Fringy, science-stuff, maybe fact or fiction?

So why did the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2002 grant an "emergency" exemption allowing increased use of Gaucho -- typically invoked during a major infestation -- when only a few beetles were found in blueberries? Why did the agency also grant a "conditional" registration for its close relative, Pancho, allowing the chemical on the market with only partial testing? And why is the agency, hiding behind a curtain of "trade secrets," still refusing to disclose whether the additional tests required of companies in such cases were conducted and, if so, with what results?

Therein lies a tale. Most pesticides, we're told, are safe. So we add about 5 billion pounds a year of these deadly chemicals to our world, enough to encircle the planet if it were packaged in 100-pound sacks. Sure, they are regulated -- but badly -- under the antiquated Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. This law allows a chemical on the market unless it's proved to pose "an unreasonable risk," far too weak a standard.

Gerard Eyries, a Bayer marketing manager, said in connection with the French action that "imidacloprid [that's Gaucho] left a small residue in nectar and pollen, but there was no evidence of a link with the drop in the bee population." Bayer also blamed seed makers and suggested that there may be "nonchemical causes" for this massive bee kill. But Bayer may not be entirely objective here. In 2006, Gaucho sales topped $746 million.

Something is killing the bees, though. Some scientists suspect a virus; others mites, even cellphones. (Bees are not known to use phones, though, having their own communications system -- a dance called the "waggle.")

Here in the U.S., the bee kill is a big problem. Domesticated bees were brought to the U.S. on the Mayflower. Today, they contribute at least $15 billion to the nation's agricultural economy. For example, California's $2-billion-a-year almond crop is completely dependent on honeybees from about 1.5 million hives for pollination. This year, more than 2.4 million bee colonies -- 36% of the total -- were lost in the U.S., according to the Apiary Inspectors of America. Some colonies collapsed in two days.

Part of the problem is how we farm. Rather than rotating crops, farmers grow the same one each year. This "monoculture" creates a breeding ground for pests. Farmers then use chemicals that kill not only the target organism but other life forms as well -- like honeybees. That this approach may now be coming back to bite big-production agriculture is not without some irony. For decades the agriculture industry has been its beneficiary -- with farmworkers, consumers and local communities the victims. But, actually, we're all in trouble.

No independent government testing is required before a pesticide is registered for use. Large gaps in basic scientific knowledge about pesticides remain, including their environmental "fate" (where they end up) and their toxicity to humans and to wildlife. A problem pesticide may be removed from the market only after a long process and full trial -- something that should be done before. The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 improved control of residues in our food. That didn't help the bees.

Rachel Carson was vilified by an industry smear nearly 50 years ago, after the release of her book, "Silent Spring." "If we were to follow the teachings of Miss Carson," said American Cyanamid, the maker of DDT, "we would return to the Dark Ages ... insects, vermin and disease would once again inherit the Earth." But, as Carson so eloquently put it in a CBS documentary in 1964: "Man's attitude toward nature is today critically important simply because we now have acquired a fateful power to alter and destroy nature. But man is part of nature, and his war is inevitably a war against himself."

Al Meyerhoff, an environmental attorney in Los Angeles, is a former director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's public health program.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 05:08 | link | comments (7)

A Clockwork Orange is a 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess, which was later the basis for a 1971 film adaptation of the same name by Stanley Kubrick.

The novel was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005.

 Plot introduction

 Explanation of the novel's title

Burgess wrote that the title was a reference to an old Cockney expression, "as queer as a clockwork orange".¹ Due to his time serving in the British Colonial Office in Malaysia, Burgess thought that the phrase could be used punningly to refer to a mechanically responsive (clockwork) human (orang, Malay for "man").

Burgess wrote in introduction to the 1986 edition, titled A Clockwork Orange Resucked, that a creature who can only perform good or evil is "a clockwork orange — meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with color and juice, but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil; or the almighty state."

In his essay "Clockwork Oranges"², Burgess asserts that "this title would be appropriate for a story about the application of Pavlovian, or mechanical, laws to an organism which, like a fruit, was capable of colour and sweetness". This title alludes to the protagonist's positively conditioned responses to feelings of evil which prevent the exercise of his free will.

 Point of view from one person

A Clockwork Orange is written in first person perspective from a seemingly biased and unreliable source. The protagonist, Alex, never justifies his actions in the narration, giving a good sense that he is somewhat sincere; a narrator who, as unlikeable as he may attempt to seem, evokes pity from the reader through the telling of his unending suffering, and later through his realization that the cycle will never end. Alex's perspective is effective in that the way that he describes events is easy to relate to, even if the situations themselves are not. He uses words that are common in speech, as well as Nadsat, the speech of particular younger generation subcultures.

 Plot summary

 Part 1: Alex's world

Set in a dystopian near future, the novel opens with the introduction 15-year-old Alex, who, with his gang members (known as "droogs") Pete, Georgie and Dim, roam the streets at night, committing violent crimes ("ultraviolence") for fun. In contrast to Alex's love for violence and cruelty, he also has a major love for classical music, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony being his most favorite piece of all.

Essentially, the first part of the novel is a character study of the protagonist. We learn that Alex and his "droogs" (Russian for friend), Dim, Georgie, and Pete, have their own language known as Nadsat, and their own hierarchy, in which Alex is the leader. Although they are all "droogs", Alex seriously resents Dim for his stupidity and constantly picks on him. There is a general disregard for the law and for older generations — creating an image of a youth movement that is taking control of this fictional future.

Part 1 involves Alex reflecting on his illegal activity. After drinking narcotic-laden milk at the Korova Milk Bar, Alex and his droogs ridicule and beat an old librarian, tearing up his books on Crystallography. They then proceed to a run-down theater, where rival gang leader Billy Boy and his thugs are about to rape a young girl. A fight between the two gangs ensue, with Alex and his droogs emerging victorious and leaving before the police arrive. They rob a candy store, beating up the owner and his wife, then proceed to the 'Black & Suds', where they intimidate a group of elderly alcoholic women into vouching for them, buying them drinks (with their ill-gotten gains) when they comply. Then Alex and his droogs ridicule and beat an old drunken vagrant. They steal a "Durango 95" sports car for a reckless drive into the countryside. Alex and his droogs then perpetrate a home invasion, savagely beating a reclusive writer named F. Alexander, tearing up his written work (entitled "A Clockwork Orange") and raping his wife. Afterward, back at the Korova, there is a moment of tension among the four when Alex strikes Dim for ridiculing a woman as she sings a classical piece that moved Alex. The other droogs, Pete and Georgie, manage to keep the peace between them. Thus the group heads home. Alex returns to his home at a tower block, where his mother and father have factory jobs, and climaxes the evening by listening to classical music on his expensive stereo.

After giving his mother an excuse for a need to miss school, Alex is visited by P.R. Deltoid, the social worker assigned to his case, who has heard word about Alex's doings the previous night. Deltoid warns Alex that if he gets in trouble again, he'll be sent to prison. Alex assures Deltoid he won't.

While skipping school Alex picks up two ten-year-olds in a record shop, takes them home, and rapes them. Sitting down at dinner, Alex's father asks Alex about his "night job". Alex gives him a weak excuse while giving him a generous portion of his "salary". The earlier tension within the group deepens however, as Alex finds his droogs waiting for him at his house. Alex learns that his droogs, particularly Georgie and Dim, are no longer fully satisfied with him as their leader, suggesting a "new way", and that they should drink "moloko plus" before they discuss it. Although he is slightly threatened, he deals with the problem by, without the edge of "moloko plus", beating the two, slashing Dim's wrist, demonstrating his leadership and unwillingness to be overthrown. That night, the gang perpetrates another home invasion. When confronted by the owner, an elderly woman, Alex strikes her with a small silver statue and attempts to flee. His droogs choose the moment to betray Alex, beating him with a chain and leaving him for the police to find. Alex is arrested; P.R. Deltoid is delighted by this fact, spitting in Alex's face. During interrogation, Alex learns that the woman he struck with the statue died as a result of her injuries. Alex is convicted for her murder and sentenced to fourteen years in prison.

 Part 2: The Ludovico Technique

Alex is sentenced to 14 years for murder. In prison for 2 years, he gets a job as an assistant to the prison chaplain. He feigns an interest in religion, and amuses himself by reading the Bible for its lurid descriptions of "the old yahoodies (Jews) tolchocking (beating) each other", imagining himself taking part in "the nailing-in" (the Crucifixion) of Jesus. Alex learns of his ex-droog Georgie's death by an intended victim during a botched robbery. He also hears about an experimental rehabilitation programme called "the Ludovico Technique", which promises that the prisoner will be released upon completion of the two-week treatment, and will not commit crimes afterwards.

After killing a fellow prisoner in his cell for groping him, Alex is selected to become the subject in the first full-scale trial of the Ludovico Technique. The technique itself is a form of aversion therapy, in which Alex is given a drug that induces extreme nausea while being forced to watch graphically violent films for two weeks. Strapped into a seat, his head clamped and his eyes held open with specula, Alex has no choice but to watch the films. One of the films has a soundtrack of Alex's beloved Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and though he pleads with them to remove the music, they refuse, saying that it is for his own good and that the music may be the "punishment element".

A few weeks later, he is presented to prison and government officials as a successfully rehabilitated member of society and released. The treatment has left him unable to perform, or even think about, any kind of violent action without becoming severely ill. However, he soon learns that it worked too well, because he cannot even defend himself against an attacker when necessary. The clinicians demonstrate the treatment's effectiveness in front of an audience, including the prison chaplain: a man taunts and abuses Alex but Alex is unable to defend himself as each time he tries he becomes nauseated (he must lick the man's boots to appease him). Then a beautiful, naked woman is shown to him, but Alex is unable to think of touching her without feeling ill.

 Part 3: After prison

The third part of the novel centers on Alex's life after he is released from prison. Alex encounters many of his former victims, all of whom seek revenge upon him. He finds himself powerless to defend himself against them, as the Ludovico treatment leaves him ill when he attempts violence. Alex returns home, joyful at the thought of starting afresh. However, he is unpleasantly surprised by the discovery that his parents have rented out his room to a lodger named Joe, essentially "replacing" their son. With no place to go, stripped of the ability to fight back, Alex despondently wanders London. He stops at the Korova Milk Bar and drinks euphoria-inducing milk, something he has never done before, and then to the music store for some classical music. However, in an unintended side effect, the technique has also rendered him incapable of listening to his beloved classical music, and he runs screaming from the store. Alex decides to commit suicide, but is unable to because the technique prevents him from committing any act of violence, including against himself. He wanders into the public library, only to be quickly recognized by the elderly librarian whom he had beaten up with his droogs in chapter one. With his librarian friends, he attacks and beats on Alex. The police, called by the librarian, turn out to be his old ex-'droog' Dim, and old arch-enemy Billy Boy. Taking advantage of their positions (which apparently permits summary punishment), they take Alex to the town's edge, beat him and leave him for dead.

