tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54232817595685723722024-03-14T05:25:22.127-05:00El hongo escribeEl hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.comBlogger131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-47142990293968152852014-12-03T03:11:00.000-05:002014-12-03T03:13:57.197-05:00HIV is totally selling out, becoming less deadly in bid to gain mainstream acceptance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Image-of-retrovirus-via-Shutterstock-800x430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><img border="0" src="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Image-of-retrovirus-via-Shutterstock-800x430.jpg" height="215" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Scientists report that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) may be rapidly evolving into a less deadly, less communicable form. However, they say, this does not mean the virus is no longer dangerous.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">According to the BBC, a </span><a href="http://elhongoescribe.blogspot.nl/2014/12/hiv-evolving-into-milder-form.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;"><b>University of Oxford team has found that HIV is getting “watered down” </b></span></a><span style="color: #783f04;">as it makes adaptations to the human immune system. The very mutability and adaptability that makes the virus so elusive to eradication efforts, these scientists say, is costing it in terms of its ability to reproduce itself.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">The Oxford team published a paper regarding the rapid evolution of HIV in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and presented their findings on Dec. 1 to mark World AIDS Day, 2014.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">HIV is a retrovirus, the first of its kind ever discovered. Retroviruses have a freakish ability to adapt and mutate, which is why they are so diabolically hard to treat and to prevent by way of vaccines.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Every time the body throws a new immunological weapon its way, HIV mutates to overcome it. The virus has even found a way to “hide” inside dormant cells for years, enabling it to return years later in patients who appeared to have been completely cleared of the virus.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">As it travels from host to host, however, the virus occasionally encounters someone with a particularly hardy immune system.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Oxford’s Prof. Philip Goulder said, “[Then] the virus is trapped between a rock and hard place, it can get flattened or make a change to survive and if it has to change then it will come with a cost.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">That “cost” is a compromised ability to replicate itself, which means that not only is it less able to cause full-blown AIDS, it’s less able to spread to new hosts.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Furthermore, antiretroviral drug cocktails appear to be most effectively killing and slowing down the deadliest and most aggressively infectious strains of HIV.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">The Daily Mail reported that the Oxford team tracked 2,000 women with HIV in Botswana and South Africa.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Women in Botswana had a high occurrence of a gene called HLA-B*57. HIV reproduces more slowly in the bodies of patients with HLA-B*57 and therefore progresses less rapidly to AIDS and is less easily spread.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">In order to survive in those patients’ systems, said Goulder, it had to make some compromises, shedding certain traits — i.e., its ability to rapidly replicate itself — in order to stay alive.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Cardiff University infectious disease specialist Andrew Freedman said, “By comparing the epidemic in Botswana with that which occurred somewhat later in South Africa, the researchers were able to demonstrate that the effect of this evolution is for the virus to become less virulent, or weaker, over time.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Prof Jonathan Ball, a virologist at the University of Nottingham, told the BBC, “If the trend continues then we might see the global picture change — a longer disease causing much less transmission.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">“HIV adaptation to the most effective immune responses we can make against it comes at a significant cost to its ability to replicate,” said Goulder. “Anything we can do to increase the pressure on HIV in this way may allow scientists to reduce the destructive power of HIV over time.”</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/12/hiv-may-be-rapidly-evolving-to-become-less-deadly-less-communicable/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #660000;">DAVID FERGUSON</span></a></div>
El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-520311607998872372014-12-03T03:00:00.000-05:002014-12-03T03:04:50.628-05:00HIV evolving 'into milder form'<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-rendering: auto;">
<b><span style="color: #783f04;">HIV is evolving to become less deadly and less infectious, according to a major scientific study.</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">The team at the University of Oxford shows the virus is being "watered down" as it adapts to our immune systems.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">It said it was taking longer for HIV infection to cause Aids and that the changes in the virus may help efforts to contain the pandemic.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Some virologists suggest the virus may eventually become "almost harmless" as it continues to evolve.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">More than 35 million people around the world are infected with HIV and inside their bodies a devastating battle takes place between the immune system and the virus.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">HIV is a master of disguise. It rapidly and effortlessly mutates to evade and adapt to the immune system.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/79436000/jpg/_79436986_c0210747-hiv_particles_and_dendritic_cell,_artwork-spl(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><img border="0" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/79436000/jpg/_79436986_c0210747-hiv_particles_and_dendritic_cell,_artwork-spl(1).jpg" height="223" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; text-align: start;">HIV, in red, has infected a cell in the immune system, yellow.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">However, every so often HIV infects someone with a particularly effective immune system.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">"[Then] the virus is trapped between a rock and hard place, it can get flattened or make a change to survive and if it has to change then it will come with a cost," said Prof Philip Goulder, from the University of Oxford.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04;">Weakened</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">The "cost" is a reduced ability to replicate, which in turn makes the virus less infectious and means it takes longer to cause Aids.</span></div>
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-rendering: auto;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">Jump media playerMedia player helpOut of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Prof Dausey, Mercyhurst University: "We have to be cautiously optimistic about this study"</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">This weakened virus is then spread to other people and a slow cycle of "watering-down" HIV begins.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">The team showed this process happening in Africa by comparing Botswana, which has had an HIV problem for a long time, and South Africa where HIV arrived a decade later.</span></div>
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-rendering: auto;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">Prof Goulder told the BBC News website: "It is quite striking. You can see the ability to replicate is 10% lower in Botswana than South Africa and that's quite exciting.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">"We are observing evolution happening in front of us and it is surprising how quickly the process is happening.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">"The virus is slowing down in its ability to cause disease and that will help contribute to elimination."</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #783f04;">Drug bonus</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">The findings in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences also suggested anti-retroviral drugs were forcing HIV to evolve into milder forms.</span></div>
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-rendering: auto;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">It showed the drugs would primarily target the nastiest versions of HIV and encourage the milder ones to thrive.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Prof Goulder added: "Twenty years ago the time to Aids was 10 years, but in the last 10 years in Botswana that might have increased to 12.5 years, a sort of incremental change, but in the big picture that is a rapid change.</span></div>
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-rendering: auto;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">"One might imagine as time extends this could stretch further and further and in the future people being asymptomatic for decades."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">The group did caution that even a watered-down version of HIV was still dangerous and could cause Aids.</span></div>
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<a href="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77936000/jpg/_77936505_c0157835-chimpanzee,_pan_troglodytes-spl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><img border="0" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77936000/jpg/_77936505_c0157835-chimpanzee,_pan_troglodytes-spl.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #783f04;">HIV originally came from apes or monkeys, in which it is frequently a minor infection.</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Prof Jonathan Ball, a virologist at the University of Nottingham, told the BBC: "If the trend continues then we might see the global picture change - a longer disease causing much less transmission.</span></div>
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-rendering: auto;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">"In theory, if we were to let HIV run its course then we would see a human population emerge that was more resistant to the virus than we collectively are today - HIV infection would eventually become almost harmless.</span></div>
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-rendering: auto;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">"Such events have probably happened throughout history, but we are talking very large timescales."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Prof Andrew Freedman, a reader in infectious diseases at Cardiff University, said this was an "intriguing study".</span></div>
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-rendering: auto;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">He said: "By comparing the epidemic in Botswana with that which occurred somewhat later in South Africa, the researchers were able to demonstrate that the effect of this evolution is for the virus to become less virulent, or weaker, over time.</span></div>
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-rendering: auto;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">"The widespread use of antiretroviral therapy may also have a similar effect and together, these effects may contribute to the ultimate control of the HIV epidemic."</span></div>
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-rendering: auto;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">But he cautioned HIV was "an awfully long way" from becoming harmless and "other events will supersede that including wider access to treatment and eventually the development of a cure".</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #783f04;">By James Gallagher</span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;">Health editor, BBC News website</span></div>
El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-35449370553567845372013-01-27T03:32:00.000-05:002013-01-27T03:32:07.798-05:00Human DNA Could Store All the World's Data<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><strong>What's the Latest Development?</strong></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://assets3.bigthink.com/system/idea_thumbnails/49142/original/dna_silver.jpg?1359088716" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://assets3.bigthink.com/system/idea_thumbnails/49142/original/dna_silver.jpg?1359088716" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"> Researchers at <span>European Bioinformatics Institute near
Cambridge, UK, have sketched workable plans to encode hard data onto
strands of human DNA, rather than use the magnetic tape or hard disks
used by computers. "[The system] <span>should, think the researchers, be
easily capable of swallowing the roughly 3 zettabytes (a zettabyte is
one billion trillion or 10²¹ bytes) of digital data thought presently to
exist in the world and still have room for plenty more. <span>It would
do so with a density of around 2.2 petabytes (10¹⁵) per gram; enough, in
other words, to fit all the world’s digital information into the back
of a lorry."</span></span></span> </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">by <a href="http://bigthink.com/users/orionjones">Orion Jones</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/human-dna-can-store-one-billion-trillion-bytes-of-data?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bigthink%2Fmain+%28Big+Think+Main%29&utm_content=Netvibes" target="_blank"><u><i>Source...</i></u></a> </span></div>
El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-48229907429536010372013-01-27T03:24:00.000-05:002013-01-27T03:26:32.726-05:00Anonymous Hacks U.S. Government Site, Threatens Supreme 'Warheads'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://reuniting-europe.blogactiv.eu/files/2012/03/anonymous1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://reuniting-europe.blogactiv.eu/files/2012/03/anonymous1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">The hacktivist group <a href="http://mashable.com/category/anonymous/">Anonymous</a>
hacked the U.S. federal sentencing website early Saturday, using the
page to make a brazen and boisterous declaration of "war" on the U.S.
government. </span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">The group claims mysterious code-based "warheads," named for each of the Supreme Court Justices, are about to be deployed.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">
</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">As of midnight Pacific time, the front page of <a href="http://www.ussc.gov/" target="_blank">Ussc.gov</a>
— the Federal agency that establishes sentencing policies and practices
for the Federal courts — is filled with a long screed in green on
black, together with this YouTube video:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/WaPni5O2YyI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">All areas of ussc.gov other than the front page appear to be
functioning normally. In other words, there's no denial of service
attack or widespread vandalism. (Update, an hour later: it's getting a
little slow and has all the hallmarks of a DDoS.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">At the bottom of the page is a series of nine files, mirrored three
times. Each file is named for a current U.S. Supreme Court Justice. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">The statement opens with a lament for <a href="http://mashable.com/category/aaron-swartz/">Aaron Swartz</a>,
the Reddit programmer and Internet activist who committed suicide
earlier this month. Promising revenge for his treatment at the hands of a
federal prosecutor, the screed veers into some of the most inflammatory
— dare we say hyperbolic — language we've seen on a simple front page
hack. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #783f04;">The group talks of planting "multiple warheads" on "compromised
systems" on various unnamed websites, and encourages members to download
a given file from ussc.gov that is "primed, armed and quietly
distributed to numerous mirrors." It has given the warhead "launch" the
name of "Operation Last Resort," the text said:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">
</span>
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><i>There has been a lot of fuss recently in the technological media
regarding such operations as Red October, the widespread use of
vulnerable browsers and the availability of zero-day exploits for these
browsers and their plugins. None of this comes of course as any surprise
to us, but it is perhaps good that those within the information
security industry are making the extent of these threats more widely
understood. </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><i>
</i></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"><i>Still, there is nothing quite as educational as a well-conducted demonstration... </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><i>
</i></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"><i>Through this websites and various others that will remain unnamed, we
have been conducting our own infiltration. We did not restrict
ourselves like the FBI to one high-profile compromise. We are far more
ambitious, and far more capable. Over the last two weeks we have wound
down this operation, removed all traces of leakware from the compromised
systems, and taken down the injection apparatus used to detect and
exploit vulnerable machines. </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><i>
</i></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"><i>We have enough fissile material for multiple warheads. Today we are
launching the first of these. Operation Last Resort has begun... </i></span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #783f04;">
