the number of children admitted to english hospitals with bacterial pneumonia decreased by a fifth in the two years following the introduction of a vaccine to combat the disease, according to a new study published today in the journal thorax. bacterial pneumonia is a serious illness caused by streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria that mostly affects babies, young children and elderly people. in europe, around one in ten deaths in the under - fives is caused by the disease. bacterial pneumonia usually develops as a complication following a respiratory tract infection such as influenza. symptoms include difficulty breathing, wheezing, fever and loss of appetite. in september 2006, a vaccine known as pcv7 was introduced into the childhood primary immunisation programme across the uk, to protect against seven different strains of streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. today ' s study, led by researchers from imperial college london, shows that in the first two years following the introduction of this vaccine, hospital admissions for bacterial pneumonia decreased by 19 per cent amongst children aged under 15 years. admissions for empyema, a rare and serious complication of bacterial pneumonia, decreased by 22 per cent. the pneumococcal vaccine is administered at two, three and 13 months of age. when it was first introduced there was a catch - up campaign for children up to two years. take - up of the vaccine over the study period was high. it was administered to an average of 84 per cent of eligible children in england in the first year following its introduction and 91 per cent the following year. dr sonia saxena, who led the study from the school of public health at imperial college london and works as a gp in south london, said : " it ' s a frightening experience for everyone involved when your child becomes unwell and very disruptive to families if they need to be admitted to hospital, so we ' re really pleased that the number of children becoming seriously unwell and needing admission to hospital with bacterial pneumonia and empyema has fallen since the vaccination programme was introduced. in addition, it ' s great that such a large proportion of parents chose to have their child vaccinated over the period we were studying. the success of any vaccination programme depends on vaccinating as many people as possible. now that we have clear evidence about the benefits of the pneumonia vaccine, we hope more parents will be encouraged to have their children vaccinated in future. " the study showed that the number of older children admitted with bacterial pneumonia decreased, as well as the number of


have clear evidence about the benefits of the pneumonia vaccine, we hope more parents will be encouraged to have their children vaccinated in future. " the study showed that the number of older children admitted with bacterial pneumonia decreased, as well as the number of younger children, following introduction of the vaccine. this result suggests that vaccinating young children against bacterial pneumonia also provides protection for older, non - vaccinated children, providing ' herd immunity ' by slowing the spread of disease. the pcv7 vaccine was introduced in england after hospital admission rates for bacterial pneumonia and empyema increased by 31 per cent and 260 per cent respectively, between 1997 and 2006, amongst children aged under 15 years. the reasons for this increase are unclear. prior to the introduction of pcv7, there were 13, 771 hospital admissions for bacterial pneumonia among children under 15 years in 2005. the pcv7 vaccine has now been replaced with a newer pneumococcal vaccine called pcv13, which works in the same way as pcv7 but protects against more strains of streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. there are around 90 strains of this bacteria and around a quarter of cases are caused by strains not covered by pcv13. joanna murray, a co - author of the study, also from the school of public health at imperial college london, added : " our study looked at a two year period since the introduction of pcv7. we are keen to see whether there continues to be a decrease in the number of cases, which is what we are hoping. our results are encouraging, but even with a vaccination programme in place bacterial pneumonia remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality among children. scientists are working to develop even better vaccines that can protect against more strains of streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria and protect even more people. " explore further : researchers suggest boosting body ' s natural flu killers more information : e. koshy et al. impact of the seven - valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination ( pcv7 ) programme on childhood hospital admissions for bacterial pneumonia and empyema in england : national time - trends study, 1997 - 2008. thorax, september 2010.


this is a case of an unwisely chosen simile taken waaaay too far. this idea, that the entire universe could be inside the event horizon of not a supermassive, but rather a superduperultrahypermegastupendouslymassive black hole, is usually introduced in introductory classes about general relativity. the instructor in this case is trying to make clear that, contrary to a fairly popular misconception, the event horizon of a black hole is locally flat. that is, there are no cgi - fireworks, nor any kind of hard " surface ", nor anything else particularly special, in the immediate vicinity of the event horizon. the only special thing that happens is a long distance effect, like noticing that every direction now points off in the distance towards the singularity. the simile is also used to point out that, at the event horizon, even second - order, nearly local effects ( that is, curvature of spacetime, or tidal effects in other words ) become less pronounced the more massive the black hole is. ( as an aside, this also explains why hawking radiation is more intense for smaller black holes ) so... as the simile suggests, if the black hole were massive enough, we might not even be able to detect it. the key, though is massive enough. first of all, the whole beauty of the einstein curvature tensor ( the left side of einstein ' s equation ) is that it is lorentz invariant, so it can be calculated in any reference frame, including one that is hypothetically based inside an event horizon. the curvature can still be unambiguously calculated, so when you suggest that it may be only an optical illusion, you are also suggesting that all the scientists who do that type of large - scale curvature calculation ( not me personally ) are totally incompetent. just so you know. i would suggest not mentioning that at any conferences on cosmology. one of the enduring mysteries of modern cosmology is that the large - scale curvature of the universe seems to be open ( like the 3 - space - plus - one - time dimensional analog of a saddle or pringle potato chip ) and not flat ( like euclidean geometry ) or closed ( like a sphere ). the last is what we would calculate if the visible universe were inside a black hole. so, for the visible universe to be inside an event horizon, the cosmic acceleration we have seen thus far would have to actually just be one small, contrarian region inside an


is what we would calculate if the visible universe were inside a black hole. so, for the visible universe to be inside an event horizon, the cosmic acceleration we have seen thus far would have to actually just be one small, contrarian region inside an even larger event horizon of globally closed curvature. just to make the event horizon radius 13. 7 giga - lightyears ( a bare minimum starting point that excludes all manner of things that make the real situation many orders of magnitude worse * ), you would need over 8e52 kg of mass in the singularity. this would require over 5e79 protons, where i have heard that the entire visible universe only has about 10 ^ 80 particles, total, and i think i heard that there are about 10 ^ 18 photons for every proton, or maybe even all other particles. somebody can look that up if they want to, but it ' s definitely a big number. the upshot is that there would have to be an amount of mass, all crammed into one singularity, that would render the total mass of every single thing we can see a barely detectable rounding error. monkeying with all those dark matter and even dark energy theories is less of a leap than that. your prediction doesn ' t actually predict anything, since you account for either its presence or its absence. speculation 1 : olber ' s paradox is already solved for accepted theories of cosmology, so pointing out that your theory can also resolve it is nice but doesn ' t score any points. speculation 2 : are you suggesting that the singularity is where all the antimatter to match the universe ' s matter went? remember the singularity dwarfs the visible universe. that still doesn ' t explain the asymmetry, it only pushes the question back by one logical step : why did the antimatter go into the big singularity and not the matter? speculation 3 : hawking radiation for the big singularity ' s event horizon lends whole new meaning to the term negligible. see my previous aside. also, we can ' t observe matter being destroyed at the singularity. that ' s information flowing the wrong way. also, that negates the previous assertion that the sky is black because it ' s towards the singularity. * like cosmic expansion, just how small our contrarian region is, compared to the whole event horizon, and probably some other, subtler things.


bah, i don ' t think it will be that hard once i get my questions answered. everybody knows the " doe, a deer " song. the difference between that and the original hexachord is that the current one uses all 7 tones of the diatonic scale, and the original only used 6 and went " ut re mi fa sol la " instead of " do re mi fa sol la ti ". also, the current use of solfege is altered so that " do " is always the tonic - adjustments are made for minor keys or modes with the alternate syllables ( minor third is me instead of mi, minor sixth is le instead of la, etc. ). by contrast, the original system apparently was so that the one semitone in the hexachord ( first 6 notes of a major scale, essentially ) was always between " mi " and " fa ". so, if you ' re singing a chant in dorian mode, the " tonic " ( which i ' m not sure was a very solid concept back then ) would be on " re ". since they only use 6 tones, it ends up sounding closer to pentatonic music than what we ' re used to. anyway, we pianists don ' t get much exposure to medieval music, or even renaissance music. keyboard literature kicks in around the time of bach, and by then functional harmony as we know it was established. i ' m just interested in this because i want to learn as much as i can about the evolution of harmony between, say, pythagoras and bach. that ' s a really weak area of knowledge for me - even weaker than my knowledge of the evolution of harmony in the 20th century.


a season of rain seems to bring our bromeliads into bloom. two weeks ago i first noticed a new bromeliad flower spike nestled half way up our frangipani tree trunk. when we bought our home 12 years ago there were a number of bromeliad plants, all of the same variety, tied to the large frangipani tree trunk and nestled underneath it. bromeliads are native to tropical america and come in a huge range of colours and forms, the most familiar being the edible pineapple fruit. many, like this one, are epiphytes, living on or around other plants without being parasitic. they live mainly on moisture and nutrients from the air. in twelve years i have given them no care at all and they continue to slowly multiply and flower occasionally. they tend to hold rain water in the centre of their circle of leaves. sometimes we find little green tree frogs living in this natural water - well. filtered light suits bromeliads best, however the position of this one against the tree trunk has made light conditions extra tricky for photos. most days over the last two weeks i have taken multiple photos to trace this flower spike ' s development, here are the best for us to enjoy. watching this series just now i have discovered how the spike grows noticeably taller, measured against the frangipani trunk, in the early stages. quite an amazing plant. sharing at this or that thursday.


