Tuesday, October 30, 2007
You have an admirable sense of ownership over what you are doing right now, but is it completely warranted? There is a lot to be said for delegating some of your responsibilities to other people once in a while. After all, everyone sees things in a different way and adds their own spin to the situation -- so why not let them? Giving up control on one thing will free you to start embarking on a new thing. Release yourself from at least one responsibility.
Put extra feelings into anything you do today. Although cool detachment often works for you, it's not currently your best approach. Move beyond logic and touch your heart. You may even come up with a new method for dealing with a task. It's worth delving into the intelligence of emotions while you have an opportunity to do so.
By Rick Levine
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
You may be recognized professionally now, but it might seem like some of your success is just the luck of the draw. Still, you are more responsible for your achievements than you realize. Your people skills are stronger than usual now and you can use your charm to talk others into you helping you. But don't misuse your current power of persuasion or your plans could backfire.
By Rick Levine
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
It's true that you are a unique person, but you are not the only person to have ever felt the way you are feeling right now. So reach out to someone close and tell them what is on your mind. Chances are, they can relate. You have a lot more in common with other people than you realize, and by sharing your confused feelings you will come to understand that. Thinking through your problems is always important, but you have to start talking about them, too
NASA Court-Ordered To Search For UFO Docs, Space Agency To Check Its Archives For Info About A Mysterious 1965 Crash Incident - CBS News
NASA Court-Ordered To Search For UFO Docs, Space Agency To Check Its Archives For Info About A Mysterious 1965 Crash Incident - CBS News
NASA Court-Ordered To Search For UFO Docs
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
NASA Court-Ordered To Search For UFO Docs
WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2007
(AP) NASA has agreed to search its archives once again for documents on a 1965 UFO incident in Pennsylvania, a step the space agency fought in federal court.
The government has refused to open its files about what, if anything, moved across the sky and crashed in the woods near Kecksburg, Pa., 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
Traffic was tied up in the area as curiosity seekers drove to the area, only to be kept away from the crash site by soldiers.
The Air Force's explanation for the unidentified flying object: a meteor or meteors.
"They could not find anything," one Air Force memo stated after a late-night search on Dec. 9, 1965. Several NASA employees also were reported to have been at the scene.
Eyewitnesses said a flatbed truck drove away a large object shaped like an acorn and about the size of a Volkswagen bus. A mock-up based on the descriptions of local residents sits behind the Kecksburg Volunteer Fire Department.
UFO enthusiasts refused to let the matter die and journalist Leslie Kean of New York City sued NASA four years ago for information.
"This is about the public's right to know," Kean said. "We would be doing this lawsuit regardless of whether UFO groups were interested in it or not. It's a freedom of information issue."
The agency has turned over several stacks of documents which Kean says are not responsive to the request, an argument that U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan agreed with.
In March, Sullivan rejected NASA's request to throw the case out of court, resulting in negotiations that led to the agency promising last week that it will conduct a more comprehensive search.
Kean said Friday that she sued NASA rather than the Army because the space agency a decade ago released some relevant documents on the case.
(AP) NASA has agreed to search its archives once again for documents on a 1965 UFO incident in Pennsylvania, a step the space agency fought in federal court.
The government has refused to open its files about what, if anything, moved across the sky and crashed in the woods near Kecksburg, Pa., 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
Traffic was tied up in the area as curiosity seekers drove to the area, only to be kept away from the crash site by soldiers.
The Air Force's explanation for the unidentified flying object: a meteor or meteors.
"They could not find anything," one Air Force memo stated after a late-night search on Dec. 9, 1965. Several NASA employees also were reported to have been at the scene.
Eyewitnesses said a flatbed truck drove away a large object shaped like an acorn and about the size of a Volkswagen bus. A mock-up based on the descriptions of local residents sits behind the Kecksburg Volunteer Fire Department.
