the intellectual property rights reform initiative of the information program uses grant making to support work which will strengthen a vibrant knowledge ecology based on a balance between private property rights and the commons. such knowledge ecology is significant to a thriving public sphere, an effective education system, the advancement of the sciences as well as the development of open societies. intellectual property rights ( iprs ) govern the ownership and control of knowledge. iprs are a powerful means to restrict the access, exchange and creation of knowledge and knowledge - based good or conversely to enable equitable access and ensure creativity and innovation. iprs, most importantly copyright and patents, affect everything right from patterns of economic growth, to affordable and free communications on the internet to the availability and price of textbooks, scientific journals, software and drugs. motivated by a concern about the emergence of a new, unbalanced global ip regime in recent years, the information program ’ s intellectual property reform initiative has emphasized on the reform of wipo, and will continue to fund work in this area. owing to this work, a coalition of groups supported by the information program scored several victories as the adoption of the wipo development agenda – which have begun to shift the course at wipo. fair use rights ( also known as copyright limitations and exceptions ) are essential to enabling access to knowledge, including for disadvantaged groups as the visually impaired. however, many countries in the global south have weak fair use rights hampering access to education and research. moreover, these rights are being increasingly curtailed as digital formats and platforms begin to dominate knowledge dissemination. in 2012 - 13, the information program will continue to support efforts that will advance international reforms to strengthen fair use rights including the wipo treaty for the visually impaired. ipr also support advocacy for fair use rights in national, regional and multilateral foray. another major concern is the current ipr enforcement agenda being advanced at different levels of policy making. the proposed policies are often negotiated in secret and would, if adopted, violate fundamental human rights as well as due process protections. the information program will support efforts that will advocate for transparency in the ipr policy making process ; educate policy makers and the interested public about the threat of widespread “ collateral damage ” posed by some of the more radical ip enforcement proposals ; and promote alternative models for the remuneration of creativity. for further information, visit the link.


urban agriculture as a tool for economic recovery. customizable ideas for direct action use the grow section to explore innovative methods for planting, growing, farming, harvesting, reforesting, and building productive landscapes. this category covers subject areas like urban agriculture, community gardening, and urban forestry. issues addressed include food security, soil science, nutrition, and the socioeconomic importance of safe food production. in this category, creative solutions for managing stormwater and street runoff appear side by side with irrigation systems, canals, and fountains. water solutions for cities range from networks of streetside swales to small - footprint greenhouses occupying single vacant lots. emphasis is placed on reducing impermeable surfaces in cities — these include rooftops, sidewalks, and traditionally paved surfaces like playgrounds and basketball courts. alternative energy sources available in urban contexts include solar power, wind power, and biofuels. efficient green - building solutions and varied methods of bioremediation — preparing polluted urban soil for other uses — also appear in this diverse category. public space, education, recreation, and safety are serious considerations for anyone rehabilitating urban vacant lots. explore the play category to find inspiring designs combining all of these elements in parks, community centers, playgrounds, and alternative transportation systems. small solutions can often be the most accessible for individuals and communities, while producing the greatest positive impact. explore our solutions for lots to find compact architectural structures, mobile education units, pocket gardens, greenhouses, hydroponic beds, and many other projects for pocket - sized spaces. more space means bigger opportunities : long - term, large - scale operations working to fit the needs of entire neighborhoods. lots of lots collects examples of — and ideas for — rehabilitating former industrial sites, entire blocks, and other big vacant sites requiring complex planning. projects like these offer city governments and corporations the chance to support communities through funding, operational support, and policy change. building corridors brings together populations, businesses, and neighborhoods never before in close contact. explore this category to learn how urban networks of all kinds — from bicycle lanes to trail systems to small - scale barter economies — can capitalize on vacant properties to effect citywide change.


become a fan of h2g2 early in the development of christianity and islam, gnosticism and sufism1 became marginalised and persecuted as heretical beliefs. gnosticism and sufism themselves inspired two of the more interesting ' heresies ' of the middle ages. mani was born in persian - controlled iraq in 3ad and saw himself as one in the line of buddha, zoroaster and jesus. his philosophy was that evil was not a perversion of good, but rather an alternative form of matter to good. the two matters battled for supremacy over earth2. knowledge was the path to salvation, and missionary work was encouraged. by the time manicheism had travelled from iran to turkey and through the balkan trade routes into western europe it had developed the view that evil had already won on earth. in southern france, the cathar sect formed around the town albi3. they posited that all material things - the world, us, our actions, and so on, were inherently evil. the only good matter was heavenly matter - our souls, god, heaven, the non - material. catharism led to a society where eating meat or eggs was considered a mortal sin but where sexual promiscuity was encouraged. the cathars believed only the heart and mind contributed to one ' s soul ( the only bit of good in a person ) and thus it was impossible to sin below the waist. the enemies of the cathars in northern france termed them the bulgars or buggers4. faced with such an alternative lifestyle, the french roman catholic church felt they had little option but to send in armies on a crusade to slaughter them all. they started at beziers on 22 july, 1209 - a town with a sizeable cathar population. ' how will we know who to kill?, ' a knight is supposed to have asked abbot arnold aimery. ' slay them all, ' was the abbot ' s response, ' god will recognise his own. ' and so it went for nearly 20 years. thousands of innocents were slaughtered, towns were razed to the ground - their land passing to local nobles who supported the catholic church. in fact it became pretty clear to a lot of people that it wasn ' t so much a difference of faith at the root of this holocaust - the church was making a grab for land. one landowner in toulouse ran through the streets before the crusaders arrived declaring : i am no heretic - i have a wife ; and sleep with her.


apparently based on the limitations of terrain, number of troops involved, and missions of the attack as originally decided by first army and 12th army group. ( all combat interviews on the schmidt operation are by the 2d information and historical service and were conducted in november 1944 or early december 1944. ) 6. engr story is from the following : v corps factual study, opns of the 28th inf div, engr sec, 2 - 9 nov 44 ( hereafter cited as v corps study ) ; engr plan, 30 oct 44, 28th div g - 3 jnl file, oct 44. for a further discussion of the security problem, see below, ch. iii, n. 10. 7. interv with cota, washington, d. c., 15 sep 48. 8. all clock time given is that officially designated by the allies ; during this period it was british summer time. 9. unless otherwise noted, this introduction is based on the following sources : fusa rpt ; v corps opns in the eto, 6 jan 42 to 9 may 45 ; v corps study ; v corps fo 30, 21 oct 44, and v corps ltrs of instn, 23 oct 44 and 30 oct 44, v corps g - 3 jnl and file, oct 44 ; 28th div g - 3 jnl and file, 26 oct - 2 nov 44 ; combat interv 77 with cota ; combat interv 74, general notes on 28th ' s opns ; 28th div aar, nov 44 ; v corps g - 2 jnl and file, oct 44 ; fo 25, 28th div g - 3 file, 29 oct 44 ; intervs with peterson and with cota. 10. ms # a - 891 ( gersdorff ) ; ms # a - 905 ( waldenburg ) ; ethint 53 ( gersdorff ) ; ethint 56 ( gersdorff and waldenburg ) ; ethint 57 ( gersdorff ) ; i c ( g - 2 ) sit map, 1 nov 44, found in ob west kriegstagebuch, anlagen ( war diary annexes ), befehle and meldungen, 1. - 10. xi. 44 ( hereafter cited as ob west ktb anlagen 1. - 10. xi. 44 ). ob west was the abbreviation of the headquarters of oberbefehlshaber west, commander in chief in the west. see


bit of your doctor ' s language. the bottom line some words are the same in more than one language. for example, " carton " is the same in english as in spanish. unfortunately, that seems to occur rarely in " medicalese. " so learn what you can about your medical conditions and the terms that describe it ; if you do not understand something your doctor has said, ask for a clarification. many people assume the worst when they hear a term they don ' t understand, and there are already plenty of things to worry about without that caused by an ill - chosen phrase. there is almost always a perfectly acceptable " translation " that can inform you without losing any of the term ' s meaning. insist on that translation if you don ' t understand ; but just in case, learn what you can of the medical lingo that applies to your health or to the health of those who are close to you. robert h. shmerling, m. d., is associate physician at beth israel deaconess medical center and associate professor at harvard medical school. he has been a practicing rheumatologist for over 20 years at beth israel deaconess medical center. he is an active teacher in the internal medicine residency program, serving as the robinson firm chief. he is also a teacher in the rheumatology fellowship program.


- formation of h2 and ch4 by weathering of olivine at temperatures between 30 and 70°canna neubeck department of geological sciences, stockholm university, sweden geochem trans 12 : 6. 2011.. this may expand the range of environments plausible for abiotic ch4 formation both on earth and on other terrestrial bodies... - methane emissions from pantanal, south america, during the low water season : toward more comprehensive samplingdavid bastviken department of thematic studies water and environmental studies, linkoping university, linkoping, sweden environ sci technol 44 : 5450 - 5. 2010.. future measurements with static floating chambers should be based on many individual chambers distributed in the various subenvironments of a lake that may differ in emissions in order to account for the within lake variability... - freshwater methane emissions offset the continental carbon sinkdavid bastviken department of thematic studies water and environmental studies, linkoping university, se 58183 linkoping, sweden science 331 : 50. 2011.. thus, the continental ghg sink may be considerably overestimated, and freshwaters need to be recognized as important in the global carbon cycle... - measurement of methane oxidation in lakes : a comparison of methodsdavid bastviken department of water and environmental studies, linkoping university, sweden environ sci technol 36 : 3354 - 61. 2002.. we conclude that methods using the stable isotope or mass balance modeling approach represent promising alternatives, particularly for studies focusing on ecosystem - scale carbon metabolism... - organic matter chlorination rates in different boreal soils : the role of soil organic matter contentmalin gustavsson department of thematic studies, water and environmental studies, linkoping university, 58183 linkoping, sweden environ sci technol 46 : 1504 - 10. 2012....


