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Big Chunk Of The Universe Is Missing -- Again

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 22:02:35 GMT

clipped by: Mohir

Big Chunk Of The Universe Is Missing -- Again

ScienceDaily (Nov. 5, 2007) — Not only has a large chunk of the universe thought to have been found in 2002 apparently gone missing again but it is taking some friends with it, according to new research at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). The new calculations might leave the mass of the universe as much as ten to 20 percent lighter than previously calculated.

The same UAH group that found what was theorized to be a significant fraction of the "missing mass" that binds together the universe has discovered that some x-rays thought to come from intergalactic clouds of "warm" gas are instead probably caused by lightweight electrons.

If the source of so much x-ray energy is tiny electrons instead of hefty atoms, it is as if billions of lights thought to come from billions of aircraft carriers were found instead to come from billions of extremely bright fireflies.

Tags: universe, astronomy, astrophysics

Muslims don't hate the USA

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:25:23 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: More worried that Americans hate them

Clip Source: www.eatbees.com

The Muslims I know are more resigned than angry. Many are convinced that the West is making war on Islam, but after decades of American support for dictators in their part of the world, and centuries of having their religion misunderstood, they don’t expect much.

Far from hating America, my friends are more likely to worry that Americans hate them. They see how Muslims are portrayed in our media. We see angry men burning flags, raising rifles in the air, throwing rocks and blowing things up. In Morocco they refute this with warmth and candor, and exaggerated shows of hospitality.

Yet they worry about us. Is America really a democracy? Are we morally lazy? How we can accept what has been done in our name? They wonder how could we have invaded a nation that was no threat to us. Why haven’t we challenged our leaders? Are we really that spoiled? Are we so concerned with our own comfort, that we tune out what is happening just because it is far away?

Tags: islam, muslims, war on terror

This may be a little late but this is the best costume.

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 10:21:11 GMT

clipped by: coconutshell
clipper's remarks: Come on!! That's genius!! Go, Elliott!

Clip Source: www.cockeyed.com

Hey Rob,

I've been a long-time reader, and, in part, thanks to your amazing creations, I realised the magic of PVC piping!

At work, out department decided to do 80s Trivial Pursuit as our theme. I decided to be Elliot from ET.

And the iconic image is the hooded youngster with ET in his bike basket. The back and front of the bike is done out of PVC pipes and silver paint, while ol' ET himself is actually just a carved Styrofoam face glued onto a paper cone.

I sure hope I can out-pedal the feds!

Keep up great work for science!

Danny Lin, Canada

Tags: e.t., halloween, costume, entertainment, elliott

What a REAR. To Die for.

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 02:26:25 GMT

clipped by: righthand

Clip Source: www.linkinn.com

Edit Wiki

2869 views

2 votes

Tags: photos, images

The 5 Best and Worst Science Based Movies of All Time

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 01:16:51 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: the rest of the list, and more details in the site,
Enjoy

Clip Source: discovermagazine.com

The 5 Best and Worst Science Based Movies of All Time

The Best (Golden Eagles)

1 Gattaca (Andrew Niccol, 1997). Set in the not-too-distant future, without overt preaching or much scientific exposition, Gattaca uses the youthful dreams of Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke) to tell an affectingly human story about the consequences of putting too much faith into DNA, genetic destiny, and stereotypes.

2 Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927). “Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy builds girl” could be the tagline for this stunningly realized early futuristic film, as scientist C. A. Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) replaces the woman he loved with an erotic female robot. But Metropolis goes much deeper than it sounds, with audacious future projections of technology and its impact on society.

3 A tie! The Day the Earth Stood Still (Robert Wise, 1951)

4 A Beautiful Mind (Ron Howard, 2001).

5 Contact (Robert Zemeckis, 1997).

The Worst (Golden TURKEYs)

1 The Core (Jon Amiel, 2003)

2 What the #$*! Do We (K)now!?

Tags: movies, cinema, scienc

The Imminent Collapse Of China

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 07:04:41 GMT

clipped by: ouyangwulong
clipper's remarks: Contrary to popular myth, the Chinese have very little common sense when it comes to business. Virtually no Chinese-run company is internationally competitive.

What's driving the Chinese economy? Pixie dust: The collective power of 1.3 Billion pairs of hands clapping to keep Tinker Bell alive. The business world is as riddled with corruption, nepotism and waste as the government. Often times, there is no difference at all between state and industry.

This will end the same way it did for America in the thirties: with collapse. Investing in companies based only on enthusasim, nationalism, or just excitement and ignorance. (Gee, I'd really like to buy some stocks but I don't know which ones, oh well, let's get these, they have a pretty color, and your cousin works there, doesn't he?)

I'll say it on the record right now: stay away from China if you have a business. Do everything you can to insulate yourself, because this is one house of cards that's gonna come tumbling down, and

Clip Source: www.iht.com

HONG KONG: PetroChina, the state oil and gas giant, became the world's first company to pass $1 trillion in market capitalization when it debuted on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday.

Despite PetroChina's share price trippling on debut in Shanghai and overtaking Exxon Mobil in value, it is about half as profitable as its rival. In the first half of 2007, PetroChina's net income was $10.9 billion, compared to $19.5 billion for Exxon Mobil.

The prices set on the Chinese exchanges, still largely isolated from the rest of the world by regulatory barriers that limit the amount of foreign money going into the stock markets and domestic money permitted to go out, bear little relation to company performance or to markets elsewhere.

The huge valuation underlines the scale of the asset bule that has been building as Chinese investors have dived into the share markets of Shanghai and Shenzhen, unleashing the huge savings in personal bank accounts.

Tags: china, stocks, crazy

Hubble Heritage Image Gallery

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:56:06 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: heritage.stsci.edu

Tags: hubble, astronomy, pictures, space

want to know the real meaning of PEACE?

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:45:24 GMT

clipped by: mugofcoffee
clipper's remarks: Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

"Because," explained the king, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."

Clip Source: www.inspirationpeak.com

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist
who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists
tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there
were only two he really liked, and he had to choose
between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a
perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around
it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds.
All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect
picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged
and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest - in perfect peace.

Tags: peace, love, calm, pictures, king, kingdom, artist.

The Sun Will Set On Our Empire Too

Sun, 04 Nov 2007 15:27:17 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Americans would do well to heed the history of the British and Roman empires.

All nations look back to find a way forward, and Britain looked back especially to Rome. Britons identified with Romans and anticipated that their own empire would eventually decline and fall -- the Old World being superseded by the New. Needless to say, history does not repeat itself. But neither does it stand still.

The United States, as today's sole superpower, has achieved an extraordinary global ascendancy. Yet it too is overstretched, corrupted by luxury, attacked by barbarians, reliant on mercenaries. It has suffered terrible setbacks in Vietnam and Iraq. It faces the challenge of a gigantic new rival. Perhaps, therefore, Americans should at least try to imagine the prospect of their nation's following the British trajectory so that they will be psychologically prepared if and when it happens.

Tags: it, so, will