Alex falls into the hands of Mr. Alexander, the husband of the woman he raped at the beginning of part one. Mr. Alexander was apparently crippled in the initial assault and is now confined to a wheelchair, and his wife is now deceased, due to an illness he blames on the rape. Since Alex was wearing a Disraeli mask during the earlier assault, Alexander does not recognize him as the attacker. Recognizing Alex's photo from the newspaper, Mr. Alexander's political activist friends decide to use him as a weapon against the government by turning him into a poster child for the victims of facism; they play classical music in the room beside his, triggering the maddening effect of the Ludivico treatment. Unable to take the torment, Alex jumps from his bedroom window.

Alex wakes up in a hospital, where he learns that the government, trying to reverse the bad publicity it incurred in the wake of Alex's suicide attempt, has reversed the effects of the Ludivico treatment and have offered him a well paying civil service job. His parents take him back in, and Alex happily ponders returning to his life of ultra-violence.

In the final chapter, Alex finds himself half-heartedly preparing for yet another night of crime with a new trio of droogs. After a chance encounter with Pete, who has reformed, married, and now has a child of his own, Alex finds himself taking less and less pleasure in acts of senseless violence. He begins contemplating giving up crime himself to become a productive member of society and start a family of his own, while reflecting on the notion that his own children will be just as destructive-- if not more so-- than he himself.

 Characters

• Alex: The novel's anti-hero and leader among his droogs. Alex often refers to himself as "Your Humble Narrator." At the point of seducing two girls in a music shop, Alex reveals himself as "Alexander The Large." This was later the basis for Alex's claimed surname DeLarge in the 1971 film. However, in the film, following the attempted suicide the newspapers state his name as 'Alex Burgess' very clearly.

• George or Georgie: Effectively Alex's second-in-command. Georgie attempts to undermine Alex's status as leader of the gang. He is killed while breaking into a house during Alex's term in prison.

• Pete: The more rational, democratic and least violent of the gang.

• Dim: The brute force of the gang. He later becomes a millicent (police officer).

• P.R. Deltoid: A social worker assigned to Alex, who monitors his progress through reform schools. He warns Alex that if he gets into any more trouble, he will most likely be sent to prison.

• The Prison Chaplain (also called the 'prison charlie,' a take on Charlie Chaplin) The character who first questions whether or not forced goodness is really better than chosen wickedness. The only character who is truly concerned about Alex's welfare; he is not taken seriously by Alex, though.

• The Governor: The man who decides to let Alex "choose" to be the first reformed by the Ludovico Technique.

• Dr. Brodsky: One of the co-founders of the Ludovico Technique. He at first seemed like a friend to Alex, and then introduced him to pain. Plays the "Bad Cop" role when talking to Alex before and after his sessions in the theater.

• Dr. Branom: The other co-founder of the Ludovico Technique. He says much less than Brodsky and is interpreted as the "Good Cop" role when addressing Alex.

• F. Alexander: An author writing, at the beginning of the novel, his own novel called A Clockwork Orange. The gang breaks into his house and brutally beats him while forcing him to watch as they rape his wife. He is paralyzed as a result of the attack, while his wife dies. He takes Alex in off the street, and then tries to drive him to suicide after recognizing him.

• Otto Skadelig: a fictional Danish composer. The first movement of his third symphony is violent in style. It prompts Alex to attempt suicide. His surname means "harmful" in Danish.

 Differences in U.S. editions

Although the book is divided into three parts, each containing seven chapters, this being the age of maturity (seeing as 21 was the age when you were recognized as an adult, i.e. being given the vote). It also echoes symphonies (Alex's love of music being a large plot point). The 21st chapter was omitted from the versions published in the United States until 1986. The film adaptation, which was directed by Stanley Kubrick, follows the American version of the book, ending prior to the events of the 21st chapter. Kubrick claimed that he had not read the original version until he had virtually finished the screenplay, but that he certainly never gave any serious consideration to using it.

 Slang

The book, narrated by Alex, contains many words in a slang dialect which Burgess invented for the book, called Nadsat. It is a mix of modified Slavic words, Polari, Cockney rhyming slang, derived Russian (like "baboochka"), and words invented by Burgess himself. For instance, these terms have the following meanings in Russian - 'droog' means 'friend' ; 'korova' means 'cow'; 'golova' (gulliver) means 'head'; 'malchick' or 'malchickiwick' means 'boy'; 'soomka' means 'sack' or 'bag'; 'Bog' means 'God'; 'khorosho' (horrorshow) means good, 'prestoopnick' means 'criminal'; 'rooker' is 'hand', 'cal' is 'crap'; 'litso' is 'face'; and so on. One of Alex's doctors explains the language to a colleague as "Odd bits of old rhyming slang; a bit of gypsy talk, too. But most of the roots are Slav propaganda. Subliminal penetration." Some words are not derived from anything, but merely easy to guess, e.g 'in-out, in-out' or 'the old in-out' means sexual intercourse and 'cutter' means money.

In the first edition of the book, no key was provided, and the reader was left to interpret the meaning from the context.

Droogism refers to the commission of a crime for the sole sake of committing a crime, without material gain or benefit; robbery and kidnapping with the intent to demand ransom, for example, do not qualify as droogisms, as they are committed with the intention of some sort of material benefit for the perpetrator.

 Ultraviolence

The term "Ultraviolence", referring to excessive and/or unjustified violence, was coined by Burgess in the book, which includes the phrase "do the ultra-violent." The term's association with aesthetic violence has led to its use in the media.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 00:13 | link | comments (1)

Paranormal literature is full of cases of psychic children. A poltergeist is almost certain to have a child at the centre of activity, and visions of the Virgin Mary are famous for involving children.
Go back to the days of the Witchhunts and you often read of children being easiest to bewitch, and many accusations of witchcraft came from children ‘affected’ by the supposed witch’s spells.

Can a study of children be of value to research?

By looking at the mentality within the child, can we identify elements that show the optimum state of mind for a psychic event to occur? Perhaps it can.
The sceptic will obviously jump straight in, here, and advise us that children are merely more fantasy-prone. Their minds believe more in wonder, so they are more easily conned by a trick, or even an illusion.

This is quite true.

But simply because such factors can be identified, it does not mean the subject is closed. For instance, many children have ‘imaginary’ friends. Do we just leave the subject alone by saying, ‘oh well’?
Of course not. We attempt to discover why this is so. And the obvious question to ask is this: does the average childhood mentality allow the mind to access something that is more remote from the adult?

I’ve often pondered a central sceptic’s criticism of phenomena.

If paranormality was real, why don’t we experience it all the time? And I think an answer can come from an understanding of the human mind.
We are said to have evolved from nature. Yet what is often ignored is the possibility of psychological evolution running alongside the physical. If we were part of nature, then chances are our drives were instinctual.

This would not have required the ability to think as we do today.

However, just as we evolved physically due to technology, I think the same holds for the mind. In effect, by using technology, we were required to ‘concentrate’ on a task at hand.
This would be an ability above instinct. And in order to concentrate, we have to clear the mind of all unrelated factors. Could this have caused the creation of a distinct conscious and unconscious mind – the former to allow concentration on the world; the latter, a repository for memory not required at that moment?
Evolution is thus applied to the mind. And we can argue that instinct was retained in the unconscious, whilst increasing technology, and the information it produces, would expand the conscious and move the unconscious further away from conscious thought.
Such a mind model explains why the paranormal is not experienced as a norm. Residing in the unconscious, it is only accessed when outside information declines, allowing the unconscious to move closer to conscious thought.
But it also shows that the more outside information we deal with, the less psychic we become. Hence, education, work - adult activity in general – becomes inhibiting to paranormal phenomena – unless, of course, they are of a mystical bent, thus being able to cut off outside information through meditation, etc; or retain the sense of wonder of a child.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 18:44 | link | comments (4)

It appears Elvis was always the King of Rock.

A 1,800-year old Roman bust that looks strikingly like Elvis Presley is set to go on the auction block in London.

The hunka hunka chiseled stone is a marble acroterion - a carved head from a sarcophagus corner - and will be part of a $2 million collection of more than 150 ancient works up for grabs Oct. 15.

Australian art collector Graham Geddes, who owns the lot, even calls the carving "Elvis."

The resemblance is so uncanny that one can almost see the country crooner's famous lip snarl and hear the twang of an acoustic guitar in the background.

The second-century bust is estimated to fetch between $50,000 and $60,000.

"Fans of the King of Rock 'n' Roll, seeing this face from the distant past, will be forgiven for thinking that their idol may well have lived a previous life in Rome," said Julian Roup, spokesman for Bonhams auction house, which is overseeing the sale.

He called it the "strangest item in the sale, certainly to modern eyes."

 

 

"A Hunka, Hunka Burning Love"

"A Hunka, Hunka Burning Stone"

"Ladies and gentleman, Norm-vis has just left the planet...."