according to the environmental working group : " we found that consumers using sunscreens without zinc and titanium would be exposed to an average of 20 % more uva radiation — with increased risks for uva - induced skin damage, premature aging, wrinkling, and uv - induced immune system damage — than consumers using zinc - and titanium - based products " the common complaint by users of sunscreen products containing zinc has been regarding the white coating it leaves on the skin. this is where nanoparticles come in - particles that are smaller than 100 nanometers ( or " nm " — a nanometer is roughly half the size of a strand of dna ). zinc is shrunk into tiny particles measuring under 100nm, providing better protection and eliminating the white cast. nanoparticles have come under close scrutiny by some watchdog groups concerned over the possible health effects of nanoparticles entering the deep tissues, blood or lungs. research on the subject to date has had varied outcomes. the level of nano - scale zinc found in the body has ranged from zero to little, or greater amounts, dependant on how it is introduced to the system and its size. in their most recent sunscreen guide, the environmental working group ( ewg ) writes : in 15 peer - reviewed studies, nanosize zinc and titanium were shown not to penetrate through unbroken skin at concentrations exceeding 1. 5 %. a recent review for the eu decision - making body found that, " there is currently little evidence from skin penetration studies that dermal applications of metal oxide nanoparticles used in sunscreens lead to systemic exposure " ( borm 2006 ). the majority of sunscreens available for purchase in the us include nanoscale zinc, typically 30 to 200 nm in size. and because labeling laws are unclear where nanoparticles are concerned, it can be difficult to know if you are purchasing a product that contains nanoparticle ingredients or not. the fda has not yet set standards for nanoparticle claims or defined the minimum size of a nanoparticle. this has caused some individuals and groups to recommend consumers avoid zinc and titanium - based sunscreens altogether. but this recommendation is not necessarily the safest option. a study by the ewg shows that those using chemical sunscreens are exposed to both greater uv radiation and more hazardous ingredients. micronized zinc is shown to provide safer protection than either chemical sunscreens or unprotected sun exposure.


new smell discovered a newly discovered smell is the olfactory equivalent of white noise, scientists report in the journal proceedings of the national academies of science credit : mrgarry, shutterstock scientists have discovered a new smell, but you may have to go to a laboratory to experience it yourself. the smell is dubbed " olfactory white, " because it is the nasal equivalent of white noise, researchers report today ( nov. 19 ) in the journal proceedings of the national academy of sciences. just as white noise is a mixture of many different sound frequencies and white light is a mixture of many different wavelengths, olfactory white is a mixture of many different smelly compounds. in fact, the key to olfactory white is not the compounds themselves, researchers found, but the fact that there are a lot of them. " [ t ] he more components there were in each of two mixtures, the more similar the smell of those two mixtures became, even though the mixtures had no components in common, " they wrote. almost any given smell in the real world comes from a mixture of compounds. humans are good at telling these mixtures apart ( it ' s hard to mix up the smell of coffee with the smell of roses, for example ), but we ' re bad at picking individual components out of those mixtures. ( quick, sniff your coffee mug and report back all the individual compounds that make that roasted smell. not so easy, huh? ) mixing multiple wavelegths that span the human visual range equally makes white light ; mixing multiple frequencies that span the range of human hearing equally makes the whooshing hum of white noise. neurobiologist noam sobel from the weizmann institute of science in israel and his colleagues wanted to find out whether a similar phenomenon happens with smelling. [ 7 new flavors your tongue may taste ] in a series of experiments, they exposed participants to hundreds of equally mixed smells, some containing as few as one compound and others containing up to 43 components. they first had 56 participants compare mixtures of the same number of compounds with one another. for example, a person might compare a 40 - compound mixture with a 40 - compound mixture, neither of which had any components in common. this experiment revealed that the more components in a mixture, the worse participants were at telling them apart. a four - component mixture smells less similar to other four - component mixtures than a 43 - component mixture smells to other 43 - component mixtures. the researchers seemed on track to finding the olfactory version of white noise


were at telling them apart. a four - component mixture smells less similar to other four - component mixtures than a 43 - component mixture smells to other 43 - component mixtures. the researchers seemed on track to finding the olfactory version of white noise. they set up a new experiment to confirm the find. in this experiment, they first created four 40 - component mixtures. twelve participants were then given one of the mixtures to sniff and told that it was called " laurax, " a made - up word. three of the participants were told compound 1 was laurax, three were told it was compound 2, three were told it was compound 3, and the rest were told it was compound 4. after three days of sniffing their version of laurax in the lab, the participants were given four new scents and four scent labels, one of which was laurax. they were asked to label each scent with the most appropriate label. the researchers found that the label " laurax " was most popular for scents with more compounds. in fact, the more compounds in a mixture, the more likely participants were to call it laurax. the label went to mixtures with more than 40 compounds 57. 1 percent of the time. another experiment replicated the first, except that it allowed for participants to label one of the scents " other, " a way to ensure " laurax " wasn ' t just a catch - all. again, scents with more compounds were more likely to get the laurax label. the meaning of these results, the researchers wrote, is that olfactory white is a distinct smell, caused not by specific compounds but by certain mixes of compounds. the key is that the compounds are all of equal intensity and that they span the full range of human smells. that ' s why roses and coffee, both of which have many smell compounds, don ' t smell anything alike : their compounds are unequally mixed and don ' t span a large range of smells. in other words, our brains treat smells as a single unit, not as a mixture of compounds to break down, analyze and put back together again. if they didn ' t, they ' d never see mixtures of completely different compounds as smelling the same. perhaps the next burning question is : what does olfactory white smell like? unfortunately, the scent is so bland as to defy description. participants rated it right in the middle of the scale for both pleasantness and edibility. " the best way to appreciate the qualities of olfactory white is to smell


text that is based on, yet transvalues, another text, termed the hypotext. a modern example is kurt vonnegut ' s slaughterhouse - 5, which parallels the gospels, but transvalues them. instead of the dynamic jesus rushing around palestine healing the sick and raising the dead and bringing a message of the kingdom of god, we have the helpless billy pilgrim, who takes no action on his own, has no control over his own miraculous abilities, and brings a message that there is nothing that we can do about life. in the gospels jesus dies and saves the world, but in slaughterhouse - 5 billy pilgrim lives and the world ( dresden ) dies. similarly, the gospel of mark is built off the old testament, but reconstructs and recontextualizes its citations to focus them on jesus and on the events of the writer ' s time. one strong aspect of markan hypertextuality is its relentless focus on the temple in jerusalem. it also contains citations that refer to plundered, destroyed, and occupied temples and altars. given this, the writer of mark is most probably writing at a time after the temple was destroyed. thomas l. thompson ( 2005 ) highlights the importance of the " plundered temple " theme for understanding messianism : this temple - focus of markan citations is found in many places in the gospel of mark. in mark 4 : 1 - 20 the writer gives us one of the most famous and enigmatic passages in the gospel, 4 : 11 - 12. this passage parallels isaiah 6 : 10 in the septuagint : if we go back to the context, however, we once again see the temple. the words that jesus speaks are uttered by a voice in the temple. once again, when we return to the old testament, we find the temple. sometimes the writer ' s temple focus is not as obvious as in the citations above. let ' s take a look at mk 3 : 1 - 6. this passage parallels 1 kings 13 : 4 - 6 : if you start with the text from mark, and return to the text from 1 kings 13, you notice that while the action in mark takes place in a synagogue, in 1 kings it occurs in an altar. if you go back to the proceeding action in 1 kings 13, you will see two interesting passages : the man of god prophesies that the priests of the high places will die, as would come true in the writer of mark ' s time when the temple was


we astronomers like to toy with the ideas of life and of death. we name distant objects after gods of the dead and underworld, like orcus or pluto, we eagerly discuss cannibalistic galaxies and gamma ray bursts that would wipe out civilizations for light years in radius. we talk about catastrophic impacts and the possible slow death of the entire universe. but, usually, it is just a vicarious show. nothing that we study out there in the universe will is likely to actually affect anything down here on earth. nothing that we do is really a matter of life and death. except for this week. this week, for the sake of astronomy, seven people will strap themselves on to the top of a controlled explosion and launch themselves almost 200, 000 stories into the air. if all goes well, they ’ ll spend nearly two weeks confined to a tiny container holding the only patch of livable space for 400 miles in any direction, before they drop back to earth in a flaming descent that transforms into a supersonic glissade to the ground. the seven are the astronauts on the final space shuttle servicing mission to the hubble space telescope. if they are able to carry out everything on their extensive list, they will leave behind an enormously capable telescope capable of years more of distinguished and fascinating scientific inquiry. astronomers the world over will rejoice, but i will rejoice a bit more than average. a year ago, i proposed to the committee in charge of the hubble space telescope that they allow me to spend a significant amount of time on the telescope to use one of the brand - new instruments being put in by the astronomers to study the origin of the kuiper belt. it was a bit of a long shot, i thought. these committees tend to favor things such as figuring out the origins of distant things, like galaxies, or the universe itself. our local neighborhood is often overlooked. but the committee liked the idea and now all that stands between me and getting to use this fantastic new instrument in space is the fact that the instrument itself is currently sitting in florida. at least as of this moment. but come blast - off it and the seven astronauts will be on their way to space. this moment almost never happened. if i were in charge, it never would. after the 2003 space shuttle columbia break up over texas, nasa declared that the only safe way to fly the space shuttle was to go to the space station where it could be inspected and, if problems were found, astronauts could temporarily stay while repairs or rescues were


october, over the last several years has been observed as national breast cancer awareness month throughout not only the united states but worldwide. the purpose of this observance is to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and a cure. information and support are also offered to those affected by breast cancer. increased awareness and education of symptoms are the best preventive measures anyone, female or male, can have in the fight against breast cancer. breast cancer month supporters hope that an increased knowledge will lead to earlier detection of the disease which in turn will increase the long - term survival rate and that money raised for breast cancer will produce a reliable, permanent cure for the disease. fundraisers are sponsored and held throughout the month in the moberly area to help raise funds for mammograms and other options of detection as well as for treatment of the disease. fundraising events include foot races, walk - a - thons, bicycle rides, and many more. the pink ribbon is a symbol of breast cancer awareness. it may be worn to honor those who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, or to identify products that the manufacturer would like to sell to consumers that are interested in breast cancer. pink ribbons, which can be made inexpensively, are sometimes sold as fundraisers, much like poppies on remembrance day. the pink ribbon is associated with individual generosity, faith in scientific progress and a " can - do " attitude. it encourages consumers to focus on the emotionally appealing ultimate vision o a cure for breast cancer, rather than on the fraught path between current knowledge and any future cures. throughout the years breast cancer awareness campaigns have been highly effective in getting attention for the disease. breast cancer receives significantly more media coverage than other prevalent cancers, such as prostate cancer. people are now talking about the ' fight ' against breast cancer. the awareness campaign is about raising people ' s awareness to increase the chance of early detection and thus decrease the fatality rate of breast cancer. the moberly monitor - index is sponsoring special " pink pages " on each thursday in october to help raise awareness and to share survivor stories with readers. check out today ' s page 9 for information on breast cancer awareness month.