first, it ’ s worth noting that the traditional model of equality still holds such sway in the hearts and minds of most people that it remains necessary for those who reject it to talk in terms of “ barriers ” even when they are hard to discern or define. thus the president ’ s speech mentioned “ barriers ” to equality nine times, stressing that “ too many barriers still remain. ” the president recognized that “ the barriers of our time ” are “ very different from the barriers faced by earlier generations. ” he knows, that is, “ that prejudice and discrimination are not … the steepest barriers to opportunity today. ” what then are the “ steepest barriers ”? you guessed it : the most difficult barriers include structural inequalities that our nation ’ s legacy of discrimination has left behind ; inequalities still plaguing too many communities and too often the object of national neglect. the “ structural inequalities ” specifically mentioned by the president were • an unemployment gap ; • a health and health insurance gap ; • a prison incarceration gap ; • an hiv / aids gap. he could, of course, have listed more “ structural inequalities, ” such as various academic achievement gaps ( reading and math scores, sat scores, high school and college graduation rates, etc. ), but his list is sufficient to confirm that “ civil rights ” today has nothing to do with eliminating discriminatory “ barriers ” that treat people differently because of their race. if they reflect discrimination, it is discrimination without any discriminators. one does not have to deconstruct the president ’ s speech — one has only to read it — to see that he believes the “ steepest barriers ” holding down blacks are nothing less than the very nature and performance of modern american capitalism itself. the current downturn, in his view, did not result from correctable flaws in the system but from the system itself, a system “ built on sand, ” a system not in need of reform but of transformation. as he said : our task of reducing these structural inequalities has been made more difficult by the state, and structure, of the broader economy ; an economy fueled by a cycle of boom and bust ; an economy built not on a rock, but sand. to obama and the structural inegalitarians, neither “ civil rights ” nor racism no longer has anything to do with discrimination, understood as treating people differently because of their race. as kelefa sanneth argued in the august 10


sand. to obama and the structural inegalitarians, neither “ civil rights ” nor racism no longer has anything to do with discrimination, understood as treating people differently because of their race. as kelefa sanneth argued in the august 10 new yorker : [ racism ] should not be thought of as a personal failing ; it ’ s a social system, with a specific history. discrimination against whites, however unfair, isn ’ t part of that system, and therefore is not analogous to discrimination against blacks. as lani guinier put it in the article linked above regarding the gates affair, the gates affair teaches us that : race and racism are today more like passive smoke. we all inhale the toxic fumes even if we are not the one lighting up the cigarette. and if we take the time to lift the curtain that post - racialists insist on pulling over our eyes, we might begin to realize that a porch encounter ostensibly about racial profiling is nevertheless a sign of larger and more systemwide injustices. what passes for “ civil rights ” today, then, sees itself confronting pervasive discrimination with no discriminators, systemic racism with no racists. whatever the president and ms. guinier are smoking, it it clear that in their view “ structural inequalities ” will never be reduced, the playing field will never be level, until our capitalist economy, built as it is “ not on a rock, but sand, ” has been replaced with one more to their liking. some wags used to joke ( it was a joke, wasn ’ t it? ) that nuclear war should be outlawed as discriminatory because it would have a disparate impact on women and children. i don ’ t think barack obama is joking when he argues, as he did to the naacp, that capitalism must be fundamentally transformed because it ’ s bad for blacks ( and, oh yes, for everybody else, too ).


farmers holiday association the farmers holiday association, active from 1932 to 1937, served as the nominal organization behind a protest movement by mostly midwestern and great plains farmers in reaction to more than ten years of depressed farm income. during world war i farmers met increased worldwide demand for food by increasing their farm sizes and mechanizing their operations. both strategies proved to be problematic following the post - world war i crash of the farm economy that occurred when foreign markets contracted and wartime price controls ended. after a decade of neglect by the major political parties, many farmers looked to protest movements and third parties as the great depression compounded their economic difficulties. the farmers holiday association grew out of the national farmers union, an organization that lobbied for farm aid and tariff reform, as well as operating purchasing and sales cooperatives. the name referred to the famous " bank holiday, " farmers noting that if bankers could take a holiday to reorder their business, they should be allowed to do the same. the national farmers union and the farmers holiday association remained closely linked, in part because the primary leader of the farmers holiday association, milo reno, had also been the head of the iowa farmers union. milo reno remained central to the organization well past its peak in 1933, and the iowa chapter was the strongest and most active branch of the organization. although the organization was national, it received greatest support in the upper midwest and northern great plains : iowa, nebraska, minnesota, wisconsin, south dakota, and north dakota drew the largest number of followers. each state chapter acted independently. in nebraska, the communist party attempted to gain some degree of control, but despite considerable activity and media exposure, it had only limited influence. most members owned property or had recently become tenants. association members never constituted a majority of farmers in any region, which weakened their position and virtually guaranteed conflict with their neighbors. the core concept of the movement, cost of production, centered on the belief that farmers must make a profit on their commodities. in an era when many commodities sold for less than they cost to produce, this idea had obvious appeal. under the system proposed by the farmers holiday association, farmers would be allowed to grow all they wanted, and the federal government would mandate a price high enough to cover the costs of mortgage, seed, equipment, and labor plus guarantee a profit on commodities intended for the domestic market. the government would then sell the surplus on world markets at true market value. similar ideas, embodied in the mcnary - haugen bill, failed to win enough support to override president calvin cool


a profit on commodities intended for the domestic market. the government would then sell the surplus on world markets at true market value. similar ideas, embodied in the mcnary - haugen bill, failed to win enough support to override president calvin coolidge ' s vetoes in the 1920s. other positions advocated by the organization included tariff reform and currency inflation. the mechanism for change would be the farm strike, or " holiday. " the original plan, as conceived by reno and advocated by him as early as 1921, would call for farmers to cease selling their products or buying anything from anyone. what gave the movement power and importance was the unplanned radical behavior of its members, who, acting without instructions from official leadership, barricaded roads and forced nonstriking farmers to turn away from their markets. strikers, barricade runners, and law enforcement officers all committed acts of violence. there were a few deaths. of almost equal importance to the barricades were efforts to stop farm foreclosure sales by transforming them into " penny " or " sears and roebuck " sales. farmers refused to bid more than pennies on the dollar for foreclosed property, even threatening those who attempted to enter higher bids. following the sale the property would be returned to the original owner. in many cases striking farmers found active sympathy from state and local politicians and from local law enforcement agencies. the largest strike lasted from early august to early september 1932 but was successful only in sioux city and omaha. nationally, the planned uprising of farmers failed to materialize. other strikes failed to achieve their stated goals, but they did pressure the authorities to take action to relieve the crisis. among the most important results were agreements by major lenders to temporarily halt farm foreclosures and legislation enacting statewide moratoriums on foreclosures in nebraska, south dakota, and minnesota. the power of the farmers holiday association declined with the election of franklin d. roosevelt to the presidency in 1932. milo reno urged a temporary halt to action in the belief that roosevelt supported cost of production. but roosevelt ' s secretary of agriculture, henry wallace, was opposed, favoring instead control of production coupled with payments for acres taken out of service, and these measures were embodied in the agricultural adjustment act. although farmers holiday association leaders threatened continued strikes, the organization lost its ability to influence farmers, now mollified by the receipt of government checks. in its latter years, the organization and its leader, milo reno, flirted with supporters of radical action


ever heard of the cerrado? i can ’ t get on you if haven ’ t, since i hadn ’ t until a week or two ago myself. but this truly precious ecosystem is home to approximately 5 % of the world ’ s species, and ( the not good news is ) it has been cut in half in the last 40 years ( an area greater in size than the uk, germany, italy and portugal combined has been destroyed ). a representative of wwf uk recently contacted me about this issue and a campaign and petition they had come up with to help save the cerrado. modeled, it seems, on a similar campaign led by greenpeace that helped to dramatically cut deforestation of the brazilian amazon, i thought their efforts had some true promise and am doing my best to help spread the word and encourage others to take action. what is the petition / campaign, exactly? well, maybe i should start with how the cerrado is being destroyed. it is being destroyed largely from soy ( or ‘ soya ’ in the uk ) farming. 80 % of this soy is being fed to livestock, and especially chickens. this soy and meat from the livestock are being sold to supermarkets and consumers around the world. wwf uk is asking people to get involved in demanding that leading supermarkets ( in the uk, to start ) stop selling products that are connected to cerrado destruction. for one, you can stop buying any such products. but, to have an even stronger impact, you can also send an email to the heads of 6 major uk supermarkets ( via the petition below ). the cerrado, as you could see in the very cool hand shadow film above and from my few sentences on it, is a tremendously unique and valuable ecosystem that needs our help. visit wwf uk to learn more about the cerrado and stay up - to - date on the campaign. - deforestation rates in brazilian amazon dropped 47 % in august - 80 % of amazon deforestation stems from cattle ranching - greenpeace praises brazil - amazon says goodbye to world ’ s largest meat exporter - world ’ s largest leather exporter backs out of amazon - 14, 000 barrel oil spill in ecuador ’ s amazon rainforest image via daniel zanini h. i ' m the director of cleantechnica, the most popular clean energy website in the world, and planetsave, a leading green and science news site. i ' ve been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and i ' ve been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, bicy


