The Ultimate Field Guide to Subatomic Particles This is, for the most part, an accurate article, except for a few statements. "Exactly what makes a fermion a fermion is a bit complicated, but suffice it to say that fermions are all the particles that deal with matter. So what about the last group of elementary particles, the ones that don't deal with matter? These are the bosons, and they deal with the fundamental forces of the universe." The statements above can be misinterpreted as suggesting that fermions are defined as particles that deal with matter and bosons are defined as particles that deal with forces. And that is not true. Particles that deal with matter are fermions and particles that carry the fundamental forces are bosons. What fermions and bosons really are have to do with two apparently unrelated (but actually related) particle properties: spin and statistics. "There are four known bosons" See, this is an example of the misconception I just mentioned. According to special relativity, not general relativity.
How to See the Stars on the Longest Winter Nights | Winter Constellations &a... We are now only a few weeks away from the winter solstice Dec. 22. Anyone who lives in northern latitudes might have noticed how late the sun is rising and how early the sun is setting lately, especially since the end of Daylight Saving Time earlier this month. Most people think of the winter solstice as the shortest day of the year, but stargazers tend to see it as the longest night of the year. One result of this long night, combined with the southern position of the sun, is that a very large part of the night sky can be seen in one night. Then, as morning twilight begins, the spring constellations are visible: Hercules, Boötes, and Virgo. Long December nights During the months between autumn equinox and winter solstice, the lengthening of the night almost keeps pace with the sun’s movement against the stars, so that the constellations visible at the end of evening twilight hardly seem to change. The long December nights allow us to take advantage of these celestial oddities.
How to Get a Copy of Your FBI The Freedom of Information Act is a powerful thing. If you've ever wanted to know just what those guvmint bastards have on you, anyway, here's your chance. Just fill in the italics in this form letter with the appropriate information, get your signature notarized, send it off, and you're in business! This should be free, though if your search returns reams of information, you may be charged 5 cents per page in duplication fees. Your Name Today's Date Your Address Line 2 of Your Address Federal Bureau of Investigation Records Resources Division - Attn.: FOIA/PA Office J. This is a request for records under both the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act. My full name is: Your Name. FOIA/PA statutes provide that even if some of the requested material is properly exempt from mandatory disclosure, all segregable portions must be released. I hereby agree to pay reasonable costs associated with this request up to a maximum of $30. Sincerely,Your Signature Your Printed Name
Lucid Dreaming/Using Dream stabilization[edit] Once you are able to dream lucidly, you may find that it is difficult to stay in the dream; for example, you may wake instantly or the dream may start “fading” which is characterized by loss or degradation of any of the senses, especially vision. Alternatively, a new lucid dreamer could easily forget that they are in a dream, as a result of the shock of the sensation. Don't worry if you wake immediately after becoming lucid. You can avoid more gradual fadings by stimulating your senses. Ideally you should be able to use the techniques below to stabilize your dream before it starts to fade (or “black out”). If you still can’t stabilize your dream, you may decide to try and wake up with the aim of remembering your dream as accurately as possible while its still fresh in your mind. Hand Touching[edit] Rub your hands together and concentrate on the rubbing. Spinning[edit] You spin around in your dream much as you would if you suddenly want to feel dizzy in real life.
How It Works: The Light-Driven Computer The speed of light is as fast as it gets, and IBM researchers are exploiting that fact to give supercomputers a boost. They've made the smallest-yet silicon chips that use light to transmit information. Most parts of the chip resemble those found on any other commercial chip. The parts that process or transform information—in other words, the parts that do the actual computing—still deploy electrons moving through semiconductor gates. One other benefit, says IBM engineer Will Green: The optical interconnects use significantly less power, making them cheaper to run. Click the image above to see inside IBM's optical microchip as it turns electrical pulses into light and back again. More How It Works: This month's How It Works section is brought to you by Digi-Key.
Physics Flash Animations We have been increasingly using Flash animations for illustrating Physics content. This page provides access to those animations which may be of general interest. The animations will appear in a separate window. The animations are sorted by category, and the file size of each animation is included in the listing. In addition, I have prepared a small tutorial in using Flash to do Physics animations. LInks to versions of these animations in other languages, other links, and license information appear towards the bottom of this page. The Animations There are 99 animations listed below. Other Languages and Links These animations have been translated into Catalan, Spanish and Basque: En aquest enllaç podeu trobar la versió al català de les animacions Flash de Física. Many animations have been translated into Greek by Vangelis Koltsakis. Most animations have been translated into Hungarian by Sandor Nagy, Eötvös Loránd University.