the following html text is provided to enhance online readability. many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to html. please use the page image as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy. defending planet earth : near - earth - object surveys and hazard mitigation strategies or regional effects near the time and place of the impact, but could include, for large impacts, global climate change or tsunamis. but how large an impact and what kind of impact could cause these effects is still uncertain. a research program is needed to address all of these issues in order to assess and quantify the risks associated with the neo impact hazard. the ability to mitigate the impact hazard, or even to define appropriate strategies for mitigating the hazard, likewise depends on the acquisition of the new knowledge and understanding that could be gained through a research program. even if the only viable mitigation approach to an impending impact is to warn the population and to evacuate, better information is needed for making sound decisions. under what conditions should warning be provided and when, and who should evacuate? if, however, there are available active mitigation options, like changing the orbit of an impactor, again better information is needed : one must be able to predict with confidence the response of an impactor to specific forms of applied forces, impacts of various types and speeds, or various types of radiant energy, such as x rays. the required information goes beyond the basic physical characterization that determines the size and mass of the impactor and includes surface and subsurface compositions, internal structures, and the nature of their reactions to various inputs. just as the scope of earthquake research is not limited only to searching for and monitoring earthquakes, the scope of neo hazard mitigation research should not be limited to searching for and detecting neos. a research program is a necessary part of an neo hazard mitigation program. this research should be carried out in parallel with the searches for neos, and it should be broadly inclusive of research aimed at filling the gaps in present knowledge and understanding so as to improve scientists ’ ability to assess and quantify impact risks as well as to support the development of mitigation strategies. this research needs to cover several areas discussed in the previous chapters of this report : risk analysis ( chapter 2 ), surveys and detection of neos ( chapter 3 ), characterization ( chapter 4 ), and mitigation ( chapter 5 ). the committee stresses that this research must be broad in order to encompass all of these relevant and interrelated subjects. recommendation : the


detection of neos ( chapter 3 ), characterization ( chapter 4 ), and mitigation ( chapter 5 ). the committee stresses that this research must be broad in order to encompass all of these relevant and interrelated subjects. recommendation : the united states should initiate a peer - reviewed, targeted research program in the areaof impact hazard and mitigation of neos. because this is a policy - driven, applied program, it should not bein competition with basic scientific research programs or funded from them. this research program shouldencompass three principal task areas : surveys, characterization, and mitigation. the scope should includeanalysis, simulation, and laboratory experiments. this research program does not include mitigation spaceexperiments or tests that are treated elsewhere in this report. some specific topics of interest for this research program are listed below. this list is not intended to be exhaustive : analyses and simulations of ways to optimize search and detection strategies using ground - based or space - based approaches or combinations thereof ( see chapter 3 ) ; studies of distributions of warning times versus sizes of impactors for different survey and detection approaches ( see chapter 2 ) ; studies of the remote - sensing data on neos that are needed to develop useful probabilistic bases for choosing active - defense strategies when warning times of impacts are insufficient to allow a characterization mission ( see chapter 4 ) ; concept studies of space missions designed to meet characterization objectives, including a rendezvous and / or landed mission and / or impactors ; concept studies of active - defense missions designed to meet mitigation objectives, including a test of mitigation by impact with the measurement of momentum transfer efficiency to the target ( see chapter 5 ) ; research to demonstrate the viability, or not, of using the disruption of an neo to mitigate against an impact ; the technological development of components and systems necessary for mitigation ; analyses of data from airbursts and their ground effects as obtained by dedicated networks, including military systems and fireball ( brighter than average meteor ) observations ; also analyses and simulations to assess


thing the movie got right is the notion that a nuke will be far more effective if it explodes inside an asteroid rather than at its surface. ( at a depth of 10 feet, or 3 meters, the bomb ' s destructive power would be about 20 times greater, wie said. ) so wie and his team came up with a way to get the bomb down into a hole, without relying on a crew of spacewalking roughnecks to bore into the space rock. the haiv spacecraft incorporates two separate impactors, a " leader " and a " follower. " as haiv nears the asteroid, the leader separates and slams into the space rock, blasting out a crater about 330 feet ( 100 m ) wide. the nuke - bearing follower hits the hole a split - second later, blowing the asteroid to smithereens. simulations suggest the explosion would fling bits of space rock far and wide, leaving only a tiny percentage of the asteroid ' s mass to hit earth, wie said. this is no pie - in - the sky dream : the researchers have received two rounds of funding from the niac program, and they say their plan is eminently achievable. " basically, our proposed concept is an extension of the flight - proven $ 300 million deep impact mission, " wie said, referring to the nasa effort that slammed an impactor into comet tempel 1 in 2005. demonstration mission coming? the haiv project is still in its early stages, and much more modeling and developmental work is needed. but wie and his colleagues are ambitious, with plans for a bomb - free flight test in the next decade or so. space news from nbcnews. com teen ' s space mission fueled by social media science editor alan boyle ' s blog : " astronaut abby " is at the controls of a social - media machine that is launching the 15 - year - old from minnesota to kazakhstan this month for the liftoff of the international space station ' s next crew. - buzz aldrin ' s vision for journey to mars - giant black hole may be cooking up meals - watch a ' ring of fire ' solar eclipse online - teen ' s space mission fueled by social media " our ultimate goal is to be able to develop about a $ 500 million flight demo mission within a 10 - year timeframe, " wie said. the team ' s current work involves analyzing the feasibility of nuking a small but still dangerous asteroid — one about 330 feet ( 100 m ) wide — with little warning


but, first, a little background. remember when people talked about the " 3 - rs, " reading, writing, and ' rithmetic, as the basic ingredients of a sound education? well, there ' s every reason to add a fourth " r " to this list an 8 - letter word that is frequently the focus of controversy, confusion, and even anxiety, for educators, as well as for parents. that word is research! by itself, and without mention of how it is being used, this " r " word commands a sense of authority, and causes us to stop and think and listen. after all, what could be better than making decisions based on the systematic investigation of a particular question and getting at the truth about a particular problem? indeed, we live in a society that is driven by all kinds of data, from the nutritional data on food packages to financial data to data derived from medical tests that report on such things as levels of cholesterol. and we have all come to expect that experts around us are making recommendations and decisions based on factual information that has been organized for analysis so that meaningful conclusions may be drawn. even though most of us are not intimately familiar with the types of research done by the biomedical community ( tissue samples, test tubes, microscopes, and such ), we trust ( or at least hope ) that it is " cutting edge " and that it translates directly into results that are used by our doctors. research - based practices in medicine are the best offense and defense when it comes to staying healthy. the same argument can be made for research in the educational community. after all, don ' t we want colleges of education to prepare teachers who are versed in the most effective, research - based practices? shouldn ' t we depend upon classroom educators to be experts in the delivery of instruction that is based upon carefully researched, tested and proven strategies? there is much that we still do not know about how best to teach and support children, adolescents, and adults with ( and without ) learning disabilities. and unfortunately, less than 0. 01 % of our nation ' s overall annual education budget is spent on research, compared with 5 - 15 % typically spent by corporations. the good news, however, is that there is much that we do know that has not yet found its way into the hands of parents and educators. we are confident that this column will help teachers to expand their repertoire of research - based practices. and we are sure that parents will use this column to arm themselves with information about proven practices


soon after the fukushima accident last month, i stated publicly that a nuclear event of this size and catastrophic potential could present a medical problem of very large dimensions. events have proven this observation to be true despite the nuclear industry ' s campaign about the " minimal " health effects of so - called low - level radiation. that billions of its dollars are at stake if the fukushima event causes the " nuclear renaissance " to slow down appears to be evident from the industry ' s attacks on its critics, even in the face of an unresolved and escalating disaster at the reactor complex at fukushima. proponents of nuclear power – including george monbiot, who has had a mysterious road - to - damascus conversion to its supposedly benign effects – accuse me and others who call attention to the potential serious medical consequences of the accident of " cherry - picking " data and overstating the health effects of radiation from the radioactive fuel in the destroyed reactors and their cooling pools. yet by reassuring the public that things aren ' t too bad, monbiot and others at best misinform, and at worst misrepresent or distort, the scientific evidence of the harmful effects of radiation exposure – and they play a predictable shoot - the - messenger game in the process. 1 ) mr monbiot, who is a journalist not a scientist, appears unaware of the difference between external and internal radiation let me educate him. the former is what populations were exposed to when the atomic bombs were detonated over hiroshima and nagasaki in 1945 ; their profound and on - going medical effects are well documented. internal radiation, on the other hand, emanates from radioactive elements which enter the body by inhalation, ingestion, or skin absorption. hazardous radionuclides such as iodine - 131, caesium 137, and other isotopes currently being released in the sea and air around fukushima bio - concentrate at each step of various food chains ( for example into algae, crustaceans, small fish, bigger fish, then humans ; or soil, grass, cow ' s meat and milk, then humans ). after they enter the body, these elements – called internal emitters – migrate to specific organs such as the thyroid, liver, bone, and brain, where they continuously irradiate small volumes of cells with high doses of alpha, beta and / or gamma radiation, and over many years, can induce uncontrolled cell replication – that is, cancer. further, many of the nuclides remain radioactive in the environment


