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Rise of the New Energy World Order

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:27:44 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: long article but very informative

Oil at $110 a barrel. Gasoline at $3.35 (or more) per gallon. Diesel fuel at $4 per gallon. Independent truckers forced off the road. Home heating oil rising to unconscionable price levels. Jet fuel so expensive that three low-cost airlines stopped flying in the past few weeks. This is just a taste of the latest energy news, signaling a profound change in how all of us, in this country and around the world, are going to live

supplies are not exactly disappearing — though that will occur sooner or later — but they are not growing fast enough to satisfy soaring global demand.

Here, in a nutshell, are five key forces in this new world order which will change our planet:

1. Intense competition between older and newer economic powers for available supplies of energy:

2. The insufficiency of primary energy supplies:

3. The painfully slow development of energy alternatives:

4. A steady migration of power and wealth from energy-deficit to energy-surplus nations:

5. A Growing Risk of Conflict:

You've Got a Friend

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:35:07 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vY1peG8gHQ

Clip Source: www.azlyrics.com

"You've Got A Friend"

When you're down and troubled
And you need a helping hand
And nothing, nothing is going right
Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there

To brighten up even your darkest night

You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You've got a friend

If the sky above you
Should turn dark and full of clouds
And that old north wind should begin to blow
Keep your head together
And call my name out loud, yeah

Soon I'll be knocking upon your door

When people can be so cold
They'll hurt you, and desert you
And take your soul if you let them

Oh yeah, but don't you let them

You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call

And I'll be there, yes I will.

Tags: friendship, carole king

I Wish I Could Read Japanese...

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:01:16 GMT

clipped by: carrerinyes
clipper's remarks: ...because I thought these were so beautiful! It would be cool to credit the photographer/artist in the title...

Clip Source: www.geocities.jp

建物のある風景３へ続く

てんこもり。に戻る　　　　　　　　写真保管庫に戻る

Before the Big Bang - the Big Bounce

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:40:14 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: Now, however, Dr Bojowald and fellow physicists are exploring territory unknown even to Einstein - the time before the Big Bang - using his new theory, called Loop Quantum Cosmology.

An analysis of this, one of a series of newly-emerging theories which combine Einstein's theory of gravity (general relativity) with that of the subatomic world (quantum theory), "is supposed to provide a non-singular framework in which one could address the question of what was there before the Big Bang," he says.

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Scientists have obtained their first glimpse of what happened before the Big Bang of creation, revealing there was a "Big Bounce".

The new work suggests that time existed before the Big Bang, when a more ancient universe collapsed to give birth to the one we live in today.

Ours is the latest universe in a series that expanded, then collapsed, before another - slightly different cosmos - was born anew, though many details are obscure and, the theory concludes, will always remain that way.

As described by Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, which dates back almost a century, the origin of the Big Bang is a mathematically nonsensical state - a "singularity" of zero volume that nevertheless contained infinite density and infinitely large energy.

"The usual understanding was that, according to general relativity, everything including time itself started with the Big Bang such that it simply does not make sense to ask what was there before," says Dr Bojowald.

Tags: big bang, time, physics

Is Conscious Choice an Illusion?

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:08:27 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

How much of the decision making process do we actually have a say in? That’s the question being raised thanks to new research coming out of the Max Planck Institute. Using brain scanners, researchers were able to predict people’s decisions seven seconds before the test subjects were even aware of making them.

The decision is not necessarily one that involves a lot of mental preparation – whether to hit a button with your left or right hand – so whether this study is representative of our own self-direction is up for debate. Nevertheless, questions are naturally going to be raised over whether we have free will at all, or whether conscious choice is just an illusion.

"Your decisions are strongly prepared by brain activity. By the time consciousness kicks in, most of the work has already been done," said study co-author John-Dylan Haynes, a Max Planck Institute neuroscientist.

Tags: consciousness?, choice, free will?, illusion

Male Masturbation Reduces Cancer Risk

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:39:41 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: Handy to know.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Men could reduce their risk of developing prostate cancer through regular masturbation, researchers suggest.

They say cancer-causing chemicals could build up in the prostate if men do not ejaculate regularly.

And they say sexual intercourse may not have the same protective effect because of the possibility of contracting a sexually transmitted infection, which could increase men's cancer risk.