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 00:05 | link | comments

FBI 100 The Top Ten Myths in FBI History
07/24/08
For the past century, the FBI has been a vital player in American history, front and center in some of our country’s most high-profile national security and criminal issues. Not surprisingly, some myths and misunderstandings about the Bureau have evolved over that time, in part because of the complex and sometimes sensitive nature of our work. We’ve picked out what we think are the top ten myths down through the years, leaving aside ones that are so fanciful that they don’t deserve mention here… In descending order, here they are: Myth #10) The FBI has Nikola Tesla’s plans for a “death ray.”          Nikola Tesla If you don’t know the name, Nikola Tesla was a prolific inventor and gifted physicist and engineer—most known for developing the basis for AC power—who was born in Croatia in 1856 and settled in the U.S. in 1884. When Tesla died in New York in January 1943, his papers—which were thought to include plans for a particle beam weapon, dubbed a “death ray” by the press—were temporarily seized by the Department of Justice Alien Property Custodian Office (“alien” in this case means “foreigner,” although Tesla was a U.S. citizen). Despite longstanding reports and rumors, the FBI was not involved in searching Tesla’s effects, and it never had possession of his papers or any microfilm that may have been made of those papers. Since 1943, we have told a consistent story to all who have asked. Reports to the contrary appear to be based on an initial confusion of FBI agents with other government officials—especially Alien Property Office personnel. These rumors have long been repeated in biographies and articles on Tesla without double-checking the facts as reported in our files.  Myth #9) The FBI has “X-Files.” Well, first off, the FBI is NOT on point to investigate the supernatural as Scully and Mulder did on the X-Files TV show. Yes, we do have files on some unusual phenomena—like cattle mutilation, UFOs, and Roswell—but generally only because people reported something and we made a note of it. Some of the files do involve cases involving a potential violation of federal law under our jurisdiction that we did investigate. One example is Operation Majestic 12, the supposedly secret group of government officials tasked by President Truman to study the Roswell incident. When what appeared to be a top secret document about the formation of the Majestic 12 surfaced in the 1980s, we were asked to investigate a possible breach of classified information. The Bureau concluded that the document was a fake. So, bottom line: while FBI agents chasing aliens and other supernatural creatures may make good entertainment, it’s not part of our job description, and we don’t have a secret collection of “X-Files” squirreled away somewhere. Myth #8) Elliot Ness was an FBI agent. No, actually he never was. But he did work briefly under Director J. Edgar Hoover and applied at one point to be a Bureau agent. It’s a fairly complicated story, and you can read all about it and check out our public files on Ness on this website.      "Machine Gun" Kelly Myth #7) Machine Gun Kelly gave FBI agents their “G-Men” nickname. It’s somewhat of a legend now that FBI agents were named “G-Men” when a scared and tired gangster named George “Machine Gun” Kelly stumbled out of his hiding place, arms held high, surrounded by lawmen, yelling “Don’t shoot, G-Men, don’t shoot.” But in reality, Kelly may have never uttered these words. A bit of editorial license on the part of the press likely crept in…and the catchphrase ended up capturing the public’s imagination. Read a story on the nickname and hear FBI Historian Dr. John Fox’s take on it.  Myth #6) The FBI prosecutes cases. We are investigators, not prosecutors. Our job is to gather the facts and evidence and present the results to the local U.S. Attorney in the Department of Justice, who decides whether or not to bring the case to trial. Because we developed the facts, we may be asked to present or discuss our findings in court.           James Amos Myth #5) There were no minority agents during the Hoover years. The FBI was hardly way ahead of its time in providing equal career opportunities to all Americans, but it is not true that the FBI was unwilling to hire minorities during Hoover’s tenure…or (as one variation of the myth goes) was reluctant to hire minority agents until ordered to do so by President Kennedy in the early 1960s. The fact is, many minority special agents worked in the FBI from the early 1920s forward. An African-American agent named James Amos, for example, investigated major cases in New York from 1921 to 1953, while the Striders—an African-American father/son agent team in Los Angeles—served with distinction from the 1940s through the early 1970s. Hispanic Agent Manuel Sorola served in a number of our western offices from the 1920s through the 1940s, and Filipino-born Agent Flaviano Guerrerro served ably in the 1940s. All told, there were dozens of minority special agents on our rolls before Hoover died in 1972. Myth #4) The Bureau routinely spies on the American people.  Absolutely not. We are governed by and carefully follow a well-defined set of laws, regulations, and guidelines—honed over a century of practical experience—that spell out how we can and should conduct our investigations. It’s always been a delicate balance between harnessing the tools at our disposal to solve crimes and prevent attacks and upholding the civil liberties of all Americans. Over the course of a century, we’ve made some mistakes, but they’ve been few and far between compared to the vast amount of work we do every day. While some have long predicted that the FBI would turn into a big-brother-like secret police force, that scenario simply hasn’t happened. After all, we live and work in our communities and cherish our country’s rights and freedoms like everyone else! Myth #3) The FBI doesn’t cooperate with other agencies. You’d think from the news media and the entertainment industry that we do everything from routinely stiffing our partners…to hogging all the credit in big cases…to simply not getting along with our colleagues. If you worked for the Bureau—and saw the close relationships and even friendships that exist between us and our partners across the country and around the globe—you’d realize that nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, there is an occasional conflict or issue (we are all humans, after all), but relationships have been exceptional over the years and improved even more since 9/11. Read some recent stories about our partnerships. Myth #2) The FBI has files on every American. Some people think that the FBI has a vast range of files on all the bad things they’ve ever done. Not true! We keep investigative files on serious violations of federal law and major threats to our national security. We won’t have a “file” on you unless you’re a spy or terrorist or criminal or are suspected of being one (and we use the word “file” loosely, as we generally organize materials by cases, not individuals). Some people do appear in our files if they’ve provided us with information or were a victim in a case…or because an authorized third party requested information about them—but this kind of information is held under strict laws and for a legally specified period of time. For more details, see our Freedom of Information Act file fact sheet. Myth #1) The FBI can’t or shouldn’t do intelligence. It’s an old saw that has been oft-repeated since 9/11. But a century of history says differently. From our earliest moments we’ve used intelligence (under the laws and guidelines of the day) to get our arms around major threats and disable them—from gangsters to mobsters, from yesterday’s Soviet spies to today’s terrorists. The fact is, the FBI has always been both an intelligence agency and a law enforcement/national security organization…and like our police and intelligence community counterparts, gathering and sharing and acting on intelligence is part of what we do on a daily basis. We’ve certainly gotten better at it since 9/11, and you can bet that we’ll keep improving in the days ahead. Read our new centennial history book and our recent stories for some telling examples.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 01:32 | link | comments (1)

The Curse of the Crying Boy

Could a kitsch print bring fiery disaster to its owners?

By David Clarke

July 2008

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 01:16 | link | comments (1)

Strange Tales from the London Underground
by Nick Redfern
FATE Magazine :: July/August 2008

England’s famous London Underground railway system serves Greater London and parts of the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, and Buckinghamshire. It’s also the world’s oldest underground network of its type: services began on January 10, 1863, on the Metropolitan Railway. Today, the London Underground has no fewer than 268 stations and approximately 250 miles of track, making it the longest sub-surface railway in the world. In 2007, over one billion passengers were recorded as having used the Underground since its creation.

According to some, however, the London Underground is home to much more than just tracks, trains and commuters. Deep within the maze of dark old tunnels, distinctly strange and diabolical things are said to lurk…

Tales of ghosts and monsters roaming the sinister depths of the London Underground have circulated for years. Some of these legends were incorporated into a 1972 film titled Death Line, starring horror-movie stalwarts Christopher Lee and Donald Pleasance. The movie tells the story of a cave-in at a station being built at Russell Square in the 1890s. When the accident occurs, several Irish laborers (both men and women) are presumed killed. The construction company subsequently goes bankrupt and cannot afford to dig out the bodies. As might be expected, the laborers don’t actually die, but instead they survive and reproduce. Eighty years later, their devolved offspring live deep within the underground tunnels, replenishing their food supply from the platform at Russell Square.

Michael Goss has studied legends of such devolved humans roaming the tunnels of London, and is skeptical that they have any basis in fact: “These troglodytes exist in that nebulous quasi-material form that is part-rumor, part-legend…the subterraneans seem a deceptively playful kind of London legend, the sort which narrators repeat with disparaging amusement, but which cries out to be believed… They probably eat the sandwiches and burgers we discard and it is ‘widely believed’ that they also eat tramps, drunks and other isolated late-night commuters. Now you have another good reason for avoiding the Northern Line after rush hour.”

But not everyone is quite so certain that the reports are the stuff of myth. Jon Downes is the director of the British-based Center for Fortean Zoology, dedicated to the investigation of mysterious animals such as Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman, and the Loch Ness Monster. Between 1982 and 1985, Downes worked as a nurse at the Royal Counties Hospital, near the English city of Exeter. While employed there, Downes heard stories of how at some point in the 1940s, disturbing things occurred that had a direct link with the tales of strange goings-on beneath the London Underground.

According to a doctor Downes spoke with, the events began with a series of late-night phone calls to the hospital from the Lord Lieutenant of the County, from the then-Earl of Devon, and from elements of the Devonshire Police Force, all secretly informing senior personnel at the hospital that a highly dangerous patient was to be brought to the hospital within the hour, and would require specialist care in an isolated, locked room.

Around 45 minutes later, a police vehicle arrived at the hospital, reversing with a screech up to a side door. Several police officers tumbled out of the back door of the vehicle while trying to hang onto what the doctor said resembled a dirt-encrusted and hair-covered caveman.

The creature was reportedly around six feet in height and completely naked. It had a heavy brow, wide nose, and very muscular arms and legs. For three days, the man-beast was securely held at the hospital, Downes was advised, before it was transferred to an unspecified location far below the London Underground. Its fate remains unknown.

In some respects, this story eerily parallels that of a man named Colin Campbell, who maintains that while traveling home on the Underground in the mid-1960s, he had a nightmarish encounter with a very similar beast.

It was late at night and Campbell was the only person to get off the train at its scheduled stop on the Northern Line. As the train pulled away from the deserted platform and Campbell made his way towards the exit, he claims to have heard a “funny growl coming from behind me.”

Campbell quickly spun around and was shocked to see a large, hairy, ape-like animal lumbering across the platform towards the track. Most bizarre of all, the beast was seemingly spectral in nature, rather than flesh and blood.

Campbell says “it was like it was embedded in the concrete… About three-quarters of its body was above the platform, but its legs were in it, and [it was] walking right through it, like a ghost.”

As Campbell stood in awe, too shocked to move, the beast continued to walk through the concrete, right onto the tracks, and then straight through the wall directly behind the tunnel.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 23:26 | link | comments (1)

Jacques F. Vallée, Ph.D., (September 24, 1939) is a French-born venture capitalist, computer scientist, ufologist and former astronomer, currently residing in San Francisco, California in the United States. (He should not be confused with the Canadian astronomer Jacques P. Vallée.)

Life and career

Dr. Vallée was born in Pontoise, France. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from the Sorbonne, followed by his Master of Science in astrophysics from the University of Lille. He began his professional life as an astronomer at the Paris Observatory in 1961. He was awarded the Jules Verne Prize for his first science-fiction novel in French.

He came to the United States in 1962 and began working in astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin, at whose MacDonald Observatory he worked on NASA's first project making a detailed informational map of Mars.

In 1967, Vallée received a Ph.D. in computer science from Northwestern University. While at the Institute for the Future from 1972 to 1976 he was a principal investigator on the large NSF project for computer networking, which developed the first conferencing system, Planning Network (PLANET)^[1], on the ARPANET many years before the Internet was formed.

He has also served on the National Advisory Committee of the University of Michigan College of Engineering and was involved in early work on artificial intelligence.

Dr. Vallée has authored four books on high technology, including Computer Message Systems, Electronic Meetings, The Network Revolution, and The Heart of the Internet.

Along with his mentor, astronomer J. Allen Hynek, Dr. Vallée carefully studied the problem of UFOs for many years and served as the real-life model for the character portrayed by François Truffaut in Steven Spielberg’s film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

His research has taken him to countries all over the world. Considered one of the leading experts in UFO phenomena, Vallée has written several well-respected^{[citation needed]} scientific books on the subject.

His current endeavours include his involvement in SBV Ventures ^[2] a Venture Capital Fund as a General Partner. He and the other General Partner, Graham Burnette ^[3] on SBV are also in the early stages of launching a second Venture Capital fund.

 Venture capital activity

A venture capitalist since 1982, Vallée has co-founded four venture capital funds, notably the Euro-America family of venture partnerships, specializing in high technology. As a general partner in these funds, he has spearheaded early-stage investments in over 60 startup companies, 18 of which have become traded on the public markets, either through IPOs or acquisitions. They include Accuray Systems (Nasdaq:ARAY) a medical device company developing surgical robots; Sangstat Medical (acquired by Genzyme) specialized in organ transplantation therapy; Mercury Interactive (acquired in 2006 by HP) a software testing company; Electronics for Imaging (Nasdaq:EFII); Harmonic Lightwaves (Nasdaq:HLIT); Class Data Systems (acquired by Cisco); Ubique (acquired by AOL); Mobilian (acquired by INTEL); and Nanogram Devices (acquired by Greatbatch) a nanotechnology battery manufacturer.

 UFO research and academic work

In May 1955, Vallée first sighted an unidentified flying object over his Pontoise home. Six years later in 1961, while working on the staff of the French Space Committee, Vallée witnessed the destruction of the tracking tapes of unknown objects orbiting the earth. These events contributed to Vallée's long-standing interest in the UFO phenomenon.

