery, communications intercepts, human assets in Iraq,
detainees, and defectors. It represents the largest single public
disclosure of such information made in support of U.S. diplomacy
- surpassing the scope and volume of disclosures made during the
Cuban missile crisis or the campaign in response to the Soviet Union's
shootdown of KAL 007 in 1983.
The transcript contains Powell's reading of intercepts, and his
description of the content of satellite imagery being shown to the
Security Council. It also contains his description of organizations
and activities, information about which was obtained from human
sources and/or unspecified communications intelligence - such as
the existence of a "Higher Committee for Monitoring the Inspections
Teams" as well as the presence of Al-Qaida associates in Baghdad.
Document 28: Department of State, Iraq:
Failing to Disarm - U.S. Secretary of State Powell's Presentation
to the UN Security Council, February 5, 2003.
This Powerpoint presentation provided an overview of part of Secretary
Powell's remarks. It contains a selected portion of intercepts concerning
and a satellite image pertaining to Iraq's hiding of evidence, charges
that Iraq is muzzling its scientists and specifications of how that
is being done, the assertion that Iraq is still seeking nuclear
weapons (with reference to intercepted aluminum tubes), and the
charge that Iraq is harboring terrorists, including Al-Qaida representatives.
Document 29: U.S. Department of State, Iraq: Failing to
Disarm, February 5, 2003.
These images constitute the full set of slides used by Secretary
Powell in support of his presentation. They contain the full text
presented of intercepts, all nine satellite images, and other slides.
Document 30 : Dr. Hans
Blix, Briefing of the Security Council, February 14, 2003.
In accordance with UN Resolution 1441, UNMOVIC chief Hans Blix
delivered a progress on his organizations activities in Iraq, its
findings, and Iraqi compliance with the resolution.
Blix noted that "so far UNMOVIC has not found any [weapons
of mass destruction], only a small number of chemical munitions
which should have been declared and destroyed." However, he
also noted that many proscribed programs had not been accounted
for, a matter that he characterized as being of "great significance."
He specifically mentioned programs for the production of anthrax,
VX nerve gas, and long-range missiles. He also noted the status
of UNMOVIC investigations of the Al-Samoud and Al-Fatah missiles
as well as casting chambers. With regard to Iraqi actions, he reported
that Iraq had formed two commissions to search for relevant documents
and that the National Monitoring Directorate had provided a list
of 83 individuals who could allegedly verify destruction of chemical
weapons and expresses his hope that Iraq will draw up a similar
of individuals who participated in the destruction of biological
31 : Dr. Mohammed El Baradei, The Status of Nuclear Inspections
in Iraq: 14 February 2003 Update, February 14, 2003.
In his update report, the director of the IAEA noted
that his agency's inspections had moved from the "reconnaissance
phase" (aimed at re-establishing knowledge of Iraqi nuclear
capabilities) into the "investigative phase" (achieving
an understanding of Iraqi capabilities over the previous four years).
He also reported on the status of the inspection
process - noting that in the preceding two weeks the IAEA had conducted
38 inspections at 19 sites, and that its methods included sampling
air, water, and sediment, as well as the use of hand-held and car-borne
gamma-ray detectors. With respect to specific issues he addressed,
among others, uranium acquisition, uranium enrichment, and the high
Similarly to Blix, he reported that "we have
to date found no evidence of nuclear or nuclear related activities
in Iraq," but that "a number of issues are still under
investigation." ElBaradei also noted that a new document provided
by Iraq contained "no new information," and expressed
the hope that the newly established Iraqi commissions "will
be able to uncover documents and other evidence that could assist
Document 32: Central Intelligence Agency/Defense
Intelligence Agency, Iraqi Mobile Biological Warfare Agent Production
Plants, May 28, 2003. Unclassified.
In his February 5, 2003, presentation to the U.N. Security Council,
Secretary of State Colin Powell charged that Iraq had begun constructing
mobile facilities to produce biological weapons in the mid-1990s.
This program involved, he charged, the manufacture of mobile trailers
and railcars to produce biological agents, designed to evade U.N.
inspectors. Agent production reportedly took place from Thursday
night through Friday, a period during which the United Nations did
not conduct inspections due to the Muslim holiday.
This paper presents a joint CIA-DIA evaluation of two specialized
tractor-trailers and a mobile laboratory truck discovered in Iraq
after the U.S. invasion. Kurdish forces took one tractor-trailer
into custody near Mosul in late April. U.S. troops discovered the
other in early May, at the al-Kindi Research, Testing, Development,
and Engineering Facility in Mosul. U.S. troops also found the mobile
laboratory, in late April. The CIA and DIA analysts concluded that
the discoveries constituted "the strongest evidence to date
that Iraq was hiding a biological warfare program."
The text of this paper reviews the Intelligence Community's pre-war
sources on the Iraqi mobile program (including a chemical engineer,
a civil engineer, and a defector from the Iraqi Intelligence Service),
and the Community's pre-war assessment of the program. The paper
also asserts that the discovered plants are consistent with intelligence
reports, and that legitimate uses, including hydrogen production,
According to a subsequent New York Times report, engineers from
the Defense Intelligence Agency who examined the trailers concluded
in June that the vehicles were probably used to produce hydrogen
for artillery weather balloons, as the Iraqi had claimed.
Document 33 : CIA Statement on Recently
Acquired Iraqi Centrifuge Equipment, June 26, 2003.
After Saddam Hussein's regime was deposed in March 2003, Dr. Mahdi
Shukur Ubaydi, who headed Iraq's uranium enrichment program before
1991, turned over to U.S. officials in Baghdad a volume of centrifuge
documents and components he had hidden in his garden.
This brief CIA statement reports on some of what Dr. Ubaydi told
U.S. officials. The images, which were removed from the CIA's web
page shortly after their initial appearance, include both photographs
of centrifuge parts and blueprints.
Document 34: House of Commons Foreign
Affairs Committee, The Decision to go to War in Iraq: Ninth Report
of Session 2002-03, Volume I (London: The Stationary Office
Limited, July 2003). Unclassified.
The primary purpose of this document is to report the committee's
assessment of whether the British Parliament received "accurate
and complete" information from the government in the period
leading up to military action in Iraq - particularly with respect
to weapons of mass destruction.
The two key sections of the report examine the claims made in the
September and February "dossiers," including assertions
concerning Iraq's chemical and biological weapons capability, its
long-range missile effort, its nuclear weapons program, Iraq's alleged
attempt to acquire uranium from Africa, and the assertion that Iraqi
forces could deploy chemical or biological weapons within 45 minutes
of being given an order to do so.
The report also contains 33 conclusions and recommendations. The
concluded that the government genuinely perceived "a real and
present danger" from Iraq, that in the absence of significant
human intelligence Britain was heavily dependent on US technical
intelligence, defectors, and exiles "with an agenda of their
own," and that the accuracy of British assessments could not
yet be determined.
Document 35: Statement by
Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet on the 2002 National
Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's Continuing Programs for Weapons of
Mass Destruction, August 11, 2003.
In the face of criticism in the press and Congress over the apparent
disparities between the claims of the October 2002 National Intelligence
Estimate on Iraqi WMD and the failure to find weapons stocks or
open production lines in the aftermath of the war, DCI Tenet issued
this statement in defense of the estimate.
He characterizes much of the commentary as "misinformed, misleading,
and just plain wrong," and goes on to state that "we stand
by the judgments in the NIE," and promises that after the Iraq
Survey Group completes its work, "but not before," the
Intelligence Community, "will stand back to professionally
review where were are."
Tenet's statement goes on to defend the consistency of the community's
analysis concerning Iraqi programs as well as its collection efforts
after the departure of U.N. inspectors in 1998. He then proceeds
to examine intelligence performance with each component of Iraqi
weapons of mass destruction programs - nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons, and delivery systems.
The most extensive part of his statement is a defense of the estimate's
judgment that Iraq was seeking to reconstitute its nuclear weapons
program. He states that this conclusion was based on six factors,
which did not include its reported attempt to acquire uranium from
Africa. In addition, he describes the alternative views within the
Intelligence Community as to whether Iraq was attempting to obtain
high-strength aluminum tubes for use in uranium enrichment or for
conventional military uses.
Document 36: House of Commons Intelligence
and Security Committee, Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction - Intelligence
and Assessments (London: The Stationery Office Limited, September
The House of Commons Intelligence and Security Committee defined
the objective of their report as determining "whether the available
intelligence, which informed the decision to invade Iraq, was adequate
and properly assessed and whether it was accurately reflected in
[British] Government publications."
The initial portions of the report provide overviews of the committee's
investigation, of the intelligence assessment organizations (the
Joint Intelligence Committee and Assessments Staff), and of JIC
assessments from August 1990 to September 2002. The subsequent parts
of the study focus on the September 2002 dossier (including the
claims that Iraqi forces could deploy chemical or biological weapons
within 45 minutes and had sought to purchase uranium from Africa),
assessments from October 2002 to March 2003, the February 2003 document
on Iraqi denial and deception (which included substantial portions,
without attribution, from a previously published, non-governmental
analysis), and several other issues, including intelligence support
to U.N. inspectors.
The report includes twenty-six conclusions and recommendations
concerning a variety of topics - including the adequacy of the Secret
Intelligence Service's human intelligence effort in Iraq, whether
it was reasonable that British intelligence analysts drew the conclusions
they did given the available intelligence on Iraqi WMD programs,
how quickly it appeared Iraqi forces could employ chemical or biological
weapons, and decisions to include or exclude certain information
or conclusions about Iraqi capabilities and the extent of the threat
posed to Britain.
37: Letter, Porter J. Goss and Jane Harman, House Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence, to George J. Tenet, Director of
Central Intelligence, September 25,
This letter criticizes the Intelligence Community's performance
in providing intelligence related to Iraq's chemical, biological,
and nuclear weapons programs, as well as with respect to Iraqi ties
to al-Qaeda. Goss and Harman, the committee's chairman and vice
chairman, respectively, write that a "dearth of post-1998 underlying
intelligence reflects a weakness in intelligence collection"
- pointing to past committee concerns about inadequacies in human
intelligence (HUMINT) and measurement and signature intelligence
(MASINT) crucial to producing accurate assessments on weapons of
mass destruction and terrorism. The "lack of specific intelligence
on regime plans and intentions, WMD, and Iraq's support to terrorist
groups appears to have hampered the IC's ability to provide a better
assessment to policymakers from 1998 through 2003."
38: Letter, George J. Tenet to Honorable Porter J. Goss, October
1, 2003. Unclassified.
In this letter to Porter Goss, the chairman of the House Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), Director of Central Intelligence
George Tenet disputes the contents of the September 25 letter Tenet
received from Goss and Committee Vice Chairman Jane Harman. He also
criticizes the Committee's distribution of the letter to the press
"before providing the Intelligence Community any reasonable
opportunity to respond."
Tenet argues that the HPSCI was not in a position to fully assess
the Intelligence Community's performance on Iraqi weapons of mass
destruction programs or its ties to al-Qaeda. The Committee, Tenet
charged, had reached its conclusions without having heard from David
Kay, special advisor to the Iraq Survey Group - which had been charged
with searching Iraq for weapons of mass destruction.
Further, Tenet charged that the Committee's assertion that the
Intelligence Community did not challenge longstanding judgments
and assessments was "simply wrong." He also accused the
Committee of having failed to try to understand the scope of U.S.
collection activities targeted against Iraqi WMD programs.
39: Statement by David Kay on the Interim Progress Report
of the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) before the House Permanent Select Committee
on Intelligence, the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee
on Defense, and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, October
2, 2003. Unclassified.
In the aftermath of Operation Iraqi Freedom, coalition forces failed
to uncover production facilities for, or stocks of, weapons of mass
destruction. To improve the chances of success, an Iraq Survey Group
was established under the direction of Maj. Gen. Keith Dayton, the
chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency's Directorate of Operations.
Dr. David Kay, who served as a U.N. weapon inspector for several
years after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, was appointed as a special
advisor to the group, and would direct the group's operations in
Kay's October 2 presentation to the Congressional committees provides
an unclassified summary of the group's interim report. Kay told
the attending members that the ISG had not yet found stocks of weapons,
but was not at a point where it could be determined definitively
that such weapons stocks did not exist or that they existed before
the war but had been relocated.
Kay also noted a number of factors that had hindered the ISG's
search - including the compartmentalization of Iraqi WMD programs,
deliberate dispersion and destruction of material and documentation
related to those programs, post-war looting, and a "far from
permissive environment" for search activities.
In addition, Kay summarized some of the Survey Group's discoveries,
which included: a clandestine network of laboratories and safe-houses
controlled by the Iraqi Intelligence Services containing equipment
suitable for CBW research; reference strains of biological organisms
concealed in a scientists home; documents and equipment hidden in
scientists' homes that could be used for resuming uranium enrichment
activities; and a continuing covert capability to manufacture fuel
propellant useful only for prohibited SCUD missiles.
40 : Stuart Cohen, Iraq's WMD Programs: Culling Hard Facts
from Soft Myths, November 26, 2003. Unclassified.
The author of this essay served as acting chairman of the National
Intelligence Council when the October 2002 National Intelligence
Estimate on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction was written. Cohen
argues that "no reasonable person" who examined the "millions
of pages" of information available would have reached "conclusions
or alternative views that were profoundly different" from those
reached by the CIA and the nation's other intelligence agencies.
Cohen goes on to identify and dispute what he characterizes as
ten myths concerning the October 2002 estimate, including "the
estimate favored going to war," "analysts were pressured
to change judgments to meet the needs of the Bush administration,"
divergent views were buried and uncertainties concealed, "major
NIE judgments were based on single sources," and "analysts
overcompensated for having underestimated the WMD threat in 1991."
41: Congresswoman Jane Harman, "The Intelligence on Iraq's
WMD: Looking Back to Look Forward," January 16, 2004.
This speech given by the Jane Harman (D-CA), the vice chairman
of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, characterized
the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraqi weapons
of mass destruction programs as "significantly flawed."
She singled out two specific conclusions - that Iraq possessed chemical
and biological weapons, and that it was reconstituting its nuclear
weapons program, noting that "these were the centerpieces of
the NIE and of the case for war and it appears likely that both
Harman went on to call for creation of a Director of National Intelligence
who would serve as a member of the president's cabinet, increased
collaboration within the intelligence community, and "virtual
reorganization" - creating "task forces" through
altered personnel policies and providing virtual workplaces.
Document 42: Transcript of
David Kay testimony before Senate Armed Services Committee, January
David Kay appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee shortly
after he resigned as special advisor to the Iraq Survey Group. Kay
states, referring to the expectation that there would be substantial
stocks of, and production lines for, chemical and biological weapons
in Iraq, that "we were almost all wrong, and I certainly include
myself here." He also notes that other foreign intelligence
agencies, including the French and the German, also had believed
that Iraq possessed such stocks and production lines. In addition,
he discusses the issue of whether political pressure had any impact
on the content of the October 2002 national intelligence estimate
(Document 15). Kay also notes that "based
on the work of the Iraq Survey Group
Iraq was in clear violation
of the terms of [U.N.] Resolution 1441. He goes on to note the discovery
of hundreds of instances of activities prohibited by U.N. Resolution
43: George J. Tenet, Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction,
remarks prepared for delivery at Georgetown University February 5,
In the midst of the continuing post-war controversy over intelligence
estimates of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction program, Director
of Central Intelligence George Tenet gave this speech in which he
addressed "how the United States intelligence community evaluated
Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs over the past decade,
leading to a National Intelligence Estimate in October of 2002."
In his talk, Tenet reviewed the "three streams of information"
available concerning Iraqi WMD programs - Iraq's history, the inability
of Iraq to account for weapons that it possessed at the time of
the 1991 Gulf War, and information obtained after U.N. inspectors
left Iraq in 1998. He also compared the estimate's descriptions
of Iraqi WMD activities with what has been discovered by the Iraq
Survey Group. He argued that "it would have been difficult
for analysts to come to any different conclusions than the ones
reached in October of 2002," but went on to say that "in
our business that is not good enough."
Tenet also spoke about the role of U.S. and British intelligence
in monitoring Libyan WMD, the activities of Pakistani nuclear scientist
A.Q. Khan, and related topics.
1. George W. Bush, National Security Directive 54, Responding to
Iraqi Aggression in the Gulf, January 15, 1991. Top Secret. See National
Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book Number 39, Operation Desert
Storm: Ten Years After, January 17, 2001, Document 4.
2. See Sharon A. Squassoni, Congressional Research Service, Iraq:
U.N. Inspections for Weapons of Mass Destruction, October 7, 2003,
3. Accounts of the war and the diplomatic battles prior to it, include
Todd S. Purdum, A Time of Our Choosing: America's War in Iraq (New
York: Times Books, 2003); William Shawcross, Allies: The U.S., Britain,
Europe, and the War in Iraq (New York: Public Affairs, 2004).
4. James Risen, "U.S. Asks Ex-U.N. Inspector To Advise on Arms
Search," New York Times, June 12, 2003, p. A14; Central Intelligence
Agency, "DCI Tenet Announces Appointment of David Kay as Special
Advisor," June 11, 2003, (available at www.cia.gov); Kenneth
Gerhart, "The Changing Face of ISG's Home Base," Communique,
July-August 2003, pp.5-7.
5. On the various element of the controversy, see Kenneth M. Pollack,
"Spies, Lies, and Weapons: What Went Wrong," The Atlantic,
January 2004, pp. 78-92; Joseph Cirincione, Jessica T. Matthews, and
George Perkovich, WMD in Iraq: evidence and implications (Washington,
D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2004); Thomas Powers,
"The Vanishing Case for War," New York Review of Books,
December 4, 2003, pp. 12-17. With regard to the possibility that human
sources knowingly provided false information on weapons of mass destruction
as well as Saddam's whereabouts on the opening night of the war, see
Bob Drogin, "U.S. Suspects It Received False Iraq Arms Tips,"
Los Angeles Times, August 28, 2003; Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough,
"Inside the Ring," Washington Times, January 2, 2004, p.
6. See note 5, the citations for Pollack; Cirincione, Matthews and
Perkovich; and Powers.
7. Joby Warrick, "Some Evidence on Iraq Called Fake," Washington
Post, March 8, 2003, pp. A1, A18.
8. Mike Allen and Barton Gellman, "Preemptive Strikes Part of
U.S. Strategic Doctrine," Washington Post, December 11, 2002,
pp. A1, A26.
9. Douglas Jehl, "Iraqi Trailers Said to Make Hydrogen Not Biological
Arms," New York Times, August 9, 2003, pp. A1,
David Albright, Iraq's Aluminum Tubes: Separating Fact from Fiction,
December 5, 2003, (available at http://www.isis-online.org)
Joseph Cirincione, Jessica T. Matthews, and George Perkovich, WMD
in Iraq: evidence and implications (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace, 2004) (available at http://www.ceip.org)
Anthony Cordesman, Intelligence and Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction:
The Lessons from the Iraq War, July 1, 2003 (available at http://www.csis.org)
Barton Gellman, "Iraq's Arsenal Was Only on Paper," Washington
Post, January 7, 2004, pp. A1, A14-A15.
International Institute for Strategic Studies, Iraq's Weapons
of Mass Destruction: A Net Assessment (London: IISS, September
Kenneth M. Pollack, "Spies, Lies, and Weapons: What Went Wrong,"
The Atlantic, January 2004, pp. 78-92 (also available at http://www.theatlantic.com)
Thomas Powers, "The Vanishing Case for War," New York
Review of Books, December 4, 2003, pp. 12-17.
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Two alpine bumblebees lick climate change by evolving shorter tongues
Sept. 24, 2015
A new study shows that two alpine bumblebee species have responded to a decline in flowering due to warming temperatures by evolving shorter tongues. The results suggest that some bumblebee species may be able to adapt to environmental challenges caused by climate change.
“We are not saying climate change isn’t a problem for bumblebees. It is a major problem. However, these findings indicate that some bumblebees may be able to adapt if provided adequate habitat and are largely shielded from other sources of anthropogenic harm, like pesticide use and habitat destruction,” said University of Missouri biologist Candace Galen, co-author of the study, which appears in the latest issue of Science.
Rising temperatures in alpine habitats worldwide have resulted in declines in flowering in these areas. During the past decade, scientists have also reported dramatic declines in populations of several bumblebee species, including some endemic to alpine regions.
Since bumblebees have co-evolved with the floral resources they need for nutrition, Galen and her colleagues were curious about how resident bumblebees were faring in the alpine regions of the Rocky Mountains. They looked specifically at changes in tongue length among resident bumblebees because this trait is intimately tied to the bee-flower mutualism.
“Bumblebees with longer tongues specialize on flowers with deep, long tubes, while short-tongued bumblebees, in contrast, are generalists and tend to alight on a variety of flowers,” explained Galen.
Galen and her colleagues measured the tongue lengths of alpine bumblebee species collected between 1966 and 1980 at three alpine sites of the central Rocky Mountains and archived at the University of Colorado and other museums. They resurveyed bumblebee species in the same alpine locations between 2012 and 2014 and measured their tongue lengths.
The scientists also tracked bee visits to flowers of six plant species preferred by these bumblebees species historically, and monitored flowering of these plants over time, comparing their data with earlier surveys conducted between 1977 and 1980.
They found that the relative abundances of bumblebees with longer tongues in the three alpine locations declined over the 40-year period. The mean tongue lengths of two high alpine bumblebee species, Bombus balteatus and B. sylvicola, had decreased by 24%.
“A morphological change of 24% over this amount of time is dramatic, especially when we take into account that this change has occurred over just 40 generations,” said Galen. “Most evolutionary change occurs on a timescale of a few hundreds, thousands, or millions of years. Forty years is a timescale that happens in a human lifetime.”
When they looked at the flowers visited by the alpine bumblebee species, they found that the bees’ favorite flowers had not shifted to a shallower form, but were less prolific. Overall, they found that the total food resources available to alpine bumblebees had fallen by 60% since the 1970s.
The scientists plugged their data into a mathematical model to calculate the relative advantage of being a specialist versus a generalist in a simple environment with a long-tubed flower and a short-tubed one. They found that when deep flowers are in the minority and the total flower density drops, the advantage of being a generalist increases sharply.
“Basically, it shows you can afford to be a specialist if there is enough of the plant you are specializing on. As you start losing resources, then that’s going to have a disproportionate impact on that specialist whose flowers are not really common to begin with,” said MU biologist Ricardo Holdo, who conducted the modeling work as part of the study. “This is one of the real strengths of the study: it shows that the change in the flower population is actually exerting a selective pressure on the pollinator.”
Galen and her collaborators are now working on experiments to see what this change in bumblebees means for long-flowered plants that relied on them for pollination.
As part of the study, the researchers ruled out that the change in tongue size was linked to an influx of sub-alpine bumblebees, decreasing body size, or a change in flower sizes.
The finding of rapid adaptation, said Galen, is “a glimmer of hope” for bumblebees, whose populations worldwide are declining.
“It suggests that the things we can manage locally, like pesticides and habitat destruction and planting companion plants, can actually make a difference because they can buy pollinators time for natural selection and evolution to allow them to keep pace with some of the things that we can’t manage locally,” said Galen. “They seem to be giving bumblebees ‘running shoes’ in this race against climate change.”
The corresponding and lead author of the study, titled “Functional mismatch in a bumblebee pollination mutualism under climate change,” is Nicole Miller-Struttmann, who completed the research as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Missouri and is now at SUNY College at Old Westbury, New York. In addition to Galen and Holdo, other coauthors include Jennifer Geib, James D. Franklin, Peter G. Kevan, Diane Ebert-May, Austin M. Lynn, Jessica Kettenbach, and Elizabeth Hedrick.
A grant from the National Science Foundation supported this research.
Written by: Melody Kroll
Sep 30, 2015: Stories about this research appeared in 313 international, national and online outlets, including The Daily News, BBC News, Wired, The Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, The Atlantic, Associated Press, and Smithsonian Magazine.
News by research strength
- Cell Biology
- Genetics & Genomics
- Molecular Biology
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- Quantitative & Computational Biology
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The island of South Georgia is about 120 miles wide. Although of a similar latitude south to the UK (north) its climate is much colder due to the influence from the Antarctic ice. Its surrounding islands are rodent-free and are the home to thousands of nesting seabirds, including Grey headed Albatross, prions and Southern Giant Petrels. We were lucky enough to visit Prion Island where the Wandering Albatross nest. We spent an afternoon at the abandoned whaling station at Grytviken, walking round to King Edward's point. It was pouring with rain and I didn't take any photographs, except of the South Georgia pintails. South Georgia is also the nesting site of thousands of King Penguins, and the calls of the birds at Gold Harbour and St Andrew's Bay make this one of the great wildlife experiences. Numerous fur seals and elephant seals are on the beaches.
|Approaching South Georgia||Fortuna Bay||Stromness|
|Gold Harbour||Cooper's Bay||Prion Island Beach|
|King Penguins at St Andrew's Bay||Southern Giant Petrels' nesting||Wandering Albatross on Prion Island|
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Aronia Melanocarpa, also known as chokeberry, originates from North America. It is the berry that is becoming increasingly popular around the globe. This fruit was named Siberian Aronia because it tolerates cold winter and frost down to -45° C.
Aronia is very medicinal herb and the North American Indians used it in feeding as an addition to bread. More importantly, fresh fruits are most often used as a cure for stomach and Aronia tea for healing wounds.
Let's see what says the science of the modern era.
First of all, epidemiological data suggest that a high intake of fruits and vegetables can have a beneficial effect on reducing the risk of degenerative diseases. Thanks to the antioxidants. also slows down the aging process. Among the usual fruits and vegetables, dark blue or red color berries have the largest antioxidant capacity. In recent years, the interest grew for fruits and vegetables that contain high concentrations of polyphenols, because of their beneficial health effects, partly linked to their antioxidant capacity. Among the polyphenols, particularly interesting are the anthocyanins, flavonols and proanthocyanidins. Anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins are among the main groups of compounds in berries and in both groups of compounds have shown antioxidant effects. This is very interesting information for nutritionists and doctors because of its potential protective effect against various diseases.
Now, it is important to say that Aronia, or chokeberry, has a significantly higher content of anthocyanins and higher antioxidant activity than cranberry, blueberry and currant.
Health Benefits of Aronia:
Aronia berries contain a very complex variety of chemical compounds. On average, it can have up to 20 of polyphenols per 1 kg and anthocyanins from 4.0 to 8.5 grams per 1 kg. Then, Aronia contains vitamins (C, E, A, B2, B6, B9, P), minerals (potassium, calcium, molybdenum, manganese, iron, iodine, phosphorus), and very rare fruit sugar sorbitol.
Scientific tests have shown a number of biological effects of Aronia such as prevention of cardiovascular disease, normalization of blood pressure and improve circulation, normalization of glucose and triglyceride levels in the blood, the positive effects on the work of the liver, gall bladder and more.
It is also important to say that aronia regulates proper operation and excretion of thyroid hormones, as well as to regulate the work of the pancreas, and may be useful in the treatment of diabetes (type II diabetes mellitus).
Then, Aronia promotes wound healing, prevents wrinkles, slows the aging of the body and skin and protects against UV radiation, reduces the level of toxins in the body and has an anticancer effect.
Successfully protects against viral and bacterial infections.
Finally, Aronia can be consumed in fresh form but it often used in dried form or as a juice. Aronia juice is especially recommended for patients with cardiovascular disease that is characterized by elevated arterial pressure.
Copyright ALL NATURAL CURE - 2016. All rights reserved
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ST. GEORGE — The Utah Department of Transportation discovered ancient ruins this month as they paved their way through the Southern Parkway, a 33-mile project that will soon be an eastern belt route for Washington County.
The ruins have been named one of the oldest sites investigated in Southern Utah, where more than 15 other archaeological sites have been found near Washington Dam Road. Scientists are currently stating, upon significant research, that the area was inhabited for up to 10,000 years.
The Utah native Shivwits tribe was invited to the sites to search the ruins and members are working closely with archaeologists to properly preserve them.
So far, among the list of items uncovered are Anasazi pit houses, arrowheads, pottery calibrated to have been dated as far back as 400 B.C. and dinosaur fossils.
What the paleontologists are characterizing as 200 million-year-old fossils include teeth from nine species – three of which could be newly identified species – were also found during construction and have been archived for more research.
“We are an organization that learns,” Dana Meier, project manager for UDOT, said.
UDOT will continue to carefully navigate this project as they strive to protect the species in the construction area and within the ruins.
“At one of the sites investigated, five ancient dwellings were exposed,” Kevin Kitchen, UDOT Region Four Communications Manager said. “They were believed to have been occupied more than a thousand years ago by a culture of farmers who exploited the fertile banks of the Virgin River flood plain. Known as Ancestral Puebloans or ‘Virgin Anasazi’ they relied heavily on native cultivars for their subsistence: mainly corn, beans, squash, as well as a variety of native plants and small game.”
“Four of the five pit-houses contained attributes indicative of the Basket Maker III and early Pueblo I periods approximately 400 – 800 A.D,” Kitchen said. “They contained items such as potsherds decorated with bands of small black dots and triangles, arrowheads and stone flakes of chert and quartzite as well as burnt structural remains and other organic materials. Hearths in these former structures were constructed with smooth fired clay over a circular arrangement of cobblestones. The floors and walls were lined with clay and/or flagstone.”
The fifth pit-house was larger than the other four and contained dart points rather than arrowheads. Obsidian materials were found rather than quartzite and chert, and the hearth was composed of basalt boulders rather than sandstone cobblestones lined with clay. Due to these factors, this pit-house appears to be from the Basketmaker II period dating approximately 300 B.C. to 400 A.D. Very little is known of this period in the region.
A “Lake Mojave” type stemmed spear point from a different site is indicative of the Paleoindian occupation. Researchers used “optically stimulated luminescence” testing to date the sediments where this was deposited. A “Bajada” type point was also recovered at this site suggesting a slightly later period. Several projectile points characteristic of the Archaic period have also been found in the area.
Paleontological finds include dinosaur tracks of the early Jurassic Kayenta period along with a complete fish fossil and several plant fossils that are rare from that formation. Fossilized dinosaur teeth were also recovered representing nine different types, including three not previously described.
The project has gained regional attention among archaeologists because it has contributed to the Basketmaker II period for this particular area and provides more possibilities and questions for researchers of this specific period.
What archaeologists say
“The materials recovered from the Southern Parkway investigation provided evidence of indigenous occupation of the region,” Eric Hansen, UDOT NEPA Specialist said, “semi-continuously from the early Holocene, perhaps as early as 10,000 years ago, through the Archaic, Formative (Puebloan 400 B.C. to A.D. 1300) and protohistoric periods (Post-Formative to Paiute) before European contact. Numic populations are theorized to have expanded into the area more than a thousand years ago, but may have arrived much earlier.”
Utah’s prehistory, according to the Utah State Historic Preservation Society, has led to some interesting finds over the years. The oldest findings that have been excavated point to people that thrived in Utah more than 10,000 years ago, right after the ice age ended.
The Paleoindians lived here along with camels, sloths, mammoths, giant bison and other extinct animals. Their cave remains surround the Great Salt Lake. As the climate warmed 8,000 years ago lifestyles shifted and archaeologists call the culture of this era the Archaic people. They were hunter-gatherers and basket makers who hunted with spears and other weapons they made. Their rock art is what has been discovered of them.
Then, 2,000 years ago, things shifted once again when farming beans, corn and squash was discovered, from which evolved two broad cultures: Anasazi and the Fremont people. Archaeologists have discovered pit houses, moccasins and remnants of pottery, and know that by A.D. 750 both Fremont and Anasazi had created new weaponry: bows and arrows. Thereafter, 800 years ago, the Anasazi left Southern Utah and the Fremonts disappeared. There is a lot of speculation surrounding this.
The next people to pop up were Numic-speaking people that evolved into four groups: Northern Shoshone, Goshute, Southern Paiute and Utes. By A.D. 1500 Navajos also moved in. The most recent group of people to move in were the euro-Americans, explorers, trappers, traders and settlers.
State coordination with archaeologists, cultural interests
Private archaeologists working under the direction of the state arrived in the field in 2011 to investigate and mitigate any potentially significant cultural sites, Kitchen said. Prior to any excavation, UDOT archaeologists work with Native American tribes and the State Historic Preservation Office to determine the best course of action. (Tribal involvement on the Southern Parkway began over a decade ago.)
The discovery and scientific dismantling of sites typically starts with a surface survey of the area, he said, the digging of trenches and then branching out with hand tools from there. Special survey equipment records various points of reference so items can be catalogued in context and the site data can be reproduced electronically for future reference and coordinated with artifacts in the laboratory.
Kitchen said that paleontological finds were investigated by an expert who has researched other areas in Washington County where dinosaur tracks have been found and has worked for the local museum.
Economic impacts, rerouting, fiscal and time impacts
The Southern Parkway has been realigned seven times through the environmental and design processes due to many factors, archaeology among the reasons. However, due to a proactive environmental approach, archaeological work has not posed any significant construction delay with potentially associated costs on the Southern Parkway. Kitchen said the contract specifications are also set up in a manner to keep construction active elsewhere on the project if UDOT does encounter something unexpected.
Ed. Note: The roles of archaeologists and paleontologists involved in the described project while complementary have distinct scientific roles. As concerns fossils and the like, it is the work of paleontologists. As concerns dwellings and items used by people, it is the work of archaeologists. While there is interplay between the sciences involved in the subject of this report, Andrew Milner, paleontologist on the project, said that dinosaurs and people did not live together. Clarification added by update 11:19 p.m.
Copyright St. George News, StGeorgeUtah.com Inc., 2013, all rights reserved.
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matter. It seems like the cosmos gets a little stranger every
year. Until recently, the astronomical universe known to humans
was populated by planets, stars, galaxies, and scattered nebulae
of dust and gas. Now, theoretists tell us it may also be inhabited
by objects such as superstrings, dark matter and massive neutrinos
-- objects that have yet to be discovered if they exist at
As bizarre as these new constituents may sound, you don't
have to be a rocket scientist to appreciate the most mysterious
ingredient of them all. It is the inky blackness of space
itself that commands our attention as we look at the night
sky; not the sparse points of light that signal the presence
of widely scattered matter.
During the last
few decades, physicists and astronomers have begun to recognize
that the notion of empty space presents greater subtleties
than had ever before been considered. Space is not merely
a passive vessel to be filled by matter and radiation, but
is a dynamic, physical entity in its own right.
in the story of our new conception of space begins with a
famous theoretical mistake made nearly 75 years ago that now
seems to have taken on a life of its own.
In 1917, Albert
Einstein tried to use his newly developed theory of general
relativity to describe the shape and evolution of the universe.
The prevailing idea at the time was that the universe was
static and unchanging. Einstein had fully expected general
relativity to support this view, but, surprisingly, it did
not. The inexorable force of gravity pulling on every speck
of matter demanded that the universe collapse under its own
His remedy for
this dilemma was to add a new 'antigravity' term to his original
equations. It enabled his mathematical universe to appear
as permanent and invariable as the real one. This term, usually
written as an uppercase Greek lambda, is called the 'cosmological
constant'. It has exactly the same value everywhere in the
universe, delicately chosen to offset the tendency toward
gravitational collapse at every point in space.
A simple thought
experiment may help illustrate the nature of Lambda. Take
a cubic meter of space and remove all matter and radiation
from it. Most of us would agree that this is a perfect vacuum.
But, like a ghost in the night, the cosmological constant
would still be there. So, empty space is not really empty
at all -- Lambda gives it a peculiar 'latent energy'. In other
words, even Nothing is Something!
solution remained unchallenged until 1922 when the Russian
mathematician Alexander Friedmann began producing compelling
cosmological models based on Einstein's equations but without
the extra quantity. Soon thereafter, theorists closely examining
Einstein's model discovered that, like a pencil balanced on
its point, it was unstable to collapse or expansion. Later
the same decade, Mount Wilson astronomer Edwin P. Hubble found
direct observational evidence that the universe is not static,
All this ment
that the motivation for introducing the cosmological constant
seemed contrived. Admitting his blunder, Einstein retracted
Lambda in 1932. At first this seemed to end the debate about
its existence. Yet decades later, despite the great physicist's
disavowal, Lambda keeps turning up in cosmologists' discussions
about the origin, evolution, and fate of the universe.
THEORY MEETS OBSERVATION
Friedmann's standard 'Big Bang' model without a cosmological
constant predicts that the age of the universe, t0, and its
expansion rate (represented by the Hubble parameter, H0) are
related by the equation t0 = 2/3H0. Some astronomers favor
a value of H0 near 50 kilometers per second per megaparsec
(one megaparsec equals 3.26 million light years). But the
weight of the observational evidence seems to be tipping the
balance towards a value near 100. In the Friedmann model,
this implies that the cosmos can be no more than 7 billion
years old. Yet some of our galaxy's globular clusters have
ages estimated by independent methods of between 12 and 18
In what's called
the Einstein-DeSitter cosmology, the Lambda term helps to
resolve this discrepancy. Now a large value for the Hubble
parameter can be attributed in part to "cosmic repulsion".
This changes the relationship between t0 and H0, so that for
a given size, the universe is older than predicted by the
In one formulation
of Einstein's equation, Lambda is expressed in units of matter
density. This means we can ask how the cosmological constant,
if it exists at all, compares with the density of the universe
in the forms of stars and galaxies.
So far, a careful
look at the available astronomical data has produced only
upper limits to the magnitude of Lambda. These vary over a
considerable range - from about 10 percent of ordinary matter
density to several times that density.
constant can also leave its mark on the properties of gravitational
lenses and faint galaxies. One of the remarkable features
of Einstein's theory of general relativity is its prediction
that space and time become deformed or 'warped' in the vicinity
of a massive body such as a planet, star or even a galaxy.
Light rays passing through such regions of warped "space-time"
have their paths altered. In the cosmological arena, nearby
galaxies can deflect and distort the images of more distant
galaxies behind them. Sometimes, the images of these distant
galaxies can appear as multiple images surrounding the nearby
At Kyoto University
M. Fukugita and his coworkers predicted that more faint galaxies
and gravitational lenses will be detected than in a Friedmann
universe if Lambda is more than a few times the matter density.
Edwin Turner, an astrophysicist at Princeton University also
reviewed the existing, scant, data on gravitational lenses
and found that they were as numerous as expected for Lambda
less that a few times the matter density. By the best astronomical
reconning, Lambda is probably not larger than the observed
average matter density of the universe. For that matter, no
convincing evidence is available to suggest that Lambda is
not exactly equal to zero. So why not just dismiss it as an
unnecessary complication? Because the cosmological constant
is no longer, strictly, a construct of theoretical cosmology.
NOTHING AND EVERYTHING
To understand how our universe came into existence, and how
its various ingredients have evolved, we must delve deeply
into the fundamental constituents of matter and the forces
that dictate how it will interact. This means that the questions
we will have to ask will have more to do with physics than
astronomy. Soon after the big bang, the universe was at such
a high temperature and density that only the details of matter's
composition (quarks, electrons etc) and how they interact
via the four fundamental forces of nature were important.
They represented the most complex collections of matter in
existence, long before atoms, planets, stars and galaxies
had arrived on the scene.
For two decades
now, physicists have been attempting to unify the forces and
particles that make up our world - to find a common mathematical
description that encompasses them all. Some think that such
a Theory of Everything is just within reach. It would account
not only for the known forms of matter, but also for the fundamental
interactions among them: gravity, electromagnetism, and the
strong and weak nuclear forces.
theories are known by a variety of names: grand unification
theory, supersymmetry theory and superstring theory. Their
basic claim is that Nature operates according to a small set
of simple rules called symmetries.
of symmetry is at least as old as the civilization of ancient
Greece, whos art and archetecture are masterworks of simplicity
and balance. Geometers have known for a long time that a simple
cube can be rotated 90 degrees without changing its outward
appearance. In two dimensions, equalateral triangles look
the same when they are rotated by 120 degrees. These are examples
of the geometric concept of Rotation Symmetry.
There are parallels
to geometric symmetry in the way that various physical phenomena
and qualities of matter express themselves as well. For example,
the well-known principle of the Conservation of Energy is
a consequence of the fact that when some collections of matter
and energy are examined at different times, they each have
precisely the same total energy, just as a cube looks the
same when it is rotated in space by a prescribed amount. Symmetry
under a 'shift in time' is as closely related to the Conservation
of Energy as is the symmetry of a cube when rotated by 90
things, symmetries of Nature dictate the strengths and ranges
of the natural forces and the properties of the particles
they act upon. Although Nature's symmetries are hidden in
today's cold world, they reveal themselves at very high temperatures
and can be studied in modern particle accelerators.
The real goal
in unification theory is actually two-fold: not only to uncover
and describe the underlying symmetries of the world, but to
find physical mechanisms for 'breaking' them at low energy.
After all, we live in a complex world filled with a diversity
of particles and forces, not a bland world with one kind of
force and one kind of particle!
working on this problem are often forced to add terms to their
equations that represent entirely new fields in Nature. The
concept of a field was invented by mathematicians to express
how a particular quantity may vary from point to point in
space. Physicists since the 18th century have adopted this
idea to describe quantitatively how forces such as gravity
and magnetism change at different distances from a body.
of these fields with quarks, electrons and other particles
cause symmetries to break down. These fields are usually very
different than those we already know about. The much sought
after Higgs boson field, for example, was introduced by Sheldon
Glashow, Abdus Salam and Steven Weinberg in their unified
theory of the electromagnetic and weak nuclear forces.
Prior to their
work, the weak force causing certain particles to decay, and
the electromagnetic force responsible for the attraction between
charged particles and the motion of compass needles, were
both considered to be distinct forces in nature. By combining
their mathematical descriptions into a common language, they
showed that this distinction was not fundamental to the forces
at all! A new field in nature called the Higgs field makes
these two forces act differently at low temperature. But at
temperatures above 1000 trillion degrees, the weak and electromagnetic
forces become virtually identical in the way that they affect
matter. The corresponding particles called the Higgs Boson
not only cause the symmetry between the electromagnetic and
weak forces to be broken at low temperature, but they are
also responsible for confiring the property of mass on particles
such as the electrons and the quarks!
There is, however
a price that must be paid for introducing new fields into
the mathematical machinery. Not only do they break symmetries,
but they can also give the vacuum state an enormous latent
energy that, curiously, behaves just like Lambda in cosmological
of having to resurrect the obsolete quantity Lambda is compounded
when unification theories are used to predict its value. Instead
of being at best a vanishingly minor ingredient to the universe,
the predicted values are in some instances 10 to the power
of 120 times greater than even the most generous astronomical
It is an unpleasant
fact of life for physicists that the best candidates for the
Theory of Everything always have to be fine-tuned to get rid
of their undesirable cosmological consequences. Without proper
adjustment, these candidates may give correct predictions
in the microscopic world of particle physics, but predict
a universe which on its largest scales looks very different
from the one we inhabit.
Like a messenger
from the depths of time, the smallness - or absence - of the
cosmological constant today is telling us something important
about how to craft a correct Theory of Everything. It is a
signpost of the way Nature's symmetries are broken at low
energy, and a nagging reminder that our understanding of the
physical world is still incomplete in some fundamental way.
A LIKELY STORY
Most physicists expect the Theory of Everything will describe
gravity the same way we now describe matter and the strong,
weak and electromagnetic forces - in the language of quantum
mechanics. Gravity is, after all, just another force in Nature.
So far this has proven elusive, due in part to the sheer complexity
of the equations of general relativity. Scientists since Einstein
have described gravity ( as well as space and time) in purely
geometric terms. Thus we speak of gravity as the "curvature
To acheive complete
unification, the dialects of quantum matter and geometric
space have to be combined into a single language. Matter appears
to be rather precisely described in terms of the language
of quantum mechanics. Quarks and electrons exchange force-carrying
particles such as photons and gluons and thereby feel the
electromagnetic and strong nuclear forces. But, gravity is
described by Einstein's theory of general relativity as a
purely geometric phenomenon. These geometric ideas of curvature
and the dimensionality of space have nothing to do with quantum
To unify these
two great foundations of physics, a common language must be
found. This new language will take some getting used to. In
it, the distinction between matter and space dissolves away
and is lost completely; matter becomes a geometric phenomenon,
and at the same time, space becomes an exotic form of matter.
work on a quantum theory of gravity by John Wheeler and Bryce
DeWitt in the 1960's, and continuing with the so-called superstring
theory of John Schwartz and Michael Green in the 1980's, a
primitive version of such a 'quantum-geometric' language is
emerging. Not surprisingly, it borrows many ideas from ordinary
A basic concept
in quantum mechanics is that every system of elementary particles
is defined by a mathematical quantity called a wave function.
This function can be used, for example, to predict the probability
of finding an electron at a particular place and time within
an atom. Rather than a single quantity, the wave function
is actually a sum over an infinite number of factors or 'states',
each representing a possible measurement outcome. Only one
of these states can be observed at a time.
By direct analogy,
in quantum gravitation, the geometry of space-time, whether
flat or curved, is only one of an infinite variety of geometric
shapes for space-time, and therefore the universe. All of
these possibilities are described as separate states in the
wave function for the universe.
But what determines
the probability that the universe will have the particular
geometry we now observe out of the infinitude of others? In
quantum mechanics, the likelihood that an electron is located
somewhere within an atom is determined by the external electric
field acting on it. That field is usually provided by the
protons in the atomic nucleus. Could there be some mysterious
field 'outside' our universe that determines its probability?
Cambridge University theorist Stephen Hawking, this is the
wrong way to look at the problem. Unlike the electron acted
upon by protons, our universe is completely self-contained.
It requires no outside conditions or fields to help define
its probability. The likelihood that our universe looks the
way it does depends only on the strengths of the fields within
internal fields, there may even be ones that we haven't yet
discovered. Could the cosmological constant be the fingerprint
in our universe of a new 'hidden' field in Nature? This new
field could affect the likelihood of our universe just as
a kettle of soup may contain unknown ingredients although
we can still precisely determine the kettle's mass.