provide evidence of large and significant impacts on human health and the environment – is arrogant and irresponsible. scientists can and should argue over such things, for example, as confidence intervals around individual estimates ( which signal the reliability of estimates ), but to consign out of hand the entire report into a metaphorical dustbin is shameful. further, as prof dimitro godzinsky, of the ukranian national academy of sciences, states in his introduction to the report : " against this background of such persuasive data some defenders of atomic energy look specious as they deny the obvious negative effects of radiation upon populations. in fact, their reactions include almost complete refusal to fund medical and biological studies, even liquidating government bodies that were in charge of the ' affairs of chernobyl '. under pressure from the nuclear lobby, officials have also diverted scientific personnel away from studying the problems caused by chernobyl. " 4 ) monbiot expresses surprise that a un - affiliated body such as whomight be under the influence of the nuclear power industry, causing its reporting on nuclear power matters to be biased. and yet that is precisely the case. in the early days of nuclear power, who issued forthright statements on radiation risks such as its 1956 warning : " genetic heritage is the most precious property for human beings. it determines the lives of our progeny, health and harmonious development of future generations. as experts, we affirm that the health of future generations is threatened by increasing development of the atomic industry and sources of radiation … we also believe that new mutations that occur in humans are harmful to them and their offspring. " after 1959, who made no more statements on health and radioactivity. what happened? on 28 may 1959, at the 12th world health assembly, who drew up an agreement with the international atomic energy agency ( iaea ) ; clause 12. 40 of this agreement says : " whenever either organisation [ the who or the iaea ] proposes to initiate a programme or activity on a subject in which the other organisation has or may have a substantial interest, the first party shall consult the other with a view to adjusting the matter by mutual agreement. " in other words, the who grants the right of prior approval over any research it might undertake or report on to the iaea – a group that many people, including journalists, think is a neutral watchdog, but which is, in fact, an advocate for the nuclear power industry. the iaea ' s founding papers state : " the agency shall


on to the iaea – a group that many people, including journalists, think is a neutral watchdog, but which is, in fact, an advocate for the nuclear power industry. the iaea ' s founding papers state : " the agency shall seek to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity through the world. " monbiot appears ignorant about the who ' s subjugation to the iaea, yet this is widely known within the scientific radiation community. but it is clearly not the only matter on which he is ignorant after his apparent three - day perusal of the vast body of scientific information on radiation and radioactivity. as we have seen, he and other nuclear industry apologists sow confusion about radiation risks, and, in my view, in much the same way that the tobacco industry did in previous decades about the risks of smoking. despite their claims, it is they, not the " anti - nuclear movement " who are " misleading the world about the impacts of radiation on human health. " • helen caldicott is president of the helen caldicott foundation for a nuclear - free planet and the author of nuclear power is not the answer see, for example, wj schull, effects of atomic radiation : a half - century of studies from hiroshima and nagasaki ( new york : wiley - lis, 1995 ) and de thompson, k mabuchi, e ron, m soda, m tokunaga, s ochikubo, s sugimoto, t ikeda, m terasaki, s izumi et al. " cancer incidence in atomic bomb survivors, part i : solid tumors, 1958 - 1987 " in radiat res 137 : s17 - s67 ( 1994 ). this process is called bioaccumulation and comes in two subtypes as well, bioconcentration and biomagnification. for more information see : j. u. clark and v. a. mcfarland, assessing bioaccumulation in aquatic organisms exposed to contaminated sediments, miscellaneous paper d - 91 - 2 ( 1991 ), environmental laboratory, waterways experiment station, vicksburg, ms and h. a. vanderplog, d. c. parzyck, w. h. wilcox, j. r. kercher, and s. v. kaye, bioaccumulation factors for radionuclides in freshwater biota, ornl - 5002 ( 1975 ), environmental sciences division publication,


61. 1. statement of the principle of typification. each nominal taxon in the family, genus or species groups has actually or potentially a name - bearing type. the fixation of the name - bearing type of a nominal taxon provides the objective standard of reference for the application of the name it bears. 61. 1. 1. no matter how the boundaries of a taxonomic taxon may vary in the opinion of zoologists the valid name of such a taxon is determined [ art. 23. 3 ] from the name - bearing type ( s ) considered to belong within those boundaries. 61. 1. 2. objectivity provided by typification is continuous through the hierarchy of names. it extends in ascending order from the species group to the family group. thus the name - bearing type of a nominal species - group taxon is a specimen or a set of specimens ( a holotype, lectotype, neotype or syntypes [ art. 72. 1. 2 ] ), that of a nominal genus - group taxon is a nominal species defined objectively by its type ; that of a nominal family - group taxon is the nominal genus on which its name is based. 61. 1. 3. once fixed, name - bearing types are stable and provide objective continuity in the application of names. thus the name - bearing type of any nominal taxon, once fixed in conformity with the provisions of the code, is not subject to change except in the case of nominal genus - group taxa as provided in article 70. 3. 2, of nominal species - group taxa as provided in articles 74 and 75, and by use of the plenary power of the commission [ art. 81 ]. 61. 2. name - bearing types of nominotypical taxa. the name - bearing type of a nominal taxon is also the name - bearing type of its nominotypical taxon [ arts. 37. 1, 44. 1, 47. 1 ], and the fixation of a name - bearing type for one constitutes fixation for the other also. 61. 2. 1. if different name - bearing types are fixed simultaneously for a nominal taxon and for its nominotypical taxon, the fixation for the taxon at higher rank takes precedence. 61. 3. name - bearing types and synonymy. 61. 3. 1. if nominal taxa with different name - bearing types are referred to a single taxonomic taxon, their names are subjective synonyms at the rank of that taxon ( but need not be synonym


nama : ( lit. ' name ' ) : ' mind ', mentality. this term is generally used as a collective name for the 4 mental groups ( arupino khandha ), viz. feeling ( vedana ), perception ( sanna ), mental formations ( sankhara ) and consciousness ( vinnana ). within the 4th link ( nama - rupa ) in the formula of the paticcasamuppada ( q. v. ), however, it applies only to karma - resultant ( vipaka ) feeling and perception and a few karma - resultant mental functions inseparable from any consciousness. as it is said ( m. 9 ; d. 15 ; s. xii, 2 ) : " feeling ( vedana ), perception ( sanna ), volition ( cetana ), impression ( phassa ), mental advertence ( manasikara ) : this, o brother, is called mind ( nama ). " with the addition of 2 more mental factors, namely, mental vitality ( jivita ) and concentration ( samadhi ), here ' stationary phase of mind ' ( cittatthiti ), these 7 factors are said in the abhidhammattha sangaha to be the inseparable mental factors in any state of consciousness. for the complete list of all the 50 mental formations of the sankhara - kkhandha ( not including feeling and perception ), s. nama - kaya : the ' mind - group ' ( as distinguished from rupa - kaya, the corporeality - group ) comprises the 4 immaterial groups of existence ( arupino khandha ; s. khandha ). this twofold grouping, frequent in com., occurs first in d. 15, also in pts. m. ( i, 183 ) ; nama - kaya alone is mentioned in sn. 1074. nama - rupa ( lit. ' name and form ' ) : ' mind - and - body ', mentality and corporeality. it is the 4th link in the dependent origination ( s. paticcasamuppada 3, 4 ) where it is conditioned by consciousness, and on its part is the condition of the sixfold sense - base. in two texts ( d. 14, 15 ), which contain variations of the dependent origination, the mutual conditioning of consciousness and mind - and - body is described ( see also s. xii, 67 ), and the


, as such, something empty, lifeless and inactive ; but by means of their mutual working together, this mental and bodily combination may move about, stand up, and appear full of life and nana : ' knowledge, comprehension, intelligence, insight ', is a synonym for panna ( q. v. ) ; see also vipassana. of knowledge and vision ', is the last of the 7 purifications and a name for path - knowledge ( magganana ), i. e. the penetrating realization of the path of stream - winning, once - returning, non - returning or arahatship. vis. m. xxii furnishes a detailed explanation of it ( s. visuddhi, vii ). in a. iv, 41 nanadassana apparently means the divine eye ( dibbacakkhu, s. abhinna ), being produced through concentrating the mind on light. nanatta - sanna : the ' variety ( or multiformity ) - perceptions are explained under jhana ( q. v. ). nana - vipphara iddhi : the ' power of penetrating knowledge ', is one of the magical powers ( iddhi, q. v. ). understanding ( or comprehension ) of the known ', is one of the 3 kinds of full understanding ( parinna q. v. ). natthika - ditthi : ' nihilistic view ' ( a doctrine that all values are baseless, that nothing is knowable or can be communicated, and that life itself is meaningless ), s. ditthi. is one of the 24 conditions ( paccaya, q. v. ). natural morality : pakati - sila navanga - buddha ( or satthu ) - sasana : nava - sattavasa : s. sattavasa. naya - vipassana : s. kalapa naya : ' right method ', is often used as a name for the noble eightfold path ( s. magga ), e. g. in the satipatthana sutta ( m. 10, d. 22 ). nekkhamma : ' freedom from sensual lust ', renunciation. though apparently from nir + o kram, ' to go forth ( into the homeless state of a monk ) ', this term is in the pali texts nevertheless used as if it were derived from kama, lust, and always as an antonym to kama. it is one of