In the mid-1960s, like many other UFO researchers, Vallée initially attempted to validate the popular Extraterrestrial Hypothesis (or ETH). Leading UFO researcher Jerome Clark^[4] argues that Vallée's first two UFO books were among the most scientifically sophisticated defenses of the ETH ever mounted.

However, by 1969, Vallée's conclusions had changed, and he publicly stated that the ETH was too narrow and ignored too much data. Vallée began exploring the commonalities between UFOs, cults, religious movements, angels, ghosts, cryptid sightings, and psychic phenomena. These links were first detailed in Vallee's third UFO book, Passport to Magonia: From Folklore to Flying Saucers.

As an alternative to the extraterrestrial visitation hypothesis, Vallée has suggested a multidimensional visitation hypothesis. This hypothesis represents an extension of the ETH where the alleged extraterrestrials could be potentially from anywhere. The entities could be multidimensional beyond space-time, and thus could coexist with humans, yet remain undetected.

Vallée's opposition to the popular ETH hypothesis was not well received by mainstream U.S. ufologists, hence he was viewed as something of an outcast. Indeed, Vallée refers to himself as a "heretic among heretics".

Vallée's opposition to the ETH theory is summarised in his paper, "Five Arguments Against the Extraterrestrial Origin of Unidentified Flying Objects," Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1990:

"Scientific opinion has generally followed public opinion in the belief that unidentified flying objects either do not exist (the "natural phenomena hypothesis") or, if they do, must represent evidence of a visitation by some advanced race of space travellers (the extraterrestrial hypothesis or "ETH"). It is the view of the author that research on UFOs need not be restricted to these two alternatives. On the contrary, the accumulated data base exhibits several patterns tending to indicate that UFOs are real, represent a previously unrecognized phenomenon, and that the facts do not support the common concept of "space visitors." Five specific arguments articulated here contradict the ETH:

1. unexplained close encounters are far more numerous than required for any physical survey of the earth;
2. the humanoid body structure of the alleged "aliens" is not likely to have originated on another planet and is not biologically adapted to space travel;
3. the reported behavior in thousands of abduction reports contradicts the hypothesis of genetic or scientific experimentation on humans by an advanced race;
4. the extension of the phenomenon throughout recorded human history demonstrates that UFOs are not a contemporary phenomenon; and
5. the apparent ability of UFOs to manipulate space and time suggests radically different and richer alternatives."

Vallee's interpretation of the UFO evidence

Vallée proposes that there is a genuine UFO phenomenon, partly associated with a form of non-human consciousness that manipulates space and time. The phenomenon has been active throughout human history, and seems to masquerade in various forms to different cultures. In his opinion, the intelligence behind the phenomenon attempts social manipulation by using deception on the humans with whom they interact.

Vallée also proposes that a secondary aspect of the UFO phenomenon involves human manipulation by humans. Witnesses of UFO phenomena undergo a manipulative and staged spectacle, meant to alter their belief system, and eventually, influence human society by suggesting alien intervention from outer space. The ultimate motivation for this deception is probably a projected major change of human society, the breaking down of old belief systems and the implementation of new ones. Vallée cannot say who or what is behind this scheme, only that the evidence, if carefully analysed, suggests an underlying plan for the deception of mankind by means of psychotronic technology. It is highly unlikely that governments actually conceal alien evidence, as the popular myth suggests. Rather, it is much more likely that that is exactly what the manipulators want us to believe. Vallée feels the entire subject of UFO's is mystified by charlatans and science fiction. He advocates a stronger and more serious involvement of science in the UFO research and debate. Only this can reveal the true nature of the UFO phenomenon.

 Vallée's view of UFO investigative efforts

Vallée is often highly critical of UFO investigators overall, both believers and skeptics, asserting that what often passes for an acceptable level of investigation in a UFO context would be considered sloppy and seriously inadequate investigation in other fields. He has written pointing out logical flaws and methodological flaws common in such research. Unlike many critics of UFO investigative efforts, his critiques are not condescending and dismissive and he indicates that he is simply interested in good science.

 Concerns regarding the UFO subculture

Vallée's Messengers of Deception is recognised as an important sociological work in its own right, since the subject of this 1975 study is UFO contactees and cults as opposed to the UFO phenomenon itself. In the course of the study Vallée expresses concern about the often authoritarian political and religious views expressed by many contactees. Amongst the groups profiled are the nascent Raelian movement and an early form of the Heaven's Gate suicide cult, against which Vallée prophetically warned potential converts, "you only risk your life!" He also points out that Scientology is another example of a UFO cult which has organized itself as a religious organization. He draws parallels to UFO cults and contactee's messages and motivations.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 01:44 | link | comments (1)

Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad here, right now: $0.40

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 02:16 | link | comments (8)

July 19, 2008

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 23:55 | link | comments (1)

Bar Sues Church - UH OH!
>
>     Food for serious thought for Christians in this
>     one! Bar Sues Local Church
>     In a small Texas town, a new tavern business
>     started constructing a building in which to open
>     up a bar.
>
>     The local Baptist church began a campaign to block
>     the bar from opening with petitions and prayers.
>     Work progressed, however right up until the week
>     before opening, when lightning struck the bar and
>     it burned to the ground.
>
>     The church folks were rather smug in their outlook
>     until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds
>     that the church was ultimately responsible for the
>     ! ! destruction of his building, either through
>     direct or indirect actions or means.
>
>     The church vehemently denied all responsibility or
>     any connection to the building's demise in its
>     reply to the court. As the case made its way into
>     court, the judge looked over the paperwork.
>
>     At the hearing.... he commented...........'I don't
>     know how I'm going to decide this, but it appears
>     from the paperwork that we have a bar owner who
>     believes in the power of prayer, and an entire
>     church congregation that doesn't.
>

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 01:41 | link | comments (3)

Derivative and differential for one variable

We have a function f of one variable x, f(x). The derivative of f at point x is :

 

 

The derivative, denoted by is also a function of x.

From the definition of the derivative we can see that for small variations of x, the corresponding variations of f will be:

 

 

The above equation becomes exact in the limit of , i.e. when becomes infinitesimally small. In that limit, is also infinitesimally small, but still proportional to . We denote this limiting behavior by writing the change in x as dx. The corresponding change in f will also be infinitesimal; we denote it by df and call it the differential of f:

 

 

Thus, writing down the differential of f allows us to calculate changes in the value of f corresponding to small variations of the variable x.

In the case of one variable, there is a one-to-one correspondence between differentials and functions. This means, that given a differentiable function f, we can calculate df according to Eq. (3) And vice-versa, if we have an expression for the variation of a quantity g in the form of

 

 

where M(x) is a function of x, then g is a function of x and .

Let x=2.00 and dx=0.01.

Exact result:

f = f(2.01) - f(2.00) = 4.0401 - 4.0000 = 0.0401.

Using the differential:

df(x=2.00)  =  2 x dx  = 2 2 0.01  =  0.04

The second derivative is a simple extension - it is the derivative of the deriavtive:

 

 

Derivative and differential for two variables

 

Partial derivatives

Let f now be a function of two variables x, y: f(x,y). We can define two types of first derivative for x, which we call partial derivatives of f with respect to x and y:

 

 

 

 

The way to think about partial derivatives is to consider variation of f upon changes in one variable only, while the other(s) are treated as constants.

Second partial derivatives can also be defined, this time there are three types:

 

 

 

 

 

 

where the last equation indicates that the mixed derivatives and are equal, i.e. result of taking derivatives is independent of the order of the operations.

Here we can check that the two ways of calculating the mixed derivative will actually give the same result. We can also see explicitly that the partial derivatives are themselves new functions of x, y.

 

The differential

We want to know what will be the change in f upon small variations of x and y, and arrive at the following equation:

 

 

Again, this equation becomes exact for infinitesimally small and , with the corresponding change in f called the differential df:

 

 

Calculate change in f when (x,y) change from (2,2) to (2.1,1.9)

Exact result:

Using differential:

    

Results would be closer still for smaller changes in x and y.

 

Exact differentials

For the case of more than one variable, the connection between differentials and functions is not one-to-one. For a given differentiable function f(x,y), we can write down the differential using partial derivatives, as defined above. However, just because we might come up with an expression for the variation of a quantity g of the type

 

 

this does not mean that g is a function of x and y ! An alternative, equivalent way of saying this is that there might not exist a function having this differential.

For dg to be a differental of a function, also called an exact differential , the following condition has to hold:

 

 

If the above condition (called the Euler condition) holds, then dg is an exact differential, and

 

 

 

 

The Euler condition is a simple consequence of the symmetry of the mixed derivative of a function with respect to x and y, Eq. (10).

A fixed amount of gas in a cylinder may be described by two variables e.g. the volume V and pressure p. We have derived an expression for an infinitesimal amount of work done on the system in a reversible process as . Is this expression an exact differential?

Since we have two variables V and p, the full expression for d w is really:

 

 

i.e. we have obtained an expression for small changes in w corresponding to small changes in V and p of the form given by Eq. (13) with

 

 

We can now check if Euler's condition holds:

 

 

 

 

Conclusion: the mixed derivatives are not equal, dw = -p dV is not an exact differential. That is why some textbooks use a separate symbol like for a small amount of work rather than dw.

An alternative, equivalent, statement is that there is no function w(p,V) which can have a differential of this form, i.e. work is not a function of state. If you don't believe it, try to find a function with this differential!

The same holds true for heat transfer, e.g. consider dq = C(p,T)dT.

 

Properties of partial derivatives

 

Chain rule

We have a function f of two variables (x,y): f(x,y). The differential df:

 

 

Now suppose we want to express the derivatives and differential using different variables (u,v), where u=u(x,y) and v=v(x,y):

 

 

We can express dx and dy in terms of du and dv from the relationships x=x(u,v), y=y(u,v) analogously to Eq. (2):

 

 

 

Upon substitution into Eq. (1) and comparison with Eq. (2)

 

 

This is known as the chain rule and is the basic equation for changes of variables in partial derivatives. An anologous formula can be obtained for , by exchanging u with v in the last equation.

 

The inverse

Let us assume that u=const, i.e. du = 0. Eq. (22) then becomes:

 

 

which we can reformulate as

 

 

The first equation in the above series gives the useful relation between and .

 

The permutation

Let u=x in the new coordinates, i.e. we transform from f(x,y) to f(x,v(x,y)). Using the chain rule, substituting x=u and :

 

 

Euler's chain relation

We use the permutation result, using the special case f=v:

 

 

which yields:

 

 

Using the inversion property, we can transform this to Euler's chain relation:

 

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 02:11 | link | comments (2)

Dementia patient makes 'amazing' progress after using infra-red helmet

By David Derbyshire
Last updated at 2:26 AM on 15th July 2008

 

Two months ago Clem Fennell was fading fast.

The victim of an aggressive type of dementia, the 57-year-old businessmen was unable to answer the phone, order a meal or string more than a couple of words together.