consuls theorize the state society of trabzon in 1796 citizen beauchamp had noticed that the muslims of trabzon were " different " from the muslims of istanbul : the inhabitants have a wild look about them at first appearance. their dress consists of pants and coat of capuchin cloth. they all walk about armed with pistols and a rifle, even within the town itself. they are not as fanatic as the muslims of constantinople. during the three hundred years the [ latter ] have encountered europeans, they have always preserved the custom of insulting them and mistreating them as unbelievers. during our stay at trabzon, we didn ' t hear a single bad word ; we were not even an object of curiosity for children. beauchamp ' s comparison of the citizens of the imperial and provincial capitals is an exceptional one. other french and british visitors usually found the muslims of trabzon to be more fanatical and less polite than the muslims of istanbul. nonetheless, beauchamp accurately points to a characteristic for which the laz are still famous. they can be exceedingly grim on first encounter, so it is surprising that they later prove to be remarkably polite. what beauchamp noticed was a sharp contrast between an " outside " countenance that was intentionally intimidating and " inside " countenance that was no less intentionally sociable. these two contrasting demeanors of the laz bring to mind the middle gate of the ottoman palace. from without, its twin towers and fortress wall symbolized invincible sovereign power. from within, its painted portico and garden vista symbolized harmonious fellowship. the analogy is not coincidental. the muslims of trabzon were the creatures of imperial undertakings and accomplishments, not a marginal people at the fringe of the ottoman empire. the character of the laz is then the product of the palace machine. beauchamp was not in a position to see how this was so. during his brief visit he had not had sufficient opportunity to learn how the muslim population had come to compose a state society through participation in imperial military and religious institutions. more interestingly, however, the first french consuls, who resided in the coastal region for many years, also failed to understand the place of its muslim population in the imperial system. in their very first reports, consul fourcade in sinop and consul dupre in trabzon addressed the relationship of state officials and local elites, and each of them reached the same mistaken conclusion : there were two different kinds of authorities in the coastal districts, and they represented


, consul fourcade in sinop and consul dupre in trabzon addressed the relationship of state officials and local elites, and each of them reached the same mistaken conclusion : there were two different kinds of authorities in the coastal districts, and they represented two different kinds of government, one based on bureaucratic centralism and the other on interpersonal associations. fourcade and dupre had dissected the imperial system, then reconstituted it as two pieces, each with a separate and independent entity. a formal system of state officials representing bureaucratic regulations and procedures was the basis of one government. an informal system of leading individuals with armed followings was the basis of another government. it is altogether possible that fourcade and dupre were simply repeating what was already the fixed opinion of other western european officials in the ottoman empire. but whatever the case, they never qualify their initial impressions in order to develop a more nuanced understanding of the relationship of officials and elites. on the contrary, they and their successors come to insist ever more categorically that the coastal districts were subject to two alternative governmental systems. but neither the initial misperception nor the later exaggeration is especially surprising. as i have already suggested in the last chapter, the french consuls were not in a good position to understand the place of the state society of trabzon in the imperial system due to their official standing, their personal background, and their diplomatic interests. the consuls were themselves french officials, and, as such, the counterparts of ottoman officials. they therefore had contacts with the upper tier of the state society of trabzon, where procedures were more visibly bureaucratic and less visibly interpersonal. the consuls represented a country where the state system had been used as a weapon to defeat inherited privilege and wealth, even if the jacobinic revolution had recently come to an end. they would have naturally assumed that state officials of trabzon were distinct from and opposed to its local elites. the consuls were assigned the task of implementing the terms of commercial treaties and agreements that had been negotiated between higher state officials of the two centralized governments. this task became meaningless, however, insofar as political authority worked through interpersonal association rather than through rules and procedures. but these were not the only reasons the first consuls drew a contrast between state officials and local elites. unlike the french scientific expedition that preceded them, they had arrived in trabzon after the napoleonic invasion of egypt, and with diplomatic credentials. for the muslims of trabzon, the


the sixth scientific conference on technology transfer for development, khartoum, 8 - 10 april 2003 : establishing basic levels of technology transfer for : sudan documentation and library services : challenges and opportunities / by : rafaa ashamallah ghobrial | | 2. it, icts and tt concepts by definition, information technology ( it ) is various technologies, which are used in creation, acquisition, storage, dissemination, retrieval, manipulation and transmission of information. it ( core of technology ) includes computers, various telecommunication devices, media, broadcasting, press, audio - visuals, and micrographs, etc. whereas information and communication technologies ( ict ) include electronic networks - embodying complex hardware and software - linked by a vast array of technical protocols. ict are embedded in networks and services that affect the local and global accumulation and flows of public and private knowledge. according to the united nations economic commission for africa, ict cover internet service provision, telecommunications equipment and services, information technology equipment and services, media and broadcasting, libraries and documentation centres, commercial information providers, network - based information services, and other related information and communication activities ; quite an expansive definition. it is not uncommon to find definitions of ict that are synonymous with those of information technology ( it ). for example, foster defines it as ' the group of technologies that is revolutionizing the handling of information ' and embodies a convergence of interest between electronics, computing and communication. therefore, in this review, the terms it and ict will be used nearly synonymously and in a somewhat broad sense. the terms designate the information processing interaction between providers and users of information and also the development and application of information - processing systems that may not be regarded as part of the development of telecommunications / telematics per se. it is important to emphasize that these technologies only provide new mechanisms for handling an already existing resource : information. therefore, to understand icts, one must first understand information practices and needs. recently, the term " technology transfer ( tt ) " has fallen out of favor among many who view the term as outmoded or too narrow in scope, and who prefer terms such as technology collaboration, technology deployment, technology utilization, etc. these are, for the most part, semantic differences, which do little to increase our understanding of these closely, related phenomena. the term " technology transfer " encompasses such a broad range of activities that a general definition brief enough to be useful is impossible to develop. however, operational definitions of technology transfer are easier to devise in a specific context, and are


, related phenomena. the term " technology transfer " encompasses such a broad range of activities that a general definition brief enough to be useful is impossible to develop. however, operational definitions of technology transfer are easier to devise in a specific context, and are best constructed in terms of specific mechanisms of transfer. a number of different definitions are in use by various institutions and groups, and two of them are included below · the technology transfer society ' s brochure defines technology transfer as " a strategy for achieving organizational goals, as " a process leading to actual transfer. " and as " a discipline involving a multiplicity of skills. " · the american federal laboratory consortium defines technology transfer as " the process by which existing knowledge, facilities or capabilities developed under federal r & d funding are utilized to fulfill public and private needs. " that means " technology transfer consists of efforts and activities intended to result in the application or commercialization of federal laboratory - developed innovations by the private sector, state and local governments, and other domestic users. these activities may include, but are not limited to : o technical / cooperative interactions ( direct technical assistance to private sector users and developers ; personnel exchanges ; resource sharing ; and cooperative research and development agreements ) ; o commercialization activities ( patenting and licensing of innovations and identifying markets and users ) ; and o information exchange ( dissemination to potential technology users of technical information ; papers, articles, reports, seminars, etc. ). "


i rise tonight to speak about the imminent threat posed to a unique part of australia. it is a stretch of the pristine kimberley coastline, which tells the story of our planet and our country from 130 million years ago. it has a record of our planet that was formed at a time when australia, antarctica and new zealand formed a single land mass. this area stretches 200 kilometres along the kimberley coast and provides us with evidence of a diverse range of ancient habitats and the fossilised footprints of the dinosaur inhabitants of that area. some of the largest, if not the largest, ever to walk this earth have left footprints in this place. the isolation of the geography, climate and lack of human interference, and, many of us would argue, the custodianship of the traditional owners have resulted in a historical record of outstanding quality and immeasurable value, one that we are only just discovering. one hundred and thirty million year old prints are found in the broome sandstone along the rocky coastline from south of broome to the end of the dampier peninsula, including of course james price point. it is surreal to think that an area so old and so important is now under threat for resource development, yet we have no full idea of its unique value ; it is still being discovered. the proposed development of the browse lng processing hub intersects with this area of the coastline, bringing with it people, pollution, development and an opening up of this area — this in the name of progress when alternatives exist for this particular processing plant. the evidence of dinosaur footprints on the north - west coast is in fact not a new discovery. however, the tidal zones which see some of these sections of the trackways covered by water for much of the day and much of the year mean that documenting these materials has taken a long time and continues to take some time, and as i understand we are only touching the tip of the iceberg with what we have seen so far. in many sections, there is only a window of two or three hours per day to look at these trackways and to look at the footprints. in fact, some cannot even be seen until very low tides. therefore, you need to use these these amazing records of prehistoric life. a number of scientists have dedicated their time to this, but most have not been able to secure the sustained grant funding or support or interest over the years from governments to complete this work. however, all this is changing as people realise what an invaluable area this is. dr steven salisbury of the university of queensland