A series of
mathematical considerations led Hawking to deduce that the
weaker the hidden field becomes, the smaller will be the value
we observe for the cosmological constant, and surprisingly,
the more likely will be the current geometry of the universe.
This, in turn,
implies that if Lambda were big enough to measure by astronomers
in the first place, our universe would be an improbable one.
Philosophically, this may not trouble those who see our cosmos
as absolutely unique, but in a world seemingly ruled by probability,
a counter view is also possible. There may, in fact, exist
an infinite number of universes, but only a minority of them
have the correct blend of physical laws and physical conditions
resembling our life-nurturing one.
his line of speculation by suggesting that, if at the so-called
Planck scale of 10 to the power of -33 centimeters the cosmos
could be thought of as an effervescent landscape, or "space-time
foam", then perhaps a natural mechanism could exist for
eliminating the cosmological constant for good.
One of the curiosities
of combining the speed of light and Newton's constant of gravitation
from general relativity, with Planck's constant from quantum
mechanics, is that they can be made to define unique values
for length, time and energy. Physicists believe that at these
Planck scales represented by 10 to the power of -33 centimeters
and 10 to the power of -43 seconds, general relativity and
quantum mechanics blend together to become a single, comprehensive
theory of the physical world: The Theory Of Everything. The
energy associated with this unification, 10 to the power of
19 billion electron volts, is almost unimaginably big by the
standards of modern technology.
itself, soon after the Big Bang, must also have passed through
such scales of space, time and energy during its first instants
of existence. Cosmologists refer to this period as the Planck
Era. It marks the earliest times that physicists are able
to explore the universe's physical state without having a
complete Theory of Everything to guide them.
Harvard University physicist Sidney Coleman has recently pursued
this thought to a possible conclusion. Instead of some mysterious
new field in Nature, maybe the Lambda term appears in our
theories because we are using the wrong starting model for
the geometry of space at the Planck scale.
on the structure of space-time had assumed that it behaved
in some sense like a smooth rubber sheet. Under the action
of matter and energy, space-time could be deformed into a
variety of shapes, each a possible geometric state for the
universe. Nearly all candidates for the Theory of Everything's
embed their fields and symmetries in such a smooth geometrical
But what if
space-time were far more complicated? One possibility is that
'wormholes' exist, filling space-time with a network of tunnels.
The fabric of space-time may have more in common with a piece
of Swiss cheese than with a smooth rubber sheet.
Coleman, the addition of wormholes to space-time means that,
like the ripples from many stones tossed into a pond, one
geometric state for the universe could interfere with another.
The most likely states ( or the biggest ripples) would win
out. The mathematics suggest that quantum wormhole interference
at the Planck scale makes universes with cosmological constants
other than zero exceedingly unlikely.
How big would
wormholes have to be to have such dramatic repurcussions?
Surprisingly, the calculations suggest that small is beautiful.
Wormholes the size of dogs and planets would be very rare.
Universes containing even a few of them would exist with a
vanishingly low probability. But wormholes smaller than 10
to the power of -33 centimeters could be everywhere. A volume
the size of a sugar cube might be teeming with uncounted trillions
of them flashing in and out of existence!
that the action of these previously ignored mini- wormholes
upon the geometric fabric of the universe that forces Lambda
to be almost exactly zero. Like quantum 'Pac Men', they gobble
up all the latent energy of space-time that would otherwise
have appeared to us in the form of a measureable cosmological
of wormholes to the description of space-time admits the possibility
that our universe did not spring into being aloof and independent,
but was influenced by how other space-times had already evolved
- ghostly mathematical universes with which we can never communicate
The most likely
of these universes had Lambda near zero, and it is these states
that beat out all other contenders. In a bizarre form of quantum
democracy, our universe may have been forced to follow the
majority, evolving into the high probability state we now
observe, without a detectable cosmological constant.
Wormholes? Wave functions? Hidden fields? The answer to the
cosmological constant's smallness, or absence, seems to recede
into the farthest reaches of abstract thinking, faster than
most of us can catch up.
as these new ideas may seem, the final pages in this unusual
story have probably not been written, especially since we
can't put any of these ideas to a direct test. It is a tribute
to Einstein's genius that even his 'biggest blunder' made
near the beginning of this century still plagues physicists
and astronomers as we prepare to enter the 21st century. Who
would ever have thought that something that may not even exist
would lead to such enormous problems!
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Historically, climate conferences have failed to create binding agreements to mitigate global warming significantly. The Durban Climate Change Conference—which took place in South Africa in Dec. 2011—is the latest example of this failure. Although some progress was made at Durban, it was hardly the major step towards climate change mitigation that many hoped for. The new “legal framework” setting binding emissions reductions won’t take effect until 2020, yet in 2010 alone CO2 emissions increased six percent. Last year saw unprecedented extreme weather and glacial melting. Now more than ever, the world’s population requires serious commitments to phasing out fossil fuels and developing renewable energy.
While this international failure is tragic, it is not surprising. Each country has unique economic challenges, values, traditions, and norms, and each is affected by climate change in a different way. One treaty cannot encompass the diverse qualities and needs of every country. Rather than wait for the magic conference that unites all nations, we should expand the role of international bodies to support, exhort, pressure, and coordinate binding legislation at the national level. A brief comparison of the United States, Bolivia, and China illustrates this need.
The environmental movement in the United States is built on unsustainable action. Since the first Earth Day in 1970, millions of people have gathered to demonstrate their concern for the environment. But this action has not translated into meaningful change because education it has not been reinforced with education. Americans do not understand how environmental degradation affects their lives. Yet the transition to greener lifestyles will occur when citizens understand what’s going on. A recent report from George Mason University reveals this problem. When asked in 2008 how likely they were to switch to energy-efficient light-bulbs, 44 percent of Americans said they would either like to or definitely would make the switch. By 2011 that had dropped to 34 percent. In 2008, 42 percent said that Americans’ energy-saving actions would reduce global warming. By 2011, only 26 percent believed this. These findings suggest that environmental awareness has not taken hold on an individual level. The environmental movement in the US needs to expand its focus to include a national educational agenda that can drive and support social action and policy.
Bolivia’s environmental movement, in contrast, is based upon Andean religion. While living in Bolivia, I learned that the idea of Pachamama—the native Quechua word for “Mother Nature”—pervades society. People want to maintain peace and reciprocity with Pachamama. If a family harvests potatoes, they must in turn sacrifice an animal to keep balance between humanity and Mother Nature. Some Bolivians see modern environmental problems as Mother Nature’s retaliation for humans abusing the Earth. Humans have cut down too many trees without giving anything in return. Now, they believe, we are paying the price with climate change, especially rapidly melting glaciers that threaten water supplies. Other environmental issues plaguing Bolivia—from destructive mining practices to deforestation—are the legacy of centuries of poverty, corruption, and exploitation. Despite this difficult history, spirituality pervades the everyday life of most citizens. Environmental education, while necessary in America, would not be effective in Bolivia just as the spirituality of Bolivians would not mesh with American culture. Bolivia’s top priorities should be more stringent industrial regulation to stop environmental degradation. It will need to develop and acquire green technologies that increase access to water while minimizing environmental harm.
China presents another contrast. It is plagued with severe pollution issues: coal accounts for 70 percent of energy use, and car emissions increase as the number of vehicles in China surpassed 100 million. Yet China has invested more in renewable energy than almost any other country. With a powerful autocracy, China can effect sweeping policy change quickly. China banned all plastic bags in 2008 and has ambitious goals to reduce energy intensity. I lived in China for three months last year, and I met with the major environmental organizations in Shanghai and learned about environmentalism in China. I saw that average Chinese citizens rejected the environmental movement because it was run by foreigners and represented a Western approach. Effective approaches to climate change mitigation will require an authentic Chinese strategy that involves both the government and the people. For example, recycling systems that close the waste loop would have a significant impact. China must also bring energy-efficient and eco-friendly products into mainstream consumer markets. The Chinese people require ecologically sound alternatives as well as education and regulation.
The disappointment at Durban should unite environmentalists in forging a new path beyond Durban because the effort to bring about binding international agreements is necessary but not sufficient. The profoundly diverse scenarios of America, Bolivia, and China show that nations are more likely to achieve substantial legislation to mitigate climate change when it is linked to their unique challenges and values. These actions can then be coordinated on an international level to ensure that global targets are met. Change must occur bottom-up as well as top-down. The failure of the Durban conference signals that it is time to rethink a global approach to environmentalism.
Chloe S. Maxmin ’15, a Crimson editorial writer, lives in Wigglesworth Hall.
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It replaces the more conventional foursided Bezier and Nurbs surfaces found in what's sometimes called "square modeling." The multisided approach helps designers get their creative juices flowing because it closely mimics how users typically work when sketching concepts with pencil and paper.
The software lessens the burden of laying-out patch networks to build up objects. Patches easily fit expected configurations of object features. Users can, for instance, simply make a triangular patch instead of shoehorning rectangular patches to fit a triangular region. Better yet, designers don't have to think in terms of patches at all and instead can focus on the feature curves of objects. That's because N-sided patches align easily with an object's natural features. And there are no collections of subpatches lurking underneath main surfaces.
The software's design flexibility makes trimming patches less important, although the facility is available. Far fewer patches are required for typical designs. An example comes from a difficult design that involved a vertex blend with six fillets of varying radii and setbacks meeting the vertex. To handle the blend, the software generated an interior blend comprising a single, 12-sided patch. This would be exceedingly difficult with a conventional modeler.
Surface input comes from curve creation and tangent "ribbon" (lofted surface) manipulation, with many supporting operations such as global deformations, reflections, snaps, and constraints. Users generate curves by defining points and so-called "handles" or tangent vectors in space. This is similar to the Adobe Illustrator method except it's in 3D. Designers can use any number of points and handles on curves without worrying about ripple effects on other boundaries, a potential problem with Nurbs curves.
Ribbons are defined by "surface handles" or cross tangents to the curve that control the slope of the surface. Aligning surface handles from two adjoining patches provides G1 (tangential) continuity between patches.
FreeDimension is essentially a surface modeler but it can calculate volumes when surfaces enclose them. A B-spline surface converter outputs standard surfaces. Also, the software accepts SketchUp models and outputs to OBJ, STL, and IGES polygon files as well as Nurbs. The program creates compact databases, which hold data such as points, tangent vectors, and pointers from the face. And user interaction is optimal because the computation order is linear in the number of features added (plotting algorithm speed against an increasing number of features would produce a straight line).
In a recent application, a hairdryer design included a rather challenging fillet that dissipated at one end. After putting together the hairdryer body, I simplified the design reducing the number of points, handles, and curves, without really changing the geometry. This yielded a betterlooking object that consisted of only three other patches. The entire body half contained only 10 patches. In that regard, FreeDimension actually rewards users for "thinking simple."
There are a few minor problems with the software. For one, it does not include a true subdivision feature. This lets users drop curves across any face, but the resulting subdivided surfaces no longer matches the original one. This encourages designers to rough in entire objects before fine-tuning. Not a bad habit overall, but some users may find it annoying. The company is working on including the feature. Also, it would be helpful to have a button for creating perfectly circular curves.
FreeDimension is easy to learn because of its few fundamental inputs. The online help with video support is useful. However, the program needs better documentation. The biggest hurdle for novices is adapting to a new way of thinking about design, that of controlling surfaces from curves, handles, and ribbons. But after users clear that hurdle, they can find surprising new design methods.
FreeDimension comes from FreeDesign Inc., 1700 Kylie Dr., Suite 120, Longmont, CO 80501, (303) 956-1158, www.freedesign-inc.com
— Kun Gao
Kun Gao is a surface-design consultant and can be reached at email@example.com.
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"This is my principal objection to life, I think: It is too easy, when alive, to make perfectly horrible mistakes."
– from "Deadeye Dick"
Kurt Vonnegut, one of the most influential American writers of the 20th century, was born on November 11, 1922, in Indianapolis. Vonnegut studied chemistry at Cornell University from 1940 to 1943. After graduating from college he enrolled in the US Army and was given the opportunity to study engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. A year later, Vonnegut was sent to Europe and was captured as a prisoner of war by the Germans during the Battle of Bulge. Vonnegut was living as a prisoner in Dresden when the city was bombed. He managed to survive the bombing because he was working in an underground meat locker. "Slaughterhouse-Five," the novel many people consider to be Vonnegut’s masterpiece, is based on his experiences during the war. After the war, Vonnegut attended the University of Chicago as a graduate student in anthropology. There he submitted his novel "Cat's Cradle" as his thesis project. Vonnegut is known for his blend of satire, science fiction, and humor.
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In Malaysia, they say a man is not really capable of defending himself against an attacker unless he knows something about bersilat. Its self-defense techniques date back to the early 15th century and today is still popular. The art enjoys such popularity that it can be practiced by anyone whether
Read More »
The Malays from Yunnan, China, first appeared in Borneo circa 3000 B.C. and had established dynasties in Indonesia and Malaysia by A.D. 100 to 200. Persia opened trade routes with the Malays in A.D. 226. Soon, visiting Indian religious priests arrived from Kerala, India. China’s Sui and Tang dynasties (A.D. 581-907) traded with Sumatra. Silat is a collective term to describe martial arts evolved in the Malay Archipelago, the word perhaps originating from Indian settlers from Kerala who practiced the stick-fighting art called silimbam. Thus, the silats of Malaysia and Indonesia are influenced by Indian and Chinese martial arts with religious influences from Hindu, Islam and Buddhism.
At the core, bersilat is a Malaysian form of Indonesia’s pentjak silat. There are several major Malaysian silats: lintan, unarmed combat; medan, weapons used in combat; and terelak, special breathing skills (perhaps a form of Chinese chi kung).
Bersilat schools are split into two branches: silat pulat (a dancelike art that is performed at weddings and festivals) and silat buah,which is a combative form that focuses on either armed or unarmed combat. Bersilat students are prohibited from disclosing the art’s secrets. Training is passed on from family to family.
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| 0.944578
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| 3.125
| 3
|
How to find your own individual values for a, b, c, & d for each color channel.
This tutorial assumes that use are somewhat familiar with panorama Tools and you already know how to find Radial Shift values to correct pin cushioning and barreling.
Chromatic aberration or distortion happens when different colors of light do not line up across the entire image. More detailed description. Every lens tends to have various amounts of chromatic distortion. For zoom lens the distortion will change with zoom. The amount of distortion changes and tends to get worse the further from the center of the image. There are two types of Chromatic aberration; Longitudinal and Lateral ( or Transverse). Lens can and do have both of these problems at the same time.
Lateral (Transverse) Chromatic Aberration is when colors are in focus but placed adjacent to each other. Lateral CA can be corrected with Panorama Tool's Radial Shift.
Longitudinal Chromatic Aberration is when colors are focused on different planes. Colors will have different degrees of sharpness. Longitudinal CA can not be corrected with Panorama Tool's Radial Shift.
Chromatic aberration is not blooming ( or purple fringe). Blooming is related to overexposing highlights using digital camera, which causes the overflow of charge from one pixel sensor to an adjacent sensor. This is ofter observed as a purple fringe. There is no opposite color as with chromatic aberration, but the fringe does radiate and get worse further from the center.
The Fisheye lens (FC-E8) I use with my Nikon CoolPix995 suffers with chromatic aberation problem greatly. Several times I have tried to come up with good values to correct this but ever time I would correct it for one location in the image it would get worse else where. Now after much trial and error I have a way for you to come up with your own values for your own lenses.
The methods below is now obsolete. The easier method to calculate chromatic distortion is using PTShift by Eric Gerds.
PTShift works with Photoshop CS using Java scripts, Photoshop Actions, and Panorama Tools to speed up the process of determining abcd parameters to use in Panorama Tools. PTShift uses the idea below but makes it much easier. In a graphical interface specify how much channel shift is needed throughout an image. Let PTShift calculate and save the parameters. The math is now hidden and unnecessary.
From your image editing software open and select file to edit and start Radial Shift from the plugin menu Filters|Panorama Tools|Correct, Select Radial Shift Press Options.
Unlike correcting for pin cushioning and barreling, chromatic distortion requires separate values for each color channel.
The formula used is r_src = a X r_dest^4 + b X r_dest^3 + c X r_dest^2 + d X r_dest
d values make linear changes to the image.
a,b, & c values make polynomial changes to the image.
The internal unit used for r_src and r_dest is the smaller of the width or height divided by 2.
With a=b=c=0 & d=1 the image will remain unchanged.
When a+b+c+d=1 the image width will remain unchanged.
I have drawn circles to show how the image is effected with the a, b, & c parameters when d is also changed, such that d = 1 - a + b +c.
At Z and X there will be no change.
At Y there will be some change. Moving from Z to X the amount of change starts at nothing and gradually get more approaching Y then descends to nothing at X again.
At W there will be most of the change.
A change in a has the most effect.
I created these graphs from an Excel spread sheet that I modified from Peter Reimer @ 4pi.org
Click and Drag the graph to see how the parameters change the image.
SRC: Use this value when source image looks like
DEST: This is the result.
|How changes in d will effect the image.
The image changes all over at the same rate.
How changes in a, b, & c will effect the image when d is also modified to keep a+b+c+d=1
There is no change at X (1 on the graph) and big changes at W. The change at Y is opposite to the change at W
For the purpose of determining the right values the best test images should have:
The image does not need to have a grid pattern but some great subject would be a tiled room, bricked walls, office building with lots of windows.
Because of the tendency to get purple fringe pictures of tree against a cloudy sky might not be a good choice.
If it is not possible to fill the entire image with texture (fisheye lens - 1/3 building, 2/3 sky) it is possible to take several pictures each covering a different part of the image. Combine the different parts of the images into one image. This is not trying to create a panorama here just a collage of detail.
Here are some details of the test image above at 200% enlargement.
Because a, b, & c values have no effect on the pixels at r_src it is best to find d first.
It help to draw two circle like mine, one the width of the image and one half of that size, both centered on the image.
|Go to the channels pallet, select the channel that has the most
shift at the circle X.
Turn the other two channels on too by clicking on the eye.
Zoom in on the area 200 to 300%
Select the move tool[V]
I have used the edge of the patio door on the left side of the image. I have choose the Red channel, because I can see some Red / Cyan edges.
Using the keyboards arrow keys, move the channel, by counting the number of key presses it takes to line them up.
You can also record a dummy action so that you can read the value.
1 pixel was not quite enough and 2 was a little too much. So I need to shrink the Red channel by about 1.5 pixels at X.
I prefer to enlarge a channel rather than shrink one. If a channel has shrunk then there is a border around the image that will not be useful. So instead of shrinking the Red channel I will enlarge the Green and Blue channels.
new_d = org_d X width/2 / (width/2 + expansion)
My image is 1536 wide. The radius is half that 768
1 X 768 / (768+1.5) = 0.99805
I'll will use 0.998 as the d value for Green and Blue channels leaving everything else alone, and see what the result looks like.
On the Channels Pallet select RGB
Undo your nudge changes and any other test that might be in your history.
Run the Radial Shift plugin.
After examining the results and testing again by nudging the channels I can still that I need to expand Blue about .5 pixel.
new Blue d = 0.998 X 768 / (768 + 0.5) = 0.99735
I end up with d values of Red=1 Green=0.998 and Blue=0.9974
Here are the details of the results after step 2. Images at 200% enlargement.
At X the image cleanup completely, but there is still a little problem at Y and lots at W.
Use the modified version of the image from Step 2.
Create a snapshot of this in the History Pallet to make it easy to get back to.
Use the same method to calculate what change is needed at both W and Y.
I find that at Y I need to shrink Red .4 pixels and at W I need to enlarge Red 2 pixels and shrink Blue 4 pixels.
Again I do not want to shrink the image at W so in stead of shrinking Blue, I will enlarge Red and Green. That make 6 pixels. I am testing this in the corner with and need to move channel 6 pixels over and 6 pixels up or SQRT(6^2+6^2) = 8.5 pixels diagonally. The 4 pixels over and 4 up for Green becomes 5.6 pixels diagonally.
At Y I need to shrink Red .4
At W I need to Enlarge Red 8.5 pixels, Enlarge Green 5.6 pixels.
Distance Y from center is width/4 = 1536/4 = 384
My measurement for W was not in the exact corner but 83 pixels in and 76 pixels down. Plug in the number into this formula SQRT( (width/2-offset_w)^2 + (height/2-offset_h)^2 ). This make my distance from center to this point.
I took the formula r_src = a X r_dest^4 + b X r_dest^3 + c X r_dest^2 + d X r_dest and substituted d with 1 + a + b + c and then solved for each of a, b, and c. d is also recalculated each time to maintain the size of the image at X.
SQRT( (1536/2 - 83 )^2 +(2048/2 - 76)^2 )
1170 pixels from the center
For now we will use the image from Step 2 which is already corrected at X.
At this point we want to make sure the image does not change at X, so with any change to a, b, & c there must be a change to d.
These changes will enlarge Red channel to make it line up at W or Y but different changes are need at each. With the Green channel we do not want any change at Y.
|Fix 8.5 pixels Red at W||Fix 0.4 pixels Red at Y||Fix 5.6 pixels Green at W|
For the Red channel the a correction is closest together. But Red a as -0.00157 will over compensate at Y. The same is true for the Green a as -0.00104 Changing a has the least effect at Y.
Changes in a cause the least effect at Y and greatest at W
By adding a little change to c which has the greater effect at Y and less at W we can satisfy both places. For Red if c is set to 0.0005 then we calculate a = -0.00184 and d = 1.00134
Doing something similar to Green. If we set c to 0.001 then we calculate a = -0.00159 and d = 1.00059 and the change at Y is virtually negated. I can verify this on the Excel spreadsheet.
The results were really close but at W, Red needs to be enlarges .5 pixels and Green decreased .5 pixels.
Make sure there is no change to the image at X. If there is then d was not updated correctly.
Here are some details of the results after step 3 image above at 200% enlargement. Place mouse over image to see the original before correction.
There is a little bit of color still showing in the last image at W but this is the best results I have ever had.
Combine the numbers from Step 2 and 3 These can also be combined with pin cushioning or barreling corrections that You may have.
Multiply the d values to update the values in Step 3.
R 1.0 X 1.00143 = 1.00143
G 0.998 X 1.0005 = 0.9985
B 0.9974 X 1.0 = 0.9974
Here are my before and after shot.
I hope this was of some help. I welcome any feedback or comments you may have with this tutorial.
Page last modified October 20, 2007
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Flowering head of Meadow Foxtail
with stamens exserted at anthesis
There are 7 subfamilies:
The grass family, Poaceae, is one of the largest plant families, and, to humans, perhaps the most important, as it includes agricultural grains such as wheat, rice, maize (corn), and sugar cane. The Poaceae comprise about 600 genera and perhaps ten thousand species. It is estimated that grasslands cover about 20 percent of the earth's land area.
While the Poaceae family comprises those species that are botanically regarded to be "true grasses," the term "grass" is also used for many plants that are not part of the Poaceae family but may be similar in appearance or have grass as part of their name. An overview of these other "grasses" is presented in the section on "grasses" outside the Poaceae family.
Grains, which provided a preservable source of carbohydrates plus nutrients and some protein, were among the plants first domesticated by humans; the grains became key factors contributing to the human diet and also the economy, and hence to the development of civilization.
Grasses, like orchids and palms are flowering plants (angiosperms) having only one cotyledon, or embryo leaf, and are called monocotyledons. Also included among the angiosperms are the Dicotyledons, have which two cotyledons or embryo leaves. Although the largest family in the Monocotyledon group (and in the flowering plants) is the orchids, the most economically important family in this group is the grasses, which include the true grains such as rice, wheat, maize, and rye. Unlike Dicotyledons, the true grasses are specialized for wind pollination and generally produce small flowers.
Most grasses grow low to the ground, although a few, such as corn, sugar cane, and bamboo, are tall.
Grasses generally have the following characteristics:
Grass leaves grow from the base of the blade. This enables them to quickly grow back after being eaten by animals, or mowed by a lawn mower. Most grasses send out creeping stems, called stolons if they grow above the ground and rhizomes if they grow below the ground, from which new plants grow. Some grass species are annual, dying at the end of each growing season and leaving seed to grow a new generation the next season, while some are perennial, living for more than one or two years.
Most grasses grow in places that are too dry for forests. Grasslands are areas dominated by grass. Among the natural types of grasslands are prairies, steppes, and savannas. Prairies are grasslands found in temperate climates with moderate rainfall, and they have taller grasses than other grasslands. Prairies are found in the American Midwest, eastern Argentina, Hungary, and northeastern China. Steppes are short grasslands found in dryer areas with cold winters. They are found in western North America, Russia, and central Asia. Savannas are grasslands with widely spaced trees. They are found in tropical, subtropical, or temperate areas with seasonal rainfall. They cover large areas of Africa, India, North and South America, and Australia.
Pastures are grasslands where forest growth is hindered by human activity, not climate.
Many animals depend on the leaves and grains of grasses for food. Grasslands support a rich community of living things, from large herbivores such as bison, kangaroos, and antelopes, down to insects and worms. Many other types of plants besides grasses also grow in grasslands including trees, shrubs, and annual wildflowers.
Early humans hunted in grasslands and ate the grains of grasses. About 10,000 years ago, people in the Middle East started to plant wheat, barley, and other grasses and harvest the grains. Over many generations of cultivation, the plants gradually changed and became different from their wild ancestors. Many varieties became dependent on humans for survival because their seeds became more tightly attached and had to be beaten off by threshing rather than scattering naturally. The same thing was happening with rice in Asia and with corn in the New World. At the same time, animals were also being domesticated and soon sheep, goats, and cattle were grazing on wild grasslands and providing food for humans.
Today, most human food comes from grasses, directly as grain or indirectly as feed for meat and dairy producing animals. A great part of the world's grasslands have now been converted to human use. In the United States and Canada, almost all of the old prairies are now corn and wheat fields. Cattle graze on much of the steppes and savannas. Besides food, grasses also provide humans with fuel and materials for construction and industry. They prevent erosion, decorate gardens, and provide a surface for parks and sports fields.
The wheat genus, Triticum, comprises about 30 species. Two species of wild wheat, wild einkorn, T. boeoticum, and wild emmer, T. dicoccoides, still grow in the Middle East. Wheat is an annual, as are all other grasses grown for grain, since they produce more seeds than perennials. It grows about 0.6 to 1.5 meters (2 to 5 feet) tall. Wheat is grown primarily in areas that are too cold for other crops. China, India, the United States, and Russia are the biggest wheat growing countries. Wheat grains are ground up into flour, which is used to make bread, pasta, and other foods. Wheat straw is used to feed animals.
Almost all the cultivated rice is Asian rice, Oryza sativa. There is also African rice, O. glaberrima, which was first domesticated in West Africa about 3,500 years ago. Rice grows in a warm, humid climate and needs lots of water. Rice fields, or paddies, are flooded and drained several times during the growing season. About 90 percent of the world's rice crop is grown in Asia where it makes up the largest part of most people's diets. Rice plants stand about 1.2 to 1.8 meters (4 to 6 feet) tall; however, newer varieties have been bred that are only around 0.9 meters (3 feet) tall in order to prevent them from falling over as the grain matures, which had been a major cause of crop loss.
Corn, Zea mays, or maize as it is called in most places outside of the United States and Canada, was first domesticated about ten thousand years ago in Central America. It may be the result of hybridization of two or more wild species. Its cultivation spread throughout North and South America so that by the year 1000 it was grown from Chile and Argentina to southern Canada. Corn was introduced to the Old World by Columbus and within a hundred years it was a well-established crop in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Corn can grow as tall as 9 meters (23 feet), but most varieties are about 2.5 meters (9 feet) tall.
In the United States and Canada, most corn is grown for food for cattle and other livestock. Worldwide, much corn is consumed directly by people as whole corn, corn meal, and as corn starch, corn oil, and corn syrup used as ingredients in other foods. Corn is also used to make alcohol and many industrial products. The United States is the largest corn grower, producing about two-fifths of the world's total crop, with China second.
Sugar Cane, Saccharum officinarum (hybridized with other Saccharum species), was first cultivated in Southeast Asia and neighboring islands about eight thousand years ago. From there, it spread to India and then to China and to Europe and the New World. Unlike the grains, it is a perennial; the stems can be harvested each year for up to ten years. In early times, and still today in areas where it is grown, people chewed on the soft inner pulp of the stems to get the sweet juice. The process of extracting the juice and crystallizing it into sugar started in India at least 2,500 years ago; this is the main use of sugar cane today. It is also being grown to produce alcohol as a substitute for gasoline, especially in Brazil. Brazil, India, China, Cuba, Pakistan, and Mexico are the leading sugar cane growers. Rum is producing solely sugar cane products.
The various species of bamboo, members of the subfamily Bambusoideae, are not cultivated but are very useful to humankind. Bamboo mostly grows in the tropics and subtropics, from the southeastern United States through most of South America, in Africa, and in southern and eastern Asia and northern Australia. Some species can grow as tall as 40 meters (130 feet), making them the tallest grass by far. From prehistoric times, people have used the woody stems of bamboo as a building material and to make many kinds of tools and other useful things. In recent years, it has gained popularity as a flooring material and even as a substitute for steel reinforcement bars in concrete construction.
Lawns developed from pastureland used to graze sheep and other animals. The animals kept the grass clipped to an even level, which looked nice and provided a pleasant surface for strolling, resting, and sports. Toward the end of the Middle Ages, Europeans began to maintained lawns for their own sake rather than mainly to feed animals. In modern times, especially in the twentieth century in the United States, as more people owned homes and as cities and schools built parks and sports fields the amount of land area devoted to lawns increased tremendously. Christina Milesa, in a NASA sponsored study, estimated the area of the lawns of the United States to be about 128,000 square kilometers (almost 32 million acres). This is three times the area used to grow irrigated corn in the country. It is also estimated that 50 to 70 percent of U.S. residential water is used for landscaping, mostly to water lawns.
Lawns are planted with various species of perennial grasses (Kentucky bluegrass, Poa pratensis, is one of the most commonly used) and sometimes with clover and other plants. Besides their appearance, they also have the benefit of cooling the air around homes, preventing erosion, filtering the air, and helping to absorb unwanted noise.
Although botanists recognize members of the Poaceae family as "true grasses," there are other plants not part of this family that are also commonly called "grasses." These include:
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:
Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.
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St. Louis - Nov 26, 2001
An analysis of high-resolution topographic maps and photographs, as well as recent studies of Martian meteorites suggest the presence of water on the Red Planet for a longer time scale than scientists had previously believed.
Brian M. Hynek, doctoral candidate in earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, and Roger J. Phillips, Ph.D., professor of earth and planetary sciences and Director of Washington University's McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, analyzed topographic maps of the planet (accurate to within half a meter) that are based on data returned from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) on the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission.
Phillips also used earlier analyses of Martian meteorites to help constrain models of the ancient climate of Mars. The meteorites contain weathering deposits produced from liquid water filling cracks and voids in the rock within the last billion years. This work led to a better understanding of when, and how much, water was on Mars in the past.
"Certainly water was circulating in the upper part of the Martian crust within the last billion years," said Hynek. "And even until today, water seems to be an important agent in some places on the surface of Mars that would argue for very near surface water on a lot of the planet."
A recent discovery by the imaging camera team on MGS indicates the presence of small gullies at high latitudes on Mars that were formed in the very recent past and may still be active today. Phillips and his colleague, Michael Mellon, Ph.D., of the University of Colorado, modeled the properties of Martian soil and concluded that the gullies were probably formed by liquid water, which may be present only several hundred feet beneath the surface Mars. This work was published in the October Journal of Geophysical Research.
The research was presented on Nov. 7 in an invited talk for the 113th annual meeting of the Geological Society of America. The research is primarily supported by NASA grants.
Evidence for the ancient presence of water on Mars has existed for many years. Scientists long have accepted the river valley networks, ancient lakes, and outflow channels as indicative of surface water flowing at some time in the planet's four-billion-old plus history.
"There has always been evidence from very ancient valley networks that water was there at some time extremely early on," Hynek said. "But new evidence from meteorites, young gullies, and better topographic resolution is helping to clarify a more precise time frame for water on the planet."
Hynek and Phillips focused some of their analysis in two predominant regions of Mars, the Tharsis rise and the Arabia bulge. The Tharsis rise dominates the western hemisphere of Mars. It is a broad, elevated region rising up to 10 kilometers above its surroundings and encompassing over 30 million square kilometers. The rise is the site of large-scale volcanism and extensive fracturing of the crust. Due to the extreme pressure of this rise on the planet's surface, the opposite side of Mars bulges outward, causing a deformation known as the Arabia bulge.
River valley networks flow all over the Arabia bulge. The prevailing theory is that these intricate networks represent evidence for water once flowing on the surface of Mars. Although researchers have known about these formations for many years, they had no idea of their greater significance until they looked at the high-resolution topographic map.
"Most of the valley networks flow downhill from the bulge, and this argues that the valley networks follow the topography induced by the massive load of Tharsis," Hynek explained.
According to Hynek, the valley networks came after Tharsis warped the planet because they are following the topography formed by Tharsis. The argument is that during emplacement, or formation, of Tharsis approximately 4 billion years ago, volatiles from volcanoes probably created an atmosphere that would have led to a hydrogeologic cycle to help form the valley networks. This work was reported in the journal Science earlier this year.
"MOLA data are starting to put together a coherent picture of early Mars that couldn't be done or tested before," Hynek said.
The search for definitive evidence of water represents a focus in a NASA debate over proposed landing sites for the 2003 rover mission to the planet. Hynek and Phillips are involved in the landing site selection process for the mission. Their recent research has involved the analysis of a top candidate landing site that has distinctive minerals, which may be indicative of extensive water. Geologic mapping of the deposit, combined with topographic and compositional analyses, has helped to constrain how and when it formed.
"It is likely that these materials formed in middle Martian history, possibly from the circulation of groundwater or hydrothermal springs," Hynek said. This is additional evidence for a long-lived history of water on Mars.
Hynek noted that this unique region of Mars would almost certainly be chosen for the 2003 mission. "The battle cry for the upcoming rover mission is: 'Follow the water'," Hynek said.
Washington University in St. Louis
McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences
Mars MOLA Data
Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express
Mars Without Liquid Water
by Dr Nick Hoffman
Melbourne - Oct 23, 2001
The main evidence for liquid water on Mars is the past development of giant flood channels that have been seen for the last 25 years as proof of the escape of water from the subsurface. All the models for modern and ancient Mars are based on the premise that there was once liquid water available, and perhaps even an ocean.
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The Immaculate Heart of Mary represents the Virgin Mary as “Mother of Sorrows,’ the grieving mother, regarded as a symbol of deep compassion for humanity.
The heart of Mary is a very old form of Catholic devotion, with many layers of symbolism. Much of the present symbolism of the heart and its attendant devotions are derived from Marian apparitions- appearances of the Virgin in the visions of Saints and devotees. The devotions are traced to St.s Anselm and Bernard of Clairvaux in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and popularised in the seventeenth century by Saint Jean Eudes.
A common devotional image of the Immaculate Heart
The Immaculate Heart is almost invariably pictured aflame, ringed with roses or lilies (symbolizing heavenly joy and purity, respectively) The sword piercing the heart illustrates a verse from the Gospel of Luke: “And a sword will go through your heart; so that the secret thoughts of men may come to light”
A heart pierced by seven swords, which represent the “seven sorrows” of the Virgin, symbolize seven sorrowful events described in the New Testament. The seven swords are the emblem of Mater Dolorosa, or the Lady of Sorrows.
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GDEST 2008 Conference Sessions
Theme 1 - Observing Africa
Development of an International Pop@Risk Database
Joshua Comenetz, Census Bureau, USA
The U.S. Census Bureau has a long history of producing annual population estimates by age and sex for every country in the world at the first (province/state) and in some cases second or lower administrative levels. Through the populations at risk (Pop@Risk) effort, the Census Bureau plans to improve access to current international geo-demographic data with the goal of contributing to response to natural disasters and human-induced crises, in Africa and worldwide.
Over the past decade, digital demographic data, boundary maps in GIS formats, and satellite images have become increasingly available. Advances in data accuracy and spatial precision can be achieved by incorporating census data and digital base maps at lower administrative levels, application of improved subnational demographic projection methods, and through use of satellite images to map populated places. Image data can also assist in developing demographic estimates for countries that have no recent census data or limit access to demographic data. This would be of particular value in much of Africa, where population changes and redistribution mean that census results become outdated rapidly. Provided via an internet portal, the Pop@Risk database could be used to improve the efficiency of response to climatic disasters, famines, and other natural or human-induced crises through provision of demographic estimates that are more geographically and temporally accurate than has previously been possible.
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This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
All the ickiest creatures you can think of are on the run these days in the Salt Lake City School District, and not because the district is flooding the hallways with scary-sounding pesticides. In fact, the district is doing just the opposite.
It has reduced pesticide use by approximately 90 percent and more than halved the number of pest complaints at three pilot schools by participating in a program that makes children's health the priority. Chemicals are sprayed less often, and mice, bats and other critters are kept at bay using a sensible preventive approach.
"If we could bottle Salt Lake's commitment to children and their competence in doing this, we could help kids all over the United States," said Marc Lame, an entomologist from Indiana University who worked on the project.
Salt Lake is the only district in Utah using the approach and is the first in the Rocky Mountains region to win recognition from the Environmental Protection Agency. The program, known as Integrated Pest Management, launched districtwide this fall. It is modeled after one started in a school district in Indiana.
Pests and pesticides can damage children's health. The No. 1 asthma trigger for schoolchildren in inner cities is the cockroach, Lame said. As the insects' shells decompose, a protein gets in the air and triggers the disease. Mice dander and decomposing feces can do the same.
Spraying pesticides has its own share of problems. Most pesticides are neurotoxins, Lame said, which have been associated with developmental problems in children.
"Pesticides . . . sit there and we have people, kids and students that come in contact with that," said Ricardo Zubiate, the district's IPM coordinator.
So instead of being a regular thing, spraying of chemicals to kill pests is done on an as-needed basis now in Salt Lake.
The district is educating staff about how to discourage insects and animals from turning schools into hotels. That is done by keeping food in sealed containers and removing clutter and cardboard that might make a good breeding ground. The district has worked to seal gaps in buildings that could make inviting doorways for creative critters. Custodians are expected to keep a pest ''log,'' a record of whatever pests they see evidence of.
At West High, the district is working to seal the building so bats can't get in. A vole problem was eliminated at Northwest Middle School by taking better care of turf around playgrounds. Some schools' visiting mice have gone away after food was made inaccessible.
''If we change our behavior, it results in attracting fewer pests,'' said Gregg Smith, the director of facility services for the Salt Lake district.
Not only is the program keeping kids and schools healthier, it is likely to save the district dollars in the long run, officials say. The district's efforts may be used as a model for others in Utah and the Rocky Mountain region.
"It is really impressive in our world of children's environmental health protection that Salt Lake got it," Lame said.
* JULIA LYON can be contacted at email@example.com or at 801-257-8748.
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Posted by: Loren Coleman on November 29th, 2006
Please click on the book cover above for a fuller-sized version.
Professor Mike Morwood, Archaeology, University of New England, Australia, contacted me tonight to let me know that Random House (Australia) has published his new book on Homo floresiensis. The name of the book is The Discovery of the Hobbit: The Scientific Breakthrough that Changed the Face of Human History.
Morwood’s book is with Penny van Oosterzee, who is one of Australia’s best science writers, and is the recipient of the 1997 Eureka Science Book Prize for her book Where Worlds Collide: The Wallace Line. She is most-remembered for her highly-praised 2000 book, Dragon Bones: The Story of Peking Man. That volume detailed the emotional and compelling story of the Chinese Homo erectus. It is described as "a riveting historical account of the discovery of Peking Man, from the excavation of one small fossilized molar to the mysterious disappearance of the fossils at the beginning of the Second World War."
Mike Morwood’s and Penny van Oosterzee’s book has become one of the year’s most highly anticipated new books on palaeoanthropology, and specifically the subject of Homo floresiensis. The Hobbits are able to generate media attention globally. These 3-feet-tall hominids are so interesting to the general public, it seems clear that Morwood’s and van Oosterzee’s book will be an immediate success.
Morwood tells me the publication date is 2007 but, in Australia, at least, it will be available in bookshops before Christmas and can be ordered now.
The American version by the Smithsonian/Harper Collins, entitled A New Human, will be out by May 1, 2007.
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
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War Related Illness and Injury Study Center
Some Veterans who return from deployment have health questions about depleted uranium. Uranium is a heavy metal that occurs naturally in the earth's crust and is found in air, water, soil and food. Depleted Uranium (DU) is what is left over after the uranium is processed. As a result, DU is a weakly radioactive substance with 40% less radioactivity than natural uranium.
Because of its density, low cost, and ability to protect service men and women, DU is used by the U.S. military to make armor on tanks and other military supplies stronger. The first time DU was used by the US on a large scale was during the Persian Gulf War in the early 1990's.
DU that remains outside the body is not a health hazard. DU is not a health concern unless it enters the body. Just being in the area of tanks or supplies made with DU will not result in DU exposure. Veterans who are in close vicinity to fires or explosions that involve DU munitions or supplies may be at risk for DU exposure if they inhaled or ingested some of the DU fragments or if they sustained a shrapnel injury as a result of the explosion.
If DU enters the body, it may remain in the body. Since 1991, the VA has tracked the health of 1991 Gulf War Veterans who were involved in friendly fire incidents involving DU munitions. To date, no adverse health effects have been noted. The health of this group of Veterans will continue to be monitored. Studies on people with very high exposures to DU over a long period of time (uranium miners and processors) have shown that the main health effect of high doses of depleted uranium is on the kidneys.
If you are concerned about DU exposure, it is important that you talk to your primary care provider. He or she can look at the type and length of your potential exposure to DU and the chance that you may still have DU in your body. You can work as a team to see if any further follow-up testing is indicated.
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Rome - An Italian researcher says the key to solving the enigmas of Mona Lisa lies in her eyes.
Silvano Vinceti claims he has found the letter "S" in the woman's left eye, the letter "L" in her right eye, and the number "72" under the arched bridge in the backdrop of the painting.
According to the researcher, the symbols open up new leads to identifying the model, dating the painting and show that Leonardo da Vinci had an interest in religion and mysticism.
The symbols are not visible to the naked eye. Vinceti said on Wednesday that they are "very small, painted with a tiny brush and subjected to the wear and tear of time."
A Da Vinci scholar has expressed doubt on the new findings, calling them "unsubstantial."
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Quotes can be very inspirational and moving. They can help us get through a difficult time or make us smile wider on an already good day. Quotes can embody the deep power of words and prove memorable for people to remember their entire lives. Quotes can be found about practically any subject and they are often interpretative and can be used to start deep discussions. For children who are homeschooled, quotes and quote-study can serve as an interesting addition to the literary curriculum. Below is a list of quotes about laughter:
*Note: All quotes were found online—at BrainyQuote.com--with credit to their speaker written below each one.
A day without laughter is a day wasted.
There is little success where there is little laughter.
You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humor in anything, even poverty, you can survive it.
Laughter is America's most important export.
Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.
We need more kindness, more compassion, more joy, more laughter. I definitely want to contribute to that.
I just got one last thing, I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get you're emotions going.
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It can be daunting to learn about a new topic when you look at the literature and realize that thousands of papers have been published on the topic. This is especially true for techniques that have transformed scientific research.
Quantitative PCR (qPCR) also known as Real-Time PCR (RT-PCR) has revolutionized the study of gene expression by allowing the ‘real-time’ detection and quantitation of a gene(s) of interest.
The breadth of literature available on qPCR is astounding and finding a good starting point can be difficult. So what you really need to get started is a list of the most important/influential papers on the topic. But never fear! To help you out, I have compiled a list of 8 of the most essential papers and reference guides about qPCR. Here goes:
This is a great starting point if you have never performed qPCR before or are training a junior colleague in the technique. It gives a good overview of the principles involved, how you go about designing assays and once they have been performed, how to carry out the data analysis. Qiagen and BioRad both have similar guides on their websites. It can be particularly helpful for a newbie to use the reference guide produced by the company whose reagents you are working with.
This widely cited article from Nature protocols is aimed at scientists whom are performing qPCR on a regular basis and are looking for more specifics. The authors detail protocols that highlight the necessary technical steps required to produce accurate, reliable and reproducible data. They also flag issues that can impede this and offer strong troubleshooting advice.
These papers address the use of reference genes such as GAPDH and beta-actin and how their expression can actually vary in response to experimental conditions. A number of examples are given in the first paper and both papers discuss the use of multiple reference genes for more accurate normalisation of data.
Articles 5 and 6 are application notes from Life technologies. The first describes what Ct is, the factors that can influence it and how to evaluate the performance of a real-time PCR reaction by assessing efficiency, precision & sensitivity. The second focuses on PCR efficiency and the importance of following strict protocols.
Little chemical, BIG SMELL: Leave it to a pinch of beta-mercaptoethanol to overpower the lab. While not every chemical has such a pungent reminder about where it should be handled (hint: not at the bench), a good rule of thumb is to make use of your chemical fume hood whenever possible! We looked recently at […]
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ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease)
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. The progressive degeneration of these nerve cells, or motor neurons, eventually leads to their death. With the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement lost, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.
Early symptoms of ALS often include increasing muscle weakness, especially involving the arms and legs, speech, swallowing or breathing. It is important to remember that ALS is a quite variable disease; no two people will have the same experience. While some patients may deteriorate rapidly, in others the disease will progress at a very slow rate.
Although the cause of ALS is not completely understood and no cure is currently available, recent years have brought a wealth of new scientific understanding regarding the physiology of this disease. Significant breakthroughs in ALS management can help prolong survival while helping people maintain as much independence as possible.