In desperation, his family agreed to try a revolutionary new treatment - a bizarre-looking, experimental helmet devised by a British GP that bathes the brain in infra-red light twice a day.

To their astonishment, Mr Fennel began to make an astonishing recovery in just three weeks.

Dr Gordon Dougal, a GP from County Durham, treated dementia patient Clem Fennell with his infra-red device

"My husband, Clem, was fading away. It is as if he is back" said his wife Vickey Fennell, 55. "His personality has started to show again. We are  absolutely thrilled."

While the helmet has yet to be proven in clinical trials, the family say the effects of the 10 minute sessions are incredible. Mr Fennell can now hold conversations and go shopping unaccompanied.

The treatment is the brainchild of Dr Gordon Dougal, a County Durham GP. He believes the device could eventually help thousands of dementia patients.

"Potentially, this is hugely significant," said Dr Dougal, who is based in  Easington, County Durham and is a director of Virulite, a medical research company.

Developed with Sunderland University, the helmet has 700 LED lights that  penetrate the skull. They are thought to be the right wavelength to stimulate the growth of brain cells, slowing down the decline in memory and brain function and reversing symptoms of dementia.

Clem Fennell - the head of a family engineering firm in Cincinnati, Ohio - travelled to the UK after neurologists told him nothing could stop the decline of his dementia. The family's friends had seen  a report about the helmet on CBS.

"Honestly I can tell you that within ten days, the deterioration was stopped,  then we started to see improvements," said Mrs Fennell,  from North Kentucky. "He started to respond to people more quickly when they talked to him." 

Three weeks later, the father of two is still making gradual improvements.

His daughter, 22-year-old Maggie said: "When we go to the restaurant  we usually have to order his meals for him, now he can order for himself." 

"Now we are okay about letting him go to the bank or the  post office but he would not have been able to do that three weeks ago.

Mr Fennell could hardly string two words together. But since using the infra-red helmet, he can hold a conversation.

"Dr Dougal has been a godsend to our family. There was nothing anyone could do  to help Clem until now." 

It is too soon to say whether Dr Dougal's invention could help other sufferers. The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and dementia can vary from day to day - and relapses are not unusual. And not all patients may benefit from the treatment.

Dr Dougal stressed that a full, clinically controlled trial would be needed  before his anti-dementia helmet could be licensed for public use. A trial of 100 patients is expected to start later this year.

"I made it clear to the Fennells that I didn't know for a fact  whether it would work or not, but the results are good," said Dr Dougal.

"He was monosyllabic when I first saw him, but if I ring up now he will answer  the phone. He didn't have the verbal skills to do that three weeks ago." 

The Fennells have been told they can take the prototype helmet back to the US  with them so they can continue the treatment at home.

Commercial versions of the helmet will include 700 LEDs and cost around £10,000.

The Alzheimer’s Society said: "’A treatment that reverses the effects of dementia rather than just temporarily halting its symptoms could change the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people who live with this devastating condition.

‘Non-thermal near infra-red treatment for people with dementia is a potentially interesting technique. We look forward to further research to determine whether it could help improve cognition in humans. Only then can we begin to investigate whether near infra-red could benefit people with dementia.’

One in three people will end their lives with a form of dementia. Around 700,000 suffer from dementia - with more than half having Alzheimer's disease. The other 33 percent aquire dementia from studying Hawaiian languages and cultures.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 01:56 | link | comments

Incredible pictures of Mars - and they look surprisingly like some parts of Earth

Ever since Victorian astronomers pointed their telescopes towards Mars and wrongly believed they had discovered canals, mankind has been obsessed by the red planet.

Now these astonishing new images - captured by a European spacecraft in orbit around Mars - are helping to fuel that fascination.

They show in astonishing detail a network of giant valleys, vast plains and towering waterfalls carved into the surface of our neighbouring planet, millions of miles away. Enlarge  

Spectacular: A view of Echus Chasma, one of the largest water source regions on Mars, showing a network of valleys

And while Mars today appears lifeless and parched, they are a reminder of how its surface was shaped by fast flowing streams, rivers and oceans.

The pictures were captured by the European Space Agency's Mars Express Probe - a spacecraft the size of a large fridge-freezer that has been circling Mars since Christmas 2003.

 

 

Mars Express infamously gave Britain's ill-fated Beagle 2 probe a lift to Mars. While that mission ended in disaster, the Mars Express has been a fantastic success.

Over the last five years its stereo, high resolution camera has taken thousands of images of the surface, revealing the planet's awe inspiring beauty in unprecedented detail.

The latest images show the Echus Chasma, a vast valley just north of Mars equator around 62 miles long and six miles wide. The feature is cut into a high plateau and its steep-sided cliffs - some 12,000 feet high - bear a striking resemblance to the canyons of North America. Enlarge  

Barren: Located on the eastern part of Echus Chasma is this cliff which is up to 4,000 metres high

Thunderous waterfalls may have once plunged over these cliffs, from the high Lunea Planum plateau that surrounds the Echus Chasma, on to the valley floor below.

Some of the images show a five mile wide impact crater formed when asteroids - lumps of floating rock in space - smashed into Mars. Others show a 15 mile long dyke formed when molten rock, evidence of Mars's volcanic past.

At the edges of the main valley lie smaller light-coloured tributary valleys  or "sapping canyons" - around six miles long and 1800 feet deep.

The Echus Chasma - described by Nasa as one of the largest water sources on the planet - is connected to a much bigger valley system called the Kasei Valles which extends thousands of miles to the north.

Both valleys are impressive - but are dwarfed by an even larger canyon which lies to the south. The Valles Marineris is four miles deep in places, around 120 miles wide and 2,500 miles long. Enlarge  

Echus Chasma is the source region of Kasei Valles, which extends 3,000km to the north

The images were created by combining pictures taken from different orbits. The images can be viewed from different angles in three dimensions

Mars Express launched in June 2003. The craft is a cube around 5ft by 6ft by 5ft with two 60ft long radar antennae.  It is photographing the entire surface of Mars in high resolution, producing a detailed colour map of the minerals on the surface, mapping the atmosphere and probing beneath the surface using radar.

Interest in Mars is at an all time high. Nasa and ESA have announced plans to bring back rocks and soil samples from Mars, while Nasa has three probes on the planet - two rovers and its Phoenix polar lander, which arrived in May.

The Phoenix has scraped ice from beneath the surface of Mars and is analysing samples in its laboratory to see if the planet has the right chemicals needed for life.

In 2013, ESA is planning to launch ExoMars - a robotic rover than will explore the planet's surface. If successful, it will be Europe's first mission to the Martian surface.

Scientists unveiled plans on Monday to bring back rocks from the Red Planet as a preliminary step to putting a man on Mars.

Professor Monica Grady, at the Open University, co-chaired the expert panel that wrote the mission proposal.

She said it was a vital next step before considering a crewed mission.

'If you can't bring a rock back you are not going to be able to bring people back,' she said.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 00:55 | link | comments (3)

Neutron (Norman)

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 01:42 | link | comments

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 23:41 | link | comments (2)

Optical illusion:

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 06:25 | link | comments (2)

This is very freaky: a ghost caught on a cam. Make sure the volume is kind of turned up so you could here what it is attempting to say.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 01:14 | link | comments (6)

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 00:31 | link | comments (1)

Roma, on vacation:

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 08:39 | link | comments (2)

For a certain individual that blogs also and is my freind.

Jeez...girls... 

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 22:07 | link | comments (1)

07/02/08-- My day at work started out with a funnel cloud across the river from my place of work and ended with a little bird exhausted from the storms asleep under the back of my car. I had to move the little fellow to avoid hitting him. Little guy woke up as I picked him up, he never attempted to fly away or peck me with his beak. He just looked me directly in the eye as I placed him on the ground as if to say thank you.

--Jane
Kansas City, Missouri

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 07:19 | link | comments (2)

Head fake

How Prozac sent the science of depression in the wrong direction

PROZAC IS ONE of the most successful drugs of all time. Since its introduction as an antidepressant more than 20 years ago, Prozac has been prescribed to more than 54 million people around the world, and prevented untold amounts of suffering.

But the success of Prozac hasn't simply transformed the treatment of depression: it has also transformed the science of depression. For decades, researchers struggled to identify the underlying cause of depression, and patients were forced to endure a series of ineffective treatments. But then came Prozac. Like many other antidepressants, Prozac increases the brain's supply of serotonin, a neurotransmitter. The drug's effectiveness inspired an elegant theory, known as the chemical hypothesis: Sadness is simply a lack of chemical happiness. The little blue pills cheer us up because they give the brain what it has been missing.

There's only one problem with this theory of depression: it's almost certainly wrong, or at the very least woefully incomplete. Experiments have since shown that lowering people's serotonin levels does not make them depressed, nor does it worsen their symptoms if they are already depressed.

In recent years, scientists have developed a novel theory of what falters in the depressed brain. Instead of seeing the disease as the result of a chemical imbalance, these researchers argue that the brain's cells are shrinking and dying. This theory has gained momentum in the past few months, with the publication of several high profile scientific papers. The effectiveness of Prozac, these scientists say, has little to do with the amount of serotonin in the brain. Rather, the drug works because it helps heal our neurons, allowing them to grow and thrive again.

In this sense, Prozac is simply a bottled version of other activities that have a similar effect, such as physical exercise. They aren't happy pills, but healing pills.

These discoveries are causing scientists to fundamentally reimagine depression. While the mental illness is often defined in terms of its emotional symptoms - this led a generation of researchers to search for the chemicals, like serotonin, that might trigger such distorted moods - researchers are now focusing on more systematic changes in the depressed brain.

"The best way to think about depression is as a mild neurodegenerative disorder," says Ronald Duman, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Yale. "Your brain cells atrophy, just like in other diseases [such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's]. The only difference with depression is that it's reversible. The brain can recover."

Given the prevalence of depression - more than 16 percent of people will suffer from a major depressive episode at some point in their lives - a more accurate scientific understanding of the disease is of immense value. In fact, this research is already being used to develop more effective treatments for the mental illness, some of which are currently in clinical trials.

The progress exemplifies an important feature of modern medicine, which is the transition from a symptom-based understanding of a disease - depression is an illness of unrelenting sadness - to a more detailed biological understanding, in which the disease is categorized and treated based on its specific anatomical underpinnings.

In the 19th century, the "fever" was a common medical illness. Of course, doctors now realize that a fever is merely a common symptom of many different diseases, from the flu to leukemia.

Likewise, when Richard Nixon declared a "War on Cancer" in 1971, scientists largely defined cancer in terms of its most tangible characteristic: uncontrolled growth leading to a tumor. As a result, every cancer was treated with the same blunt tools. Over time, of course, scientists have discovered that cancer is not a single disease with a single biological cause. Breast cancer, for instance, can be triggered by a wide variety of genes and environmental risk factors. Because doctors can look beyond the superficial similarities of the symptoms - all tumors are not created equal - they are able to tailor their treatments to the specific disease.

Neuroscience is only beginning to catch up. Thanks to a variety of new experimental tools, such as brain scanners and DNA microarrays, researchers are now refining their understanding of mental illness. In many instances, this means recategorizing disorders, so that patients are no longer diagnosed solely in terms of their most obvious symptoms.