</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Here's the list of files the group is encouraging its followers to download:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzAxLzI2LzA5L1NjcmVlblNob3QyLjZjMGU2LnBuZw/5a6fe437/07f/Screen-Shot-2013-01-26-at-12.16.33-AM-640x503.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzAxLzI2LzA5L1NjcmVlblNob3QyLjZjMGU2LnBuZw/5a6fe437/07f/Screen-Shot-2013-01-26-at-12.16.33-AM-640x503.png" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">What's in the files, and does it have anything to do with the recent <a href="http://mashable.com/category/red-october/">"Red October" series of security breaches</a>, thought to be prevalent in China and Russia? Anonymous plays coy:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06;"><i>The contents are various and we won't ruin the speculation by
revealing them. Suffice it to say, everyone has secrets, and some things
are not meant to be public. At a regular interval commencing today, we
will choose one media outlet and supply them with heavily redacted
partial contents of the file. Any media outlets wishing to be eligible
for this program must include within their reporting a means of secure
communications. </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><i>We have not taken this action lightly, nor without consideration of
the possible consequences. Should we be forced to reveal the trigger-key
to this warhead, we understand that there will be collateral damage. We
appreciate that many who work within the justice system believe in
those principles that it has lost, corrupted, or abandoned, that they do
not bear the full responsibility for the damages caused by their
occupation. </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"><i>It is our hope that this warhead need never be detonated.</i></span> </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">What "collateral damage" is the hacktivist group talking about — and
is there anything to their threats? We're continuing to update this
story, but give us your take in the comments.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">From <a class="byline" href="http://mashable.com/people/futureboy/">Chris Taylor</a> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://mashable.com/2013/01/26/anonymous-hack-government-website-declares-war/" target="_blank">Source...</a> </span>El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-9301962580045738862012-11-19T08:03:00.001-05:002012-11-19T08:03:26.735-05:0010 Richest Criminals of All Time <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/600px-Meyer_Lansky_NYWTS_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">Anyone who says crime doesn’t pay should take a look at these men and women. This collection of bank robbers, drug dealers, crime lords and general scumbags shows that if you want to get ahead, sometimes it helps to chop off a few heads… (Note: white collar criminals like Bernard Madoff weren’t considered for this list; our focus was criminals of a more hardcore caste.) <br /><b><br />10. Joseph Kennedy ($200-400 million, a billionaire figuring in today’s inflation)</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><b> </b></span></span><a href="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/jpksr-600x416.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/jpksr-600x416.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">Joseph Kennedy was the harmless-looking patriarch of one of the most powerful families in America, a corporate big shot… and strongly connected to the bootleggers who made millions selling alcohol during the Prohibition Era — if not a bootlegger himself. He is widely thought to have had dealings with Frank Costello, the head of the Luciano crime family, to facilitate smuggling alcohol into the country for easy distribution during the post-WWI period. Not only did Kennedy make a profit on his river of illicit booze, but he was also credibly accused of framing one of his rivals for rape in order to acquire his business (not to mention of being a gross anti-Semite and a major supporter of Hitler). Still, with his fortune measuring in the billions in today’s money (in 1957 he was named one of America’s richest people by Fortune magazine) it probably wouldn’t have been wise for the rest of the Kennedys to have disowned him completely…<br /><br /><b>9. Meyer Lansky ($300-400 million)</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/600px-Meyer_Lansky_NYWTS_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/600px-Meyer_Lansky_NYWTS_1.jpg" width="271" /></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">The suave, well-dressed “Mob’s Accountant,” Meyer Lansky had a formidable illegal gambling empire in America from the 1930s onwards, with branches stretching from Florida to Las Vegas. Much of the rest of his fortune was generated through his ultra-close links with the Mafia, particularly Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel. He was such a compelling criminal that several movie gangsters were allegedly based on him, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather series and Max Bercovicz from the epic Once Upon a Time in America. Even after his retirement, Lansky still made Forbes’ list of the 400 richest people in America, and at the time of his death in 1983, the FBI reckoned he had hundreds of millions in concealed back accounts. Now that’s good investing…<br /><br /><b>8. Griselda Blanco, “The Godmother” ($500 million)</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/cocaine2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/cocaine2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br />The Miami-based “Godmother,” Griselda Blanco was arguably the most ruthless gangster working in the drug trade in the ’70s and ’80s. She was known equally for her good business sense as she was for her sociopathic tendencies (at the age of 11 she took a fellow child hostage, demanded a ransom and eventually killed him with a bullet to the head). Nothing like learning your job skills early in life… Blanco was also suspected of murdering her three husbands, ordering more than 200 hits during her time as a mob boss, and forcing men to have sex with her at gunpoint. She went into hiding in the mid-2000s and was last seen in 2007. If she is still alive, she is believed to be one of the wealthiest self-made women on the planet… If the glass ceiling was going to crack, why did it have to be here?<br /><b><br />7. Anthony Salerno ($600 million)</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/08familyBIG.600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/08familyBIG.600.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br />The real life “Fat Tony” wasn’t nearly as cuddly as his Simpsons counterpart. Easily distinguishable by his trademark cigar and fedora, Anthony Salerno worked his way up to Consigliere of the Genovese family in the 1970s, having spent the previous few decades practicing his skills in illegal gambling, loan sharking and protection rackets. In the ’60s, his New York numbers empire was generating $50 million annually. Salerno was also notable for sending his close personal friends Christmas cards with pictures of himself in pyjamas on the front. Come to think of it, that is pretty cuddly… Nevertheless, he died at the age of 80, having spent the fading years of his life in jail.<br /><br /><b>6. Joaquín Loera ($1 billion)</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/el-chapo-guzman-joaquin-loera-610x430-600x422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/el-chapo-guzman-joaquin-loera-610x430-600x422.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br />Mexican criminal Joaquín Loera is a dark horse compared to more flamboyant drug dealers like Pablo Escobar, but that doesn’t make him any less influential. On the contrary. Loera, who made most of his billion dollars selling drugs from Mexico — and goes by a number of nicknames, including El Chapo and Crystal King — is currently a fugitive in his own country but is believed to be the most powerful drug dealer on Earth — meaning that the reported figure for his wealth could be a big under-estimate (he might be worth closer to $5 billion). The man who was listed as the the 937th richest man in the world by Forbes in 2010 was last heard from leaving a taunting message for the police near the bullet-riddled corpses of two military officers: “You’ll never get ‘El Chapo’, not the priests, not the government.” Well, he’s gotten away with it so far.<br /><b><br />5. Al Capone (nearly $1.3 billion per year in income, allowing for inflation)</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/al_capone-600x804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/al_capone-600x804.jpg" width="297" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br />Iconic gangster Al Capone was practically the Bill Gates of the criminal world in his heyday. Capone supplied America with a river of bootleged alcohol in the 1920s and 1930s, and was frankly the real “untouchable” in Chicago. His iron-fisted (although certainly not iron-chinned!) rule over his city netted him a substantial income. Although there are no exact figures, it is estimated that in 1929 his criminal activities brought in more than $100,000,000 per year, over a billion dollars in today’s money. The cigar-chomping one even found the time to be a noted philanthropist and public figure… All that before he was brought down on tax evasion charges and syphilis. What a way to go for Chicago’s Godfather.<br /><br /><b>4. Susumu Ishii ($1.5 billion)</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/yakuza1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/yakuza1.jpg" width="343" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br />Scary tattooed Yakuza Godfather Susumu Ishii was a member of a manned suicide torpedo unit during World War II. However, after making it through the war alive, he fought his way into a new position as a gangster (sadly, one of the only jobs with long-term prospects as bad as his previous one) and worked his way up the career ladder in the Inagawa-kai gang. He made his estimated billion-and-a-half dollars primarily through loans, banking deals and real estate scams, but lost most of it when Japan’s bubble economy burst at the end of the 1980s. The gangster was so popular that when he died in 1991, his funeral was attended by over 5,000 people. How many bosses, mob or not, can say that?<br /><b><br />3. Carlos Enrique Lehder Rivas ($2.7 billion)</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/carlos_lehder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/carlos_lehder.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br />Carlos Lehder was one of the co-founders of the infamous Medellín cartel, the group of South America-based drug barons who at their peak were responsible for shipping $60 million of illegal substances per day (and another of whose leaders, José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, made Forbes‘ annual list of billionaires, in 1988). Described as a megalomaniac, this criminal spared no expense on the transportation of his precious cocaine, even buying a private plane and a Bahamian island to help him smuggle the substance into the US. How many legitimate businessmen could afford that? After amassing a fortune that would make ‘Scarface’ blush, he was eventually imprisoned in the 1980s and is still in jail in the US to this day. Hmm, on second thought, maybe crime doesn’t pay after all…<br /><b><br />2. Pablo Escobar ($9-25 billion)</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Pablo-Escobar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Pablo-Escobar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br />From being born in a village in Columbia with no electricity, Pablo Escobar worked his way up to become one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world. Now that’s a self-made man. At the peak of their operations, he and his associates in the Medellín cartel smuggled around 15 tons of cocaine every day, and protected their shipments by offering snooping officials “lead or silver” — lead for bullets or silver for a bribe. In 1989, Forbes magazine estimated that he was the world’s seventh richest man, with assets of close to $25 billion, and control of 80 percent of the global cocaine market. Despite being a ruthless, murderous drug lord, Escobar was also a compassionate family man (he once reportedly burned $1 million in cash to keep his daughter warm while on the run) but that doesn’t make his illegal exploits any less ominous.<br /><br /><b>1. Amado Carrillo Fuentes (around $25 billion)</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/amado-carrillo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="333" src="http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/amado-carrillo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br />Hans Gruber lookalike and cocaine baron Amado Fuentes was practically a real life James Bond villain. He had the whole package: a vast, drug-based Mexican empire; incredible hardware (including a fleet of 727 jets to transport his product); he even had plastic surgery to alter his appearance. And he was rich. At the time of his death from medical complications, his net worth was estimated to be around $25 billion, which would make him the richest criminal of all time on record. That may be quite an accomplishment, but it’s not exactly a career that is going to earn you much respect… except amongst other drug barons, of course.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://www.businesspundit.com/10-richest-criminals-of-all-time/" target="_blank">Source...</a></span></span></span></div>
El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-29083642335070962342012-11-15T08:53:00.002-05:002012-11-15T08:56:04.607-05:0010 Strange Things About The Universe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">The universe can be a very strange place. While groundbreaking ideas such as quantum theory, relativity and even the Earth going around the Sun might be commonly accepted now, science still continues to show that the universe contains things you might find it difficult to believe, and even more difficult to get your head around. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><b>10. Negative energy </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://listverse.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/casimir-effect-tm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://listverse.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/casimir-effect-tm.jpg" width="391" /></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">Theoretically, the lowest temperature that can be achieved is absolute zero, exactly ?273.15°C, where the motion of all particles stops completely. However, you can never actually cool something to this temperature because, in quantum mechanics, every particle has a minimum energy, called “zero-point energy,” which you cannot get below. Remarkably, this minimum energy doesn’t just apply to particles, but to any vacuum, whose energy is called “vacuum energy.” To show that this energy exists involves a rather simple experiment– take two metal plates in a vacuum, put them close together, and they will be attracted to each other. This is caused by the energy between the plates only being able to resonate at certain frequencies, while outside the plates the vacuum energy can resonate at pretty much any frequency. Because the energy outside the plates is greater than the energy between the plates, the plates are pushed towards each other. As the plates get closer together, the force increases, and at around a 10 nm separation this effect (called the Casimir effect) creates one atmosphere of pressure between them. Because the plates reduce the vacuum energy between them to below the normal zero-point energy, the space is said to have negative energy, which has some unusual properties.<br /><br />One of the properties of a negative-energy vacuum is that light actually travels faster in it than it does in a normal vacuum, something that may one day allow people to travel faster than the speed of light in a kind of negative-energy vacuum bubble. Negative energy could also be used to hold open a transversible wormhole, which although theoretically possible, would collapse as soon as it was created without a means to keep it open. Negative energy also causes black holes to evaporate. Vacuum energy is often modeled as virtual particles popping into existence and annihilating. This doesn’t violate any energy conservation laws as long as the particles are annihilated shortly afterwards. However, if two particles are produced at the event horizon of a black hole, one can be moving away from the black hole, while the other is falling into it. This means they won’t be able to annihilate, so the particles both end up with negative energy. When the negative energy particle falls into the black hole, it lowers the mass of the black hole instead of adding to it, and over time particles like these will cause the black hole to evaporate completely. Because this theory was first suggested by Stephen Hawking, the particles given off by this effect (the ones that don’t fall into the black hole) are called Hawking radiation. It was the first accepted theory to unite quantum theory with general relativity, making it Hawking’s greatest scientific achievement to date.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">9. Frame Dragging</span></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://listverse.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/spacetime-frame-dragging.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://listverse.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/spacetime-frame-dragging.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br />One prediction of Einstein’s theory of general relativity is that when a large object moves, it drags the space-time around it, causing nearby objects to be pulled along as well. It can occur when a large object is moving in a straight line or is rotating, and, although the effect is very small, it has been experimentally verified. The Gravity Probe B experiment, launched in 2004, was designed to measure the space-time distortion near Earth. Although sources of interference were larger than expected, the frame-dragging effect has been measured to an uncertainty of 15%, with further analysis hoping to reduce this further.<br /><br />The expected effects were very close to predictions: due to the rotation of the Earth, the probe was pulled from its orbit by around 2 meters per year, an effect purely caused by the mass of the Earth distorting the space-time surrounding it. The probe itself would not feel this extra acceleration because it is not caused by an acceleration on the probe, but rather on the space-time the probe is traveling through–analogous to a rug being pulled under a table, rather than moving the table itself.