UFO enthusiasts refused to let the matter die and journalist Leslie Kean of New York City sued NASA four years ago for information.
"This is about the public's right to know," Kean said. "We would be doing this lawsuit regardless of whether UFO groups were interested in it or not. It's a freedom of information issue."
The agency has turned over several stacks of documents which Kean says are not responsive to the request, an argument that U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan agreed with.
In March, Sullivan rejected NASA's request to throw the case out of court, resulting in negotiations that led to the agency promising last week that it will conduct a more comprehensive search.
Kean said Friday that she sued NASA rather than the Army because the space agency a decade ago released some relevant documents on the case.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Taking responsibility for your life and your family may be an important step along your path, but don't shut out your friends or other groups of like-minded people. You could be quite unrealistic about how much work you must do. Wait a few days and you won't feel as blindly optimistic as you do today, thereby allowing you to make better decisions. By Rick Levine
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
You may be trying so hard to shine your light at work that it creates problems at home. Luckily, this dilemma probably won't be big enough to throw you off track, for you are more eloquent now that communicator Mercury has retrograded back into airy Libra. Nevertheless, don't pretend that everything is fine if it is not; others will quickly see through any attempts to cover the truth.
By Rick Levine
Friday, October 26, 2007
 | Web address: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/ 071025155840.htm | |
Mystery Comet Explodes Into Brightness Comet 17P Holmes is in super-outburst! It brightened by a factor of one million in less than 24 hours. This comet currently appears as a fuzzy, yellowish star-like object in the constellation Perseus and is well-placed for northern hemisphere observers. (Credit: Chris Schur) ScienceDaily (Oct. 26, 2007) — A once-faint comet has made a sudden leap from obscurity to center stage. Comet 17P Holmes, now visible to northern hemisphere residents, increased its brightness by a factor of one million this week, going from magnitude 17 to 2. This makes it visible to the unaided eye as well as binoculars and telescopes, offering a unique viewing opportunity for sky watchers. "This is a terrific outburst," said Brian Marsden, director emeritus of the Minor Planet Center, which tracks known comets and asteroids. "And since it doesn’t have a tail right now, some observers have confused it with a nova. We’ve had at least two reports of a new star." Comet Holmes is located in the constellation Perseus and is visible for most of the night. In fact, for observers at the latitude of Boston, the comet is circumpolar, never setting below the horizon. In appearance, it resembles a fuzzy, yellowish star. The comet could fade in a matter of days or weeks, so astronomers recommend that viewers take a look now. Amateur astronomer Edwin Holmes, who was looking at the Andromeda galaxy at the time, discovered Comet Holmes in 1892. The comet has presented a mystery to astronomers ever since. It likely was undergoing a similar outburst when discovered, since it reached 4th magnitude and was faintly visible to the unaided eye. After fading, it brightened again by a factor of 100 in January 1893 before fading again for good. The comet orbits the Sun once every 7 years at a distance of about 200 million miles (compared to Earth’s 93-million-mile orbit). As a result, it was re-observed in 1899 and 1906 before being lost for nearly six decades. Based on a prediction by Marsden, the comet was recovered in 1964. "Since then, it’s been behaving well – until now," says Marsden. On October 23rd, the comet was a dim 17th magnitude, 25,000 times too faint to be seen with the unaided eye. One day later, it had brightened to 7th magnitude, and the most recent observations peg it at magnitude 2 to 3: an increase of a factor of one million. (The magnitude scale used by astronomers is logarithmic.) "When the Deep Impact probe hit Comet 9P Tempel, there was almost no change in brightness," says Marsden. "This outburst by Comet Holmes is extreme!" Indeed, the outburst has left experts scratching their heads. How could a tiny comet, whose nucleus is no more than two miles across, grow so bright so fast? Perhaps a crack opened in the comet’s surface, exposing fresh ice to the sun and causing an explosive eruption of dust and gas. No one knows for sure. Undoubtedly, professional astronomers will be studying it closely in the weeks to come. Sky coordinates for Comet 17P Holmes can be found on the Minor Planet Center website at http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/iau/Ephemerides/Comets/0017P.html.