, ' to go forth ( into the homeless state of a monk ) ', this term is in the pali texts nevertheless used as if it were derived from kama, lust, and always as an antonym to kama. it is one of the perfections ( s. parami ). n. sankappa, thought free from lust, or thought of renunciation, is one of the 3 kinds of right thought ( samma - sankappa ), the 2nd link of the noble eightfold path ( s. magga, 2 ), its antonym being kamasankappa, nesajjikanga : one of the 13 dhutanga neutral, karmically : avyakata ( q. v. ) ; n. feelings, s. vedana. ' sphere of neither - perception - nor - non - perception ', is the name for the fourth absorption of the immaterial sphere ( arupavacara ), a semi - conscious state, which is surpassed only by the state of complete suspense of consciousness, called ' attainment of extinction ' ( nirodha - samapatti, q. v. ). see jhana ( 8 ). n ' eva - sekha - n ' asekha : ' neither in training nor beyond training ', i. e. neither learner nor master. thus is called the worldling ( puthujjana, q. v. ), for he is neither pursuing the 3 - fold training ( sikkha q. v. ) in morality, mental culture and wisdom, on the level of the first 3 paths of sanctity, nor has he completed his training as an arahat. see sekha. - ( app. ). neyya : ' requiring guidance ', is said of a person " who through advice and questioning, through wise consideration, and through frequenting noble - minded friends, having intercourse with them, associating with them, gradually comes to penetrate the truth " ( pug. 162 ). cf. ugghatitannu. neyyattha - dhamma : a ' teaching the meaning of which is implicit, or has to be inferred ' as contrasted with a ' teaching with an explicit or evident meaning ' ( nitattha - dhamma ). in a. i, 60 ( pts ) it is said : " whoso declares a sutta with an implicit meaning as a sutta with explicit meaning ( and conversely ), such a one makes a


nitattha - dhamma ). in a. i, 60 ( pts ) it is said : " whoso declares a sutta with an implicit meaning as a sutta with explicit meaning ( and conversely ), such a one makes a false statement with regard to the blessed one. " - see paramattha. nibbana, ( sanskrit nirvana ) : lit. ' extinction ' ( nir + o va, to cease blowing, to become extinguished ) ; according to the commentaries, ' freedom from desire ' ( nir + vana ). nibbana constitutes the highest and ultimate goal of all buddhist aspirations, i. e. absolute extinction of that life - affirming will manifested as greed, hate and delusion, and convulsively clinging to existence ; and therewith also the ultimate and absolute deliverance from all future rebirth, old age, disease and death, from all suffering and misery. cf. parinibbana. " extinction of greed, extinction of hate, extinction of delusion : this is called nibbana " ( s. xxxviii. 1 ). the 2 aspects of nibbana are : ( 1 ) the full extinction of defilements ( kilesa - parinibbana ), also called sa - upadi - sesa - nibbana ( s. it. 41 ), i. e. ' nibbana with the groups of existence still remaining ' ( s. upadi ). this takes place at the attainment of arahatship, or perfect holiness ( s. ariya - puggala ). ( 2 ) the full extinction of the groups of existence ( khandha - parinibbana ), also called an - upadi - sesa - nibbana ( s. it. 41, a. iv, 118 ), i. e. ' nibbana without the groups remaining ', in other words, the coming to rest, or rather the ' no - more - continuing ' of this physico - mental process of existence. this takes place at the death of the arahat. - ( app. : nibbana ). sometimes both aspects take place at one and the same moment, i. e. at the death of the arahat ; s. sama - sisi. " this, o monks, truly is the peace, this is the highest, namely the end of all formations, the forsaking of every substratum of rebirth, the fading away of craving


of an ego, or as an eternal state of existence into which an ego or self enters or with which it merges. hence it is said : " mere suffering exists, no sufferer the deed is, but no doer of the deed is nibbana is, but not the man that enters the path is, but no traveler on it is literature : for texts on nibbana, see path, 36ff. - see vis. m. xvi. 64ff. - anatta and nibbana, by nyanaponika thera ( wheel 11 ) ; the buddhist doctrine of nibbana, by ven. p. vajiranana & f. story ' rebirth ', is a synonym for patisandhi ( q. v. ). - panna ) : ' morality ( concentration, wisdom ) connected with penetration ' ; s. hana - bhagiya - sila. of aversion ', is one of the 18 chief kinds of insight ; s. vipassana ( 4 ), samatha - vipassana ( 2 ), visuddhi ( vi, 5 ). perception ( or consciousness, or view ) of permanency, is one of the 4 perversions nihilistic view : natthika - ditthi ; exercise ' s. kasina. nimitta : mark, sign ; image ; target, object ; cause, condition. these meanings are used in, and adapted to, many contexts of which only the doctrinal ones are mentioned here. 1. ' mental ( reflex - ) image ', obtained in meditation. in full clarity, it will appear in the mind by successful practice of certain concentration - exercises and will then appear as vividly as if seen by the eye. the object perceived at the very beginning of concentration is called the preparatory image ( parikamma - nimitta ). the still unsteady and unclear image, which arises when the mind has reached a weak degree of concentration, is called the acquired image ( uggaha - nimitta ). an entirely clear and immovable image arising at a higher degree of concentration is the counter - image ( patibhaga - nimitta ). as soon as this image arises, the stage of neighbourhood ( or access ) concentration ( upacara - samadhi ) is reached. for further details, s. kasina, samadhi. 2. ' sign of ( previous ) kamma ' ( kamma - nimit


of neighbourhood ( or access ) concentration ( upacara - samadhi ) is reached. for further details, s. kasina, samadhi. 2. ' sign of ( previous ) kamma ' ( kamma - nimitta ) and ' sign of ( the future ) destiny ' ( gati - nimitta ) ; these arise as mental objects of the last karmic consciousness before death ( maranasanna - kamma ; s. karma, iii, 3 ). usages ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) are commentarial ( s. app. ). in sutta usage, the term occurs, e. g. as : 3. ' outward appearance ' : of one who has sense - control it is said - that " he does not seize upon the general appearance ' of an object ( na nimittaggahi ; m. 38, d. 2 ; expl. vis i, 54f ; see sila ). 4. ' object ' : the six objects, i. e. visual, etc. ( rupa - nimitta ; s. xxii, 3 ). also, when in explanation of animitta - cetovimutti, signless deliverance of mind ( s. cetovimutti, vimokkha ), it is said, ' sabba - nimittanam amanasikara ', it refers to the 6 sense - objects ( com. to m. 43 ), and has therefore to be rendered " by paying no attention to any object ( or object - ideas ). " - a pleasant or beautiful object ( subha - nimitta, q. v. ) is a condition to the arising of the hindrance of sense - desire ; a ' repellent object ' ( patigha - nimitta ) for the hindrance of ill - will ; contemplation on the impurity of an object ( asubha - nimitta ; s. asubha ) is an antidote to sense - desire. 5. in pts. m. ii, in a repetitive series of terms, nimitta appears together with uppado ( origin of existence ), pavattam ( continuity of existence ), and may then be rendered by ' condition of existence ' ( s. path, nimmana - rati : the name of a class of heavenly beings of the sensuous sphere ; s. deva. nine abodes of beings : s.


may then be rendered by ' condition of existence ' ( s. path, nimmana - rati : the name of a class of heavenly beings of the sensuous sphere ; s. deva. nine abodes of beings : s. sattavasa. ninefold dispensation : s : sasana. nippapanca : s. papanca. corporeality ', is identical with rupa - rupa, ' corporeality proper ', i. e. material or actual corporeality, as contrasted with ' unproduced corporeality ' ( anipphanna - rupa ), consisting of mere qualities or modes of corporeality, e. g. impermanence, etc., which are also enumerated among the 28 phenomena of the corporeality group. see khandha, summary i ; vis. m. xiv, 73. niraya : lit. ' the downward - path ', the nether or infernal world, usually translated by ' hell ', is one of the 4 lower courses of existence ( apaya, q. v. ). the buddhists are well aware that on account of the universal sway of impermanence a life in hell, just as in heaven, cannot last eternally, but will after exhaustion of the karma which has caused the respective form of rebirth, necessarily be followed again by a new death and a new rebirth, according to the stored - up nirodha : ' extinction ' ; s. nirodha - samapatti, of extinction ', is one of the 18 chief kinds of insight ( vipassana q. v. ). see anapanasati nirodha - samapatti : ' attainment of extinction ' ( s. xiv, 11 ), also called sanna - vedayita - nirodha, ' extinction of feeling and perception ', is the temporary suspension of all consciousness and mental activity, following immediately upon the semi - conscious state called ' sphere of neither - perception - nor - non - perception ' ( s. jhana, 8 ). the absolutely necessary pre - conditions to its attainment are said to be perfect mastery of all the 8 absorptions ( jhana ), as well as the previous attainment of anagami or arahatship ( s. ariya - puggala ). according to vis. m. xxiii, the entering into this state takes place in the following way : by means of mental tranquillity ( samath


obstacles to the mind and blind our mental vision. in the presence of them we cannot reach neighbourhood - concentration ( upacara - samadhi ) and full concentration ( appana - samadhi ), and are unable to discern clearly the truth. they 1. sensuous desire ( kamacchanda ), 2. ill - will ( vyapada ), 3. sloth and torpor ( thina - middha ), 4. restlessness and scruples ( uddhacca - kukkucca ), 5. skeptical doubt ( vicikiccha ; in the beautiful similes in a. v, 193, sensuous desire is compared with water mixed with manifold colours, ill - will with boiling water, sloth and torpor with water covered by moss, restlessness and scruples with agitated water whipped by the wind, skeptical doubt with turbid and muddy water. just as in such water one cannot perceive one ' s own reflection, so in the presence of these 5 mental hindrances, one cannot clearly discern one ' s own benefit, nor that of others, nor that of both. regarding the temporary suspension of the 5 hindrances on entering the first absorption, the stereotype sutta text ( e g. a. ix, 40 ) runs as follows : " he has cast away sensuous desire ; he dwells with a heart free from sensuous desire ; from desire he cleanses his heart. " he has cast away ill - will ; he dwells with a heart free from ill - will, cherishing love and compassion toward all living beings, he cleanses his heart from ill - will. " he has cast away sloth and torpor ; he dwells free from sloth and torpor ; loving the light, with watchful mind, with clear consciousness, he cleanses his mind from sloth and torpor. " he has cast away restlessness and scruples ; dwelling with mind undisturbed, with heart full of peace, he cleanses his mind from restlessness and scruples. " he has cast away skeptical doubt ; dwelling free from doubt, full of confidence in the good, he cleanses his heart from " he has put aside these 5 hindrances, and come to know these paralysing defilements of the mind. and far from sensual impressions, far from unwholesome things, he enters into the first absorption, etc. " the overcoming of these 5 hindrance