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">8. Relativity of Simultaneity</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br />The relativity of simultaneity is the idea that whether two events occur simultaneously or not is relative and depends on the observer. It is a strange consequence of the special theory of relativity, and applies to any events that happen that are separated by some distance. For example, if a firework is let off on Mars and another on Venus, one observer traveling through space one way might say they happen at the same time (compensating for the time light takes to reach them), while another observer traveling another way might say the one on Mars went off first, and yet another might say the one on Venus went off first. It is caused by the way different viewpoints become distorted compared to each other in special relativity. And because they are all relative, no observer can be said to have the correct viewpoint.<br /><br />This can lead to very unusual scenarios, such as an observer witnessing effect before cause (for example, seeing a bomb go off, then later seeing someone light the fuse). However, once the observer sees the effect, they cannot interact with the cause without traveling faster than the speed of light, which was one of the first reasons faster-than-light travel was believed to be forbidden, because it is akin to time travel, and a universe where you can interact with the cause after the effect makes no sense.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><b>7. Black Strings</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">One of the longest outstanding mysteries in physics is how gravity is related to the other fundamental forces, such as electromagnetism. One theory, first proposed in 1919, showed that if an extra dimension is added to the universe, gravity still exists in the first four dimensions (three space dimensions and time), but the way this four dimensional space curves over the extra fifth dimension, naturally produces the other fundamental forces. However, we cannot see or detect this fifth dimension, so it was proposed that the extra dimension was curled up, and hence became invisible to us. This theory was what ultimately led to string theory, and is still included at the heart of most string theory analysis.<br /><br />Since this extra dimension is so small, only tiny objects, such as particles, can move along it. In these cases, they ultimately just end up where they started, since the extra dimension is curled up on itself. However, one object that becomes much more complex in five dimensions is a black hole. When extended to five dimensions, it becomes a “black string,” and unlike a normal 4D black hole, it is unstable (this ignores the fact that 4D black holes eventually evaporate). This black string will destabilize into a whole string of black holes, connected by further black strings, until the black strings are pinched off entirely and leave the set of black holes. These multiple 4D black holes then combine into one larger black hole. The most interesting thing about this is that, using current models, the final black hole is a “naked” singularity. That is, it has no event horizon surrounding it. This violates the Cosmic Censorship Hypothesis, which says that all singularities must be surrounded by an event horizon, in order to avoid the time-travel effects that are believed to happen near a singularity from changing the history of the entire universe, as they can never escape from behind an event horizon.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">6. Geon</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">As is best shown in the equation E=MC2, energy and matter are fundamentally connected. One effect of this is that energy, as well as mass, creates a gravitational field. A geon, first investigated by John Wheeler, in 1955, is an electromagnetic or gravitational wave whose energy creates a gravitational field, which in turn holds the wave itself together in a confined space. Wheeler speculated that there may be a link between microscopic geons and elementary particles, and that they might even be the same thing. A more extreme example is a “kugelblitz” (German for “ball lightning”), which is where such intense light is concentrated at a particular point that the gravity caused by the light energy becomes strong enough to collapse into a black hole, trapping the light inside. Although nothing is thought to prevent the formation of a kugelblitz, geons are now only believed to be able to form temporarily, as they will inevitably leak energy and collapse. This unfortunately indicates that Wheeler’s initial conjecture was incorrect, but this has not been definitively proven.<br /><br /><b>5. Kerr Black Hole</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br />The type of black hole most people are familiar with, which has an event horizon on the outside acting as the “point of no return” and a point singularity of infinite density on the inside, actually has a more specific name: a Schwarzschild black hole. It is named after Karl Schwarzschild, who found the mathematical solution of Einstein’s field equations for a spherical, non-rotating mass in 1915, only a month after Einstein actually published his general theory of relativity. However, it wasn’t until 1963 that mathematician Roy Kerr found the solution for a rotating spherical mass. Hence, a rotating black hole is called a Kerr black hole, and it has some unusual properties.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br />At the centre of a Kerr black hole, there is no point singularity, but rather a ring singularity—a spinning one-dimensional ring held open by its own momentum. There are also two event horizons, an inner and outer one, and an ellipsoid called the ergosphere, inside which space-time itself rotates with the black hole (because of frame dragging) faster than the speed of light. When entering the black hole, by passing through the outer event horizon, space-like paths become time-like, meaning that it is impossible to avoid the singularity at the centre, just like in a Schwarzschild black hole. However, when you pass through the inner event horizon, your path becomes space-like again. The difference is this: space-time itself is reversed. This means gravity near the ring singularity becomes repulsive, actually pushing you away from the centre. In fact, unless you enter the black hole exactly on the equator, it is impossible to hit the ring singularity itself. Additionally, ring singularities can be linked through space-time, so they can act as wormholes, although exiting the black hole on the other side would be impossible (unless it was a naked singularity, possibly created when the ring singularity spins fast enough). Traveling through a ring singularity might take you to another point in space-time, such as another universe, where you could see light falling in from outside the black hole, but not leave the black hole itself. It might even take you to a “white hole” in a negative universe, the exact meaning of which is unknown.<br /> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">4. Quantum Tunneling</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Quantum tunneling is an effect where a particle can pass through a barrier it would not normally have the energy to overcome. It can allow a particle to pass through a physical barrier that should be impenetrable, or can allow an electron to escape from the pull of the nucleus without having the kinetic energy to do so. According to quantum mechanics, there is a finite probability that any particle can be found anywhere in the universe, although that probability is astronomically small for any real distance from the particles expected path.<br /><br />However, when the particle is faced with a small-enough barrier (around 1-3 nm wide), one which conventional calculations would indicate is impenetrable by the particle, the probability that the particle will simply pass through that barrier becomes fairly noticeable. This can be explained by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which limits how much information can be known about a particle. A particle can “borrow” energy from the system it is acting in, use it to pass through the barrier, and then lose it again.<br /><br />Quantum tunneling is involved in many physical processes, such as radioactive decay and the nuclear fusion that takes place in the Sun. It is also used in certain electrical components, and it has even been shown to occur in enzymes in biological systems. For example, the enzyme glucose oxidase, which catalyses the reaction of glucose into hydrogen peroxide, involves the quantum tunneling of an entire oxygen atom. Quantum tunneling is also a key feature of the scanning tunneling microscope, the first machine to enable the imaging and manipulation of individual atoms. It works by measuring the voltage in a very fine tip, which changes when it gets close to a surface due to the effect of electrons tunneling through the vacuum (known as the “forbidden zone”) between them. This gives the device the sensitivity necessary to make extremely high resolution images. It also enables the device to move atoms by deliberately putting a current through the conducting tip.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> 3. Cosmic Strings</span></span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Shorty after the Big Bang, the universe was in a highly disordered and chaotic state. This means that small changes and defects didn’t change the overall structure of the universe. However, as the universe expanded, cooled, and went from a disorderly state to an orderly one, it reached a point where very small fluctuations created very large changes.<br /><br />This is similar to arranging tiles evenly on a floor. When one tile is placed unevenly, this means that the subsequent tiles placed will follow its pattern. Therefore, you have a whole line of tiles out of place. This is similar to the objects called cosmic strings, which are extremely thin and extremely long defects in the shape of space-time. These cosmic strings are predicted by most models of the universe, such as the string theory wherein two kinds of “strings” are unrelated. If they exist, each string would be as thin as a proton, but incredibly dense. Thus, a cosmic string a mile long can weigh as much as the Earth. However, it would not actually have any gravity and the only effect it will have on matter surrounding it would be the way it changes the form and shape of space-time. Therefore, a cosmic string is, in essence, just a “wrinkle” in the shape of space-time.<br /><br />Cosmic strings are thought to be incredibly long, up to the order of the sizes of thousands of galaxies. In fact, recent observations and simulations have suggested that a network of cosmic strings stretches across the entire universe. This was once thought to be what caused galaxies to form in supercluster complexes, although this idea has since been abandoned. Supercluster complexes consist of connected “filaments” of galaxies up to a billion light-years in length. Because of the unique effects of cosmic strings on space-time as you bring two strings close together, it has been shown that they could possibly be used for time travel, like with most of the things on this list. Cosmic strings would also create incredible gravitational waves, stronger than any other known source. These waves are what those current and planned gravitational wave detectors are designed to look for.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> 2. Antimatter Retrocausality</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="http://listverse.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/feynman_ep_annihilation-tm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="http://listverse.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/feynman_ep_annihilation-tm.jpg" width="400" /></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Antimatter is the opposite of matter. It has the same mass but with an opposing electrical charge. One theory about why antimatter exists was developed by John Wheeler and Nobel laureate Richard Feynman based on the idea that physical systems should be time-reversible. For example, the orbits of our solar system, if played backwards, should still obey all the same rules as when they are played forwards. This led to the idea that antimatter is just ordinary matter going backwards in time, which would explain why antiparticles have an opposite charge, since if an electron is repelled while going forwards in time, then backwards in time this becomes attraction. This also explains why matter and antimatter annihilate. This isn’t a circumstance of two particles crashing into and destroying each other; it is the same particle suddenly stopping and going back in time. In a vacuum, where a pair of virtual particles are produced and then annihilated, this is actually just one particle going in an endless loop, forwards in time, then backwards, then forwards, and so on.<br /><br />While the accuracy of this theory is still up for debate, treating antimatter as matter going backwards in time mathematically comes up with identical solutions to other, more conventional theories. When it was first theorized, John Wheeler said that perhaps it answered the question of why all electrons in the universe have identical properties, a question so obvious that it is generally ignored. He suggested that it was just one electron, constantly darting all over the universe, from the Big Bang to the end of time and back again, continuing an uncountable number of times. Even though this idea involves backwards time travel, it can’t be used to send any information back in time, since the mathematics of the model simply doesn’t allow it. You cannot move a piece of antimatter to affect the past, since in moving it you only affect the past of the antimatter itself, that is, your future.<br /><b><br /><br />1. Gödel’s incompleteness theorems</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="http://listverse.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/b00dshx3_640_360-tm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="http://listverse.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/b00dshx3_640_360-tm.jpg" width="400" /></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It is not strictly science, but rather a very interesting set of mathematical theorems about logic and the philosophy that is definitely relevant to science as a whole. Proven in 1931 by Kurt Gödel, these theories say that with any given set of logical rules, except for the most simple, there will always be statements that are undecidable, meaning that they cannot be proven or disproven due to the inevitable self-referential nature of any logical systems that is even remotely complicated. This is thought to indicate that there is no grand mathematical system capable of proving or disproving all statements. An undecidable statement can be thought of as a mathematical form of a statement like “I always lie.” Because the statement makes reference to the language being used to describe it, it cannot be known whether the statement is true or not. However, an undecidable statement does not need to be explicitly self-referential to be undecidable. The main conclusion of Gödel’s incompleteness theorems is that all logical systems will have statements that cannot be proven or disproven; therefore, all logical systems must be “incomplete.”<br /><br />The philosophical implications of these theorems are widespread. The set suggests that in physics, a “theory of everything” may be impossible, as no set of rules can explain every possible event or outcome. It also indicates that logically, “proof” is a weaker concept than “true”; such a concept is unsettling for scientists because it means there will always be things that, despite being true, cannot be proven to be true. Since this set of theorems also applies to computers, it also means that our own minds are incomplete and that there are some ideas we can never know, including whether our own minds are consistent (i.e. our reasoning contains no incorrect contradictions). This is because the second of Gödel’s incompleteness theorems states that no consistent system can prove its own consistency, meaning that no sane mind can prove its own sanity. Also, since that same law states that any system able to prove its consistency to itself must be inconsistent, any mind that believes it can prove its own sanity is, therefore, insane. </span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="http://listverse.com/2010/11/04/10-strange-things-about-the-universe/?sms_ss=stumbleupon" target="_blank">Source...</a> </span></span></b></div>