Adapted from materials provided by Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. | ||
iGoogle
iGoogle:
"You may be trying so hard to shine your light at work that it creates problems at home. Luckily, this dilemma probably won't be big enough to throw you off track, for you are more eloquent now that communicator Mercury has retrograded back into airy Libra. Nevertheless, don't pretend that everything is fine if it is not; others will quickly see through any attempts to cover the truth."
"You may be trying so hard to shine your light at work that it creates problems at home. Luckily, this dilemma probably won't be big enough to throw you off track, for you are more eloquent now that communicator Mercury has retrograded back into airy Libra. Nevertheless, don't pretend that everything is fine if it is not; others will quickly see through any attempts to cover the truth."
Thursday, October 25, 2007
iGoogle
iGoogle:
"No matter how clever you are, your impatience is likely to get the best of you now. Don't try to over-analyze what's happening, for words aren't necessary when loving Venus stresses your key planet Uranus. Move beyond thoughts and into the more subjective emotional realm, where you may not be as comfortable. If you are still uneasy, rest assured the tension will begin to subside after tomorrow's Full Moon"
"No matter how clever you are, your impatience is likely to get the best of you now. Don't try to over-analyze what's happening, for words aren't necessary when loving Venus stresses your key planet Uranus. Move beyond thoughts and into the more subjective emotional realm, where you may not be as comfortable. If you are still uneasy, rest assured the tension will begin to subside after tomorrow's Full Moon"
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
iGoogle
iGoogle:
"You could have an interesting problem to solve today as the potential for fun and games distracts you from the real work at hand. No doubt you would rather be enjoying the company of your friends than fulfilling your commitments. Remember that finding balance is possible. You can do both if you don't go overboard with either.
By Rick Levine Wednesday, October 24, 2007"
"You could have an interesting problem to solve today as the potential for fun and games distracts you from the real work at hand. No doubt you would rather be enjoying the company of your friends than fulfilling your commitments. Remember that finding balance is possible. You can do both if you don't go overboard with either.
By Rick Levine Wednesday, October 24, 2007"
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
iGoogle
iGoogle:
"You can feel the energy shifting into a deeper and more mysterious space -- and you are quite fascinated yet also frightened by the unknown. If something springs into your life today that surprises you, don't push it away just because you weren't prepared for it. Fate will find the best way to nudge you along as you strive for that raise or promotion.
By Rick Levine Tuesday, October 23, 2007"
"You can feel the energy shifting into a deeper and more mysterious space -- and you are quite fascinated yet also frightened by the unknown. If something springs into your life today that surprises you, don't push it away just because you weren't prepared for it. Fate will find the best way to nudge you along as you strive for that raise or promotion.
By Rick Levine Tuesday, October 23, 2007"
iGoogle
iGoogle:
"You can feel the energy shifting into a deeper and more mysterious space -- and you are quite fascinated yet also frightened by the unknown. If something springs into your life today that surprises you, don't push it away just because you weren't prepared for it. Fate will find the best way to nudge you along as you strive for that raise or promotion.
By Rick Levine Tuesday, October 23, 2007"
"You can feel the energy shifting into a deeper and more mysterious space -- and you are quite fascinated yet also frightened by the unknown. If something springs into your life today that surprises you, don't push it away just because you weren't prepared for it. Fate will find the best way to nudge you along as you strive for that raise or promotion.
