Clipmarks | skwirlinator's clips

Destiny is not a matter of chance

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:24:56 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.
- William Jennings Bryan

Tags: destiny is not a matter of chance, quotes, destiny

HiRes Milkyway Panorama

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:25:37 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: home.arcor.de

The new Milky Way panorama in Hammer-Aitoff projection. Click on the image to see a zoomable Mercator projection.

Science users: here is a medium-resolution (3600×1800) FITS cube with WCS header. For higher resolution, please email me, stating the intended use of the image. Please allow a few days for my reply.
If you use my image in a publication, please acknowledge the source as follows:
Axel Mellinger, A Color All-Sky Panorama Image of the Milky Way, arXiv:0908.4360 [astro-ph.GA] (PASP, accepted for publication, 2009)

Tags: hires milkyway panorama, space

A note about Zombies and Vampires

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:40:23 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: www.coolscifi.com

Just watched 30 Days of Night again.

It has occurred to me that the living dead (Zombies & Vampires) would freeze in winter due to the fact they have no metabolism producing internal heat.

What do you think?

Tags: a note about zombies and vampires, heat, frozen

Common Temperatures

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:02:32 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

mean "surface" temperature of Saturn

143.15 K

−130 °C

−202 °F

mean "surface" temperature of Jupiter

−185.8 °F

−121 °C

152.15 K

coldest temperature recorded on Earth, at Vostok

−128.56 °F

−89.2 °C

183.95 K

mean surface temperature of Mars

−81.4 °F

−63 °C

210.15 K

temperature of frigid ocean waters

30.02 °F

−1.1 °C

272.05 K

melting point of water (at STP)

32 °F

0 °C

273.15 K

recommended temperature for refrigeration of food

41 °F

5 °C

278.15 K

mean surface temperature of the Earth

57.2 °F

14 °C

287.15 K

room temperature

69.8 °F

21 °C

295.15 K

melting point of butter

87.8 °F

31 °C

304.15 K

standard human body temperature

98.6 °F

37 °C

310.15 K

usually fatal human fever temperature

107.6 °F

42 °C

315.15 K

hottest temperature recorded on Earth, at El Azizia

136.4 °F

58 °C

331.15 K

recommended coffee brewing temperature

179.6 °F

82 °C

355.15 K

boiling point of water

212 °F

100 °C

373.15 K

mean surface temperature of Mercury

354.2 °F

179 °C

452.15 K

mean surface temperature of Venus

867.2 °F

464 °C

737.15 K

1220.576 °F

660.32 °C

melting point of aluminium

Tags: temperatures, common values, three scales

List of orders of magnitude for temperature

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:58:11 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

List of orders of magnitude for temperature

absolute zero: free bodies have a zero-point energy, no interaction within or without a thermodynamic system

10^−∞

particular speeds bound paths to exceed size and lifetime of the universe
(see least-energy in orders of magnitude (energy))

10⁻³⁰

macroscopic teleportation of matter

10⁻¹⁸

atomic waves coherent over inches
atomic particles decoherent over inches

10⁻¹⁵

100 pK, lowest temperature ever produced, during the nuclear magnetic ordering at Helsinki University of Technology's Low Temperature Lab
450 pK, lowest temperature sodium Bose-Einstein condensate gas ever achieved in the laboratory, at MIT^[1]

10⁻¹²

nuclear demagnetization

10⁻⁶

grand symmetry-breaking grand unified theory excitations
temperature 10⁻³⁵ seconds after the Big Bang

10²⁷

1.4 × 10³² K, Planck temperature of micro black holes
temperature 5 × 10⁻⁴⁴ seconds after the Big Bang

10³⁰

Landau poles^{[citation needed]}
extradimensional gauge freedom

10³³

Tags: list of orders of magnitude, for temperature, heat

Order of magnitude

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:48:10 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Order of magnitude

quadrillionth

trilliardth

trillionth

billiardth

billionth

milliardth

millionth

thousandth

hundredth

tenth

one

ten

hundred hundred hecto- h 100 10² 2

thousand

million

milliard

billion

billiard

trillion

trilliard

quadrillion septillion yotta- Y 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 10²⁴ 24

Tags: order of magnitude, numbers

Orders of magnitude (time)

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:45:12 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Orders of magnitude (time)

Planck time is the unit of time of the natural units system known as Planck units.^[1]

The shortest or earliest meaningful interval of time that theoretical physics can describe and consequently the youngest the known universe can be measured, after the Big Bang went off. ≈ 5.4 × 10⁻⁴⁴ s.

Yoctosecond, (yocto- + second), is one quadrillionth (in the long scale) or one septillionth (in the short scale) of a second.

0.3 ys: mean life of the W and Z bosons.^{[citation needed]}
0.5 ys: time for top quark decay, according to the Standard Model.
1 ys: time taken for a quark to emit a gluon.
23 ys: half-life of ⁷H.