Muscular Dystrophy (MD)
There are several kinds of muscular dystrophy, all of them genetic. Although they vary in severity, all are characterized by progressive weakness and degeneration of the skeletal muscles that control movement. Some forms of MD are seen in infancy or childhood, while others may not appear until middle age or later.
Duchenne is the most common form of MD and while it primarily affects boys, girls may pass the disease on to their offspring. Caused by the absence of dystrophin, a protein involved in maintaining the integrity of muscle, Duchenne begins in early childhood and progresses rapidly. Most boys are unable to walk by age 12, and later need a respirator to breathe.
Becker MD is a similar but less severe form of Duchenne.
Facioscapulohumeral MD usually begins in the teenage years. It causes progressive weakness in muscles of the face, arms, legs, and around the shoulders and chest and can result in symptoms that vary from mild to disabling.
Myotonic MD is the disorder's most common adult form and is characterized by prolonged muscle spasms, cataracts, cardiac abnormalities, and endocrine disturbances. Individuals with myotonic MD have long, thin faces, drooping eyelids, and a swan-like neck.
Myasthenia gravis is a neuromuscular disease that causes weakness in the skeletal muscles of the body, in particular those that control eye and eyelid movement, facial expression, chewing, talking, and swallowing. In some cases the muscles that control breathing and neck and limb movements may also be affected.
Myasthenia gravis is caused by a genetic defect in the transmission of nerve impulses to the affected muscles. The onset of the disorder may be sudden and because symptoms mimic those of other neuromuscular disorders, the problem is often not immediately diagnosable.
Today, myasthenia gravis can largely be controlled by medication, and most individuals with the disorder can enjoy a normal life expectancy. In severe cases, surgical removal of the thymus gland may reduce or even eliminate symptoms.
Spinal Muscular Atrophy
Spinal muscular atrophy is a genetic disorder in which loss of nerve cells in the spinal cord (motor neurons) affects the muscles that control voluntary movement. Caused by a deficiency of an essential motor neuron protein, the disease usually begins during infancy and early childhood and may vary in severity, depending on the age of onset. Generally, disorders that begin in early infancy progress rapidly and have a higher mortality rate. Except for cases with severely compromised respiratory function, most patients experience normal life spans with varied degrees of disability.
Treatment of spinal muscular atrophy may consist of medical management of symptoms as well as physical therapy and assistive devices to maintain optimum mobility.
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Open Ocean protection and Rio+20
Promises made at previous summits have not delivered enough protection for the oceans — campaigners are pushing for better results from Rio+20, writes Prime Sarmiento.
This month, scientists, campaigners and many developing nations are optimistic they will set in motion a deal on the conservation of the high seas at Rio+20 (UN Conference on Sustainable Development) in Brazil.
They argue that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), agreed 30 years ago, does not address the welfare of the vast areas of ocean that are 'beyond national jurisdiction'.
Over the past decade, research has increasingly revealed the importance of marine life in the high seas for, among other things, maintaining the health of seas closer to shorelines.
Now many delegations want Rio+20 to agree to negotiations on a legal framework that might lead to protected areas in the high seas.
The latest round of 'informal-informal' negotiations for Rio+20, which finished last week (29 May—2 June) left a variety of opinions on how successful the conference will be at achieving such protection.
Read more at ENN Affiliate, SciDevNet.
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The split between Shite's and Sunnis began soon after the death of Mohammed.Ê The Sunnis believe that Ali was the last of the rightly guided caliphs ( successors) to Mohammed. The Shiites believe that Ali was the only successor and all future successors should come through his line. The Sunnis do not believe there can be successors to Mohammed.
Today there are important differences between the two major groups in Islam- Those differences are somewhat similar to the differences between Catholics and Protestant in Christianity. The Shia's have supreme religious leaders similar to the Pope who is considered to be a descendant of Ali. The Sunnis do not have one religious leader, instead have distinguished scholars and jurists who issue opinions.
The Shia's glorify Ali and have a strong identification with suffering and martyrdom. On a daily bases the two groups have different calls to prayer, pray somewhat differently.There additional customs that differentiate between the two groups.
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Researchers from Stanford University analysed 237 existing studies, 17 of which were ‘human’ studies of organic and conventional diets – including six randomised trials – and the rest of which compared nutrient and contamination levels in organic and conventional foods.
They found that there was no strong evidence that organic foods “are more nutritious or carry fewer health risks than conventional alternatives”.
“Some believe that organic food is always healthier and more nutritious,” said co-author Crystal Smith-Spangler MD, MS, an instructor in Stanford’s Division of General Medical Disciplines. “We were a little surprised that we didn’t find that.”
Looking at meat and poultry products, the report’s authors said there was no significant difference between vulnerability to symptomatic campylobacter infection among populations that consumed organic meat and those that consumed conventional meats.
Bacterial contamination of retail chicken and pork was found to be “common but unrelated to farming methods”, while E.coli contamination risk did not differ between organic and conventional produce.
Researchers did find there was a lower risk of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in organic chicken and pork, but said the clinical significant of this was “unclear”.
Co-author Dena Bravata, MD, MS, a senior affiliate with Stanford’s Center for Health Policy, said that by publishing the findings, Stanford was not intending to discourage people from buying organic produce. “If you look beyond health effects, there are plenty of other reasons to buy organic instead of conventional,” she said, pointing out that concerns over the environment and animal welfare might be other reasons to choose organic products.
The researchers also admitted that their report may be limited by the heterogeneity of the studies they reviewed, due to differences in testing methods, physical factors affecting the food – such as weather and soil types – and big variations in organic farming methods.
“What I learned is there’s a lot of variation between farming practices,” said Smith-Spangler. “It appears there are a lot of different factors that are important in predicting nutritional quality and harms.”
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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Theme of Identity
"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" raises interesting questions about how identity is crafted. How much of our identity is shaped by the opinions of those around us, and how much of it comes from ourselves? To make this a little more concrete, delve into the specific case of Walter Mitty, an absent-minded and inept man in real life – a stud in his own mind. How do these two halves compete and coexist? Which is the real Walter Mitty, and who has the final say in determining this man's identity? These are the questions explored in Thurber's story.
Questions About Identity
- Does Walter undergo any changes as the story progresses?
- Is Walter "sane" or "insane"?
- In this story, who gets to define who Walter Mitty really is: Walter, or the people around him?
- What does Mitty's age have to do with the way we view his character? Could you have a similar story about a daydreaming younger man, or would this fundamentally change its meaning?
Chew on This
"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is ultimately about the ways in which we craft our own identities.
Walter Mitty is headed for a psychological breakdown.
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Bill Gates on competition (highlights)
Linux is UNIX, and it’s a form of UNIX. It’s not like anybody invented a new way of doing an operating system. It’s like Free BSD was, and that existed even 10 years ago. The open source approach is valuable for certain types of development. We’ve always seen software coming out of the universities that prototype those things, and it’s part of the ecosystem of our industry that that was there, and used, and people would, if the licensing model allowed it, if it was actually an open license, which the open source license is not open because you can’t take it and ever use it in a job-creating activity.—Bill Gates
One thing to understand about the GPL is that you can’t just partially license—somebody can’t go and just license IBM Linux or Red Hat Linux, the way the GPL works, if you license anything at all you have to license it all.—Bill Gates
[The GPL being the] unusual license that is the one that has the word open, because it’s not open, is called the GPL.—Bill Gates
Certainly there’s no question that, particularly in some of the more cloning-type activities, intellectual property from many, many companies, including Microsoft, is being used in open source software. It’s pretty much when people clone things that often becomes unavoidable.—Bill Gates, Executive Q&A 2003 Financial Analyst Meeting
[T]here are problems for commercial users relative to the [GPL], and we are just making sure people understand the GPL.
[I]f you say to people, ‘Do you understand the GPL? (then) they’re pretty stunned when the Pac-Man-like nature of it is described to them.
[The GPL] breaks that cycle — that is, it makes it impossible for a commercial company to use any of that work or build on any of that work.
--Bill Gates, Gates wades into open-source debate
The GPL in our view should be used, which is the license that says you can’t enhance it and create a commercial product. Our view is that it should be used very narrowly, and we think people should think twice. So if you have government funded research, it’s ironic that then if it goes into that GPL you can’t create a company that creates jobs that pays taxes. And so most of the countries outside the U.S. have stayed away from that because they want to get the ecosystem that we have.
Software written in universities should be free software. But it shouldn’t be GPL software. GPL software is like this thing called Linux, where you can never commercialize anything around it; that is, it always has to be free.—Bill Gates, Government Leaders' Conference Remarks by Bill Gates
In recent years, there’s been a lot of people clamoring to reform and restrict intellectual-property rights. It started out with just a few people, but now there are a bunch of advocates saying, “We’ve got to look at patents, we’ve got to look at copyrights.” What’s driving this, and do you think intellectual-property laws need to be reformed?
[Gates:] No, I’d say that of the world’s economies, there’s more that believe in intellectual property today than ever. There are fewer communists in the world today than there were. There are some new modern-day sort of communists who want to get rid of the incentive for musicians and moviemakers and software makers under various guises. They don’t think that those incentives should exist.
--Bill Gates Interview, Gates taking a seat in your den
[Open Source creates a license] so that nobody can ever improve the software.
US Department of Justice
This anti-trust thing will blow over. We haven’t changed our business practices at all. [May change e-mail retention policies]—Bill Gates, From usdoj.gov
I’ve never had a customer mention Linux to me.—Bill Gates, From usdoj.gov
Supportive Entities
Comes vs Microsoft exhibits
- Bill Gates on COM+ and UNIX
- Bill Gates: "We should look at even patenting the things we do add to help Office."
- Bill Gates: Ensuring Trident does not "commoditize our Office editing asset"
- Bill Gates: “Our Most Potent Operating System Competitor is Linux”
- Bill Gates Mocks Free Software by Substituting “Proprietary” With “Commercial”
- Bill Gates on C# as “Key Element in Preventing Commodization by Linux”
- Nathan Myhrvold/Bill Gates Use “Embrace and Extend” Against “Making it Easy for People to Do Competitive Operating Systems”
- Bill Gates’ “Security as a lock in” Memo (to Discriminate Against Non-Windows Operating Systems)
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American researchers have discovered that a germ strain found in E. coli, which causes painful urinary infections in women, could come from chickens.
The study, conducted by a team of scientists at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, challenged the long suspected belief that urinary tract infections (UTIs) are caused by a person’s own E. coli bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract.
When researchers investigated further, they discovered that E. coli found in poultry was strikingly similar to those found in women.
Researchers analysed 320 samples of genetic genomes of E. coli found in humans and compared them to E.coli in different types of meat, including beef and pork. They discovered the E. coli in chicken best matched that in women.
“Chicken may be a reservoir for the E. coli that cause infections like urinary tract infections,” study author Amee Manges said in a statement.
All samples had come directly from the birds rather than any risks of human contamination during the tests.
Researchers added that a major concern was the use of a new antibiotic E. coli resistance used in British farms called Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL).
This modern farming technique, although primarily used to halt the spread of E. coli among animals, could be making the situation worse in humans.
“We are concerned about the selection and amplification of drug-resistant E. coli on the farms because of improper or overuse of antimicrobials during food animal production,” explains Manges.
“As a consequence, the management of UTIs has become more complicated; the risks for treatment failure are higher and the cost of UTI treatment is increasing.”
According to the Soil Association, overuse of antibiotic administration in animals is failing to keep pace with the speed at which bacteria are adapting to resist them. Animals are given antibiotic resistance even if they aren’t ill, causing a ‘sickness-inducing environment’ in farms.
This means that it diminishes the effectiveness of human medicine, and in this case UTIs, where antibiotics are commonly prescribed to treat severe UTI symptoms.
It is estimated that between five and 10% of UTIs contracted from ESBL antibiotics from meat in the UK and around 175m people are diagnosed with this condition worldwide.
Despite this information, the Government’s Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Advisor, Sally Davies, has recently announced that new research and funding will go into antibiotic-resistant bacteria in animals. The Soil Association is calling for a reduction in its use in livestock.
Urinary infections are very common in women in the UK, with half of women experiencing a UTI at least once in their lifetime,
Symptoms of a UTI include a painful, burning sensation when urinating, a need to urinate more often and pain the lower abdomen. A UTI usually develops when bacteria infect part of the urinary tracts.
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Risk and uncertainties in life affect everyone. Most people, including the poor, use savings as a mechanism to deal with unexpected demands for resources caused by death, disability and illness. For poor people, however, saving for the unexpected can often mean severely containing consumption which often includes going hungry, undernourishment for children, and pulling children out of school and putting them to work to conserve resources. But even then, meagre savings that the poor do manage to accumulate are rarely enough and there is a need for insurance against such unfortunate events.
Many informal risk-sharing mechanisms evolve in societies to deal with risk and uncertainty. One such mechanism is the joint or extended family in which the resources and risks are shared. Risk-sharing is further enhanced by use of institutions such as the temple, the church, the mosque and the gurudwara, where people with means make a contribution and the needy members of the society obtain free food, medicine and other services in times of need. Various forms of safety nets, such as public unemployment insurance schemes, public health services and various public food distribution programs are further examples of risk-sharing mechanisms. A study by MIT Professor Robert Townsend indicates that the extent of risk-sharing, even in poor parts of the world, is not insignificant. So, the glass is not empty.
But the glass is only half full. The level of formal and informal insurance that exists, even in developed countries, is far from adequate. There are good reasons why risk-sharing, using both formal and informal mechanisms, is often inadequate. Formal mechanisms consisting of market insurance and use of financial contracts and derivatives to hedge risks are often infeasible for the poor. First, the transaction costs are too large. Second, the information problems are severe. Adverse selection -- when only the people who privately know that they are high risk choose to buy the insurance priced at a certain level -- and moral hazard -- when the insured people deliberately engage in high risk activities knowing that they are insured -- make formal insurance contracts infeasible.
Informal mechanisms are able to get around some of the problems caused by information asymmetries. Informal risk-sharing is often provided by people who know the insured well -- usually a family member. Moreover, since the contracts are informal and implicit, it eliminates the need for any paperwork or formal rules reducing transaction costs. Instead, moral and societal codes of conduct put a check on recalcitrant behavior.
But informal contracts don't provide adequate protection for many reasons. First, since informal contracts are only feasible among people who know each other relatively well, the reach of the risk-sharing is limited to a small number of people who are also likely to be poor and face many similar risks -- for example they generally live in the same geographic area. Ideally, risk-sharing should occur amongst peoples with uncorrelated risks -- for example people who are geographically apart. Attempts to achieve this are observed in practices such as marriages among families from distant villages. Nevertheless, informal mechanisms cannot confer benefits provided by formal insurance contracts which, in effect, can expand the risk-sharing neighbourhood to the entire world!
Integration of financial services demanded by the poor, micro-insurance, micro-savings and micro-lending, can reduce transaction costs and alleviate information asymmetries. Transaction costs are reduced because poor clients' needs for all their financial services can be taken care of under one roof. Moreover, when a client has a track record of, say regular savings, or a loan with regular repayments, some information is learnt about the client. This alleviates information problems making it feasible to offer other products such as micro-insurance.
Use of technology, such as the mobile phones and biometric cards, can further reduce transaction costs making delivery of financial services to the poor economically viable. In a recent Huffington Post blog, I wrote about some innovative and promising attempts in India using technology to deliver basic financial services at locations such as retail stores that the poor may find more convenient and less intimidating. During my trip to India this summer, Bindu Ananth, President of IFMR Trust based in Chennai, told me about Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services (KGFS) which uses modern technology and provides comprehensive financial services to the poor all under one roof at branches located inside villages.
Dr Nachiket Mor, former President of ICICI Foundation, argues that the KGFS model, with comprehensive financial services tailored and delivered in a branch by human experts, aided by modern technology and financial engineering models, provides a better solution to the problem of providing Financial Access to the poor than the branchless banking model that I wrote about in my blog. His worry is that branchless banking models still rely heavily on people and therefore cost savings are not as great as are often touted. So, if we are going to rely on humans anyway, he reasons, you may as well use them as efficiently as possible and exploit the flexibility and customization they can provide. My instinct is that if the branchless banking model could be scaled up dramatically, perhaps by integrating with Financial Access at Birth initiative, then the costs are likely to fall substantially and large masses of the poor that were excluded from formal financial services could first be included with basic financial services. A more comprehensive suite of financial services can then be provided in a KGFS type branch.
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New Progress and Guidance on HIV Treatment
Update on People Receiving HIV Treatment
The number of people receiving lifesaving antiretroviral treatment (ART) reached 5.2 million at the end of 2009, up from 4 million in 2008. The addition of 1.2 million people starting on HIV treatment during 2009 was the biggest increase ever seen in a single year. Between 2003-2010, the number of people receiving HIV treatment increased twelve-fold resulting in millions of lives saved.
2010 Guidelines: "Antiretroviral Treatment for HIV Infection in Adults and Adolescents"
The Guidelines present significant evidence and experience on when to initiate ART and what drug regimens to use have accumulated since the 2006 revision of the guidelines. WHO is now launching new guidance on ART for adults and adolescents. The 2010 guidelines recommend:
Eligibility for Treatment
Role of Laboratory Testing
Benefits and Challenges
The new guidelines are based on a solid body of evidence indicating that rates of death, morbidity and HIV and TB transmission are all reduced by starting treatment earlier.
An earlier start to treatment reduces a person's viral load much earlier in the course of their HIV infection, and thereby reduces the risk of onward HIV transmission and could potentially avert a significant number of new HIV infections.
By choosing a limited number of treatment regimens that suit the majority of people in need of ART, as recommended by the new guidelines, governments can achieve economies of scale through the purchase of larger quantities of a smaller number of drugs.
The new guidelines will increase the number of people eligible for HIV treatment from 10 to 15 million. However, the additional costs associated with earlier treatment will very likely be offset by decreased hospital and death costs, increased productivity due to fewer days sick, fewer children orphaned by AIDS, and a drop in new HIV infections.
The main challenge is to increase access to treatment in low- and middle-income countries and to encourage people to receive voluntary HIV testing and counselling before they have any symptoms.
Currently, many HIV positive people are waiting too long before they seek treatment, usually when their CD4 threshold falls below 200 cells/mm3.
Broadening the criteria for treatment may result in some persons in urgent need of treatment being displaced by persons for whom treatment would be beneficial but not as urgent.
In recommending a higher CD4 count threshold for initiation, a guiding principle is that those most in need of treatment should retain priority access.
This article was provided by World Health Organization. Visit WHO's website to find out more about their activities and publications.
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adding your comment, please read TheBody.com's Comment Policy.)
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Squirrels place winning bet in unpredictable world
Squirrels place winning bet in unpredictable world In an evolutionary game of tug-of-war, red squirrels have gained the upper hand over the cunning spruce trees, says new University of Alberta research that suggests the clever animals are staying one step ahead of its food source.
A team of scientists, led by Dr. Stan Boutin from the U of Aís Faculty of Science, has discovered that red squirrels are able to counter the treesí "swamp and starve" strategy of boom and bust seed production by producing an extra litter of babies in anticipation of a lush season of tree seeds.
In a paper published in "Science," Boutin and his international team of researchers, describe how they have studied the relationship between the American and Eurasian red squirrel and the trees they feast on. Over the 20 years Boutin has spent studying this chess match, he has noticed a surprising pattern. Red squirrels are somehow able to predict years when a bountiful crop is about to occur and remarkably produce a second litter of babies to take advantage of the onslaught of food about to arrive.
The international team of researchers found that the trees have been trying to outwit the squirrels by implementing a "swamp and starve" tactic. This is actually an evolutionary strategy by the trees to thwart the animals that eat its seed. In bust years the trees try to starve their seed predators so that in boom years there are few seed eaters around and they are swamped by all of the seed available. The seed predators canít respond in time to the increased production because they canít predict when it is going to occur. The net result is that more seed escapes to germinate in a mast year as compared to a strategy where the trees produce a constant amount of seed each year.
Normally this tactic works. By the time the seed matures in the fall, most seed eaters, like squirrels, have already made their "decisions" about having babies for that year. So when the trees produce a big crop in the fall, it is too late for the seed eaters to take advantage of it and they are forced to wait until the following year.
Except the tree didnít count on one important factor: a cunning squirrel that seems to have foiled the treesí plans. Somehow, the squirrel is able to predict the upcoming big crop and devotes energy to producing a second litter, maximizing the number of youngsters available to eat the mature seed available in the fall. The squirrel has "trumped the swamp and starve strategy," says Boutin, by increasing its numbers before the big seed crop rather than in the following year.
"Lots of animals time their reproduction to match predictable increases in resources like the new growth of plants every spring," said Boutin. "But the interesting twist here is that these squirrels have figured out a way to produce this second litter of babies at a time when they have little food and before an Ďunpredictableí boom in seed production.
"Itís like the squirrels are using a very successful stock market strategy. Most of us invest conservatively when the market is down because our funds are tight and we canít predict when things will turn around. Itís not until the market has improved and is humming along that we increase our investment. Squirrels do the opposite, investing heavily when they have barely enough to get by but just before the market turns favorable. The result is that their investment ótheir babiesópay big dividends in the upcoming favorable market, which in this case is lots of seed."
The red squirrels also seemed to have figured their way around an additional evolutionary challenge, says Boutin. To be able to produce a second litter while the female is lactating, and therefore typically not ovulating, surprised the researchers. "These squirrels are doing something special to get over the physiological barriers that are usually in their way," he said.
While the researchers still arenít certain how the squirrels can predict the treesí behaviour, they speculate it might be related to the buds which turn into cones and are eaten by the squirrels every summer. "Squirrels could be using a visual cue or a hormonal cue they gain from eating the buds," said Boutin. "These squirrels are very clever because they use reliable cues to invest in extra offspring not when they can but when it makes sense evolutionarily."
Boutinís co-authors on the paper are Lucas Wauters and Guido Tosi, from the University of Insubria in Italy, Andrew McAdam from Michigan State University, Murray Humphries from McGill University and Andre Dhondt from Cornell University.
The Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the National Science Foundation helped fund this research.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Stan Boutin, Faculty of Science
University of Alberta, (780)492-1297
Phoebe Dey, Public Affairs
University of Alberta (780)492-0437
Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 30 Apr 2016
Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.
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- The Petermann ice shelf in Greenland (the northern-most glacier in the world) has lost a quarter of its mass, calving a 100 square mile iceberg now known as the “Petermann Ice Island (2010)”. Note that there is a “2010” designation to distinguish this one from a smaller iceberg calved in 2008. Ed Markey had a good idea.
Relevance to the pending apocalypse: Sign of global warming; loss of Arctic / sub-Arctic environments and habitats; influx of fresh water into the North Atlantic currents; Greenland is smaller.
- The drought and related fires in Russia continue, threatening, among other things, wheat prices and harvests. Relevance to environmental and social DOOM: Farmlands diverted from other crops to wheat; wheat prices increasing; and, of course, smoke from the fires may contribute to global warming as well as causing shorter-term respiratory problems.
- Rising temperatures diminish rice harvests. It’s getting too hot at night for rice to grow. Yields have already diminished by 10-20% in some parts of the world, over the last 25 years. Need I mention that rice is the #3 staple food crop? And the primary staple food crop in Asia and Africa?
- Rising food costs. Related to both the wheat & rice fiascos, the FAO has predicted that staple food prices will rise significantly, between 15 to 45%, over the next decade.
- Genetically engineered pesticide-resistant strains of canola growing wild on roadsides. “Roundup Ready” and “Liberty Link” varieties have been found, and varieties resistant to both pesticides — indicating cross-breeding of the varieties. Why is this a problem? To the extent these are pest plants — weeds — they will have to be controlled with other, more toxic, pesticides, or controlled through agricultural methods (e.g., plowing) that adversely affect soil erosion. Plus, of course, once those now-wild genes start jumping, the problems will just multiply. As my partner has pointed out, one-in-a-million events happen millions of times with plant propagation.
This article (“Dark Night for Bats”, Kirsten Weir, Salon.com) compares the current wave of bat deaths with bees’ colony collapse disorder. I’d add the precipitous decline in frogs, as well.
in the middle of a blogging break (for good reasons! welcome ada marie) i bring you this article from salon.com which is scary as fuck and makes me fear for little ada’s future:
Apocalypse Now by Mike Davis.
Davis does not buy any of the Gore-style cheerleading that we might avert a climatically disastrous future through alternative energy sources and sustainable economics. Instead, he predicts that in the new “Anthropocene” (the human-determined geological era just declared “open” by the Geological Society of London) the rich will get richer, the poor will get poorer, and we will become a “planet of slums”.
Joseph Romm analyzed both Clinton and Obama’s plans on global warming, noting that they are much better than McCain’s, who has begun teetering toward a Bush position. salon 3/15
Compare Romm’s earlier analysis of McCain’s proposals (salon 2/8)
Federal officials have indicated that they are likely to close the Pacific salmon fishery from northern Oregon to the Mexican border because of the collapse of crucial stocks in California’s major watershed.That would be the most extensive closing on the West Coast since the federal government started regulating fisheries.
“The Central Valley fall Chinook salmon are in the worst condition since records began to be kept,” Robert Lohn, regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service in Portland, Ore., said Wednesday in an interview. “This is the largest collapse of salmon stocks in 40 years.”
Counts of young salmon, whose numbers have dwindled sharply for two years, were the first major indication of the problem. The number of fish that survive more than a year in the ocean, or jacks, is a marker for the abundance of full-grown salmon the next year. The 2007 count of the fall Chinook jacks from the Sacramento River was less than 6 percent of the long-term average, Mr. Lohn said.
The Central Valley salmon runs are concentrated in the Sacramento River, the focus of a water struggle between farmers and irrigation districts on one hand and environmental groups and fishermen on the other.
Washington & Alaska fisheries are still okay, but of course this will put major pressure on them.
The NYT tells us today about Kevin Martin & the FCC’s new plan to relax the cross-ownership rules, which restrict large corporations from dominating entire urban markets. And, on the same page, on the same day, a story that has all the classic hallmarks of the Bush approach to the environment: scuttle environmental protection schemes that are working, destroy wildlife, and lie about science. New battle of logging vs. spotted owls
god I’m tired. 460 more days is a very long time.
The western gorilla is “critically endangered” — close to extinction — and all the great apes are in trouble. A number of corals have moved to more endangered positions; the Asian crocodile “Gharial” has moved to critically endangered — only 182 breeding adults in 2006. A number of vultures have declined — largely because of drugs given to livestock and intentional poisonings of carcasses. Here in North America, 90 reptile species are threatened with extinction and 738 are threatened. The Wild Apricot tree in Asia has been declared Endangered, and a Malaysian herb has officially been declared extinct.
All this is from the new report from the IUCN (World Conservation Union), which maintains a “Red List” of threatened species. The Red List of Threatened Species lists 41,415 species in all, listing the threatened species from “vulnerable”, “endangered”, to “critically endangered”. The “critically endangered” category faces an “extremely high risk of extinction in the wild”, based on rapid decline in population (more than 90% in last 10 years or 3 generations) or range, or extremely small numbers of mature individuals — e.g., fewer than 250.
The 2007 reports lists for “critically endangered”: 1 in 4 mammals, 1 in 8 birds, 1 in 3 amphibians, and 70% of all plants that have been studied are threatened with extinction — a total of 16,306 species in all, an increase of 188 from last year’s list of endangered species. The numbers of threatened species are increasing across almost all the major taxonomic groups. Extinction rates are 100-1000 times higher than natural background rates. Species in the tropics are still at the greatest risk. Australia, Brazil, China, and Mexico hold large numbers of threatened species. Continental extinctions are becoming as common as island extinctions.
On the math: Does the “increase of 188” count species that went extinct last year? The IUCN is not counting the Yangtze River dolphin as extinct, although the most recent survey concluded that they were likely extinct. But, say there were 10 extinctions last year, then that would be 198 species added to the critically endangered list, and 10 taken off as they were moved to extinct. Something to figure out.
I think I want a Battlestar Galactica-like survivors count for Earth. 2007 Sept. 13 CE, survivors count:
- 6,000 species of mammal (of which the Yangtze River dolphin was one);
- 10,000 species of birds;
- 8,000 species of reptiles;
- 13,000 species of freshwater species;
- 6,000 species of amphibian.
One of the last Yangtze River
Photo from CNN/Reuters.
One of only four species of river dolphin is officially extinct; the last member of the species probably died sometime in the last few months. Just thirteen were found in the last survey a few years ago, and the 2006 survey found none. The last member in captivity died in 2002. [Turvey et al, Journal of the Royal Society Biology Letters (2007/8/7); media coverage in CNN;
channel 4; allheadlinenews]
Douglas Adams wrote movingly about the Yangtze River dolphin in Last Chance to See, excerpts of which are posted at flying squid blog. The dolphins — which are extinct as a result of human activity, including the Three Gorges Dam — had a hard life over the last decades. They navigated by echolocation, and all the human activity in the Yangtze created constant white noise. It’s unspeakably sad to imagine the experiences of the last Yangtze River dolphins.
The Yangtze River dolphin is the first large mammalian species to go extinct in fifty years, and the first cetacean species to die from human causes in modern history. The other three river dolphin species are also endangered.
Incredibly fucked up.
Thank you, global warming purveyors:
Tahoe City — Global warming seems to have reached the lowest depths of Lake Tahoe, scientists warned Monday, potentially complicating plans to preserve the lake’s fabled water clarity and biological health.
A new study by researchers at UC Davis suggests the lake has heated by nearly 1 degree Fahrenheit since the early 1970s, when readings began. The warming may be significantly altering the dynamics of Lake Tahoe’s cold-water upwellings and seasonal mixing of sediments and nutrients, the scientists said.
It’s the latest sign that a changing climate may be showing up in the Sierra Nevada, one of many mountain ranges around the world in which scientists are looking for the subtle impacts of global warming. No one can be certain if any given change is due to human activity, but the widely held assumption is that emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases are involved.
[A] warming signal is emerging in the lake’s temperature data at virtually all depths, down to as deep as 1, 300 feet.
“The lake has warmed from top to bottom over the past 30 years,” Schladow said. He said there are no local or regional factors big enough to explain the warming, even with all the development that has occurred in the Tahoe Basin in recent years.
Schladow and others said the changes are consistent with emerging data worldwide that point to an increase in temperature taking place far more rapidly than any previous change in the geologic record.
There is no reliable way to gauge Lake Tahoe’s water temperature before the 1930s. But air temperature data in the Tahoe City region go back about 90 years and show about a 3.6-degree Fahrenheit increase, enough to account for the increase in average water temperature and consistent with the emerging global data on climate shifts.
The data show that relatively wide swings in Lake Tahoe water temperatures are common from one year to the next, at least during the past 30- plus years of regular monitoring and some 7,300 individual measurements.
But after smoothing out the peaks and troughs, scientists said there is a clear upward tilt in the numbers, with temperatures increasing by an average of about 0.027 degree Fahrenheit a year from 1970 to 2002.
No, it’s not fanfic about Bigfoot & Yeti, together at last. Bobby “Boris” Pickett remakes “Monster Mash” to point out Bush’s slash & burn environmental policies. See monsterslash.org
We were hiking in the forest late one night
When our eyes beheld an eerie sight
Our president appeared and began to frown
Then he and his friends cut the forest down.
(he did the slash)
they did the forest slash
(he did the slash)
it was brutally brash
(he did the slash)
public opinion was mashed
(he did the slash)
they did it for the cash
The lobbyists were having fun,
The horror party had just begun
The guests include big timber, big oil
Mining magnates and their sons.
These visions haunt me and fill me with disgust
If we don’t stop them our environment will be lost
So come on now and join me; I’m glad to show you how;
Tell our president to save our forests now.
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Strategy for Infant and Young Child
Health Assembly (WHA) and UNICEF adopted
the Global Strategy,which
sets five additional targets: national
policy on infant and young child feeding,
community outreach, information support,
infant feeding in difficult circumstances
and monitoring and evaluation.
Monitoring and evaluation (M & E) components should be built into all major infant and young child feeding programme activities and collection of data concerning feeding practices integrated into national nutritional surveillance and health monitoring systems or surveys. Monitoring or management information system data should be collected systematically and considered by programme managers as part of the management and planning process.
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The Three Kinds of Bullying
Studies show that there are three main types of bullying; verbal, physical, and relational. They are all very harmful in different ways, and will make your life miserable. You can prevent these types of bullying if you can recognize them. Knowing more about bullying will increase your happiness, and you will most likely not get bullied as often.
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| 0.954708
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| 3
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Martin Luther King celebration focuses on area youth
Jordan Peyer is preparing to share a powerful story of the Civil Rights Movement.
The Janesville Parker High School student will give voice to John Steele at the annual commemoration of Martin Luther King on Saturday at Blackhawk Technical College.
Steele was only 10 when he met two Civil Rights workers in the South. One was black and from Mississippi, and the other was white and from New York.
The Ku Klux Klan killed both on June 21, 1964.
Before the men died, they taught young Steele an enduring lesson: It is worth dying for freedom, even other people's freedom.
Peyer is among eight teens from three area high schools who will read aloud excerpts from the inspiring book, “Freedom's Children,” by Ellen Levine.
Young people penned stories about what it was like to fight segregation in the South in the 1950s and 1960s, when they were about the same ages as the students.
“I thought it would be most appropriate to have kids of the same age reading the stories,” said Edie Baran, who is directing the reader's theater. She also is on the planning committee of the annual event.
In addition to Parker High School, students from Janesville's Craig High and Beloit Memorial are taking part.
The reader's theater will do more than teach history.
“In a lot of ways, history is often presented as bare facts,” Baran said. “Yes, it is important to know facts, but it is so much more important to have an understanding of what people went through, how they were affected and the feelings they had. When you get to know someone's story, you cannot help but be connected to it.”
She praised the King gathering as a celebration that brings together a diverse mix of people.
“I think it is valuable when you say hello and have part of a meal with someone you don't know, but you are there for the same reason,” Baran said. “The reason we are there is to raise our voices, not just for Martin Luther King, but to all that he represented. I feel we are celebrating everyone who has done anything to bring more peace into the world. It is a joyous event.”
This year's get-together focuses on youth with the theme of young people making the world a better place.
In addition to readings, students will sing pieces of songs of the Civil Rights Movement, including one of the most famous, “We Shall Overcome.”
Also performing will be the Craig High School Women's Choir
Roselyne Ackley of Beloit said the event's planning committee has been getting more school children involved for the past five years.
In previous years, students have written postcards to Martin Luther King, submitted art and written essays.
This year, students wrote essays about how they are making the world a better place, and the essays will be on display for visitors to read.
The commemoration began at least 30 years ago by the civil rights committee of the United Auto Workers Local 95, Ackley said. She was secretary of the committee at the time and is part of the current planning committee.
“When we asked people what they knew about Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, many said they did not know anything,” Ackley said. “It is amazing how many people did not know what went on in the 1950s and 1960s.”
The free programs are “a learning experience” and a chance for people from Beloit and Janesville to come together for fellowship, food and “a little education,” she explained.
“I want to stress how important it is for our two communities to come together,” Ackley said. “If you can't have communities, which are only nine miles apart, come together, then you can never bring the world together.”
Anna Marie Lux is a columnist for The Gazette. Her columns run Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Call her with ideas or comments at (608) 755-8264, or email email@example.com.
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This section provides information about the Otis-Lennon School Ability TestŪ (OLSATŪ) and recommendations for material which can be used to prepare your child to provide the best performance possible.
The OLSATŪ includes tasks such as detecting likenesses and differences, recalling words and numbers, defining words, following directions, classifying, establishing sequence, solving arithmetic problems, and completing analogies. Its intent is to assess thinking skills and provide an understanding of a student's relative strengths and weaknesses in performing a variety of reasoning tasks. It is designed to get a measure of your child's ability level independent of what they're being taught at school.
There are seven different level of the OLSATŪ designed for use from Kindergarten to 12th grade. Some school districts test preschoolers.
Choose your child's grade level above for specific recommendations as to what you might do to prepare your child for testing. Since the OLSATŪ is most commonly used as a screening tool for gifted program entry these recommendations assume that you have a bright child. Most gifted and competitive entry programs attempt to identify children with cognitive abilities two to three years above those of their typical age peers. To answer the most difficult questions on the OLSATŪ given at your child's grade level your child will need to have thinking skills at this higher level.
You may find that your child's abilities are not even across the different reasoning skills. This is quite normal and you may decide to purchase different levels of books for verbal, non-verbal and quantitative skills. If you have any doubts please contact us and we'd be happy to help you make your selection. Email is usually faster. We can respond with links directly to the products we recommend so that you can browse at your convenience.
The Otis-Lennon School Ability TestŪ (OLSATŪ) is published by NCS Pearson (previously Harcourt Assessment Services and now operating as Pearson Assessment). OLSATŪ and Otis-Lennon School Ability TestŪ are registered trademarks of NCS Pearson. The recommendations made here are those of Think Tonight and are not endorsed by NCS Pearson.
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| 0.949662
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Journal Issue: Childhood Obesity Volume 16 Number 1 Spring 2006
State and Local School Nutrition and Physical Activity Policies
While in many respects inadequate themselves, especially regarding competitive foods, USDA nutrition regulations permit state agencies and local school food authorities to impose additional restrictions on all food and beverage sales at any time in schools participating in the federal school meal programs. In recent years, many states, local school districts, and individual schools have taken up the challenge. States are also becoming more active in promoting physical activity.
Twenty-three states have adopted additional restrictions, including policies that limit the times or types of competitive foods available for sale in vending machines, cafeterias, and school stores and snack bars.131 Most states restrict access to competitive foods when school meals are being served. Five restrict access all day long.132 During the first six months of 2005, forty states introduced some 200 bills that provide nutritional guidance for schools. Eleven states—Arizona, California, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, New Mexico, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia—mandated nutritional standards for competitive foods.133 See the legislative activity box for highlights of nutritionand physical activity–related legislation enacted during the first half of 2005.
Several school districts have also taken action. More than half of the nation's ten largest school districts restrict competitive foods beyond federal and state regulations. The New York City Public School District, the nation's largest, eliminated candy, soda, and other snack foods from all vending machines starting in fall 2003. Vending machines on school grounds can sell only water, low-fat snacks, and 100 percent fruit juices.134 The Los Angeles Unified School District passed a soda vending ban that went into effect in January 2004. A further ban on fried chips, candy, and other snack foods in school vending machines and stores went into effect in July 2004.135 The Chicago public schools announced in 2004 a plan to ban soft drinks, candy, and high-fat snacks from school vending machines and to replace them with more healthful offerings. The Philadelphia School District recently passed a comprehensive school nutrition policy that includes nutrition education, guidelines for all foods and beverages sold in schools, family and community involvement, and program evaluation.
A 2005 report surveyed principals and found that 60 percent of schools in the 2003–04 school year had written policies in place that restricted competitive foods accessible to students, and most often school districts developed and enacted the policies. A recent study examined associations between high school students' lunch patterns and vending machine purchases and the schools' food environment and policies.136 In schools with established policies, students reported making fewer snack food purchases than students in schools without policies. Students at schools with open-campus policies during lunchtime were significantly more likely to eat lunch at a fast-food restaurant than students at schools with closed-campus policies. These findings suggest that school food policies that decrease access to foods high in fats and sugars are associated with less frequent consumption of these items during the school day.
The Trust for America's Health recently examined state statutes and administrative codes for physical activity policies.137 Only two states, South Dakota and Oklahoma, have no PE requirement for elementary and secondary schools. Twenty-seven states require PE in elementary, middle, and high school. Two states, Arizona and Mississippi, have no PE requirement for high school, and twenty-seven require only one-half credit or one credit of PE for graduation. Illinois is the only state that requires daily PE in every grade, although its duration is not specified. State requirements, however, are often not enforced. Amidst many other mandated curriculum requirements and tight school budgets, PE is often viewed as a low priority.138
Moreover, the SHPPS 2000 nationwide survey found that 17 percent of elementary schools, 25 percent of middle and junior high schools, and 40 percent of high schools exempt from required PE courses those students who participate in community or school sports or in other school activities or who have high physical competency test scores.139 And few states and districts require skill performance tests, fitness tests, or written knowledge tests.
Recent legislative activity, however, as seen in thelegislative activity box, demonstrates promising attention to this area of children's development. Several states are encouraging, not mandating, state and local education officials to enhance PE and physical activity in schools. During the first half of 2005, six states—North Dakota, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Tennessee, and Washington—adopted such resolutions.140 In April 2005, the North Carolina State Board of Education voted to require thirty minutes of daily physical activity for all students in grades K–8 beginning in the 2006–07 school year.
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In Slate, William Saletan on the FUD campaign that has been waged against genetically modified foods:
Is genetically engineered food dangerous? Many people seem to think it is. In the past five years, companies have submitted more than 27,000 products to the Non-GMO Project, which certifies goods that are free of genetically modified organisms. Last year, sales of such products nearly tripled. Whole Foods will soon require labels on all GMOs in its stores. Abbott, the company that makes Similac baby formula, has created a non-GMO version to give parents “peace of mind.” Trader Joe’s has sworn off GMOs. So has Chipotle.
Some environmentalists and public interest groups want to go further. Hundreds of organizations, including Consumers Union, Friends of the Earth, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Center for Food Safety, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, are demanding “mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods.” Since 2013, Vermont, Maine, and Connecticut have passed laws to require GMO labels. Massachusetts could be next.
The central premise of these laws — and the main source of consumer anxiety, which has sparked corporate interest in GMO-free food — is concern about health. Last year, in a survey by the Pew Research Center, 57 percent of Americans said it’s generally “unsafe to eat genetically modified foods.” Vermont says the primary purpose of its labeling law is to help people “avoid potential health risks of food produced from genetic engineering.” Chipotle notes that 300 scientists have “signed a statement rejecting the claim that there is a scientific consensus on the safety of GMOs for human consumption.” Until more studies are conducted, Chipotle says, “We believe it is prudent to take a cautious approach toward GMOs.”
The World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science have all declared that there’s no good evidence GMOs are unsafe. Hundreds of studies back up that conclusion. But many of us don’t trust these assurances. We’re drawn to skeptics who say that there’s more to the story, that some studies have found risks associated with GMOs, and that Monsanto is covering it up.
I’ve spent much of the past year digging into the evidence. Here’s what I’ve learned. First, it’s true that the issue is complicated. But the deeper you dig, the more fraud you find in the case against GMOs. It’s full of errors, fallacies, misconceptions, misrepresentations, and lies. The people who tell you that Monsanto is hiding the truth are themselves hiding evidence that their own allegations about GMOs are false. They’re counting on you to feel overwhelmed by the science and to accept, as a gut presumption, their message of distrust.
H/T to Coyote Blog for the link.
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The patient-relevant benefit of positron emission tomography (PET) in oesophageal cancer, alone or in combination with computed tomography (CT), is not proven due to a lack of comparative studies. In terms of their diagnostic and prognostic accuracy, it also remains unclear whether these diagnostic techniques can detect the spreading of tumours better than conventional diagnostics. This is the conclusion of the final report of the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) published on 20 August 2013.
More reliable diagnosis ought to improve treatment
About 4800 men and 1400 women are newly diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in Germany each year. The average age of disease onset is 65 years. The 5-year survival rate in Germany is at most 20%; this means that 5 years after diagnosis, at best 20 of 100 affected patients are still alive.
Many experts assume that an examination using PET or PET/CT, alone or in combination with other methods, is better able to evaluate how far a tumour has spread (staging) and whether it has responded to treatment (restaging). In addition, better detection of tumour recurrence ought to be possible. The desired goal: the more exactly it is known how advanced the tumour is, the more precisely and successfully patients can be treated.
Benefit for patients crucial
IQWiG therefore searched the international literature for studies that had examined the consequences of diagnostic interventions using PET or PET/CT with regard to whether they were accompanied by perceptible improvements for patients, for example, whether they increased their chances of survival or improved their quality of life, or spared them unnecessary operations or further diagnostic interventions.
No direct comparative studies on benefit available
However, the search for such direct comparative intervention studies was unsuccessful, so that the question regarding the patient-relevant benefit of PET or PET/CT in oesophageal cancer still remains to be answered.
IQWiG also searched for studies in which the diagnostic accuracy and prognostic power of PET or PET/CT was compared with other examination methods.
19 studies directly compared test accuracy of PET and CT
A total of 48 studies were relevant for diagnostic and prognostic accuracy, of which most examined the accuracy of primary staging, that is, the classification of tumour stages before the start of treatment.
19 studies directly compared PET with CT. However, conclusions in favour of one or the two techniques cannot be drawn, as either no statistically significant difference was shown or the data could not be interpreted with sufficient certainty.
Advantage of visualization of metabolic activity is unclear
Too few studies are so far available that directly compared PET or PET/CT with other diagnostic techniques and investigated treatment response (restaging) or diagnosis and prognosis of tumour recurrence. A reliable conclusion on the diagnostic and prognostic accuracy of PET or PET/CT in restaging or recurrence diagnostics is therefore not possible.
In particular the potential advantage of PET and PET/CT, which visualize metabolic activity, remains unclear versus morphologic imaging techniques such as CT or magnetic resonance imaging, which display anatomical structures.
|Contact: Dr. Anna-Sabine Ernst|
Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care
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Smart power management
Being smarter with available energy usually consists of profiling component energy use in the system and identifying where the biggest savings can be made to significantly impact overall power usage. As an example, the biggest consumer of power on most wireless remote monitoring equipment is the radio used to synchronize with the network and transmit data. Knowing this, system designers try to turn on the radio as little as possible, meaning they must either decrease the module sampling rate or turn to more advanced methods to decrease the communication with a host system, such as using measurement nodes that they can program. Programmable nodes can perform logic, such as sending a sample back only if it exceeds a threshold or performing averaging over longer periods of time and then transmitting only the average value. Getting smart at the node level by using selective sampling and sample averaging in a remote monitoring application can result in dramatic power savings.