They found those who had ejaculated the most between the ages of 20 and 50 were the least likely to develop the cancer.

The protective effect was greatest while the men were in their 20s.

The researchers suggest that ejaculating may prevent carcinogens accumulating in the prostate gland.

Anthony Smith, deputy director of the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University in Melbourne, said

"Masturbation is part of people's sexual repertoire.

"If these findings hold up, then it's perfectly reasonable that men should be encouraged to masturbate,"

Tags: masturbation

Profit and Loss

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:18:05 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: business.timesonline.co.uk

Almost 600,000 people will be unable to refinance their debts this year after finding their usual lines of credit cut off, forcing them to go bust or sign expensive “bankruptcy-lite” agreements.

About one million Britons are struggling with £25 billion of unsecured borrowings that they cannot repay – “problem debt” averaging £25,000 each

Clip Source: business.timesonline.co.uk

Tesco predicted yesterday that it would be one of the fastest-growing big retailers in the world this year as it hit back at critics and reported annual pretax profits of nearly £3 billion.

Tags: ho hum

Fairytale Weddings

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:15:52 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk

As marriage rates slump to a 144-year low, a new breed of bride has emerged: the fairytale fantasist.

Once upon a time in twenty-first century Essex, the grounds of Leez Priory became a Shakespearean wood. Thumb-sized fairies clung to chairs carved from tree trunks, and statues of fantasy creatures stood among meandering nymphs wearing Venetian-style masks and soft, floating gowns. But this Midsummer Night's Dream scene was no theatrical performance. It was the enchanted forest-themed wedding day of Zoe Young, 26, and Jason Nicholls, 40.

Danger, then, looms not in fantasy days but in the promise that fairytale weddings are a marker of how married life will play out. "We might choose a fantasy wedding in part as a talisman against a fear that our marriage will be dead and destructive," says Abse. She warns that weddings days that are "wrapped up in the individual's fantasy life might not herald a state of mind that was prepared for the challenges ahead."

Tags: ho hum

The Fantasitic Appeal of Fantasy

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:07:15 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: Good overview article. I'd go further, and say that fantasy is a portal onto the centrality of phantasy.

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

The more rational the world gets, the more we demand the irrational in our fiction, says Mark Chadbourn

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

don't write fantasy fiction simply to provide a trap-door from reality. For me, the genre is as much about the world around us as EastEnders.

But instead of coming slap-bang up against it, fantasy charts the unconscious hopes and aspirations of our modern society through symbolism and allegory in story-forms as old as humanity.

It's about turning off the mobile phone and the computer and remembering who we are in the deepest, darkest parts of ourselves.

As Aldous Huxley said, "A totally unmystical world would be a world totally blind and insane."

The Burning Man, by Mark Chadbourn is published next week by Victor Gollancz, £18.99

Tags: fantasy, phantasy

Possible Big Rise in Sea Levels Forecast

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:03:24 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Sea levels could rise by up to one-and-a-half metres by the end of this century, according to a new scientific analysis.

"For the past 2,000 years, the [global average] sea level was very stable, it only varied by about 20cm," said Svetlana Jevrejeva from the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (POL), near Liverpool, UK.

"But by the end of the century, we predict it will rise by between 0.8m and 1.5m.

"The rapid rise in the coming years is associated with the rapid melting of ice sheets."

"We know what's happening today from satellite data, but trying to predict what that means in the future is very difficult science," noted Steve Nerem from the University of Colorado,

"There's a lot of evidence out there that we're going to see at least a metre of sea level rise by 2100," he said.

a rise of even a metre could have major implications for low-lying countries

90% of Bangladesh is within a metre or so of sea level

an awful lot of people.

Tags: sea levels

Education and Thinking May Protect against Dementia

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:58:50 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Having a large hippocampus - a part of the brain involved with memory - seems to provide protection against the symptoms of dementia, a study suggests.

The hippocampus is the magenta area at the base of this brain

The hippocampus is located close to the junction with the spinal cord and is believed to "encode" experiences so they can be stored as long-term memories in another part of the brain.

This work is consistent with increasing research that has shown that people with higher levels of education or cognitive reserve may be protected from some of the effects of dementia

Professor Clive Ballard
Alzheimer's Society

Tags: hippocampus, dementia