not been able to secure the sustained grant funding or support or interest over the years from governments to complete this work. however, all this is changing as people realise what an invaluable area this is. dr steven salisbury of the university of queensland ' s school of integrative biology has undertaken a significant amount of work to document this site, mostly in a volunteer capacity, and will be releasing a major paper on this work later this year. some of the beginnings of his work, and also that of dr tony thulborn, has recently been articulated in a new scientist article. some initial findings offer a taster of what we can expect to hear about in the future. these were presented in broome on saturday night of the weekend just past, at notre dame university in broome. these findings have demonstrated that this area was a regular pathway for at least four types of dinosaurs, perhaps many more, and that there were significant interaction between them. the work of dr salisbury has been complimented, with prior work done by dr tony thulborn which has also been documented in new scientist this month. as dr salisbury has said : " before we ' ve even had a chance to work any of this stuff out, we ' re facing the possibility of losing it. " he likens the area to a jigsaw puzzle : different environments, each with a range of tracks, plants and other fossils. it is a unique area that is apparently incredibly rare on an international scale, all the more so because it has remained untouched and isolated until now. this will not be the case, of course, if the proposed browse hub becomes a reality, given the proximity of the proposed development to the prints. in fact, i have been there and seen some of these footprints — it is an amazing experience — and the tracks of the pipelines of the development will be smack in the middle of some of the most important trackways and prints at this site. ambiguity should not exist about something so important. we should not be putting something so important at risk. aspects of the national heritage council ' s recommended approach to the heritage listing of these dinosaur footprints is not well defined. the queries remain about the boundaries of the heritage area ; what is in, what is out, and what trackways and footprints are in there? the boundaries leave uncertainty about whether or not the heritage area does, in fact, cover the footprints. this is because the outside marine boundary has been tied to the tideline, and in that environment it varies a lot. it has


are in there? the boundaries leave uncertainty about whether or not the heritage area does, in fact, cover the footprints. this is because the outside marine boundary has been tied to the tideline, and in that environment it varies a lot. it has been left up to the developer to define the boundaries. one wonders how the protection system works in this country. the location of the heritage area falls largely short of the area marked for development, avoiding the overlap, which presents further questions about the development. we are extremely concerned that this development will impact on the dinosaur footprints. both dr salisbury and the murdoch university cetacean research unit in western australia have voiced their concerns about the processes undertaken in different assessments on this project. the epa assessment is being strongly questioned by many in the community because of the way it was carried out. these footprints are a unique window to our prehistoric history. this area is also important because it is one of the only places — if not the only place — in the world where aboriginal culture intersects with our prehistoric history, and with dinosaur footprints and trackways. the dinosaur footprints and trackways have been woven into the song cycles of the custodians and traditional owners of this land. these song cycles go up and down the coast and stretch into central australia. i have seen one of these dinosaur footprints and have been told the story about this particular footprint and fossil, and how it is integral to and wound into the song cycles and the culture of the traditional owners of this land. this is one of the most important areas for dinosaurs and archaeology not just in australia but also internationally, one of the only areas in the world where dinosaurs have helped form the landscape, and we are only just beginning to understand this unique and invaluable archaeological cultural site. and now we have a gas hub that does not need to be located at james price point — smack in the middle of what will turn out to be one of the most important sites for dinosaur footprints and trackways. we have understood only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the value of this site. we are going to be losing it, if this proposal goes ahead, before we even know what is there. how is that intelligent decision making in the year 2012?


bible stories ; religious violence ; " show them no mercy " 1 " when the lord your god brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you may nations... then you must destroy them totally. make no treaty with them and show them no mercy. " deuteronomy 7 : 1 - 2, niv. 1 "... do not leave alive anything that breaths. completely destroy them... as the lord your god has commanded you... " deuteronomy 20 : 16, niv. 1 overview of violence in the hebrew bible : biblical scholar raymond schwager : "... has found 600 passages of explicit violence in the hebrew bible [ a. k. a. old testament ], 1000 verses where god ' s own violent actions of punishment are described, 100 passages where god expressly commands others to kill people, and several stories where god irrationally kills or tries to kill for no apparent reason. violence... is easily the most often mentioned activity in the hebrew bible. " 6 of the many passages in the hebrew scriptures that describe major loss of life, most were conventional wars. four of these events would probably qualify as genocides under most current definitions of the term. they were : the worldwide flood at the time of noah as described in genesis, chapters 6 to 8. from the description, it almost completely wiped out the human race, with the exception of noah, his wife and sons and their the passover incident described in exodus chapters 11 and 12, in which all of the firstborn of all egypt were slaughtered. this included newborns, children, youths, adults, the elderly - - both human and animal. the conquest of canaan, in which god ordered the hebrews to completely canaanite people - - again from the elderly to newborns and fetuses. this is described throughout the book of joshua as occurring in jericho and other the near extermination of the entire tribe of benjamin by the remaining 11 tribes, triggered by the serial rape and murder of a priest ' s concubine by a see judges, chapter 20. the first three of the above genocides have at least three factors the bible explains that god was primarily responsible. many liberal christians, liberal jews, historians and biblical archaeologists believe that all three are religious myths - - stories of great spiritual significance about events that never actually happened. jewish and christian conservatives generally believe in that the authors of the bible were inspired by god and thus their writings are inerrant


historians and biblical archaeologists believe that all three are religious myths - - stories of great spiritual significance about events that never actually happened. jewish and christian conservatives generally believe in that the authors of the bible were inspired by god and thus their writings are inerrant. they believe that the genocides happened exactly as described in the bible. in addition, the book of revelation, as interpreted by christian dispensationalists, predicts that a massive genocide will occur at some time in our future, in association with the war of armageddon and the end of the world as we know it ( teotwawki ). if it were to happen in the near future, on the order of two billion people will die. in modern times, genocide is generally regarded as the most serious, reprehensible, horrifying and disgusting crime of which humans are capable. those responsible are considered to be sub - human pariahs. at first glance, there seems to be a conflict between concept of god as a loving, caring, beneficent deity, and his responsibility in causing or ordering these theologians have attempted to resolve this apparent conflict for millennia. it is part of a larger conflict called theodicy : why doesn ' t an all - good god prevent evil?


an oil executive once observed that burning oil for energy is like burning picassos for heat. oil is extraordinarily valuable as the basis for so many products we use every day that the thought of simply burning it ought to be unthinkable. so versatile are oil molecules that they can be transformed into substances that serve as clothing, medicines, building materials, carpet, skin care products, sporting goods, agricultural chemicals, perfumes, and myriad other products. increasingly, when we make oil - based products for homes and businesses, we are finding ways to reuse those products or recycle the materials they are made from ( think : recyclable plastics ). but, burning oil is always a one - time, irreversible act that leaves nothing of value behind and produces greenhouse gases and pollutants that harm us. and yet, because oil remains the most cost - effective and widely available source of liquid fuels, we are hooked on it for transportation with little prospect of substitutes on the scale we would require - - unless we consider electricity. it is worth remembering that electricity was a strong contender for powering automobiles at the beginning of the last century and that it ran the trolleys of the era ( and still runs many today ). electricity was actually preferred over gasoline for powering cars at the time, especially cars that were used exclusively for local trips. battery exchange was already available as a quick way to " charge " a car. but improvements in the internal combustion engine and the increasing availability and affordability of gasoline led to the extinction of the electric car no later than the 1930s. more recently, despite all the hand waving about marginal gains in u. s. oil production, we have been experiencing a plateau in worldwide oil production since 2005. ongoing tightness in oil supplies has led to high prices for gasoline and diesel, and so the world is turning once again to electricity to power transportation. of course, many hybrid gas - electric vehicles are already in use, and some all - electric vehicles are now being produced for the mass market. but in a world increasingly faced with energy constraints and climate change, continuing to rely on the automobile as the main source of transportation may be a poor policy choice. first, astute observers will note that electric vehicles of whatever kind are actually powered primarily by fossil fuels. according to the u. s. energy information administration two - thirds of all electric power worldwide is generated using fossil fuels. that means coal and natural gas are being burned to produce the lion ' s share of electricity. some oil


primarily by fossil fuels. according to the u. s. energy information administration two - thirds of all electric power worldwide is generated using fossil fuels. that means coal and natural gas are being burned to produce the lion ' s share of electricity. some oil is still used, especially in countries that export it and so have cheap supplies available to them. to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions, we would have to burn less overall fossil fuel. only one - third of the heat energy produced in a typical fossil - fueled power plant actually gets turned into electricity. the rest is expelled as waste heat which is why we see huge volumes of steam coming from cooling towers wherever fossil - fueled generating plants operate. were it not for the fact that renewable energy can be employed to make electricity, electric - powered vehicles on a mass scale would provide little advantage when it comes to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. these vehicles would, however, still reduce dependence on petroleum. there are two obvious moves that would substantially reduce our reliance on fossil - fuel produced electricity. one already mentioned would be vastly expanding renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydroelectric. naturally, there are the problems of load - balancing and storage related to intermittent power sources such as wind and solar. these problems would have to be overcome in the long term in order to allow the electrification of transportation based primarily on renewable energy. but, there are plausible paths to such an outcome, especially if overall reductions in energy use are part of the path, something i ' ll discuss below. naturally, nuclear generated electricity can also be used to power vehicles. but i am doubtful that in the post - fukushima era, nuclear power will be a viable option for increasing nonfossil fuel - based electricity production, both for political and technical reasons. a second move that would reduce our reliance on fossil - fuel based electricity would be a vast expansion of our mass transit systems. done properly, this expansion would reduce overall energy use in transportation by moving people from energy - intensive automobiles into more efficient mass transit. an overall reduction in energy use is important because, for many reasons, it is unlikely that renewable energy production will be able to match the huge quantities of energy we currently get from fossil fuels. the expansion of mass transit would need to be executed in a way that would make such systems so ubiquitous, convenient and inviting that people would prefer them over cars as many do in major american and european cities. much of the mass transit infrastructure can run on electricity and already does including electric - powered subways, commuter trains, buses and trams. to


