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unique atomic composition provided an explanation for why substances were made up of elements in specific proportions. This resource is part of a Physics Front Topical Unit. Topic: Particles and Interactions and the Standard Model Unit Title: History and Discovery This classroom-tested learning module gives a condensed... |
early 20th century. The key idea was the discovery that the atom is not an "indivisible" particle, but consists of smaller constituents: the proton, neutron, and electron. It discusses the contributions of John Dalton, J.J. Thomson, Ernest Rutherford, and James Chadwick, whose experiments revolutionized the world view ... |
possible for an isolated particle (confined quarks have fractional charge). The electric charge of the electron e is used as a unit of charge in much of physics. Electron pairs within an orbital system have opposite spins due to the Pauli exclusion principle; this characteristic spin pairing allows electrons to |
exist in the same quantum orbital, as the opposing magnetic dipole moments induced by each of the electrons ensures that they are attracted together. Current theories consider the electron as a point particle, as no evidence for internal structure has been observed. As a theoretical construct, electrons have been able |
to explain other observed phenomena, such as the shell-like structure of an atom, energy distribution around an atom, and energy beams (electron and positron beams). - ↑ Massimi, M. (2005). Pauli's Exclusion Principle, The Origin and Validation of a Scientific Principle. Cambridge University Press. pp. 7–8 - ↑ Mauritss... |
The Eflo UFBF is a highly efficient biological process utilising beneficial bacteria to reduce harmful elements to acceptable levels. The filters can operate in an aerobic or anaerobic manner. Nitrate removal in drinking water is achieved in an anaerobic manner by supplying the biomass within the filter vessels with a ... |
nitrate is reduced and converted by the beneficial bacteria to nitrogen gas and water. Some 93% reduction is typical. The efficiency of the process is determined by the media within the filter vessels. This supports high levels of fixed film growth. Eflo use Filtralite media, an expanded clay product in various grades ... |
and light density. As with all biological processes, there will be a build up of excess biomass and the Eflo UFBF process allows for the automatic removal and collection of this waste. |
Questions Relating To The Future Of Humankind By Jason G. Brent 24 October, 2011 WE HAVE COME A LONG WAY FROM THE NUCLEAR BOMBS DROPPED ON JAPAN IN 1945--20,000 TONS TNT EQUIVILENT--- TO NUCLEAR DEVICES WHICH PRODUCE OVER 57,000,000 TONS TNT EQUIVILENT. 1. After many years of thinking and research |
I could come up only with three ways by which the growth of the human population can be reduced to zero or made negative, if that were necessary for the survival of our species. a) By war, with or without weapons of mass destruction, starvation, disease, ethnic cleansing, rape, mutilation, |
and other horrors. This most likely would occur as humanity got close to the carrying capacity of the earth and almost certainly would occur after humankind reached or exceeded the earth's carrying capacity. b) By the voluntary action of all of humanity. This most likely would occur prior to reaching |
the carrying capacity of the Earth. Of course, this also could happen after humanity reached or exceeded the carrying capacity of the Earth and be used to reduce the human population to the carrying capacity of the Earth without violence---provided the horrors in (a) above have not commenced. This action |
would include education of women, raising their standard of living, modifying the culture of many societies, increasing the standard of living of all of humanity, and many other actions of a similar nature. Voluntary action includes any and all non-violent steps humankind could take to reduce population growth to zero |
or make it negative except coercive action. c) By the coercive action of society limiting the number of children a person or a couple could produce. This most likely would occur prior to reaching the carrying capacity of the Earth. Of course, it could also be used to reduce human |
population to the carrying capacity of the Earth after humanity has exceeded the carrying capacity of the Earth, provided the horrors in (a) above have not commenced. There isn't a single accepted definition of "carrying capacity". For the purposes of this essay I will define "carrying capacity" as the number |
of human beings combined with the average per capita usage of resources which will permit that number of human beings to exist and survive on this planet for a minimum of 1000 years. An alternative definition of "carrying capacity" is the number of human beings combined with the average per |
capita usage of resources which if exceeded even for a short period of time will result in the inability of the Earth provide the resources necessary for civilization to continue causing a rapid and horrendous decline in the human population. While no one knows what the carrying capacity of the |
Earth may be, it cannot be infinite-- it must be finite. No matter how much the average per capita usage of resources is reduced the Earth could not support 1 trillion human beings. Similarly, if the per capita usage of resources were increased such that each human being used 30 |
times the amount of resources used by the average American is highly unlikely that the Earth could support 1 billion human beings. At present human population is growing. It is highly likely that the average per capita usage of resources will continue to increase due to the rapidly growing economies |