hindrances, and come to know these paralysing defilements of the mind. and far from sensual impressions, far from unwholesome things, he enters into the first absorption, etc. " the overcoming of these 5 hindrances by the absorptions is, as already pointed out, a merely temporary suspension, called ' overcoming through repression ' ( vikkhambhana - pahana ). they disappear forever on entering the 4 supermundane paths ( s. ariyapuggala ), i. e. skeptical doubt on reaching sotapanship ; sensuous desire, ill - will and mental worry on reaching anagamiship ; sloth, torpor and restlessness on reaching arahatship. for their origination and their overcoming, s. a. i, 2 ; vi, 21 ; s. xlvi, 51. see the five mental hindrances, by nyanaponika thera ( wheel 26 ). niyama : the ' fixedness of law ' regarding all things ; cf. tathata. - panca - niyama is a commentarial term, signifying the ' fivefold lawfulness ' or ' natural order ' that governs : ( 1 ) temperature, seasons and other physical events ( utu - niyama ) ; ( 2 ) the plant life ( bija - n. ) ; ( 3 ) karma ( kamma - n. ) ; ( 4 ) the mind ( citta - n. ), e. g. the lawful sequence of the functions of consciousness ( s. vinnana - kicca ) in the process of cognition ; ( 5 ) certain events connected with the dhamma ( dhamma - n. ), e. g. the typical events occurring in the lives of the buddhas. ( app. ). niyata - micchaditthi : ' wrong views with fixed destiny ', are the views of uncausedness of existence ( ahetuka - ditthi ), of the inefficacy of action ( akiriya - ditthi ), and nihilism ( natthika - ditthi ). for details, s. ditthi ; and m. 60, com. ( wheel 98 / 99 ). - ( app. ) niyata - puggala : a ' person with a fixed destiny ', may be either one who has committed one of the 5 ' heinous deeds with immediate result ' ( anantarika


| feb8 - 13, 06 : 53 am | | # 1 | friction conditions on contact point of disc i have some doubts regarding the friction force on a certain situation. imagine a disc over a fixed flat surface. like this : the disc has two motions, rotational and translational but these are independent of each other. i mean the translational motion does not come from the rotation of the disc, imagine an external force that moves the disc. now, with this in mind lets say that the disc is moving from left to right always keeping contact with the surface. at the same time the disc is rotating with an angular velocity clockwise. because of the different movements, at the contact point, there is slip. now to the question itself. what kind of friction do i have at the contact point? do i have rolling or sliding friction at the contact point? and what direction does the friction force have since the disc is moving to the right but at the contact point the direction of rotation is to the left? | similar threads for : friction conditions on contact point of disc | | help with point charges and charge by contact | | introductory physics homework | | 12 | | accumulation point unit disc | | calculus & beyond homework | | 4 | | movement of a point on the perimeter of a disc | | advanced physics homework | | 0 | | point contact diode | | atomic, solid state, comp. physics | | 0 | | contact friction | | introductory physics homework | | 3 |


design thinking is a creative process of thinking backwards from people, that leads to design a service, a product or else, based on the conclusions of the knowledge gathered in the process. design thinking starts and ends with people, their needs and problems. thinking backwards from people leads to major rethinking of processes along the way. design thinking is a kind of problem detector and problem solving process. thinking backwards from people requires a through an exhaustive application of logic to all available threats and creativity in the finding of new possibilities. it also requires a systems thinking and vision that ultimately provides ways to anticipate possible futures. thinking backwards from people it ' s a mindset that naturally evolves to innovation : it is in fact choosing to move forward. thinking like a designer is a point of no return : everything a design thinker sees around comes up with this question : how could i improve it?, what if..?. i wouldn ' t call it an obsession, i believe is a extreme passion for ideas that it ' s got something to do with challenging your own capacities. capacities such as : thinking - in - action systems thinking decision making rational analysis empathy - able to connect emotional intelligence creativity applied to any context conceptualize emotions awareness of the world passion for details caring for people fond of chaos market & business & management teamwork long - term vision ultimate question designers must ask to themselves : what is the difference between designing a brochure and designing a dna? and between designing an app and designing a communication plan? designing a website and designing a business strategy? what is the difference between designing a brand and designing a life? not much... it all starts and ends with people. a beautiful, overwhelming, never - ending scenario full of... dots. and you share one of those dots with millions of others like you. are you feeling a little overwhelmed?. who are you? who is with you? what do you want to accomplish? billions of people feel just the same. the big picture above holds together because of known and unknown connections among dots... what if the so called " flow " is about stepping from one dot to another? a never ending effort to connect and let the world connect back to you? a design thinking attitude : so this year, why don ' t you think about re - designing your life by building empathy from within and finding ways of connecting with others? " as a style of thinking, design thinking is generally considered the ability to combine empathy for the context of a problem, creativity in


march 11, 2013 a ubiquitous chemical found in plastics, soup can linings, and receipts, bisphenol - a is just one health - compromising substance that has been under fire for many years. while the scientific community has gathered ample evidence regarding bpas toxic effects, the chemical is still widely used today. adding to this evidence, recent research has found that bpa could negatively impact brain development by disrupting a gene responsible for proper nerve cell function. for the study, which was published in the journal proceedings of the national academy of sciences and conducted by duke university researchers, it was discovered that bpa could negative effect central nervous system development by disrupting a gene called kcc2. with the disruption of this gene, it can no longer properly produce proteins partly responsible for removing chloride from neurons. if chloride can ’ t be removed, then the functioning of brain cells is hampered. “ our study found that bpa may impair the development of the central nervous system, and raises the question as to whether exposure could predispose animals and humans to neurodevelopmental disorders, ” study researcher dr. wolfgang liedtke, m. d., ph. d., an associate professor of medicine / neurology and neurobiology at duke university, said. “ our findings improve our understanding of how environmental exposure to bpa can affect the regulation of the kcc2 gene. however, we expect future studies to focus on what targets aside from kcc2 are affected by bpa. this is a chapter in an ongoing story. ” the study abstract concludes with : “ overall, our results indicate that bpa can disrupt kcc2 gene expression through epigenetic mechanisms. beyond increase in basic understanding, our findings have relevance for identifying unique neurodevelopmental toxicity mechanisms of bpa, which could possibly play a role in pathogenesis of human neurodevelopmental disorders. ” unfortunately, avoiding bpa is quite as easy as it should be. despite the endocrine - disrupting chemical being linked to reproductive problems, obesity, diabetes, and now negatively altered brain development, the fda rejected bpa ’ s ban back in march 2012 – so now consumers need to look out for the chemical for years to come. but there are still many tips for avoiding bpa and even reversing the negative effects sparked by the chemical. here are a few tips : this post originally appeared at natural society no related posts. this article was posted : monday, march 11, 2013 at 6 : 31


article from : 3 / 9 / 2007 modern machine shop, derek korn, senior editor click image to enlarge a picosecond laser was used to machine this micro - mold that measures 2 mm long by 500 microns wide by 600 microns deep. here are four common laser drilling techniques. single - pulse and percussion offer fast material removal rates, but trepanning and helical drilling provide better hole roundness and accuracy. the ability to produce holes and other features measuring mere microns in size is only one piece of the micromachining puzzle. tiny machined elements on components such as fuel injector nozzles, micro - molds, spinnerettes and masks for electronics production must also have clean edges and burr - free finishes to function properly. it is often important that the machining process does not introduce heat into a workpiece, which could alter the material ’ s properties. laser technology has long been capable of machining metals on such a small scale. however, the words “ laser micromachining ” paint with a broad brush. these systems vary in cost, complexity, robustness and capability to keep pace with industrial production requirements. the picosecond laser is one machining tool that has proven effective for accurately micromachining metals with sufficiently high material removal rates. this laser combines the ease of use and throughput of less - accurate systems with the control and precision of laboratory instruments. chuck ratermann, president of rmpc lasers inc., sheds light on some of the differences between a few of the main laser systems that are used to micromachine metals. to be sure, these devices are appropriate only for select machining applications. but shops serving the medical, electronics and even automotive industries that are looking to set themselves apart from the rest are well - served to know what laser micromachining can bring to the table. three laser types are commonly used for micromachining metals — nanosecond, picosecond and femtosecond lasers. these lasers are named based on the duration of their beam pulses. for example, each pulse emitted by a femtosecond laser lasts femtoseconds ( a femtosecond is one millionth of a nanosecond, or 10 - 15 of a second ). the beam pulse duration, in addition to the repetition rate ( the number of emitted pulses per second ), are two factors that influence laser usefulness for industrial micromachining applications. nanose


