2015 has been designated the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies by UNESCO. This global initiative aims to highlight the importance of light in our everyday lives and how it has contributed to the development of society. To celebrate this yearlong event, the editors of the Physical Review journals have organized a collection of papers that represent important breakthroughs in the field of optics, from fundamental insights into how light behaves, to findings that were critical in the development of everyday technologies. These papers will be free to read throughout 2015.
Scratches to Sketches
Wednesday, 20 May 2015
Physical Review Letters - The Physical Review Journals Celebrate the International Year of Light
Quantum physics: What is really real? : Nature News & Comment
Ever since they invented quantum theory in the early 1900s, explains Maroney, who is himself a physicist at the University of Oxford, UK, they have been talking about how strange it is — how it allows particles and atoms to move in many directions at once, for example, or to spin clockwise and anticlockwise simultaneously. But talk is not proof, says Maroney. "If we tell the public that quantum theory is weird, we better go out and test that's actually true," he says. "Otherwise we're not doing science, we're just explaining some funny squiggles on a blackboard."
It is this sentiment that has led Maroney and others to develop a new series of experiments to uncover the nature of the wavefunction — the mysterious entity that lies at the heart of quantum weirdness. On paper, the wavefunction is simply a mathematical object that physicists denote with the Greek letter psi (Ψ) — one of Maroney's funny squiggles — and use to describe a particle's quantum behaviour. Depending on the experiment, the wavefunction allows them to calculate the probability of observing an electron at any particular location, or the chances that its spin is oriented up or down. But the mathematics shed no light on what a wavefunction truly is. Is it a physical thing? Or just a calculating tool for handling an observer's ignorance about the world?
http://www.nature.com/news/quantum-physics-what-is-really-real-1.17585Indian Ocean may be key to global warming 'hiatus' : Nature News & Comment
So Lee's team used a computer model to explore the fate of the ocean's 'missing heat'. The results suggest that easterly trade winds have strengthened during the hiatus, causing warm water to pile up in the western Pacific. The water seeps between the islands of Indonesia and into the Indian Ocean, bringing heat with it.
In the model, this surge of water produces dramatic warming in the upper Indian Ocean starting in the early 2000s, in agreement with the WOA data, the authors write. This explanation also fits with measurements of flow through the largest Indonesian channel — the Makassar Strait — which increased over the same period of time.
http://www.nature.com/news/indian-ocean-may-be-key-to-global-warming-hiatus-1.17505Do more, more urgently on global warming, say Merkel, Hollande | Daily Mail Online
BERLIN, May 19 (Reuters) - More urgent and ambitious action is needed if the world wants to meet its commitment of limiting the rise in average global temperatures to two degrees Celsius, the leaders of Germany and France said on Tuesday.
Addressing environment ministers in Berlin, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande called on other nations to submit clear formal promises on cutting greenhouse gases ahead of a year-end United Nations summit in Paris aimed at achieving a new worldwide deal on global warming.
"We will see in Paris that more engagement is needed to really achieve the two degrees goal than what we currently have on the table," Merkel said in a speech to the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, which she set up in 2010 to allow for informal discussions ahead of larger U.N. meetings after the failure of climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009.
Merkel believes industrialised nations need to commit funds to help developing countries cope with the side effects of climate change like flooding and drought if they want poorer countries to back a global deal.
She said Germany aimed to double its climate financing by 2020 compared to 2014, by doubling aid from its budget to 4 billion euros ($4.48 billion) annually and increasing funds available from KfW state development bank to 3 billion euros.
Rich nations have committed to mobilise by 2020 an annual $100 billion in climate finance that is "new and additional" to existing funding. However, only around $10 billion has been pledged so far.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-3087719/Do-more-urgently-global-warming-say-Merkel-Hollande.html#ixzz3ahHZVUlP
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Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Curious Turnaround: The British Election 2015
ARTICLE BY A POOR ECONOMIST AND POOR POLICY STRATEGIST
In a recent speech delivered at Oxford University the renowned economist appears to have turned away from his neo-classical roots by suggesting that the British government was returned to power due to economic circumstances that (to a great extent) it engineered in a strategically planned and calculated fashion. The conclusion one draws will likely be a result of one's particular view of political-economy, but Krugman's position certainly provides impetus for discussion and conjecture… whether or not his theory holds is questionable, though it highlights many an interesting aspect of current politico-economic thinking.