El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-9942116767847299632012-11-14T10:43:00.000-05:002012-11-14T10:43:41.293-05:00Story of Sinterklaas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">Sinterklaas Saint Nicholas (later known as Sinterklaas) lived from 271 to December 6, 342 A.D. in Myra, Asia Minor. He became the patron saint of fishermen and as a priest, was known for good deeds all through the Mediterranean area. He is the patron saint of Amsterdam. As Dutch trade grew, so grew the tradition of Sinterklaas.<br /><br />Sinterklaas arrives by boat from Spain and rides through the streets on a white horse. He is accompanied by his Moorish servant, Piet, and many helpers. Sinterklaas rides over roof tops listening at chimneys to check children’s behavior. Wooden shoes are left by the fireplace with carrots or hay for the horse. Piet exchanges the carrots and hay for a small gift or candy.<br /><br />Sinterklaas Eve, December 5, and Sinterklaas Day, December 6, are days of festivity and merriment. Sinterklaas parties consist of jokes, rhymes, simple gifts camouflaged in strange wrappings and lots of festive fun and laughter. Traditional spice cookies, hot chocolate, apple fritters and Dutch donuts are served. Chocolate letters are special Sinterklaas Day treats.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://www.pellatuliptime.com/historical-village/history/story-of-sinterklaas/" target="_blank">Source...</a></span>El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0Países Bajos52.132633 5.29126649.637715 0.2375550000000004 54.627551 10.344977tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-52110805487202953902012-11-14T10:18:00.006-05:002012-11-14T10:21:21.814-05:009 Crazy Things People Found Inside Their Walls<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The Ballad of the Walled-Up Wife chronicles the story of hapless masons who are incapable of building a wall that will last. After years of failure, they learn that in order to make their work last, they must offer up a sacrifice. Once, as their master’s wife passed by, they grabbed her and entombed her in the wall they were building. According to some versions of the ballad, the wall still stands.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />While immuring wives in walls is strictly outlawed (and largely fictional), the practice of hiding things behind sheetrock or brick is pervasive. From the illegal to the superstitious to the just plain insane, here are 9 crazy things found stashed inside walls.<br /><br /><b>1. Babies</b><br /><br />In 1850, a mummified baby tumbled out from between the walls of a Parisian apartment. The couple living in the apartment were charged with murder; they were later cleared when a physician used insects to determine the time of death. This case marked the first time in French forensic science that entomology was used in a criminal trial. And 28 years later, French pathologist Edmond Perrier Megnin used insects to calculate the time of death of a mummified infant in a similar case.<br /><br />Mummified infants have been found in walls as recently as 2007, when contractor Bob Kinghorn discovered the body of a child wrapped in newspaper in the walls of a home in East Toronto. Police investigated the infant’s death, but were unable to determine the cause.<br /><b><br />2. Urine and Fingernail Clippings</b><br /><br />Filled with urine, hair, nail clippings or red thread, Witch Bottles were hidden in walls and buried in the thresholds of homes to counteract a witch’s curse. One was found in Greenwich in 2009 that dates back to the 17th century. Researchers were even able to analyze urine found in the bottle, which contained traces of nicotine.<br /><br />The bottle also contained a piece of leather cut into the shape of a heart and pierced with a leather nail. Scientists are unsure of the symbolism, but in similar finds the bottles have contained heart-shaped cloth pierced by brass pins.<br /><br />A court record from 1682 documents that a husband who believes his wife to be a witch should boil in a pipkin a quart of her urine, fingernail clippings and hair.<br /><br /><b>3. Live Children</b><br /><br />Two years after he disappeared with his mother, 6-year-old Richard Chekevdia was discovered hidden in the walls of his grandmother’s home in Illinois.<br /><br />Ricky disappeared in 2007 after a contentious custody dispute between his mother, Shannon Wilfong, and his father, Michael Chekevdia. His grandmother, Diane Dobbs, insists that the boy lived most of his life outside the walls of the home, only hiding when necessary. However, police reports state the boy had rarely been allowed outside. And a judge found that the boy had been denied access to medical care, education and contact with his peers. The police found the boy and his mother crouched in a hiding place behind a bedroom dresser.<br /><br /><b>4. Cash</b><br /><br />In Ohio, contractor Bob Kitts found $182,000 in Depression-era money inside the walls of a bathroom he was renovating. The contractor called the homeowner, Amanda Reece, who offered him 10 percent of the find. He demanded 40 percent and the situation devolved from there.<br /><br />When the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on the case, descendants of the home’s original owner, Patrick Dunne — a wealthy businessman who hid the money during the Great Depression — also filed claim to the money. After the costly court proceedings, all of the people laying claim to the money received only a fraction of the find.<br /><b><br />5. Priceless Artwork</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">In 1502, Italian statesman Piero Soderini commissioned Leonardo da Vinci to paint a scene from the famous Battle of Anghiari. The painting is thought to be 20 feet long and 10 feet high. In the 1550s, Giorgio Vasari was commissioned to paint over the mural, but the painter reportedly couldn’t bring himself to destroy it.<br /><br />Maurizio Seracini, an art diagnostician at the University of California, San Diego, has been looking for the lost Leonardo da Vinci work for 36 years. Seracini is convinced that Vasari hid it in the wall — and he might be onto something.<br /><br />His first big break came in 1970, when he discovered the words “cerca trova” painted on a flag on Vasari’s mural. Seracini believes that the phrase, which means “seek and you will find,” indicates that Vasari built a false wall over the painting in order to preserve the mural. Recent technology has enabled researchers to take pictures of the hollow between Vasari’s mural and the wall, where they discovered black pigment believed to be similar to the pigment used in other Leonardo da Vinci paintings. Unfortunately, bureaucracy and political protest have stymied the investigation.<br /><b><br />6. Ill-Gotten Gains</b><br /><br />In the walls of his home in Oak Brook, Illinois, mobster Frank Calabrese hid jewelry, fire arms and, of course, cash money. Lots of it.<br /><br />During Calabrese’s 2007 trial, authorities learned that the long-time hit man liked to stash money and weapons into the nooks and crannies in his homes. After the trial, federal agents procured a search warrant and discovered Calabrese’s stash of loot and taped recordings with other mobsters behind the basement’s wood-paneled <br />walls. Calabrese’s lawyer told the Chicago Tribune that he was “concerned” that these items hadn’t been discovered in previous searches of the home.<br /><b> </b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>7. Shoes</b><br /><br />A collection of 300-year-old shoes was found in the wall of the Gothic Liedberg Palace in Korschenbroich, Germany. In Lubenham, England, a pair of shoes was built into the wall of Papillion Hall in order to rid a family of decades of misfortune brought on by a curse. And in cottages and churches across Europe and the United States, hundreds of shoes have been found tucked inside the walls. The practice is so common that the Northhampton Borough Council collects recorded instances of concealed footwear. If you find any, let them know.<br /><br />Some scholars theorize that the practice of immuring shoes is done for good luck and to ward off evil spirits from entering a home.<br /><br /><b>8. Cats</b><br /><br />The practice of hiding cats in walls was an ancient ritual to ward off evil spirits. All over the UK, mummified cats are frequently toppling out from between the walls of 17th and 18th century buildings. One of the most famous instances was in Pendle, Lancashire, when a mummified cat was discovered in the wall of an ancient cottage. The cottage is presumed to be the location at which one of England’s most famous witch covens met. In 1612, 11 men and one woman from the coven were accused of witchcraft and hanged.<br /><br /><b>9. Unmentionables</b><br /><br />The only thing worse than discovering dirty underwear hidden in your home is discovering centuries-old dirty underwear in your walls. Across Western Europe, unsuspecting home owners often find caches of garments (under and over) inside the walls of their homes. In fact, the finds are so common that they are not often reported.<br /><br />Evidence indicates that the practice of hiding your knickers in the walls dates back to the Middle Ages. The clothes hidden are often worn and contain hidden objects like documents and coins. According to the website for the Deliberately Concealed Garments Project:<br /><br /><br /><span style="background-color: #ffe599;"><i>“The tradition of concealing clothes can be related to the practice of concealing other objects such as dried cats, witch bottles and charms in buildings. These types of objects have been discovered hidden in similar places. The concealing of these items including garments can be related to folklore and superstitious traditions relating to the ritual protection of a household and its inhabitants.”</i></span></span></span></div>
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El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0Países Bajos52.132633 5.29126649.637715 0.2375550000000004 54.627551 10.344977tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-7527368921274293942012-10-08T06:46:00.001-05:002012-10-08T06:46:41.928-05:00Build a Mars base with a box of engineered bugs <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Mars-Schiaparelli.jpg/600px-Mars-Schiaparelli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Mars-Schiaparelli.jpg/600px-Mars-Schiaparelli.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">The next time humans set foot on an alien world, they may not travel alone. Small, lightweight "bug boxes" packed full of engineered microbes could make life on hostile planets a lot more liveable.<br /><br />Pioneering settlers on a distant world will require food, fuel and shelter if they are to survive, but bringing bulky supplies from Earth is far too costly. Synthetic biology offers another option. Microbes weigh precious little, and would take up next to no space on a spacecraft, but once the mission lands - on Mars, say - they could multiply by feeding on the materials available there. The products of their labour could provide the building blocks essential for a human settlement.<br /><br />NASA has already begun research to realise this dream, says Lynn Rothschild at the Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. Rothschild is leader of NASA's new Synthetic Biology Initiative, which aims to build designer microbes for future crewed space missions. She shared her vision at last week's BioDesign Forum in Cambridge, UK.<br /><br />Synthetic biology lies at the crossroads of biology and engineering. Its practitioners have built a biological toolkit consisting of chunks of genes, called biobricks, each of which performs a specific function - making a bacterium generate natural antifreeze molecules, for example. Biobricks can be inserted into other microbes to give them that function.<br /><br />Using the approach, a microbe with the potential to survive on an alien world can become one that could sustain human life there.<br /><br />Take the need for energy. Many earthly microbes would die in extraterrestrial atmospheres rich in carbon dioxide and nitrogen - the two main constituents of Martian air. An ancient cyanobacterium called Anabaena thrives in those conditions, though, metabolising both gases to make sugars. "As long as it has warmth and some shielding from ultraviolet light radiation, it should do well on gases in the Mars atmosphere," says Rothschild.<br /><br />Naturally enough, Anabaena uses most of the energy it produces from CO2 and nitrogen, but synthetic biologists can encourage the cyanobacteria to share its supplies. Last year, at a synthetic biology competition - International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) - a team from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and Stanford University in California showed how inserting genetic machinery from E. coli makes Anabaena excrete more of its energy as sugar. The team even showed that they could support colonies of other bacteria on the sugar. In theory, such microbial colonies could make oil, plastics or fuel for the astronauts.<br /><br />The team, led by recent Brown graduate André Burnier and advised by Rothschild, has also come up with a way to supply human settlers on Mars with bricks and mortar. They began with a bacterium called Sporosarcina pasteurii, which, unusually, breaks down urea - the principle waste product in urine - and excretes ammonium. This makes the local environment alkaline enough for calcium carbonate cements to form.<br /><br />The idea is that the waste produced by astronauts could feed the microbes. The microbes, in turn, would help cement together fine rocky material on a planet's surface to create bricks.<br /><br />As a proof of principle, Burnier's team confirmed in experiments that loose material can be cemented together in about two weeks to create a house brick with the compressive strength of concrete. They also managed to isolate the cement-building genetic component of the bacterium, creating a biobrick that they have inserted into E. coli to give this hardy bacterium the same cement-enabling properties.<br /><br />The proposals are compelling, says Jim Haseloff, a synthetic biologist working on plants at the University of Cambridge.<br /><br />"Every gram delivered to Mars or other planets translates into huge additional costs and energy demands," says Paul Dear at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. "Biology rather than physical engineering is the only realistic way to do things on a planetary scale."<br /><br />Dear cautions that it would be cavalier to introduce earthly bugs into alien environments before we know whether such planets have, or have ever had, microbes of their own. But it will be decades before a bug box is used by astronauts, says Rothschild, making the contamination point moot for now.<br /><br />"The most appropriate way forward would be tests on robotic missions," she says. Only after they've been tested successfully by the robots would bug boxes be considered for crewed missions.<br /><br />Dear agrees with the robot-first approach. "It takes a lot of faith to trust your life to a bacterium."</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628855.100-build-a-mars-base-with-a-box-of-engineered-bugs.html?cmpid=RSS|NSNS|2012-GLOBAL|online-news&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews" target="_blank">Source...</a></span></div>
El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-37105190724951640172012-09-28T16:16:00.002-05:002012-09-28T16:21:18.948-05:00Scientists Invent Vanishing Electronics That Dissolve in the Body<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Scientists have created ultra-thin electronic devices that can "melt away" in the body once their job is done.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="http://static.betazeta.com/www.fayerwayer.com/up/2012/09/soluble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://static.betazeta.com/www.fayerwayer.com/up/2012/09/soluble.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">A new study, published in the journal Science, details how scientists have created a tiny, fully functional electronic device capable of vanishing within their environment, like in the body or in water, once they are no longer needed or useful. There are already implants that dispense drugs or provide electrical stimulation but they do not dissolve.</span></span></div>
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<tr align="center"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="color: #660000;">(Photo : Beckman Institute, University of Illinois and Tufts University) Scientists have created a tiny, fully functional electronic device capable of vanishing within their environment once they are no longer needed or useful.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">The latest creation is an early step in a technology that may benefit not only medicine, like enabling the development of medical implants that don't need to be surgically removed or the risk of long-term side effects, but also electronic waste disposal.<br /><br />Researchers led by John Rogers, a materials scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Fiorenzo Omenetto, a biomedical engineer at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, and Youggang Huang of Northwestern University have already designed an imaging system that monitors tissue from inside a mouse, a thermal patch that prevents infection after a surgical site is stitched up, solar cells as well as strain and temperature sensors.<br /><br />While most electronic devices are built to last, the latest device is made up of silicon and a tiny magnesium oxide circuit encapsulated in a protective layer of silk that can easily and harmlessly be absorbed by body fluids.<br /><br />"We refer to this type of technology as transient electronics," Rogers, a professor of engineering at the University of Illinois, said in a statement. "From the earliest days of the electronics industry, a key design goal has been to build devices that last forever -- with completely stable performance. But if you think about the opposite possibility -- devices that are engineered to physically disappear in a controlled and programmed manner -- then other, completely different kinds of application opportunities open up."<br /><br />The researchers, who have already developed "electronic tattoos," sensors that bend and stretch with the skin, say that they can now make just about any kind of dissolving high-performance electronic or optical device using transient electronics, according to Nature News.<br /><br />In the latest experiment, researchers had created tiny computer chip-like devices that were designed to generate heat to kill germs and fight infection after surgery. They found that the devices worked in mice for more than a week until their silk coating dissolved enough for bodily fluids to break down key parts of the device. They found that after three weeks, the tiny gadgets had completely vanished.<br /><br />The latest technology could also be used to develop cell phones and other common gadgets that dissolve after a number of years rather than ending up in landfills, according to researchers.<br /><br />"These electronics are there when you need them, and after they've served their purpose they disappear. This is a completely new concept," Huang said.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/12385/20120927/scientists-invent-vanishing-electronics-dissolve-body.htm" target="_blank">Source...</a></span>El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-68699736975535869962012-09-28T13:26:00.001-05:002012-09-28T13:32:01.202-05:00Google Launches A New Tablet-Optimized User Interface For Flight Search<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://blog.inner-active.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/google_logo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="http://blog.inner-active.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/google_logo.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/flight-search-tablet.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">Google just announced an update to its Flight Search feature that makes it easier for tablet users to search for and book travel from the couch. According to a recent study, 47 percent of all U.S. tablet owners who search for travel on their tablets also end up making </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">purchases on the device. Starting today, travelers who use their iPads or Nexus 7s to use Flight Search will get to see this new tablet-optimized user interface.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/flight-search-tablet.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"></span></span>This new UI, says Google, will allow you to “easily explore places to visit on the map and see prices updated in real-time for each destination.” All of the usual Flight Search features are available through the tablet interface, including the ability to find the cheapest dates to travel (something Google does faster than any other flight search tool), as well as the ability to see your flight on a map and filter by number of stops, airline (and airline alliance), price, duration, and connecting airports.