of India and China and the growing economies of many of the other nations of the world. Therefore, a very strong case can be made that humanity will shortly exceed the carrying capacity of the Earth, if humanity already has not exceeded that capacity. If humanity exceeds the carrying capacity |
and takes no immediate action to reduce the population and/or the usage of resources to reduce it's impact on the planet below carrying capacity, then humans will enter into a violent competitions for the resources necessary to survive and the horrors set forth in 1(a) will occur. In simple terms, |
civilization will be unable to restart forever or at least for thousands of years 2. Does society, no matter how defined, have a right to limit the number of children a person produces by coercion or is the right to determine how many children a person produces absolute and society |
has no right to interfere with that decision? In considering this question limit yourself to the right I have set forth above and do not consider how that right could or would be enforced and whether enforcing that right would be harmful or beneficial to society. Those questions and any |
and all others would have to be considered, evaluated and discussed only if the right to limit the number of children a person produces by coercion exists in society. As far as I have been able to determine after doing many years of research I could not find a single |
human right that was not subject to control or modification by society. Even the right to life is not absolute-- many nations and cultures take away right to life when a person has committed certain types of murder. The right walk the streets as a free person is not an |
absolute right-- almost every nation or culture takes away that right and places a person in prison when a serious/heinous crime has been committed. Your reasons for your answer are requested. 3. While United Nations issues about eight different projections of the future human population, the most quoted and accepted |
projection is the "medium" projection. The most recent medium projection/estimation/prediction/prognostication (use whatever word you desire) issued by the UN predicts that the human population will exceed 10 billion and still be growing by the year 2100. Do you agree with that prediction after giving due consideration... |
which humanity is using the limited finite nonrenewable resources of our planet and the rate our species is using resources normally considered renewable? Do you agree with that prediction after giving consideration to the projected increase in per capita usage of resources by the nations of the world and in |
particular by the ever increasing per capita usage of resources of China and India? You may want to review the work of Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute as to the future usage of resources by China. Do you believe that the carrying capacity of the Earth, no matter |
how defined, is substantially less than 10 billion of our species and that the continued population growth will result in the collapse of society/the social order/civilization and the horrors set forth in paragraph 1 (a) above will happen prior to the year 2100? You may want to consult the works |
these questions would be most appreciated. Since no rational person would want to control population growth by the horrors set forth in paragraph 1(a) above, there are in reality only two ways to control population growth/reduce population growth to zero/make it negative. No one can present a logically and factually |
supported case that the voluntary action (as defined in paragraph 1 above) of humanity will reduce population growth to zero prior to the commencement of the horrors described in paragraph 1(a) with absolute certainty. In other words, there is some level of probability that if humanity were to limit itself |
to voluntary action to control population growth that action will fail and humanity will exceed the carrying capacity of the Earth such that the horrors described in paragraph 1(a) would occur. No one knows what is the chance of success or what is the chance of failure of voluntary action-- |
destruction of civilization and to the horrors described in paragraph 1(a). More importantly, there is a vastly greater chance of failure of voluntary action if population growth not only has to be reduced to zero but made negative to substantially reduce the human population from the current 7 billion or |
from the future 10 billion (year 2100) to a much lower number in order for our species to survive for a reasonable period of time. A number of experts (whatever the word "expert" means) ( David Pimental of Cornell University and James Lovelock of Gaia fame, for example) have presented |
factually and logically supported cases that the Earth's carrying capacity is 2 billion or less of our species. Humanity ignores at its peril the work of these experts. If the chance of success/failure is one set of numbers for voluntary action relating to reducing population growth zero, then there is |
a second set of numbers for success/failure in which the success side of the equation is substantially reduced and failure side of the equation is substantially increased in considering voluntary action in relation to population reduction. Since chance of failure of voluntary action could result in the horrific deaths ... |
billions, perhaps as many as 9.6 billion--(10.1 billion alive in 2100 less the possible carrying capacity of 0.5 billion = reduction of 9.6 billion),the question becomes---- what level of possible failure of voluntary action is acceptable to humankind? Of course, the number of horrific deaths could be substantially les... |