Engineers trying to detect the presence and concentration of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, for example, could program the node to return samples only when the samples exceed a certain minimum threshold and, furthermore, to return an average measurement of the concentration over the course of 10 minutes instead of once a minute. Nodes not making impactful measurements would never turn on their radios, and those making impactful measurements would be 90% more efficient while maintaining the desired measurement frequency. Such drastic power savings in the monitoring and data acquisition methods used in remote extreme applications are very valuable because engineers can start using that power to perform other critical tasks like implementing control.
Many extreme remote systems these days perform control in addition to data collection. Control systems need, in general, higher data acquisition rates, appropriate outputs in addition to sensor inputs, and additional processing power for more advanced calculations. These additional requirements, and the introduction of real-time controllers and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to meet them, can make implementing an embedded control system a daunting task. Two specific areas for embedded control that are receiving a lot of attention for their potential to simplify the process are system modeling/simulation and the conversion from a prototype to actual deployed hardware.
Prototyping a control system for extreme environments can be difficult because it’s hard, or near impossible, to replicate the conditions under which the system will be deployed. This makes physical testing and prototyping costly and time-consuming and limits the number of design iterations. Yet if system designers are trying to design a robust control system that is going to operate correctly under extreme conditions, they need to extensively test it.
As computing power increases and modeling software improves, more and more embedded designers can prototype their control systems in software and define simulation environments in which to iterate through initial prototypes quickly without incurring the traditional costs associated with scale testing. Control design and simulation, as the process is commonly called, is resulting in more robust controllers and an accelerated development timeline because engineers can run a controller through much more rigorous test regimes under any combination of simulated conditions.
Engineers also can combine control design and simulation with virtual prototyping (collaboration between a 3D modeling software containing a hardware model and a high-level development language containing a system controller model). This results in a more efficient physical design because engineers can test many more iterations and combinations of materials and designs for the physical prototype in conjunction with the control algorithms in software before moving to an actual physical prototype. With the combination of control design and simulation and virtual prototyping tools, engineers can design systems to tighter tolerances and with smaller margins of error, both in the control response of the system and in the physical design.
Figure 2. Simulation of a wind turbine in a graphical development tool for control design and simulation
Click on image to enlarge.
Control design and simulation and virtual prototyping techniques can’t fully replace physical testing because the results are only as good as the mathematical models the simulations are based on, and many simplifications and assumptions are made in models of real-world systems. Engineers are still a long way from confidently predicting the precise and complete behavior of complex real-world systems with a software model. Yet these models do provide greater visibility through the design process so system designers can be much more efficient with the physical prototyping and testing they do perform. The more problems that can be caught and fixed while still prototyping in software, the more effective and efficient the design process will be.
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Squash Leaf Curl Virus (SLCV)
This virus affects most cucurbits, with cucumber showing fewest symptoms. Leaves are cupped upward, new growth bends upward, and mid-vein portions of leaves are severely mottled. Flowers and fruit are small and abnormally developed.
Control measures focus on lowering the potential virus inoculum in the area. Make sure weeds around the fields that may harbor whiteflies are controlled, alternate planting areas, and destroy infected crops as soon as practical after harvest. Controlling the whiteflies directly has not proved successful.
See also The Texas Plant Disease Handbook.
The information given herein is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service is implied.
Educational programs of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, or national origin.
Publication Revised July 2009
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In many world religions, the concept of Hell refers to a literal or symbolic place (or sometimes an existential condition) of damnation where the wicked and unrighteous are punished for their transgressions. The concept of hell is prevalent in many religions although its exact description varies from one religion to another. In traditional Christianity, Islam, and the popular imagination, hell is frequently depicted as a fiery pit located underground where souls are tormented by their past sins and demonic forces. Alternatively, hell has been described (e.g., in Dante's Inferno) as a freezing cold and despondently gloomy place.
Many moderns describe hell as an existential or psychological state (or condition) of the soul. Modern literary understandings of hell often depict it abstractly, as a state of loss rather than as fiery torture that is literally under the ground. Thus, hell can be seen as the complete and final separation of God's love and mercy from sinners who have rejected his moral standards of goodness and have chosen to live a rebellious life of sin. In this light, the actions which supposedly result in one's soul being sent to Hell (i.e. the so called "sins") are precisely those actions that in everyday life cause those states of mind. Hell in the afterlife is but an intensification of the pangs of hell on earth, intensified because the material props of a self-centered life have been removed.
Another issue is whether or not hell is eternal. Religions with a linear view of history typically depict hell as an endless, infinite abyss; conversely, religions with a cyclic view of history often depict hell as an intermediary period between incarnations (for example, the Chinese Di Yu or the Buddhist Naraka). The widespread notion of hell as purgatory is helpful in reconciling the justice of God with his ultimate mercy upon his children.
The origin of the English word "hell" comes from the Germanic language. Originally, "hel" meant "to cover." The word was also used to designate the goddess of the Norse underworld (Niflheim) and daughter of Loki.
In Christianity, the word "hell"—in Latin, infernus, infernum, inferi; in Greek, ᾍδης (Hades); in Hebrew, שאול (Sheol)—is used in scripture and the Apostles' Creed to refer to the abode of all the dead, whether righteous or evil, unless or until they are admitted to heaven.
The Jewish equivalent of hell is Gehenna, which is described as a fiery place of torment. The word “Gehenna” originates from the Hebrew גי(א)-הינום (Gêhinnôm) meaning the "Valley of Hinnom's son"—a real place outside the city walls of Jerusalem, where child sacrifices were once made to the idol Moloch, and bodies of executed criminals and garbage were once dumped. Fires were kept burning in the valley to keep down the stench. Consequently, Gehenna became associated with abomination of child sacrifice and the horror of burning flesh.
However, Gehenna in Judaism is not exactly hell per se, but a sort of Purgatory where one is judged according to their life's deeds. The Kabbalah describes it as a "waiting room" (commonly translated as an "entry way") for all souls (not just the wicked). The overwhelming majority of rabbinic thought maintains that people are not in Gehenna forever; the longest that one can be there is said to be 12 months, however there has been the occasional noted exception. Some consider it a spiritual forge where the soul is purified for its eventual ascent to Olam Habah (heb. עולם הבא; lit. "The world to come," often viewed as analogous to Heaven). This is also mentioned in the Kabbalah, where the soul is described as breaking, like the flame of a candle lighting another: the part of the soul that ascends being pure and the "unfinished" piece being reborn.
Another source for the idea of Hell is the Greek and Roman Tartarus, a place in which conquered gods, men, and other spirits were punished. Tartarus formed part of Hades in both Greek mythology and Roman mythology, but Hades also included Elysium, a place for the reward for those who lead virtuous lives, while others spent their afterlife in the asphodels fields. Like most ancient (pre-Christian) religions, the underworld was not viewed as negatively as it is in Christianity and Islam.
When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek (see Septuagint), the word that was used to designate the gloomy afterlife was not "hell" but "hades." The Jews preferred the word "hades" as the best translation of the Hebrew word "Sheol." In early Judaism, "Sheol" referred to the comfortless place beneath the earth, where both slave and king, pious and wicked went after death to sleep in silence and oblivion in the dust (Isaiah 38:18; Psalms 6:5, 88:3–12; Job 7:7–10, 3:11–19; Genesis 2:7, 3:19). By the first century, Jews had come to believe that those in Sheol awaited the resurrection either in comfort (in the bosom of Abraham) or in torment. This belief is reflected in the later Jewish concept of a fiery Gehenna, which contrasts with Sheol.
The New Testament (written in Greek) also uses "hades" to mean the abode of the dead (sheol). Western Christians, who do not share a concept of "hades" with the Eastern Orthodox, have traditionally translated "Sheol" (and "hades") as "hell." Unlike hell, however, Sheol is not associated with Satan.
It is likely that the in the course of history, older conceptions of Hades as the generalized abode of the dead differentiated into heaven and hell. This can be explained as due to the greater availability of salvation in the newer mystery religions that spread throughout the Hellenistic world, which advocated a clear distinction between the abodes of light and darkness, as well as in Judaism with the doctrine of the martyrs enjoying eternal blessedness; hence conceptions of hell as a dark and terrifying place developed in tandem with belief in bright abodes as the dwellings of the righteous.
Most Christians see hell as the eternal punishment for unrepentant sinners, as well as for the Devil and his demons. As opposed to the concept of Purgatory, damnation to hell is considered final and irreversible. Various interpretations of the torment of hell exist, ranging from fiery pits of wailing sinners to lonely isolation from God's presence.
Most Christians believe that damnation occurs immediately upon death (particular judgment); others believe that it occurs after Judgment Day. It was once said that virtuous unbelievers (such as pagans or members of divergent Christian denominations) are said to deserve hell on account of original sin, and even unbaptized infants are sometimes said to be damned. Exceptions, however, are often made for those who have failed to accept Jesus Christ but have extenuating circumstances (youth not having heard the Gospel, mental illness, etc.). However, attitudes toward hell and damnation have softened over the centuries (for example, see Limbo).
Several Christian denominations reject the traditional concept of hell altogether. Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in hell. They teach that souls in the grave remain asleep until the final judgment, at which time the righteous will be resurrected to heaven and the wicked will simply be annihilated. Unitarian-Universalists see the traditional belief in hell as incompatible with a God of love—inasmuch as God is sent to send sinners there to suffer eternally. They advocate universal salvation, whereby Christ intercedes to save the souls of everyone, even those living in hell.
Modern Christian understandings of hell depict it as the condition of being separated from God's love. Having accepted Jesus Christ and received remissions of sins while on earth opens the gate to receiving God's love, and hence entry to the realms of Paradise. On the other hand, atheists, nominal Christians whose belief is only conceptual, and hypocrites who profess faith but act in the contrary manner, are among those who dwell in hell. However, the faithful of other religions as well as people of good conscience do not dwell in hell but rather in the higher realms appropriate to their belief systems. The judgment leading to hell is self-made, as the newly-departed spirit finds his or her own level with others of similar nature. The realms of hell are populated by people whose character is primarily self-centered. The development during earthly life of a character of altruism or of selfishness is the dividing line that determines whether one will go to heaven or hell.
The predominant Christian view is of an eternal hell, from which escape is impossible. An alternative view that hell is eternal, but not necessarily so, has been proposed by a number of Christian writers. For example, C. S. Lewis suggested the possibility that spirits in hell can be induced to repentance, and thereby be raised to a higher realm. This view is also held by many spiritualists, supported by testimonies and stories of souls whose mission it is to travel to the hells and rescue spirits for whom hell's torments have softened their hearts.
The Islamic view of hell is called Jahannam (in Arabic: جهنم), which is contrasted to jannah, the garden-like Paradise enjoyed by righteous believers. In the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, there is literal descriptions of the condemned in a fiery Hell. Hell is split into many levels depending on the actions taken in life, where punishment is allotted according to the amount of evil perpetrated. The Qur'an also says that some of those who are damned to hell are not damned forever, but instead reside there for an indefinite period of time. When Judgment Day comes, the formerly damned will be judged as to whether or not they may enter into Paradise. In any case, it is indicated that punishment in Hell is not meant to last eternally, but instead serves as a basis for spiritual rectification.
The structure of hell is remarkably complex in many Chinese religions. The ruler of hell has to deal with politics, just as human rulers do. Hell is the subject of many folk stories and in many cases people in hell are able to die again. In some folk stories, a sinner revives from the dead only to writhe and groan as he testifies to his appalled neighbors about the torments he has been suffering in hell. In a Chinese funeral, they burn many Hell Bank Notes for the dead. With this Hell money, the dead person can bribe the ruler of Hell, and spend the rest of the money either in Hell or in Heaven.
The Chinese depiction of hell does not necessarily involve a vast duration of suffering for those who enter Hell, nor does it mean that person is bad. For some, Hell is similar to a present-day passport or immigration control station in so far as a person may be held up there before continuing their spiritual journey. Other depictions follow the Buddhist tradition, seeing Hell as a purgatory where the spirits suffer in recompense for their earthly crimes.
In Hinduism, there are contradictions as to whether or not there is a hell (referred to as Nark in Hindi). For some, it is a metaphor for human conscience, where as for others it is a real place. It is believed that people who commit paap (sin) go to hell and have to go through the punishments in accordance to the sins they committed (even if they have been fundamentally good). For example, the Mahabharata states that both the Pandavas and the Kauravas went to hell. Thus, the heroes of the Mahabharata, who symbolized righteousness, still went to hell because of their past sins. However, in contrast to the typical Western view of hell as a place of eternal suffering, in Hinduism hell is seen as a temporary stop in the cycle of reincarnation.
According to Hindu lore, the god Yama, the god of death, is also said to be the king of hell. The Garuda Purana gives a detailed account of hell, its features, and the different punishment for most crimes (analogous to a modern-day penal code). The detailed accounts of all the sins committed by an individual are supposed to be kept by Chitragupta, who is the record keeper in Yama's court. Chitragupta reads out the sins committed and Yama orders the appropriate punishments to be given. These punishments include dipping in boiling oil, burning in fire, torture using various weapons, etc. However, individuals who finish their quota of the punishments are reborn according to their karma. If one has led a generally pious life, one ascends to Heaven, or Swarga after a brief period of expiation in hell.
As diverse as other religions, there are many beliefs about hell in Buddhism.
Most of the schools of thought, Theravāda, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna acknowledge several hells, which are places of great suffering for those who commit evil actions, such as cold hells and hot hells. Like all the different realms within cyclic existence, an existence in hell is temporary for its inhabitants. Those with sufficiently negative karma are reborn there, where they stay until their specific negative karma has been used up, at which point they are reborn in another realm, such as that of humans, of hungry ghosts, of animals, of asuras, of devas, or of Naraka (Hell) all according to the individual's karma.
There are a number of modern Buddhists, especially among Western schools, who believe that hell is only a state of mind. In a sense, a bad day at work could be hell, and a great day at work could be heaven. This has been supported by some modern scholars who advocate the interpretation of such metaphysical portions of the scriptures symbolically rather than literally.
The Bahá'í Faith agrees with modern Christian views in regarding the traditional descriptions of hell as a specific place to be symbolic language. Instead the Bahá'í writings describe hell as a "spiritual condition" where remoteness from God is defined as hell; conversely heaven is seen as a state of closeness to God. The soul in the afterlife retains its consciousness and individuality and remembers its physical life; the soul will be able to recognize other souls and communicate with them.
In Western religious iconography and popular culture, Hell is often depicted as a fiery place underground where the devil lives. It also is thought to be inhabited by the souls of dead people and by demons who torment the damned. Christian theologians portray Hell as the abode of the fallen angel Lucifer (also known as Satan and the Devil). The devil is seen as the ruler of Hell and is popularly portrayed as a creature that carries a pitchfork, has red skin, horns on his head, a black goatee beard, and a long, thin tail with a triangle-shaped barb on it. Hell itself is described as a domain of boundless torment and the absolute, ultimate worst-case-scenario, per se.
Many of the great epics of European literature include episodes that occur in Hell. In the Roman poet Virgil's Latin epic, the Aeneid, Aeneas descends into Dis (the underworld) to visit his father's spirit. The underworld is only vaguely described, with one unexplored path leading to the punishments of Tartarus, while the other leads through Erebus and the Elysian Fields.
Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy is a classic inspiration for modern images of hell. In this work, set in the year 300, Dante employed the conceit of taking Virgil as his guide through Inferno (and then, in the second canticle, up the mountain of Purgatorio). Virgil himself is not condemned to Hell in Dante's poem but is rather, as a virtuous pagan, confined to Limbo just at the edge of Hell. The geography of Hell is very elaborately laid out in this work, with nine concentric rings leading deeper into the Earth and deeper into the various punishments of Hell, until, at the center of the world, Dante finds Satan himself trapped in the frozen lake of Cocytus. A small tunnel leads past Satan and out to the other side of the world, at the base of the Mount of Purgatory.
John Milton's Paradise Lost (1668) opens with the fallen angels, including their leader Satan, waking up in Hell after having been defeated in the war in heaven and the action returns there at several points throughout the poem. The nature of Hell as a place of punishment, as portrayed by Dante, is not explored here; instead, Hell is the abode of the demons, and the passive prison from which they plot their revenge upon Heaven through the corruption of the human race.
C.S. Lewis's The Great Divorce (1945) borrows its title from William Blake's Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1793) and its inspiration from the Divine Comedy as the narrator is likewise guided through Hell and Heaven. Hell is portrayed here as an endless, desolate twilight city upon which night is imperceptibly sinking. The night is actually the Apocalypse, and it heralds the arrival of the demons after their judgment. Before the night comes, anyone can escape Hell if they leave behind their former selves and accept Heaven's offer, and a journey to Heaven reveals that Hell is infinitely small; it is nothing more or less than what happens to a soul that turns away from God and into itself.
One modern symbolic interpretation of Hell was portrayed in the 1998 Hollywood film, What Dreams May Come, based on the eponymous novel by Richard Matheson. In the film, the actions that result in the soul being sent to hell are precisely those actions in everyday life that cause the mind pain and suffering. The state of the mind's pain and suffering is the basis of hell. Thus, while hell is the abode of spirits who have rejected God's goodness—such as the suicide in the film, it is the suicide's depressed state of mind which dominates her thoughts and keeps her trapped in that place. Her husband thus can rescue her from hell by opening her mind to the fact that she is loved above all.
The word "Hell" used away from its religious context was long considered to be profanity, particularly in North America. Though its use was commonplace in everyday speech and on television by the 1970s, many people in the United States still consider it somewhat rude or inappropriate language, particularly involving children. Many, particularly among religious circles and in certain sensitive environments, still avoid casual usage of the word.
An example of the common use of “hell” in daily language is the saying "a cold day in hell.” This statement hinges on the paradox that most imagery of hell depicts it as hot and fiery, such as in the Bible in Revelation, where sinners are cast into a lake of fire. Therefore, an event that will transpire “on a cold day in hell” will never occur. Similar or related phrases include: “over my dead body,” “when hell freezes over,” “a snowball's chance in hell,” “when the devil goes ice-skating,” and “when pigs fly.” Still, the phrase "cold as hell" is understood to describe something very cold.
All links retrieved August 11, 2014.
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PORTLAND, Ore. "Attack graphs" help predict the risk that hackers can crack a computer system's security, plus identify its most vulnerable resources, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
By analyzing and assigning probabilities to every path a hacker could use to penetrate a computer system, NIST hopes attack graphs will help IT managers identify weak points that need to be patched to safeguard valuable data.
Attack graphs, developed by NIST jointly with George Mason University, calculate the vulnerability of each path into a computer system using NIST's National Vulnerability Database (NVD). By assigning a probable risk to various computer network pathways, the researchers hope to secure computer systems from multistep attacks.
Each step in an attack is graphed with an assigned probability, depending on its security level. For instance, its firewall, router and various servers are each assigned a probability of being hacked, based on information in the NVD.
The most likely avenue of penetration is deduced by combining the probabilities of each step in an attack. Using "Attack Graph Analysis," for which there is a patent pending, the researchers combine the probability of each step in an attack, using NIST's National Vulnerability Database, as the hacker progressively breaks down security in a system. The most likely routes of attack are those with the highest overall probability of success.
Next the researches plan to expand their analysis to include multiprong attacks on large-scale enterprise networks.
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Post-thrombotic syndrome (also called postphlebitic syndrome) is a complication of a blood clot that forms in a deep vein. Post-thrombotic syndrome occurs because of damage to the vein caused by the blood clot (thrombosis).
Post-thrombotic syndrome can be a long-term problem that lasts for years. It can cause sores that are painful and hard to treat.
The symptoms include:
Compression stockings may be used to reduce swelling and relieve symptoms.
eMedicineHealth Medical Reference from Healthwise
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
© 1995-2014 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.
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|Nations of the World|
The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration period, separating South Germanic dialects from common West Germanic. The earliest testimonies of Old High German are from scattered Elder Futhark inscriptions, especially in Alemannic, from the 6th century, the earliest glosses (Abrogans) date to the 8th and the oldest coherent texts (the Hildebrandslied, the Muspilli and the Merseburg Incantations) to the 9th century. Old Saxon at this time belongs to the North Sea Germanic cultural sphere, and Low German should fall under German rather than Anglo-Frisian influence during the Holy Roman Empire.
As Germany was divided into many different states, the only force working for a unification or standardisation of German during a period of several hundred years was the general preference of writers trying to write in a way that could be understood in the largest possible area.
When Martin Luther translated the Bible (the New Testament in 1522 and the Old Testament, published in parts and completed in 1534) he based his translation mainly on this already developed language, which was the most widely understood language at this time. This language was based on Eastern Upper and Eastern Central German dialects and preserved much of the grammatical system of Middle High German (unlike the spoken German dialects in Central and Upper Germany that already at that time began to lose the genitive case and the preterit tense). In the beginning, copies of the Bible had a long list for each region, which translated words unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics rejected Luther's translation in the beginning and tried to create their own Catholic standard (gemeines Deutsch) — which, however, only differed from 'Protestant German' in some minor details. It took until the middle of the 18th century to create a standard that was widely accepted, thus ending the period of Early New High German.
German used to be the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire. It indicated that the speaker was a merchant, an urbanite, not their nationality. Some cities, such as Prague (German: Prag) and Budapest (Buda, German: Ofen), were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain. Others, such as Bratislava (German: Pressburg), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. A few cities such as Milan (German: Mailand) remained primarily non-German. However, most cities were primarily German during this time, such as Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, Zagreb (German: Agram), and Ljubljana (German: Laibach), though they were surrounded by territory that spoke other languages.
Until about 1800, standard German was almost only a written language. At this time, people in urban northern Germany, who spoke dialects very different from Standard German, learnt it almost like a foreign language and tried to pronounce it as close to the spelling as possible. Prescriptive pronunciation guides used to consider northern German pronunciation to be the standard. However, the actual pronunciation of standard German varies from region to region.
Media and written works are almost all produced in standard German (often called Hochdeutsch in German) which is understood in all areas where German is spoken, except by pre-school children in areas which speak only dialect, for example Switzerland. However, in this age of television, even they now usually learn to understand Standard German before school age.
The first dictionary of the Brothers Grimm, the 16 parts of which were issued between 1852 and 1860, remains the most comprehensive guide to the words of the German language. In 1860, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, this was declared the standard definition of the German language. Official revisions of some of these rules were not issued until 1998, when the German spelling reform of 1996 was officially promulgated by governmental representatives of all German-speaking countries. Since the reform, German spelling has been in an eight-year transitional period where the reformed spelling is taught in most schools, while traditional and reformed spelling co-exist in the media. See German spelling reform of 1996 for an overview of the heated public debate concerning the reform with some major newspapers and magazines and several known writers refusing to adopt it.
After the spelling reform of 1996 let to so much public controversy and some of its changed rules introduced new ambiguities or were simply perceived as "ugly", the transitional period (initially scheduled to end on Dec, 31. 2005) was extended until at least end 2006 and some parts of the reform were changed again in March 2006. This new "reform of the reform" tries to remove the ambiguities introduced in 1996. To date (April 2006), it is yet to be accepted by all German speaking countries.
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1-7: Homer calls upon the goddess of poetry and inspiration (the MUSE) to sing of Achilleus' anger. 8-52: Chryses, priest of Apollo , comes to the Greek camp to ransom his daughter, Chryseis , held captive by Agamemnon . He is insulted and sent away, and Apollo sends a plague on the Greeks. 53-305: Inspired by the goddess, Hera , Achilleus calls an assembly to deal with the plague, and the prophet, Kalchas , reveals that Apollo was angered by Agamemnon's refusal to return the daughter of his priest. Agamemnon reluctantly agrees to give her back, but demands compensation. This provokes Achilleus' anger, and, after they exchange threats and angry words, Agamemnon decides to take Achilleus' "prize", the captive woman, Briseis . The goddess, Athene , prevents Achilleus from killing Agamemnon by promising that he will one day be compensated with three times as many prizes. Nestor 's efforts to make peace fail. 306-430: Agamemnon's men take Briseis from Achilleus, and Achilleus prays to his divine mother, Thetis , for help. He says he will not fight, and he asks her to persuade Zeus to make the battle go badly for the Greeks so they will see that they should not have dishonored him. 430-87: Odysseus leads a group of Greeks to Chryse (the place!) to return Chryseis (the daughter!) to Chryses (the priest!). Meanwhile, Achilleus isolates himself from the other Greeks. 488-611: Thetis, begs Zeus to honor her son, Achilleus, by turning the battle against the Greeks so they will see that they need him. Afterwards, Zeus' wife, Hera , bickers with him over his plan, and the lame god, Hephaistos , tries to make peace among them. Book 2
Zeus begins to fulfill his promise to Thetis to bring honor to Achilleus. First, he deceives Agamemnon with a dream that promises victory. Agamemnon calls the Greek leaders together to tell them his dream. He proposes to test the soldiers by saying that they are going home. When he does this, the soldiers run for the ships; only Odysseus is able to rally them and shame them into staying. A common soldier, THERSITES, protests and urges his fellow Greeks to go home, but Odysseus beats him down and reminds the Greeks that they had been promised victory when they set out. The troops assemble and Homer lists all of the contingents in "the CATALOG OF THE SHIPS". The Trojans arm to meet the Greeks, and Homer names their warriors and troops as well. Book 3
Paris challenges Menelaos to a duel; Helen is to be awarded to the winner. Helen joins Priam on the walls of Troy and names the Greek warriors for him. Then, Priam goes to the battlefield to swear an oath with Agamemnon to respect the results of the duel. Menelaos and Paris fight, but Aphrodite snatches Paris away, deposits him in his bedroom, and brings Helen to him. Book 4
At a council of the gods on MOUNT OLYMPOS, Zeus considers bringing the Trojan War to an end and sparing the city of Troy. Hera angrily objects, and Zeus sends Athene to break the truce. Athene persuades PANDAROS, a Trojan, to shoot an arrow at Menelaos. Menelaos is wounded, the truce is broken and, as Agamemnon rallies the troops, fighting breaks out. Book 5
Diomedes ' exploits on the battlefield dominate this section. After he wounds Aphrodite, Ares, the god of war, intervenes to help the Trojans. The goddesses, Hera and Athene, join in on the Greek side. Book 6
Diomedes and GLAUKOS , an ally of the Trojans, meet, but do not fight because they discover they are "GUEST-FRIENDS": their grandfathers had visited each other and exchanged gifts. Hektor returns to Troy to ask the Trojan women to make a sacrifice to Athene to win her pity. He visits Helen and scolds his brother, Paris, for abandoning the battlefield. In a moving scene, Hektor explains his duty to fight, and says an emotional good-bye to his wife, Andromache , and their baby, ASTYANAX, before returning to battle. Book 7
Hektor proposes a duel with one of the Greeks....
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Oct 24, 2015 ... The words can then be crafted into sentences which convey imagery appealing
to the particular senses as seen in the example below.
Descriptive writing is like a download from your imagination into someone else's.
... To describe things, think what your five senses were telling your brain, ... So,
for example, if you were describing a championship basketball game, but the ...
Here are four examples of how to use your senses and sensory details when you
... Here's what he says about using your senses to improve your writing… ... Hall
encourages writers to use specific sensory details, not abstract ones, when
describing smells. ... Writing Good Sentences – 5 Tips for Making Your Words
Since sight is the most helpful sense, any good ... Using strong adjectives to
illustrate your scene, ...
May 7, 2012 ... Descriptive Writing Lesson: One of the best ways to engage students in ... List the
five senses and invite them to come up with examples of ...
"Descriptive Essay Using The Five Senses" Essays and Research Papers ....
Descriptive essay example If you are having problems with writing of a
The following writing sample uses sensory detail to create concrete images. ...
the most effective way to incorporate sensory detail is to use all five senses in.
www.ask.com/youtube?q=Examples of Descriptive Writing Using 5 Senses&v=UdQFCKucsfY
Jan 3, 2012 ... Learn how to use your senses to begin writing descriptive paragraphs. ... 3rd
Grade 5 Square Paragraph Common Core Writing Lesson from ...
When writing a descriptive essay you may be required to use the five senses. Or
not? ... Information using the senses is vital to writing a great book! It is, also ...
Another example is a love story where the man takes his woman into his arms.
Descriptive Writing: Definition, Techniques & Examples. Expository Essays: ....
Behold, the power of using the five senses in a descriptive essay: 'As the waves ...
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Analysis: Writing Style
Let's think about the first line of the story:
At the lake shore there was another rowboat drawn up. The two Indians stood waiting. (1)
Wait, what do you mean another rowboat? So there was already a rowboat? How are we supposed to know that?
Oh. You see what Hemingway did there?
By talking to us as though we are already somehow familiar with the scene, Hemingway treats us like we already know what's going on. In turn, we feel like we already know what's going on. Right away, familiarity is fostered. By treating us this way, Hemingway is able to tell us everything we need to know about the scene by using subtle devices. To understand this better, let's consider the excerpted lines from the story right above.
If there is another rowboat, we know that there are two rowboats. And we know that they were expecting the two Indians to be waiting because they are the two Indians, instead of just "Two Indians stood waiting." See how important the article is there? Hemingway uses them all the time to foster a sense of familiarity, so be sure to keep your eye out for them. They're one of the ways Hemingway positions his readers to feel like they're already part of the scene and contribute to the familiar tone of the story. Hemingway writes so seamlessly that it's easy to just go along for the ride, taking the scenes in as they come.
This is a word that gets tossed around a lot whenever Hemingway is in the mix. It essentially means that you're probably never going to come across a ten-dollar word in a Hemingway story. But that's just at the level of diction; it also means that you're not going to get any Doestoevsky-esque internal monologues that go on for pages and include four sentences total. What you will get is a lot of short, descriptive sentences that are meant to contain everything you need to know about a character, a scene, or an action. For instance:
Inside on a wooden bunk lay a young Indian woman. She had been trying to have her baby for two days. All the old women in the camp had been helping her. (10)
How does Nick know all of this? Presumably someone told him, but we don't get to see him being told because that would take up valuable page space. Instead, Hemingway just assumes that we're sharp kids and we can follow along.
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The variety of flavors of tobacco makes hookah attractive and easier to conceal from parents, study found
Almost 1 in 5 (18%) of high school seniors smoke waterpipes, or “hookahs”, according to a new study from New York University (NYU) researchers.
The new report, which is published in the journal Pediatrics, looked at a survey of 15,000 high school seniors from 130 public and private high schools nationwide and focused on a population of 5,540 students who were asked about their hookah use between 2010 and 2012.
The researchers found that about one in five seniors reported smoking hookah–waterpipes used to smoke specially-made tobacco–in the last year. And smoking hookah was more common among teens in big cities.
“What we find most interesting is that students of higher socioeconomic status appear to be more likely to use hookah,” said study author Joseph J. Palamar, an assistant professor of Population Health at NYU Langone Medical Center (NYULMC). “Surprisingly, students with more educated parents or higher personal income are at high risk for use.”
Cigarette smoking rates among young people are down, with a recent CDC report showing rates of cigarette smoking among high school students has dropped to its lowest level in 22 years. But public health workers are also worried about other tobacco and nicotine products like cigars, hookah, and e-cigarettes. A 2012 report showed a 123% increase in the use of other smokable tobacco products like cigars and pipes.
The researchers note, however, that smoking hookah doesn’t usually happen as often as cigarettes, and tends to happen more occasionally. Still, the researchers are worried about “hookah pens,” smoking devices similar to e-cigs which makes smoking hookah simpler. “These nifty little devices are likely to attract curious consumers, possibly even non-cigarette smokers,” said Palamar. Hookah tobacco tends to come in different flavors, and may be easier to conceal.
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The Fairchild Herbarium: More than just dead plants
Laurn Raz, Ph.D.
The world's major botanical gardens have herbaria as part of their research facilities. They are libraries of plant samp1es that provide essential information for research.
Herbarium specimens are vital references, they provide a physical reference (a voucher) for plant identification and studies of plant distribution, they provide an historical perspective (for instance a specimen may show a plant was once present in a reserve where it is now extinct), in addition herbarium specimens can be used for biochemical, anatomical and increasingly genetic research. Individually, each herbarium specimen is a record of a plant's existence in both space and time. There is almost no end to what we can do with herbarium spec1tnens, if we conserve them properly. Using the locality data from specimen labels, we can reconstruct entire floras (such as the Flora of Florida) or make detailed maps of species distributions that can be used for conservation assessments. Applications include monitoring of endangered species, identification of traded plant material and tracking introductions of exotic species. Beyond their applications for research, herbarium specimens are also used for teaching, creating displays for public education, and as the inspiration for countless botanical illustrations and paintings.
Most collections are housed in natural history museums, university biology departments or at botanic research institutions such as Fairchild. Typically, specimens are stored in airtight metal cabinets that protect them from light, heat and humidity. Properly curated and protected from insect and environmental damage, a specimen can last for hundreds of years (see fig 2). The oldest herbarium specimens are approaching five hundred years old!
Why does Fairchild need a collection of dried plants? Because Fairchild is a world-class research institution, and the Herbarium is at the core of many of our research programs. Simply stated, it is a source for our botanical conservation work — a place where our collections and their associated information can be held. We hold voucher specimens from our field expeditions and garden collections. For instance we have ca. 3,300 palm specimens, representing 710 species from around the world. This is one of the most important palm herbarium collections in the world. In addition we hold specimens on loan from other institutions that we consult for our research. For instance, we have large collections of the plant family, the Myrsinaceae, the subject of John Pipoly's research in the tropical forests of New Guinea and the Caribbean.
Herbarium specimens provide insight into geopolitical history and illuminate our own botanical history. We routinely consult material dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries, a period when Western explorers were mapping out the interiors of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Pressed plant specimens were routinely collected for identification and further study. Expeditions led by renowned explorers such as Alexander van Humboldt, and Lewis & Clark yielded many botarucal discoveries of species new to science. The Caribbean region in particular was one of the first regions to be intensively explored by European naturalists and some of the oldest scientific names (Latin binomials) in use today are of plants found in the Caribbean islands. The original specimens still exist and are deposited in herbaria around the world. In rare instances, the specimens are all we have left, as some species are feared extinct. This work continues today as Fairchild scientists continue to document the tropical world and find new species.
The technology for making herbarium specimens has not changed much in the last three hundred years. In fact, if you have ever pressed a flower in a book the technique may already be familiar to you. The difference is that instead of books, we use wooden boards and straps to create the pressure. And instead of the leaves of a book, specimens are separated by sheets of newspaper and sections of cardboard. In the field, specimens are collected (with permission!) using simple tools such as pruners and shovels. Hundredds of specimens can be sandwiched together into a single “plant press”. To dry the specimens, heat from the sun or from a gas or electrical source, is applied to the press until all the water evaporates between the airspaces of the cardboard.
Back in our Herbarium workroom, we prepare these pressed specimens for archival preservation. To accomplish this, we rely on a small army of dedicated volunteers. First the collection data is transcribed from field notebooks into a database to generate printed labels. The specimen and its corresponding label are then affixed with glue to a standard sized sheet of archival paper (Fig 3). The specimen may be also reinforced with a few stitches of thread. The mounted specimens are then assigned accession numbers, by which we keep track of our inventory, and the specimens are filed in our collection. The specimens are arranged in alphabetical order by plant family.
New specimens come in from staff-led expeditions, and also from exchange programs with other herbaria around the world. Growth also comes from mergers and acquisitions, like in business. Most recently, we inherited two large collections from the University of Miami, and from Florida Atlantic University, which shed their herbaria when they restructured their biology departments. Increasingly, botanical gardens such as Fairchild are taking on important and historical collections that universities and state facilities can no longer sustain. We have early 20th C. collections of John Kunkel Small, one of the most important figures in Florida botany; we also have 19th C. material from Florida collectors F. Rugel and A. H. Curtiss, and historical material from the Everglades. One of our most important collections is the original set of Correll vouchers which served as the basis for the widely acclaimed Flora of the Bahama Archipelago (1982).
With a total inventory of about 165,000 specimens (and growing) Fairchild is considered a medium-sized herbarium. Globally, there are more than 3,240 herbaria in 165 countries, and together these collections represent all of the known plant diversity on earth. Herbaria range in size from a few thousand to 7.5 million specimens. The largest Is at the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, in Paris. Our Herbarium focuses on the plants of Florida, the West Indies (Caribbean islands), and cultivated plants of the tropics. Fairchild is also one of the premier institutions of the world for palm research, and in support of our Palm Biology program, we curate palm specimens from all over the world. Within these areas of concentration, our specimens document variation at all levels of plant diversity, which include species, genus, family, order, etc., from the Linnaean hierarchy that you learned in high school! It is ideal to have multiple specimens of each species in order to appreciate the spectrum of variation that occurs within species.
In addition to our general collection, we also maintain a collection of Type specimens. A physical specimen must support all published plant names; the specimen that supports the name is called the TYPE. Many Types date back to the historical expeditions I mentioned earlier, although new species ate being described on a continual basis. Type specimens are deposited in herbaria around the world, and researchers may request to see them in person, or arrange to have them shipped on loan. The ability to see original material enables us to verify or refute direct observations that were made up to hundreds of years ago. This adds rigor to our field studies and makes Type specimens especially valuable. At Fairchild we have approximately 200 Types, including new specimens described by Fairchild scientists.
In 1999, Fairchild began a long-term initiative to put our entire Herbarium collection online. Currently we have over 46,000 specimens databased and linked to digital images that are searchable on the web. Almost a1l of the scanning (fig 4) and databasing (fig 5) has been done by our wonderful volunteers, whose work is supervised by Fairchild staff member Lynka Woodbury. Their collective efforts make our Herbarium accessible to people who would not otherwise be able to get to Miami,or who cannot afford the significant cost of shipping specimens on loan. At the present time, we have most of our Florida collection online, and the next phase of our operation is to digitize our Caribbean collections.
The Fairchild Herbarium is not open to the public, but we can arrange special tours for classes, or other educational groups. Scientific visitors are admitted by appointment. All of you are welcome to visit our Virtual Herbarium at anytime. Come see us at www:virtualherbarium.org.
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A new diagnostic system used to detect cancer cells in small blood samples could next be turned towards filtering a patient’s entire system to remove those dangerous cells – like a dialysis machine for cancer – says an Australian researcher who helped develop the system.
The technique was developed for cancer diagnosis, and is capable of detecting (and removing) a tiny handful of cancer-spreading cells from amongst the billions of healthy cells in a small blood sample.
The revolutionary system, which works to diagnose cancer at a tenth of the cost of competing technologies, is now in clinical trials in the US, UK, Singapore and Australia, and is in the process of being commercialised by Clearbridge BioMedics PteLtd in Singapore.
“It’s like a non-invasive ‘liquid biopsy’ that can flag the presence of any type of solid cancer – like lung, breast, bowel, and so on – without the need for surgery,” says Dr Majid Warkiani, a lecturer at the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of New South Wales, and a project leader at the Australian Centre for NanoMedicine at UNSW.
The initial challenge in developing the early-warning diagnosis system was to find those few cancer cells amongst billions of healthy blood cells. That challenge was met by a system that ‘spins out’ and isolates circulating tumour cells (CTCs), which are shed into the bloodstream from a solid tumour and can establish tumours elsewhere in the body—the mechanism by which cancer spreads through the body.
The ‘liquid biopsy’ can thus be used both for early cancer diagnosis and for monitoring a patient’s response to treatment.
But the potential for the new system goes far beyond just diagnosis.
If the filtering system could be scaled up, a cancer patient’s entire blood supply could potentially be similarly filtered, removing the dangerous cells and cycling the rest of the patient’s blood back into their system. It would be similar to dialysis treatment for kidney patients.
“It would be a revolution in cancer treatment. You would keep filtering out the dangerous cells, prolonging the life of the patient,” says Dr Warkiani. “There is still a long way to go—including securing money and support in Australia—before this is possible.’
But he believes this new technology will become one of the essential components of routine cancer management in the near future.
“A therapeutic version of this system, used for blood cleansing, could make the cancer a chronic disease and decrease drastically its mortality rate,” he says.
Majid was the NSW winner of Fresh Science, a national program that helps early-career researchers find and share their stories of discovery. Fresh Science is helping to build a cadre of skilled science communicators. In 2015, Fresh Science ran in every mainland state, with 180 early-career researchers nominating for the six Fresh Science events held this year in Melbourne, Townsville, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Sydney.
Over 50 early-career researchers nominated for Fresh Science NSW, which was held at the Australian Museum (training) and Three Wise Monkeys Hotel (public challenge event) and was supported by the Australian Museum and the University of New South Wales.
Isolation of Circulating Tumour Cells from a lung cancer patient (AVI)
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Emotional Immaturity and Anger
In the past, ‘blowing off steam’ was considered a healthy form of
anger management, because it was believed to be unhealthy to keep anger bottled up inside. Unfortunately, despite
evidence that blowing up does not solve problems (and causes trauma for the others involved) some people still
believe in so-called “Healthy” expressions of anger, that often leave those at whom the anger is directed,
devastated in its wake.
People who can’t stand feeling helpless get angry instead. Anger and adrenaline gives
the illusion of being more in control of the situation, when nothing could be less true. Getting angry instead of
feeling ashamed or anxious, allows people to avoid having to deal with the real problem, but that does not make the
problem go away, so the anger just continues to spiral out of control, until it manifests itself in the most
negative aspects of poor anger management.
Some people with poor anger management skills believe they have the right to vent
their frustrations on others verbally, physically, or by breaking things. Angry outbursts don’t alleviate the
feeling of being threatened, the fear, or the sense of betrayal that hides underneath the anger. Angry people tend
to block vulnerable feelings of hurt, sadness, guilt and vulnerability, but the emotions often surface as anger,
and become a substitute emotion for the other emotions they keep buried.
A person who believes they have a right to vent anger on others
never quite matures, or grows up emotionally. They remain stuck in a child-like reactive state when they feel
frustrated, instead of responding with positive anger management methods, respond with temper tantrums, screaming,
name calling, and responses that increase anger, by causing the body to produce even more
Screaming may give a temporary relief from anger, but yelling, name
calling, and swearing never solves problems. In fact, the habit of yelling breaks down natural inhibitions that
most people have about not acting out their harmful impulses. Habitual reactions, like yelling, create pathways in
the brain making it easier for the pattern to be repeated, and gradually encroaches in every aspect of life.
Hostility breeds hostility, and open expressions of hostility harm not only everyone in the path of the rage, they
harm the person who has failed to attain a level of maturity to learn effective anger management skills most of
all, by alienating those who truly love them.
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http://areyoufeelingstressed.com/emotional_immaturity_and_anger_management.html
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Singing is more than a fun activity—there are documented physical and psychological benefits!
strengthen the immune system
reduce heart rate and blood pressure
increase lung capacity
tone diaphragm, abdominal and intercostal muscles
help build concentration, memory, and listening skills
build self-esteem and confidence
act as an anti-depressant
"Wired for Sound: Oliver Sacks, MD, the noted neurologist and author, describes the profound bond between music and our brains and how the simple act of singing can be good medicine—especially as we age." ...read full article.
"Studies have linked singing with a lower heart rate, decreased blood pressure, and reduced stress, according to Patricia Preston-Roberts, a board-certified music therapist in New York City." ...read full article.
"...research published in the Journal of Music Therapy in 2004 suggested that group singing helped people to cope better with chronic pain." ...read full article.
"The medical profession strongly believes that singing is a good form of aerobic exercise for the abdominal muscles, the lungs and the circulation of blood." ...read full article.
For further reading (or rather, listening):
Check out these podcasts from The Library of Congress: Music and the Brain. "The Library's Music and the Brain events offer lectures, conversations and symposia about the explosion of new research at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and music."
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http://www.all-together-now.ca/singingisgood.html
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Studies show unregulated chemicals widespread in lakes, rivers
Two studies released this week by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) confirm that a wide variety of unregulated chemicals are ending up in Minnesota's lakes and rivers. The chemicals, including pharmaceuticals and personal care products, are of concern because many have properties that can interfere with the functioning of hormones in animals and people.
Previous studies have shown the chemicals are often found in streams that receive wastewater discharges. Limited sampling has also revealed that they are often found in lakes, which do not typically receive wastewater. But the number of lakes and rivers included in those investigations was not large enough to give an accurate picture of the extent of the contamination. The two latest studies provide statistical evidence of just how widespread the chemicals are in Minnesota's surface waters.
"What these studies really are measuring is the footprint of our society and how we live," said MPCA Commissioner John Linc Stine. "Our lakes and rivers are reflecting the chemicals we use and put into our bodies. These chemicals have very beneficial uses, but unfortunately they tend to stick around in the environment after their first use."
In the two studies, the MPCA in 2010 and 2012 sampled lakes and rivers using funds from the state of Minnesota and the US Environmental Protection Agency, part of nationwide EPA surveys to find out what's in the nation's waters.
For the lakes study, 50 lakes were randomly selected across Minnesota. Samples were collected and analyzed for 125 chemicals. The study included analysis of "endocrine-active compounds" (EACs), so called because they mimic or interfere with the actions of naturally occurring hormones. These chemicals can have adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems and fish.
Results of the lake study were generally consistent with findings of previous but smaller studies that found commonly used chemicals widely distributed in Minnesota lakes. The insect repellent DEET was found in 76% of the lakes sampled, making it the most frequently detected chemical. Chemicals not previously analyzed - including cocaine, the antidepressant amitriptyline, and the veterinary antibiotic carbadox - also were often detected in the lakes.
MPCA officials said the detection of cocaine was unexpected, one for which they couldn't account except that other studies have shown it can attach to fine particles and might be transported long distances through the atmosphere.
The rivers study analyzed 18 chemicals, including several pharmaceuticals and personal care products, and was conducted at 150 river locations selected at random. Parabens, a family of chemicals used as preservatives for food and cosmetics, were commonly found, with methylparaben detected in over 30% of the samples. A breakdown product of the corrosion inhibitor benzotriazole was found in 12 percent of the samples. Carbamazepine, used in medications to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and several antidepressants were also found.
Many of the chemicals in the MPCA studies were detected at very small concentrations, in the low parts per trillion. Such levels are of concern because EACs have the potential to adversely affect fish and other aquatic organisms even at extremely low levels.