By Rick Levine Tuesday, October 23, 2007"
Sunday, October 21, 2007
iGoogle
iGoogle: "Make us of the Moon's creative power while it's still in your sign. Whatever you feel early in the day could set the tone for the week ahead, so it's crucial to stay aware of your emotions. Don't waste time today entertaining negative thoughts or self-doubt. Your current intentions will carry you further than you realize. By Rick Levine Sunday, October 21, 200"
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Discovery Channel :: News - Space :: Human Origins: Space Dust in the Wind
Discovery Channel :: News - Space :: Human Origins: Space Dust in the Wind
Human Origins: Space Dust in the Wind
Seth Borenstein, Associated Press
Oct. 10, 2007 — Astronomers have taken a baby step in trying to answer the cosmic question of where we come from.
Planets and much on them, including humans, come from dust — mostly from dying stars. But where did the dust that helped form those early stars come from?
A NASA telescope may have spotted one of the answers. It's in the wind bursting out of super-massive black holes.
The Spitzer Space Telescope identified large quantities of freshly made space dust in a quasar about 8 billion light years from here.
Astronomers used the telescope to break down the wavelengths of light in the quasar to figure out what was in the space dust. They found signs of glass, sand, crystal, marble, rubies and sapphires, said Ciska Markwick-Kemper of the University of Manchester in England. She is the lead author of a study that will be published later this month in Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Dust is important in the cooling process to make stars, which are predominantly gas. The leftover dust tends to clump together to make planets, comets and asteroids, said astronomer Sarah Gallagher, a study co-author at the University of California Los Angeles.
"In the end, everything comes from space dust," Markwick-Kemper said. "It's putting all the pieces of the puzzle together to figure out where we came from."
Astronomers figure that the planets that formed in the past several billion years — and those away from quasars — came from dust that was belched from dying stars. That's what happened with Earth.
That still leaves a question about where the dust from the first couple billion years of the universe came from, which helped form early generations of star systems.
"It's formed in the wind," of the black holes, Markwick-Kemper said. Gas molecules collide in the searing heat of the quasar, which is thousands of degrees Fahrenheit, and form clusters.
"These clusters grow bigger and bigger until you can call them dust grains," she said.
Scientists who weren't part of the study hailed the work.
Cornell University astronomer Dan Weedman, the former director of NASA's astrophysics division, said the study was an important step in answering a fundamental mystery of the early universe.
iGoogle
iGoogle: "If you have been considering a financial investment, you may learn something now that puts doubt in your mind. What appeared to be a beneficial deal just a few days ago now shows less promise. Don't sign on the dotted line yet; it's best to wait several days before making your ultimate decision. By Rick Levine Wednesday, October 10, 200"
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
iGoogle
iGoogle: "You could be feeling pretty confident about major life changes, as confident Jupiter squares your ruling planet Uranus today. Fortunately, you have the sense to keep the potential in a healthy enough perspective so you won't take any unnecessary risks. If in doubt, wait until after Thursday's New Moon to make any big decisions"
Monday, October 08, 2007
Aquarius: Jan. 20 - Feb. 18 - Horoscope - MSNBC.com
Aquarius: Jan. 20 - Feb. 18 - Horoscope - MSNBC.com: "The many layers of your personality make you a richer, more evolved person -- but some layers aren't getting the amount of attention they deserve. Today, it's time to reorganize the many elements that make up 'you.' Bring some of the aspects of yourself that are deep beneath the surface up to the top of the pile. Let the world see the parts of yourself that you never usually reveal. Take your biggest insecurities and let them all hang out. Be proud of your imperfections."
iGoogle
iGoogle:
"[Tarot.com ] An emotional awkwardness comes to the surface if you try to keep things simple even when they are not. Your struggle may be misplaced, though, for you really don't have anything to lose by jumping into the complexity. In fact, the richness of the situation can add meaning to your life if you are willing to go on the journey.
By Rick Levine Monday, October 8, 2007"
"[Tarot.com ] An emotional awkwardness comes to the surface if you try to keep things simple even when they are not. Your struggle may be misplaced, though, for you really don't have anything to lose by jumping into the complexity. In fact, the richness of the situation can add meaning to your life if you are willing to go on the journey.