ubiquitous, convenient and inviting that people would prefer them over cars as many do in major american and european cities. much of the mass transit infrastructure can run on electricity and already does including electric - powered subways, commuter trains, buses and trams. to that infrastructure we would need to add electric - powered, high - speed passenger rail service between major cities. that ' s already in place in europe and japan. in the united states such a high - speed rail system would reduce the need for short - haul air travel and thus reduce jet fuel use. and, we ' d want to expand and electrify freight traffic over rails, something that would lessen the need for long - haul trucking. even in trucking, hybrid trucks are starting to appear in commercial fleets, something that can further reduce use of diesel and gasoline. of course, some modes of transport are not going to be amenable to electric power. electric - powered planes are not impossible, but would probably not be able to carry much weight given the current state of battery technology. ocean - going freighters will likely continue to need liquid fuels, though sails are starting to appear on some to reduce fuel use. on land we will almost certainly need some liquid fuels for four categories of vehicles : rural transport, farm machinery, heavy equipment and emergency vehicles. it probably isn ' t cost - effective to string wires in rural areas for local transportation because population densities are too low. some people are working on electric farm machinery charged using solar cells. but, the work needs to progress further before it can be widely adopted. for some farm tasks, liquid - fueled engines may continue to be the most practical approach for a long time to come. where construction and mining take place away from sources of electricity, heavy equipment will have to operate using liquid fuels. emergency vehicles could use electricity, but would have to have liquid - fuel capabilities in case the electricity is unavailable. in the united states 71 percent of the petroleum products consumed are used in transportation. if the country were able to run its transportation system entirely without oil, the united states would not only cease to import oil, but would have significant surplus oil production. of course, such a change could only take place over many years. but the advantages to such a transition are so numerous that we should not dismiss it as too difficult or costly. only 5 percent of all oil is used to produce petrochemicals - - chemicals which form the basis for the almost miraculous materials and substances that we now take for granted. by ceasing to


should not dismiss it as too difficult or costly. only 5 percent of all oil is used to produce petrochemicals - - chemicals which form the basis for the almost miraculous materials and substances that we now take for granted. by ceasing to burn the bulk of our oil to move goods and people, we could sustain the production of these products for a very long time. and, properly formulated, many could be recycled almost indefinitely. that seems like a much better use of an energy source that doubles as the " renaissance man " of the chemical industry. when you add in the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution ; an end to oil imports for the united states and possibly many other countries adopting the same strategy ; and the financial boost of keeping funds previously spent on imports at home, it ' s hard to see why electrifying transportation would not be a good idea - - so long as it is done with any eye toward increasing renewable energy production while reducing overall energy consumption in the transportation sector. kurt cobb is an author, speaker, and columnist focusing on energy and the environment. he is a regular contributor to the energy voices section of the christian science monitor and author of the peak - oil - themed novel prelude. in addition, he writes columns for the paris - based science news site scitizen, and his work has been featured on energy bulletin, the oil drum, oilprice. com, econ matters, peak oil review, 321energy, common dreams, le monde diplomatique and many other sites. he maintains a blog called resource insights and can be contacted at firstname. lastname @ example. org.


poor befuddled readers of newspapers can ’ t be expected to understand straightforward units of measurement so when it comes to geographical area we journalists have a neat ( where neat means hackneyed ) trick – compare the subject of the article to things the reader might know. traditionally this has been the football pitch as in … ” the beckhams ’ front porch is the size of three football pitches ”. naturally this is no good for really big things. for areas of amazon rainforest felled, the traditional unit of area is wales. see this prime example … the challenges here are immense and interlocking : an area the size of wales is chopped down every year ; the burning of so many trees adds hugely to the greenhouse gases linked to global warming ; global warming itself threatens to shift the weather system and deny the forest the rain it needs to survive. when it comes to darfur there are two conventions for describing its vastness. if writing for a british newspaper, it would be expressed thus … unamid is planning to build a base for monitors in sileia and is running long - range patrols across the territory to show locals that it is serious about their security. but the force only has 9, 000 people to look after an area the size of france. american readers, who presumably aren ’ t sure of the size of france, get texas, as in … the success of the african union mission is critical to allowing aid agencies to help the 2 million people who have been forced into relief camps, said nicki bennett of the british charity oxfam. fewer than 7, 000 soldiers are assigned to an area the size of texas, she said, so more troops are needed. but hang on a minute. has anyone done the maths? well it has been a quiet week, and i have. so i give you the following size comparison … - texas – 696, 200 sq km ( wikipedia ) - france – 547, 030 sq km ( cia factbook ) - spain – 504, 782 sq km ( cia factbook ) - darfur – 493, 180 sq km ( wikipedia ) so there you have it. darfur is in fact almost 200, 000 sq km smaller than texas. or a bit more than two wales smaller than a france. from now on i shall only ever compare its size with that of spain. and will rather tediously be encouraging my colleagues to do likewise. or of course they could compare it with 82, 196, 666 football pitches. ( i ’ ve got a funny


oklahoma trails has several counties and projects up for adoption. if you would be interested in adopting a county or project look at the oklahoma trails. if you find one that you would like to adopt e - mail the state administrator or assistant state administrator. [ being a county or state administrator is fun and rewarding. if you have an interest in the history of oklahoma and the genealogy of it ' s residents please consider it. if you think " there is no way i can do this " there are many people ready, willing and able to help you. it ' s not near as difficult as you might think. ] | texas county was formed at oklahoma statehood ( 16 november 1907 ) from the central one - third of " old beaver county " also known as " no man ' s land ". when the formation of the county was authorized by the constitutional convention of 1907, the county was so named because it was wholly included within the limits of the texas cession of 1850, whereby the ownership of the area was passed from the state of texas to the united states government. from 1850 to 1890, its lands were never attached to any state or territory, never surveyed, and never divided into townships and sections. from 1890 to 1907, it was part of beaver county. | texas county has been a transportation corridor. in the mid - and late - nineteenth century various plains indian tribes traversed the region, including the apache, comanche, kiowa, cheyenne, and arapaho. in the 1880s two cattle trails extended from texas to kansas, passing near hardesty. along one that wound its way from south to north, drovers took their herds from hansford county, texas, to kansas. an east - west trail, called the montana trail or the national trail, developed after the state of kansas banned texas cattle, because they might carry fever ticks. the route left camp ( fort ) supply and crossed the public land strip, turning north into the southeastern corner of colorado. in spring 1888, after creating the town of liberal, kansas, in march, the chicago, kansas and nebraska railway ( soon controlled by the chicago, rock island and pacific system, cri & p ) constructed a line into the public land strip. the railhead was built outside kansas in order to facilitate the shipping of texas herds. therefore, loading pens were constructed at a rail head near present tyrone, and watering facilities were set up a few miles distant at shade ' s well. the pens could accommodate eight thousand head, and the water troughs, twice that many. these


there ’ s a dichotomy, used in linguistics and in literary criticism, used to describe the relationship between words and their referents. the word we speak or write for referent is called “ the signifier ” while referent itself ( the meaning of the word ) is called “ the signified. ” for example, when i say the word “ tree ” to you, i ’ m using a symbolic formation of letters to refer you to the idea of a tree. i say the word, and you picture in your mind that tree. the word that i say has no inherent connection to a tree itself. it ’ s completely arbitrary. when i say “ tree ” to an english speaker, they will have a mental image of a tree similar to the mental image of a tree that a spanish speaker would have if i were to use the spanish verbal symbol for tree : “ arbol. ” that ’ s why if you went to elementary school with a dim - witted bully named jerry ( or if you watch parks and rec ), you likely will not name one of your children jerry. for you, the signified of jerry is distasteful, and you don ’ t want that same signifier to be used for your newborn baby. typically, when we make associations with words, they hark back to the same mental referents. this is often not the case for proper nouns, like the name “ jerry. ” because they refer to specific entities in reality, proper nouns often carry loaded associations. in the case of professional sports teams, every baseball fan feels some connotation accompanying the proper noun “ yankees. ” thus, “ lakers ” as a signifier has come to refer to a professional sports team that, depending on your loyalties, embodies either the totality of human evil as we know it, or the pinnacle of accomplishment in a sports organization. even as a person who maintains a position closer to the former connotation than the latter, i would still not want the lakers to change their name. after all, my signifier is already applied and functioning within my vocabulary. why change it? the same is true for the utah jazz. now, the argument for changing the name for utah ’ s professional basketball team is that it is nonsensical. after all, the word jazz typically refers to a genre of music that emerged in new orleans, and when the name of the team was conceived, it was conceived with that connection in mind. then the team moved to utah, the name