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">Google launched its long-awaited Flight Search feature last September after the U.S. Justice Department cleared the company’s acquisition of flight search and airline logistics specialist ITA Software in April 2011. The first version of Flight Search was somewhat limited (and rightly labeled as a beta), but since then, Google has continuously improved the service. Earlier this year, for example, it finally added international destinations.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/28/google-launches-a-new-tablet-optimized-user-interface-for-flight-search/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=Netvibes" target="_blank">Source...</a></span>El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-19428597104472755542012-09-22T11:01:00.000-05:002012-09-22T11:01:18.192-05:0021 Unbelievable Photos That Are Not Photoshopped<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">A hundred years ago, photographs depicted the truth, but now with the advent of Photoshop, anything can be fabricated with a click of a mouse. You may not believe it, but the following photos have not been altered in Photoshop and depict the real deal.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">1.The Southern Sky Columnis located in the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in China. It's nickname is Avatar Hallelujah Mountain after the floating mountains in the sci-fi movie.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br /> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/terminal05/2012/4/23/14/enhanced-buzz-17671-1335205127-20.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/terminal05/2012/4/23/14/enhanced-buzz-17671-1335205127-20.jpg" width="379" /></a> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">2.These wave rock formations are located near the Utah-Arizona state lines.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">3.Steve Richards may have adjusted the saturation in this image, but this place really exists!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">4.This picture was taken by Eric Nguyen in Kansas.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">5.Sinkholes are real and terrifying! This particular sinkhole was found in Guatemala City in 2010. It was 18m (60ft) wide, and 60m (200ft) deep.<br /> <a href="http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web04/2012/4/23/14/enhanced-buzz-25662-1335205076-3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web04/2012/4/23/14/enhanced-buzz-25662-1335205076-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">6.Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are actually playing tennis on a water court.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web03/2012/4/23/14/enhanced-buzz-24555-1335205938-14.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="377" src="http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web03/2012/4/23/14/enhanced-buzz-24555-1335205938-14.jpg" width="640" /></a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">7. If you are rich, you can inscribe your name on anything! Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan is a billionaire and part of the Abu Dhabi royal family. He decided to inscribe his name permanently onto his private island. You can see for yourself on Google Maps.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br /> <img alt="" class="bf_dom" height="448" src="http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web05/2012/4/23/14/enhanced-buzz-18286-1335205362-21.jpg" width="640" /></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">8.Railroad track damage from the Canterbury Earthquake in 2010.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">9.Spanish photographer Chema Madoz uses film in all of his projects. None of his photos are altered with Photoshop.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">10.For some reason, these sports spectators decided to put watermelons on their heads.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">11.Just a fluffy sheep dog jumping over a hurdle.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">12.This Baird’s Tapir is just showing the flexibility of his nose.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">13.Nobody knows the reason why this squirrel is purple, but it was found in a Pennsylvania backyard in February of 2012.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">14.Two-faced cat!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">15.And now for a real two-faced cat! Frank and Louie just turned 12 years old and is the world's oldest two-faced cat.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br /> <img alt="" class="bf_dom" height="415" src="http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web05/2012/4/23/16/enhanced-buzz-9367-1335214469-6.jpg" width="625" /></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">16.It really is a fish with human-like teeth. HORRIFYING!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br /> <img alt="" class="bf_dom" height="503" src="http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web04/2012/4/23/14/enhanced-buzz-25614-1335205305-4.jpg" width="625" /></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">17.Lurch is a Watusi Bull and the proud owner of the world's largest horns.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">18.Angles are everything!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br /> <img alt="" class="bf_dom" height="617" src="http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web05/2012/4/23/14/enhanced-buzz-18274-1335204920-11.jpg" width="625" /></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">19.This beekeeper is actually covered in 331,000 bees. Bee-lieve it!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">20.Sheep ambushes can really happen to you.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><img alt="" class="bf_dom" height="407" src="http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/web05/2012/4/23/14/enhanced-buzz-17769-1335205954-27.jpg" width="625" /> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">21.This cat is really this fat, and he really needs a home. Someone please adopt him! [Ed note: Rest in peace, meow!]</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"> <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/pepsinext/21-unbelievable-photos-that-are-not-photoshopped" target="_blank">Source...</a></span></div>
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El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-24786037117712269192012-09-22T04:26:00.000-05:002012-09-22T04:29:57.487-05:00Lost Egyptian pyramids found ... by Google?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Images from Google Earth reveal what appear to be two long-lost pyramid complexes.</span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> Two possible pyramid complexes might have been found in Egypt, according to a Google Earth satellite imagery survey.<br /><br />Located about 90 miles apart, the sites contain unusual grouping of mounds with intriguing features and orientations, said satellite archaeology researcher Angela Micol of Maiden, N.C.<br /><br />One site in Upper Egypt, just 12 miles from the city of Abu Sidhum along the Nile, features four mounds each with a larger, triangular-shaped plateau.<br /><br />The two larger mounds at this site are approximately 250 feet in width, with two smaller mounds approximately 100 feet in width.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br /><span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://news.discovery.com/history/pyramids-egypt-nasa-satellite-110526.html" target="_blank">NEWS: Egyptian Pyramids Found With NASA Satellite</a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br />The site complex is arranged in a very clear formation with the large mound extending a width of approximately 620 feet -- almost three times the size of the Great Pyramid.<br /><br />"Upon closer examination of the formation, this mound appears to have a very flat top and a curiously symmetrical triangular shape that has been heavily eroded with time," Micol wrote in her website <a href="http://www.googleearthanomalies.com/" target="_blank">Google Earth Anomalies</a>.<br /><br />Intriguingly, when zooming in on the top of the triangular formation, two circular, 20-foot-wide features appear almost in the very center of the triangle.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://blogs.discovery.com/.a/6a00d8341bf67c53ef0167692f8652970b-pi" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="516" src="http://blogs.discovery.com/.a/6a00d8341bf67c53ef0167692f8652970b-pi" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Some 90 miles north near the Fayoum oasis, the second possible pyramid complex contains a four-sided, truncated mound that is approximately 150 feet wide.<br /><br /><span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://news.discovery.com/space/satellite-views-reveal-early-human-settlements-120320.html" target="_blank">ANALYSIS: Satellite Views Reveal Early Human Settlements</a><br /><br />"It has a distinct square center which is very unusual for a mound of this size and it almost seems pyramidal when seen from above," Micol wrote.<br /><br />Located just 1.5 miles south east of the ancient town of Dimai, the site also contains three smaller mounds in a very clear formation, "similar to the diagonal alignment of the Giza Plateau pyramids," Micol stated in a press release.<br /><br />"The color of the mounds is dark and similar to the material composition of Dimai's walls which are made of mudbrick and stone," the researcher wrote.<br /><br /><a href="http://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/structural/pyramid3.htm" target="_blank">HOWSTUFFWORKS: Building the Pyramids</a></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> </span>Founded in the third century B.C. under the Ptolemaic king Ptolemy II Philadelphus (309 B.C.–246 B.C.), Dimai was built on top of an earlier neolithic settlement.<br /><br />Also known as Dimeh al-Siba, Dimeh of the Lions, the town is surrounded by a mudbrick wall that stretches up to 32 feet high and 16 feet thick, and features at its center a ruined stone temple dedicated to the crocodile god Soknopaios.<br /><br />Indeed, the town's Greek name, Soknopaiou Nesos, means "Island of Soknopaios."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://blogs.discovery.com/.a/6a00d8341bf67c53ef017617248bfe970c-800wi" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="611" src="http://blogs.discovery.com/.a/6a00d8341bf67c53ef017617248bfe970c-800wi" width="640" /></a><br />Well known to scholars for the amount of papyri and other inscribed material found among its ruins, Dimai reached its peak during the first and second century A.D. thanks to a major trade route. It was abandoned during the mid-third century A.D.<br /><br />According to Micol, both sites have been verified as undiscovered by Egyptologist and pyramid expert Nabil Selim, whose findings include the pyramid called Sinki at Abydos and the Dry Moat surrounding the Step pyramid complex at Saqqara.<br /><br />Selim found that the smaller 100-foot mounds at the site near Abu Sidhum are a similar size as the 13th Dynasty Egyptian pyramids, if a square base can be discovered.<br /><br /><a href="http://news.discovery.com/space/big-pic-hamad-abu-dhabi-space-graffiti-110721.html" target="_blank">BIG PIC: Man Etches Name in Sand, Visible from Space</a><br /><br />"The images speak for themselves. It's very obvious what the sites may contain but field research is needed to verify they are, in fact, pyramids," Micol said.<br /><br />The researcher has previously located several possible archaeological sites with Google Earth, including a potential underwater city off the coast of the Yucatan peninsula.<br /><br />She believes the use of infrared imagery will allow scientists to see the extent of the complexes in greater detail.<br /><br />The sites have been sent to Egyptologists and researchers for further investigation and "ground truthing," she said.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photos: The site near Abu Sidhum contains four mounds with a larger, triangular-shaped plateau. Credit: Angela Micol;<br />-- Enhanced image of the 150 foot wide, four-sided mound near the ancient town of Dimai. Credit: Angela Micol;<br />-- The site also contains three smaller mounds in a formation similar to the diagonal alignment of the Giza Plateau pyramids. Credit: Angela Micol.</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://news.discovery.com/history/lost-egyptian-pyramids-found-120810.html" target="_blank">Source...</a></span>El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-79047411750765989472012-09-21T02:57:00.000-05:002012-09-21T02:57:41.227-05:00Ten Most Extreme Substances Known to Man<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f3d04d123660.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/778b6e426251.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/778b6e426251.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><b>10. The Darkest Substance Known to Man</b>What do you get when you stack carbon nanotubes on their ends and sandwich them together? A material that absorbs 99.9% of the light that touches it. The microscopic surface of the material is rough and uneven, which breaks up the light and makes it a poor reflector. Then add to that carbon nanotubes act as superconductors in certain arrangements, which makes them excellent light absorbers, and you have a perfect storm of black. Scientists are really excited about the potential applications of the substance; since virtually no light is “wasted”, it would be used to improve optical tools like telescopes, and even be used to make nearly 100% efficient solar collectors.<br /><br /><b><br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><b>9. The Most Flammable Substance</b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> <a href="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/fb7ea7ef35b6.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/fb7ea7ef35b6.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">A lot of things burn with astounding intensity; Styrofoam, napalm, marshmallows are just the beginning. But what if there was a material that could set sand on fire? Okay, so clearly that was a loaded question, but it was a necessary set-up. Chlorine triflouride has the dubious honor of being terrifyingly flammable, to the point that history’s evil boy-scouts, the Nazis, deemed it too dangerous to work with. When people who consider genocide their life’s goal don’t want to use something because it is too deadly, it bears treating it with some caution. There is a story that a ton of the stuff was spilled once and caught fire, and it burned through 12 inches of concrete and another meter of sand and gravel before going out. I hate to say it, but in this case, the Nazi’s were right.<br /><br /><br /><b>8. The Most Toxic Poison<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c5876d3f8a4a.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c5876d3f8a4a.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">Quick, what’s the last thing you would want to inject into your face? Aside from something that burns through concrete, and maybe the world’s worst acid (coming soon), I would think “The world’s deadliest poison” would be in the top 3 with them. Not so, though, in the medical community; you’ve all heard of Botox, no doubt, and “deadliest poison” is it’s main claim to fame. Botox uses botulinum toxin, produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum, and it is so deadly, an amount equal to a grain of salt is enough to kill a 200 lb man. In fact, they even suggest that it would only take 4kg, properly dispersed, to kill every last person on earth. Maybe those crows feet around your eyes would be better treated with an angry rattlesnake….<br /><br /><b>7. The Hottest Substance Ever<a href="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f3d04d123660.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f3d04d123660.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">There are few things known to man hotter than the interior of a freshly microwaved Hot Pocket, but this stuff manages to break even that record. Created by smashing gold atoms together at nearly the speed of light, it’s called a quark-gluon soup, and it reaches a balmy 4 trillion degrees Celsius, a mere 250,000 times hotter than the inside of the sun. The amount of energy released in the collision was sufficient to melt protons and neutrons, which in itself could be featured on a list of things you never even knew were possible. Scientists think this substance could give us an idea of what the birth of our universe was like, so it’s good to see they aren’t just creating tiny supernovas for the fun of it. However, the really good news is that the soup was only a trillionth of a centimeter across, and only lasted for a trillionth of a trillionth of a second.<br /><br /><b>6. Most Acidic Acid<a href="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/392418fbdf23.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/392418fbdf23.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><br />Acid is scary stuff; they gave one of the scariest movie monsters ever acid blood to make it scarier than just a simple killing machine (the Alien), so it’s pretty ingrained in our psyche that getting dissolved is bad. If the Aliens had been filled with fluoroantimonic acid, they not only would have probably fallen through the floor until they hit dirt, the vapors given off by their dying bodies would have killed everyone around them. It is 21019 times more powerful than sulphuric acid, and can even eat through glass. And it explodes when exposed to water. And when it is reacting, it gives off poisonous fumes that can kill everyone in a room. Maybe we should move on from this one…<br /><br /><b>5. The Most Explosive Expolosive</b> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/559d6e0ca9b8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/559d6e0ca9b8.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">This particular honor is actually currently shared between two compounds; HMX and Heptanitrocubane. Heptanitrocubane mostly exists in labs, and is similar to HMX, but has a denser crystal structure, giving it greater destructive potential. HMX, on the other hand, exists in quantities large enough to be physically threatening. It is used in solid rocket fuel, shaped charges, and even nuclear weapon detonators. That last one is the scariest, because despite how easy movies make it look, starting the fission/fusion reaction that makes bright glowing radioactive mushroom clouds is not an easy ball to get rolling, but HMX is up to the task.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><a href="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/dc0c665ce831.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/dc0c665ce831.jpg" /></a></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><b>4. The Most Radioactive Substance</b></span></span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">Speaking of radiation, it’s worth noting that the glowing green rods of “plutonium” on the Simpsons are completely fictional. Just because something is radioactive does not mean it glows. I mention that because Polonium-210 is so radioactive, it glows blue. A former soviet spy, Alexander Litvinenko, was duped into consuming some without his knowledge, and he died of cancer shortly thereafter. This is not that kind of thing you ever want to mess with; the glow is caused by the air around it being excited by the radiation, and it can actually heat objects nearby. If the fact that something highly radioactive gives off heat, keep in mind that when we usually think “radiation”, we are thinking of things like a nuclear reactor or explosion, where an actual fission reaction is happening. This is just your run of the mill loss of ionized particles, not a runaway splitting of atoms.<br /><br /><b>3. The Hardest Substance</b> </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/bc5b5131eee8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/bc5b5131eee8.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;">If you thought the hardest substance on earth was diamond, that was a good, if inaccurate guess. It is technically an aggregated diamond nanorod. It is actually a collection of nano-scale diamonds, and it is the least compressible, hardest substance known to man. They aren’t naturally occurring, which is actually kind of cool, since it implies we could one day coat our cars in this stuff and just walk it off when we collide with a train (not really). It was developed in Germany in 2005 and will likely be used in the same capacity as industrial diamond, except will be more wear-resistant than regular diamonds. That’s harder than algebra.<br /><br /> </span></span></div>