Zeptosecond, (zepto- + second), is one trillionth of one billionth of one second.

1 exasecond
(32 billion years)

1 annum

1 average year = 1 annum (= 365.24219 SI days)
decade = 10 anna
century = 100 anna

1 gigaannum

aeon = 1,000,000,000 anna
13.7 Ga = 1.37×10¹⁰ a ≈ 13.7 billion years, the approximate age of the Universe

Tags: orders of magnitude, (time), seconds, years

100+ Places for Free Books Online- updated

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:23:53 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: www.techsupportalert.com

100+ Places for Free Books Online

This is a listing of 193 sites that legally offer free books (eBooks) for download or for online viewing.

The listing here is in alphabetical order. Given the size of this list now, it may be easier to search by genre. I have set up 14 pages here of different genres. If you do not see one that covers your interests, let me know and I may be able to put one together.

I have also put together a listing of sites that offer free and legal audio books at

Free Audio Books Online

These listings may be search in the following methods:

Alphabetical Listing - A listing of the site names in alphabetical order

Listing by Genre - Links to pages here for different book genres (14)

Online Local Libraries -These sites have links to local libraries which have much content for members

Tags: 100+ places, free books online, audio, list

The Book of Hallowe’en by Ruth Edna Kelley

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:20:56 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: librivox.org

The Book of Hallowe’en

by Ruth Edna Kelley

This book is intended to give the reader an account of the origin and history of Hallowe’en, how it absorbed some customs belonging to other days in the year,—such as May Day, Midsummer, and Christmas.
The context is illustrated by selections from ancient and modern poetry and prose, related to Hallowe’en ideas. (Summary by Ruth Kelley, from the Preface)

Zip file of the entire book(76MB)

Gutenberg e-text

Total running time: 2:45:03
Read by Sibella Denton

01 – Preface and Sun-Worship. The Sources of Hallowe’en

02 – The Celts: Their Religion and Festivals

03 – Samhain

04 – Pomona

05 – The Coming of Christianity. All Saints’. All Souls’

06 – Origin and Character of Hallowe’en Omens

07 – Hallowe’en Beliefs and Customs in Ireland

08 – Hallowe’en Beliefs And Customs in Scotland and the Hebrides

09 – Hallowe’en Beliefs and Customs in England and Man

10 – Hallowe’en Beliefs and Customs in Wales

16 – “Four Poems”

Tags: book of hallowe’en, by ruth edna kelley, libravox, gutenberg, book

Mystery Space "Ribbon" Found at Solar System's Edge

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:16:48 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Mystery Space "Ribbon" Found at Solar System's Edge

In a discovery that took astronomers by surprise, the first full-sky map of the solar system's edge—more than 9 billion miles (15 billion kilometers) away—has revealed a bright "ribbon" of atoms called ENAs.

The ribbon isn't visible to people and wouldn't harm spacecraft or humans passing through it, IBEX principal investigator David McComas, of the Southwest Research Institute in Texas, told National Geographic News.

One idea is that, wherever the Milky Way's magnetic field presses on the heliosphere, more ENAs are created.

"That could be an unbelievably remarkable coincidence, or it could be a fabulous clue that somehow this external magnetic field is actually imprinting onto our heliosphere through some process that we don't yet understand."

"We've observed about a million ENAs over the six months that it took to make the sky map," McComas said.

Tags: mystery, space "ribbon", found, solar system's edge

Book Industry Prepares For New Business Models

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:48:17 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: www.redorbit.com

Book Industry Prepares For New Business Models

The shift has book publishers facing declining revenues as sales of discs, papers and books are replaced by less costly or free digitally distributed content. The phenomenon is similar to what the music and newspaper industries have experienced in recent years.

But some are welcoming the digital transition.

"There are 1.8 billion Internet users. I'm pretty sure you can find readers for everything."

"There should be a price paid for quality content and yet large media organizations have been submissive in the face of the flat-earthers who insisted that all content should be free all the time," Murdoch said.

Google appears to be close to a final settlement to a lawsuit with U.S. publishers, with a final court hearing scheduled for November 9. The agreement calls for Google to help to set up a books registry to track and compensate rights holders.

Tags: book industry, prepares, new business models

It looks like a giant ...

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:11:21 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: www.redorbit.com

Sparkling at the edge of a giant cloud of gas and dust, the Flame Nebula, also referred to as NGC 2024, is in fact the hideout of a cluster of young, blue, massive stars, whose light sets the gas ablaze. Located 1300 light-years away towards the constellation of Orion, the nebula owes its typical color to the glow of hydrogen atoms, heated by the stars. The latter are obscured by a dark, forked dusty structure in the center of the image and are only revealed by infrared observations.

This image is based on data acquired with the 1.5-meter Danish telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, combining three exposures in the filters B (40 seconds), V (80 seconds) and R (40 seconds).

Tags: space, pictures, flame nebula