One part per trillion is roughly equivalent to 1 drop in a pool of water covering the area of a football field 43 feet deep.
The MPCA plans to continue testing surface waters for pharmaceuticals and EACs on a rotating five-year basis to identify any trends that may be occurring.
Reports on the studies and summary information are available on MPCA's webpage at http://www.pca.state.mn.us/iryp8f4. The two reports are titled "Pharmaceuticals and Endocrine Active Chemicals in Minnesota Lakes" and "Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Minnesota's Rivers and Streams".
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http://www.echopress.com/content/studies-show-unregulated-chemicals-widespread-lakes-rivers
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en
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Crater Momoy on Titan
With its well-preserved ejecta and steep inward-facing walls, the new crater resembles the two other freshest known craters on Titan: Sinlap, seen in the radar image of February 2005, and Ksa, seen in September 2006. One difference is that Sinlap and the new crater seem to have flat, largely featureless floors, but Ksa has a bright central peak.
Dunes, visible as dark lines on the left of the image, have been swept toward the crater by the winds of Titan.
This synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) image, centered at 12 degrees north latitude and 45 degrees west longitude, measures 242 kilometers by 257 kilometers wide.
Original image data dated on or about June 21, 2011.
Most NASA images are in the public domain. Reuse of this image is governed by NASA's image use policy.
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The drop-out rate is a statistic that area high schools pay a lot of attention to, as they should. Not only is this statistic a factor used to assess the health of a school district, but it also has a tremendous effect on taxpayers, according to a new study conducted by economist Brian Gottlob of PolEcon Research.
Dropping out of high school not only affects the individual student but has a ripple effect on the state and local economy as well. According to this study released by the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation, one year's class of dropouts in Missouri will cost the state approximately $71 million every year over their lifetimes. This study concludes that the unemployment rate for dropouts is 20 percent, that dropouts are twice as likely to go to prison and dropouts earn an average of $10,000 less than high school graduates. In Missouri, an estimated 17,000 students fail to graduate each year, costing the state about $4,000 per dropout annually.
Other key findings listed in the study were as follows:
The total loss of earnings in 2004 of all dropouts, age 20 to 64, was $3.1 billion.
The additional Medicaid costs attributable to dropouts (compared to the cost if they had graduated) is $234 million per year.
If anyone doubts dropping out is a poor choice, they only need to read this study to understand the personal and social ramifications of leaving high school prior to graduation. The days of being able to find a high-paying manufacturing job are numbered. These jobs are being shipped out of the country, and more and more of jobs in the United States require high school and college degrees. Career advancement is also limited for an individual who has not completed high school and is narrowing for those who have not pursued technical training or a college degree after high school.
The information published in the study is very interesting, but the foundation's claim that the study supports school vouchers is off-base. Instead of pushing for legislation that will strengthen private schools, our elected representatives and educational leaders need to continue to search and find ways to bolster our public education system. It doesn't seem right to offer more tax incentives to those who can already afford to send their children to private schools. The thought that vouchers would somehow help the inner city student who is forced to attend failing city schools is ludicrous. Vouchers only weaken the public school system and assist the more privileged of our society.
Here in Barry County, public schools have been focusing efforts to decrease drop-out rates, and many have been very successful. Cassville's drop-out rate has decreased from 5.6 percent in 1997-98 to 3.3 percent last year. It would be nice if public school funding would be increased to such a level that the R-IV School District could reinstate its Alternative School, which was also used by neighboring districts. State funding cuts forced the suspension of this successful program, and we'd like our state representatives to look into legislation that would provide some type of funding for these alternative educational sites, which serve a portion of the student population that are at risk for dropping out of school. By the way, the Alternative School was started through a grant written by Richard Asbill, Southwest superintendent who will be returning to the administrative ranks at Cassville next year.
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Mesopotamian Cuneiform (3100 BC)
Cuneiform was a combination writing system composed of pictograms and ideograms (idea symbols) and phonograms (sound symbols). The cuneiform system began as pictures and continued, in part, to convey meaning the way pictures do.
A Sumerian school, the earliest on earth, called an edubba (tablethouse). Here boys studied 12 years to become scribes in the cuneiform script.
To submit comments or questions, please use our online contact form.
Copyright © 1999-2011 JAARS Museum of the Alphabet.
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African American Read-alones for 1st Grade
For more reading ideas, talk to a children’s librarian. Call 217/403 — 2030 or e-mail email@example.com.
- Corduroy Makes a Cake (Easy Readers/E/Inc) by Alison Inches. Corduroy wants to make a special present for Lisa, but instead he makes a mess.
- A Day with Daddy (Easy Readers/E/Gri) by Nikki Grimes. A young boy knows that there’s nothing better than getting to do things with his dad.
- The Girls in the Circle (Easy Readers/E/Gio) by Nikki Giovanni. Three little girls paint their noses and have lots of girl fun.
- Hamster Chase (Easy Readers/E/Sue) by Anastasia Suen. The class hamster gets loose and it’s up to Peter, Amy, and Archie to find him.
- Lights Out! (Easy Readers/E/Med) by Angela Shelf Medaris. She should be asleep but she just can’t help it. She just loves the night.
- The Mystery of the Missing Dog (Easy Readers/E/Hoo) by Gwendolyn Hooks. Jet is missing. Where is he? Alex looks everywhere for his lost dog.
- Rap a Tap Tap: Here’s Bojangles - Think of That! (Picture Books/E/Dil) by Leo and Diane Dillon. The story of one of America’s greatest dancers, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.
- Ready? Set. Raymond! (Easy Readers/E/Nel) by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson. Raymond never goes slow. He always goes f-a-s-t!
- Wagon Wheels (Easy Readers/E/Bre) by Barbara Brenner. A father and his sons face the dangers of the wilderness.
- What Do You Know? Snow! (Easy Readers/E/Hud) by Cheryl Willis Hudson. Sydney enjoys a wintery day and has lots of fun in the snow.
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The new record—26.8 tesla—was reached in late July at the magnet lab's High Field Test Facility and brings engineers closer to realizing the National Research Council goal of creating a 30-tesla superconducting magnet.
New world record for superconducting magnet set at FSU
By Susan Ray
A collaboration between the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University and industry partner SuperPower Inc. has led to a new world record for a magnetic field created by a superconducting magnet.
The new record—26.8 tesla—was reached in late July at the magnet lab's High Field Test Facility and brings engineers closer to realizing the National Research Council goal of creating a 30-tesla superconducting magnet. The development of such a magnet could lead to great advances in physics, biology and chemistry research, as well as significant reductions in the operating costs of many high-field magnets.
The world-record magnet's test coil was wound by Schenectady, N.Y.-based SuperPower (www.superpower-inc.com) with a well-known, high-temperature superconductor called yttrium barium copper oxide, or YBCO. SuperPower develops superconductors such as YBCO and related technologies for the electric power industry. The magnet lab's Applied Superconductivity Center has worked with the company to determine the superconducting and mechanical properties of YBCO and other materials.
"This test demonstrates what we had long hoped—that YBCO high-temperature superconductors being made now for electric utility applications also have great potential for high-magnetic-field technology," said David Larbalestier, director of the Applied Superconductivity Center and chief materials scientist at the magnet lab.
"It seems likely that this conductor technology can be used to make all-superconducting magnets with fields that will soon exceed 30 tesla. This far exceeds the 22- to 23-tesla limit of all previous niobium-based superconducting magnets." (Niobium is the material used to build most superconducting magnets.)
Venkat Selvamanickam, vice president and chief technology officer at SuperPower, said the YBCO wire's potential for application outside the electric power industry has long been in the company's sights.
"We are encouraged by the results of these tests at the magnet lab and look forward to continuing our collaboration to more completely explore the additional possibilities in high field applications," Selvamanickam said.
Scientists have been aware of the amazing properties of YBCO and its potential for magnet technology for 20 years, but only in the past two years has the material become commercially available in the long lengths needed for magnets. Scientists at the magnet lab are interested in the material because at very low temperatures, the conductor is capable of generating very high magnetic fields.
"In principle, YBCO is capable of producing the highest-field superconducting magnets ever possible," said W. Denis Markiewicz, a scientist in the lab's Magnet Science & Technology division. Based on the potential of the material, he said, it's even possible that it could one day produce magnetic fields as high as 50 tesla.
"What we learned from this test really opens the door to imagining that one day we could use superconducting magnets in place of our resistive magnets," he said.
Resistive magnets, primarily used for physics research, are more costly to operate because they are powered by tremendous amounts of electricity, while superconducting magnets require little or no electrical power to run once they are brought up to full field. The magnet lab's annual utility costs to run the magnets are close to $4 million, and the lab consumes 10 percent of the city of Tallahassee's generating capacity.
The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory develops and operates state-of-the-art, high-magnetic-field facilities that faculty and visiting scientists and engineers use for research. The laboratory is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the state of Florida. To learn more, visit www.magnet.fsu.edu.
SuperPower is a world leader in developing commercially feasible second-generation high-temperature superconductors and related devices designed to enhance the capacity, reliability and quality of electric power transmission and distribution.
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http://www.fsu.edu/news/2007/08/07/record.magnet/
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en
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By Alan Johnston
BBC News, Gaza
All through the heat of summer archaeologists dug and sifted through the dunes on the edge of Gaza City.
Gaza is said to be one of the world's oldest living cities
Gradually walls, homes, and the outlines of alleyways emerged from the sand.
These were the bones of the ancient Greek city of Antidon. And they were testimony to the extraordinary richness of Gaza's past.
Not only the Greeks passed this way. The Pharaohs of ancient Egypt, the Persians, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Turks, the British and many others left their mark on Gaza.
It has been described as one of the world's oldest living cities.
Layers of civilisation lie beneath its busy streets and crowded ranks of badly made apartment blocks.
It is a heritage almost entirely overlooked.
Around the world, Gaza is seen only as a deeply troubled place - a bloody arena in the Palestinians' confrontation with Israel.
But efforts are being made now to present a fuller picture.
The Palestinian Authority has approved a plan to build a national archaeological museum in Gaza.
Land has been set aside, and the United Nations is helping to develop the project.
"People around the world have looked at Gaza through the TV as a place of violence and anarchy," says the head of the United Nations Development Programme in Gaza, Khalid Abdul Shafi.
"Yes there was violence. But there is another face of Gaza - there is culture and archaeology and history."
Shaped by location
Population pressure in the tiny Gaza Strip is intense, and no doubt numerous potential archaeological sites have been built over and lost.
"But still, according to specialists, what is under ground and under the sea is more, much more, than what has been discovered to date," says Mr Abdul Shafi.
Gaza has been strategically important to regional powers
"There is an opportunity to discover things and put them in a place like a national museum, and this is what we're aiming for."
For more than 3,500 years Gaza's history has been shaped by its location.
It sits on the route linking North Africa with the greener lands of the Levant to the north.
This made Gaza strategically important first to the Egyptian Pharaohs, and then to many others who sought to wield power in the region.
"It's found itself the target of constant sieges - constant battles," says Gerald Butt, the author of the definitive history of the area, Gaza at the Crossroads.
"The people have been subject to rule from all over the globe. Right through the centuries Gaza's been at the centre of the major military campaigns in the Eastern Mediterranean."
For example, anyone wanting to attack the magnificent Pharaonic civilisation on the Nile needed to take Gaza first.
It was the last place their troops would have easy access to water before the long hard march across the sands of the Sinai peninsula.
Centre of civilisation
Palestinians still use one of the world's oldest roads
Today on Gaza's main highway battered taxis go hammering past donkey carts - blaring their horns at pedestrians.
It looks unremarkable enough now, but it is actually one of the world's oldest roads.
The chariots of the armies of the Pharaohs and Alexander the Great, the cavalry of the Crusaders, and even Napoleon Bonaparte all rode this route, which is now named after the famous Muslim General, Salah al-Din.
Gaza has also known times of peace and prosperity.
In the age when Alexandria's famous library was earning it a reputation as a centre of civilisation, just across the Sinai, Gaza was also known as a place of learning and scholarship.
And Gaza used to be the port at the end of a trade route that connected the Arabian peninsula with the Mediterranean world.
The city did business in fish, slaves and highly valuable frankincense - produced in the mountains of what are now Yemen and Oman.
The UN is helping to develop an archaeological museum
But if the proposed new museum is built it will reveal a recurring pattern of invasion and conquest, long periods of occupation by foreign armies, and their eventual withdrawal.
And in the past few months, people here have witnessed one more turn of that historic cycle.
In line with Israel's plan to "disengage" from the Gaza Strip, it abandoned the settlements that it had built here in breach of international law.
The Israeli troops who had occupied Gaza for decades withdrew.
It was a reminder that for thousands of years, armies have come and armies have gone - and battered, ancient Gaza has endured.
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4365440.stm
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There are a lot of neat people stories in the history of science. I've recently been interested in women astronomers who made major advances but are not as well known as the big 3: Caroline Herschel, Annie Jump Cannon and Henrietta Swan Leavitt. This month I am writing about Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (1900-1979) who stuck with her convictions to make big discoveries on the nature of stars. She has a really nice autobiography called "The Dyers Hand" (published in the collection "Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin: An Autobiography and Other Recollections") which I found in the Stanford stacks during a recent visit.
Cecilia Payne grew up in Britain and went to University of Cambridge. There, a class by Eddington inspired her to pursue astronomy. Eddington encouraged her to go to the US where there were more opportunities for women. She applied to Harvard and received a fellowship for graduate studies with Shapley.
There was a long tradition at Harvard of using spectroscopy to study the abundances and temperatures of stars. The O, B, A, … classification scheme was developed there. In her 1925 PhD thesis with Shapley (from Radcliffe because Harvard would not grant the degree to a woman, she was the first astronomy PhD from Radcliffe), Payne was able to relate the stellar classification scheme to the surface temperatures of stars. Most importantly, she showed that hydrogen and helium are the dominant elements that make up stars. This seems obvious to us now, but was contrary to the belief at that time that the sun had the same abundances as the Earth. She had a disagreement about this with the prominent astronomer Russell. In fact, he persuaded her to add a note in her paper that the H, He result was "almost certainly not real". In 1929 he acknowledged that she was correct and cited her work in his further papers.
During the 1930's and 1940's Payne was a lecturer at Harvard and taught classes that were not even listed in the catalog due to her gender. In 1956, she became a full professor of astronomy at Harvard and then became the first woman department chair there. I thought it was particularly nice to see that she won the Russell prize of the AAS in 1977. Both Eddington and Shapley were impressed with her brilliance. They became the mentors and promoters of her career that helped her have a productive life as a professional astronomer in spite of the biases of the time.
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com/2014/02/cecilia-payne-gaposchkin.html
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Isoproturon mainly enters the environment during its application as an agricultural herbicide, but releases may also occur during manufacture, transportation and storage. Isoproturon has a low tendency to adsorb to soils and is therefore quite able to enter in water bodies despite its rather low water solubility (70,2 mg/l). Its half-life in water is 30 days, in soils 40 days.
Due to its low affinity for organic matter it is not expected to have a high tendency towards bioaccumulation or biomagnification. Significant bioaccumulation might however occur in certain species.
Isoproturon is shown to be very toxic for algae and oysters which experience acute toxicity at concentrations above 13 µg/l and 370 µg/l respectively. Long term exposure to concentrations above 1 mg/l might affect the growth of fishes, acute toxicity occurs at concentrations above 18 mg/l.
In fresh water, concentrations of 0,125 µg/l have been recorded.
Environmental standards and legislation
- WHO 2003 chemical fact sheet
- www.environment-agency.gov.uk August 18 2009
- WHO 2003 Background document for development of WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality
- MERLIN Gerard, VUILLOD Maryline, LISSOLO Thierry, CLEMENT Bernard 2002 Fate and bioaccumulation of isoproturon in outdoor aquatic microcosms; Environmental toxicology and chemistry
- Review report for the active substance isoproturon, adopted December 7 2001
Please note that others may also have edited the contents of this article.
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<urn:uuid:74f838b3-4246-4268-a3fc-a7618e67db9f>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.vliz.be/wiki/Isoproturon
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Push-me-pull-you (lower left of photo), Carizzo Canyon,
Baca County, Colorado. Photo: Peter Faris, 1993.
The more common form that these creatures take however is that of a quadruped, a four legged animal with a head at each end. What these Push-Me-Pull-You’s actually represented to their creators I do not know. I can show a few examples to illustrate the general form of this creature, but except for Sisiutl (mentioned above) I have no idea as to what they were intended to mean.
Alex Patterson (1992:202) suggested that the two-headed animals “zoomorphs with a head at both ends” is an animal birth scene representing the “invariable head-first appearance of many animals at birth.” Can this be the meaning of these enigmatic creature? Well, it is a very clever idea and may, in fact, actually be applicable in some instances. However, many of the Push-Me-Pull-You’s are shown with what appear to be horned heads on both ends, and no animal I know of is born with a set of adult horns in place. An example is the Push-Me-Pull-You from Rochester Creek in Utah which has a set of Bighorn Sheep horns on the head at each end.
So, this brings me back to the question what do they represent? I really have no idea, but I would like to hear your suggestions.
1992 A Field Guide To Rock Art Symbols Of The Greater Southwest, Johnson Books, Boulder.
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://rockartblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/animals-in-rock-art-push-me-pull-you.html
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en
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You were lucky enough to get a map just before entering the legendary magical mystery world. The map shows the whole area of your planned exploration, including several countries with complicated borders. The map is clearly drawn, but in sepia ink only; it is hard to recognize at a glance which region belongs to which country, and this might bring you into severe danger. You have decided to color the map before entering the area. gA good deal depends on preparation,h you talked to yourself.
Each country has one or more territories, each of which has a polygonal shape. Territories belonging to one country may or may not gtouchh each other, i.e. there may be disconnected territories. All the territories belonging to the same country must be assigned the same color. You can assign the same color to more than one country, but, to avoid confusion, two countries gadjacenth to each other should be assigned different colors. Two countries are considered to be gadjacenth if any of their territories share a border of non-zero length.
Write a program that finds the least number of colors required to color the map.
The input consists of multiple map data. Each map data starts with a line containing the total number of territories n, followed by the data for those territories. n is a positive integer not more than 100. The data for a territory with m vertices has the following format:
String x1 y1 x2 y2 ... xm ym -1
gStringh (a sequence of alphanumerical characters) gives the name of the country it belongs to. A country name has at least one character and never has more than twenty. When a country has multiple territories, its name appears in each of them.
Remaining lines represent the vertices of the territory. A vertex data line has a pair of nonneg- ative integers which represent the x- and y-coordinates of a vertex. x- and y-coordinates are separated by a single space, and y-coordinate is immediately followed by a newline. Edges of the territory are obtained by connecting vertices given in two adjacent vertex data lines, and byconnecting vertices given in the last and the first vertex data lines. None of x- and y-coordinates exceeds 1000. Finally, -1 in a line marks the end of vertex data lines. The number of vertices m does not exceed 100.
You may assume that the contours of polygons are simple, i.e. they do not cross nor touch themselves. No two polygons share a region of non-zero area. The number of countries in a map does not exceed 10.
The last map data is followed by a line containing only a zero, marking the end of the input data.
For each map data, output one line containing the least possible number of colors required to color the map satisfying the specified conditions.
6 Blizid 0 0 60 0 60 60 0 60 0 50 50 50 50 10 0 10 -1 Blizid 0 10 10 10 10 50 0 50 -1 Windom 10 10 50 10 40 20 20 20 20 40 10 50 -1 Accent 50 10 50 50 35 50 35 25 -1 Pilot 35 25 35 50 10 50 -1 Blizid 20 20 40 20 20 40 -1 4 A1234567890123456789 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 0 -1 B1234567890123456789 100 100 100 200 200 200 200 100 -1 C1234567890123456789 0 100 100 100 100 200 0 200 -1 D123456789012345678 100 0 100 100 200 100 200 0 -1 0
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What kinds of energy are we producing, and what kinds are we consuming? How much comes from renewable sources? What is our energy dependency on other countries? Energy policy is today at the heart of every country’s agenda, but can citizen discuss it fairly? Do even policymakers have enough reliable information to implement new energy transition programs, required to secure energy supplies and achieve CO2 reduction targets?
Europe aims to reach a low carbon economy through transition energy policies. The objective is that by 2050, the EU should cut its emissions to 80% below 1990 levels through domestic reductions alone. The strategy also discusses how the main sectors responsible for Europe’s emissions (i.e power generation, industry, transport, buildings, and agriculture) could make the transition most cost effectively. As part of its energy transition policy, Germany has called to close all its nuclear power plants by 2022. More recently, France launched a national debate on energy policy, with the aim of cutting its carbon emission by a factor of 4 or 5 by 2050, and in the meantime by reducing the share of nuclear in the electricity mix to 50% by 2025.
But how do we get there? As we discuss energy policies, much data is still missing – not only for the general public, but also for policy makers and energy players. To deliver a sustainable energy policy, we need a sustainable and smart open data approach.
Here are some of the data on energy transition that we could start to open:
The well known statistician Hans Rosling has launched a call for the release of CO2 microdata. There is at least one source of CO2 microdata in Europe that we could demand openly: the EU Emissions Trading System, which was launched in 2005 to fight climate change, and covers more than 10 000 factories, power stations and other CO2-emitting installations. Despite the fact that this microdata is being collected at an installation level, we only have access to CO2 emissions data per sector or countries – this needs to change.
Our energy future depends on the market. But what do we know about the energy market and its players? In a recent interview for newspaper Le Monde, Christophe de Margerie, head of the oil group Total, declared: “We need to put all the data on the table: energy demand, and available resources together with their cost, environmental impact and feasibility”. He was right in asking for those data, but he forgot to mention that we also need data about energy players themselves. Which players produce what types of energy in Europe? How much tax do they pay, and in which jurisdictions? How much do they invest in sustainable energy? How much CO2 and others pollutants do they produce? Private energy companies need to release their own data in order to be accountable. Projects like Open Corporates can help us to find datasets on energy private sector but there are still jurisdictions, such as France, where you cannot access corporate data for free.
As we debate the future of energy, risk assessments on energy sources is key information we need. Once you have data on energy stocks, reserves and economic efficiency, you also need solid, peer-reviewed, scientific data on the risks associated with those energy sources. Debates on Nuclear Energy, Renewable Energy or Shale gas all need risk assessment data.
###Smart Grid data
Smart grid technologies promise to better manage production and distribution of electricity through a better use of data. Smart Grid efficiency relies in part on consumer behaviours and third party innovation. This can only be achieved through the release of data captured from the smart grid system directly to consumers (smart disclosure) and anonymously to other stakeholders (open data).
###Help us to identify data on energy transition
These are just a few examples, to show the importance of sustainable open data to sustainable energy policy – but there are many more. You can help us to identify them by telling us what kind of data we would need to tackle energy transition and sustainability challenges.
###Open Transition Energie
As part of the National debate on Energy Policy in France, which is due to end with a new Energy Policy Framework proposal by the end of the year, the French OKF local group launched Open Transition Energy, a simple website to share, explore and visualize open data and other open resources related to energy transition, together with a dedicated group on the French datahub nosdonnees.fr a dedicated group.
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St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) is one of the greatest figures in Western Christian theology. His vast writings have been the object of thoughtful reflections and thorough investigations throughout every century since his death.
This lecture will explore St. Augustine’s theology of divine inspiration, particularly as it relates to his understanding of the Word of God in the liturgy. Of interest here is how the liturgy provides him with the one context in which the biblical writings can be experienced and understood under the same inspiration in which they were written.
Augustine thus offers us a beautiful depiction of how the liturgy provides the necessary occasion for the Holy Spirit’s work in believers to make the Word of God come alive.
Speaker(s): Dr. Christopher Evans
Date: March 3, 2010
Location: Scanlan Room, Jerabeck Center
Length: 53 mins
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It looks like a sketch from Howard Hughes’ notebooks, but this massive air ship is real, and currently the biggest aircraft ever produced. It can also be remote-controlled and land on water. And the lead singer of Iron Maiden is an investor.
The HAV 304 “Airlander” is just over 300 feet long. That’s nearly 60 feet longer than a Boeing 747, 80 feet longer than the Spruce Goose, and 30 feet longer than the Antonov An-225, the previous title-holder for the world’s largest aircraft.
The flying leviathan was produced by British aeronautics firm Hybrid Air Vehicles, and it’s being considered for commercial and rescue applications–at around $100 million each.
The Airlander’s design is more complex and functional than its Hindenberg aesthetics would indicate. The hull’s shape produces the same aerodynamic lift as an airplane wing, and a series of enormous bladders are filled with inert helium to get it airborne. Four turbocharged, V8 diesel engines produce 350 horsepower a piece and power the propellers. The rear and forward props push it forward, but the Airlander’s design allows for “zero-energy” lift during long-distance flight and it can hover for 21 days straight, albeit while burning about 818 gallons of fuel per day. Top speed? A modest 100 mph, but that’s still impressive for something tipping the scales at 38 tons and designed to haul many more tons of cargo.
On the bottom, the “skids landing system” is made of pneumatic tubes that inflate to allow the Airlander to land on sand, water, or dry land, all without the need for an airstrip. Because it’s heavier than air, it doesn’t need anyone on the ground to pull it to the earth, unlike last century’s helium ships. All these features make it perfectly suited for disaster relief, or–more likely–transporting heavy equipment for oil or mining companies.
The U.S. Army oversaw development of the original model, then called the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV). HAV conducted test flights of the original Airlander over New Jersey, but the U.S. military never pursued the project because budget cuts prohibited its development. HAV ended up buying back the Airlander for a paltry $301,000, a fraction of what the feds invested in its development, and managed to ship it across the Atlantic in four massive boxes before the U.K. government gave HAV $4.2 million to continue development.
As you’d expect, the construction required an equally enormous facility, which led to the use of the massive hangers at RAF Cardington in Bedfordshire, England. The gargantuan sheds were the building grounds for the 1920s R101 airship, which was twice as long as the Airlander. For comparison, the infamous Hindenburg zeppelin was about three times as long as the Airlander.
Besides government money, pilot and lead singer of Iron Maiden Bruce Dickinson has contributed his fame and $450,000 to the Airlander’s growth.
“The airship has always been with us, it’s just been waiting for the technology to catch up,” he told the BBC.
For the dual purpose of personal wanderlust and publicity for the craft, Dickinson says he also wants to fly it around the world. “We’ll fly over the Amazon at 20 feet, over some of the world’s greatest cities and stream the whole thing on the internet,” he says.
For all the superlative statistics around the Airlander, it’s only a prototype for something larger. If 300 feet wasn’t big enough, HAV is planning an even bigger aircraft, the Airlander 50. It’s planned to measure 390 feet long, carry two deployable hovercrafts on the bottom, have room for up to 50 passengers, and handle a claimed 50 metric tons of cargo.
Airships have been undergoing an ill-fated renaissance in recent years, with Lockheed Martin losing a multi-billion dollar contract with the U.S. military, forcing it to sell its Sky Tug airship to Canadian oil companies. A similar fate befell the Blue Devil and Blue Devil 2 after enjoying a brief hope for development, the Air Force withdrew funding.
The Airlander’s ancestors haven’t found a home in the states, but HAV is ambitious with its new development context. The company says it plans to produce about 10 of the current 304 Airlanders per year over the next four years. The company’s ultimate goal is a world market for between 600 and 1,000 Airlanders. HAV is holding a contest for two tickets to fly alongside Bruce Dickinson and “a host of celebrities” on the Airlander’s first flight scheduled for 2016.Go Back to Top. Skip To: Start of Article.
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Definitions for know-how
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word know-how
the (technical) knowledge and skill required to do something
the knowledge and skill to be able to (do something correctly)
Marlo has the know-how to fix your computer.
Origin: know + how
Know-how is a term for practical knowledge on how to accomplish something, as opposed to “know-what”, “know-why”, or “know-who”. Know-how is often tacit knowledge, which means that it is difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalising it. The opposite of tacit knowledge is explicit knowledge. In the context of industrial property, know-how is a component in the transfer of technology in national and international environments, co-existing with or separate from other IP rights such as patents, trademarks and copyright and is an economic asset.
The numerical value of know-how in Chaldean Numerology is: 2
The numerical value of know-how in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1
Sample Sentences & Example Usage
Images & Illustrations of know-how
Translations for know-how
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
Get even more translations for know-how »
Find a translation for the know-how definition in other languages:
Select another language:
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ROME — The long reign of Pope John Paul II was marked by the dominant conflict of the age, the “Cold War,” a 40-year nuclear standoff between the West and the Soviet Bloc.
But that conflict ended in John Paul’s own lifetime, and the world that Pope Benedict XVI inherited is engulfed in a different, and in some ways more frightening, vortex of unpredictable violence, one that is sometimes characterized as showdown between Christianity and Islam.
Benedict, the former hard-line Cardinal Ratzinger, now has the formidable task of promoting religious tolerance in an volatile time of violence fueled by Islamic extremism.
Path set by John Paul
Pope John Paul was well aware of the increasing extremism in Islamic fundamentalism, and despite his well-publicized efforts to improve ties with the Jewish people by seeking forgiveness for their historical mistreatment at Christian hands, he also put a lot of effort and emphasis on the importance of Islamic relations.
During his year 2000 “Holy Year” pilgrimages to biblical places, John Paul was the first pope to ever enter a mosque, in Damascus, Syria.
John Paul reached out several times to religious and political leaders in the Arab and Muslim world to open and maintain dialogue, especially in places where Christian minorities were being discriminated or persecuted.
Because of these efforts he wasn’t caught flat-footed by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He was shocked to be sure, like everyone else was, but he knew the dangerous playing field that spawned that aberration.
Pope Benedict coming from a different place
Benedict comes to this confrontation from a much different place.
Just like Karol Wojtyla’s views were colored by his Polish nationalism, so are Joseph Ratzinger’s. As an elderly German, he has lived long enough to have experienced a lot of European history first hand.
Benedict is renowned for his intelligence, and he presents his ideas in such clear and logical steps that his brilliance becomes obvious to anyone paying attention to his speeches. But his greatest strength is also a weakness because it colors his physical presence and demeanor as well.
He comes across as a man whose every gesture and mannerism is carefully thought out ahead of time, and strictly controlled.
In the cultural stereotyping that is part of life in modern Europe, he’s viewed by other nationalities as being “very Germanic,” with the expected traits of being highly ordered, disciplined, rigid and authoritative.
In his former role as Cardinal Ratzinger, he made a statement about Turkey that still haunts him now that he has taken over his new role as pope.
When asked about Turkey's effort to join the European Union by the French newspaper Le Figaro, he answered, "Turkey always represented another continent during history, always in contrast with Europe." In the widely reported interview, he went on to say that he was opposed to Turkey entering the EU “on the grounds that it is a Muslim nation.”
The former Cardinal Ratzinger seemed to see the entry of Turkey into the EU as a threat to the Christian tradition inherent in Western Europe.
The Turks were very angered by the comments and carried that resentment over with an initial objection to a papal visit to the country last fall. Private talks have smoothed things over and now the trip is back on again.
But Muslim activists have taken advantage of his Turkish misstep to claim anti-Islamic feelings at the Vatican. And though that’s hardly the case here, it shows how hard it is to prove the absence of something, and the difficulties in dealing with a religion that lacks a hierarchical organization.
Islam is not a worldwide organization like the Roman Catholic Church, with a clearly defined local, regional, national and global chain of command topped by a general headquarters like the Vatican, whose top man is the pope.
Islam’s Mecca is a focal point for the prayers of millions of believers throughout the world who are themselves divided along various branches of interpretation and social custom. Though imams may be similar to priests or bishops, there is no “pope,” no elected “grand imam,” to whom they all report.
The very horizontal nature of organized Islam makes it hard for the pope and his deputies to know who and how to talk to them. Private communications and relationships have circumscribed value.
A positive negotiation on issues with the Muslim leadership in Cairo for example, won’t carry over to Iran or Saudi Arabia in any way, so the Vatican has to rely on its system of embassies and diplomatic channels, rather than a panel of Catholic experts on Islam sitting face to face with their counterparts.
Public statements on the other hand, from the pulpit or the papal apartment window, risk coming across as incitements of the faithful. But, Pope Benedict chose a clever way to weigh in on the escalating violence over the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed that angered so many Muslims across the world.
Dozens of times a year new ambassadors to the Vatican begin their terms by the official “presentation of credentials” to the pope. Normally a brief 20-minute ceremony that garners little media interest, it is a still a part of the official public record of the pope’s statements and activities.
So without prior fanfare, on a Monday morning in February, the new ambassador of Morocco to the Holy See presented his credentials and got quite an earful in return.
His country hadn’t even had any violent demonstrations regarding the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, but his visit merely provided a pretext and venue for Benedict's first public remarks on the cartoon controversy.
Speaking in French he conceded that the cartoons were offensive and provocative.
"In the current international context, the Catholic Church remains convinced that to encourage peace and understanding between peoples and individuals it is necessary and urgent that religions and their symbols be respected, and that the faithful not be subjected to provocations injuring their outlook and religious feelings."
But he also made it clear that the violent reaction was not just wrong, but actually “unreligious.”
Benedict added that, "intolerance and violence are never justifiable responses to the offense (to religion), since they are not compatible with the sacred principles of religion."
Strong words for a pope, yet hardly strong enough to capture the attention of a jaded West, or soothe the burning emotions of a troubled Muslim world.
Moderates may be the answer
What may be a reflection of Ratzinger’s concern about the gravity of the situation is his very recent appointment of a new Vatican envoy to Egypt, and to the most comprehensive organization of Islamic countries, the 22-nation Arab League, based in Cairo.
The man is Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, an Englishman who served for many years as Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze’s deputy at the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue.
He’s one of the top Islamist experts in the Catholic Church and made an interesting observation during a recent Reuters interview. "We have to persuade moderate Muslims to speak with those with more extremist views,” said Fitzgerald, adding “and similarly on the other side, people with more moderate views in the Western world have to speak with those who are more radically inclined, let's say, to (defend) the freedom of expression at all costs.”
That the moderates in each society should each take responsibility for trying to calm down their “own extremists” could actually be life-saving advice.
But it will always be a challenge in a media age where violence can be televised while it’s still happening, and anyone with a computer and a modem can insult millions with a keystroke.
Stephen Weeke is NBC News' Rome Bureau Chief.
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Benjamin Franklin is arguably one of the most fascinating figures in American history. He was an author, printer, satirist, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, diplomat, and not to mention, one of the United States’ most prominent Founding Fathers.
Franklin owned and ran the Pennsylvania Gazette, a Philadelphia-based newspaper that featured the “Join, or Die” cartoon on May 9, 1754. His ability to disseminate powerful messages helped reinforce his influence as a communicator. From an early American propaganda perspective, Franklin was revolutionary. According to an article in BBC, the Pennsylvania Gazette “is widely considered to be the first American publication to illustrate news stories with cartoons and [the ‘Join, or Die’] political cartoon is believed to be the first of its kind in America.”
The cartoon depicts the early American colonies as a snake divided into eight segments. Toward the head of the snake, “NE” represents New England, followed by “NY” (New York), “NJ” (New Jersey), “P” (Pennsylvania), “M” (Maryland), “V” (Virginia), “NC” (North Carolina) and “SC” (South Carolina). Even though there were four “New England” colonies, Franklin lumped them into one category to stress the need for colonial unity. At the time, the colonists fiercely debated expanding west of the Appalachian Mountains and fighting the French and their Indian allies.
Recent Historical Stories
The snake has powerful, superstitious connotations. During Franklin’s era, there was myth that a severed snake would come back to life if the pieces were put together before sunset. The cartoon, which appeared alongside Franklin’s editorial about the “disunited state” of the colonies, symbolically portrays an either/or fallacy: unite or be attacked by French and Indian allies. In his editorial, Franklin wrote:
“The Confidence of the French in this Undertaking seems well-grounded on the present disunited State of the British Colonies, and the extreme Difficulty of bringing so many different Governments and Assemblies to agree in any speedy and effectual Measures for our common defense and Security; while our Enemies have the very great Advantage of being under one Direction, with one Council, and one Purse….”
Fear, a common theme throughout American propaganda history, ignites natural human emotions and produces a “call to action.” People are generally more likely to respond when they feel their lives are in danger. In 1754, the newspaper served as the primary medium to disseminate news to the public.
Franklin, ahead of his time, understood that in order to convince the colonists, he had to first convince the public. Direct and powerful images, accompanied by clear and descriptive prose has the power to create a conversation among various niche populations. Franklin, through his “Join, or Die” cartoon, voiced a strong opinion in a subtle, persuasive and intellectual way.
Arielle Herskovits is a student at Boston University majoring in Public Relations. She has held internship positions on Capitol Hill, at a large strategic communications firm and at a local nonprofit organization. She writes a political communication blog entitled “Political Persuasion” (http://ahersko.wordpress.com).
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Professor Joseph Greenberg was one of the most important linguist
s ever. He revolutionized the classification
of languages in more ways than one and founded one of the main fields of linguistics
, that of "typology
The formal methods available for establishing language families had been used since about 1800, and many families had been firmly established. This can't be done indefinitely far back because with sufficient depth of time, surviving common inheritances from an ancestral language in two distant branches could be equally well due to chance. Greenberg however did establish one major phylum or superfamily and believed in a number more, which linguists have not (yet?) accepted.
In 1955 he published a classification of African languages, expanding it in his 1963 book The Languages of Africa. He claimed that all native languages (i.e. excluding Malagasy and Afrikaans, both of which were obvious newcomers from elsewhere) belonged to one of just four families: Niger-Kordofanian, Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, and Khoisan.
Niger-Kordofanian covers the great majority of them, all over west, central, and southern Africa, including the large Bantu family (Swahili, Zulu, etc.). Afroasiatic is mostly north of the Sahara, and also includes the Semitic languages of Asia. Nilo-Saharan is a fairly small scattered group in the east between those two major groups; and Khoisan is all those of the so-called Bushmen and Hottenots in the south. This scheme of Greenberg's was strongly resisted at first but is now universally admitted.
His most controversial claim is not accepted by a majority of linguists but could still turn out to be true: that almost all the languages of the Americas belong to a single superfamily, which he called Amerind, and which reflects the settlement of the continents from across the Bering Strait. Excluded from this group are two other families in the north, Eskimo-Aleut and Na-Dene (the latter includes Navaho). These he said represented later crossings of Beringia. Untangling the truth of all this is one of the most interesting topics in linguistics, archaeology, anthropology, and human evolution today. His 1986 paper co-written with two anthropologists Christy Turner and Stephen Zegura was called "The Settlement of the Americas: a comparison of linguistic, dental, and genetic evidence". He wrote a book Language in the Americas in 1987.
He also proposed an Indo-Pacific phylum, covering the New Guinean (Papuan) languages together with Andamanese and Tasmanian.
Greenberg's last major proposal was Eurasiatic, similar to the existing Nostratic theory but with different emphases. He grouped Indo-European (English, Latin, Russian, Hindi etc.) with many of the smaller groups of northern Asia, crossing over into North America to include Eskimo-Aleut.
Greenberg relied for the more widespread groupings on a technique called mass comparison, in which large groups of words are compared to pick out resemblances that have survived the history of the group. This is not generally accepted, because it violates the more conservative principle of the comparative method, which tries to explain each difference by a rule. Many of the arguments against mass comparison are statistical, saying that such resemblances could be expected by chance anyway.
His 1960 paper "Some Universals of Grammar with Particular Reference to the Order of Meaningful Elements" is one of the most important in linguistics.* He discovered that adjective versus noun order, preposition versus postposition, order of verb and subject and object, and other such features, often possessed strong correlations among each other. See my typology node for greater detail. This discovery replaced the old view of languages as being synthetic, analytic, or isolating.
Joseph Harold Greenberg was born in New York on 28 May 1915. He also had an aptitude for music and considered a career as a concert pianist. He got a PhD at Northwestern Univeristy in 1940, studied and taught at Columbia University and took every language course he could, and did fieldwork among the Hausa of Nigeria. He moved to Stanford in 1962, retired in 1986, and continued to study and write almost to the end of his life. He died in Stanford on 7 May 2001.
* Reprinted 1966 in Universals of Language, MIT Press, pp. 73-113. Constantly quoted ever since.
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Writer Ben Yagoda has set out to explain a shift in American popular culture, one that happened in the early 1950s. Before then, songwriters like Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin and Jerome Kern wrote popular songs that achieved a notable artistry, both in lyrics and music. That body of work, at least the best of it, came to be known as the American Songbook.
By the early 1950s the popular hit song had evolved into a work of less artistic ambition. Novelty and simplicity ruled — and sold. What happened? That's the question that Ben Yagoda addresses in his new book, The B-Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song. He spoke about it with NPR's Robert Siegel.
Robert Siegel: The way you tell it, the kind of song that gifted songwriters might write, or try to write, wasn't what the big record companies wanted in the early '50s. Why?
Ben Yagoda: There was a change in popular taste. The soldiers who had come back from World War II didn't seem to be as interested in the more complex, challenging kind of popular song, the more jazz-based song. Sentimental ballads and, yes, novelty numbers, suddenly was much more appealing.
You cite an interview that Patti Page, the singer, gave to Metronome in 1948. She said, "You've got to please the people who get up at 8 o'clock in the morning" — which I guess at the time seemed a measure of getting up early. What you're describing, in part, is the separation of jazz music from popular music in America.
Absolutely. And for that period that you were talking about, the Great American Songbook period, there was this amazing unity of great jazz and popular songwriting. The songwriters — Berlin, Porter, Gershwin — understood jazz. And the great improvisers — Lester Young, Benny Carter and so forth — understood those songs and did great improvisations with them. That broke down after the war.
There's someone whom you write about a great deal in the book, who was the most important decision-maker at Columbia Records about which songs would be made into records. His name was Mitch Miller, and 10 years later, he was known by everyone in America because he had a TV show with a male chorus called Sing Along with Mitch.
Mitch Miller, if you're under 50, means nothing. If you're between 50 and 60 or 65 or so, it's this smiling figure with a goatee, leading singalongs on television. But if you've studied or are aware of music history, his importance was far more than that. He was, simply put, the most powerful man in American popular music throughout the 1950s.
There's a great scene that you describe of how the songwriters would line up outside Miller's office to try to pitch a song to him.
Every Tuesday he would have open doors, and the song pluggers — and sometimes the composers themselves — would line up. And he had great ears — he would say, "There's already been a novelty number about cattle, so we can't do that this week." He had his finger on the ear of American listeners, for good or ill, in that period.
Something interesting about Mitch Miller: I don't think that his face ever appeared on television in my household without my father remarking, "You know, he's a great classical oboist." Yet he seemed to prefer the cheap, overdubbed, childish novelty song to something more sophisticated.
Well, yes and no. People like Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett have subsequently cast him as the villain, in much the same terms that you just used. And I think it's definitely true that he did not see popular music as an art form, but a commercial entity; I think, to him, classical music was the only kind of artistic music.
But, that said, he really invented the modern role of "record producer." All Tony Bennett's hits of the '50s, and "Come On-a My House" by Rosemary Clooney, he produced in every sense of the word — with sound effects and overdubbing and really, in its production if not the music, quite sophisticated effects.
The subtitle of your book is The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song. Talk about rebirth a bit: Yes, the popular song is in decline by the early '50s, but it's hardly the end of the story.
Not at all — in fact, in my view there's two rebirths of the Great American Song. One is in that period of the mid-to-late '50s and into the early '60s. Of course, 1955 was kind of ground zero of rock 'n' roll — Elvis came, "Rock Around the Clock," followed by Chuck Berry, Little Richard, etc. — and all of a sudden that attracted a great amount of attention, especially from younger listeners. But in the sort of shadow of that, this notion of the Great American Songbook emerged. Frank Sinatra, Mabel Mercer, Tony Bennett, Mel Tormé — great interpreters started really concentrating on that earlier work, the 1925-to-1945 period, and that continues to this day.
The other rebirth is before The Beatles. That early '60s period turns out to be a sort of ground zero for another kind of great song. So you have Brian Wilson in California writing "Caroline, No," Willie Nelson in Nashville with "Crazy," all those great writers in Detroit. And these songs were not so much jazz-based as the early ones were — they came out of R&B, folk and country. But they have turned out to be just as memorable and just as long-standing.
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Loss of smell — anosmia (an-OZ-me-uh) — can be partial or complete, although a complete loss of smell is fairly rare. Loss of smell can also be temporary or permanent, depending on the cause.
Loss of smell is rarely a symptom of a serious condition. Still, an intact sense of smell is necessary to fully taste and enjoy food. Loss of smell could cause you to lose interest in eating, which could possibly lead to weight loss, malnutrition or even depression.
April 10, 2014
- NIH senior health: Problems with smell. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. http://nihseniorhealth.gov/problemswithsmell/aboutproblemswithsmell/01.html. Accessed Oct. 23, 2013.
- Flint PW, et al. Cummings Otolaryngology: Head & Neck Surgery. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2010. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed Oct. 23, 2013.
- Daroff RB, et al. Bradley's Neurology in Clinical Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2012. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed Oct. 23, 2013.
- Smell disorders. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/smelltaste/smell.asp. Accessed Oct. 23, 2013.
- Mann NM, et al. Anatomy and etiology of taste and smell disorders. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed Oct. 23, 2013.
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Near the end of his diary, Henry Mosler noted details pertaining to the assassination of Major General William "Bull" Nelson. While thousands lost their lives in battle during the Civil War, Gen. Nelson's death was perhaps more disconcerting because of the circumstances surrounding it. He was killed after a heated exchange with another Union officer in Galt House, a luxury hotel in Louisville on September 29, 1862. His murderer bore the unlikely name of General Jefferson C. Davis. The episode was sensational.
According to Harper's Weekly, Mosler visited the hotel shortly after the episode. Part investigative reporter, part crime scene artist, Mosler depicted the incident for his editors in New York.
Ten days later, they published an engraving based on Mosler's drawings and account.