9.6 billion. However, since no one can guarantee with 100% certainty that the voluntary action will not prevent a substantial number of horrific deaths, the leaders of humanity have a duty to convene one or more conferences of the best minds presently on our planet to evaluate and consider coercive |
population control. It cannot be denied that many arguments can be made against coercive population control--- the experiment in India a number of years ago was a failure, humanity could equate coercive population control with the actions of Adolph Hitler or racists, it will take as long to impose coercive |
control as to make voluntary action successful and many others. Coercive population control need not be discriminatory. If each couple in the entire world were limited to one child, no religion, group, nationality, race, culture, etc., would benefit at the expense of any other religion, group, nationality, race or cult... |
This essay is not intended discuss or debate the advantages/disadvantages, or the problems/benefits of coercive population control. Rather, the purpose of this essay is to show that humanity must consider and evaluate coercive population control because there is a substantial, but undefined, risk that voluntary action ... |
HealtheTimes guides and inspires readers to be proactive about their health and make informed decisions about every aspect of wellness, from lifestyle and dietary choices to environmental issues. It is |
brought to you by Carlson Labs In the News Obesity and Heart Disease in Kids An obese child’s arteries may be just as clogged as the arteries of a middle-aged |
adult, finds a recent study. A buildup of plaque in the arteries puts kids at risk for a heart attack or stroke as early as age 30. In the study |
of 70 mostly obese children ages 6 to 19, researchers used an ultrasound to measure the thickness of the kids’ artery walls in the neck. “We wanted to gauge their |
vascular age,” says Geetha Raghuveer, MD, MPH, referring to the age at which the level of plaque in the arteries would be normal. In these children, the vascular age was |
generally 30 years older than their chronological age. Although the growing research linking obesity with heart disease in children is alarming, Dr. Raghuveer is hopeful. “A lot of these kids’ |
arteries, even though they are in the early stages of atherosclerosis, are not hardened or calcified, not really advanced.” she says there may be an opportunity to implement lifestyle alterations, |
Use it or lose it? Researchers investigate the dispensability of our DNA| October 2, 2008 Our genome contains many genes encoding proteins that are similar to those of other organisms, suggesting evolutionary relationships; however, protein-coding genes account for only a small fraction the genome, and there are many o... |
accounting for less than 2% of the entire genome. Previously, Dr. Gill Bejerano of Stanford University found that lurking within the other 98% of the genome are stretches of sequences, known as ultraconserved elements, which are identical between humans and animals such as rodents and chickens, even though hundreds of ... |
has suggested that ultraconserved sequences can harbor critical functions, such as regulation of the activity of certain genes. Yet research in this field has produced laboratory results that are seemingly in disagreement: some ultraconserved elements can be deleted from the mouse genome and produce no observable effec... |
able to detect slow evolutionary forces at work. "With this in mind, we set out to examine the genomic data, much as someone would examine archaeological data, in search of similar deletion events that have happened naturally, and more importantly, were retained in the wild." "An analogy I like to entertain is that of ... |
phenomena may be strong enough to be directly measured by our instruments, but to appreciate its full magnitude we must dig into the geological record," said Bejerano. "This digging into the genomic record is what our current work was all about. Bejerano and graduate student Cory McLean studied the genomes of six mamma... |
primates and closely related mammals, were present in the ancestor of modern rodents, but have been lost in the rodent lineage more recently. The researchers found that the genomic evidence supports an important biological role for ultraconserved elements, as well as thousands of other non-coding elements that are resi... |
the observation that the elements are rarely lost in any species," said McLean. "In fact, they are over 300-fold less likely to be lost than genomic loci which evolve neutrally in our genome." Bejerano explained that while loss of some elements may have a significant impact on the fitness of a species and the loss of o... |
harder to detect in the laboratory, nearly all changes to these regions are picked up by evolution and swept out of the population. "Perhaps our most striking observation is one of sheer magnitude," Bejerano said. "Our work highlights how essential these dozens of thousands of regions are to the natural evolution of a ... |
of the five most highly cited primary research journals in genetics and genomics. About Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press is an internationally renowned publisher of books, journals, and electronic media, located on Long Island, New York. It is a division of Cold Spring Harbor Lab... |
Are Britons becoming nature nitwits? One in five don't know oak trees come from acorns It's the national tree of England and a symbol of Britain’s seafaring power for hundreds of years. Yet according to a new survey, one in five adults have no idea that oak trees spring from tiny acorns. Instead, millions of ‘nature ni... |
birch trees. Scroll down for video Worrying: Millions of 'nature ninnies' believe acorns fall from sycamore, elm or birch trees The survey also found that 15 per cent of adults think cows’ milk comes from male cattle, while a similar number are unaware that tadpoles turn into frogs. The shocking state of ignorance abou... |