##sical. after all, the word jazz typically refers to a genre of music that emerged in new orleans, and when the name of the team was conceived, it was conceived with that connection in mind. then the team moved to utah, the name stayed with it, and suddenly we have a team name with no apparent association with its location. nonsensical, right? perhaps in the immediate aftermath of the relocation of the team, the decision to keep the name was nonsensical. but now, nonsensical would be to alter the present vocabulary of the nba. to any nba fan in the world, the word “ jazz ” refers to a particular team located in utah, not to miles davis ’ s art form. within the context of the nba, the signified of the word “ jazz ” is the utah jazz – the team built by jerry, john and karl. the team with the tragic luck of reaching its peak during the jordan era. the team that brought us greg ostertag. when jordan pushed off on russell ( and he did push off ), there was not a single person watching that game that considered the word “ jazz ” emblazoned across bryon russell ’ s jersey a misnomer. it was the signifier for a collection of players about to have their heart broken. this remains the case. the signifier “ jazz ” still refers to utah ’ s team, and maybe it doesn ’ t make sense to anyone only casually associated with the team, but it makes sense to those of us who have always heard the word “ jazz ” and thought of our favorite basketball team. there is an entire construct of feelings and ideas associated with the team ’ s name, and the truly senseless act would be to erase those associations with a name change. while i acknowledge new orleans contribution to the landscape of american music, i respectfully assert that the name of utah ’ s nba team matters far more to jazz fans than it does to jazz fans. the borders of jazz nation have long since changed.


and then there ’ s your brain. three pounds of the most complex material we ’ ve discovered in the universe. this is the mission control center that drives the whole operation, gathering dispatches through small portals in the armored bunker of the skull. your brain is built of cells called neurons and glia — hundreds of billions of them. each one of these cells is as complicated as a city. and each one contains the entire human genome and traffics billions of molecules in intricate economies. each cell sends electrical pulses to other cells, up to hundreds of times per second. if you represented each of these trillions and trillions of pulses in your brain by a single photon of light, the combined output would be blinding. the cells are connected to one another in a network of such staggering complexity that it bankrupts human language and necessitates new strains of mathematics. a typical neuron makes about ten thousand connections to neighboring neurons. given the billions of neurons, this means there are as many connections in a single cubic centimeter of brain tissue as there are stars in the milky way galaxy. the three - pound organ in your skull — with its pink consistency of jell - o — is an alien kind of computational material. it is composed of miniaturized, self - configuring parts, and it vastly outstrips anything we ’ ve dreamt of building. so if you ever feel lazy or dull, take heart : you ’ re the busiest, brightest thing on the planet. ours is an incredible story. as far as anyone can tell, we ’ re the only system on the planet so complex that we ’ ve thrown ourselves headlong into the game of deciphering our own programming language. imagine that your desktop computer began to control its own peripheral devices, removed its own cover, and pointed its webcam at its own circuitry. that ’ s us. and what we ’ ve discovered by peering into the skull ranks among the most significant intellectual developments of our species : the recognition that the innumerable facets of our behavior, thoughts, and experience are inseparably yoked to a vast, wet, chemicalelectrical network called the nervous system. the machinery is utterly alien to us, and yet, somehow, it is us. the tremendous magic in 1949, arthur alberts traveled from his home in yonkers, new york, to villages between the gold coast and timbuktu in west africa. he brought his wife, a camera, a jeep, and — because of his love of


1949, arthur alberts traveled from his home in yonkers, new york, to villages between the gold coast and timbuktu in west africa. he brought his wife, a camera, a jeep, and — because of his love of music — a jeep - powered tape recorder. wanting to open the ears of the western world, he recorded some of the most important music ever to come out of africa. but alberts ran into social troubles while using the tape recorder. one west african native heard his voice played back and accused alberts of “ stealing his tongue. ” alberts only narrowly averted being pummeled by taking out a mirror and convincing the man that his tongue was still intact. it ’ s not difficult to see why the natives found the tape recorder so counterintuitive. a vocalization seems ephemeral and ineffable : it is like opening a bag of feathers which scatter on the breeze and can never be retrieved. voices are weightless and odorless, something you cannot hold in your hand. so it comes as a surprise that a voice is physical. if you build a little machine sensitive enough to detect tiny compressions of the molecules in the air, you can capture these density changes and reproduce them later. we call these machines microphones, and every one of the billions of radios on the planet is proudly serving up bags of feathers once thought irretrievable. when alberts played the music back from the tape recorder, one west african tribesman depicted the feat as “ tremendous magic. ” and so it goes with thoughts. what exactly is a thought? it doesn ’ t seem to weigh anything. it feels ephemeral and ineffable. you wouldn ’ t think that a thought has a shape or smell or any sort of physical instantiation. thoughts seem to be a kind of tremendous magic. but just like voices, thoughts are underpinned by physical stuff. we know this because alterations to the brain change the kinds of thoughts we can think. in a state of deep sleep, there are no thoughts. when the brain transitions into dream sleep, there are unbidden, bizarre thoughts. during the day we enjoy our normal, wellaccepted thoughts, which people enthusiastically modulate by spiking the chemical cocktails of the brain with alcohol, narcotics, cigarettes, coffee, or physical exercise. the state of the physical material determines the state of the thoughts. and the physical material is absolutely necessary for normal thinking to tick along. if you were to


chemical cocktails of the brain with alcohol, narcotics, cigarettes, coffee, or physical exercise. the state of the physical material determines the state of the thoughts. and the physical material is absolutely necessary for normal thinking to tick along. if you were to injure your pinkie in an accident you ’ d be distressed, but your conscious experience would be no different. by contrast, if you were to damage an equivalently sized piece of brain tissue, this might change your capacity to understand music, name animals, see colors, judge risk, make decisions, read signals from your body, or understand the concept of a mirror — thereby unmasking the strange, veiled workings of the machinery beneath. our hopes, dreams, aspirations, fears, comic instincts, great ideas, fetishes, senses of humor, and desires all emerge from this strange organ — and when the brain changes, so do we. so although it ’ s easy to intuit that thoughts don ’ t have a physical basis, that they are something like feathers on the wind, they in fact depend directly on the integrity of the enigmatic, three - pound mission control center. the first thing we learn from studying our own circuitry is a simple lesson : most of what we do and think and feel is not under our conscious control. the vast jungles of neurons operate their own programs. the conscious you — the i that flickers to life when you wake up in the morning — is the smallest bit of what ’ s transpiring in your brain. although we are dependent on the functioning of the brain for our inner lives, it runs its own show. most of its operations are above the security clearance of the conscious mind. the i simply has no right of entry. your consciousness is like a tiny stowaway on a transatlantic steamship, taking credit for the journey without acknowledging the massive engineering underfoot. this book is about that amazing fact : how we know it, what it means, and what it explains about people, markets, secrets, strippers, retirement accounts, criminals, artists, ulysses, drunkards, stroke victims, gamblers, athletes, bloodhounds, racists, lovers, and every decision you ’ ve ever taken to be yours. * * * in a recent experiment, men were asked to rank how attractive they found photographs of different women ’ s faces. the photos were eight by ten inches, and showed women facing the camera or turned in three - quarter profile. unbeknownst to the men, in half the photos the eyes


to rank how attractive they found photographs of different women ’ s faces. the photos were eight by ten inches, and showed women facing the camera or turned in three - quarter profile. unbeknownst to the men, in half the photos the eyes of the women were dilated, and in the other half they were not. the men were consistently more attracted to the women with dilated eyes. remarkably, the men had no insight into their decision making. none of them said, “ i noticed her pupils were two millimeters larger in this photo than in this other one. ” instead, they simply felt more drawn toward some women than others, for reasons they couldn ’ t quite put a finger on. so who was doing the choosing? in the largely inaccessible workings of the brain, something knew that a woman ’ s dilated eyes correlates with sexual excitement and readiness. their brains knew this, but the men in the study didn ’ t — at least not explicitly. the men may also not have known that their notions of beauty and feelings of attraction are deeply hardwired, steered in the right direction by programs carved by millions of years of natural selection. when the men were choosing the most attractive women, they didn ’ t know that the choice was not theirs, really, but instead the choice of successful programs that had been burned deep into the brain ’ s circuitry over the course of hundreds of thousands of generations. brains are in the business of gathering information and steering behavior appropriately. it doesn ’ t matter whether consciousness is involved in the decision making. and most of the time, it ’ s not. whether we ’ re talking about dilated eyes, jealousy, attraction, the love of fatty foods, or the great idea you had last week, consciousness is the smallest player in the operations of the brain. our brains run mostly on autopilot, and the conscious mind has little access to the giant and mysterious factory that runs below it. you see evidence of this when your foot gets halfway to the brake before you consciously realize that a red toyota is backing out of a driveway on the road ahead of you. you see it when you notice your name spoken in a conversation across the room that you thought you weren ’ t listening to, when you find someone attractive without knowing why, or when your nervous system gives you a “ hunch ” about which choice you should make. the brain is a complex system, but that doesn ’ t mean it ’ s incomprehensible. our neural circuits were carved by natural selection to