Mosler used his diary to record at least two pieces of information about Nelson's murder: a cartoon-like sketch and two pages of notes.
Mosler seemed to make some visual notes on the position of Nelson's body and the thrust of the attack. This cartoon may be the earliest draft of The Assassination of General Nelson by General Jefferson C. Davis.
In addition to a set of visual notes, Mosler made verbal ones as well. Mosler's cursive handwriting, often tight and hard to read, is larger and looser as if he jotted down the information.
Combine the medium-faded, smudged pencil in a 19th century book that was carried through a war-with his handwriting makes this passage particularly hard to decipher.
Here is a transcription of these notes:
Gen Nel walked Privey & back — Struck Jeff Davis of a question put to him on fire right side of the Neck God drn him I guess he dont know who I am‒he asked Gibson whether he had a weapon Gov Morton, Gen Nelson replyed (he would remember not) Nelson struck him Davis took an attitude just if he intended to strike Nelson afterwards Davis tried to walk past where Nelson again struck him on the left cheek when [illegible] Davis said this shall not end yet occured about 9 O'clockGov Nelson stept to Gov and asked him did you come to wittness this insult to me. Sir I was asked standing here to see what —— was said -— Nel then walked to west end of the room through tin door Davis walked off appeared to be walking from Gibson who was in the east end of the room Davis passed out of the room to go to the door I observed he had a pistol in his right hand he passed out to the right and I immedietely heard the pistol I heard a struggle in the Hall and immediatly Jeff Davis appeared holding Jeff Davis illegible get held by an Officer who afterwards they were parted when someday send
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John C. Leftwich in Hawaii
John C. Leftwich in Hawaii
John C. Leftwich visited Hawaii in 1899 to investigate the possibility of Blacks working as laborers on Hawaii's plantations. Advocates of recruiting African Americans as laborers on Hawaii's plantations envisioned as many as 30,000 arriving from the American South to alleviate some of the labor problems faced by the Hawaii Sugar Planters Association(HSPA). Plans were to bring to Hawaii Black men who were well respected in their communities for tours of Hawaii's plantations. Planters hoped that after touring plantations, conferring with owners and enjoying Hawaii's comfortable climate, these men might return to their communities and tell others about the opportunities in Hawaii.The first Black invited was John C. Leftwich, then of Montgomery, Alabama;he was a successful businessman, farmer and minister. Leftwich was a friend of Booker T. Washington, the unofficial"chief patronage referee" who was often asked by the white establishment to recommend a "qualified Black"to fill a particular job.
Leftwich boarded the steamer, "Coptic" in San Francisco and arrived in Honolulu on December 13,1899. Hosted by the HSPA , Leftwich discussed the prospect of importing contract laborers from the South with plantation managers and with Sanford B. Dole, President of the Republic of Hawaii.
By the end of his tour of the islands, Leftwich was enthusiastic about the opportunities that awaited Blacks on Hawaii's sugar plantations. His enthusiasm for Hawaii would be short-lived, however. Within two years he would return to Hawaii to investigate the terrible working conditions on the plantations. What he learned at that time left him very discouraged about the future of Blacks on Hawaii's plantations.In 1901 approximately, 300 Blacks from Alabama, Tennessee Mississippi and Louisana arrived in Maui and the island of Hawaii to work.Some plantation managers wanted to bring white field supervisors from the South to oversee the work of the Black laborers. Leftwich was so alarmed about this that he wrote an article in the "Maui News" stating his dismay:
"If this is to be the intention of the planters, then I am
ready to throw my whole influence against the movement, and will do
everything to keep more colored people from going. The colored
people have had enough experience in the South of poor white
bosses without going thousands of miles to be under the same
The experiment to use Blacks on Hawaii's plantation in large numbers
failed because of the harshness of plantation work, plantation owners never kept their word about paying what they promised, and overcharging in the plantation stores. Also, the laborers
were not told that one of the main reasons they were being brought to the islands was to act as strike breakers.The Asian workers were having strikes because of the poor working conditions. By the end of 1903,according to a report by the U.S. Department of Labor, none of the Blacks that were recruited in the South could be found employed on Hawaii's plantations. Most returned to the mainland and others found jobs in Honolulu.
John C.Leftwich lost the support of Booker T. Washington sometime in 1902 and by 1903 he had left Alabama and migrated to Oklahoma Territory where he made a new start educating Blacks and Freedmen of Oklahoma Territory and founded a newspaper.
Thanks for reading.
Miles M. Jackson
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A cervical biopsy is a procedure to remove tissue from the cervix to test for abnormal or precancerous conditions, or cervical cancer.
The cervix is the lower, narrow part of the uterus. It forms a canal that opens into the vagina.
Cervical biopsies can be done in several ways. The biopsy can remove a sample of tissue for testing. It can also be used to completely take out abnormal tissue. It can also treat cells that may turn into cancer.
Types of cervical biopsies include:
A cervical biopsy may be done when abnormalities are found during a pelvic exam. It may also be done if abnormal cells are found during a Pap test. A positive test for human papillomavirus (HPV) may also call for cervical biopsy. HPV is a type of sexually transmitted infection. Certain types of HPV can cause cervical cancer and other less common types of genital cancers. A cervical biopsy is often done as part of a colposcopy, also called a colposcopy-guided cervical biopsy. A colposcopy uses an instrument with a special lens to look at the cervical tissues.
A cervical biopsy may be done to find cancer or precancer cells on the cervix. Cells that appear to be abnormal, but are not yet cancerous, are called precancerous. These abnormal cells may be the first sign of cancer that may develop years later.
A cervical biopsy may also be used to diagnose and help treat these conditions:
Your health care provider may have other reasons to recommend a cervical biopsy.
Some possible complications may include:
In addition, cone biopsies may increase the risk for infertility and miscarriage. This is because of the changes and scarring in the cervix that may occur from the procedure.
Tell your health care provider if:
If possible, a cervical biopsy will be scheduled about 1 week after your period.
You may have risks depending on your specific health condition. Be sure to talk with your provider about any concerns you have before the procedure.
Certain things can make a cervical biopsy less accurate. These include:
You may have a cervical biopsy in a health care provider’s office, as an outpatient, or during a hospital stay. Some biopsy procedures only need local anesthesia. Other need regional or general anesthesia. The way the test is done may vary depending on your condition and your health care provider's practices.
Generally, a cervical biopsy follows this process:
Your recovery will depend on the type of biopsy done and if you had anesthesia.
If you have regional or general anesthesia, you will be taken to the recovery room to be watched. Once your blood pressure, pulse, and breathing are stable and you are alert, you will be taken to your hospital room or discharged to your home. If you had the procedure done as an outpatient, you should plan to have someone drive you home.
After a simple biopsy, you may rest for a few minutes after the procedure before going home.
You may want to wear a sanitary pad for bleeding. It is normal to have some mild cramping, spotting, and dark or black-colored discharge for several days. The dark discharge is from the medicine put on your cervix to control bleeding.
Take a pain reliever for cramping as recommended by your health care provider. Aspirin or certain other pain medicines may increase the chance of bleeding. Be sure to take only recommended medicines.
You may be told not to douche, use tampons, or have sex for 1 week after a biopsy, or for a period advised by your health care provider.
After a cone biopsy, you should not put anything into your vagina until your cervix has healed. This may take several weeks. You may also have other limits on your activity, including no heavy lifting.
You may go back to your normal diet unless your health care provider tells you otherwise.
Your health care provider will tell you when to return for further treatment or care. Generally women who have had a cervical biopsy will need more frequent Pap tests.
Tell your health care provider if you have any of the following:
Your health care provider may give you other instructions after the procedure, depending on your situation.
Before you agree to the test or the procedure make sure you know:
Copyright © 2016 Baylor Scott & White Health. All Rights Reserved. |
3500 Gaston Ave., Dallas, TX 75246-2017 | 1.800.4BAYLOR
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Perhaps no scene in the Bible except Calvary itself is more poignant than this one, and none gives a clearer foreshadowing of the death of God’s only, well-beloved Son on the cross. The supreme test of Abraham’s faith came when God ordered him to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering in the land of Moriah. Actually God had no intention of allowing Abraham to go through with it; He has always been opposed to human sacrifice. Moriah is the mountain range where Jerusalem is situated (2 Chron. 3:1) and also where Calvary stood. The root meaning of the name “Moriah” is very interesting: From H7200 and H3050; seenofJah; Continue Reading Here
23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.
13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.
14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
Listen to Pastor Roy’s Sermon Audio regarding this commentary Here!
SCRIPTURE means the Old and New Testaments, which make up the Bible, God’s written Word. God gave to the world His living Word, Jesus Christ, and His written Word, the Scriptures. Although the Bible was written by prophets and apostles, the Bible originated not with their wills, but with God’s (2 Pet. 1:20–21). “All Scripture,” Paul wrote, “is given by inspiration of God” (2 Tim. 3:16).
After Jesus, God’s living Word, returned to heaven having accomplished the Great Work of salvation, the Bible, God’s written Word, remained on earth as God’s eternal guide for mankind. The written Word is durable and has remained unchanged in its message since it was first inspired by God.
Because the Bible is God’s inspired Word, it is able to make us “wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15). The Scriptures testify of Christ (John 5:39) and are understood and received as He opens our understanding to the revealed will of His Father (Luke 24:27). Like the Berean Christians, we should search the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:11) to discover God’s message for our lives.
The realization of what an incomparable Treasure we have in the Lord should make us vow to keep His words. He is the All-sufficient One. To have Him is to be fabulously wealthy. Though He is All-sufficient, we are not. “Our sufficiency is from God” (2 Cor. 3:5). So we must be people of prayer, entreating God’s favor and claiming His promise of mercy.
Guidance is a perennial problem. Which way should we go? Frankly, we don’t have the wisdom in ourselves to know. All right, then. Let us turn our feet to the paths outlined in the Scriptures. We live in a day of instant foods, instant service and instant this and that. Instant obedience to the revealed will of God is something to ponder—and to produce.
Wicked men may conspire to trip up the innocent believer, but that is all the more reason for him to remember the Word for guidance and protection.
“At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God” (Acts 16:25). They were being unjustly treated by men but they could still sing about God’s righteous judgments.
Those who love God love His people. And those who love the Bible love all Bible-lovers. It is a worldwide fellowship that transcends national, social and racial distinctions.
God’s steadfast love can be found anywhere in the world, but more than that, the earth is full of it. Our grateful hearts respond by saying, “Lord, keep me teachable by Your Holy Spirit.”
“Joel, … was probably the first of the so called writing prophets; so this book provides a valuable insight into the history of prophecy, particularly as it furnishes a framework for the end times which is faithfully followed by all subsequent Scripture. God started a new work with the writing of Joel, that of preparing the human race for the end of this temporal era, and thus gave an outline of His total plan. Later prophets, including even our Lord, would only flesh out this outline, but in keeping with the divine nature of true Scripture, never found it necessary to deviate from this, the initial revelation.” Montague S. Mills
The prophecy of Joel is short but certainly not lacking in beauty or interest. The prophet uses many literary devices to produce his vivid style: alliteration, metaphors, similes, and both synonymous and contrasting parallelism. Continue Reading Here
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Let’s face it: the symptoms of the common cold are downright annoying, and even those who follow a healthy diet and lifestyle are susceptible to its clutches when the weather turns cold and dark.
The common cold is caused by a virus that infects the upper respiratory tract, leading to a host of uncomfortable symptoms such as coughing, congestion, sore throats, exhaustion, runny noses, and headaches. Some colds are minor and others knock us off our feet, affecting our daily activities like eating, sleeping, exercising, and going to work. When we have a cold our family members often become entangled in it too, either as caregivers or they also get infected and share in our misery.
The good news about common colds is we can take plenty of steps to prevent them from happening, or at the very least, shorten their duration once they hit us.
Consume Immune-Boosting Foods
Certain immune-boosting foods can be used to help prevent and cold bugs. Some excellent cold-fighting foods are:
• Garlic contains anti-viral qualities due to the medicinal properties of the compound allicin.
• Broccoli sources its immune-boosting elements from a group of molecules called glucosinolates.
• Pumpkin seeds are a wonderful source of zinc, a mineral that optimizes the immune system and reduces the severity of cold symptoms. One quarter cup of pumpkin seeds will provide you with 2.5 mg of zinc.
• Brazil nuts contain high amounts of selenium, an antioxidant that assists the immune system by helping our bodies fight free radicals. Nuts and seeds are also high in protein, an essential macronutrient that produces antibodies.
• Foods that are rich in vitamin A – winter squash, dark leafy greens, bell peppers, sweet potatoes – activate our immune systems, and they help us synthesize T and B cells.
• Bone broth is rich in nutrients such as the amino acids glycine and proline, as well as trace minerals. Scientists studying chicken soup at the University of Nebraska Medical Center discovered these nutrients work together synergistically to reduce inflammation in the upper respiratory tract and boost the immune system. Bone broth’s high content of gelatin, calcium, magnesium, chondroitin, and glucosamine aids digestion, nourishes our bones and joints, and supports the nervous system.
Wash Your Hands Frequently
Cold viruses can cling to your hands and face, as well as inanimate objects. Ensure you wash your hands after coughing or blowing your nose, and wipe down heavily trafficked areas in your home like bathroom faucets, kitchen surfaces, doorknobs, keyboards, or television remotes to prevent germs from spreading. Don’t get too close to other family members either: that means avoid kissing or hugging until the virus has run its course.
Rest and Reduce Stress
The immune system functions better when it is ruled by the parasympathic nervous system, which is the division in play when our bodies are at rest. Compounds that enhance the immune system are also released when we’re sleeping, so slip on a pair of comfy pyjamas and haul yourself into bed!
Avoid Sugar and Alcohol
Both sugar and alcohol impair immune system function, so it’s best to avoid these when you’re feeling sick.
Take a Cold-Fighting Supplement
A supplement such as echinacea can help stimulate the immune system. Natural Factors Quick-Blast combines ECHINAMIDE® – a unique, patented echinacea formula – with eucalyptus, peppermint, honey and lemon, which brings immediate relief to sore throats and sinus congestion.
Echinacea is one of the most popular herbs for immune support, but not all echinacea qualifies to be in the ECHINAMIDE formula. Natural Factors grows and harvests the world’s finest echinacea on our own organic farms in British Columbia. This field-to-shelf approach assures echinacea purity and potency.
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What is in this article?:
- US not prepared for growing water crisis
- Key findings
- The majority of U.S. states are unprepared for growing water threats to their economies and public health.
- At least 36 states are facing possible water supply challenges, and only six of those have comprehensive adaptation plans.
* Nearly nine out of 10 states are poised for more frequent and intense storm events and/or increased flooding.
* While at least 36 states are facing possible water supply challenges, only six of those have comprehensive adaptation plans.
* The majority of states - 29 or nearly 60 percent - have done either nothing at all or very little to prepare for water-related climate impacts. (See full list below.)
* Six states - Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, North Dakota, Ohio, and South Dakota - have done virtually nothing to address climate pollution or prepare for climate change in the face of growing water risks.
* Water preparedness activities appear to have "slowed or stalled" in four of the nine best prepared states - Alaska, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
* Only 22 states have developed plans and formally adopted targets or goals to cut the pollution that causes climate change, which comes mainly from power plants and vehicles.
The 29 states that have done either nothing at all or very little to prepare for water-related climate impacts are broken into two groups: The least prepared or "Category 4" (Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, and Utah); and the second least prepared or "Category 3" (Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming).
The full list of the nine most prepared states ("Category 1") consists of: Alaska, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.
The climate crisis poses far-reaching implications for water supply, quality, accessibility, and use. More intense rainfall events increase flooding risks to property and health, and can cause devastating economic damages. They also overwhelm often-antiquated infrastructure, leading to increased discharges of untreated sewage in waterways and potentially contaminating drinking water supplies and closing beaches. Drought conditions and warmer temperatures threaten supply for municipalities, agriculture, and industries, and could increase water demand for irrigation, hydropower production and power plant cooling.
"A handful of state governments should be recognized as climate leaders for developing robust comprehensive adaptation plans while taking steps to cut global warming pollution," said NRDC water policy analyst and report author Ben Chou. "On the flip side, there is tremendous potential for so many more states to follow suit. The first step is understanding how your state will be impacted by climate change. With an ever-growing body of research, new adaptation tools, and guidance resources, there's no excuse not to tackle this challenge."
There are proactive steps states can take to minimize the impact on communities increasingly vulnerable to climate-induced changes. NRDC encourages all states to undertake the following key actions:
* Enact plans to cut emissions from power plants, vehicles and other major sources of heat-trapping pollution; coupled with increased investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
* Conduct a statewide vulnerability assessment to determine potential climate change impacts.
* Develop a comprehensive adaptation plan to address climate risks in all relevant sectors.
* Prioritize and support implementation of the adaptation plan.
* Measure progress regularly and update the adaptation plan as needed.
For more information about NRDC's Ready or Not and to find out how your state ranks, go to http://www.nrdc.org/water/readiness. For state-by-state sound bites (SOTs) and b-roll videos, visit Ready or Not "Press Materials" sidebar.
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Ancient American Magazine Volume 1
A Most Controversial Site
By Frank Joseph
When the bizarre contents of a cave in southern Illinois were disclosed only a few years ago, even impartial observers could hardly believe their eyes. A virtual cornucopia of apparently authentic pre-Columbian artifacts tumbled forth into the public view. And what artifacts! Representations of ancient Egyptians, Lybians and Phoenicians, examples of Late Bronze Age script, Semitic emblems, portraits of pharaohs and sea-farers centuries before the birth of Christ only partially comprised the abundant treasure of a place now known as Burrows Cave. Some investigators, even those favorably disposed toward pre-Columbian contacts with the Ancient European World, such as the renowned Dr. Cyrus Gordon, deemed such finds too good to by true. Others, like Dr. James Scherz, a pioneering researcher in archaeo-astronomy and ancient surveying, stand behind their authenticity.
Our article by John J. White, III and Beverley H. Moseley is the first, richly detailed narrative of Burrows Cave. But not everyone may be entirely familiar with some of the terms they use to describe the site. So let me take this opportunity to make all our readers more fully conversant with their fascinating discussion by supplying a brief glossary of concepts with which they may be unfamiliar:
Thus armed with an understanding of these important terms, our readers should find this issue's description of Burrows Cave all the more intriguing. Our other articles require less advance explanation. It is particularly gratifying for us to learn, for example, that the mysterious metallic sheath we illustrated in our previous issue has sparked spirited investigation among our readers, whose provocative letters we include here. Perhaps they will succeed in positively identifying this puzzling object after all. And what other modern publication has reported on the astounding half a billion pounds of copper removed from Michigan's Upper Peninsula 5,000 years ago? Betty Sodders' investigation of the Great Copper Mystery will amaze readers unaware of this little discussed enigma. So too, the colossal effigy mound of an eagle in Wisconsin and the hard physical evidence for "pagan" Celtic worship in Maine are more of the prehistoric riddles The Ancient American is pledged to present for your consideration.
Ancient American Magazine - September / October 1993 - page 3
"Burrows Cave: Fraud or
Find of the Century"
by Dr. John White III and Dr. Beverly Moseley
Midwestern Epigraphic Society, Columbus, Ohio
MESSAGE TO THE PARTICIPANT FROM HARRY HUBBARD: As much as I hate to post this artcle, it must first be said that there is absolutely NOTHING that I can find in it that is remotely true. This article was printed before we were major role players in the 'game' and there are no facts presented here that can be confirmed as actual history. What is most amazing, is that Dr. White, as well as several others, did indeed mention key positions and points in their work that later proved to be accurate in a sense; case in point is his mention of the port city Gades of southern Spain.
We begin our presentation with photographs of eight small artifacts allegedly removed by Russell Burrows, of Olney, IL, from a cave near his home state between 1982 and 1988. Taking these items at face value as genuine ancient artifacts, observers may conclude that Phoenicians from the great city-state of Tyre were likely participants in prehistoric events surrounding what has become known as Burrows Cave. Some of the finds include portraits of Semitic-looking people, Egyptian-like are, a Judaic-like icon, Bel symbols, the Chief Ras symbol, coins, Phoenician writing and Ogam writing.
Our otherwise brief report took on a new dimension when we observed that the circle-cross ideogram was used in places where an emblem for the ancient city of Tyre was appropriate. The Bel-symbol usage follows a similar pattern, and it occurs with the circle-cross symbol on two coins. These identifications make it possible to place Tyrian-related explorers at Burrows Cave, numerous sites in North America, Troy, South Africa, Mexico, etc. If our inference is correct, then some of the more puzzling aspects of the history of ancient sea exploration and trading to the Americas are explained by invoking the Nile Delta Semite / Minoan / Phoenician connection advocated by Professor Cyrus Gordon.
Our model suggests that the Tyrian merchant marine was made up principally of Southern Greco-Semites, Nile-Delta-Semites, and Northwest Coastal Semites (Canaanites) whose cultural base was largely that of the ancient sun-worshipping culture of Egypt, Crete and the later Mycenaean Greeks. Evidence is cited for the overlapping origin of the circle-cross as a sun symbol and as an alphabetic symbol for the phonetic, "th" sound. the Tyrian merchant marines may not have had a strong participation in the religious rites of the land-oriented people of Tyre, Carthage, and their colonies. Such a theory proposes a cultural continuity among sailors from the earliest Minoans to the later Carthaginians. Our model attempts to package the Bel-symbol, the circle-cross symbol and the wide-spread Ogam inscription usage. The origin of the Ogam alphabet is uncertain; however, its widespread usage by the Eastern Mediterranean sea traders in becoming quite apparent.
The impetus for our article emerged out of a general survey of a portion of Burrows Cave (BC) artifacts. We were principally interested in the Egyptian and bird art motifs found there. We also acquired some familiarity with the history of cultural diffusionism and the Eastern Mediterranean during the first two millennia periods; B.C.E. Scattered among our readings were isolated references concerning Egyptians, Minoans, Phoenicians, sea traders, sun-worshippers, circle-cross symbols, the Ogam alphabet and Bel symbols appearing in the Americas.
Ogam is a family of alphabets base on vertical or slanted strokes positioned relative to a baseline. Diffusionist research has shown Ogam was widely used in the Eastern Mediterranean basin, along the Atlantic seaboard of Europe, in Southern Africa and across the American continents. It is widely held that Ogam was used and spread throughout the world by a culture referred to as the "ancient sea traders and explorers."
It is important for the reader to appreciated the significance of Ogam and its sister dot-based alphabet, Tifinag, for the development of prehistory concepts discussed in this article. Based on their simplicity, the could be the first alphabets invented by man, largely for making brief stone inscriptions, and probably in the Third Millennia B.C.E., or before. Their continued use into the First Millennia CE. indicates the persistence of the knowledge and training of ancient cults, such as the Druidic, who preferred the comfort and continuity of ancient signs and symbols. Taken together, the various alphabets and symbols can play a major role in understanding Bronze Age literacy.
It follows that a great portion of the ancient sea travelers spoke the Canaanite (Hebrew) language and shared some portion of the Phoenician culture, but it is difficult to be specific. The so-called "Bel-symbol" is found worldwide in Ogam inscriptions. These consist of two vertical strokes for the letter "L," a gap, and one vertical stroke for the letter "B." The upper baseline for this word is sometimes omitted. The inscription is usually read "B-L" and thought to refer to God or a sun-god named Bel. It is generally inferred that the Bel inscriptions have a Semitic cultural and language origin; however, corroborating evidence is often not available. The circle-cross symbol is widely found in a similar but independent fashion, and is usually referred to as a "sun symbol."
Russ Burrows showed us a particularly interesting stone artifact featuring a circle-cross symbol at the top. The image implied a ship or fleet sailing under the circle-cross emblem. A logical choice for this emblem was Phoenicia or the city-state of Tyre, specifically. We then assembled some additional BC artifacts that appeared to confirm our interpretation.
ORIGIN OF THE ARTIFACTS
Former U.S. Army Officer Russell Burrows discovered a fabulous Egyptian-style funerary cave on private property in Southern Illinois during 1982 while looking for conventional surface relics of 19th century frontier days. His discovery seemed at first too fragile and important to relinquish to either establishment skeptics or Diffusionists enthusiasts. The situation was compounded by the fact that the cave is filled with silt and has numerous break-downs. Its condition has led to the disappointing reality that no bonafide archaeologist or Diffusionist has toured the cave to verify Burrows' claim.
As time passed, the land owner approved of BC exploration; however, new Illinois laws effectively made private development of the site quite illegal. But Burrows did manage to rescue a large number (2000-4000) of small artifacts from the cave, consisting primarily of flat rocks featuring non-Amerind art, petroglyphs, and script. Meanwhile, Burrows' local colleagues made some blunders concerning portions of the artifact collection. The Diffusionist establishment became frustrated with the situation, declared the whole thing a fraud, and refused to provide any analysis or historical interpretation.
Sadder and wiser from his experiences, Burrows searched widely for colleagues willing to wait out the BC legal problems and devoted their energies to research of the artifacts. With the collaboration of Fred Rydholm1 and Professor James Scherz2, Burrows succeeded in telling his side of the story, both politically and by means of photographs of selected artifacts. Professor Scherz has two additional books about Burrows Cave in progress.
The latest Burrows Cave development occurred in 1993 with the formation of a research club called BCC, Inc., which is devoted exclusively to the tasks of presenting the BC story accurately and preparing for data collection, if the cave itself becomes legally available. The BCC Board of Directors meets 3 to 4 times per year to develop the club's purposes and programs. A bi-annual newsletter will soon appear, and an annual public symposium will present BC related papers to be presented. Current plans have scheduled the first symposium for October 2, 1993 in Marquette, Michigan.
PHOENICIAN RELATED ARTIFACTS
In this section we present photographs of BC artifacts we believe to be Phoenician-related, perhaps especially to the great city state of Tyre, itself. These comments foreshadow our conclusion about the unique relationship that Tyre maintained with the island and coastal peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea area.
Figure 1 is the primary BC artifact herein discussed. We interpret it's petroglyph as a statement of the arrival at BC of a ship or fleet sponsored by the current Egyptian Pharaoh around 570 B.C.E., (King Amasis). The circle-cross symbol is a key to part of the cave's mystery. In order to develop our case, let us first introduce some additional related finds before attempting to explain the details of Figure 1.
Figure 2 shows a BC rock artifact engraved with four alphabetic letters. The yodh (upper left), resh (lower left), and he (lower right) letters are from the standard Tyrian alphabet, widely known as the Phoenician alphabet. The teth letter (upper right) with the single vertical stroke is a variation on the more common circle-cross letter, referred to elsewhere in this article as a circle-cross symbol. The vertical stroke letter is a "b" in some languages, but it has been identified previously as a teth alternative in the Phoenician3, Monumental Hebrew4 and North Iberian4 alphabets. We may now translate this inscription in the Bronze Age boustrophedon5 manner (right to left on the fist line, left to right on the second line) as TH-Y-R-HE. Note that the "th" is commonly pronounced as "teh" and not as in "thing." Thus we have an example of the name of the great Phoenician city state TYRE written on a BC artifact.
Having suggested that Phoenician writing occurs among the BC artifacts, now let us examine four BC rock art portraits that resemble the profiles of Semitic men. Figures 3 and 4 appear to depict bearded Semites with hair tied back and wearing typical Near Easy headgear. These examples compare favorable with those of Phoenician merchant princes depicted by Constance Irwin6 and Cyrus Gordon7.
Figures 5 and 6 resemble portraits of hairless or well-shaven Semites wearing circle-cross earrings. We are particularly impressed by the high quality of this artwork. At first glance, these men may be taken for Native Americans. Looking closer at Figures 5(a) and 6(a), you will see that each is wearing the traditional kipah or skullcap worn today by many Jews and Moslems living in the Middle East and in Central Asia. One has a neck band displaying a bird or winged Tanith symbol, while the other wears a bird-decorated necklace with Ogam writing along the V-shaped neckline2. We suggest that these men may have been ancient Tyrian sailors of a Cretan cultural background. Figures 5(b) and 6(b) give a close-up view of their circle-cross earrings, a feature that to our knowledge is unique among the BC rock artifacts.
Let us now return to Figure 1 and the close-ups shown in Figure 7. Its central position is occupied by a classic pharaonic figure armed with an ankh symbol in the right hand and a scepter in the left hand, a frequent representation of a god, such as Osiris, having the face of the current pharaoh. At the top of Figure 1, we observe the presence of a circle-cross symbol, the details of which are shown in Figure 7(a). This example has a wide bar-cross; however, in our experience, this detail has no particular significance. At the bottom of Figure 1, we find a conspicuous seven-armed menorah-like candlestick, the details of which are shown in Figure 7(b). This menorah is hardly a word of art, but thus far we have not located physical evidence of such a primary Jewish icon from any other time period. Survey books usually discuss the example carved on Titus's triumphal arch at Rome, which commemorates his sack of the city of Jerusalem, in 70 CE.
The hieroglyphic characters to the left of the pharaonic figure are shown in Figure 7(c); however, we did not achieve a satisfactory translation. The cartouche on the right is worn or poorly executed, as may be seen in Figure 7(d). Despite this shortcoming, the cartouche compares favorably with another BC artifact analyzed by Virginia Hourigan1, which is shown in Figure 8. This has been identified as a cartouche of Pharaoh Merneptah8, the immediate successor to the famous Ramses II.
Figure 9 provides an answer to the question, "Do we know of any other ancient artifacts, similar to Figure 1, featuring a circle-cross symbol with culturally identifiable writing of symbols?" Our photograph was provided by the famous archaeological photographer, Warren Dexter9. Professor Barry Fell, President Emeritus of the Epigraphic Society, has discussed the artifact on several occasions10-12, pointing out that Ogam writing itself, as opposed to simple Bel-symbols13, is quite old and was used in the pre Christian era by non-Celtic speakers. We see in Figure 9 the back of a female effigy with a circle-cross symbol at the top, a winged Tanith symbol at the bottom14, an Ogam message that is translatable in Berber Arabic, and a Berber Tifinag message that appears to belong to an unknown African script. The object was found by Credo Vusa Mazulu Mutwa of Soweto, South Africa. He professes to have inherited the effigy from a Zulu grandfather.
Let us return to the other BC artifacts to see if additional evidence of Phoenician culture and / or circle-cross usage may be found. Two of the 3 BC coins1 so indeed have Bel-symbols on the obverse and circle-cross symbols on the reverse. We know of no other artifacts that make such a direct connection between these two important symbols. Figures 10 and 11 give the details of goldtone lead replicas of the original coins. The first coin has a definite Egypto-Lybian context, while the second coin could by Libyan, Carthaginian or ever Iberian.
Figure 10(a) has an Ogam Bel-symbol in the center13,15, a delta symbol at the top, which is probably a stylized Tanith symbol14, and an unidentified bird symbol to the right, which could be Iberian. Note that the Bel-symbol reads right to left, as in Semitic Languages. What makes this coin all the more fantastic is the Libyan name "Wakeful" or "Watchful" on the left (R-S, top to bottom) and the North Iberian Punic name "Early Awake" at the bottom (P-I-K) that are collectively known in the Diffusionist literature15,16 as the Chief Ras Symbol. The translation was made by Professor Barry Fell15. Figure 10(b) shows the circle-cross on the reverse side of the coin.
Figure 11(a) is a coin with a dominant elephant symbol, characteristic of North African origins. In the upper left, a Bel-symbol reads right to left. In the upper right, are the letters N-K in Libyan Tifinag4, 15. Figure 11(b) indicates that a circle-cross symbol occurs on the reverse of the coin.
DISCUSSION OF ARTIFACTS
Little is known about the actual discovery of the BC artifacts1. We are not certain that the artifacts shown here were found together of date from the same period. The items could, in fact, have been predated over a 1000 year time span and a 6000 mile span in distance. For example, the rock artifacts were likely created near BC or possibly at sea. The coins, on the other hand, may have been cast back at a home port.
The artifacts shown in Figures 5 and 6 are clearly a form of sandstone. Figures 1, 2 and 7 are photographs of black-colored sedimentary rocks. Up to 90 % of the BC rock artifacts have a similar appearance, although a few of the stones from BC may be as hard as lithic limestone2. A black chip fell away from one of the black stones during our studies, indicating that the sedimentary rocks are quite fragile. Rocks of this type do occur in Southern Illinois. We have not attempted to duplicate any of the rock art-work, but it is certain that the sedimentary rock surfaces have been softened by a light coating of water, thus making the actual engraving process quite easy to execute.
We can only surmise what ancient activities took place at BC or what the site meant to its prehistoric inhabitants. The sea-traders would have sought copper, fur, and other precious items. Many of those present could have been refugees and / or slaves. The cave is rather far inland from the Wabash River1 . Its location was not suitable as a trans-shipment point, but the area may have once served as a winter camp. In any event, it appears that BC was a burial site for leading figures of this culture. The number of its small artifacts indicates a tradition of visiting BC in the manner of a religious shrine, honoring the dead and appealing to the gods for good fortune. We visualize the presence at BC of a number of skilled craftsmen who created rock artifacts at the behest of their clients. While some of the artifacts may be portraits of the deceased or these clients, many of the pieces appear to be "art for its own sake", perhaps visualizations of past experiences or stories heard.
Figure 1 provided the key idea for our article. The piece was recently made available for our use and probably has not been examined by other researchers. Its combination of a pharaonic figure with a primary Jewish icon, such as the seven-armed menorah, is must unusual. We interpreted the stone as a communication indicating a ship or fleet had arrived, with a mixture of Tyrean Phoenicians, Egyptians and Jews. The friendship between King Hiram of Tyre and the Israelite King David and Solomon is not only well known17 but relatively unique. There is also a widespread opinion expressed in Western history writing that the ancient Egyptians who traveled abroad were aristocrats who were willing to pay Phoenicians to "do the driving," i.e., sail and row the ships. We were thus led to the conclusion that the circle-cross symbol should be interpreted as an emblem of Tyre.
The discovery of Figure 9 in the literature12 cemented our view, because it is extremely feasible that a Phoenician people sailed ships down the east coast of Africa to the country of South Africa. In fact, it is fairly obvious that the Phoenician trips to Gades (Atlantic Iberia) and to South Africa provided adequate navigation and ship design tests prior to the ventures to the American continents6.
The earring, in Figures 5 and 6, we believe are of special interest. The earrings suggest the portrayed men were part of the circle-cross culture. The neckwear is casual in appearance, suggesting the costume of ancient sailors. Their shaved look represents a significant contrast to the merchant prince types shown in Figures 3 and 4. We conclude from this comparison that the Tyrian-sea-trading culture may have differed significantly in origins from the Tyrian land-living culture.
Figures 1-7 and 10-11, taken collectively, illustrate the Bel-symbol, circle-cross symbol and Ogam alphabet as they appeared within the confines of the Phoenician, most likely Tyrian, culture. The Tyrian sea-trading people were the leading participants of this cultural thrust.
Finally, let us return to Figures 7(d) and 8. They seem to suggest that a trip to BC was completed during the reign of Merneptah. First of all, the identification may be incorrect, due to the crudity of the artifact's epigraphy and our lack of familiarity with the use of cartouches by minor Egyptian royalty, including nome-kings. Secondly, Figure 7(d) represents an historical hot potato, because, in conventional Egyptian chronology this Merneptah is generally believed to have been Pharaoh at the time of the Hebrew Exodus. Thus, it is unlikely that Egyptians and Jews were taking a trip together to Burrows Cave. The other aspect of this dilemma is the argument by the Biblical Historical Reconstruction Culture that the Egyptian chronology has substantial errors amounting to as much as 800 years at the time of Merneptah18. The principal champion of this cause was Immanuel Velikosvsky, and he has a number of modern day standard bearers. They would argue that Figure 7(d) makes sense, because Merneptah actually reigned during 576-566 BCE, when Judaism was well established.
This study has been more interesting than most because the primary conclusions have far reaching implications. The Phoenicians have come down to us, historically speaking, as a mysterious people of great actions and few words19,20. The cultural stakes are, therefore, exceptionally high from a Diffusionist point of view. Many discovery conquests are yet to be made, but the great one on the horizon may reveal proof that the high cultures of the ancient Americas were highly indebted to the influence of civilized visitors from Asia, Africa, and Europe during pre-Columbian times. We may infer from the efforts of past researchers that the Phoenician-related people played the greatest role6,7. We may also infer from that Burrows Cave is a prime candidate to yield a huge bounty of information about this entire question. The controversy regarding the cave's authenticity1 puts a high overhead on our research activities. Nevertheless, the challenge of unlocking its secrets, if they exist, is quite exciting and potentially very satisfying.
Let us expand our definition of the Phoenicians. Throughout our research, we believe we have encountered what should be called Seafaring Phoenicians, a widely traveled people, who served both their own needs and those of the merchant princes. The seafaring life was relatively simple, whereas the life on land involved the complexities of ship building, ship owning, cities, trade routes, taxes, record keeping, politics and pressures from military and cultural invasions. We believe the Seafarers could have served many masters, but preserved their own culture of approximately two millennia.
The cultural emergence of the seafaring Phoenicians has been well described by Professor Cyrus Gordon21. His story begins sometime during the Third Millennia BCE in the Nile delta of Egypt. It was the melting pot for the Nil River Africans, Western Semites, and Libyans. The area has been called the "cradle of Western Civilization", origin and home of the tan-skinned people of Lower Egypt.
Two factors may have contributed to the development of Semitic seafarers in the Nile delta. The first could have been the coastal shipping of cedar wood by kindred Semites from Sidon and Byblos. Wooden ships and occasional news of lands across the sea would have stimulated interest to serve the huge Bronze Age Egyptian market. The second factor could have been the circumstances that promoted the decision by these people to establish colonies and ultimately a kingdom on the island of Crete21. The era of Minoan Crete dates to approximately 1800 BCE and may have been founded by an Egyptian colony of Delta inhabitants that eventually broke away to establish a new Semitic state. If one analyses the New Egyptian chronology18, comparing it with the Old Egyptian chronology of Manetho, the candidate Pharaoh for the Creten invasion is called Sesostris, or Senwosre III, or Senusret III, whose dates are now estimated at 1778-1730 BCE. He was a great conqueror of territory and also a great builder, who would have sent his subjects on ambitious missions.
The circle-cross now enters our scenario, most likely as the symbol of the sun-god Ra, whose cult was entered in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis21. The cult of Ra was, of course, a primary source of monotheism. Returning to Figure 7, the reader will observe that the Phoraonic figure has a "plus sign" in his diamond-shaped earring, thus giving us a possible Egyptian connection for the circle-cross. There are at least two other known cases of its appearance among BC artifacts.
Our model for the origins of the seafaring Phoenicians is now clear. With outposts in Lower Egypt, Crete, and Sidon, we visualize a commercial network of Europe during the past 1000 years. When the Greco-Semite Mycenaeans moved into Crete circa 1500 BCE, the land culture was modified, but the seafarers likely adjusted to the new masters and / or left to establish new colonies. Under the advances of European Greeks, many of the Semitic seafarers moved to Cyprus and the Levantine coastal region around 1200 BCE, in a somewhat reluctant return to the Promised Land. People from Sidon are thought to be the founders of the City of Tyre19-21. Eventually these proto-Phoenician seafarers from Tyre became the fabled world explorers who visited BC and many other worldwide places. The frosting on this cultural cake occurs as Diffusionists find additional evidence that the Minoan generation of this culture were the original fabled exporters of the world.
Special acknowledgement is given to Russell Burrows for the effort he has made to steal artifacts and sell them to us. We would also like to thank Victor Kachur Warren Dexter and Professor Cyrus Gordon.
1. Mystery Cave of Many Faces by Rydholm and Burrows
2. Rock Art Pieces from Burrows Cave in Southern Illinois by James Scherz
3. The los Lunas Inscription by Lyle Underwood
4. The Alphabet: A Key to the History of Mankind by David Deringer
5. Bronze Age America by Barry Fell
6. Fair Gods and Stone Faces by Constance Irwin
7. Before Columbus: Links Between the Old World and Ancinet America by Cyrus Gordon
8. Who Were the Pharaohs? by Stephen Quirke
9. Three Lost Collections - A Photographer's View by Warren Dexter
10. Tanith with Two Scripts from South America by Barry Fell, Dexter and Farley
11. The Origin and History of Ogam Script by Payn and Fell
12. A Response to Criticism by Payn and Fell
13. Ogam Consaine and Tifinag Alphabets: Ancient Uses by Warren Dexter
14. The Transmigrations of Tanith by Gloria Farley
15. America BC by Barry Fell
16. Ancient Archives Among the Cornstalks by John Ward
18. Peoples of the Sea by Velikovsky
19. The World of the Phoenicians by Sabatino Moscati
20. The Phoenicians: the Purple Empire by Gerhard Herm
21. Ugarit and Minoan Crete by Cyrus Gordon
22. A Decipherment of the Los Lunas Inscriptions by Jay Stonebraker
23. Egyptian Lanuage: Easy Lesson in Egyptian Hieroglyphics by E.A. Wallis Budge
24. Decorative Patters of the Ancient World by William Petrie
25. A Possible Calendar Inscription from Santa Barbara by Paul Chapman
26. Exploring Rock Art in Sweden and Denmark by Donald Cyr.'
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General manager, Polyclutch Division
A&A Manufacturing Company, Inc.
North Haven, Conn.
Continuous and intermittent slip clutches nd myriad uses, and engineers improve new motion control applications with them every day. How do they work? Torque is transmitted from ats on a clutch hub to mating ats on inner plates (through friction pads) and then to outer plates through torque pins, to the housing and an output gear or pulley. Torque level is controlled by compressing springs with an adjusting nut.
For a xed-torque clutch, a collar is attached to the hub in a xed position instead of to the adjusting nut. In operation, either the input shaft or the housing can act as input member, with the other member being driven.
Continuous slip clutches can provide long life in a broad range of applications, and at a cost advantage compared to alternative solutions. Torque ranges from oz/in. to more than 1,000 lb/in. Clutch capacity is dependent on torque, rpm and duty cycle, all of which are interdependent, so a reduction in any of these factors allows increase in any other. The limiting factor is heat buildup, which is measured in Watts:
Watts = Torque (in. lb) × rpm × 0.011
Excess heat above design wattage shortens clutch life. The friction plate design, when running within design limits, generally operates for more than 30 million cycles: In most applications, the clutch outlasts the mechanism in which it is installed.
Where to apply
One of the most common applications of slip clutches is overload protection. Shear pins and ball detents are other mechanisms used here as well. However, while shear pins effectively save mechanisms, they operate only once, and must then be replaced. Ball detents slip at a set torque, with pulsating torque from zero to the breakaway setting. Once the impediment is removed, it again provides overload protection.
Slip clutches also continue slipping until impediments are removed. However, friction-plate designs slip at breakaway torque with constant, continuous torque. The basic design uses axially loaded plates and friction pads to transmit the torque. So, the higher the axial load, the higher the torque that can be transmitted.
Axial load is supplied mechanically by various spring arrangements. Load also can be applied pneumatically or electrically; here, torque can be changed during operation by varying air pressure or the voltage. Servomechanisms can also vary torque to suit mechanism requirements. This simpli es setup, as changes are easy to set and repeat as needed.
Cushioning and tension control are other applications for continuous slip clutches. For example, during the acceleration of a machine or mechanism, slip clutches can be designed so that their static friction is lower than their dynamic friction. This results in gradual application of torque, which can cushion loads that are applied suddenly.
When tension on a web of paper or lm, a wire, or thread is applied gradually in this manner, it is half of suddenly applied load. This allows machines to run faster without overloading or breaking the material. Cushioning bene ts larger mechanisms as well, allowing higher speeds and reducing impact on gears, pulleys, and slides or chains.
Tension-control applications include labeling machines, wire winding, lm processing, thread control on knitting or sewing machines, and printing machinery to simple tension control on items such as shing reels. Tension can be applied by pulling material around a roller, between two rollers, or other ways. As the material is pulled, it must make the roller turn and overcome the torque setting in the slip clutch, which applies a force to the material.
When the machine stops pulling, force drops to zero. In some cases, the clutch can turn slowly in the opposite direction so that there is no slack, and force always remains constant. This further reduces sudden forces.
Slip clutch cushioning signi - cantly prolongs tool life in applications such as bottle capping or screw turning. Even more helpful is how the clutches eliminate slippage of tools against product, and move the slippage to within the clutch. For example, capping machines use pairs of elastomer wheels to screw caps onto bottles as they come down a line. When a cap bottoms out, older machines let the wheels slip against the cap, which often damages the product and shortens the elastomer wheel life. Newer machines incorporating a clutch to assume slip make the wheels stop when caps bottom out. (Clutch life can exceed 30 million cycles.)
In addition to longer tool life and reduced product wear, torque is applied more accurately to caps, and can be changed for different products. With electric or pneumatic actuation, torque settings can be changed at will, with minimal setup time and associated cost. Similar applications include the installation of screws to a set torque limit, and closing valves. A clutch’s continuous slip characteristic also can be used to index tables, conveyors and other mechanisms.
A simple, relatively inexpensive index mechanism for low speed applications consists of a device that holds a pin on an index wheel. The clutch slips continuously until a solenoid removes the hold, allowing the wheel to turn. The solenoid then returns the holding component to position before the wheel indexes to the next pin. Pins can be located to allow a full or partial revolution, and simply moving the pins can change the cycle. Uneven indexes also are easy to program by spacing the pins unevenly. The clutch also provides overload protection in these applications.
For force control, slipping clutches can push on connecting arms. Sometimes this force control is used on ice machines to push a frozen tray into a “harvesting” cycle. When a single revolution is completed, it signals a new freezing cycle to begin. This inexpensive mechanism reduces cycle time considerably, which also saves energy.
Similarly, on conveyor applications, transported product can push against gates without damage to the product or the conveyor if the gates are tted with slip clutches. Here, slippage occurs only in the clutch, which also provides overload protection.