carried out in the run up to Open Farm Sunday, when hundreds of farmers will open their gates to the public. Fewer than half the adults surveyed said correctly that bees make honey from nectar, with 59 per cent wrongly believing that honey comes from pollen. Only half knew that robins live in Britain all year round, wh... |
sparrows – one of the most common UK birds – also live here all year. And although the call of the cuckoo is one of the great symbolic heralds of the spring, one in ten people said the birds live in the British Isles all through the winter. Farmer and TV presenter Adam Henson admitted he was disappointed by the level o... |
revealed in the poll, commissioned by the farming and environment charity Leaf. ‘As a farmer I am passionate about the great British countryside and like most farmers I spend a considerable amount of my time looking after it – along with all the wildlife that lives there too,’ he said. ‘I’m disappointed to see that so ... |
countryside and the role that farmers like me play in nurturing wildlife and tending the land.’ Three out of ten people questioned could not identify the red triangular road sign for frogs or toads crossing – with one in six believing it means ‘beware of frogs’. Women and men got a similar number of answers wrong. Howe... |
oak trees come from acorns – and that milking cows are female. All ages were unaware of the role of farmers in looking after the countryside, Leaf said. Around 95 per cent did not know that they manage over three quarters of the UK’s land, and fewer than one in four knew that farmers look after most of the hedge- rows,... |
The shared anger of mice and men: Scientific breakthrough linking humans to rodents could lead to new treatments for Alzheimer's and autism By Rob Preece It is one of life's great mysteries - how some people can fly off the |
handle and become aggressive and violent seemingly without warning. But scientists now believe they know why some humans are more likely to show aggression than others, after they managed to block pathological rage in mice. Researchers found that overly hostile |
mice and angry men share biological similarities which make them more susceptible to rage - a major breakthrough which could pave the way for new treatments for conditions including Alzheimer's disease and autism. Breakthrough: Researchers found that overly hostile mice |
and angry men share biological similarities which make them more susceptible to rage In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers from the University of Southern California and Italy identified a brain receptor in mice, which malfunctions in |
overly hostile rodents. When the scientists shut down the brain receptor, which also exists in humans, the excess aggression disappeared. The findings are expected to help experts develop drug targets for pathological aggression, which is a component in Alzheimer's, autism, |
bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Marco Bortolato, the study's lead author and an assistant professor of pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences at the USC School of Pharmacy, told Science Daily: 'From a clinical and social point of view, reactive aggression is absolutely |
a major problem. 'We want to find the tools that might reduce impulsive violence.' Scientists had already found that both male humans and mice respond violently to stress if they have low levels of the enzyme monoamine oxidase A (MAO |
A). Similarities: Scientists found that both male humans and mice respond violently to stress if they have low levels of the enzyme monoamine oxidase A 'The same type of mutation that we study in mice is associated with criminal, very |
violent behaviour in humans,' Bortolato said. 'But we really didn't understand why that is.' Bortolato and his USC colleague Jean Shih worked backwards to replicate elements of human pathological aggression in mice. This meant not only low enzyme levels but |
also the interaction of genetics with early stressful events, such as trauma and childhood neglect. 'Low levels of MAO A are one basis of the predisposition to aggression in humans,' Bortolato. 'The other is an encounter with maltreatment, and the |
combination of the two factors appears to be deadly. 'It results consistently in violence in adults.' The research found that, in excessively aggressive rodents lackomh MAO A, high levels of electrical stimulus are required to activate a specific receptor in |
the brain. Even when this brain receptor does work, it stays active only for a short period of time. Bortolato said: 'The fact that blocking this receptor moderates aggression is why this discovery has so much potential. It may have |
Federal Government Seceded From the States and the Constitution first in 1913.Submitted by realman2020 on Mon, 11/19/2012 - 01:01 In 1861. The Federal government seceded from the states and our constitution first. The southern states broke away from the union. |
The reason is the Federal government broke the compact or contract. The Federal government overstepped their boundaries in the Constitution. Southern States seceding had nothing to do with slavery. It had everything to do with states’ rights. In 1913. The |
16th and 17th Amendment were announced ratified without three-fourths of the states. The Federal Reserve act passed on Christmas eve in 1913. It happened in the dark of night when Congress was in recess. A handful of congressmen and senators |
by a voice vote passed this backdoor legislation. President Woodrow Wilson singed the bill into law. The Federal government seceded from the Constitution for the bankers. To read more click link below |
