Clipmarks | egoldstein's Pops

Monster Waves on the Sun are Real

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:01:11 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Years ago, when solar physicists first witnessed a towering wave of hot plasma racing along the sun's surface, they doubted their senses. The scale of the thing was staggering. It rose up higher than Earth itself and rippled out from a central point in a circular pattern millions of kilometers in circumference. Skeptical observers suggested it might be a shadow of some kind—a trick of the eye—but surely not a real wave.

"Now we know," says Joe Gurman of the Solar Physics Lab at the Goddard Space Flight Center. "Solar tsunamis are real."

The twin STEREO spacecraft confirmed their reality in February 2009 when sunspot 11012 unexpectedly erupted. The blast hurled a billion-ton cloud of gas (a "CME") into space and sent a tsunami racing along the sun's surface. STEREO recorded the wave from two positions separated by 90^o, giving researchers an unprecedented view of the event:

A solar tsunami seen by the STEREO spacecraft from orthogonal points of view

Tags: solar system

Our Tax Dollars At Work-Blackwater

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:30:53 GMT

clipped by: mcsmithblack
clipper's remarks: More from the article as follows:
"The Nisour Square shooting was the bloodiest and most controversial episode involving Blackwater in the Iraq war. At midday on Sept. 16, 2007, a Blackwater convoy opened fire on Iraqi civilians in the crowded intersection, spraying automatic weapons fire in ways that investigators later claimed was indiscriminate, and even launching grenades into a nearby school. Seventeen Iraqis were killed and dozens more were wounded."
"Those responses deeply worried Blackwater officials. Before the Nisour Square shootings, the company had operated in Iraq without a license largely because the Iraqi government had never enforced the rules. Being blocked from the country would have been costly — the State Department deal was Blackwater’s single biggest contract. From 2004 through today, the company has collected more than $1.5 billion for its work protecting American diplomats and providing air transportation for them inside Iraq."

"

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Blackwater Said to Pursue Bribes to Iraq After 17 Died

Gary Jackson, left, then the company president, approved bribes for Iraqi officials, former executives say. When Cofer Black, then the vice chairman, center, learned of the scheme, he reportedly confronted the chairman, Erik Prince, right.

WASHINGTON — Top executives at Blackwater Worldwide authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence their criticism and buy their support after a September 2007 episode in which Blackwater security guards fatally shot 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, according to former company officials.

Since 2001, Blackwater has undergone explosive growth, not only from security contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also from classified work for the Central Intelligence Agency that included taking part in a now defunct program to assassinate leaders of Al Qaeda and to load missiles on Predator drones.

Law in China Forces Kids to Salute Each Passing Car

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:06:26 GMT

clipped by: infidel70

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

HUANGPING, China — All the students at Luolang Elementary School, a yellow-and-orange concrete structure off a winding mountain road in southern China, know the key rules: Do not run in the halls. Take your seat before the bell rings. Raise your hand to ask a question.

And oh, yes: Salute every passing car on your way to and from school.

Education officials promoted the saluting edict to reduce traffic accidents and teach children courtesy. Critics, who have posted thousands of negative comments about the policy on China’s electronic bulletin boards, beg to differ. “This is just pitiful,” wrote one in a post last year. Only inept officials would burden children with such a requirement rather than install speed bumps, others insisted.

Study shows how substance in grapes may squeeze out diabetes

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:05:28 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

A naturally produced molecule called resveratrol, found in the skin of red grapes, has been shown to lower insulin levels in mice when injected directly into the brain, even when the animals ate a high-fat diet.

The findings from a new UT Southwestern Medical Center study suggest that when acting directly on certain proteins in the brain, resveratrol may offer some protection against diabetes. Prior research has shown that the compound exerts anti-diabetic actions when given orally to animals with type 2 diabetes (non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus), but it has been unclear which tissues in the body mediated these effects.

"Our study shows that the brain plays an important role in mediating resveratrol's anti-diabetic actions, and it does so independent of changes in food intake and body weight," said Dr. Roberto Coppari, assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study appearing online and in the December issue of Endocrinology.