By Rick Levine Monday, October 8, 2007"
iGoogle
iGoogle:
"[Tarot.com ] An emotional awkwardness comes to the surface if you try to keep things simple even when they are not. Your struggle may be misplaced, though, for you really don't have anything to lose by jumping into the complexity. In fact, the richness of the situation can add meaning to your life if you are willing to go on the journey.
By Rick Levine Monday, October 8, 2007"
"[Tarot.com ] An emotional awkwardness comes to the surface if you try to keep things simple even when they are not. Your struggle may be misplaced, though, for you really don't have anything to lose by jumping into the complexity. In fact, the richness of the situation can add meaning to your life if you are willing to go on the journey.
By Rick Levine Monday, October 8, 2007"
Sunday, October 07, 2007
iGoogle
iGoogle: "Your quick mind is ready to jump to conclusions now, unless you consciously slow down your mental process. This is totally within your control, for it's not about changing the speed of your thinking. It's about increasing the time between a thought and when you react. Practice waiting. You'll be surprised at the difference it makes if you just count to ten before saying anything"
Friday, October 05, 2007
iGoogle
iGoogle:
"Boundless Jupiter is moving toward next week's reactivation of your key planet Uranus, tempting you to set big changes in motion. But think twice before swinging into action, for what you do now will likely have a greater impact than you think. Consider how your actions break up old familiar patterns. Tread lightly and cautiously for the best results. By Rick Levine Friday, October 5, 200"
"Boundless Jupiter is moving toward next week's reactivation of your key planet Uranus, tempting you to set big changes in motion. But think twice before swinging into action, for what you do now will likely have a greater impact than you think. Consider how your actions break up old familiar patterns. Tread lightly and cautiously for the best results. By Rick Levine Friday, October 5, 200"
Thursday, October 04, 2007
iGoogle
iGoogle:
"As much as you like working with others, you really don't want them very close. Accordingly, too much emotionality in the workplace makes you quite uncomfortable. Processing your own need for intellectual detachment can teach you much about yourself now. Observing and accepting your changing moods can help you be more open to others"
"As much as you like working with others, you really don't want them very close. Accordingly, too much emotionality in the workplace makes you quite uncomfortable. Processing your own need for intellectual detachment can teach you much about yourself now. Observing and accepting your changing moods can help you be more open to others"
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
iGoogle:
"Things can get rather strange today if you attempt to remain intellectually detached. You are engaged in a profound emotional dance and you have invited reality to lead, whether you know it or not. Close your eyes and stop thinking. You will emerge with a great story to tell if you can trust the dark and listen to the music."
"Things can get rather strange today if you attempt to remain intellectually detached. You are engaged in a profound emotional dance and you have invited reality to lead, whether you know it or not. Close your eyes and stop thinking. You will emerge with a great story to tell if you can trust the dark and listen to the music."
iGoogle
iGoogle:
"Things can get rather strange today if you attempt to remain intellectually detached. You are engaged in a profound emotional dance and you have invited reality to lead, whether you know it or not. Close your eyes and stop thinking. You will emerge with a great story to tell if you can trust the dark and listen to the music.
By Rick Levine Wednesday, October 3, 2007"
"Things can get rather strange today if you attempt to remain intellectually detached. You are engaged in a profound emotional dance and you have invited reality to lead, whether you know it or not. Close your eyes and stop thinking. You will emerge with a great story to tell if you can trust the dark and listen to the music.
By Rick Levine Wednesday, October 3, 2007"
Aquarius: Jan. 20 - Feb. 18 - Horoscope - MSNBC.com
Aquarius: Jan. 20 - Feb. 18 - Horoscope - MSNBC.com:
"If people around you react explosively to an explosive situation today, do not follow their example -- not matter how justified they may be. Screaming at someone who has been rude or inconsiderate isn't going to mitigate the stress, it will only increase it. Be mindful of your role in every conversation, and try to be a force for mutual respect, not power struggles. You will have to take the high road today. There will be another day for you to get down and dirty and get things off your chest."