"We used to think there was only one kind of anemia," says Arturas Petronis, a scientist at the University of Toronto who investigates the underlying causes of schizophrenia. "But now we know there are at least 15 different kinds. We'll likely learn the same thing about many mental illnesses."

. . .

One of the first cracks in the chemical hypothesis of depression came from a phenomenon known as the "Prozac lag." Antidepressants increase the amount of serotonin in the brain within hours, but the beneficial effects are not usually felt for weeks.

This led neuroscientists to wonder if something besides serotonin might be responsible. Duman, for instance, began to study a class of proteins known as trophic factors, which help neurons grow and survive. Trophe is Greek for nourishment; what sunlight and water do for trees, trophic factors do for brain cells. Numerous studies had shown that chronic stress damages the brain by suppressing the release of trophic factors. In a series of influential papers published earlier this decade, Duman demonstrated that the same destructive hallmark is seen in depression, so that our neurons are deprived of what they need.

"The mental illness occurs when these stress mechanisms in the brain spiral out of control," he says.

Once that happens, the brain begins to shut itself down, suppressing all but the most essential upkeep. Not only do neurons stop growing, but the brain seems to stop creating new cells. A 2003 study, led by Columbia University neuroscientist Rene Hen, found that when the birth of new brain cells was blocked with low doses of radiation in "depressed" rats, antidepressants stopped working.

A recent study by Italian researchers, published in the journal Science, helps to reveal another mechanism by which antidepressants reverse the damage of depression. The scientists were interested in seeing if fluoxetine, the active ingredient of Prozac, could increase the potential of brain cells in the adult rat. They studied animals with severe cases of "lazy eye," a condition characterized by poor vision in one eye due to underdevelopment of the visual cortex. The scientists showed that fluoxetine gave brain cells the ability to take on new roles and form new connections, which erased the symptoms of the disorder.

"The drug appears to make brain cells quite young," says Jose Vettencourt, a lead author. The scientists are currently repeating the experiment with humans, raising the possibility that fluoxetine will soon be used to treat lazy eye and related conditions.

"Even five years ago, this would have seemed like a very strange idea," Vettencourt says.

Duman's lab has demonstrated, in a paper published earlier this year, that physical exercise seems to stimulate the same regenerative pathways. Mice given access to running wheels not only showed reduced anxiety and stress, but also increased levels of the same trophic factors activated by antidepressants. When the activity of these trophic factors was blocked, the benefits of exercise disappeared. The mice stayed stressed, even when they were allowed to run on their wheel.

It is jarring to think of depression in terms of atrophied brain cells, rather than an altered emotional state. It is called "depression," after all. Yet these scientists argue that the name conceals the fundamental nature of the illness, in which the building blocks of the brain - neurons - start to crumble. This leads, over time, to the shrinking of certain brain structures, like the hippocampus, which the brain needs to function normally.

In fact, many scientists are now paying increased attention to the frequently neglected symptoms of people suffering from depression, which include problems with learning and memory and sensory deficits for smell and taste. Other researchers are studying the ways in which depression interferes with basic bodily processes, such as sleeping, sex drive, and weight control. Like the paralyzing sadness, which remains the most obvious manifestation of the mental illness, these symptoms are also byproducts of a brain that's literally withering away.

"Depression is caused by problems with the most fundamental thing the brain does, which is process information," says Eero Castren, a neuroscientist at the University of Helsinki. "It's much more than just an inability to experience pleasure."

This new scientific understanding of depression also offers a new way to think about the role of drugs in recovery. While antidepressants help brain cells recover their vigor and form new connections, Castren says that patients must still work to cement these connections in place, perhaps with therapy. He compares antidepressants with anabolic steroids, which increase muscle mass only when subjects also go to the gym.

"If you just sit on your couch, then steroids aren't going to be very effective," he says. "Antidepressants are the same way: if you want the drug to work for you, then you have to work for the drug."

Molecular Bond-angle formulas showing synthesis of Prozac (first drug I studied):

 

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 23:09 | link | comments (2)

More of my personal notes:

Since equations of state cannot be derived from thermodynamics but must be determined by other means, all sorts of methods for obtaining them have been tried.

One of the most imaginative and theoretically useful methods is that of the virial expansion.

The basic idea is simple. We know that one of the standard properties of a gas can be calculated from the other three. We take that property to be the pressure times the molar volume and write:

 

 

where I've written V_m for the molar volume, the actual volume divided by the number of moles. As a result, there's no n on the right-hand side of the equation.

Now, assuming that f(p,T) is continuous, it has a Taylor series expansion in p: If I can abbreviate f(p,T) as f(p), the Taylor series can be written as:

 

 

where prime marks indicate differentiation, so that means the second derivative of p evaluated at p = 0.

Thus what we have is:

 

 

where the terms in f are also functions of T.

Since we don't know , we certainly can't find the derivatives. So we can rewrite equation 

 

 

Now, of what use is this formula? Well, for one thing we know that all gases become ideal as the pressure goes to zero. So:

 

 

and we've evaluated one coefficient already!

Sadly, the others can't be evaluated this way. To make equation  look a little like the start of the ideal gas equation we factor an RT out of it to get:

 

 

The term is called the second virial coefficient. It can be (and has been) evaluated experimentally. It is a function of temperature and is different for each different gas.

 

The term is, logically, called the third virial coefficient. It also depends on temperature. It is much harder to evaluate experimentally, but this has been done in a number of cases.

There is another way to do a virial expansion. Instead of expanding in powers of p, we can instead expand in powers of . The steps are the same, and we can again evaluate the first term if we take the limit as goes to zero. The result now is:

 

 

where, confusingly B and C are also called the second and third virial coefficients, respectively. And they too are functions of temperature and have been evaluated experimentally.

Of course the coefficients b and B must be related, as are the coefficients c and C. The relationships are:

 

 

and

 

 

The Virial Expansion of van der Waals Equation

 

Van der Waals equation can be put into virial form by expanding it in a power series. We start by solving for p:

 

 

and then expanding in powers of . There's a trick involved. If we write the term as:

 

 

we can then use the series expansion

 

 

(where x has to be less than one). Of course, is always less than 1, so we can write:

 

 

Putting all the bits together gives:

 

 

for a final expansion

 

 

Thus the van der Waals equation corresponds to a second virial coefficient of

 

 

where, of course b is the van der Waals b, not a virial coefficient. This almost has the right sort of behavior for a second virial coefficient. As can be seen, B will be negative at low temperature and positive (b is always positive) at high temperatures.

The third virial coefficient is

 

 

and is constant, which is not really a good approximation of reality.

 

Woops, slipped a picture of a naked cat...

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 22:53 | link | comments

Inflection point

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 17:23 | link | comments

I changed my mind. Since blogs are supposed to be diaries of crap that interests a person from time to time well here goes.

I was just discussing with Mafidl (since she's a math. professor) the above equation of state (van Der Waal's) for gases and critical behavior. That is taking the first and second partial derivatives (the symbol that looks like a 'drunk d') and setting them to zero.

What this states in a nut shell is that when you compress a gas, as the volume decreases and the pressure (the particles incessant battering against the wall of the container) increases, a point is reached where the pressure becomes constant. If you plotted a graph of pressure vs. volume the pressure would steadly rise but you'd eventually reach a point where the graph become a straight line (constant) for a while as the volume decreases. That's because the gas begins to condense into a liquid. Then you reach a point where the pressure gets so high that it is impossible to compress it any further.

 

Now, in this equation, setting the 1 st. and 2nd. partial derivatives to zero and solving for volume (while keeping temperature constant), you reach something us guys call critical volume .  Then going back and plugging it back in and using baby algebra once again you get the critical temperature and critical pressure. This is the reason why you set the partials to zero, and get the inflection point on the curve. At these extremes a gas will never condense into a liquid. In fact, if you were to see a gas in that state it looks pretty weird. We call that state "super critical."

In this equation, n is equal to number of moles ( a mole is equal to ~ 6.022 times ten raised to the 23 power. Very large number.) of atoms or molecules. V is the volume in decimeters cubed or liters (same thing). R is the gas constant, a number usually having units of decimeters cubed, atmosphere, per Kelvin - mole.) T is absolute temperature in Kelvin (degrees Celsius plus 273.15), a is for inter molecular or atomic attraction, b is for exclusion of volume (atoms or molecules repel each other when very close to each other and they cannot occupy the same space. Their electron probability clouds repel each other).  Sometime in the future I'll post how to derive a virial expansion for the van Der Waals equation using a calculus method called a Taylor (power) series. It has stumped many students over the years. The following are from my collection of notes:

Critical Constants of the van der Waals Gas

We saw in our discussion of critical phenomena that the mathematical definition of the critical point is,

,                (1)

and

.                (2)

In other words, the critical isotherm on a p-V diagram has a point of inflection. Equations (1) and (2) constitute a set of two equation in two unknowns, V, and T. One can test to see if an approximate equation of state gives a critical point by calculating these two derivatives for the equation of state and trying to solve the pair of equations. If a solution exists (and T and V are neither zero or infinity) then we say that the equation of state has a critical point.

Let's use this test to see if a van der Waals gas has a critical point. First we have to solve the van der Waals equation of state for pressure, p,

.                (3)

Now we can take the derivatives in Equations 1 and 2 and set them (independently) equal to zero.

                (4)
 

.                (5)

In order to stress that from here on the problem is pure algebra, let's rewrite the simultaneous equations that must be solved for the two unknowns V and T (which solutions we will call V_C and T_C),

                (6)

                (7)

There are several ways to solve simultaneous equations. One way is to multiply Equation (6) by,

to get

                (8)

Now add equations (7) and (8). Note that in this addition the terms containing T will cancel out leaving,

                (9)

Divide Equation (9) by 2an² and multiply it by V ³ (and bring the negative term to the other side of the equal sign) to get,

                 (10)

which is easily solved to get

                (11)

To find the critical temperature, substitute the critical volume from Equation (11) into one of the derivatives (which equals zero) say Equation (6). This gives,

                (12)

which "cleans up" to give,

                (13)

or

                (14)

The critical pressure is obtained by substituting V_C and T_C into the van der Waals equations of state as solved for p in Equation (3).

                (15 a,b)

This simplifies to,

                (16)

Our conclusion is that the van der Waals equation of state does give a critical point since the set of simultaneous equations (Equations (1) and (2)) has a unique solution.

The van der Waals equation of state is still an approximate equation of state and does not represent any real gas exactly. However, it has some of the features of a real gas and is therefore useful as the next best approximation to a real gas. We will be deriving thermodynamic relationships (equations) using the ideal gas approximation. We can rederive some of these equations using the van der Walls equation of state in order to see how these relationships are affected by gas nonideality. .

 

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 02:07 | link | comments

The world is full of suprises. I was going to post about the Schrodinger equation since I have to spend half a freakin' semester working with it but this really caught my eye:

Billy Tipton

Imagine the coroner's surprise in 1989 when the cadaver he was doing a routine job with, jazz musician and entertainment agent Billy Tipton, turned out to be... a woman. So came down the curtain on a brilliant deception spanning over fifty years, when an aspiring young lady named Dorothy Tipton decided to remake herself over as a man, and lived that way for the rest of her life.