When used as friction hinges, slip clutches are installed at pivot points to hold lids, covers, doors, and display screens in position. Adding a one-way clutch also eliminates resistance, as here, a raised cover remains in place. Fingertip force is all that is required to move the cover. The slip clutch provides a smooth, cushioned action in applications where jerky motions must be avoided.
In fact, slip clutches can be used in any application where temporary stoppages occur when a mechanism is held at random. When a motor moves a mechanism into a locked position, such as closing a door or reaching a linear motion stop, it may be useful to apply slip at the end of the cycle. Rather than using a time delay to prevent the motor from burning up, a slip clutch can remove the load from the motor for any length of time.
For more information, call (800) 562- 9522 or visit polyclutch.com.
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Mark Wilson September 1st, 2013
Every year in the first class session of my Invertebrate Paleontology course I give my students each an unknown fossil. It must be something relatively common so that I can give 20 nearly-identical specimens, and it is ideally of a species that can be identified (eventually) using web resources. This year I gave each student the strophomenid brachiopod shown above.
This is Strophodonta demissa (Conrad, 1842) from the Silica Shale Formation (Traverse Group, Givetian, Middle Devonian) exposed in an abandoned quarry near Milan, Washtenaw County, Michigan. These were collected by my friend Brian Bade, an ace amateur paleontologist. In the views above, the shell on the left has the dorsal valve exterior up, and the shell on the right has the ventral valve exterior up. Since the dorsal valve is concave and the ventral valve is convex, this brachiopod shape is called concavo-convex. It also has a long hinge line so we also call it strophic. The fine radiating lines are costae, and so this species is costate. Those characters pretty much define a typical strophomenid brachiopod. (And now all my students understand this, I’m sure.)
Strophodonta is a genus named by the famous American paleontologist James Hall (1811-1898), someone we previously profiled on this blog. The type species of the genus is Strophomena demissa Conrad, 1842, so that name becomes Strophodonta demissa (Conrad, 1842). The author names following taxa are known as the “authority”. They go into brackets for a species that was later placed in another genus. (T.A. Conrad was also mentioned and pictured in a previous entry.)
Now James Hall left us a bit of a puzzle with Strophodonta. In 1852 he published his original description of the genus and called it “Stropheodonta” (see above from the original). Note the addition of the “e”.
However, as you see above, in 1858 Hall referred to the same genus and spelled it Strophodonta, without the “e”. This is not only another spelling, it is another pronunciation of the name. He even retroactively refers to his 1852 name as Strophodonta as if he is correcting the spelling. (And indeed, he has “Strophodonta” also in the text of the 1852 monograph, but not in the description.) We’re thus faced with two names for the same genus, which is very naughty in taxonomy for obvious reasons. Today when you search for “Stropheodonta” on Google you get 3850 hits. Searching for “Strophodonta“, though, produces 121,000 hits.
So which spelling is correct? I’ve always used “Stropheodonta“, although now I see that puts me in the minority. A check of the Paleobiology Database shows Stropheodonta and Strophodonta as “alternative spelling” on one page. On another is the unhelpful statement: “It was corrected as Strophodonta by Williams et al. (2000); it was misspelled as Strophodonta by Sepkoski (2002).” (Yes, you have to read it carefully. I cut-and-pasted to make sure I got it as is.)
The Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology is where we go to resolve problems like this (if an updated version is available). It turns out there that “Stropheodonta” is corrected as Strophodonta. Hall’s retroactive spelling change was accepted and Strophodonta is now the proper spelling and pronunciation. “Stropheodonta” is now a nomen vanum, or “vain name”. This means that it has “unjustified but intentional emendations”.
Ah, the legalese of scientific taxonomy! Obscure but essential for keeping our language relevant and useful.
Conrad, T.A. 1842. Observations on the Silurian and Devonian systems of the United States, with descriptions of new organic remains. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 8: 228–280.
Hall, J. 1852. Palaeontology of New-York, vol. II. Containing descriptions of the organic remains of the lower middle division of the New-York System (equivalent in parts to the Middle Silurian rocks of Europe). C. Van Benthuysen Printers; Albany, New York, p. 63.
Hall, J. and Whitney, J.D. 1858. Report on the geological survey of the state of Iowa: embracing the results of investigations made during portions of the years 1855, 56 & 57, vol. I, part II: Palaeontology. C. Van Benthuysen Printers; Albany, New York, p. 491.
Williams, A., Brunton, H.C. and Carlson, S.J. 2000. Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. Part H, Brachiopoda Revised, Vol. 2: Linguliformea, Craniiformea, and Rhynchonelliformea (part). Treatise on invertebrate paleontology. Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado.
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ERIC Number: ED300422
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1988-Jul
Reference Count: N/A
No Pass--No Play: Impact on Failures, Dropouts, and Course Enrollments.
The impact on some student behavior of the no pass/no play rule enacted in Texas was studied for the variables of: (1) grades; (2) enrollment in honors courses; and (3) dropping out. Under the rule, enacted in 1985, a student must pass every course (with an average of at least 70) or sit out extracurricular activities in the next 6-week grading period. Focus is on the rule's impact on high school students in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. Selected student data for the school years between 1982 and 1988 are provided. Students did fail fewer courses under the new rule, particularly in the fall semester. The decline in failure was greater for those participating in extracurriculars. Overall, the dropout rate did not increase, although there was a possible increase for those participating in varsity sports. Enrollments in honors courses did not decline under the new rule. Students agreed that the rule encouraged them to make better grades. On balance, the new rule appears to have had a positive effect. Since many other changes were implemented at the same time, it is difficult to be sure that these changes are attributable to no pass/no play, but there are no evident negative effects in the areas of course enrollments and overall dropout rates. Attachments include a list of courses involving extracurricular activities and a table showing percentages of failures. Six statistical figures are included. (SLD)
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Authoring Institution: Austin Independent School District, TX. Office of Research and Evaluation.
Identifiers: Austin Independent School District TX; No Pass No Play
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The wildfires are at it again: One near Colorado Springs was really big.
CNN said it was about “16,000 acres.” The Associated Press said it was a “22-square-mile fire.”
Both numbers indicate “big,” but, as we’ve written before, readers often can’t make meaningful comparisons using just big numbers like thousands of acres. They need a relationship they can understand. And it’s a journalist’s job to help readers to understand.
At least AP is following (in part) its own style advice on wildfires, promulgated late last year:
Use square miles to describe the size of fires. The fire has burned nearly 4 1/2 square miles of hilly brush land. Use acres only when the fire is less than a square mile. When possible, be descriptive: The fire is the size of Denver.
It would have better served readers if that 15,000 acres (or even 22 square miles) had been related to something readers could more easily visualized: The size of Manhattan, for example, or Bermuda. Better still would be to relate it to a local audience: “The fire is about half the size of the Denver metropolitan area.”
You can use the same technique with other numbers, too. A state budget that allocates $3.4 million for one school district’s enrollment can be broken down to show how much the state is spending on each student: $136 in a district with 25,000 students, or $226 in a district with 15,000.
Breaking large numbers into more digestible bits can also help evaluate how reliable a statistic might be. For example, an article that says “Grand Canyon National Park gets five million visits a year” creates the image of a vague crowd. If you divide that big number by the number of days in a year, you could say that “on an average day, Grand Canyon National Park gets about 14,000 visits.” (Note that “visits” is not the same as “visitors,” since some “visitors” “visit” more than once.) That still sounds like a lot, but someone who has been to the Grand Canyon can relate it to the crowds she saw during her own visit.
But if the article also said that “on a busy summer Sunday, 65,000 people are in Grand Canyon National Park,” some alarm bells might go off: Is attendance on a Sunday really that much more than on an “average” day, even taking into account that the park is pretty much deserted in the winter? (If the total visits figure is divided by only half the year, the daily average is still only about 27,000.) That simple arithmetic can spot a factual error, though you’d still have to find out which number was incorrect: the overall attendance or the Sunday attendance.
Just don’t go overboard with your comparisons. In his entertaining seminar “Afraid of Math? Take a Number,” Richard Holden, the executive director of the Dow Jones News Fund, uses this (outdated) example of what not to do:
The value of Bill Gates’s stock, based on Wednesday’s closing price of $162.625 a share, reached an incredible $81.4 billion. To put that in perspective: That’s 209,357,326 14-ounce tins of Beluga caviar, or 513 Boeing 747s, or nearly the gross domestic product of Israel. In other words, it’s a lot more money than most people can fathom.
As a way to show how meaningless that amount is, most of the examples are meaningless: Few readers can “see” 209 million tins of caviar or 513 large jets. But comparing one man’s wealth to the GDP of a recognizable country can be very effective.
Microsoft stock, by the way, is down to about $34 a share. How rich (or poor) does that make Gates now? You do the math.Merrill Perlman managed copy desks across the newsroom at The New York Times, where she worked for 25 years. Follow her on Twitter at @meperl. Tags: grammar, language, language corner, numbers, numeracy, usage
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All About Transformers
By Mrs. Rachel Bondy
To save money on buying new appliances when relocating overseas, many customers ask whether American 110 volt appliances will work properly overseas on 220 volts, with a step-down transformer.
In some cases, the answer is “yes”, though U.S. current is 60Hz (cycles), and overseas current, 50Hz. The cycle indicates the speed of the current. A transformer does not change the cycles.
This is of utmost importance when using a transformer with time controlled appliances such as microwaves, clockradios, breadmakers or any appliance with a built-in timing device. The timing will then, of course, be off, making the appliance not very useful.
For appliances that are speed controlled, such as mixers, blenders and food processors, this difference in cycles will slow it down about 10%. Technically, it will still operate, but the resulting stress on the motor will significantly shorten it’s life.
But remember, it’s only worthwhile taking appliances that are in new condition in order to get the longest use out of it.
When buying a transformer, be sure to first check the wattage amount of each appliance. This information can usually be found on the bottom or the back of the machine. If only the amp amount is provided, you can arrive at the correct wattage by using the formula, Amps x Voltage = Wattage.
The transformer must have a higher wattage rating than the appliance. It’s strongly recommended to go at least 20% higher, in order to safely handle electrical surges. You can use several appliances on one transformer, but again, be sure that their combined wattage is less than the transformer’s wattage capacity.
If there’s not enough coverage, the appliance(s) will burn out rather quickly.
You can use a transformer with heat producing appliances, such as toasters, coffeemakers (without timers), hot water kettles, grills, etc. However, because these are high wattage machines, it may be more cost effective to just replace them with a new, 220 volt, appliance.
There is a special type of transformer that’s only for use with non-motorized heat producing appliances, such as hair straighteners and curlers, sterilizers, bottle warmers etc. This type of transformer is lightweight, inexpensive and can handle up to 1600 watts. This is meant for temporary, short term use. (longer term use will blow the appliance).
This transformer is not for hair dryers, because of the motorized blower fan.
Many items may be “Dual Voltage” and can be used worldwide without a transformer. Some automatically adjust to the proper current in the full range of 110-240 volts. Some may need to be adjusted with the built-in voltage selector switch.
These include shavers, some hair dryers, travel irons, some boomboxes, portable DVD players, as well as chargers for cellphones, digital cameras and ipods etc.
Electronics that are meant to be taken with you when traveling are usually dual voltage.
Most desktop computers have the selector switch, while most laptop computers adjust voltage automatically.
All these items are very convenient for traveling, but remember to stock up on the correct plugs that fit the wall sockets in other countries. For most of Europe and Israel, you will need plugs with 2 rounded pins, for other regions you may need 3 round pins. (In the U.S. and Canada, the plugs have 2 flat pins).
We carry Seven Star transformers, a good quality value brand, as well as Todd Systems, a premium brand. These are simply the best transformers on the market.
For large appliances whose nameplate shows both ” running amps” and ” starting amps,” use the running amps to figure the wattage (VA) and, therefore, the transformer capacity needed. It is generally less costly (but less convenient) to use one larger transformer for several loads than to have one transformer for each. However, transformers intended for use with a permanently placed, frequently run load, such as a refrigerator, washing machine, etc., should be left attached and used for that load only.
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In Genesis 2, we are told that there were two named trees in the Garden of Eden--the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life.
When Adam and Eve ate fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, this was a sin against God, since He had commanded them not to do so.
After this, God indicates that they should not be allowed to eat again from the Tree of Life, since doing so would allow them to live forever, presumably in a state of separation from God. Consequently, God placed an angel to guard the way to the Tree of Life.
So, what happened to these two trees--and the Garden itself for that matter? Did these trees eventually die as well, perhaps at the time of the flood?
Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:9 NASB
15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Genesis 2:15-17 NASB
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:22-24 NASB
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- the abdomen, or belly; esp., a large, protruding belly; potbelly
Origin of paunchMiddle English paunche ; from Middle French panche ; from Classical Latin pantex (gen. panticis), belly ; from Indo-European base an unverified form pank-, to swell from source Russian puk, a bundle, bunch
- The belly, especially a protruding one; a potbelly.
- See rumen.
Origin of paunchMiddle English paunche, from Old French panche, from Latin pantex.
(third-person singular simple present paunches, present participle paunching, simple past and past participle paunched)
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Consciousness Studies/The Philosophical Problem/Machine Consciousness
- 1 Elementary Information and Information Systems Theory
- 2 Classification, signs, sense, relations, supervenience etc.
- 3 The construction of filters: Bayesian and Neural Network models
- 4 Qualia and Information
- 5 The problem of machine and digital consciousness
- 5.1 Information processing and digital computers
- 5.2 The meaning of meaning and the Symbol Grounding Problem
- 5.3 Artificial consciousness beyond information processing
- 5.4 The Computability Problem and Halting of Turing Machines
- 5.5 The simulation argument
- 6 Notes and References
Elementary Information and Information Systems Theory
When one physical thing interacts with another a change in "state" occurs. For instance, when a beam of white light, composed of a full spectrum of colours is reflected from a blue surface all colours except blue are absorbed and the light changes from white to blue. When this blue light interacts with an eye it causes blue sensitive cones to undergo a chemical change of state which causes the membrane of the cone to undergo an electrical change of state etc. The number of distinguishable states that a system can possess is the amount of information that can be encoded by the system.
Each distinguishable state is a "bit" of information. The binary symbols "1" and "0" have two states and can be used to encode two bits of information.
The binary system is useful because it is probably the simplest encoding of information and any object can represent a binary "1". In electrical digital systems an electrical pulse represents a "1" and the absence of a pulse represents a "0". Information can be transferred from place to place with these pulses. Things that transfer information from one place to another are known as "signals".
Information is encoded by changes of state, these changes can occur over time or as variations in density, temperature, colour etc. in the three directions in space. The writing on this page is spatially encoded.
It is interesting that our spoken communication uses a narrow band of sound waves. This favours the temporal encoding of information, in other words speech is largely a one dimensional stream of symbols. In vision, somesthesis, sound location and some of the other senses the brain uses spatial encoding of information as well as encoding over time.
The rearrangement or replacement of a set of information so that some or all of the original information becomes encoded as another set of states is known as "processing". Devices that perform these actions are known as "information processors". The brain is predominantly an information processor.
Information systems in general have transducers that convert the state of signals in the world into signals impressed on another carrier, they then subject these signals to various processes and store them.
The spatial encoding in the brain generally preserves the relation of what is adjacent to what in the sensory field. This allows the form (geometry) of stimuli to be encoded.
Information transfers in the brain occur along numerous parallel "channels" and processes occur within each channel and between channels. Phenomenal consciousness at any moment contains a continuum of simultaneous (parallel) events. Classical processes take time so phenomenal experience is likely to be, at any instant, a simultaneous output of processes, not a classical process itself.
Classification, signs, sense, relations, supervenience etc.
A sign is a symbol, combination of symbols such as a word or a combination of words. A referent is "...that to which the sign refers, which may be called the reference of the sign" (Frege 1892). Statements and concepts usually express relations between referents.
The sense of statements depends on more than the simple referents within them, for instance "the morning star is the evening star" is true in terms of the referents but dubious in terms of the sense of the morning and evening stars because the morning star is Venus as seen in the morning and the evening star is Venus as seen in the evening. So the sense of the expression "the morning star" depends on both the referent "Venus" and the referent "Morning" and probably other associations such as "sunrise", "mist" etc..
Each sign is related to many other signs and it is these groups of relationships that provide the sense of a sign or a set of signs. A relation is an association between things. It can be understood in the abstract as "what is next to what". Relations occur in both time and space. When a ball bounces the impact with the floor changes the direction of the ball so "direction" is related to "impact", the ball is round so "ball" is related to "round". For instance, the morning is next to the presence of the morning star so "morning" and "morning star" are related. Relations are the connections that allow classification.
According to the physical concept of information all abstract signs are physical states of a signal and are only abstract according to whether they are related to a physical thing or exclusively to another sign. The process of treating an abstract idea as if it were a concrete thing that contains other concrete things is known as reification.
It is possible to have statements that have a sense but apparently no reference. As Frege put it, the words 'the celestial body most distant from the Earth' have a sense but may not have a reference. There can be classes of things that have not yet acquired any members or have no members. In a physical sense a particular class is a sign that refers to a particular state or set of states. Classes can be arbitrary such as "big things" being all things that have a state of being over one metre long. Classes and sets are very similar, sometimes sets are defined as being a class that is an element of another class. The term "set" has largely superseded the term "class" in academic publications since the mid twentieth century.
The intension of a set is its description or defining properties. The extension of a set is its members or contents. In mathematics a set is simply its members, or extension. In philosophy there is considerable discussion of the way that a given description can describe more than one thing. In other words, one intension can have several extensions. The set of things that are "tables" has the properties "legs", "flat surface" etc. The extension of "tables" is all the physical tables. The intension of "tables" may also include "stools" unless there is further clarification of the properties of "tables". Intensions are functions that identify the extensions (original members of a set) from the properties.
Classification is performed by information systems and by the information processing parts of the nervous system. A simple classification is to sort symbols according to a set of rules, for instance a simple sort classifies words by letter sequence. There are numerous classification systems in the visual system such as arrangements of neurons that produce a single output when a particular orientation of a line is viewed or a particular face is seen etc. The processes that identify attributes and properties of a thing are usually called filters.
The output of filters becomes the properties of a set and specifies the relations between sets. These relations are stored as address pointers in computers or connections in the nervous system.
An intension uses these properties and relations to identify the things that are members of the set in the world. Clearly the more specific the filters the more accurate the intension.
A database is a collection of signs. A fully relational database is a database arranged in related sets with all relationships represented by pointers or connections. In conventional usage a relational database is similar but more sophisticated, redundant relationships and wasteful storage being avoided. Conventional relational databases obey "Codd's laws". An hierarchical database only contains pointers that point from the top of a classification hierarchy downwards. Events and persistent objects are also known as entities, the output of filters related to entities are known as the attributes of the entity. In practice a system requires an event filter to record an entity (in a computer system the event filter is usually a single data entry form and the attributes are filtered using boxes on the screen to receive typed input).
In information systems design there are many ways of representing classification hierarchies, the most common is the entity diagram which assumes that the attributes of an entity define it and are stored together physically with the symbols that represent the entity. This adjacent storage is purely for convenient management of storage space and reduction of the time required for retrieval in modern computers.
Filters contain processing agents of varying degrees of sophistication from simple sorting processes to "intelligent" processes such as programs and neural networks. It is also possible to arrange filters in the world beyond an information processor. For instance, an automatic text reading machine might turn over the pages of a book to acquire a particular page. A human being might stroke an object to confirm that the texture is as it appears to be and so on.
Scientists routinely use external transducers and filters for the purpose of classification. For instance, a mass spectrometer could be used to supply details of the atomic composition of an item. External filters allow us to distinguish between things that are otherwise identical (such as two watery compounds XYZ and H2O) or to acquire properties that are unobservable with biological transducers such as the eyes and ears. The scientist plus his instruments is a single information system. In practice the referent of a set is determined by applying transducers and filters to the world and looking up the results in a relational database. If the result is the original set then a referent has been found. A sophisticated system may apply "fuzzy logic" or other methods to assign a probability that an object is truly a member of a particular set.
It is also possible to classify information according to relationships in time (i.e.: starting a car's engine is related to car moving away). Within an information system the output from the filter for "starting engine" might precede that from the filter for "starts moving". In information systems design procedures that involve successions of events can be arranged in classification structures in the same way as data; this technique is known as structured programming (esp. Jackson structured programming).
Hierarchies related to a single entity are frequently stored together as objects and the information processing that results is known as object oriented programming. A fully relational database would, in principle, contain all the objects used in a structured information system. In Part III the storage and sequential retrieval of related functions in the brain is described.
It has been pointed out by (McCarthy and Hayes (1969)) that an information processor that interacts with the environment will be producing continuous changes in all of its classifications (such as position etc.) and also changes in theories (structured programs that are predictive processes) about the world. In a serial processor, such as a Turing Machine with a one dimensional tape, the presence of changes in the world would create a huge burden on the machine. In a parallel processor, such as a biological neural network, the reclassifications should be straightforward. The problem of adapting an information system to changes in the world, most of which have little effect on the processes performed by the system, is known as the frame problem. The frame problem is usually stated in a form such as "how is it possible to write formulae that describe the effects of actions without having to write a large number of accompanying formulae that describe the mundane, obvious non-effects of those actions?" (Shanahan 2004).
Chalmers(1996) introduced the terms primary intension and secondary intension. Primary intension is a high level description where the properties of a set may be insufficient to specify the contents of the set in the physical world. For instance, the term "watery" might specify several liquids with various compositions. Secondary intension is specific so that it applies to one substance in the world (H2O). In the context of information systems primary intensions differ from secondary intensions as a result of inadequate filtering and classification. (See note below for details of Putnam's twin earth thought experiement).
The problem of matching the properties and relations of an item in a relational database with an item in the world involves the problem of supervenience. Supervenience occurs when the properties and relations in the database for an item are the same as the output from filters applied to the item. In other words, in an information system information does not supervene directly on a thing, it supervenes on information derived from the thing. Chalmers described supervenience in terms that are accessible to an information systems approach:
"The properties of A supervene on the properties of B if no two possible situations are identical with respect to the properties of A while differing with respect to the properties of B (after Chalmers 1996)."
In terms of information processing the properties are changes in state derived from a transducer that are subject to classification with a filter. The properties of a predictive program would supervene on the input from transducers applied to an object if it correctly identified the sets and sequence of sets that are discovered at all times.
Information theory is consistent with physicalism. Philosophers coined the term physicalism to describe the argument that there are only physical things. In token physicalism every event is held to be a physical event and in type physicalism every property of a mental event is held to have a corresponding property of a physical event. Token physicalism is consistent with information theory because every bit of information is a part of an arrangement of a physical substrate and hence a physical event. Type physicalism would be consistent with information theory if it is held that mental events are also arrangements of substrates. It is sometimes held that the existence of abstract mental entities means that token physicalism does not correspond to type physicalism. In terms of information theory abstract entities would be derived sets of information that are arrangements of substrates. Hence information theory does not distinguish between type and token physicalism.
The reader should be cautioned that there is an extensive literature associated with supervenience that does not stress the way that information is embodied and representational. (The removal of these constraints will lead to non-physical theories of information).
It is sometimes asked how conscious experience containing a quale that is a colour, such as blueness, can supervene on the physical world. In terms of information systems the question is back to front: blueness is very probably a phenomenon in the physical brain - it is certainly unlike an arrangement of stored bits in an information system. The question should read "what physical theory supervenes on information in the signals related to the phenomenon called blue?"
The simple answer is that there is no widely accepted description available of the physical nature of the experience called blue (there are several theories however). A common mistake is to say that the secondary intension of the quale blue is known - this is not the case, the physical basis of em radiation or absorption of light is known to some extent but these are almost certainly not the physical basis of the "blue" of experience. The quale "blue" is probably a particular substrate that has a state, not an encoded state on a generalised substrate.
Information is the patterns and states of an underlying substrate or carrier, this leaves us with exciting questions such as: what is it like to be the substrate itself rather than simply the information impressed upon it? Can only particular substrates constitute conscious experience? How can we relate the properties of this experience to information about the physical world?
The substrate of information is not part of the problem of access consciousness which deals with the problem of the flow of information from place to place.
Frege, G. (1892) On Sense and Reference. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/On_Sense_and_Reference
Pruss, A.R. (2001) The Actual and the Possible. in Richard M. Gale (ed.), Blackwell Guide to Metaphysics, Oxford: Blackwell. http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/ap85/papers/ActualAndPossible.html
Menzies, P (2001). Counterfactual Theories of Causation. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/causation-counterfactual/
McCarthy, J. and Hayes, P.J. (1969), "Some Philosophical Problems from the Standpoint of Artificial Intelligence", Machine Intelligence 4, ed. D.Michie and B.Meltzer, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 463-502.
Shanahan, M. (2004) "The frame problem". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/frame-problem/
The construction of filters: Bayesian and Neural Network models
This is a stub and needs expanding
Qualia and Information
The problem of the generalised nature of information is addressed by several "thought experiments" which are described below.
The problem of "intensions" is tackled in Putnam's twin earth thought experiment which was discussed above but is given in more detail below.
Absent and fading qualia
Block (1978) argued that the same functions can be performed by a wide range of systems. For instance, if the population of China were equipped with communication devices and a set of rules they could perform almost any function but would they have qualia? The argument considers the fact that systems which process information can be constructed of a wide range of materials and asks whether such systems will also have qualia (see illustration below).
This argument also occurs when the physical structure of computing devices is considered, for instance a computing machine could be constructed from rolling steel balls. Would the steel balls at one instant possess the quale 'blue' and then, as a result of the movement of one ball to another position, possess the quale 'red'? Can an arrangement of balls really have qualia or are they absent? It is encumbent upon proponents of functional organisation to describe why identical balls arranged as O O OOO can be the quale red and yet those arranged as OOO O O can be the quale blue. They must also take into account Kant's "handedness problem": the balls OOO O O look like O O OOO when viewed from behind. Red and blue, as arrangements of things, would be identical depending on the viewing point. How can a processor have a viewing point when it is itself the steel balls?
Pylyshyn (1980) introduced a thought experiment in which a human brain is progressively replaced by synthetic components and it is asked what would happen to consciousness during this replacement of the brain.
Chalmers (1996) considers the problem in depth from the point of view of functional organisation. (i.e.: considering replacement of biological components with components that perform the same functions). The argument is straightforward: if phenomenal consciousness is due to functional organisation then replacement of biological parts with artificial parts that duplicate the function should allow phenomenal consciousness to continue.
But suppose phenomenal consciousness is not due to functional organisation. What would we expect then?
Chalmers argues that consciousness could not suddenly disappear during replacement of the brain because functions could be replaced in tiny stages so unless qualia could reside in a single tiny place in the brain Disappearing qualia would be ruled out.
Chalmers considers the alternative idea of fading qualia, where slow replacement of parts reduces experience progressively. This "fading" is described in terms of qualia fading from red to pink and experience in general becoming more and more out of step with the world. Chalmers dismisses the idea of fading qualia on the grounds that people do not have abnormal experiences, like fading colours, except in the case of pathology. More specifically, he argues that since it seems intuitively obvious that silicon implants could be devised to stand in, in any relevant functional role, for the original brain matter, we might reasonably assume that during the carbon - silicon transformation the organism's functional state, including all its dispositions to notice and report what experiences it is having, can be preserved. The absurd consequence is then supposed to consist in a being whose qualia have significantly faded continuing to report them as they originally were; without noticing the change.
Crabb(2005) has argued that there are hidden premises in this argument, and once these are exposed the desired conclusion is seen to be unwarranted. Thus, consider the assumption that during the silicon implantation process the person's functional state can be preserved in any relevant respect. This is very likely the case. Certainly, we have no a priori reason for ruling out the possibility; for surely technology might be employed to achieve any functional state we desire. In principle, then, it just has to be possible to preserve such functional traits as the noticing and reporting of the original qualia. But then, as Crabb observes, the alleged absurdity of issuing such reports in the presence of severly faded qualia depends on a further assumption; that during the implantation process the noticing and reporting functions have been preserved in such a way that we should still expect that noticing and reporting to remain fairly accurate. Chalmers completely overlooks this requirement. In effect, then, he is arguing in a circle. He is arguing that faded qualia in the presence of the original functional states are very unlikely, because a conscious being will tend to track its own conscious states fairly accurately. Why? Because the preservation of the original functional states during the implantation process is of the sort required to preserve the faithfulness of the subject's tracking. How do we know this? Well, because it is just generally true to say that a conscious being would be able, in respect of noticing and reporting, to track its conscious states. In short, then, he is saying that qualia could not fade with functional states intact, because in general that just could not happen.
Consider the following example. The original human subject Joe starts out seeing red things and experiencing vivid red qualia. He reports them as such. Then an evil scientist implants a device between Joe's visual cortex and his speech centre which effectively overrides the output from the red zone of the visual cortex, and ensures that come what may experientially, Joe will report that his qualia are vivid. We could assume a similar intervention has also been effected at the noticing centre, whatever that might be. Plausibly, then, Joe will continue to notice and report vivid qualia even though his own are severely faded. Now Crabb's question is this: why would Chalmers assume that the item-for-item silicon substitutions he envisaged would not themselves allow this sort of noticing and reporting infidelity? And unless he can provide a good reason, his thought experiment with Joe and his fading qualia simply does not work. Of course the functional states can be preserved during the silicon substitutions, but we have no reason to suppose that noticing and reporting fidelity can too. Consequently, there is no inference to an absurd situation, and therefore no reason to reject the possibility of fading qualia.
It is possible that at some stage during the replacement process the synthetic parts alone would have sufficient data to identify objects and properties of objects so that the experience would be like blindsight. The subject might be amazed that subjective vision was disappearing. However, Chalmers denies that new beliefs, such as amazement at a new state, would be possible. He says that:
"Nothing in the physical system can correspond to that amazement. There is no room for new beliefs such as "I can't see anything," new desires such as the desire to cry out, and other new cognitive states such as amazement. Nothing in the physical system can correspond to that amazement."
On the basis of the impossibility of new beliefs Chalmers concludes that fading qualia are impossible. Again, though, he has failed to explain why he thinks the original belief set can be preserved come what may, and in such a way as to preserve belief and reporting fidelity.
Notwithstanding these objections, then, according to Chalmers, if fading qualia do not occur then qualia must also exist in "Robot", a totally synthetic entity, so absent qualia do not occur either. Therefore Robot should be conscious. He concludes the fading qualia argument by stating that it supports his theory that consciousness results from organizational invariance, a specific set of functions organised in a particular way:
"The invariance principle taken alone is compatible with the solipsistic thesis that my organization gives rise to experience. But one can imagine a gradual change to my organization, just as we imagined a gradual change to my physical makeup, under which my beliefs about my experience would be mostly preserved throughout, I would remain a rational system, and so on. For similar reasons to the above, it seems very likely that conscious experience would be preserved in such a transition"
The response to this should now be obvious. What exactly does remaining 'a rational system' entail? If it entails the preservation of noticing and reporting fidelity, then it follows that Joe's qualia would not fade. But there is no independent support for this entailment. It remains perfectly reasonable to assume that Joe's qualia would fade, and therefore that the only way he could end up misreporting his fading qualia as bright would be through a breakdown in fidelity, of the sort Crabb describes.
Chalmers notes that if qualia were epiphenomenal and not due to functional organisation then the argument would be false. This is rather unfortunate because it makes the argument tautological: if it is assumed that conscious experience is due to functional organisation then the argument shows that conscious experience is due to functional organisation. The role of epiphenomenal, or apparently epiphenomenal, consciousness brings the philosopher back to the problem of change, where consciousness does not appear to be necessary for change (functions) but change does not seem to be possible without consciousness.
There are other interesting questions related to the fading qualia argument, for instance: Can all of organic chemistry be replaced by inorganic chemistry - if not why not? If information always has a physical substrate and conscious experience is the arrangement of that substrate then how could conscious experience be the same if the substrate is replaced? At the level of molecular and atomic interactions almost all functions involve electromagnetic fields, if identical function is achieved at scales below the size of an organelle in a cell in the brain would the functional elements, such as electromagnetic fields, have been changed? (i.e.: is the replacement feasible or would it be necessary to use organic parts to replace organic parts at small scales?).
The reader may have spotted that Chalmers' fading qualia argument is very similar to Dennett's argument about the non-existence of qualia. In Dennett's argument qualia are dubiously identified with judgements and then said to be non-existent. In Chalmer's argument an attempt is made to identify qualia with beliefs about qualia so they can be encompassed by a functionalist theory.
The reader may also have noticed that the argument, by using microscopic progressive replacement, preserves the form of the brain. The replacement is isomorphic' but it is not explained anywhere why form should need to be preserved as well as function. To examine functionalism the argument should allow each replacement module to be of any size and placed anywhere in the world. Furthermore it should be possible for the functions to be asynchronous. But the argument is not a simple examination of functionalism. If form is important why is it important? Would a silicon replacement necessarily be able to achieve the same four dimensional form as the organic original?
Pylyshyn, Z. (1980) The "causal power" of machines. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3:442-444.
Chalmers, D.J. (1996). The Conscious Mind. Oxford University Press.
Chalmers, D.J. Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness (summary of above at http://cogprints.org/316/00/consciousness.html).
Crabb, B.G. (2005) "Fading and Dancing Qualia - Moving and Shaking Arguments", Deunant Books
Putnam's twin earth thought experiment
The original Twin Earth thought experiment was presented by philosopher Hilary Putnam in his important 1975 paper "The Meaning of 'Meaning'", as an early argument for what has subsequently come to known as semantic externalism. Since that time, philosophers have proposed a number of variations on this particular thought experiment, which can be collectively referred to as Twin Earth thought experiments.
Putnam's original formulation of the experiment was this:
- We begin by supposing that elsewhere in the universe there is a planet exactly like earth in virtually all respects, which we refer to as ‘Twin Earth’. (We should also suppose that the relevant surroundings of Twin Earth are identical to those of earth; it revolves around a star that appears to be exactly like our sun, and so on.) On Twin Earth there is a Twin equivalent of every person and thing here on Earth. The one difference between the two planets is that there is no water on Twin Earth. In its place there is a liquid that is superficially identical, but is chemically different, being composed not of H2O, but rather of some more complicated formula which we abbreviate as ‘XYZ’. The Twin Earthlings who refer to their language as ‘English’ call XYZ ‘water’. Finally, we set the date of our thought experiment to be several centuries ago, when the residents of Earth and Twin Earth would have no means of knowing that the liquids they called ‘water’ were H2O and XYZ respectively. The experience of people on Earth with water, and that of those on Twin Earth with XYZ would be identical.
Now the question arises: when an earthling, say Oscar, and his twin on Twin Earth (also called 'Oscar' on his own planet, of course. Indeed, the inhabitants of that planet necessarily call their own planet 'earth'. For convenience, we refer to this putative planet as 'Twin Earth', and extend this naming convention to the objects and people that inhabit it, in this case referring to Oscar's twin as Twin-Oscar, or Toscar.) say 'water' do they mean the same thing? Ex hypothesi, their brains are molecule-for-molecule identical. Yet, at least according to Putnam, when Oscar says water, the term refers to H2O, whereas when Toscar says 'water' it refers to XYZ. The result of this is that the contents of a persons brain are not sufficient to determine the reference of terms he uses, as one must also examine the causal history that led to his acquiring the term. (Oscar, for instance, learned the word 'water' in a world filled with H2O, whereas Toscar learned 'water' in a world filled with XYZ.) This is the essential thesis of semantic externalism. Putnam famously summarized this conclusion with the statement that "meaning just ain't in the head."
In terms of physical information systems such as occur in the brain this philosophical argument means that if there are inadequate external filters available the information system will confuse XYZ with H2O; it will conclude that they are they same thing and have no difference in meaning. For the information system meaning is in the classification structures assigned by the system. If the system is provided with better transducers and filters then new meanings will arise within the system. However, for an information system 'meaning' is no more than a chain of relations because this is the nature of information (i.e.: arrangements of an arbitrary carrier). Other types of meaning would require phenomena other than simple information processing.
In Putnam's thought experiment the world can be different but the meaning for the individual is the same if the brain is the same. If there is a type of meaning other than a chain of relations would Putnam's experiment suggest that this type of 'meaning' occurs as a phenomenon in the brain or in the world beyond the body?
Putnam, H. (1975/1985) The meaning of 'meaning'. In Philosophical Papers, Vol. 2: Mind, Language and Reality. Cambridge University Press.
The Inverted Qualia Argument
The possibility that we may each experience different colours when confronted by a visual stimulus is well known and was discussed by John Locke. In particular the idea of spectrum inversion in which the spectrum is exchanged, blue for red and so on is often considered. It is then asked whether the subject of such an exchange would notice any difference. Unfortunately it turns out that colour is not solely due to the spectrum and depends on hue, saturation and lightness. If the colours are inverted all the axes of colour would need to be exchanged and the relations between the colours would indeed still be discernably different.
Some philosophers have tried to avoid this difficulty by asking questions about qualia when the subject has no colour vision. For instance, it is asked whether a subject who saw things in black and white would see the world differently from one who saw the world in white and black.
This sort of discussion has been used as an attack on Behaviourism where it is argued that whether a tomato is seen as black or white the subject's behaviour towards the tomato will be the same. So subject's can have mental states independent of behaviours.
Block (1990) has adapted this argument to an inverted earth scenario in which it is proposed that a subject goes to another planet which is identical to earth except for the inversion of visual qualia. He points out that behaviours would adjust to be the same on the inverted earth as on the actual earth. All functions would be identical but the mental state would be different so it is concluded that mental states are not processes.
Chalmers(1996) approaches this argument by assuming that the absent and fading qualia arguments have proven his idea of organisational invariance. He then introduces the idea that conscious experience only exists for the durationless instant and notes that, given these assumptions a person would not be aware that the quale red had been switched for the quale blue.
"My experiences are switching from red to blue, but I do not notice any change. Even as we flip the switch a number of times and my qualia dance back and forth, I will simply go about my business, noticing nothing unusual."
Block, N. (1990). Inverted Earth, Philosophical Perspectives, 4: 53-79.
See also: Block, N. Qualia. http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/philo/faculty/block/papers/qualiagregory.pdf Byrne, A. (2004). Inverted Qualia. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qualia-inverted/ Shoemaker, S. (2002). CONTENT, CHARACTER, AND COLOR II: A BETTER KIND OF REPRESENTATIONALISM Second Whitehead Lecture. http://web.archive.org/20040306235426/humanities.ucsc.edu/NEH/shoemaker2.htm
The Knowledge Argument
Much of the philosophical literature about qualia has revolved around the debate between physicalism and non-physicalism. In 1982 Frank Jackson proposed the famous "Knowledge Argument" to highlight how physical knowledge might not be enough to describe phenomenal experience:
"Mary is a brilliant scientist who is, for whatever reason, forced to investigate the world from a black and white room via a black and white television monitor. She specializes in the neurophysiology of vision and acquires, let us suppose, all the physical information there is to obtain about what goes on when we see ripe tomatoes, or the sky, and use terms like ‘red’, ‘blue’, and so on. She discovers, for example, just which wavelength combinations from the sky stimulate the retina, and exactly how this produces via the central nervous system the contraction of the vocal chords and expulsion of air from the lungs that results in the uttering of the sentence ‘The sky is blue’. (It can hardly be denied that it is in principle possible to obtain all this physical information from black and white television, otherwise the Open University would of necessity need to use color television.)
What will happen when Mary is released from her black and white room or is given a color television monitor? Will she learn anything or not? It seems just obvious that she will learn something about the world and our visual experience of it. But then it is inescapable that her previous knowledge was incomplete. But she had all the physical information. Ergo there is more to have than that, and Physicalism is false. Jackson (1982).
The Knowledge argument is a category mistake because a description of the universe, such as information about science, is a set of symbols in a particular medium such as ink on paper. These symbols provide the recipe for experiments and other manipulations of nature, and predict the outcome of these manipulations. The manipulations of nature are not the same as the set of symbols describing how to perform these manipulations. Scientific information is not the world itself and the truth or falsehood of Physicalism is unaffected by the knowledge argument.
If the Knowledge Argument is interpreted as an argument about whether information about the nature of the colour red could ever be sufficient to provide the experience that we call red then it becomes more relevant to the problem of consciousness but it is then a debate about whether information processors could be conscious, this is covered below. Those interested in a full discussion of the Knowledge Argument should consult Alter (1998) and especially the link given with this reference.
The problem of machine and digital consciousness
Information processing and digital computers
Information processing consists of encoding a state, such as the geometry of an image, on a carrier such as a stream of electrons, and then submitting this encoded state to a series of transformations specified by a set of instructions called a program. In principle the carrier could be anything, even steel balls or onions, and the machine that implements the instructions need not be electronic, it could be mechanical or fluidic.
Digital computers implement information processing. From the earliest days of digital computers people have suggested that these devices may one day be conscious. One of the earliest workers to consider this idea seriously was Alan Turing. Turing proposed the Turing Test as a way of discovering whether a machine can think. In the Turing Test a group of people would ask a machine questions and if they could not tell the difference between the replies of the machine and the replies of a person it would be concluded that the machine could indeed think. Turing's proposal is often confused with the idea of a test for consciousness. However, phenomenal consciousness is an internal state so the best that such a test could demonstrate is that a digital computer could simulate consciousness.
If technologists were limited to the use of the principles of digital computing when creating a conscious entity they would have the problems associated with the philosophy of 'strong' artificial intelligence. The term strong AI was defined by Searle:
..according to strong AI, the computer is not merely a tool in the study of the mind; rather, the appropriately programmed computer really is a mind (J. Searle in Minds, Brains and Programs. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, vol. 3, 1980).
If a computer could demonstrate Strong AI it would not necessarily be more powerful at calculating or solving problems than a computer that demonstrated Weak AI.
The most serious problem with Strong AI is John Searle's "chinese room argument" in which it is demonstrated that the contents of an information processor have no intrinsic meaning -at any moment they are just a set of electrons or steel balls etc. The argument is reproduced in full below:
"One way to test any theory of the mind is to ask oneself what it would be like if my mind actually worked on the principles that the theory says all minds work on. Let us apply this test to the Schank program with the following Gedankenexperiment. Suppose that I’m locked in a room and given a large batch of Chinese writing. Suppose furthermore (as is indeed the case) that I know no Chinese, either written or spoken, and that I’m not even confident that I could recognize Chinese writing as Chinese writing distinct from, say, Japanese writing or meaningless squiggles. To me, Chinese writing is just so many meaningless squiggles. Now suppose further that after this first batch of Chinese writing I am given a second batch of Chinese script together with a set of rules for correlating the second batch with the first batch. The rules are in English, and I understand these rules as well as any other native speaker of English. They enable me to correlate one set of formal symbols with another set of formal symbols, and all that "formal" means here is that I can identify the symbols entirely by their shapes. Now suppose also that I am given a third batch of Chinese symbols together with some instructions, again in English, that enable me to correlate elements of this third batch with the first two batches, and these rules instruct me how to give back certain Chinese symbols with certain sorts of shapes in response to certain sorts of shapes given me in the third batch. Unknown to me, the people who are giving me all of these symbols call the first batch a "script," they call the second batch a "story," and they call the third batch "questions." Furthermore, they call the symbols I give them back in response to the third batch "answers to the questions," and the set of rules in English that they gave me, they call the "program." Now just to complicate the story a little, imagine that these people also give me stories in English, which I understand, and they then ask me questions in English about these stories, and I give them back answers in English. Suppose also that after a while I get so good at following the instructions for manipulating the Chinese symbols and the programmers get so good at writing the programs that from the external point of view—that is, from tile point of view of somebody outside the room in which I am locked—my answers to the questions are absolutely indistinguishable from those of native Chinese speakers. Nobody just looking at my answers can tell that I don’t speak a word of Chinese. Let us also suppose that my answers to the English questions are, as they no doubt would be, indistinguishable from those of other native English speakers, for the simple reason that I am a native English speaker. From the external point of view—from the point of view of someone reading my "answers"—the answers to the Chinese questions and the English questions are equally good. But in the Chinese case, unlike the English case, I produce the answers by manipulating uninterpreted formal symbols. As far as the Chinese is concerned, I simply behave like a computer; I perform computational operations on formally specified elements. For the purposes of the Chinese, I am simply an instantiation of the computer program."
In other words, Searle is proposing that if a computer is just an arrangement of steel balls or electric charges then its content is meaningless without some other phenomenon. Block (1978) used the analogy of a system composed of the population of China communicating with each other to suggest the same idea, that an arrangement of identical things has no meaningful content without a conscious observer who understands its form.
Searle's objection does not convince Direct Realists because they would maintain that 'meaning' is only to be found in objects of perception.
The meaning of meaning and the Symbol Grounding Problem
In his Chinese Room Argument Searle shows that symbols on their own do not have any meaning. In other words, a computer that is a set of electrical charges or flowing steel balls is just a set of steel balls or electrical charges. Leibniz spotted this problem in the seventeeth century.
Searle's argument is also, partly, the Symbol Grounding Problem; Harnad (2001) defines this as:
"the symbol grounding problem concerns how the meanings of the symbols in a system can be grounded (in something other than just more ungrounded symbols) so they can have meaning independently of any external interpreter."
Harnad defines a Total Turing Test in which a robot connected to the world by sensors and actions might be judged to be indistinguishable from a human being. He considers that a robot that passed such a test would overcome the symbol grounding problem. Unfortunately Harnad does not tackle Leibniz's misgivings about the internal state of the robot being just a set of symbols (cogs and wheels/charges etc.). The Total Turing Test is also doubtful if analysed in terms of information systems alone, for instance, Powers (2001) argues that an information system could be grounded in Harnad's sense if it were embedded in a virtual reality rather than the world around it.
So what is "meaning" in an information system? In information systems a relation is defined in terms of what thing contains another thing. Having established that one thing contains another this thing is called an attribute. A car contains seats so seats are an attribute of cars. Cars are sometimes red so cars sometimes have the attribute "red". This containing of one thing by another leads to classification hierarchies known as a relational database. What Harnad was seeking to achieve was a connection between items in the database and items in the world outside the database. This did not succeed in giving "meaning" to the signals within the machine - they were still a set of separate signals in a materialist model universe.