Oh yes, I remember those days

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:54:57 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.refdesk.com

"I'm not young enough to know everything." - Sir James Matthew Barrie

Clipping Comments: Living in the USA - The Psychosocial Implications of Hair

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 01:36:09 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: more @ clip source

Where to begin in helping them understand that they are, in fact, reinforcing negative and damaging stereotypes about “good” and “bad” hair? That they are encouraging discourses of self-hatred in their young students, rather than self-pride? That instead of being flattered to be called a princess, they should be fighting the stereotypes that beauty is about approximating Whiteness?

Clip Source: www.racialicious.com

Leah wrote:

I teach university students who are becoming elementary school teachers. Most of my students come from White, middle class backgrounds, and have largely grown up with people who look like one another. For the past few years, this means the ubiquitous long, silky, straight (often flat-ironed, often bleached/highlighted blonde) hair, worn down every day. Every year many of these university students gush about how the African American children in their internship classrooms just “loooooove” their White hair. It’s sadly predictable. They say things like, “My kids just loooove my straight hair! They’ve never touched hair like mine, so they’re always touching it!” And they beam with a huge smile, as if they’re promoting interracial understanding by encouraging a child of color to perceive as beautiful hair that is different from their own textured hair. And the comment that makes me cringe the most: “My kids tell me I look like a princess because of my hair!’

Tags: beauty, psychosocial, stereotypes, whiteness, african american, children, living in the usa

Emperor Nero's 'rotating' dining room found

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:38:46 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad
clipper's remarks: Now if they could only find his fiddle.

Clip Source: www.earthtimes.org

Category : Culture (General)

Emperor Nero's 'rotating' dining room found, archaeologists say

Rome - Architects in Rome said Tuesday they have unearthed a "rotating room" believed to have been built by the Roman Emperor Nero to entertain dinner guests. The "unprecedented" find was made during excavations in the Domus Aurea or "Golden House" on the Palatine Hill - one of Ancient Rome's fabled Seven Hills - the site's supervisor Maria Antonietta Tomei, said.

Experts believe the room, supported by a 4-metre diameter pillar, was rotated day and night to imitate the Earth's movement.

To date, excavations have only brought to light the foundation of the room, which, the experts say, could be the one described by the ancient historian Suetonius in his Lives of the Caesars.

It was one of the many attractions on show at the Domus Aurea, built by the notorious Nero on the ruins of a fire that destroyed much of the city in 64 AD.

How Long to Form a Habit?

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:19:16 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: Research reveals a curved relationship between practice and automaticity

Clip Source: www.spring.org.uk

How Long to Form a Habit?

Research reveals a curved relationship between practice and automaticity.

Say you want to create a new habit, whether it's taking more exercise, eating more healthily or writing a blog post every day, how often does it need to be performed before it no longer requires Herculean self-control?

Clearly it's going to depend on the type of habit you're trying to form and how single-minded you are in pursuing your goal. But are there any general guidelines for how long it takes before behaviours become automatic?

What this study reveals is that when we want to develop a relatively simple habit like eating a piece of fruit each day or taking a 10 minute walk, it could take us over two months of daily repetitions before the behaviour becomes a habit. And, while this research suggests that skipping single days isn't detrimental in the long-term, it's those early repetitions that give us the greatest boost in automaticity.

Clipmarks beating the spammers?

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:09:31 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: Well done and thanks to the clipdaddies et al for the great improvement in recent days.

Clip Source: clipmarks.com

Cellphones rated by radiatiion output levels.

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:27:37 GMT

clipped by: violetnightshade

Clip Source: www.engadget.com

Website rates best and worst cellphones by radiation output levels -- how does yours stack up?

You're surely aware that your cellphone bleeds radiation into your face the whole time you're on the phone with your mom, best friend or lover, right? Yes, it's a fact we try not to think about most of the time, but now there's a tool out there on the internets for the more reality-facing folks among us. The Environmental Working Group's launched a website dedicated to rating cellphones on their radiation output alone.

So hit the read link and tell us, how does your phone rate?

Tags: cellphones, radiation, warnings, ratings, consumer info, informative

What happens when the human body is pushed to the limits of its enduran?

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:48:15 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: Where does the breaking point lie? And what happens when you cross the line

Clip Source: www.mindhacks.com

Ultra marathon for the mind:

An extraordinary 2006 article from The New York Times profiles ultra-endurance cyclist Jure Robič who apparently regularly loses his sanity during his races - literally becoming psychotic as he pushes himself to the limit.