or when your nervous system gives you a “ hunch ” about which choice you should make. the brain is a complex system, but that doesn ’ t mean it ’ s incomprehensible. our neural circuits were carved by natural selection to solve problems that our ancestors faced during our species ’ evolutionary history. your brain has been molded by evolutionary pressures just as your spleen and eyes have been. and so has your consciousness. consciousness developed because it was advantageous, but advantageous only in limited amounts. consider the activity that characterizes a nation at any moment. factories churn, telecommunication lines buzz with activity, businesses ship products. people eat constantly. sewer lines direct waste. all across the great stretches of land, police chase criminals. handshakes secure deals. lovers rendezvous. secretaries field calls, teachers profess, athletes compete, doctors operate, bus drivers navigate. you may wish to know what ’ s happening at any moment in your great nation, but you can ’ t possibly take in all the information at once. nor would it be useful, even if you could. you want a summary. so you pick up a newspaper — not a dense paper like the new york times but lighter fare such as usa today. you won ’ t be surprised that none of the details of the activity are listed in the paper ; after all, you want to know the bottom line. you want to know that congress just signed a new tax law that affects your family, but the detailed origin of the idea — involving lawyers and corporations and filibusters — isn ’ t especially important to that new bottom line. and you certainly wouldn ’ t want to know all the details of the food supply of the nation — how the cows are eating and how many are being eaten — you only want to be alerted if there ’ s a spike of mad cow disease. you don ’ t care how the garbage is produced and packed away ; you only care if it ’ s going to end up in your backyard. you don ’ t care about the wiring and infrastructure of the factories ; you only care if the workers are going on strike. that ’ s what you get from reading the newspaper. your conscious mind is that newspaper. your brain buzzes with activity around the clock, and, just like the nation, almost everything transpires locally : small groups are constantly making decisions and sending out messages to other groups. out of these local interactions emerge larger coalitions. by the time you read a mental headline, the important action has already transpired, the


, almost everything transpires locally : small groups are constantly making decisions and sending out messages to other groups. out of these local interactions emerge larger coalitions. by the time you read a mental headline, the important action has already transpired, the deals are done. you have surprisingly little access to what happened behind the scenes. entire political movements gain ground - up support and become unstoppable before you ever catch wind of them as a feeling or an intuition or a thought that strikes you. you ’ re the last one to hear the information. however, you ’ re an odd kind of newspaper reader, reading the headline and taking credit for the idea as though you thought of it first. you gleefully say, “ i just thought of something! ”, when in fact your brain performed an enormous amount of work before your moment of genius struck. when an idea is served up from behind the scenes, your neural circuitry has been working on it for hours or days or years, consolidating information and trying out new combinations. but you take credit without further wonderment at the vast, hidden machinery behind the scenes. and who can blame you for thinking you deserve the credit? the brain works its machinations in secret, conjuring ideas like tremendous magic. it does not allow its colossal operating system to be probed by conscious cognition. the brain runs its show incognito. so who, exactly, deserves the acclaim for a great idea? in 1862, the scottish mathematician james clerk maxwell developed a set of fundamental equations that unified electricity and magnetism. on his deathbed, he coughed up a strange sort of confession, declaring that “ something within him ” discovered the famous equations, not he. he admitted he had no idea how ideas actually came to him — they simply came to him. william blake related a similar experience, reporting of his long narrative poem milton : “ i have written this poem from immediate dictation twelve or sometimes twenty lines at a time without premeditation and even against my will. ” johann wolfgang von goethe claimed to have written his novella the sorrows of young werther with practically no conscious input, as though he were holding a pen that moved on its own. and consider the british poet samuel taylor coleridge. he began using opium in 1796, originally for relief from the pain of tooth - aches and facial neuralgia — but soon he was irreversibly hooked, swigging as much as two quarts of laudanum each week. his poem “ kubla


| spend the time | | outdoors | all you need is a camera or a camera trap so that you can photograph african mammals. the quality of the photographs needs to be good enough to allow us to identify the animal in the image. a handheld gps device is useful, but not essential as we have a link to google maps on our website that allows citizen scientists to identify the location of their photographs. | help update the distribution records of african mammal species. | | add your recent photos of animals photographed in africa. | the broad picture : the aim of mammalmap is to update the distribution records of all african mammal species. through collaborations with professional scientists, conservation organisations, wildlife authorities and citizen scientists across africa, we consolidate all reliable and identifiable evidence ( camera trap records, photographs ) of current mammal locations into an open - access digital database. the database software automatically generates online distribution maps of all recorded species which are instantly visible and searchable. the information consolidated within mammalmap will not only yield crucial information for species conservation policies and landscape conservation policies, but provides an excellent platform for educating the public about african mammals and their conservation challenges. why mammalmap is necessary : in africa, our knowledge of mammal distribution patterns is based largely on historical records. however, the last three centuries have seen extensive human - modification of african landscapes with the associated conversion, compression and fragmentation of natural land. with further land development presenting a likely reality for the future, the effectiveness of mammal conservation efforts depends on ecological records being updated so that they accurately reflect mammal distribution patterns in the 21st century. with mammalmap we plan to conduct these ecological updates over the coming years, by mapping the current distribution of mammal species ( including marine mammals and small mammals ) across africa. how mammalmap contributes to conservation : the conservation benefits of this research are multiple. first, the comparison of these updated distribution records with both historical and future records will enable the detection of species ’ distribution changes in response to human - related and climate - related habitat changes. these change detections will assist the guidance of continent - wide conservation policies and decision making processes. second, the research will promote and facilitate interdisciplinary and international collaboration amongst scientists and conservation practitioners, with potential benefits to the advancement of conservation science. finally, both the project input stage ( data collection ) and output stage ( data dissemination ) will offer interactive, dynamic and widely applicable education tools suitable for both formal and informal education sectors. the where and the how of mammalmap : the area of interest for mammalmap is the whole of africa.


charlotte, nc : information age pub., inc., c2009. xiii, 269 p. ; 25 cm. includes bibliographical references ( p. 233 - 251 ) and indexes. prologue. improvising riffs on dewey and the utopian - - 1. no schools at all - - 2. gatherings - - 3. assembly places - - 4. homelike ambience - - 5. resources - - 6. parents and peers - - 7. all as teachers and learners - - 8. learning community for children - - 9. sharing of gifts - - 10. responsibility for cooperation - - 11. life, not objectives - - 12. toward worthwhile lives - - 13. purpose engrained in activities - - 14. discovery of aptitudes and development of capacities - - 15. inevitability of learning - - 16. analogy to babies - - 17. creating attitudes, not acquiring and storing - - 18. resisting acquisitive society - - 19. overcome acquisitiveness - - 20. cultivating positive capacities to liberate - - 21. enjoyment now, not deferred - - 22. always " is " with faith in " to be " - - 23. all - around development - - 24. sense of positive power - - 25. elimination of fear - - 26. confi dence, eagerness, and faith in human capacity - - 27. faith in the environment - - 28. worthwhile activities - - 29. the " right way " - - 30. from love to justice, " for goodness sake! " - - epilogue : riffs of hopes and dreams - - bibliography. ( source : nielsen book data ) " love, justice, and education " by william h. schubert brings to life key ideas in the work of john dewey and their relevance for the world today. he does this by imagining continuation of highly evocative article that dewey published in the " new york times " in 1933. dewey wrote from the posture of having visited utopia. schubert begins each of thirty short chapters with a phrase or sentence from dewey ' s article, in response to which a continuous flow of utopians consider what is necessary for educational and social reform among earthlings. schubert encourages the utopians, who have studied earthling practices and literatures, to recommend from their experience what earthlings need for educational and social reform and how they can address obstacles to that reform. the utopians speak to myriad implications of dewey ' s report by


by ucilia wang the u. s. environmental protection agency proposed a new plan to boost biofuel production while requiring biofuel makers to cut greenhouse gas emissions during production. the proposal to measure greenhouse gas emissions will surely be controversial. it would require refineries to consider the emissions produced by farming or converting forestland into farmland, transporting the feedstock, blending of the biofuels and the market consumption of the fuels. biofuels would have to be produced with lower emissions than the gasoline and diesel they replace in order meet a national biofuel standard, the proposal said. california approved a similar rule last month when it approved a precedent - setting low - carbon fuel standard. ethanol companies lobbied hard against the mandate to count emissions from changes to land use. vocal opponents to this mandate included big - shot biofuel investor vinod khosla and former presidential candidate and general wesley clark, who also is co - chairman of the biofuel group, growth energy. the epa ' s announcement arrived on the same day that the u. s. department of energy said it would dole out nearly $ 800 million for biofuel research and production projects. the money would provide a good boost for an industry that has struggled to commercialize new technologies or raise enough money to stay in business. president obama on tuesday also directed the doe, the epa and the department of agriculture to form an interagency group to speed up the development and deployment of advanced biofuels, which refer to fuels made from non - food plants such as switch grass and algae, a well as from wood wastes and even garbage from city dumps. the group also will work on promoting the use of flex - fuel vehicles that can run on gasoline as well as gasoline blended with ethanol. the government passed legislation in 2007 that set a goal of producing 36 billion gallons of a variety of biofuels for transportation by 2020. reaching the goal could prove difficult, given the financial and political troubles that corn ethanol producers have been facing and the challenges of commercializing new technologies that new non - food plants or even garbage to make fuels ( see u. s. won ' t meet its own biofuel mandate and lignol ' s cellulose ethanol plant bites the dust ; valero seeks to gobble up verasun ). the legislation led to a flood of private equity investments in producing corn ethanol and developing new types of biofuels. but controversy erupted when environmental groups, cattle ranchers and other industry groups contended that the increase in corn ethanol