and copper. this also enables the laser to machine non - metals such as teflon, diamond, ceramics and glass without microcracking or chipping their surface. the minimal thermal and mechanical effects associated with cold ablation allows for a high repetition rate, which translates to high ablation ( material removal ) rates. the repetition rate of the rapid laser is 500 khz, which means ablation rates for steel can be as much as 1 mm³ / min for an 8 kw laser. for most micromachining applications, the spot size made with the rapid picosecond laser is between 4 microns and 50 microns, depending upon the feature to be machined. in production situations, the laser can drill through metals as thick as 0. 5 mm or create blind holes or cavities for micromolds as deep as 0. 5 mm. it can be used for surface structuring in the micron range and removal of thin coatings on components without piercing or damaging the underlying substrate. in addition, the laser can be used to “ hone ” a workpiece to a better surface finish. laser drilling methods there are four common techniques for laser micromachining of metals. these are single - shot, percussion, trepanning and helical drilling. single - shot and percussion are the two fastest drilling methods. because these methods use the raw laser beam for machining, the hole they create is roughly the same as laser beam ’ s spot size. these two methods can deliver aspect ratios ( the ratio of a hole ’ s length to its diameter ) as large as 10 : 1. however, in trepanning and helical drilling, the beam spot size is smaller than the hole to be machined and the workpiece or beam is maneuvered to create the hole. special beam delivery systems are required for these latter two techniques. during simple trepanning, the laser beam pierces through the material and cuts the hole in one circular movement. helical drilling, a variant of trepanning, does not pierce through the material. in this case, the beam follows a helical path, ablating layers of material gradually with many spiraling passes. although this is the slowest of the laser machining methods, it creates the most accurate holes and crisp edges on beam entry and exit sides. it is also the best option for drilling holes with high aspect ratios, which can be as large as 20 : 1. in addition, trepanning optics allow the beam to create


the most accurate holes and crisp edges on beam entry and exit sides. it is also the best option for drilling holes with high aspect ratios, which can be as large as 20 : 1. in addition, trepanning optics allow the beam to create either positive or negative wall tapers. workpiece fixturing and positioning for laser micromachining systems can be simple or elaborate, depending on the application. new fuel injector nozzle designs that have tapered and angled holes, for example, require multi - axis positioning ( both linear and rotary ) to produce the holes. other sophisticated systems may use a vacuum chuck for flat workpieces. in some instances, though, a basic x - y can be used to position workpieces for laser machining. in addition, double - sided tape or frames might suffice for fixturing thin workpieces. for shops currently using nanosecond lasers with success, mr. ratermann doesn ’ t recommend switching to a picosecond laser. although a picosecond laser is more accurate than a nanosecond laser, it is also more costly. for shops considering the addition of a picosecond laser, mr. ratermann suggests sending part samples to a laser supplier to determine the speed and quality the laser can deliver. shops might also consider visiting the laser supplier to determine whether basic workpiece and beam manipulation methods, or a more complex setup, would best suit their particular metal micromachining applications.


a regular expression ( regexp ) is a text string that describes some set of strings. functions that handle regular expressions, based on gnu regexp - 0. 12, have been implemented ( for more details, see the gnu documentation about regexp rules ). the functions available from search menu provide search forward or backward and replace. each of them prompts a dialog box to get the target regexp. regular expressions are composed of characters and operators that match one or more characters. here is an abstract of commons operators : | matches one of a choice of regular expressions. [... ] matches one item of a list. [ ^... ] matches a single character not represented by one of the list items. (... ) treats any number of other operators ( i. e. subexpressions ) as a unit. \ digit matches a specified preceding group. ^ matches the beginning of line. $ matches the end of line. smac provides the following functions : returns the position of the next regular expression regexp, or - 1 if regexp has not been found, or - 2 if regexp is not valid. returns the position of the previous regular expression regexp, or - 1 if regexp has not been found, or - 2 if regexp is not valid. returns the beginning position of the substring n of the regexp found by the previous search call to a regexp. returns the end position of the substring n of the regexp found by the previous search call to a regexp. replaces the regular expression regexp with the string newstring. if the argument regexp is ommited, the previous search call to a regexp is used. it returns 1 on success else 0.


impalpably fine dust, which was found to have slightly injured the astronomical instruments. the morning before we anchored at porto praya, i collected a little packet of this brown - coloured fine dust, which appeared to have been filtered from the wind by the gauze of the vane at the masthead. mr. lyell has also given me four packets of dust which fell on a vessel a few hundred miles northward of these islands. professor ehrenberg3 finds that this dust consists in great part of infusoria with siliceous shields, and of the siliceous tissue of plants. in five little packets which i sent him, he has ascertained no less than sixty - seven different organic forms! the infusoria, with the exception of two marine species, are all inhabitants of fresh - water. i have found no less than fifteen different accounts of dust having fallen on vessels when far out in the atlantic. from the direction of the wind whenever it has fallen, and from its having always fallen during those months when the harmattan is known to raise clouds of dust high into the atmosphere, we may feel sure that it all comes from africa. it is, however, a very singular fact, that, although professor ehrenberg knows many species of infusoria peculiar to africa, he finds none of these in the dust which i sent him. on the other hand, he finds in it two species which hitherto he knows as living only in south america. the dust falls in such quantities as to dirty everything on board, and to hurt people ' s eyes ; vessels even have run on shore owing to the obscurity of the atmosphere. it has often fallen on ships when several hundred, and even more than a thousand miles from the coast of africa, and at points sixteen hundred miles distant in a north and south direction. in some dust which was collected on a vessel three hundred miles from the land, i was much surprised to find particles of stone above the thousandth of an inch square, mixed with finer matter. after this fact one need not be surprised at the diffusion of the far lighter and smaller sporules of cryptogamic plants. the geology of this island is the most interesting part of its natural history. on entering the harbour, a perfectly horizontal white band, in the face of the sea cliff, may be seen running for some miles along the coast, and at the height of about forty - five feet above the water. upon examination, this white stratum is found to consist


red fluid, which stains the water for the space of a foot around. besides this means of defence, an acrid secretion, which is spread over its body, causes a sharp, stinging sensation, similar to that produced by the physalia, or portuguese man - of - war. i was much interested, on several occasions, by watching the habits of an octopus, or cuttle - fish. although common in the pools of water left by the retiring tide, these animals were not easily caught. by means of their long arms and suckers, they could drag their bodies into very narrow crevices ; and when thus fixed, it required great force to remove them. at other times they darted tail first, with the rapidity of an arrow, from one side of the pool to the other, at the same instant discolouring the water with a dark chestnut - brown ink. these animals also escape detection by a very extraordinary, chameleon - like power of changing their colour. they appear to vary their tints according to the nature of the ground over which they pass : when in deep water, their general shade was brownish purple, but when placed on the land, or in shallow water, this dark tint changed into one of a yellowish green. the colour, examined more carefully, was a french grey, with numerous minute spots of bright yellow : the former of these varied in intensity ; the latter entirely disappeared and appeared again by turns. these changes were effected in such a manner, that clouds, varying in tint between a hyacinth red and a chestnut - brown, 4 were continually passing over the body. any part, being subjected to a slight shock of galvanism, became almost black : a similar effect, but in a less degree, was produced by scratching the skin with a needle. these clouds, or blushes as they may be called, are said to be produced by the alternate expansion and contraction of minute vesicles containing variously coloured fluids. 5


june 2004 sky from the keeble observatory we will be unable to view the june 8th " transit of venus " from the keeble observatory - the event will be over before the rising sun clears our obscured eastern horizon. you will, however, be able to view it from several global web sites : the exploratorium, in san francisco will carry links to the penteli observatory, near athens, greece. nasa will offer links to several observatories around the world. the european southern observatory will have live coverage, as well. may weather was not kind to comet watchers in the center of the universe. haze on those evenings when it wasn ' t actually cloudy, and clouds and rain on other days, meant that it was unlikely that anyone actually saw comets neat and linear. june weather, typically, will not be any improvement, and the comets are fading rapidly as their orbits carry them away from the sun. there will be others in the future, hopefully more fortuitously positioned. bright comets, like hale - bopp of several years ago, are roughly once per decade. comets have long fascinated humankind. regular meteor showers and the stately motion of the planets through the zodiac could be anticipated. but, what to make of these " hairy stars " which persist for months, seemingly at random? ( our word " comet " comes from the latin " coma " - which means hair! ) aristotle assumed they were atmospheric phenomena, describing them in his treatise on weather. tycho brahe used geometry to show that they were in the realm of the planets ( but not the stars ). it was once church doctrine that these represented harbingers of evil - firebrands hurled by an angry god to warn sinful humankind. indeed, halley ' s comet was high above the battle of hastings, which was certainly bad luck for the english. it might have been considered good luck for the norman victors! tycho got it right, of course. comets are part of our solar system, just as much as are the planets, asteroids, and meteoroids. indeed, meteor showers are residue from comets, which provides us a clue to their origin and makeup. some 5 billion years ago, comets were among the first large aggregate objects to condense out of the cloud of gas and dust which formed our solar system. far from the growing heat source at the center, which was to become our sun, they contain dust and frozen ices of water, methane, and ammonia. we believe these represent the oldest und


cloud of gas and dust which formed our solar system. far from the growing heat source at the center, which was to become our sun, they contain dust and frozen ices of water, methane, and ammonia. we believe these represent the oldest undisturbed remnants of the original pre - solar cloud. pristine material from the time the earth and other planets first formed. fred whipple dubbed them " dirty snowballs " and the description is apt. there are two major reservoirs of comets left from these early times. the so - called kuiper belt lies beyond the orbit of distant neptune and lies in the plane of the ecliptic, roughly from 30 to 500 au. ( 1 au - " astronomical unit " is the average distance between earth and sun, about 150 million kilometers, or 93 million miles. ) pluto, and recently - discovered sedna are among the largest denizens of this region... yes, pluto is probably just a large comet! far beyond the kuiper belt lies the huge spherical shell called the oort cloud - stretching from 10, 000 to perhaps 100, 000 au. a comet ' s orbit may be disturbed by a collision, or by gravitational perturbations from passing stars or clouds. the comet then falls toward the inner solar system. as sunlight warms the comet, the volatile ices vaporize and carry with them dust and rocks from the nucleus of the comet. these gasses and dust particles are pushed away from the sun by the pressure of sunlight and the streaming solar wind to form the tails of the comet. ultraviolet light ionizes the gas and makes it glow. as the comet sweeps through its orbit the dust from its tail is strewn along its orbit, leaving the debris which makes up periodic meteor showers. lunar phases for june : full moon on the 3rd, at 12 : 20 am ; last quarter on the 9th, at 4 : 03 pm ; new moon on the 17th, at 4 : 27 pm ; first quarter on the 25th, at 3 : 08 pm. summer solstice, when the sun is highest above the equator, will occur at 8 : 58 pm on the 20th. this is sometimes called the " longest day of the year, " but it ' s 24 hours just like any other day! in fact, the solstice event will take place after sunset on the 20th! we will experience over 14 hours of sunlight on the 20th and 21st, however. evening planet watching in june is largely jupiter watching. after sunset, jupiter emerges from twilight high to the