The craziness is methodical, however, and Robic and his crew know its pattern by heart. Around Day 2 of a typical weeklong race, his speech goes staccato. By Day 3, he is belligerent and sometimes paranoid. His short-term memory vanishes, and he weeps uncontrollably. The last days are marked by hallucinations

The question is, How? Does he lose sanity because he pushes himself too far, or does he push himself too far because he loses sanity? Robic is the latest and perhaps most intriguing embodiment of the old questions: What happens when the human body is pushed to the limits of its endurance? Where does the breaking point lie? And what happens when you cross the line

Why the DOW is Hitting 10,000 While Everyone Else is Cutting Back

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:54:48 GMT

clipped by: leevardi

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Why the Dow is Hitting 10,000 While Everyone Else is Cutting Back

So how can the Dow be flirting with 10,000 when consumers, who make up 70 percent of the economy, have had to cut way back on buying because they have no money? Jobs continue to disappear. One out of six Americans is either unemployed or underemployed. Homes can no longer function as piggy banks because they're worth almost a third less than they were two years ago. And for the first time in more than a decade, Americans are now having to pay down their debts and start to save.

Even more curious, how can the Dow be so far up when every business and Wall Street executive I come across tells me government is crushing the economy with its huge deficits, and its supposed "takeover" of health care, autos, housing, energy, and finance? Their anguished cries of "socialism" are almost drowning out all their cheering over the surging Dow.

Soda is the new tobacco.

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:42:59 GMT

clipped by: aklimento
clipper's remarks: Another example of wise step by real leader and politician, who care about people and their health, not pockets of prospective campaign contributors. Any sugar is addictive, but corn starch with fructose in liquid form of syrup is something from the hell. And it is included in countless readily available cheap (and some of them not) foods, making them a weapon of mass destruction. Who entitled to guard us from this shameless brazen aggression if not elected popular leader? Ban this poison, our obesity - if only obesity, but that alone is more than enough - is direct outcome of this aggression.

Clip Source: www.sfgate.com

Home of the San Francisco Chronicle

Newsom wants to charge stores that sell sodas

(09-17) 20:36 PDT -- Calling soda the new tobacco, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will introduce legislation this fall that would charge a fee to retailers that sell sugary beverages.

Newsom would need voter approval to tax individual cans of soda and sugary juice, but only needs approval from the Board of Supervisors to levy a fee on retailers. His legislation would charge grocery stores like Safeway and big-box stores, but would not affect restaurants that serve sodas.

"We know we'll be sued," he said. "But I really believe this is important to do."

"Soda is cheap, sweet and irresistibly marketed to teens," said Susan Babey, the study's lead author

Jim Lazarus, vice president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, said the group opposes the soda tax.

He said he considers a soda fee an incremental step, and that other sugary foods could someday have a surcharge as well.

Tags: soda, new tobacco, aggression, soda tax, newsom, leader, corn starch, fructose, in liquid form, corn syrup

Who is on Amplify?

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:40:32 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: I'd like to connect with you on Amplify if you're on it. I can't seem to figure out how to do it directly at Amplify (unless I stumble upon people on my own through its home page). So go ahead and add your Amplify page in the comments, here is mine: http://arif.amplify.com/

Clip Source: amplify.com

Tags: amplify, clipmarks, blogs

With Friends Like Maureen Dowd, Obama Doesn’t Need Enemies

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 06:08:07 GMT

clipped by: infidel70
clipper's remarks: But back to you Maureen…sorry dear, but you are projecting.

Clip Source: pajamasmedia.com

The good news for the White House is that some of President Obama’s critics are a blessing. But the bad news is that some of his supporters are a curse.

Meanwhile, his supporters are so blind to his faults that they hurt him by making excuses and slandering opponents instead of offering constructive criticism.

When Obama supporters pounce on Republican missteps and try to deflect any negative criticism by making the GOP the issue, they’re not doing the president any favors. In fact, all they’re doing is glossing over the flaws in Obama’s health care plan and the pitiful way in which he has handled the issue.

Nor are Obama’s supporters doing him much good when they try to portray his critics as defective in some way — intolerant, racist, mean-spirited

Americans see through that.

Clip Source: pajamasmedia.com

my friend has forgotten how disrespectful groups such as Code Pink or MoveOn.org were during the Bush administration toward Alberto Gonzales

Was that about racism too?