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<a href="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/417cb606a9ef.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><b>2. The Most Magnetic Substance<a href="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/417cb606a9ef.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/417cb606a9ef.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"></span></span>If Magneto was a small black lump, that would be him. The substance, developed in 2010 out of iron and nitrogen, is 18% more magnetic than the previous record holder, and is so powerful, it has forced scientists to revisit how magnetism works. The man who discovered the substance has taken great pains to ensure that his work can be reproduced by other scientists, because a similar compound was reported developed in Japan back in 1996, but other physicists could not replicate it, so it was never officially accepted. No word on whether Japanese physicists have to commit Sepuku under these circumstances. If it can be reproduced, it could spell a new age of efficient electronics and magnetic engines, maybe even powered by number 10.<br /><br /><b>1. The Most Super Superfluid<a href="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e6e5e7b29cb9.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e6e5e7b29cb9.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"> Superfluidity is a state of matter (like solid or gaseous) that occurs at extremely low temperatures, has high thermal conductivity (every ounce of it is always exactly the same temperature), and no viscosity. Helium 2 is the “most” example of this. A cup of He2 will spontaneously flow up and out of a container, as if it just decided to leave. It also seeps right through otherwise solid materials because its complete lack of friction allows it to flow through otherwise invisible holes that would not allow regular helium (or water for that matter) to flow through. He2 did not wind up at number 1 just because of its ability to act like it has a mind of its own, though, it is also the most efficient thermal conductor on earth; several hundred times that of copper. Heat moves so fast through Helium 2 that it moves in waves, like sound (and is fact known as “second sound”), rather than dispersion, where it simply transfers from one molecule to another. Incidentally, the forces governing He2’s ability to crawl walls is called “third sound”. You can’t get much more extreme than a substance that required the definitions of 2 new types of sound.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="http://tenmost.com/ten-most-extreme-substances-known-to-man/" target="_blank">Source...</a></span></span></div>
El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-64341283583939953672012-07-29T14:16:00.001-05:002012-07-29T14:16:06.897-05:00The Eiffel Tower<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQd7gtBgTAFoLz0il7-VXLhgbBVHwfkNND7wj6VlQYxuzxhRIU8dpT9lIL4HLTess8yLYFkEjZhmqlBaqWW1YepIkRwt2w1V9SfuTY1qfN2htBQqIAWEafhyphenhyphenNILwNXCGlYBg-w6EaLxTA/s1600/First+drawing+of+the+Eiffel+Tower+by+Maurice+Koechlin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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The Eiffel Tower (French: La Tour Eiffel, nickname La dame de fer, the iron lady) is a puddled iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris, named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; 7.1 million people ascended it in 2011. The third level observatory's upper platform is at 279.11 m the highest accessible to public in the European Union and the highest in Europe as long as the platform of the Ostankino Tower, at 360 m, remains closed as a result of the fire of August 2000. The tower received its 250 millionth visitor in 2010.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First drawing of the Eiffel Tower by Maurice Koechlin</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
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The tower stands 320 metres (1,050 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-story building. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to assume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930. However, because of the addition, in 1957, of the antenna atop the Eiffel Tower, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building. Not including broadcast antennas, it is the second-tallest structure in France, after the Millau Viaduct.<br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfEGNbDh6qTB3h7nzUh0AsfyBNw8Yf5Joqxqg42YGJv3rWbvlBwSra-4Ofs9tQDyq9kLycLAE5SHhm00ekkiDh6jHAdxZ_wfGGc6r0zaL12WHkkoEh8Mn2mHE0S8HYrIEgJJBH0bmcSw/s1600/Eiffel_Tower+dimension.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfEGNbDh6qTB3h7nzUh0AsfyBNw8Yf5Joqxqg42YGJv3rWbvlBwSra-4Ofs9tQDyq9kLycLAE5SHhm00ekkiDh6jHAdxZ_wfGGc6r0zaL12WHkkoEh8Mn2mHE0S8HYrIEgJJBH0bmcSw/s400/Eiffel_Tower+dimension.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The tower has three levels for visitors. Tickets can be purchased to ascend, by stairs or lift (elevator), to the first and second levels. The walk from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. The third and highest level is accessible only by lift - stairs exist but they are not usually open for public use. Both the first and second levels feature restaurants.<br /><br />The tower has become the most prominent symbol of both Paris and France, often in the establishing shot of films set in the city.</div>
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<b>Construction</b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foundations of the Eiffel Tower</td></tr>
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Eiffel Tower under construction between 1887 and 1889</div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Work on the foundations started in January 1887. Those for the east and
south legs were straightforward, each leg resting on four 2 m (6.6 ft)
concrete slabs, one for each of the principal girders of each leg but
the other two, being closer to the river Seine were more complicated:
each slab needed two piles installed by using compressed-air caissons 15
m (49 ft) long and 6 m (20 ft) in diameter driven to a depth of 22 m
(72 ft) to support the concrete slabs, which were 6 m (20 ft) thick. </span><br />
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Each of these
slabs supported a block built of limestone each with an inclined top to
bear a supporting shoe for the ironwork. Each shoe was anchored into the
stonework by a pair of bolts 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and 7.5 m (25 ft)
long. The foundations were complete by 30 June and the erection of the
ironwork began. The very visible work on-site was complemented by the
enormous amount of exacting preparatory work that was entailed: the
drawing office produced 1,700 general drawings and 3,629 detailed
drawings of the 18,038 different parts needed: The task of drawing the
components was complicated by the complex angles involved in the design
and the degree of precision required: the position of rivet holes was
specified to within 0.1 mm (0.04 in) and angles worked out to one second
of arc. </div>
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The finished
components, some already riveted together into sub-assemblies, arrived
on horse-drawn carts from the factory in the nearby Parisian suburb of
Levallois-Perret and were first bolted together, the bolts being
replaced by rivets as construction progressed. No drilling or shaping
was done on site: if any part did not fit it was sent back to the
factory for alteration. In all there were 18,038 pieces of puddle iron
using two and a half million rivets.</div>
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At first the legs were constructed as cantilevers but about halfway to the first level construction was paused in order to construct a substantial timber scaffold. This caused a renewal of the concerns about the structural soundness of the project, and sensational headlines such as "Eiffel Suicide!" and "Gustave Eiffel has gone mad: he has been confined in an Asylum" appeared in the popular press. At this stage a small "creeper" crane was installed in each leg, designed to move up the tower as construction progressed and making use of the guides for the lifts which were to be fitted in each leg. The critical stage of joining the four legs at the first level was complete by March 1888. Although the metalwork had been prepared with the utmost precision, provision had been made to carry out small adjustments in order to precisely align the legs: hydraulic jacks were fitted to the shoes at the base of each leg, each capable of exerting a force of 800 tonnes, and in addition the legs had been intentionally constructed at a slightly steeper angle than necessary, being supported by sandboxes on the scaffold.<br /><br />No more than three hundred workers were employed on site, and because Eiffel took safety precautions, including the use of movable stagings, guard-rails and screens, only one man died during construction.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnD2mTupL57pHdtoe9OMkJEySX9yt7Jrn0rc06-7QQqcVT8Ug42q-aLth0g-TE0aWgyRXkp0quCg6bLBPS93g4XiEZaEw_JAbh54Qlg-Q63Hp4dYY9aU80SmVSSAH9ETbQpc2JMyXngs/s1600/640px-Eiffel_tower_at_Exposition_Universelle,_Paris,_1889.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnD2mTupL57pHdtoe9OMkJEySX9yt7Jrn0rc06-7QQqcVT8Ug42q-aLth0g-TE0aWgyRXkp0quCg6bLBPS93g4XiEZaEw_JAbh54Qlg-Q63Hp4dYY9aU80SmVSSAH9ETbQpc2JMyXngs/s400/640px-Eiffel_tower_at_Exposition_Universelle,_Paris,_1889.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_Universelle_%281889%29" style="color: black;" title="Exposition Universelle (1889)">1889 Exposition Universelle</a> for which the Eiffel Tower was built</td></tr>
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<b><br />Inauguration and the 1889 Exposition</b><br /> </div>
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The main structural work was completed at the end of March 1889 and on the 31st Eiffel celebrated this by leading a group of government officials, accompanied by representatives of the press, to the top of the tower. Since the lifts were not yet in operation, the ascent was made by foot, and took over an hour, Eiffel frequently stopping to make explanations of various features. Most of the party chose to stop at the lower levels, but a few, including Nouguier, Compagnon, the President of the City Council and reporters from Le Figaro and Le Monde Illustré completed the climb. At 2.35 Eiffel hoisted a large tricolore, to the accompaniment of a 25-gun salute fired from the lower level. There was still work to be done, particularly on the lifts and the fitting out of the facilities for visitors, and the tower was not opened to the public until nine days after the opening of the Exposition on 6 May, and even then the lifts had not been completed.<br /><br />The tower was an immediate success with the public, and lengthy queues formed to make the ascent. Tickets cost 2 francs for the first level, 3 for the second and 5 for the top, with half-price admission on Sundays, and by the end of the exhibition there had been nearly two million visitors.<br /><br />Eiffel had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years; it was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down (part of the original contest rules for designing a tower was that it could be easily demolished) but as the tower proved valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit. In the opening weeks of the First World War the powerful radio transmitters using the tower were used to jam German communications, seriously hindering their advance on Paris and contributing to the Allied victory at the First Battle of the Marne.<br /></div>El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-40968721767469698172012-07-15T14:14:00.003-05:002012-07-15T14:14:16.627-05:0012 Most Amazing Secluded Houses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-WnbytUXiCdXDHxomOUJTI6MKMk7Ikej9D4N-cgPtFvIK3rQ_4mxGSrZVQs4BqEgIvSaSciZOd_JqEo3s7Dw2QondQ23XsfU8BoxVo8Ccai-N5iwpeiJyINouEwQ0ne2_Pg8Yb3jyt8Y/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-WnbytUXiCdXDHxomOUJTI6MKMk7Ikej9D4N-cgPtFvIK3rQ_4mxGSrZVQs4BqEgIvSaSciZOd_JqEo3s7Dw2QondQ23XsfU8BoxVo8Ccai-N5iwpeiJyINouEwQ0ne2_Pg8Yb3jyt8Y/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Really lonely house on one of the isles of Vestmannaeyjar.<br />Shot through a plane window.<br />Elliðaey, Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zanthia/3871539679/" style="color: #783f04;" target="_blank"><b>(Link)</b></a></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">At a height of 4,003 meters on a rocky ridge of the Matterhorn, Switzerland's iconic, triangular peak, is the Solvay hut, managed by the Swiss Alpine Club. It has room for only ten daredevils who will have to venture uphill through the most inhospitable terrain. The steep, icy paths and frozen breath and sweat will improve your appetite considerably. </span><b><a href="http://www.weirdlyodd.com/10-most-unusual-mountain-huts/" style="color: #783f04;" target="_blank">(Link)</a></b><br /><br /><br /></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Tired of those pesky neighbors? Here's the solution! The aptly-named Just Room Enough Island in Canada's Saint Lawrence River has just enough room for a single small house. When the water is low, the owners can put their lawn furniture out on the porch and get some sun. </span><b><a href="http://www.neatorama.com/2012/05/30/tiny-houses-on-tiny-islands/" style="color: #783f04;" target="_blank">(Link)</a></b></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Photo by Ian Coristine. (<a href="http://tinyhouseblog.com/stick-built/tiny-houses-on-tiny-islands/%20%20%20" style="color: #783f04;" target="_blank"><b>Link)</b></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">As you drive for the first time
over the Passo Pian delle Fugazze in Italy, between Vivenza and
Rovereto, you are due for something of a surprise. The Leno valley of
the Trento province is home to the Hermitage of San Colombano. You would
expect a hermitage to be somewhat off the beaten track, but this takes
isolation to a new height – literally.</span><br style="color: #783f04;" />
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<span style="color: #783f04;">One hundred and twenty meters up a
cliff face, seemingly carved into the side of the deep valley, the
Hermitage is in clear view. Yet it also sends a clear message that it
was built for a specific reason – to move its inhabitants far from the
madding crown below. The house was built almost seven hundred years ago,
in 1319. <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_627100326"> </a><a href="http://www.kuriositas.com/2010/12/hermitage-of-san-colombano.html" style="color: #783f04;" target="_blank"><b>(Link)</b></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">The Holy Trinity Monastery is an Orthodox monastery in central Greece. The monastery is one of six functioning monasteries in Meteora. It is the oldest among those present there, having been built in 1476. This monastery sits on a 400 m. (1,300 ft.) high rock.</span><br style="color: #783f04;" /><br style="color: #783f04;" /><span style="color: #783f04;">In the old days, access to this monastery was via a net and rope ladder. Today, entrance to the monastery is gained by climbing 140 steps cut into the pinnacle rock. It was richly decorated and had precious manuscripts; however, these treasures were looted during World War II. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastery_of_the_Holy_Trinity,_Meteora" style="color: #783f04;" target="_blank"><b>(Link)</b></a></span></div>
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This amazing residence stands on the highest site of a mesmerizing island located several miles away from Stockholm, Sweden. Stretching out in an area of 137 square meters, the main building includes a beautiful living room, a guest room, with a kitchen and glass doors leading out to large a bridge deck, a sauna and much more. But more important, you won't be disturbed by neighbors! <b><a href="http://www.designswan.com/tag/nature/page/7" style="color: #783f04;" target="_blank">(Link)</a></b><br /><br /> </div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">This is Katskhi Pillar. It abruptly rises 40 meters (130 ft) from the hills of Central Georgia and looks similar to a giant's club. In the 4th century, Georgia adopted Christianity as its state religion, and Katskhi Pillar became the site of a small church first built in the 7th century. One Georgian monk has been living in it for nearly 20 years now. It is also interesting that women are not allowed to climb to the top.<a href="http://michaelkelleyministries.com/2011/11/a-hermits-christianity/" target="_blank"><b> <span style="color: #783f04;">(Link)</span></b></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">This house is definitely tired of civilization. </span></div>