benzene is a clear, liquid, petroleum - based chemical that has a sweet smell. benzene poisoning occurs when someone swallows, breathes in, or touches benzene. this is for information only and not for use in the treatment or management of an actual poison exposure. if you have an exposure, you should call your local emergency number ( such as 911 ) or the national poison control center at 1 - 800 - 222 - 1222. people may be exposed to benzene in factories, refineries, and other industrial settings. benzene may be found in : seek immediate medical help. do not make a person throw up unless told to do so by poison control or a health care professional. if the chemical is on the skin or in the eyes, flush with lots of water for at least 15 minutes. if the chemical was swallowed, immediately give the person water or milk, unless instructed otherwise by a health care provider. do not give water or milk if the patient is having symptoms ( such as vomiting, convulsions, or a decreased level of alertness ) that make it hard to swallow. if the person breathed in the poison, immediately move him or her to fresh air. before calling emergency determine the following information : patient ' s age, weight, and condition name of the product ( ingredients and strengths, if known ) time it was swallowed poison control, or a local emergency number the national poison control center ( 1 - 800 - 222 - 1222 ) can be called from anywhere in the united states. this national hotline number will let you talk to experts in poisoning. they will give you further instructions. this is a free and confidential service. all local poison control centers in the united states use this national number. you should call if you have any questions about poisoning or poison prevention. it does not need to be an emergency. you can call for any reason, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. people who work with benzene products should only do so in areas with good air flow. they should also use protective gloves and eye glasses. mirkin db. benzene and related aromatic hydrocarbons. in : shannon mw, borron sw, burns mj, eds. haddad and winchester ' s clinical management of poisoning and drug overdose. 4th ed. philadelphia, pa : saunders elsevier ; 2007 : chap 94. atsdr ( agency for toxic substances and disease registry ). toxicological profile for benzene. update. public health service, u. s. department of health and


the science fair concept has been established to : - focus attention on students ’ academic achievements - strengthen student motivation and interest in science - promote teacher and public recognition of outstanding science talent - recognize outstanding individual achievements, efforts, potential, and creativity - this event provides a medium for students to apply learned knowledge and skills to solve real problems and answer real - life questions. entering the fair - the competition is open to 4th – 12th grade students. - each elementary school may bring 10 projects to the district fair. - each middle school may bring 15 projects to the district fair - each high school may bring 25 projects to the district fair. - schools will decide how the projects will be selected. most often this will be through a school science fair. - students may work individually or in groups ( no groups of more than 3 ). - students may not participate in more than one project. - all participating schools must be represented by at least one teacher or administrator at the competition. - registration must be submitted for each project entered. - project displays should not show the students names. - only participants, judges, teachers, and fair officials are allowed in the judging area during judging. - exhibits must be brought to, cared for, and removed from the fair by the exhibitor. - the science fair committee and cooperating groups will assume no responsibility for loss or damage to any exhibit. - valuables, such as computers, meters, cameras, microscopes, etc., should not be left unattended. the only time they are required to be part of the exhibit is during the hours of judging. how are the projects judged? the role of judging is not to distinguish winners and losers, but to recognize students who achieve standards of excellence. by encouraging students to strive for their best effort, all participants are winners and grow from the experience. - a team of judges is assigned to each category. during the initial judging, the projects are grouped so that each project is screened by at least two judges. - all students must remain with their projects during the judging to make presentations and explain their study. - all others ( sponsors, teachers, parents, and other students ) are not permitted in the project area while judging is in progress. - all decisions of the judges are final. - final judging information will not be available to participants, parents, or teachers. how are awards given? - every student entering the fair will receive an a certificate of participation. - trophies will be given for the top 3 scores in each category. first and second place winners that are students in


job s. ebenezer, ph. d. president, technology for the poor, 877 pelham court, westerville, ohio - 43081 the original savonius design called for a 7 to 8 inch overlap of the buckets. research at sandia laboratories, however, suggested an overlap of 10 to 15 % of the bucket diameter or in this case 3 inches ( the bucket diameter = 23 inches ). the second modification was the use of an automobile differential at the bottom of the machine to convert the vertical shaft power of the rotor to horizontal shaft power. a water pump or grain grinder could then be connected to the horizontal shaft either directly or via chain or v belt arrangements. the vertical main shaft of the wind machine was connected to the driveshaft of the differential., and one axle shaft of the differential became the horizontal power take off shaft for the wind machine. the other axle shaft was removed and the slip gears were locked. the gear ratio offered by this arrangement was 3 : 1, i. e. for every three turns of the wind machine ' s main shaft, the horizontal shaft turned once. this arrangement provided a high torque, low speed power to run a chain pump and a grain mill. a simple brake mechanism was provided to stop the machine in high winds. a chain pump was constructed using a design proposed by volunteers in technical assistance ( vita ). a drawing of the chain pump constructed is shown below. in order to prevent corrosion of the metal chain, short lengths of nylon ropes were substituted for the lengths of chain between each leather washer. this substitution ;. however, proved to be unsatisfactory as there was much binding and misalignment of the washers as they ascended the pipe. it is suggested that the metal links should not be replaced by light weight ropes as the weight of the links keep the washers taught and aligned well. aside from these alignment problems, the savonius machine performed well. the brace research institute in canada has successfully operated a diaphragm pump made of a tire with a savonius windmill. it is suggested that a diaphragm pump may be better suited for savonius windmill than a chain pump. although the village technology program did not construct and test a chain bucket pump ( shown below ), it is believed that it might perform very well with a savonius windmill. conventional piston pumps can also be used with a savonius windmill. the savonius windmill was also used to grind grain. a small grain mill


when i was in school at mit and harvard in the 1980s and 1990s, i was taught that there were 100, 000 or so human genes, every one encoding a protein. the properties of those genes were unknown. today, i teach that our genome contains only 21, 000 protein - coding genes. to our surprise, there are thousands of additional genes that don ’ t encode proteins. all of these genes have been described in great detail. i was taught that the parts of the genome not encoding proteins were “ junk. ” today, we know that this junk makes up three - quarters of our functional dna. parts of it help exquisitely control where and when genes are active in the body. i was taught that “ genetic diseases, ” such as cystic fibrosis, are caused by mutation of a single gene, with only a small handful of these mutations known. today, precise causes are known for 2, 800 of these rare single - gene disorders. i was taught nothing about the more complex genetics of common diseases. today, we are learning at dizzying speed about the interplay of genes and environment in diabetes, heart disease, and other common conditions. in the past three years alone more than 1, 000 genetic risk factors have been found ( an increase of perhaps 50 - fold ), contributing to more than 100 common diseases. such advances would have come far later, if at all, without the human genome project ( see “ the human genome, a decade later ” ). but a body of knowledge is not its only legacy. it also changed the way biological research is performed. i was trained to view scientific data as the private property of each investigator. human genetics research groups were locked in a “ race ” to discover each disease gene, and there were winners and losers. this often led to fragmentation of effort and yielded results irreproducible by others. data was collected by hand and stored in paper notebooks. the human genome project held the revolutionary view that data collected should be freely available to all. today this view prevails in genomics and many other fields of biology and medicine. data is shared online by scientists the world over. today, thanks in no small part to the genome project ’ s example, investigators working on the same disease often publish together. combining clinical and genetic data this way increases the statistical robustness of the claimed findings and makes for highly reproducible results. of course, knowledge of the human genome alone is not sufficient to cure disease. it will always be the case that creativity,


by staff writers ann arbor mi ( spx ) mar 14, 2013 in evolutionary biology, there is a deeply rooted supposition that you can ' t go home again : once an organism has evolved specialized traits, it can ' t return to the lifestyle of its ancestors. there ' s even a name for this pervasive idea. dollo ' s law states that evolution is unidirectional and irreversible. but this " law " is not universally accepted and is the topic of heated debate among biologists. now a research team led by two university of michigan biologists has used a large - scale genetic study of the lowly house dust mite to uncover an example of reversible evolution that appears to violate dollo ' s law. the study shows that tiny free - living house dust mites, which thrive in the mattresses, sofas and carpets of even the cleanest homes, evolved from parasites, which in turn evolved from free - living organisms millions of years ago. " all our analyses conclusively demonstrated that house dust mites have abandoned a parasitic lifestyle, secondarily becoming free - living, and then speciated in several habitats, including human habitations, " according to pavel klimov and barry oconnor of the u - m department of ecology and evolutionary biology. their paper, " is permanent parasitism reversible? - critical evidence from early evolution of house dust mites, " is scheduled to be published online march 8 in the journal systematic biology. mites are arachnids related to spiders ( both have eight legs ) and are among the most diverse animals on earth. house dust mites, members of the family pyroglyphidae, are the most common cause of allergic symptoms in humans, affecting up to 1. 2 billion people worldwide. despite their huge impact on human health, the evolutionary relationships between these speck - sized creatures are poorly understood. according to klimov and oconnor, there are 62 different published hypotheses arguing about whether today ' s free - living dust mites originated from a free - living ancestor or from a parasite - an organism that lives on or in a host species and damages its host. in their study, klimov and oconnor evaluated all 62 hypotheses. their project used large - scale dna sequencing, the construction of detailed evolutionary trees called phylogenies, and sophisticated statistical analyses to test the hypotheses about the ancestral ecology of house dust mites.