up verasun ). the legislation led to a flood of private equity investments in producing corn ethanol and developing new types of biofuels. but controversy erupted when environmental groups, cattle ranchers and other industry groups contended that the increase in corn ethanol production had prompted farmers to plant corn instead of other food crops, thereby jacking up food and feed prices. the mandate also drew fears that more forestland would be converted into cropland for making biofuels. texas even asked the epa to modify the biofuel mandate last year, arguing that the requirement would severely harm the economy and environment ( see epa denies texas ethanol waiver ). on tuesday, the epa reaffirmed the production goal but proposed a new plan to reach it. but the epa changed how the fuels are categorized and the expected production volumes for each category. the proposal also includes metrics for reducing greenhouse gas emissions during biofuel production. by 2022, the refineries are expected to produce 16 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuels, 15 billion of gallons per year of conventional biofuels ( i. e., corn ethanol ), 4 billion gallons of advanced biofuels ( i. e., algal biofuel ) and 1 billion gallons of biomass - based diesel, according to the new proposal. refineries, blenders and oil companies would be have to increase their biofuel output incrementally, the amount of which would be determined by the epa each year. refiners must factor in the emissions results from the biofuel production, including the impact by farming, in order to get credit for meeting the biofuel mandate. the government hopes the new doe funding for biofuels would help the industry move quicker on meeting the national goal. the funding is split into four parts. about $ 480 million is geared for pilot or demonstration projects that combine technologies at each refinery to produce biofuels, heat and power and other bioproducts, according to the u. s. department of energy, which is overseeing the funding process. the doe plans to award money to 10 to 20 applicants that can take their projects up and running in the next three years. another $ 176. 5 million is set for companies that received government funding in the last two years and could use more money to build demonstration or commercial refineries. the doe is setting aside $ 110 million for basic science research. roughly $ 25 million would go to establishing a small refinery for researchers to experiment with their projects. another $ 35 million


september 30, 2005 eileen shields, public information officer, 415 / 554 - 2507 san francisco announces second west nile virus case patient contracted virus outside of san francisco san francisco, ca — san francisco health officials have confirmed the city ’ s second case of west nile virus ( wnv ). the patient, a middle aged woman, is convalescing in a nursing care facility. details of the woman ’ s travel history and the wnv incubation period lead disease control investigators to conclude that the woman contracted the disease in the sacramento area and not in san francisco. city officials expect cases in san francisco residents who travel to where west nile virus transmission is active. “ city residents need to stay vigilant about protecting themselves and their neighbors from mosquito bites by preventing mosquito breeding, ” observed rajiv bhatia, md, director of environmental health. “ the elderly, the very young and anyone with a chronic illness need to be especially careful by taking personal precautions. this is a preventable disease that can have critical outcomes in vulnerable populations. ” over 40 san francisco birds have been tested for the virus this year and none have been found positive. typically, wnv cases in birds precede so far in 2005, 753 human cases of the west nile virus have been reported in 38 california counties, with most of the cases in sacramento and riverside counties. there have been 16 fatalities. in the united states, almost 10, 000 human cases of wnv have been reported since it was first detected in the united states in new york in 1999. most individuals who become infected with wnv will not experience any illness. others will have only mild symptoms, such as fever, fatigue, nausea, headache, muscle aches, skin rash, or swollen lymph nodes. however, wnv can affect the elderly and individuals with compromised immune systems with more severe illness. wnv is transmitted to humans and animals through a mosquito bite. mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds. human - to - human transmission of wnv does not occur. san francisco is taking several steps to limit risks to residents. the city ’ s mosquito control program includes : collecting birds for testing, monitoring ponds and other possible mosquito breeding sites, trapping to detect high numbers of mosquitoes, treating sewer catch basins to prevent breeding, and educating residents and owners about removing standing water from private property and avoiding mosquito bites. individuals can reduce their risk of mosquito - borne diseases by taking - avoid spending time outside when mosquitoes are most


branding is a dangerous concept most people point to the early marking of livestock as the genesis of the modern day concept of branding. if only that were the case. during those more self - reliant times, attaching a mark or family name to a product was a highly symbolic gesture, ascribing one ' s reputation - and assuring personal commitment - to a product ' s value. today ' s modus operandi referred to as " branding " is a corporate, cosmetic undertaking detached frmo people ' s personal character. it took hold in teh 20th century with the advent of mass - produced products and broadcast media. and its image - driven, message - obsessed mindset persists despite the radical changes in the prevailing context and conditions of today ' s marketplace. prior to the industrial age, the marketplace was much like an open - air farmers ' market. consumers and producers gathered to exchange value directly. customers were distrustful and discerning, so they often looked to others in the community for information and guidance. value and trust were the chief determinants of ongoing, successful relationships ; of marketplace success. and as such, producers were obsessed with the value of their offerings and their resulting standing in the community. caring and creativity ruled. during the industrial age, the nature of the marketplace changed. consumers relocated from small communities to jobs in industrial towns, where they relied on retailers for food, clothing and household products. this coincided with the advent of mass production and mass consumption and ushered in an arms length, transactional mindset and orientation. marketers became more concerned with sales and promotion of goods, and less with providing distinctive value as a means to building ongoing relationships. marketers of the time weren ' t trying to match customers ' dispositions and desires with distinctive value. their focus was on driving down unit costs through economies of scale, and using distribution and mass marketing techniques to find customers for their excess production of goods and services. branding was their chief means of differentiating and controlling the distribution of those homogenous offerings. influence and persuasion ruled. well, it ' s deja vu all over again. rapid technological advancements have brought us back to the future. today ' s post - industrial age, like pre - industrial times, is a fragmented marketplace of communities of like - minded people looking for distinctive value. it ' s overflowing with an abundance of products, along with skeptical people who increasingly rely on others in their " communities " for information and guidance. value and trust are, once again, the principal


like - minded people looking for distinctive value. it ' s overflowing with an abundance of products, along with skeptical people who increasingly rely on others in their " communities " for information and guidance. value and trust are, once again, the principal determinants of success. despite this fact, marketers persist in the folly of branding. the pernicious cognitive pull of this powerful industrial - age concept, along with the ecosystem that evolved to perpetuate it, is holding back marketing thought and organizational action. make no mistake : marketers are wasting a lot of time and money because of branding. once great organizations, like gm, hertz and spring, are close to collapse due to the psychological weight of branding. and, like fish with water, most people are completely unaware of it. the danish philosopher soren kierkegaard wrote, " concepts, like individuals, have their histories and are just as incapable of withstanding the ravages of time as are individuals. " the industrial - age concept of branding will ultimately die its timely death. but i wouldn ' t wait. it ' s a danger organizational concept. for the sake of your people and your future, wrestle it to the ground and kill it before it kills you. tom asacker, author of a little less conversation copyright 2010, author retains ownership. all rights reserved.


the borneo island ( kalimantan ) is the world ' s third largest island after greenland and new guinea island. overall width of borneo island is 736, 000 km 2. there are also tracks of mountains in the northeast with the highest mountain is mount kinabalu with peaks as high as 4175 m. the island is tropical with an average temperature of 24 - 25 degrees and crossed by the equator. borneo island has the richest flora in the sunda islands. diversity of trees in a small forest is the same as the diversity of trees throughout the island of papua or south america. this island is the center of plant diversity, as there are 10, 000 to 15, 000 species of flowering plants. the number of flora is as rich as flora throughout africa, although the width of africa 40 times larger than borneo. the diversity of flora on the borneo island includes elements of asia and australia. the diversity of flora on the borneo island is a valuable asset, especially for the indonesian nation and the world at large. in contrast to its market place, may be said to be rather rare and even unique. it is located on the water. of course this will bring impression for foreign tourists and domestic tourists. there are marine parks and diving tourism ( diving ) with a depth of about five meters in the waters of this borneo island. there are a wide variety of marine life here, including the squid lobster, ghostpipe fish, octopus, nudibranchs, seahorses, eel ribbon, scorpion fishes. beaches in the mabul city of borneo island is one of the nominated as the best beaches in 2011. in addition to clear water of this beach, there are also many resorts and villas for tourists who want to stay and you can also enjoy diving in the sea on this beach, so do not be confuse anymore for tourists to visit.