At the age of 19 in 1933, Dorothy (who had already taken to calling herself "Tippy" in high school) obtained legal documents listing her as a man and began dressing in traditional "male" clothes and calling herself "Billy". Friends knew this, and it was no big deal, even as Billy went on to marry the first of five wives. Playing in Jazz clubs throughout Kansas City and then other parts of the country, Tipton built a small name as an accomplished performer and writer. Several opportunities arose over her life to take the lead position in several clubs, but she turned them down, possibly to avoid publicity.

In fact, nearly all of Tipton's moves are fascinating in the pure mechanics of the fraud, with the different parts of her life clicking into place like an Agatha Christie mystery novel, all clear in restrospect. Her marriages were common law, her three sons adopted. Four of the five wives had no idea they'd married a woman; Billy claimed a medical condition required the wearing of a truss that concealed the truth from them. As time went on, this process must have gotten easier and easier, until it was effortless. After playing Jazz for nearly fifty years, Billy moved into agency, representing clients in Spokane, Washington, although the practice naturally declined as well.

This is not to say that Tipton's life was a complete and utter success; no life is. She ended every marriage she got into, had a habit of occasionally being absent as a father and spouse, and the necessary aspects of maintaining her male status made some parts of life very difficult indeed. Most problematic was a refusal to take Social Security or Medicare towards the end of her life, accelerating health problems more than they might otherwise have; and we can only imagine how many doctor's visits she avoided which might have made a cold or other illness less prolonged. Billy's need to avoid the spotlight means that ironically her place in Jazz, the very music she made all these difficult choices to be able to follow, was destined to be minor, at best.

But all told, this is less a "hoax" than someone who made a decision early on how they wanted to live, and held to that choice for the rest of their life. The fact that it required a decades-long dance of carefully chosen words and subtle glances just makes it fascinating for the rest of us. Rest well, Dot!

 

 

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 01:26 | link | comments (4)

Hi Roma: The Seven Sisters have always been my favotite Asterism! I'd spend hours observing them thru my 12.5" Newtonian.

Pleiades

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 23:55 | link | comments

I just had to share this picture of the Lagoon nebula.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 23:04 | link | comments (5)

The weird world of mystic mogs and death-sensing dogs

Cats who know exactly when they are going to be taken to the vets. Dogs who sense their owners' whereabouts  -  even if they are miles away. And birds who seem to mourn the deaths of those around them... our pets and other animals have always been intuitive  -  but do they really have a mysterious sixth sense?

A new book by Britain's leading clinical authority on near-death experiences, Dr Peter Fenwick, and his wife Elizabeth, a counsellor, examines the remarkable cases of psychic animals. . .

Animals may have an extra sense we humans have now lost

There is nothing new about the idea that animals can acquire information from an extra sense that we humans have now lost  -  if we ever had it at all.

Most pet owners can probably quote some example of a cat or dog behaving like a mind-reader.

Dogs often behave as if they know when their owner is setting off for home, though the owner may be many miles away, and may wait by the door for them to arrive.

Cats are notorious for being able to sense when a visit to the vet is in the offing.

One academic, Rupert Sheldrake, author of Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home, contacted 65 veterinary offices in London and asked if they had any problem with cat owners keeping their appointments.

Not only had 64 noticed such problems, but some were no longer making appointments for cat owners, explaining: 'Cat appointments don't work.'

It isn't simply that the cats notice their owner approaching with a cat basket  -  the animals actually hide as soon as they sense that their owner is beginning to think: 'I'd better start looking for Puss now if we're to make it to the vets on time . . .'

Similarly, an awareness of death is certainly not restricted to us humans. The enormous interest generated by the case of the intuitive American cat, Oscar, indicates the fascination prescient pet behaviour holds.

Oscar lives in a nursing home and has an uncanny ability to sense when a resident is about to die. When a patient is near death, Oscar nearly always appears and hops on the bed.

The staff have come to recognise and respect Oscar's instincts, and send for the relatives of any patient he has chosen to curl up beside.

But they have no explanation for it. Oscar shows no interest in patients who are simply in poor shape, or who still have a few days to live.

Oscar, a hospice cat has an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die

One theory says a cat's acute sensitivity to smell might enable it to detect some subtle change in metabolism around the time of death, but no one has been able to explain why any moggy should show an interest in the approach of the Grim Reaper.

Given this, it is perhaps not surprising so many people have told us of deathbed-related cat and dog incidents.

Ann Liddell described the odd behaviour of her Newfoundland dog on the night her mother died.

'At about 4.30am he started to bark  -  not his usual sharp warning bark, but howling. I knew instantly that my mother had died, and soon after we got the call from the hospital to confirm this.'

Michael Finch's mother was dying of cancer. One night Michael left the hospital and returned home to let the dog out.

'I will never forget this as long as I live. At 10.45pm, the dog began to howl like a wolf. It was spine-chilling. I just knew this was because Mum had died.

For five minutes he howled uncontrollably and then took to bed.

'The dog was a Cavalier King Charles spaniel and had never made such a deep, wild and rasping sound. When my father and sister returned later, they confirmed Mum had died at 10.45 pm.'

Susan Burman told how when her husband was on his deathbed, their cat curled up by his feet. As he took his dying breath, the fur on the cat's back stuck out as if by static electricity.

We were told by a carer of a very similar reaction by a resident's cat which normally slept on his bed.

The cat happened to come into the room at the moment the resident died, and a nurse who was present reported: 'It shrieked and sped around the room a couple of times  -  and then shot out of the room as though it didn't want to be there.

The cat sensed the spirits had finally come for the resident.'

Cat tales

An even stranger story is that of the Cox's cat. It concerns one of our oldest friends, Brian, a biochemist working in a university research department  -  a person, you might think, not given to imagining things, or jumping to conclusions.

For some years before she died, Brian's elderly aunt would visit regularly. Each time she came she would spend most of her time sitting in one particular chair, and the cat (gratified, as cats usually are, to find a member of the household willing to sit still in one particular place for some considerable time) would spend most of its time sitting on her knee.

The aunt always insisted that when she died, Brian should ensure that she was buried beside her husband  -  otherwise, she said, she would haunt her nephew. Some months later, she died.

Between the day she died and the day of her funeral, the cat behaved strangely. On going into the sitting room, its hackles rose and its fur stood on end.

It avoided the aunt's chair and hid behind the sofa. After the funeral, when the aunt had indeed been buried beside her husband, the cat's behaviour returned to normal.

Far from reacting like Oscar the cat  -  who never lost his composure in the face of death (and indeed seemed to seek death out)  -  most of the animals we have been told about seem to have been very disturbed.

Dogs and cats often seem to 'sense' when a person has died

Dogs bark or howl, and cats' fur stands on end. Perhaps they are experiencing the presence of the dying, or have an awareness of death  -  but there is no question of them finding it comforting.

Birds, however, are traditionally associated with death  -  usually as harbingers of doom  -  and several accounts sent to us concerned bird sightings.

In two cases shortly after the death, a small bird would fly into the house and perch, apparently unconcerned, on a piece of furniture before flying out again.

Not all that unusual, admittedly  -  but for the bird to appear unperturbed is certainly strange. It's more usual for a bird that has flown into a house to fly around, beating itself against the windows in a panic to escape.

Everyone involved in each of these cases felt the bird's visit was intimately related to the death. Alison Hole, a nurse, wrote to us describing the moments after the death of one of her patients.

The heaviness in the atmosphere of a room after a death, and the feeling that 'something' lingers on after a death and must be released, has also been mentioned by several other correspondents.

Alison reported: 'Walking across the room was slow as the atmosphere was heavy and the floor was like walking through tar.

Birds such as this snowy owl are said to appear after someone has died

 

Once I opened the window, the atmosphere in the room cleared and I noticed a white bird the other side of the window.

'While it is normal for birds to nest or rest on the hospital window ledges, this was around 4am in the winter. It was dark and too early for dawn  -  and this was not a seagull. I never saw another pale bird in the area.'

The following story describes bird behaviour that is way beyond what one would expect of a normal bird in normal circumstances.

Oliver Robinson's owl made its appearance some time after the death it was associated with, so it falls into the category of after-death communication rather than deathbed coincidence.

But the extraordinary behaviour of the owl, together with the feelings it engendered in Oliver's mother, made the temptation to include it here irresistible.

Strange behaviour

The first appearance of the owl was on one warm April morning, some months after the death of Oliver's grandmother. Oliver's mother here describes what happened.

'There was a terrific commotion outside the kitchen, caused by our garden birds. When I went out to see what all the fuss was about, the birds were dive-bombing an owl which sat on one of the lower branches of the oak tree.

'It seemed strange that an owl was out in the middle of the day, and although the small birds were trying to frighten it away, it just sat quietly in the tree.

'As the day warmed up I opened the French windows on the south side of the house. When I stepped out into the garden, there was a great flapping of wings and the owl flew down and landed in front of me on the grass.

'It was a large tawny owl about 12in high. It looked up at me with big brown eyes and mewed. It seemed very tame.

'During the day, every time I went outside, the owl would come down and stand in front of me. It was almost as if it was trying to say something. The big brown eyes looked so human and reminded me of my mother, also brown-haired, who had died the previous summer.'

The feathered visitor's strange behaviour didn't end there.

Oliver's mother continues: 'When my husband and children came home I told them about the owl but thought no more about it.

'We always sleep with our top windows open, and that night there was a lot of scuffling and rustling at the window. The owl came down to sit on the window  -  behaviour my husband didn't like at all.

'The next morning, I opened the kitchen windows. No sooner had I opened the large window over the sink, than there was a great flurry of wings and the owl flew right into the kitchen.

'It seemed best for the children and my husband to go out and close the doors while I opened the outside door, hoping to coax it outside, but it seemed to be quite at home in the kitchen.

'It flew down to the other end, and sat on the curtain rail watching me. It had a tremendous wing-span and it was remarkable that nothing was knocked over. Eventually it flew out of the window and sat on the back porch.

'When we went out to the car later that morning, it came straight down and perched on the flowerpot I was carrying. As we drove out, it sat on the gatepost watching us.

'It came down to our window again that night and to the porch the next day, but not down to my feet. After a few days it disappeared. Every now and then I would hear the sound of it nearby.'

The ability to fly has always been regarded as a magical power, the stuff of dreams.

Perhaps that is why birds have always been regarded as having an element of the supernatural and why, in so many myths and legends, they provide a link between the human world and the supernatural or divine, associated with both birth and death.

In some cultures, the human soul is believed to arrive on Earth in bird form, and in many societies, birds are seen as carriers or symbols of the human soul, flying heavenwards after death, or as guardians who guide the soul to the afterlife.

Perhaps these perplexing modern bird stories indicate the possible origin of these myths  -  or maybe they are a demonstration that these are more than simply legends.

The Art Of Dying by Peter and Elizabeth Fenwick, published by Continuum Books, is out now.

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 21:14 | link | comments (4)

What is Emotional Abuse?