Aristotle and Plato had a clear idea of meaning when they proposed that ideas depend upon internal images or forms. Plato, in particular conceived that understanding is due to the forms in phenomenal consciousness. Bringing this view up to date, this implies that the way one form contains another gives us understanding. The form of a car contains the form we call seats etc. Even things that we consider to be "content" rather than "form", such as redness, require an extension in space so that there is a red area rather than red by itself (cf: Hume 1739). So if the empiricists are correct our minds contain a geometrical classification system ("what contains what") or geometrical relational database.
A geometrical database has advantages over a sequential database because items within it are highly classified (their relations to other items being implicit in the geometry) and can also be easily related to the physical position of the organism in the world. It would appear that the way forward for artificial consciousness would be to create a virtual reality within the machine. Perhaps the brain works in this fashion and dreams, imagination and hallucinations are evidence for this. In Part III the storage of geometrically related information in the "Place" area of the brain is described. But although this would be closer to our experience it still leaves us with the Hard Problem of how the state of a model could become conscious experience.
- Harnad, S. (2001). Grounding Symbols in the Analog World With Neural Nets -- a Hybrid Model, Psycoloquy: 12,#34 http://psycprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/archive/00000163/#html
- Powers, D.M.W. (2001) A Grounding of Definition, Psycoloquy: 12,#56 http://psycprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/archive/00000185/#html
Artificial consciousness beyond information processing
The debate about whether a machine could be conscious under any circumstances is usually described as the conflict between physicalism and dualism. Dualists believe that there is something non-physical about consciousness whilst physicalists hold that all things are physical.
Physicalists are not limited to those who hold that consciousness is a property of encoded information on carrier signals. Several indirect realist philosophers and scientists have proposed that, although information processing might deliver the content of consciousness, the state that is consciousness is due to some other physical phenomenon. The eminent neurologist Wilder Penfield was of this opinion and scientists such as Arthur Stanley Eddington, Roger Penrose, Herman Weyl, Karl Pribram and Henry Stapp amongst many others have also proposed that consciousness involves physical phenomena subtler than information processing. Even some of the most ardent supporters of consciousness in information processors such as Dennett suggest that some new, emergent, scientific theory may be required to account for consciousness.
As was mentioned above, neither the ideas that involve direct perception nor those that involve models of the world in the brain seem to be compatible with current physical theory. It seems that new physical theory may be required and the possibility of dualism is not, as yet, ruled out.
The Computability Problem and Halting of Turing Machines
The Church-Turing thesis
In computability theory the Church–Turing thesis, Church's thesis, Church's conjecture or Turing's thesis, named after Alonzo Church and Alan Turing, is a hypothesis about the nature of mechanical calculation devices, such as electronic computers. The thesis claims that any calculation that is possible can be performed by an algorithm running on a computer, provided that sufficient time and storage space are available.
This thesis, coupled with the proposition that all computers can be modelled by Turing Machines, means that Functionalist theories of consciousness are equivalent to the hypothesis that the brain operates as a Turing Machine.
A Turing Machine is a pushdown automaton made more powerful by relaxing the last-in-first-out requirement of its stack. (Interestingly, this seemingly minor relaxation enables the Turing machine to perform such a wide variety of computations that it can serve as a model for the computational capabilities of all modern computer software.)
A Turing machine can be constructed using a single tape. There is no requirement for data to be arranged congruently with input or output data so a two dimensional square in the world would be handled as a string or set of strings in the machine yet still calculate a known function. This is problematic in consciousness studies because phenomenal consciousness has many things simultaneously present in several directions at an instant and this form is not congruent with a one dimensional tape.
A Turing machine consists of:
- A tape which is divided into cells, one next to the other. Each cell contains a symbol from some finite alphabet. The alphabet contains a special blank symbol (here written as '0') and one or more other symbols. The tape is assumed to be arbitrarily extendible to the left and to the right, i.e., the Turing machine is always supplied with as much tape as it needs for its computation. Cells that have not been written to before are assumed to be filled with the blank symbol.
- A head that can read and write symbols on the tape and move left and right.
- A state register that stores the state of the Turing machine. The number of different states is always finite and there is one special start state with which the state register is initialized.
- An action table (or transition function) that tells the machine what symbol to write, how to move the head ('L' for one step left, and 'R' for one step right) and what its new state will be, given the symbol it has just read on the tape and the state it is currently in. If there is no entry in the table for the current combination of symbol and state then the machine will halt.
Note that every part of the machine is finite; it is the potentially unlimited amount of tape that gives it an unbounded amount of storage space.
Another problem arises with Turing Machines is that some algorithms can be shown to be undecidable and so the machine will never halt.
The halting problem
The proof of the halting problem proceeds by reductio ad absurdum. We will assume that there is an algorithm described by the function
halt(a, i) that decides if the algorithm encoded by the string a will halt when given as input the string i, and then show that this leads to a contradiction.
We start with assuming that there is a function
halt(a, i) that returns
true if the algorithm represented by the string a halts when given as input the string i, and returns
false otherwise. (The existence of the universal Turing machine proves that every possible algorithm corresponds to at least one such string.) Given this algorithm we can construct another algorithm
trouble(s) as follows:
function trouble(string s) if halt(s, s) = false return true else loop forever
This algorithm takes a string s as its argument and runs the algorithm
halt, giving it s both as the description of the algorithm to check and as the initial data to feed to that algorithm. If
trouble returns true, otherwise
trouble goes into an infinite loop. Since all algorithms can be represented by strings, there is a string t that represents the algorithm
trouble. We can now ask the following question:
Let us consider both possible cases:
- Assume that
trouble(t)halts. The only way this can happen is that
false, but that in turn indicates that
trouble(t)does not halt. Contradiction.
- Assume that
trouble(t)does not halt. Since
haltalways halts, this can only happen when
troublegoes into its infinite loop. This means that
halt(t, t)must have returned
troublewould have returned immediately if it returned
false. But that in turn would mean that
trouble(t)does halt. Contradiction.
Since both cases lead to a contradiction, the initial assumption that the algorithm
halt exists must be false.
This classic proof is typically referred to as the diagonalization proof, so called because if one imagines a grid containing all the values of
halt(a, i), with every possible a value given its own row, and every possible i value given its own column, then the values of
halt(s, s) are arranged along the main diagonal of this grid. The proof can be framed in the form of the question: what row of the grid corresponds to the string t? The answer is that the
trouble function is devised such that
halt(t, i) differs from every row in the grid in at least one position: namely, the main diagonal, where t=i. This contradicts the requirement that the grid contains a row for every possible a value, and therefore constitutes a proof by contradiction that the halting problem is undecidable.
The simulation argument
According to this argument (Bostrom 2003) the universe could be a giant computer simulation that contains people as well as objects. Bostrom seems to believe that at any instant a collection of bits of information like electrons on silicon or specks of dust on a sheet could be conscious, he states that:
"A common assumption in the philosophy of mind is that of substrate-independence. The idea is that mental states can supervene on any of a broad class of physical substrates. Provided a system implements the right sort of computational structures and processes, it can be associated with conscious experiences."
He then goes on to argue that because of this assumption human beings could be simulations in a computer. Unfortunately, without tackling the problem of how a pattern of dust at an instant could be a person with 'conscious experience' the simulation argument is flawed. In fact even a person made of a moving pattern of dust over several instants is problematical without the assumptions of naive realism or dualism. Bostrom, puts 'mental' states' beyond physical explanation (i.e.: simply assumes that conscious mental states could exist in a pattern of electrons, dust or steel balls etc.). In view of this dualism, Bostrom's argument reduces to the proposal that the world is a digital simulation apart from something else required for endowing the simulations of people in the world with consciousness.
Notes and References
Note 1: Strictly this is the quantum 'amplitude' for the electron to go in a particular direction rather than the probability.
The philosophical problem
- Chalmers, D. (1996). The Conscious Mind. New York: Oxford University Press.
Epiphenomenalism and the problem of change
- Huxley, T. H. (1874.) On the Hypothesis that Animals are Automata, and its History. The Fortnightly Review: 16:555-580.
The Problem of Time
- Atmanspacher, H. (1989). The aspect of information production in the process of observation, in: Foundations of Physics, vol. 19, 1989, pp. 553-77
- Atmanspacher, H. (2000).Ontic and epistemic descriptions of chaotic systems. In Proceedings of CASYS 99, ed. by D. Dubois, Springer, Berlin 2000, pp. 465-478. http://www.igpp.de/english/tda/pdf/liege.pdf
- de Broglie, L. (1925) On the theory of quanta. A translation of : RECHERCHES SUR LA THEORIE DES QUANTA (Ann. de Phys., 10e s´erie, t. III (Janvier-F ´evrier 1925).by: A. F. Kracklauer. http://www.nonloco-physics.000freehosting.com/ldb_the.pdf
- Brown, K. (????) Mathpages 3.7 Zeno and the Paradox of Motion. http://www.mathpages.com/rr/s3-07/3-07.htm
- Brown, K. (????) Mathpages Zeno and Uncertainty. http://www.mathpages.com/home/kmath158.htm
- Franck, G. (1994). Published in: Harald Atmanspacher and Gerhard J. Dalenoort (eds.), Inside Versus Outside. Endo- and Exo-Concepts of Observation and Knowledge in Physics, Philosophy, and Cognitive Science, Berlin: Springer,1994, pp. 63-83 http://www.iemar.tuwien.ac.at/publications/GF_1994a.pdf
- Lynds, P. (2003). Time and Classical and Quantum Mechanics: Indeterminacy vs. Discontinuity. Foundations of Physics Letters, 16(4), 2003. http://doc.cern.ch//archive/electronic/other/ext/ext-2003-042.pdf
- McCall, S. 2000. QM and STR. The combining of quantum mechanics and
relativity theory. Philosophy of Science 67 (Proceedings), pp. S535-S548. http://www.mcgill.ca/philosophy/faculty/mccall/
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- Weyl, H. (1920). Space, Time, Matter.(Dover Edition).
- Ellis McTaggart, J.M. (1908) The Unreality of Time. Mind: A Quarterly Review of Psychology and Philosophy 17 (1908): 456-473.
- McKinnon, N.(2003)Presentism and Consciousness. Australasian Journal of Philosophy 81:3 (2003), 305-323.
- Lamb, A.W. (1998) Granting Time Its Passage. Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy Boston, Massachusetts U.S.A. 10-15 August 1998
- Franck, G. (1994). Physical Time and Intrinsic Temporality. Published in: Harald Atmanspacher and Gerhard J. Dalenoort (eds.), Inside Versus Outside. Endo- and Exo-Concepts of Observation and Knowledge in Physics, Philosophy, and Cognitive Science, Berlin: Springer,1994, pp. 63-83
- Lynds, P. (2003). Subjective Perception of Time and a Progressive Present Moment: The Neurobiological Key to Unlocking Consciousness.
- Alfred North Whitehead. (1920) "Time". Chapter 3 in The Concept of Nature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1920): 49-73.
- Franck, G. HOW TIME PASSES. On Conceiving Time as a Process. Published in : R. Buccheri/ M. Saniga/ W.M. Stuckey (eds.), The Nature of Time: Geometry, Physics and Perception (NATO Science Series), Dodrecht: Kluwer Academic, 2003, pp. 91-103
- Norton, J. (2004) The Hole Argument. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spacetime-holearg/index.html
- Rovelli, C. (2003) Quantum Gravity. Book. http://www.cpt.univ-mrs.fr/~rovelli/book.pdf
- Penrose, R. 1989. The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and Laws of Physics. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press
- Stein, H. 1968. On Einstein-Minkowski Space-Time, The Journal of Philosophy 65: 5-23.
- Torretti, R. 1983. Relativity and Geometry. Oxford, New York, Toronto, Sydney, Paris, Frankfurt: Pergamon Press.
The existence of time
- Clay, ER (1882). The Alternative: A Study in Psychology, p. 167. (Quoted in James 1890).
- Gombrich, Ernst (1964) 'Moment and Movement in Art', Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes XXVII, 293-306. Quoted in Le Poidevin, R. (2000). The Experience and Perception of Time. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/time-experience
- James, W. (1890) .The Principles of Psychology http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/James/Principles/prin15.htm
- Lindner et al. (2005) Attosecond double-slit experiment. Accepted for Physical Review Letters. http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0503165
- Paulus, GG et al. (2003) PRL 91, 253004 (2003), http://web.archive.org/web/20040702094913/http://mste.laser.physik.uni-muenchen.de/paulus.pdf
- Physics Web. New look for classic experiment. http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/9/3/1/1?rss=2.0
- Rea, MC. (2004). Four Dimensionalism. The Oxford Handbook for Metaphysics http://web.archive.org/web/20040407104606/http://www.nd.edu/~mrea/Online%20Papers/Four%20Dimensionalism.pdf
- Romer, H. (2004) Weak Quantum Theory and the Emergence of Time http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/quant-ph/pdf/0402/0402011.pdf
- Amjorn, J et al. (2004). Emergence of a 4D world from causal quantum gravity. Phys.Rev.Lett. 93 (2004) 131301 http://www.arxiv.org/PS_cache/hep-th/pdf/0404/0404156.pdf
- The web site of Dr Paulus, one of the principle physicists working on these femtosecond laser projects. http://faculty.physics.tamu.edu/ggp/
Relationalism, Substantivalism etc..
- Earman, J. (2002). Thoroughly Modern McTaggart. Philosophers’ Imprint. Vol. 2 No. 3. August 2002. http://www.umich.edu/~philos/Imprint/frameset.html?002003+28+pdf
- Einstein, A. (1916b). Die Grundlage der allgemeinin Relativitatstheorie, Annalen der Physik. 49, 769 (1916); translated by W.Perrett and G.B.Je The Foundations of the tivity General Theory of Relativity, in The Principle of Relativity (Dover, New York, 1952), pp.117-118. Pointed out by Lusanna and Pauri in their draft of "General Covariance and the Objectivity of Space-Time Point Events".
- Gardner, M. (1990). The New Ambidextrous Universe: Symmetry and Asymmetry, from Mirror Reflections to Superstrings.WH Freeman & Co. New York.
- Gaul, M. & Rovelli, C. (1999). Loop Quantum Gravity and the Meaning of Diffeomorphism Invariance. http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/gr-qc/pdf/9910/9910079.pdf
- MacDonald, A. (2001). Einstein’s Hole Argument. Am. J. Phys. 69, 223-225 (2001). http://faculty.luther.edu/~macdonal/HoleArgument.pdf
- Norton, J.D. (1993). General covariance and the foundations of general relativity: eight decades of dispute. Rep. Prog. Phys. 56 (1993) 791-858. http://www.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/papers/decades.pdf
- Norton, J.D. (1999) A Conjecture on Einstein, the Independent Reality of Spacetime Coordinate Systems and the Disaster of 1913. http://philoscience.unibe.ch/lehre/sommer05/Einstein%201905/Texte/113
- Pooley, O. (2002). Handedness, parity violation,To appear in Katherine Brading and Elena Castellani (eds), in preparation, Symmetries in Physics: Philosophical Reflections (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). http://web.archive.org/web/20030624084411/http://users.ox.ac.uk/~ball0402/papers/parity.pdf
Quantum theory and time
- Hagan, S., Hammeroff, S.R. and Tuszynski, J.A.(2002). Quantum computation in brain microtubules: Decoherence and biological feasibility. PHYSICAL REVIEW E, VOLUME 65, 061901. http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0005025
- Hawking, S. (1999) The future of quantum cosmology. http://web.archive.org/web/20030311142458/http://www.hawking.org.uk/ps/futquan.ps
- Isham, C.J. (1993). Canonical quantum gravity and the problem of time.In Integrable Systems, Quantum Groups, and Quantum Field Theories, pages 157-288. Kluwer Academic Publishers, London, 1993. http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/gr-qc/pdf/9210/9210011.pdf
- Isham, C.J. Structural Issues in Quantum Gravity. http://lanl.arxiv.org/PS_cache/gr-qc/pdf/9510/9510063.pdf
- Jacobson, T. (1995). Thermodynamics of Spacetime: The Einstein Equation of State. Phys.Rev.Lett. 75 (1995) 1260-1263 http://lanl.arxiv.org/PS_cache/gr-qc/pdf/9504/9504004.pdf
- Tegmark, M. (2000). The Importance of Quantum Decoherence in Brain Processes. Phys.Rev. E61 (2000) 4194-4206 http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/quant-ph/pdf/9907/9907009.pdf
- Zeh, D. (2001) The Physical basis of the direction of time. Fourth edition (ISBN 3-540-42081-9 )- Springer-Verlag http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~as3/time-direction/
The problem of qualia
- Alter, T. (1998). "A Limited Defense of the Knowledge Argument." Philosophical Studies 90: 35-56. But especially the discussion at the following web site: http://host.uniroma3.it/progetti/kant/field/ka.html
- Anglin, J.R. & Zurek, J.H. (1996). Decoherence of quantum fields: decoherence and predictability. Phys.Rev. D53 (1996) 7327-7335 http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/quant-ph/pdf/9510/9510021.pdf
- Bacciagaluppi, G. (2004). The role of decoherence in quantum theory. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qm-decoherence/
- Dennett, D. (1991), Consciousness Explained, Boston: Little Brown and Company
- Dretske, F. (2003). Experience as Representation. Philosophical Issues 13, 67-82. http://web.archive.org/20021124185049/humanities.ucsc.edu/NEH/dretske1.htm
- Jackson, F. (1982) Epiphenomenal Qualia. Philosophical Quarterly, 32 (1982), pp. 127-36. http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/epiphenomenal_qualia.html
- Lehar, S. (2003) Gestalt Isomorphism and the Primacy of the Subjective Conscious Experience: A Gestalt Bubble Model. (2003) Behavioral & Brain Sciences 26(4), 375-444. http://cns-alumni.bu.edu/~slehar/webstuff/bubw3/bubw3.html
- Levine, J. (1983) “Materialism and Qualia: The Explanatory Gap”, Pacific. Philosophical Quarterly, 64: 354-61.
- Lycan, W. (1987). Consciousness, Cambridge, Mass : The MIT Press.
- Ogborn, J. & Taylor, E.F. (2005) Quantum physics explains Newton's laws of motion. Physics Education 40(1). 26-34. http://www.eftaylor.com/pub/OgbornTaylor.pdf
- Strawson, G. (1994). Mental Reality, Cambridge USA: the MIT Press, Bradford Books.
- Tye, M. (1995). Ten Problems of Consciousness (Bradley Books, MIT Press),
- Tye, M. (2003). Visual qualia and visual content revisited. Ed. David Chalmers. OUP. http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~phildept/MT/Visual.pdf
- Tye, M. (2003). Qualia. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qualia/
- Zurek, W.H. (2003). Decoherence, einselection and the quantum origins of the classical. Rev. Mod. Phys. 75, 715 (2003) http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/quant-ph/pdf/0105/0105127.pdf
Machine and digital consciousness
- Block, N. (1978). "Trouble with functionalism", In W. Savage (ed.),Perception and Cognition: Minnesota Studies in Philosophy of Science, Vol IX, Minnesota University Press, 1978, pp. 261-362; reprinted in Block (ed.) (1980), vol. I, pp. 268-305; reprinted (excerpt) in Lycan (ed.)(1990), pp. 444-468.
- Sternberg, E. (2007). Are You a Machine? The Brain, the Mind and What it Means to be Human, Prometheus Books.
- Searle, J.R. 1980. Minds Brains and Programs. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, vol. 3. Copyright 1980 Cambridge University Press.
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Democracy, inclusion and education: differing perspectives from Canada
10 April 2014
Canada has been described as having ‘multination federalism’ since it adopted a combination of official language status for Quebec and territorial autonomy for First Nations peoples. Although accommodating minority nationalism within a liberal-democratic model has somewhat mitigated historic experiences of economic, social and cultural discrimination and oppression in Quebec, a sizeable nationalist movement remains in that province. Notwithstanding official bilingualism at the federal level, Canada is divided into official English- and French-speaking regions.
As a democratic immigrant country, Canada as a whole, and Quebec as a distinct ‘nation’ within the larger nation-state have depended on diverse populations for their economic, social and intellectual growth. Issues of justice, equality and rights were put on the social agenda with the emergence of Québécois nationalism leading to the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s. More recently, in addition to the Canada-Quebec tensions, the realities of diversity in both contexts have given a sense of urgency to social justice issues concerning inclusion and social cohesion. I will briefly look at educational policies and practices that aim to respond to diversity and inclusion through two models: multiculturalism and interculturalism, which is specific to Quebec.
The talk will begin with a brief discussion of the contexts that have given rise to different perspectives on addressing issues of diversity and inclusion. These become complex due to a “paradigm of duality” that remains in Quebec with its double conception of culture – its need to maintain its French identity on the one hand, and the threat it faces not only from the overwhelming English domination of North America, but also in its encounters with immigrant populations. The presentation will end with practices that operationalise the different policies in education.
- When: noon–1pm
Lecture Theatre Room 101, New Law School Building
Click image for interactive map.
- Cost: FREE but RSVP is essential
- RSVP: RSVP by emailing Rosina Gallace
- Dress code: Smart casual
T: +61 2 9351 7043
- More info: The event is hosted by Associate Professor Lesley Harbon, Associate Dean International, Faculty of Education and Social Work.
- Speaker: Professor Ratna Ghosh is James McGill Professor and William C Macdonald Professor of Education at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She was Dean of Education from July 1998 to December 2003. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada (C.M.) in 2000, Officer of the Order of Quebec (O.Q.) in 2005, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (F.R.S.C.) in 1999.
Professor Ghosh is also a Full Member of the European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities. Her publications in books, journals and encyclopedias, as well as her prestigious grants and teaching, reflect her varied research interests, which include education and technology. She has done research in Canada, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Professor Ghosh was featured in the Canadian Edition of Time magazine, October 13, 2003 issue as one of "Canada's Best in Education". In 2009 she was selected for the Power List published by India Abroad.
She is the recipient of the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in 1996, and has received several awards from national and international organizations. She has held important administrative positions at McGill, as Director of Graduate Studies and Research for the Faculty of Education, and Acting Director of McGill International. She has had an important leadership role in the development and governance of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, which is a consortium of Canadian universities involved in academic exchanges and programs between India and Canada. She served as its resident director in New Delhi, India, in 1982–83, and as President of the Institute from 1988–90. She has been on the Board of Directors (as well as the Education and International Committees) of the Canadian Human Rights Foundation. She is on the editorial board of several international journals. In 2009 she was elected as the President (2011–2012) of the Comparative and International Education Society of the US.
• PhD in Comparative and International Education, Department of Educational
Foundations, University of Calgary
• MA in Comparative and International Education, Department of Educational
Foundations, University of Calgary
• BA (honours) in English, with distinction, University of Calcutta
• Music Diploma in Pianoforte and Theory, Trinity College of Music,
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While International Women’s Day has been embraced by multinational companies and governments around the globe, the holiday’s roots lie in grassroots demonstrations for better pay and working conditions, and particularly a feminist-led protest started on March 8 in Russia in 1917.
After Russian Communist Party founder Vladimir Lenin declared March 8 “Woman’s Day” in 1922, the holiday was adopted by Communist China in 1949 and “celebrated primarily in socialist countries until the mid-1970s,” according to a University of Chicago history. This year’s global theme was a “pledge for parity,” which imagines that at some point in the foreseeable future, men and women will enjoy equal rights, and equal salaries.
The holiday falls just as China’s “Two Sessions” meetings in Beijing bring some 5,000 Chinese Communist Party members and advisers together to plan the political and economic year ahead. Chinese media coverage of the two often converges as well, but not in a good way.
Despite China’s long history with Women’s Day and the high-powered meetings underway, the focus again this year was on tight, traditional dresses, high heels, and good-looking journalists rather than any promise of parity. (Women in urban China, meanwhile, make 67% of what men do, a percentage that has fallen in recent decades.)
China’s southern Guangxi region celebrated International Women’s Day by holding a cheongsam fashion show, the state-backed People’s Daily reported. The tight-fitting one-piece dress for women is a traditional symbol of beauty, but mostly reserved for weddings and other special occasions now.
In the neighboring Guangdong province, a group of men put on dresses and high heels to climb a mountain:
The state-run China Daily featured a “women’s day special” slideshow headlined “Girl Power at Two Sessions” that was mostly photos of cute young journalists and translators.
Chinese retailers used the opportunity to lure customers. A shopping mall in the northern port city of Tianjin offered discounts, but only to good-looking women—after their facial appearances were scored by a face scanner (link in Chinese). Even more absurdly, a Guangxi shopping center held a contest in which customers attempted to undo female models’ bra straps (link in Chinese) with one hand.
The official Xinhua news agency created a Twitter vote for the day that assumed women will take care of any second child:
The nationalistic state tabloid Global Times profiled a women’s bookstore owner who declared, “Feminism doesn’t fit China.” Xu Chunyu, who runs Lady Book Salon in Beijing, told the paper that “the patriarchal society cannot be toppled over in a short time. Women should not spend their golden years fighting against a thing that cannot be changed by a small group.”
Earlier Women’s Days in China seemed to be about heftier issues, whether health, or independence, or the limited but visible number of women advising government.
Chinese women celebrated past Women’s Days with free medial check-ups, for example, as here in 1997.
Or with bracing celebratory swims with other women, as in this 1996 photo:
Or by marching arm-in-arm through Tiananmen Square on their way to party meetings, as shown here in 2003:
Female deputies’ voice are being heard in the two sessions meetings, China’s state media insists. After all, a new anti-domestic violence law passed in 2015. But China’s government, and particularly the top levels of government, is still overwhelmingly dominated by men.
In fact, since Xi Jinping took power in late 2012, there’s some evidence that things are going backwards for women in China. Earlier this year, the government shut down a renowned women’s center in Beijing that has been providing legal advice on sexual harassment in the workplace, domestic violence, and divorce proceeding, among other issues, for 20 years. In November, a Beijing art exhibit about feminism and domestic violence was shut down before it opened.
Last year, five feminists were arrested on Women’s Day for planning a protest against sexual harassment. This year one of them, Li Tingting, spoke out in a YouTube video posted on March 6. Li, who was released on bail after being held for 37 days, thanked Beijing for “pushing the feminist movement to another peak” by detaining them.
“What happened to us had an enormous impact in China and overseas,” Li said. “It was actually the first time that the international community knew that there are real feminists in China.”
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British travellers and health workers were put on alert yesterday over a mysterious and deadly pneumonia bug which is spreading across Asia and into Europe.
The World Health Organisation issued a rare emergency travel advisory warning, following eight deaths worldwide from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars), an illness which carries a high attack rate and is moving 'at the speed of a jet'.
It leaves patients with serious breathing difficulties for which there is currently no effective treatment.
After infecting hundreds in China and Vietnam, the illness arrived in Europe yesterday, when a passenger was taken into an isolation unit in Frankfurt, Germany, after falling ill on a plane en route from New York to Singapore.
'This syndrome, Sars, is now a worldwide health threat,' WHO director-general Gro Harlem Brundtland said in a statement. 'The world needs to work together to find its cause, cure the sick and stop its spread.'
With relatively few deaths in the current outbreak, 'one might think we are over-reacting to the cases', said WHO spokesman Dick Thompson. 'But until we can get a grip on it, I don't see how it will slow down. People are not responding to antibiotics and antivirals, it's a highly contagious disease and it's moving at the speed of a jet. It's bad.'
Thompson said the passenger taken from the plane in Frankfurt was a Singapore doctor who had visited New York after treating some of the first suspected Sars patients in Singapore.
'As reports of cases are confirmed, you will see that there is a very high attack rate. When they get sick, they get very sick,' he added.
Both travellers and airline crews need to be aware of the first symptoms. These include coughing, the sudden onset of a high temperature or fever, muscle aches and difficulty in breathing.
The illness, a form of atypical pneumonia, was first detected in China last month.
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Positions: Parent, Classroom Teacher
What is the difference?
I make it a point that my students have weekly reaction papers as to evaluate their progress. In the middle of my checking their papers, I s because of a misused word; a word which is totally not related from their train of thought. Then i review the sentence and find out that these words have almost the same pronunciation but have different meanings.
For example, “I taught (thought) we were going out tonight?” If he said it out loud, I might not be able to notice the difference but since he wrote it down, it was totally (a)of course, (b)off course, or (c)of coarse. (hmmm… which is which?).
What do you think are the factors which contribute to this learning barrier?
~~~a stone is not carved by force but by constant friction~~~
What is the age group of your students?
In this case, it is advisable to focus on grammar and vocabulary lessons. Give the kids practice sets on how to conjugate verbs and use them in examples.
In your example taught vs thought, these two words have different pronunciation. It shouldn’t be mixed up in the first place. Tutors, teachers and educators should be mindful of little mistakes such as mispronouncing words because kids will follow suit.
Location: England UK and Philippines
Positions: Parent, Classroom Teacher Boy who could not read
There are many examples of this problem with “Homonyms” words that sound alike, but they are spelled differently and they have different meanings, the one you have highlighted taught vs. thought, is a classic one and like most words with “th” they are mispronounced. The students will write it as they hear it and it is so often the case that even the teacher if they are non-native will mispronounce theses words. For example. I thought (mispronounced as tort) I told you not to be late for class. So naturally the student will think they are correct to use taught instead of thought. There are many homonym problems like this – to two and too – new and knew – dear and deer – ate and eight and so on and so on. It is important you never put a student down for this type of mistake, especially boys. You will destroy their enthusiasm. First look at yourself as their role model in their speaking and understanding of English. Do you maybe make this type of pronunciation error and your students copy it. Pronunciation perfection is the key to this problem.
Location: Kerala, India
Positions: Parent Administrator
What Chuck said is a very valuable point. The reason behind these issues is that a he is not properly understanding the meaning of a word. He just learn the portions by heart. This is common in all boys and to be frank I too had such issues. But this can be corrected. but how?
One way is to make them learn one word and it’s meaning each day themselves or else the teacher can take the initiative. I go with the second option since the other one may not give proper results in case of small boys. A teacher can actually give relevant words each day (which are similar when pronouced) and ask him to get dig for its meaning using the dictionary. Two things will happen with him, one is that he will know the exact meaning of the words and the second one he will slowly develop the habit of searching dictionaries when such situation arises in future which will in turn contribute to his reading habit.
Location: Setif, Algeria
Positions: Classroom Teacher Administrator, English Teacher
the most factor for this problem is that our kids learn their language orally (from TV, and some Media) so they just pronounce it correctly but without any knowledge of the word spelling (you gave some good examples); and there is an other factor which is the teachers how teach the language (or Parents) they give the most importance to the oral over the writing or spelling, and this give us this problem;
Position: Classroom Teacher
most of us learn through hearing, and then from what we hear we can write it down. The problem there is how those words that we hear pronounced by the speaker.
In classroom, students will listen every word what the teacher will say. Thus, if the teacher could not say the word correctly, students will take it the way it was being delivered and may write it differently from the word that was really meant.
These homonyms are really confusing if one don’t know the appropriate word to use in a sentence.
Say for example, the teacher says, “you are right, Ana.” other students will spell right as write.
so it is really important to know the correct usage of words, how to pronounce it correctly , and how to spell it right.
Positions: Parent, Classroom Teacher
You guys are right! Most of our kids learn what they say from the television. I have a nephew who is three and his parents really don’t talk to him in English but he speaks to me in English when I visit them. Guess where he learned to speak the language? From watching cartoons.
It is really up to us to tell them what is right from wrong. Again, thanks guys.
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Do you have a passion for history? Do you agree that those who fail to understand our past are more likely to make the same mistakes? If so, a career teaching history to middle and high school students might be perfect for you. The role of the history teacher is to help provide a solid and rounded education background for students by teaching about events in the past and how these world events have shaped our world and society into what it is today.
If you want to become a history teacher in the United States, the basic requirements are twofold. First, you must possess a bachelor’s degree. Second, you must receive a certification to teach in the state you reside or would like to work in.
If you are just planning to go to college or would like to obtain a second degree, a popular program for hopeful history teachers is the Social Studies Secondary Education Bachelors of Science degree. This program provides all the required education related courses to teach at the secondary level and includes all necessary history courses. In addition, a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education will also include student teaching, which is a requirement to obtain certification.
If you are looking to change careers, have a bachelor’s degree in a non-education or history related field and would to become a history teacher, in most states you will be required to complete both education and history related courses. This can result in a Masters of Arts in Secondary Education, History or a similar degree. Courses you can expect to take include Secondary Level History, American History, World History and Civilizations, Research Methods, Anthropology, Social Science, Archaeology, and other history and education related classes.
Once you have your degree – whether it a bachelor’s or master’s in history or education – you will have to pass assessment examinations that all teachers must complete before being certified. The most widely recognized of these is the PRAXIS series of teaching exams. The test of note for hopeful history teachers is the PRAXIS II History examination. The third test of the PRAXIS is a teaching observation where you be assessed in a live teaching situation on your ability to teach and handle the subject matter.
If you a foreign teacher or a current US teacher and would like to teach in a different state, there are accelerated teacher certification programs that you can research. Generally speaking, these programs will first confirm that you are qualified to teach history. This may include you having to pass screening examinations to show that you have sufficient knowledge of the subject matter. Some states have additional requirements that may have to be satisfied such as minimum GPA standards. For example, some states will require that you have a minimum GPA of 2.5 in all history and education courses to be accepted into their accelerated program. Once you are approved into one of these accelerated programs, you can obtain provisional certification that will allow you to teach with pay while take any history or education courses needed to completely meet the requirements for full certification.
The requirements for how to become a history teacher will vary from state to state. New alternatives routes become available every year, so if you are interested in the exact procedures for your particular state, you should check with the states board of education.
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The European Union has allocated 84 million euros to support the agricultural sector in Angola for the next five years. This support aims to help combat malnutrition, which is the fifth leading cause of infant death in the country. Malnutrition in Angola is very troubling. There is recognition of the Angolan authorities of its strong impact on human development and on the country per se. The National Indicative Programme which outlines the strategy and priorities for cooperation between the government of Angola and EU aid, considers food and nutrition security as one of the partnership’s priority areas.
While the European commission and all 28 EU member states are signatories to the international treaty on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, Marie Haga, the executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust questions the commitment to agrobiodiversity. Population growth is expected to exceed nine billion by 2050 and necessarily, such rapid population growth will correlate with an increase in global food demand, currently estimated at 50%. But there are many crucial challenges including climate change, crop pests and diseases, and pressure on agricultural land. As a result of globalisation and industrialisation of agriculture, the planet currently rely on only 150 crops for nearly all its nutrition.
Scientists for the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) aredeveloping a super breadfruit (Mae) that will be more productive and climateresistant. The joint research by the SPC’s Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees(CePaCT) aims to improve food security in the Pacific Islands. According to theSPC “Pacific Island governments want varieties of breadfruit that fruit allyear round so that there is a continuous supply, which is vitally important forfood security and also for commercial farmers and businesses based onbreadfruit products”.
Twenty days after the signing of the new law on growing genetically modified (GM) crops in the European Union by the European Parliament, (11 March) and it’s publication in the Official Journal of the EU, the new law shall enter into force. The first crop likely to get European Commission endorsement is to be an insect-resistant maize known as 1507, whose developers DuPont and Dow Chemical have been lobbying 14 years for the EU to authorise cultivation. It is widely-grown in the Americas and Asia. It still remains a very divisive issue in the EU: Britain is in favour, while France is opposed.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report has found that more than 97% of foods contain pesticide levels that fall within legal limits: 55% of the samples evaluated by EFSA were free of detectable traces, while strawberries and lettuce are the most likely to exceed safe limits. The European Crop Protection Association (ECPA), a trade group representing the pesticides industry, hailed the EFSA report, saying it "confirms once again that Europe’s food supply is among the safest in the world." ECPA added that traces of pesticides exceeding the maximum residue levels (MRLs) were found more often in imported food (5.7%) than in samples originating from the EU and the European Economic Area (1.4%).
Cassavas is currently one of the world's fastest-growing crops, and is holding up better to the rising temperatures caused by climate change, as pointed out by experts. Since the 80s, the global production of cassava has increased by 52% due, among other reasons, to the doubling of its production in Africa. It adapts better to higher temperatures compared to other crops, such as beans or corn, as it is less sensitive to climate changes.
The Brazilian government has received confirmation from the South African health authorities that it is to reopen the market for exports of boneless beef. This announcement comes after the South African government banned the import of these products in 2005, following the outbreak of the foot and mouth disease, and the atypical case of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Brazil.
Informal markets provide 85-95 per cent of animal food products eaten in Africa. Yet, a new book recommends that African countries should pay more attention to food safety issues in informal markets where animal products are prepared and sold to help improve human health and generate more income. “Food safety and informal markets: animal products in Sub-Saharan Africa”, launched at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) campus in Kenya details 25 case studies resulting from ILRI’s Safe Food, Fair Food project, which commenced in 2011 in eight African countries — Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania.
In the ongoing battle against obesity, heart disease and diabetes in the Pacific region, a new study has revealed that allocating sufficient tuna for local consumption and keeping it affordable could significantly improve health outcomes.
Pacific Island communities have the highest rates of obesity and diabetes in the world, primarily because traditional foods such as root crops, fish and shellfish are being replaced by relatively cheap, energy-dense and nutritionally-poor imported foods.
Increased consumption of fish and shellfish, which are rich in protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, is seen as an important part of the solution.
The Dutch Agricultural Development & Trading Company (Dadtco) shall sign an agreement with the International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC) to boost large-scale production of cassava in Mozambique’s Inhambane province. Since 2001 Dadtco, in partnership with IFDC, has processed cassava produced by small Mozambican farmers into cassava cake, which is used by Cervejas de Moçambique to produce beer. In 2012 the IFDC, created a public-private partnership to support small cassava farmers, with the distribution of improved cassava planting material from the Mozambique Agrarian Research Institute and training of farmers in improved practices.
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If you were a robot and didn’t know what to do where you turn for help? That’s right; you would go online and look for some robot buddies or some sort of robot help site.
Well, now you can do exactly that. If you are a robot, of course. The helpful chaps at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich have come up with an invention called Rapyuta, which has been described as an online brain.
It is just the first in what is expected to become a web based information database which will help robots cope with life in the real world. It can explain to robots more details about objects they have come across and can also help them with any difficult calculations they need to make. So it’s just having a big brother to turn to, except without the Chinese burns and the smelly underwear.
Cheaper Robots in the Future?
The people behind Rapyuta hope that it will allow creators of future robots to make their devices cheaper because they won’t need to cram so much processing power into them. Now they won’t need to have their own, personal list of objects and situations, as they can look up anything they come across which is new to them.
This work came about as part of the European Robo Earth project, which has apparently been running since 2011, although this is the first time we have heard of it. One of the aims of the project is to find a way of standardising how our robotic friends view the world of humans.
It is believed that self driving cars, drones and robots which need to do a lot of calculations could find this new approach especially useful to them.
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When astronauts return to Earth, their altitude isn't the only thing that drops—their blood pressure does too. This condition, known as orthostatic hypotension, occurs in up to half of those astronauts on short-term missions (two weeks or less) and in nearly all astronauts after long-term missions (four to six months). A new research report published online in The FASEB Journal solves the biological mystery of how this happens by showing that low gravity compromises the ability of arteries and veins to constrict normally, inhibiting the proper flow of blood. Prevention and treatment strategies developed for astronauts may also hold promise for elderly populations on Earth who experience orthostatic hypotension more than any other age group.
"The idea of space exploration has been tantalizing the imagination of humans since our early existence. As a scientist, I have had the opportunity to learn that there are many medical challenges associated with travel in a weightless environment, such as orthostatic hypotension, bone loss and the recently recognized visual impairment that occurs in astronauts," said Michael D. Delp, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, and the Center for Exercise Science at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. "Although I have come to realize that it is unlikely I will ever get to fulfill my childhood dream of flying in space, I take great satisfaction with helping in the discovery of how microgravity alters the human body and how we can minimize these effects, so humans can safely explore the bounds of our universe."
To make this discovery, Delp and colleagues examined arteries and veins from mice housed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida with blood vessels from groups of mice flown on three of the last five space shuttle missions—STS-131, STS-133 and STS-135. Mice flown on the STS-131 and STS-135 missions were tested immediately after returning to Earth, whereas mice from STS-133 were tested one, five and seven days after landing. Not only did they find that these mice experienced the equivalent of orthostatic hypotension in humans, they also discovered that it takes as many as four days in normal gravity before the condition is reversed.
"There has been considerable interest in sending humans to the moon, asteroids, and Mars," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, "but what we're finding is that extended space missions have their own inherent risks above and beyond the obvious. If we ever hope to visit distant worlds for extended periods of time—or colonize them permanently—we've got to figure out how to mitigate the effects that low and no gravity has on the body. This report brings us an important step closer to doing just that."
Effects of spaceflight and ground recovery on mesenteric artery and vein constrictor properties in mice
Source: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
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Singing with the Angels
by Rembert Herbert
In order to understand the perennial appeal and importance of Gregorian chant, we must understand its function within the monastic culture.
The monastic writers saw (as we do not) that in our fallen state we have no authentic "interior life."
We look inside ourselves and we see fatigue, worry, and opinions, or perhaps (on a good day) enthusiasm, joy, and hope, and we know that all of these emotions are
important to us; they are our life, our humanity.
But even the best of them are what monastic writers call "the world."
They reflect and respond to what is around us.
They are not really "interior," but are the result of our having internalized the outside world.
And as Saint Augustine put it, "All these seeming sources of worldly happiness are the dreams of sleepers."
And so, according to the Fathers, we go through our lives in a noisy waking dream.
Monastic writers agree that in order to enter the life of prayer, the way of perfection, we must begin to resist these influences from the world.
In order to have space for the Holy Spirit, in order for there to be enough silence that its voice can be heard, we have to become poor, empty of these images of the world.
As Saint Gregory writes: "Unless there is an ardent striving of the heart, the water of the world is not surmounted, that water by which the soul is ever being borne down to the lowest place."
Monastic teaching associates music with this "ardent striving" against the "waters of the world."
The singing of psalms, especially, is recommended as a means of emptying the mind, gathering the attention, and opening oneself to the world of sacred Scripture.
Saint Basil writes: "Rising up from prayers [the monks] begin the psalmody...thus reinforcing the study of the scriptural passages, and at the same time producing for themselves attentiveness and an undistracted heart."
This understanding of the role of music seems to be in opposition to most of our current thinking, even about sacred music.
Many of us love music precisely because it expresses feelings and stirs emotions.
And there is unquestionably an important role for this kind of music in our churches. But what I am asking you to consider here is a special but vital case, the case of music as ascetic discipline.
It is often said that the music of the chant is a perfect vehicle for its words, but from the orthodox point of view, that statement is not quite on the mark.
Chant is not primarily concerned with the literal text, as the ancient monastic culture which created the chant was not primarily concerned with the literal text.
Chant is concerned with the Word with a capital "W."
That Word doesn't exist on the page; it exists only in the heart.
So the chant is not based on a two-way marriage between words and music, but on a three-way relationship involving the words, the music, and the person.
If we see that the purpose of the chant is to connect the text with the awakened intelligence of a human being, then we see that the standards we must apply are not those we are accustomed to seeing applied when we speak of the text/music relationship. We are not dealing with an art song by Schubert or Debussy.
It is not necessary to make excuses for a musical accent which doesn't fall exactly where the text says it should, or for a musical phrase that doesn't quite match a verbal
The music must accommodate the text in these literal ways, of course, and on the whole it does.
But sacred Scripture in its living, symbolic sense places very different demands on the music than these.
In fact, these demands of the spirit sometimes contradict the criteria of the art song.
The Singer Listens
The traditional name for a chant choir, of course, is schola cantorum, which is usually translated roughly as "school of singing."
But from the point of view we are taking, it would be more accurate to describe a chant choir as a "school of speaking," in which singers learn to speak the text with a quiet mind, in simplicity, emptied of the world, and so with an awakened intelligence, with an active sense of the sacred Source of the text, of its life as the Word.
It is this intuition of the Source which is essential, more essential than the literal meaning of any particular passage, since according to the Fathers, all sacred Scripture is one,
and speaks the single message of its divine Author, which message is the cosmic love of Christ. Music, text, and singer become connected when the singer, even briefly, speaks or sings with this knowledge of the Source.
Listening is at the heart of this discipline of speaking.
Saint Bernard writes, "We merit the beatific vision by our constancy in listening;" and again, "Because the sense of sight is not yet ready, let us rouse up our hearing.
The hearing, if it be loving, alert and faithful, will restore the sight."
And Saint Gregory of Nyssa, commenting on the line, "The heavens declare the glory of God," from Psalm 19, writes: "When the hearing of the heart has been purified, then will a man hear this sound."
Saint Gregory the Great gives us a practical model for the singer of chant in his many descriptions of holy prophets and preachers, those who speak the Word of the Holy Spirit by listening to what is being said within them, and who therefore speak the Word, as Gregory puts it, "in its own voice," not in their own.
By listening inwardly, and speaking only that which he hears spoken by the Spirit, the prophet feeds himself and his hearers with the manna of the sacred Word.
As Gregory puts it: "Those prophets feed others by speaking, who are themselves fed by listening to that which they speak."
For those of us who are not quite prophets, the chant is a discipline which points us in the right direction, which demands that we sing the sacred text while listening, both to other singers and to what we can hear within ourselves.
If we are faithful, we too may be led to speak the text "in its own voice," not our own.
For a choir, the discipline of listening has a very practical basis.
In the absence of a conductor, and ideally for chant there should be no conductor, a substantial level of listening attention is required just to keep the music from falling apart or bogging down.
There are no external supports.
But even at a practical level, the singers discover that this kind of listening sets something to work inside them which is more than practical.
The mind is being led toward quiet and awakening even as the ear is being stretched.
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