As a strategy professional, and long time reader of international economics and politics, I am surprised at the position taken by Professor Krugman. No doubt government intervention is a contributor to – and a facilitator of – economic stimulus or cooling, but the point he makes is rather elusory, difficult to sustain and runs counter to his previous neo-classical positions. A leading light of the neo-classical school Krugman railed against "Statist Theories" of economic development such as those which provided government-driven explanations for certain East-Asian economies rapid economic growth post WWII.
Trade and Trust - NYTimes.com
I'm getting increasingly unhappy with the way the Obama administration is handling the dispute over TPP. I understand the case for the deal, and while I still lean negative I'm not one of those who believes that it would be an utter disaster.
But the administration — and the president himself — don't help their position by being dismissive of the complaints and lecturing the critics (Elizabeth Warren in particular) about how they just have no idea what they're talking about. That would not be a smart strategy even if the administration had its facts completely straight — and it doesn't. Instead, assurances about what is and isn't in the deal keep turning out to be untrue. We were assured that the dispute settlement procedure couldn't be used to force changes in domestic laws; actually, it apparently could. We were told that TPP couldn't be used to undermine financial reform; again, it appears that it could.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/trade-and-trust/Monday, 18 May 2015
Paul Krugman shamefully attacks Alan Greenspan | Communities Digital News
IN MY VIEW GREENSPAN WHO GOT US INTO THE FINANCIAL MESS AMERICA IMPOSED ON THE REST OF THE WORLD IS AN IDIOT ECONOMIST OF A VERY OLD SCHOOL WHO DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THE SLIGHTEST ABOUT BANKING .... AND IS MISGUIDED ON THE ROLE CONSERVATIVE ECONOMICS FROM CHICAGO ...
WASHINGTON, May 17, 2015 − At any given time, economists often find it difficult to reach a complete consensus on the proper economic policy to implement. Most of this lack of agreement is based on differences about key assumptions, such as what the role of government should be in influencing economic activity.
As a general practice, economists usually debate such issues in a healthy manner. But sometimes, economists like Paul Krugman shamefully attack a colleague instead.
Alan Greenspan served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. During those years, he successfully guided U.S. monetary policy, which, during his term, was able to minimize the effects of the 1991 and 2001 recessions.
During his tenure, Greenspan managed to keep inflation under 3 percent, while maintaining relatively low unemployment levels, even during the recession years. Today, most Americans think he did a good job. Except Paul Krugman, who strongly disagrees.
http://www.commdiginews.com/featured/paul-krugman-shamefully-attacks-alan-greenspan-41712/IMF Attempts to Hide True Cost of Renewables by Claiming Fossil Fuels Receive Large Subsidies - Breitbart
NOW FOR THE REAL SHYTE RESPONSE FROM THOSE FOSSIL FUEL PRODUCERS WHO WOULD RATHER NOT BE IN THE PUBLIC EYE FOR STEALTH ROBBERY via POLLUTION RUN AWAYS ...
Fossil fuel companies are benefiting from a global subsidy of £3.4 trillion a year, the International Monetary Fund has declared. The figure dwarfs that of government handouts for renewable energies, which amount to £77 billion a year. But closer inspection reveals the fossil fuel related sum not to be a subsidy, as it amounts to nothing more than the alleged costs to governments of dealing with fossil fuel pollution.
Global energy subsidies fuel climate change, says IMF study - FT.com
The $5.3tn "true cost" of government energy subsidies that the IMF team arrived at is equivalent to 6.5 per cent of global economic output. It is also more than twice the $1.9tn cost calculated by IMF researchers just two years ago. At the time the fund itself called that estimate "staggering".
Almost the entire difference between the old and the new estimate is based on a radical re-accounting of what the study says are the real environmental costs of energy subsidies. It also amounts to a significant shake-up of the argument the IMF and others have made against the energy subsidies that have eaten up huge portions of government budgets in emerging economies such as India and Indonesia.