"If people around you react explosively to an explosive situation today, do not follow their example -- not matter how justified they may be. Screaming at someone who has been rude or inconsiderate isn't going to mitigate the stress, it will only increase it. Be mindful of your role in every conversation, and try to be a force for mutual respect, not power struggles. You will have to take the high road today. There will be another day for you to get down and dirty and get things off your chest."
iGoogle
iGoogle:
"Things can get rather strange today if you attempt to remain intellectually detached. You are engaged in a profound emotional dance and you have invited reality to lead, whether you know it or not. Close your eyes and stop thinking. You will emerge with a great story to tell if you can trust the dark and listen to the music.
By Rick Levine Wednesday, October 3, 200"
"Things can get rather strange today if you attempt to remain intellectually detached. You are engaged in a profound emotional dance and you have invited reality to lead, whether you know it or not. Close your eyes and stop thinking. You will emerge with a great story to tell if you can trust the dark and listen to the music.
By Rick Levine Wednesday, October 3, 200"
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
iGoogle
iGoogle:
"The Moon in your 6th House of Health has you paying extra attention to what you eat and how you exercise. Without turning this into a major production, just take care of yourself. You are creating a cascade, positively impacting your general well-being. Your sense of what's ahead is probably true, so trust your intuition while making decisions now."
"The Moon in your 6th House of Health has you paying extra attention to what you eat and how you exercise. Without turning this into a major production, just take care of yourself. You are creating a cascade, positively impacting your general well-being. Your sense of what's ahead is probably true, so trust your intuition while making decisions now."
Gold rings create first true invisibility cloak - tech - 02 October 2007 - New Scientist Tech
Gold rings create first true invisibility cloak
- 16:56 02 October 2007
- NewScientist.com news service
- Colin Barras
The cloak's concentric gold rings can steer light waves travelling along a surface around an object and straight on again as if it was not there (Image: Smolyaninov/University of Maryland)
Advertisement
The world's first true invisibility cloak – a device able to hide an object in the visible spectrum – has been created by physicists in the US. But don't expect it to compete with stage magic tricks. So far it only works in two dimensions and on a tiny scale.
The new cloak, which is just 10 micrometres in diameter, guides rays of light around an object inside and releases them on the other side. The light waves appear to have moved in a straight line, so the cloak – and any object inside – appear invisible.
The cloak was built by a team led by Igor Smolyaninov at the University of Maryland, and borrows some ideas from the first theoretical design for an invisibility cloak, published by Vladimir Shalaev from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, US, earlier this year.
Their breakthrough comes just a year after US and British physicists created an
"At optical frequencies, [wavelengths] get very tiny, and the range of properties available from materials is limited," says John Pendry, a physicist at Imperial College London, and a member of the team that produced the
Gold ripples
To get around this problem, Smolyaninov's team confine light to two dimensions. "The new cloak doesn't control the light you can see directly," explains Ulf Leonhardt, a physicist at the University of St Andrews, UK. "It's not the invisibility most people would imagine."
The Maryland researchers inject polarised cyan light into a gold surface using a tiny optical fibre with a fine tip. The light waves become converted into surface plasmons – waves rippling through the electrons of the gold surface, effectively in two dimensions.
Three-dimensional invisibility cloaks would have to control light waves both magnetically and electronically to steer them around the hidden object. But two-dimensional surface plasmons are easier to direct, explains Pendry. "You can operate on either the electric or magnetic channel alone," he says.
Perfect cloak?
Smolyaninov's cloak consists of a two-dimensional pattern of concentric gold rings coated in a plastic called polymethyl methacrylate. The plastic and the gold each have different refractive properties, and bend plasmons in different directions. The whole arrangement lies flat on the gold surface mentioned above.