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<b><a href="http://www.oddee.com/item_98215.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color: #783f04;">Source</span></a></b><br /></div>El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-79635574142602141012012-02-15T09:08:00.000-05:002012-02-15T09:08:20.173-05:00The Temples of Humankind<div style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The great construction many have called<br /><span style="font-size: small;"><b>‘The Eighth Wonder of the World’</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.damanhur.org/images/stories/mag000055A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.damanhur.org/images/stories/mag000055A.jpg" width="280" /></a>Every year thousands of people visit Damanhur to try out the social model, study the philosophy and to meditate in the Temples of Humankind, that great underground construction excavated by hand into the rock by the citizens of Damanhur and which many have called the ‘Eighth wonder of the world’.<br /><br />The Water Hall, the Earth Hall, the Hall of Spheres, the Hall of Mirrors, the Metal Hall, the Blue Temple and the Labyrinth: The Temples of Humankind are an underground work of art, created entirely by hand and dedicated to the divine nature of humanity. It is a great three dimensional book which recounts the history of Humankind through all the art forms, a path of re-awakening to the Divine inside and outside of ourselves.<br /><br />In the Temples of Humankind, every aspect has a meaning: the colours, the measurements and every detail follow a precise code of forms and proportions; every Hall has its specific resonance and its own sound.<br /> </div>
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The <a href="http://www.thetemples.org/">Temples of Humankind</a> symbolically represent the inner rooms inside every human being. Walking through its halls and corridors corresponds to <b>a profound journey inside oneself</b>. The Temples wind for over 8,500 cubic metres on five different levels, connected to one another by hundreds of metres of corridors. They arise in the place where the Eurasian continental plate meets the African plate, pushing up a mineral <b>300 million years old: it is mylonite</b>, a rock that carries the physical energy of the earth. The Temples of Humankind have been built right inside a vein of this particular mineral, whose presence follows perfectly the flowing of the ‘Synchronic Lines’ of the planet. The synchronic lines are like great rivers of energy which cross the Earth and connect it to the Universe, carrying ideas, thoughts and dreams. The Temples arise within a <b>‘shining knot’</b> a point where four synchronic lines meet.<br /><br />The Temples are a great laboratory where art and science, technology and spirituality are united in the research of new roads for the evolution of humanity. As during the Renaissance, the construction of the Temples of Humankind has been the influence behind the creation of artistic and craft workshops, thanks to which Damanhur is valued all over the world.<br /><br />Keeping pace with the growth of the Temples of Humankind – which represent the highest collective, artistic expression – Damanhurian society has refined itself and has created the basis for its own culture and tradition.<br /><br /><i>The Temples of Humankind are a surprising achievement, and what does that say about the community that built them? The social structure developed by the Damanhurians has turned out to be as extraordinary in every aspect as the Temples are. The first thing to clarify is that this is a place of spiritual and philosophical research; Damanhur is not trying to create a new religion. Here they are researching in the field of spirituality, of social philosophy, here they are researching life. (…)<br /><br />If all this sounds a bit too good to be true, just let me say that after being with many of these people, living with them, experiencing people’s daily, there is no doubt in my mind that the reality comes close to the vision.”</i><br /><br /><a href="http://www.damanhur.org/component/content/article/25/40-the-temples-of-humankind">JEFF MERRIFIELD</a><br /><br />Extract from:“The story of the Extraordinary Italian Artistic and Spiritual Community”<br /><br />Hanford Mead, 2006</div>El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-58827738833879324792012-02-11T10:56:00.001-05:002012-02-11T11:01:31.594-05:00Attacks on Android Devices Intensify<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Rising security incidents and poorly defended phones suggest 2012 could be a risky year for smart-phone users.</i>
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A recent rise in Android malware—combined with increased efforts to
combat the threat—highlight the fact that, just like tech companies, app
makers, and users, hackers are fast turning their attention to mobile
devices. What's more, experts say, such devices are often configured in
ways that make it easier for malware to thrive.<br />
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Several new types of Android malware have been spotted "in the wild" in
recent weeks, and they demonstrate growing sophistication. One specimen,
dubbed Opfake, is a bogus Web browser that automatically makes calls to
premium phone lines. Opfake exhibits a powerful trick previously seen
only in desktop malware, whereby the code repeatedly mutates to make
anti-virus detection more difficult.<br />
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To counter the rising tide of threats, Google last week announced it had
launched an app prescreening tool called <a href="http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2012/02/android-and-security.html">Bouncer</a> that runs a
server-based simulation to check apps for malicious behavior—such as
attempts to access or send personal data, or simply send out pricey text
messages. Google blocks them before they get into the official Android
Market. <br />
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Bouncer has been used quietly for several months; in the second half of
2011, the Android market saw a 40 percent decrease in malware apps
identified as potentially malicious, compared to the first half of the
year, wrote Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google's Android engineering vice
president, in a blog post.<br />
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In a similar move, the mobile security firm <a href="https://www.mylookout.com/">Lookout</a> says it is testing
new methods for Android users that quarantine and scan downloaded apps.
Whereas many existing tools screen the phone for already installed
malware, a new tool would allow users to delay installation of a
downloaded app until a check was complete. "For many users who install
apps outside of Android Market, there is a need for pre-installation
detection," says Derek Halliday, senior security manager at Lookout.<br />
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Lookout found, at the end of 2011, that 4 percent of Android users were
likely to encounter malware over the course of the year—up from 1
percent of users a year ago, though part of the increase may be a
function of improved detection, Halliday says.<br />
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Android is the most popular smart-phone operating system in the world,
with 52.5 percent of the global market at the end of 2011, according to
Gartner.</div>
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<br />El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-62139296852078824762012-02-06T22:00:00.003-05:002012-02-06T22:01:33.145-05:00Over 3 years later, "deleted" Facebook photos are still online<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Some photos just don't need to see the light of the next day.</span><br />
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Facebook is still working on deleting photos from its servers in a timely manner nearly three years after <a href="http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/07/are-those-photos-really-deleted-from-facebook-think-twice.ars">Ars first brought attention to the topic</a>. The company admitted on Friday that its older systems for storing uploaded content "did not always delete images from content delivery networks in a reasonable period of time even though they were immediately removed from the site," but said it's currently finishing up a newer system that makes the process much quicker. In the meantime, photos that users thought they "deleted" from the social network months or even years ago remain accessible via direct link.</div>
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<b>The problem: "deleted" photos never go away</b><br />
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When we <a href="http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/07/are-those-photos-really-deleted-from-facebook-think-twice.ars">first investigated </a>this phenomenon in 2009, we discovered that photos "deleted" from Facebook seemingly never go away if you have a direct link to the image file on Facebook's servers. Users who might have had second thoughts about posting a photo—whether it was because they didn't want retaliation from an employer, wanted to avoid family drama, or uploaded a photo of a friend without their permission—could certainly remove the image from Facebook's main user interface, but as long as someone had a direct link to the .jpg file in question, the photo would remain accessible for an indefinite amount of time. When we asked Facebook about it, we were told that the company was "working with our content delivery network (CDN) partner to significantly reduce the amount of time that backup copies persist."<br />
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But when <a href="http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2010/10/facebook-may-be-making-strides.ars">we followed up on the story </a>more than a year later, our "deleted" photos were still accessible via direct link. That's when the reader stories started pouring in: we were told horror stories about online harassment using photos that were allegedly deleted years ago, and users who were asked to take down photos of friends that they had put online.<br />
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There were plenty of stories in between as well, and panicked Facebook users continue to e-mail me, asking if we have heard of any new way to ensure that their deleted photos are, well, deleted. For example, one reader linked me to a photo that a friend of his had posted of his toddler crawling naked on the lawn. He asked his friend to take it down for obvious reasons, and so the friend did—in May of 2008. As of this writing in 2012, I have personally confirmed that the photo is still online, as are several others that readers linked me to that were deleted at various points in 2009 and 2010.<br />
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(Amusingly, after publishing the 2010 followup, Facebook appeared to delete my photos from its CDN that I had linked in the piece. The company never offered me any explanation, but my photos were the only ones that were deleted at that time. Other "deleted" photos that I had saved links to—ones that weren't from my account and were deleted even earlier than mine—remained online.)</div>
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<b>It's 2012, and things aren't much different—yet</b><br />
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After confirming once again that all the photos that my friends and Ars readers had sent in were still online, I reached out to Facebook once again, looking for an answer as to why this is still going on nearly three years after the company first promised it was "working" on the issue.<br />
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"The systems we used for photo storage a few years ago did not always delete images from content delivery networks in a reasonable period of time even though they were immediately removed from the site," Facebook spokesperson Frederic Wolens told Ars via e-mail.<br />
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Wolens explained that photos remaining online are stuck in a legacy system that was apparently never operating properly, but said the company is working on a new system that will delete the photos in a mere month and a half. For really real this time.<br />
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"We have been working hard to move our photo storage to newer systems which do ensure photos are fully deleted within 45 days of the removal request being received," Wolens said. "This process is nearly complete and there is only a very small percentage of user photos still on the old system awaiting migration, the URL you provided was stored on this legacy system. We expect this process to be completed within the next month or two, at which point we will verify the migration is complete and we will disable all the old content."<br />
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Long story short, Wolens claims that Facebook is on the verge of fixing up its content systems so that "deleted" photos are really, truly deleted from the CDN within 45 days. But with the process not expected to be finished until a couple months from now—and unfortunately, with a company history of stretching the truth when asked about this topic—we'll have to see it before we believe it.<br />
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It's hard to believe that we've been following this story over a period of years and the problem hasn't been fixed yet. But unlike the past, we do have some semblance of confidence that Facebook might actually be working on it this time. We'll continue to follow this story until the new changes are actually in place. In the meantime, does anyone have any new Facebook horror stories to share?</div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Photo illustration by Aurich Lawson</span><br />
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<a href="http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/02/nearly-3-years-later-deleted-facebook-photos-are-still-online.ars">Source...</a>El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-60302470076881290392012-02-03T11:31:00.000-05:002012-02-03T11:31:42.562-05:00Surveillance Video Becomes a Tool for Studying Customers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Software mines security footage to help business owners see what people do once they're inside the store.</i></div>
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<tr align="justify" style="color: black;"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Who's
there: Software from Prism Skylabs processes surveillance footage to
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The huge success of online shopping and advertising—led by giants like Amazon and Google—is in no small part thanks to software that logs when you visit Web pages and what you click on. Startup Prism Skylabs offers brick-and-mortar businesses the equivalent—counting, logging, and tracking people in a store, coffee shop, or gym with software that works with video from security cameras.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">"There's a lot of wonderful information locked up in video, and 40 million security cameras in the U.S. collecting it, but it's data that's not been available," says Steve Russell, cofounder and CEO of Prism, based in San Francisco. "We want to free up that information."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Prism's software can count people that come into a business, measure the length of the line at checkout, and produce static or animated visualizations showing how people moved around a store. It is designed so that it cannot identify or track individuals. One national wireless carrier is already using Prism's technology to generate heat maps of where visitors go in their showrooms, to compare the level of interest in different devices—valuable data to them and to the device makers.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Prism's software can also be used to turn security footage into a live version of Google's Street View, says Ron Palmeri, Prism's president and other cofounder. "We give the ability to go beyond the facades of businesses and show you the inside and even how busy it is, using very effectively privacy-protected imagery."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">That imagery can show people blurred into anonymous ghosts, in what Russell calls "Predator vision" (a pixelated image), or have people disappear altogether to be replaced with a "heat map," on which colors signal the density of people. One gym in San Francisco trialing the technology plans to use it to show customers a live view of how busy it is.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Although security cameras are typically low quality, Prism uses computational photography techniques to combine multiple frames to produce images with higher quality and resolution than the original video. "We can remove the ugly, grainy quality of surveillance footage," says Russell.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Prism's software is designed to be used with existing security cameras. Software installed on a computer linked to the cameras digests the raw video into a compressed form that is sent to cloud servers, where Prism's software does the hard work. It sends back the visualizations, statistics, and other data it extracts to a PC, smart phone, or tablet.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Since surveillance cameras are static, Prism's software can work out which parts of a scene are fixed in place, such as walls, flooring, and furniture. Anything that moves against that background is clipped out and subjected to further processing. Russell hints that he hopes to eventually offer more sophisticated analysis by taking advantage of emerging computational photography techniques—for example, Lytro's light field cameras, which produce images that can be refocused after they have been taken.</span></div>