New Putin Invasion Coming This Summer - The Daily Beast
The war in Ukraine may have faded largely from international headlines, but Vladimir Putin's drip-drip invasion continues. In the last two weeks, forensic evidence, some of which has been reported by monitor organizations and senior Western diplomats, the rest corroborated by eyewitness photography and video, only confirms what the U.S. fears most: A summer offensive is inevitable.
On May 5, the Ukrainian government released new data which says that they have lost 28 towns to Russian-backed separatists since February 18. That was the day the strategic town of Debaltsevo, which guarded a key highway to separatist-controlled regions, slipped from Ukraine's control. The map of separatist territory is as alarming as it is illustrative, especially when it is combined with the daily reports of ceasefire violations and fighting coming out of both the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and Kiev.
CoffeeParty.ca — Wake Up Your Government! | Democracy Watch
Heh!
Don asked me whether there was a Canadian coffee party. Is he after coffee?
Arthur
http://democracywatch.ca/coffeeparty/
Don asked me whether there was a Canadian coffee party. Is he after coffee?
Arthur
http://democracywatch.ca/coffeeparty/
Scientists Want Urgent UN Action Against Radiation Danger from Mobile Phones and Digital Devices : News : Yibada
WHERE THERE IS SMOKE THERE IS ALSO FIRE.. EVIDENCE OF HUMAN RISKS IS MOUNTING AND CONCERN GROWING DAILY ...CANCER IS ALWAYS THE HIT, BUT NOW AGING, EYESIGHT, HEARING, REPRODUCTION, BROAD SPECTRUM STRESS, BRAIN DAMAGE, MEMORY ....
CHARGED YOUR CELL PHONE WIRELESSLY? You may have charged more than you think ...
In their "International EMF Scientist Appeal", 119 scientists asked the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations to adopt more protective exposure guidelines for EMFs and wireless technology in the face of increasing evidence of risk.
It asks the Secretary General and UN affiliated bodies "to encourage precautionary measures; to limit EMF exposures and to educate the public about health risks, particularly to children and pregnant women".
Of special concern to these scientists is the EMF and wireless radiation danger posed by mobile phones, tablets and laptops.
EMF is a type of radiation that takes the form of waves. Strong, artificial EMFs can enter a person's body and interfere with biological processes regulated by bioelectrical signals. EMFs can skew sleep cycles; increase stress levels and might even affect a person's DNA.
The scientists made the appeal after filing over 2,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers on the biological and health effects of non-ionizing radiation on human bodies. They said EMF emissions constitute a widespread threat to human health and has also become a significant environmental pollutant worldwide.
http://en.yibada.com/articles/33305/20150517/experts-warn-rising-wireless-radiation-danger-mobile-phones-digital-devices.htmPLOS ONE: Extension of Drosophila Lifespan by Rhodiola rosea through a Mechanism Independent from Dietary Restriction
The root extract of Rhodiola rosea, also known as the golden root, has been widely used in traditional and integrative medical practices in Europe and Asia, where it has been purported to mediate a variety of beneficial effects in humans, such as improved mood, improved physical and mental stamina, and enhanced protection against high altitude sickness [1]. The extract has also been reported to protect against tumor progression in mice, improve endurance in rats, improve blood glucose profiles in diabetic mice, and protect snail eggs against oxidative stress, heat, and heavy metals [2]–[5]. Our group has previously reported that R. rosea can extend the lifespan of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, protect flies and human cultured cells against oxidative stress, and decrease the production of reactive oxygen species in isolated fly mitochondria [6]–[8]. In addition to the fly, the extract has also been shown to extend lifespan in the worm, Caenorhabditis elegans [9], and in the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae[10]. These observations demonstrate that R. rosea lifespan-extending properties are not limited to the fly, and suggest that it may be a viable treatment to slow aging and abrogate age-related diseases in a range of species, potentially including humans.
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Sketches from scratches is a provocative blogspot that has grown out of the Wuh Lax experience. It is eclectic, which means that it might consider just about anything from the simple to the extremely difficult. A scratch can be something that is troubling me or a short line on paper. From a scratch comes a verbal sketch or image sketch of the issue or subject. Other sites have other stuff that should really be of interest to the broad reader. I try to develop themes, but variety often comes before depth.
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