Heat is a sad fact of life for current generation electronics. Any Android, iPhone, or BlackBerry user can tell you that smartphones tend to get pretty hot at times. And by today's standards a balmy 85 degrees Celsius, while hot enough to cook an egg, is a pretty "good" operating temperature for a high-powered PC graph... |
could all soon change, according to the results of a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois. Examining graphene transistors, a team led by mechanical science and engineering professor William King [profile] and electrical and computer engineering professor Eric Pop [profile] made a remarkable discovery ... |
a miniature "fence" of carbon. The material consists of a single-atom thick layer composed of hexagonal units. At each point of the hexagon sits a carbon atom that is bonded to its three close neighbors. The material behaves like a semiconductor, despite being made of organic atoms. It offers remarkable performance at ... |
views it as a potential material to power electronic devices of the future. A variety of methods exist for producing graphene. The earliest method was an exfoliation technique that involved stripping individual graphene layers off a layer of graphite (the material found in pencil lead) -- this technique (as of 2008) co... |
single cubic centimeter of material. However, rapid advances in production have allowed manufacturers to begin scaling up production to the point where tons of exfoliated graphene can now be produced. techniques promise to drop the price even further. One method, epitaxial growth on silicon cost $100 per cubic centimet... |
some desirable properties like flexibility). South Korean researchers have tested another promising method, nickel metal transfer. Graphene is fascinating from a physics perspective. In 2005 physicists at the University of Manchester and the Philip Kim group from Columbia University demonstrated that quasiparticles ins... |
Graphene as a Self-Cooling Device Despite the extreme interest in the material, deal of mystery still surrounds Graphene. Because it is so extremely thin, it is difficult to test and measure accurately certain properties of the material. Overcoming technical challenges, the University of Illinois team used an atomic fo... |
temperature measurements of a working graphene What they found was that the resistive heating ("waste heat") effect in graphene was weaker than its thermo-electric cooling effect at times. This is certainly not the case in silicon or other semiconductors where resistive heating far surpasses cooling effects. What this ... |
ones. This could open the door to dense 3D chips and more. Further, as the heat is converted back into electricity by the device, graphene transistors may have a two-fold power efficiency gain, both in ditching energetically expensive fans and by recycling heat losses into usable electricity. Professor King describes, ... |
larger than the self-cooling. However, we found that in these graphene transistors, there are regions where the thermoelectric cooling can be larger than the resistive heating, which allows these devices to cool themselves. This self-cooling has not previously been seen for graphene devices." Professor Pop adds, "Graph... |
thermoelectric effects will become enhanced as graphene transistor technology and contacts improve." A paper has been published [full text] in nanotechnology's most prestigious peer-reviewed journal, Nature Nanoscience. University of Illinois graduate student Kyle undergraduate Feifei Lian and postdoctoral researcher M... |
semiconductor manufacturing companies like Intel, GlobalFoundries, and TMSC to lay down the process work necessary to mass-produce circuits based on graphene transistors, capacitors, etc. As for the University of Illinois team, they plan to next use their new measurement technique to analyze carbon nanotubes and other ... |
Corn crop residues are often left on harvested fields to protect soil quality, but they could become an important raw material in cellulosic ethanol production. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) research indicates that soil quality would not decline if post-harvest |
corn cob residues were removed from fields. This work, led by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) soil scientist Brian Wienhold, supports the USDA priority of developing new sources of bioenergy. ARS is USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency. Wienhold, with the |
ARS Agroecosystem Management Research Unit in Lincoln, Neb., led studies that compared runoff rates and sediment loss from no-till corn fields where postharvest crop residues were either removed or retained. The scientists also removed cobs from half of the test |
plots that were protected by the residues. After the test plots were established, the scientists generated two simulated rainfall events. The first occurred when the fields were dry, and the next occurred 24 hours later when the soils were almost |
completely saturated. During the first event, on plots where residue was removed, runoff began around 200 seconds after the "rain" began. Runoff from plots protected by residues didn't start until around 240 seconds after it started to "rain." Runoff from |
the residue-free plots contained 30 percent more sediment than runoff from all the residue-protected plots. But the presence or absence of cobs on the residue-protected plots did not significantly affect sediment loss rates. Wienhold's team concluded that even though cob |
residues did slightly delay the onset of runoff, sediment loss rates were not significantly affected by the presence or absence of the cobs. The results indicated that the cobs could be removed from other residue and used for bioenergy feedstock |
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