All for the Boys - All for the Boys - MOVE OVER PAPER&AIRPLANES because the straw plane is in town! I don't know what you call this thing but we referred to it as a strawplane. Whatever you want to call it, it's pretty cool! You'll need some heavier paper (we used 3x5 index cards), a straw, scissors or something to cut the paper with, and tape. You will need to cut 3 pieces of paper about 1" wide and 5" long. Tape two of the pieces together "long ways" and then tape to form a circle. Use the remaining piece to form a small circle and tape the ends together. Now you have a large circle and a small circle. Tape the straw to the inside of the circles placing the small circle at one end and the large circle at the other end. And you're done! Now is the fun part! The boys had to try and fly a straw without the circles to make sure that it wasn't just the straw that was the good flier. Have fun fllying! P.S.
NoShmeat :: Home DIY: How to tie a bow tie! Tying a bow tie isn't the easiest thing to do.. it took me a while to figure it out! (and I still don't know how to tie a tie! haha..shh!) 1. Drape the tie around your neck with the ends at the same length. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. find the hole in the middle of the tie that you've made after step 5 and shove the other dangling piece through it.. then pull your tie until it's satisfactory! love, polly :)
Technological singularity The technological singularity is the hypothesis that accelerating progress in technologies will cause a runaway effect wherein artificial intelligence will exceed human intellectual capacity and control, thus radically changing civilization in an event called the singularity.[1] Because the capabilities of such an intelligence may be impossible for a human to comprehend, the technological singularity is an occurrence beyond which events may become unpredictable, unfavorable, or even unfathomable.[2] The first use of the term "singularity" in this context was by mathematician John von Neumann. Proponents of the singularity typically postulate an "intelligence explosion",[5][6] where superintelligences design successive generations of increasingly powerful minds, that might occur very quickly and might not stop until the agent's cognitive abilities greatly surpass that of any human. Basic concepts Superintelligence Non-AI singularity Intelligence explosion Exponential growth Plausibility
Mycologist's So-Called Life Box - Environment The resourceful mycologist (that's a fungi-studier) Paul Stamets has made cardboard packaging that can be planted and will grow into trees. It's called the Life Box. The Life Box suite of products builds upon the synergy of fungi and plants by infusing spores and seeds together inside of packaging materials that can be planted. Here's a video of Stamets (wearing a hat that makes him look a little like a mushroom himself) explaining how the Life Box works on local San Francisco news. If you run a company that could use these instead of normal cardboard, I will happily post about how responsible you are if you pledge to switch to these things. Via Core77
Crystal Egg Geodes - Martha Stewart Easter - StumbleUpon Geodes can be grown without using egg dye. The resulting crystals are clear to milky white, like quartz. While large chicken eggshells are suggested in this process, larger eggshells can be used. Simply increase the size of the plastic or glass container and double or triple the amounts of dye (1 packet), alum (3/4 part), and water (2 parts) used to create the growing solution. This Easter craft from Jim "Figgy" Noonan doubles as a science project, offering an opportunity to show kids the crystallization process at work. To make a fluorescent variation for Halloween, substitute the water and egg dye solution with glow water. Resources: If you don't want to blow your own egg or would like to try a larger eggshell, pre-blown shells are available from The Eggery Place.
Pennsylvania The following farms and ranches have certified that they meet Eatwild's criteria for producing grassfed meat, eggs and dairy products. Contact them directly for additional information or to buy their products: Absolute Pastured Poultry raises all-natural chickens on pastures in the scenic Sugarloaf Valley near the foot of Sugarloaf Mountain located close to Interstates I-80 and I-81. Our farm is miles away from "industry" in the heart of prime agricultural land with excellent deep well water and pastures that have only been used for natural grass for over 25 years. We initially began raising chickens for ourselves, but found that others were also interested in healthier, highest quality, naturally raised chicken that are never fed any antibiotics, hormones or animal by-products. Currently, we begin in the Spring and are able to raise multiple flocks of 50–60 chickens each throughout the summer and into fall. All animals are pasture based, grass fed and free of hormones or antibiotics.