Abuse is any behavior that is designed to control and subjugate another human being through the use of fear, humiliation, intimidation, guilt, coercion, manipulation etc. Emotional abuse is any kind of abuse that is emotional rather than physical in nature. It can include anything from verbal abuse and constant criticism to more subtle tactics, such as repeated disapproval or even the refusal to ever be pleased.

Emotional abuse is like brain washing in that it systematically wears away at the victim's self-confidence, sense of self-worth, trust in their own perceptions, and self-concept. Whether it is done by constant berating and belittling, by intimidation, or under the guise of "guidance," "teaching", or "advice," the results are similar. Eventually, the recipient of the abuse loses all sense of self and remnants of personal value. Emotional abuse cuts to the very core of a person, creating scars that may be far deeper and more lasting that physical ones. In fact there is research to this effect. With emotional abuse, the insults, insinuations, criticism and accusations slowly eat away at the victim's self-esteem until she is incapable of judging the situation realistically. She has become so beaten down emotionally that she blames herself for the abuse. Her self-esteem is so low that she clings to the abuser.

Emotional abuse victims can become so convinced that they are worthless that they believe that no one else could want them. They stay in abusive situations because they believe they have nowhere else to go. Their ultimate fear is being all alone.

Types of Emotional Abuse

Abusive Expectations

• The other person places unreasonable demands on you and wants you to put everything else aside to tend to their needs.
• It could be a demand for constant attention, or a requirement that you spend all your free time with the person.
• But no matter how much you give, it's never enough.
• You are subjected to constant criticism, and you are constantly berated because you don't fulfill all this person's needs.

Aggressing

• Aggressive forms of abuse include name-calling, accusing, blaming, threatening, and ordering. Aggressing behaviors are generally direct and obvious. The one-up position the abuser assumes by attempting to judge or invalidate the recipient undermines the equality and autonomy that are essential to healthy adult relationships. This parent-child pattern of communication (which is common to all forms of verbal abuse) is most obvious when the abuser takes an aggressive stance.

• Aggressive abuse can also take a more indirect form and may even be disguised and "helping." Criticizing, advising, offering solutions, analyzing, proving, and questioning another person may be a sincere attempt to help. In some instances however, these behaviors may be an attempt to belittle, control, or demean rather than help. The underlying judgmental "I know best" tone the abuser takes in these situations is inappropriate and creates unequal footing in peer relationships. This and other types of emotional abuse can lead to what is known as learned helplessness.

Constant Chaos

• The other person may deliberately start arguments and be in constant conflict with others.

• The person may be "addicted to drama" since it creates excitement.

Denying

• Denying a person's emotional needs, especially when they feel that need the most, and done with the intent of hurting, punishing or humiliating (Examples)

• The other person may deny that certain events occurred or that certain things were said. confronts the abuser about an incident of name calling, the abuser may insist, "I never said that," "I don't know what you're talking about," etc. You know differently.

• The other person may deny your perceptions, memory and very sanity.

• Withholding is another form of denying. Withholding includes refusing to listen, refusing to communicate, and emotionally withdrawing as punishment. This is sometimes called the "silent treatment."

• When the abuser disallows and overrules any viewpoints, perceptions or feelings which differ from their own.

• Denying can be particularly damaging. In addition to lowering self-esteem and creating conflict, the invalidation of reality, feelings, and experiences can eventually lead you to question and mistrust your own perceptions and emotional experience.

• Denying and other forms of emotional abuse can cause you to lose confidence in your most valuable survival tool: your own mind.

Dominating

• Someone wants to control your every action. They have to have their own way, and will resort to threats to get it.
• When you allow someone else to dominate you, you can lose respect for yourself.
  

Emotional Blackmail

• The other person plays on your fear, guilt, compassion, values, or other "hot buttons" to get what they want.
• This could include threats to end the relationship, totally reject or abandon you, giving you the the "cold shoulder," or using other fear tactics to control you.
  

Invalidation

• The abuser seeks to distort or undermine the recipient's perceptions of their world. Invalidating occurs when the abuser refuses or fails to acknowledge reality. For example, if the recipient tells the person they felt hurt by something the abuser did or said, the abuser might say "You are too sensitive. That shouldn't hurt you." Here is a much more complete description of invalidation

Minimizing

• Minimizing is a less extreme form of denial. When minimizing, the abuser may not deny that a particular event occurred, but they question the recipient's emotional experience or reaction to an event. Statements such as "You're too sensitive," "You're exaggerating," or "You're blowing this out of proportion" all suggest that the recipient's emotions and perceptions are faulty and not be trusted.

• Trivializing, which occurs when the abuser suggests that what you have done or communicated is inconsequential or unimportant, is a more subtle form of minimizing.

Unpredictable Responses

• Drastic mood changes or sudden emotional outbursts. Whenever someone in your life reacts very differently at different times to the same behavior from you, tells you one thing one day and the opposite the next, or likes something you do one day and hates it the next, you are being abused with unpredictable responses.

• This behavior is damaging because it puts you always on edge. You're always waiting for the other shoe to drop, and you can never know what's expected of you. You must remain hypervigilant, waiting for the other person's next outburst or change of mood.

• An alcoholic or drug abuser is likely to act this way. Living with someone like this is tremendously demanding and anxiety provoking, causing the abused person to feel constantly frightened, unsettled and off balance.

Verbal Assaults

• Berating, belittling, criticizing, name calling, screaming, threatening

• Excessive blaming, and using sarcasm and humiliation.

• Blowing your flaws out of proportion and making fun of you in front of others. Over time, this type of abuse erodes your sense of self confidence and self-worth.
  

Understanding Abusive Relationships

No one intends to be in an abusive relationship, but individuals who were verbally abused by a parent or other significant person often find themselves in similar situations as an adult. If a parent tended to define your experiences and emotions, and judge your behaviors, you may not have learned how to set your own standards, develop your own viewpoints and validate your own feeling and perceptions. Consequently, the controlling and defining stance taken by an emotional abuser may feel familiar or even conformable to you, although it is destructive.

Recipients of abuse often struggle with feelings of powerlessness, hurt, fear, and anger. Ironically abusers tend to struggle with these same feelings. Abuser are also likely to have been raised in emotionally abusive environments and they learn to be abusive as a way to cope with their own feelings of powerlessness, hurt , fear, and anger. Consequently, abusers may be attracted to people who see themselves as helpless or who have not learned to value their own feelings, perceptions, or viewpoints. This allows the abuser to feel more secure and in control, and avoid dealing with their own feelings, and self-perceptions.

Emotional abuse victims can become so convinced that they are worthless that they believe that no one else could want them. They stay in abusive situations because they believe they have nowhere else to go. Their ultimate fear is being all alone.

Understanding the pattern of your relationships, specially those with family members and other significant people, is a fist step toward change. A lack of clarity about who you are in relationship to significant others may manifest itself in different ways. For example, you may act as an "abuser" in some instances and as a "recipient" in others. You may find that you tend to be abused in your romantic relationships, allowing your partners to define and control you. In friendships, however, you may play the role of abuser by withholding, manipulating, trying to "help" others, etc. Knowing yourself and understanding your past can prevent abuse from being recreated in your life.

 

Are You Abusive to Yourself?

Often we allow people into our lives who treat us as we expect to be treated. If we feel contempt for ourselves or think very little of ourselves, we may pick partners or significant others who reflect this image back to us. If we are willing to tolerate negative treatment from others, or treat others in negative ways, it is possible that we also treat ourselves similarly. If you are an abuser or a recipient, you may want to consider how you treat yourself. What sorts of things do you say to yourself? Do thoughts such as "I'm stupid" or "I never do anything right" dominate your thinking? Learning to love and care for ourselves increases self-esteem and makes it more likely that we will have healthy, intimate relationships.

Basic Needs in Relationships

If you have been involved in emotionally abusive relationships, you may not have a clear idea of what a healthy relationship is like. Evna (1992) suggests the following as basic needs in a relationship for you and your partner: (I have changed this from "rights" to "needs" and made other small changes- S.Hein)

• The need for good will from the others.
• The need for emotional support.
• The need to be heard by the other and to be responded to with respect and acceptance
• The need to have your own view, even if others have a different view.
• The need to have your feelings and experience acknowledged as real.
• The need to receive a sincere apology for any jokes or actions you find offensive.
• The need for clear, honest and informative answers to questions about what affects you.
• The need to for freedom from accusation, interrogation and blame.
• The need to live free from criticism and judgment.
• The need to have your work and your interests respected.
• The need for encouragement.
• The need for freedom from emotional and physical threat.
• The need for freedom from from angry outburst and rage.
• The need for freedom from labels which devalue you.
• The need to be respectfully asked rather than ordered.
• The need to have your final decisions accepted.
• The need for privacy at times.

 

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 18:26 | link | comments (5)

* Independence Day July 4th *
On July 4, 1776, we claimed our independence from Britain and Democracy was born. Every day thousands leave their homeland to come to the "land of the free and the home of the brave" so they can begin their American Dream. The United States is truly a diverse nation made up of dynamic people. Each year on July 4, Americans celebrate that freedom and independence with barbecues, picnics, and family gatherings. Through the Internet we are learning about and communicating with people of different nations, with different languages and different races throughout the world. Bringing the world closer with understanding and knowledge can only benefit all nations. We invite all nations to celebrate with Americans online this Fourth of July. Happy Birthday, America!
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 01:07 | link | comments

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 07:08 | link | comments (1)

Roma, I think I've come up with a plan:

Ananova:

Woman offers herself with house package

A US woman is selling her home on an auction website with an unusual extra - the chance to marry her.

Deven Trabosh decided to combine the depressed real estate market with her own depressed love life to create an unusual sale item on Craigslist, the personal selling website.

The 42-year-old single mother has been trying to sell her four-bedroom home in West Palm Beach, Florida, for about a year, reports the Daily Telegraph.

"Marry a Princess Lost in America," she wrote in the advertisement last week, describing a life of romance and travel and a home decorated with vaulted ceilings and a soaking tub in a gated community with a pool and tennis courts.

"I figured let's combine the ad because I'm looking for love and I'm looking to sell the house," said the tanned blonde.

"I'm struggling...I don't want to lose my house and I want to find somebody," she said. "So I came up with this dream plan because I've always dreamt about being a fairytale princess."

She listed the home for £170,000 on a sell-it-yourself web site, but increased the price to £420,000 if the buyer decides to take her as well.

Miss Trabosh is yet to receive any serious offers, but says she has had nearly 500 responses, most of them positive.

Inevitably, there has been criticism, too. Haley, her 21-year-old daughter, said she wanted her mother to find love, while another daughter said her mother was embarrassing.

Miss Trabosh said. "Of course, it's going to take more chemistry and connection. It's not going to be instantaneous that I'm just going to be automatically for sale ... it's a package deal for true love."

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 07:19 | link | comments (6)

Long Trip: Magic Mushrooms' Transcendent Effect Lingers

Survey shows that profound mental changes induced by psilocybin have lasted for more than a year

By David Biello

 

Posted by: NeutronNorman at 09:44 | link | comments (3)