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<br />El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-76157352047669621522012-01-27T19:02:00.000-05:002012-01-27T19:02:12.670-05:00Dos ideas sobre la censura en Twitter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Alarma ha provocado el anuncio que hace algunos días hizo Twitter respecto del cambio en sus términos y condiciones de uso. En ellas, señalan que (la traducción es mía)<br /><br /> <i>En la medida que continuamos creciendo a nivel internacional, entraremos en países que tienen ideas distintas sobre los contornos de la libertad de expresión. Algunas son tan distintas de las nuestras que no vamos a ser capaces de existir allí. Otras son similares, pero por razones históricas o culturales, restringen ciertos tipos de contenido, como Francia o Alemania, que prohíben el contenido pro-nazi.<br /><br /> Hasta ahora, la única manera de hacerse cargo de los límites existentes en esos países era remover el contenido a nivel mundial. A partir de hoy, tendremos la capacidad de reactivamente retener el contenido de los usuarios en un país determinado, quedando disponible para el resto del mundo.</i><br /><br />La cosa es así. Si en Argentina usted decide que la fotografía que filtró su amante en la red social, puede recurrir a tribunales y solicitar la bajada de dicho contenido. En Argentina, de hecho, hay muchos casos así. Hasta ahora, el efecto que tendría dicha orden judicial, sería de carácter global, impidiendo a cualquier poder acceder a esa imagen. La nueva política implicaría que en lugar de tener efectos mundiales, el bloqueo tendrá efectos solo locales, permitiendo a usuarios de otras jurisdicciones poder acceder a dichos contenidos no obstante estar bloqueados en un determinado país.<br /><br />Esos son los hechos. Ahora, dos reflexiones.<br />UNO.<br /><br />Antes de hablar de censura y abuso en los nuevos términos de uso hay que tomar en cuenta que hoy se bajan contenidos de redes sociales. Todos los días. Y todos lo hacen, algunos con mayor transparencia (Twitter, Google), otros con menos (Facebook). Y esto, por lo demás, es razonable que ocurra. Es un derecho vinculado a la protección de la privacidad poder solicitar la bajada de ciertos contenido bajo las circunstancias que la ley local establezca para la protección de cierta información personal. Esto no va a cambiar con las nuevas políticas.<br /><br />La diferencia entre lo que sucede hoy y las nuevas políticas es que ahora dicho bloqueo sólo tendrá efectos locales. De censura poco puede haber si las bajadas de contenido se hacen 1) Localmente; y 2) bajo las reglas establecidas en las leyes locales y no de manera arbitraria.<br /><br />Más aún, Twitter ha señalado que colaborarán aún más estrechamente con el proyecto Chilling Effects del Berkman Center de Harvard que monitorea las bajadas de contenido en internet. O sea, más encima con transparencia.<br />DOS.<br /><br />Si existe un problema, éste es normativo, no de los términos de uso de Twitter. Y se me ocurren al menos dos problemas.<br /><br /> Twitter lidia con ser una empresa con domicilio en Estados Unidos que presta servicios para el resto del mundo. Como tal, tiene dos opciones. O bien pretende estar por sobre las leyes del resto y aplica la jurisdicción de California ante cualquier evento -lo que implicaría quedar fuera de países con estándares legales diferentes (de libertad de expresión, privacidad o derechos de autor)- o bien se adapta a la normativa local. Y tengo la impresión que la nueva política apunta a lo segundo. Con lo que lidia, en definitiva, Twitter, es con el carácter global de internet y, en mi opinión, no lo hace de la peor manera. Si en Irán los jueces estiman que hacer bromas con la religión es un acto prohibido no creo que sea razonable para el resto del mundo estar sujetos a dicha prohibición.<br /> Mi colega Alberto Cerda me hacía ver el problema vinculado a la jurisdicción internacional. Si existe un tratamiento similar para la, digamos, protección de datos personales en una serie de países, no parece razonable que los efectos de una sentencia judicial en un país de aquellos no pueda tener los mismos efectos en el resto. Esto pensando especialmente en la posibilidad de demandar por perjuicios. Ahora claro, este es, de nuevo, un problema de la normativa, no de las ToS. Tengo dudas que un servicio privado tenga la obligación de tener mejores estándares que lo que establecen las leyes locales.</div>
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<a href="http://source.../" style="color: #783f04;"></a><a href="http://www.quemarlasnaves.net/dos-ideas-sobre-la-censura-en-twitter/" style="color: #783f04;">Source...</a></div>
<br />El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-56352828352719745892012-01-23T19:14:00.000-05:002012-01-24T18:16:20.520-05:005 things to do thanks to Google<div style="text-align: justify;">
Google has brought innovation to our lives since its inception, offers free services of high quality and a lot of functions we are sometimes overwhelmed by because all of the functions they offer. Here we look at 5 things you can do thanks to Google and possibly many people doesn't know, because they are not familiar with the subject or because until now had not thought of the possibilities they had with this computer giant.<br />
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<b>1. Check unwanted access to your email (Gmail)</b><br />
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Gmail, allows to verify access to your account according to each IP address, so you know if someone else is accessing your email without permission and see in a detailed way if you are the victim of an unwanted entry. To verify this, at the bottom right corner of the Gmail screen, you see text that says "Last account activity" and in the bottom of a link with detailed information. Here we can see the IP, approximate location, date and time of access, so you can be sure if someone enters your account without your permission.</div>
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<b>2. Customize your start page (iGoogle)</b><br />
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Google lets you customize your browser, not just special wallpapers and attractive themes, but also with applications that allow you to access a lot of information and customize the home page details.<br />
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Through the web address <a href="http://google.com/ig">google.com/ig</a> and entering the information from your Gmail account, you can store your changes to this screen on iGoogle. On this site you can customize your home page with widgets, so you can add applications that allow you to control your Gmail email, check your tweets (Twitter), check the news from Google News, and even play and share with your friends your applications. Additionally, iGoogle also lets you customize your background with a lot of themes and cool designs.<br />
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<b>3. Install applications (Google Chrome)</b><br />
Chrome, Google's browser, has been characterized by its speed and efficiency in resource consumption, becoming a strong competitor to FireFox and Internet Explorer in the browser market. One of the strengths of Chrome is that it has the ability to use applications, expanding and facilitating the use that this browser has to offer.<br />
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By visiting <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/home">chrome.google.com / webstore</a> , you can find a lot of applications (mostly free), sorted into different categories, they may be used regardless of operating system, since they work directly in Chrome. To take advantage of Chrome apps you just have to have a Gmail account.<br />
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Additionally, thanks to Chrome allows you to synchronize our options, history and data, the Google browser sync also allows to have our applications in different computers as we like. Some of the most prominent, are, Google Docs, which lets you create and share documents like Microsoft Office; Angry Birds, a game that stands out especially in the mobile market for addiction; Chrome Desktop, a utility that let you share with anyone (with Chrome) your desktop remotely, and a lot more of free applications, allowing also synchronization between devices.<br />
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<b>4. Editing documents (Google Docs)</b><br />
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Speaking of outstanding applications, we have Google Docs ( <a href="http://docs.google.com/">docs.google.com</a> ), although many already know, not all have given it the importance it deserves, in addition to many or at least the main functions with which we can count on Microsoft Office, it has a few extras that make it attractive to its users. First of all, Google Docs is completely free, second, it has the ability to share and edit a documents with multiple people simultaneously, which facilitates access and editing on-line between co-workers without any problem of overwriting. Also, If you install the application in Chrome, Google Docs lets you use offline documents you have stored and they will automatically sync when an Internet connection is available.<br />
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Also, as all documents are stored with your Google Account (Gmail) you dont have to worry about losing or being unable to access them, because you can do that from any place with Internet access, even from a cell phone or tablet, you can access Google Docs thanks to its application for Android. This lets you work with great freedom, ease of editing and creating documents from anywhere you work.</div>
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<b><br />5. Printing on Cloud (Google Cloud Print)</b><br />
A great tool that not a lot of people know is Google Cloud Print ( <a href="http://www.google.com/landing/cloudprint/index.html">google.com / CloudPrint </a>), a service for Chrome that allows you to print documents remotely via the Internet, sharing printers you have installed on your computer. This way, working at home, you can send to print a file in your office. To use it, you just have to install Chrome and enable your printers with Google Cloud Print so that you can access them from anywhere.<br />
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Cloud Print allows you to share your printer with anyone, from any Internet-connected device, facilitating print jobs from your tablet, cell phone, office computer, or from basically anywhere.<br />
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These services are a part of the large number of utilities that Google provides us, and continues to provide us more and generally all of them free of charge. Should be noted that all these applications are linked from your Gmail account, allowing quick synchronization, without export information every time you want to use any of them.<br />
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Thanks Google :D</div>
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Written by: @<a href="https://twitter.com/" target="_blank" title="Oscar Carrillo">rahksO</a></div>El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-14735798962904336462012-01-20T10:55:00.002-05:002012-01-20T10:56:03.108-05:00Vintage Posters Discovered in Abandoned London Tube Station<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/notting-hill-gate-posters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/notting-hill-gate-posters.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Images by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/36844288@N00/sets/72157624079183751/with/4669837848/" target="_blank">Mikey Ashworth</a>. Copyrighted by <a href="http://www.tfl.gov.uk/modalpages/2625.aspx" target="_blank">London Underground</a> and reproduced with permission)</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The <i><a href="http://www.tfl.gov.uk/modalpages/2625.aspx" style="color: #783f04;">London Underground</a></i> is an incredible maze of subterranean railways, stations and ticket halls – and that doesn’t account for the myriad abandoned passageways that are strictly off limits to the public, let alone the ageing relics that linger on in this dark underworld.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/abandoned-posters-notting-hill-gate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/abandoned-posters-notting-hill-gate.jpg" width="190" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Images by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/36844288@N00/sets/72157624079183751/with/4669837848/" target="_blank">Mikey Ashworth</a>. Copyrighted by London Underground and reproduced with permission)</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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But a 2010 upgrade to Notting Hill Gate “tube” station revealed a series of vintage posters dating to between 1956 and 1959. The posters, which will be left intact once the modernisation work is completed, include advertising for Pepsodent Toothpaste and the Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition, as well as films like Around the World in 80 Days and The Horse’s Mouth, starring Alec Guinness.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/notting-hill-gate-disused-lift-passageway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/notting-hill-gate-disused-lift-passageway.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(Images by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/36844288@N00/sets/72157624079183751/with/4669837848/" target="_blank">Mikey Ashworth</a>. Copyrighted by London Underground and reproduced with permission)</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The <i><a href="http://www.kuriositas.com/2010/06/hidden-posters-of-notting-hill-gate.html" style="color: #783f04;">vintage collection</a></i> was uncovered in an abandoned lift passageway closed to the public after Notting Hill Gate was last upgraded in the late 1950s. The ’50s facelift saw the “two” Notting Hill Gate stations of the District and Circle lines linked by a sub-surface ticket hall beneath the road. Escalators down to the deeper Central Line platforms replaced the ageing elevators, which were sealed off by the time the station reopened on March 1, 1959.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/vintage-posters-notting-hill-gate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/vintage-posters-notting-hill-gate.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Images by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/36844288@N00/sets/72157624079183751/with/4669837848/" target="_blank">Mikey Ashworth</a>. Copyrighted by London Underground and reproduced with permission)</i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">When the latest upgrades are complete, the posters will once again be hidden from prying eyes in the disused area of the tube station. Mikey Ashworth, who discovered and photographed the collection, wrote: “We will be leaving these intact – and please do not pester the station staff as the posters are wholly inaccessible – which is why they’ve probably survived 50 odd years!”</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/notting-hill-gate-tube-posters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/notting-hill-gate-tube-posters.jpg" width="281" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Images by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/36844288@N00/sets/72157624079183751/with/4669837848/" target="_blank">Mikey Ashworth</a>. Copyrighted by London Underground and reproduced with permission)</i></td></tr>
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Notting Hill Gate station opened in 1868 as part of the Metropolitan
Railway’s extension from Paddington to Gloucester Road. The deep-level
Central Line platforms, accessed by the lift passageways where the
posters were found, opened in 1900. The vintage artifacts may not be
viewable, but it’s fun to think there’s a place deep within the bowels
of London that still advertises the “latest work” of David Niven, Rita
Hayworth et al.</div>
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<a href="http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2010/10/vintage-posters-discovered-abandoned-london-tube-station/">Source...</a> </div>
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<br /></div>El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-86506644495901548482012-01-20T10:07:00.001-05:002012-01-20T10:07:19.824-05:00History of Religion<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> How has the geography of religion evolved over the centuries, and where has it sparked wars? Our map gives us a brief history of the world's most well-known religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. Selected periods of inter-religious bloodshed are also highlighted. Want to see 5,000 years of religion in 90 seconds? Ready, Set, Go! </span><br /><br />
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<a href="http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/history-of-religion.html"><span style="color: #783f04;">Source...</span></a><br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5423281759568572372.post-49844115847373310202012-01-19T12:17:00.001-05:002012-01-19T12:17:22.157-05:00Houghton Mifflin, McGraw Hill, Pearson First Textbook Publishing Partners For Apple’s iBooks 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/screen-shot-2012-01-19-at-10-48-25-am.png?w=288" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/screen-shot-2012-01-19-at-10-48-25-am.png?w=288" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Today at Apple’s education event, the company introduced iBooks 2, a textbook platform that effectively transforms $200 textbooks into iPad apps at a much more reasonable price. But of course, a textbook platform isn’t worth a thing without the educational powerhouse publishers behind it.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Luckily, the first up to the bat on the iBooks 2 platform are names we know well: Pearson, McGraw Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. They’re responsible for 90 percent of the textbooks sold.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Pearson will be offering Algebra 1, Biology, Environmental Science and Geometry, while McGraw Hill offers Algebra 1, Biology, Chemistry, Geometry and Physics. All of McGraw Hill’s offerings are available today, and Pearson’s Biology and High School Science are also available today, with its other textbooks to follow.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Apple is also working with DK Publishing, which has four books launching today: Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life, Natural History Insects, Natural History Animals, and My First ABC. </span></div>
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<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/19/houghton-mifflin-mcgraw-hill-pearson-first-textbook-publishing-partners-for-apples-ibooks-2/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=Netvibes" style="color: #783f04;" target="_blank">Source...</a></div>El hongohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12703741221894102404noreply@blogger.com0