By varying the mix of metal and plastic in different areas of the cloak, Smolyaninov's team can control plasmons with enough precision to guide them around the cloak. A simple visual analogy might be river water flowing around a rock.
It is unlikely that the cloak is perfectly invisible, though, says Pendry. The Maryland team do not report whether plasmons can reflect off the surface of their cloak. If they can, an observer could still detect its presence, just as reflected light allows us to see a sheet of glass.
Smolyaninov's cloak is unlikely to be developed into a version that works in three dimensions. But Leonhardt says it could be useful in the near future. "It could be used on computer chips," he says. "You could use surface plasmons to communicate between different areas of a microchip."
Pendry agrees, saying they might replace fibre optics as a way to carry signals: "Light on a chip might seem more prosaic than an invisibility cloak, but in the end it might be more practically important."
The University of Maryland team posted a paper describing the new cloak on the arXiv preprint server (arxiv.org/abs/0709.2862).
Related Articles
- Invisibility cloaks: Now you see them…
- http://technology.newscientist.com/article/mg19325911.900
- 16 February 2007
- Invisibility cloak is here at last
- http://technology.newscientist.com/article/mg19225755.300
- 28 October 2006
- Nanolayers could hold key to invisibility cloak
- http://technology.newscientist.com/article/mg19526214.900
- 15 September 2007
Weblinks
- Igor Smolyaninov, University of Maryland
- http://www.ece.umd.edu/meet/faculty/research/smolyaninov.php3
- John Pendry, Imperial College London
- http://www.ece.umd.edu/meet/faculty/research/smolyaninov.php3
- Ulf Leonhardt, University of St Andrews
- http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~ulf/
- Vladimir Shalaev, Purdue University
- http://cobweb.ecn.purdue.edu/~shalaev/
- Plasmons, Wikipedia
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasmon
iGoogle
iGoogle:
"The Moon in your 6th House of Health has you paying extra attention to what you eat and how you exercise. Without turning this into a major production, just take care of yourself. You are creating a cascade, positively impacting your general well-being. Your sense of what's ahead is probably true, so trust your intuition while making decisions now.
By Rick Levine Tuesday, October 2, 2007"
"The Moon in your 6th House of Health has you paying extra attention to what you eat and how you exercise. Without turning this into a major production, just take care of yourself. You are creating a cascade, positively impacting your general well-being. Your sense of what's ahead is probably true, so trust your intuition while making decisions now.
By Rick Levine Tuesday, October 2, 2007"
Monday, October 01, 2007
ScienceDaily: New Particles Get A Mass Boost
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New Particles Get A Mass Boost
Science Daily — A sophisticated, new analysis has revealed that the next frontier in particle physics is farther away than once thought. New forms of matter not predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics are most likely twice as massive as theorists had previously calculated, according to a just-published study.
The discovery is noteworthy because experimental improvements of this magnitude rarely occur more often than once in a decade.
To see the infinitely small bits of matter that make up our universe, physicists build ever more powerful accelerators, which are the microscopes they use to see matter. But while the trend is to more powerful accelerators, the precision achieved by some less powerful ones can pinpoint the best places to look for never-before-seen particles.
Scientists at the Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility combined data from experiments in which electrons were used to precisely probe the nucleus of the atom. The experiments were designed to study the weak nuclear force, one of the four forces of nature. The effects of the weak force on the building blocks of the proton, up and down quarks, were determined precisely from this data and were found to be in agreement with predictions.
But when this new analysis was combined with other measurements, it raised the predicted mass scale for the discovery of new particles to about one Tera-electron-volts (1 TeV) - more than a factor of two higher than previously thought, according to Jefferson Lab scientists who published the result in Physical Review Letters.
Searches for new particles can take the form of direct production of new particles by high-energy interactions or by lower-energy, extremely precise measurements of experimental observables, which are sensitive to the existence of new particles beyond the ability of existing theories to predict.
Note: This story has been adapted from material provided by DOE, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.