According to the Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, the saying "Finders keepers (losers weepers)" dates as far back as the early 19th century, recorded as, "No halfers-findee keepee, lossee seekee."
Almost 150 years later, Elvis Presley put it to music in 1963 when he sang "Finders keepers, losers weepers. The loser has to pay the score."
Aug 6, 2009
What's the Matter
27 Jul 09 - Oxford scientists have created a transparent form of aluminum by bombarding the metal with the world’s most powerful soft X-ray laser. ‘Transparent aluminum’ previously only existed in science fiction, featuring in the movie Star Trek IV, but the real material is an exotic new state of matter with implications for planetary science and nuclear fusion.
An international team, led by Oxford University scientists, report that a short pulse from the FLASH laser ‘knocked out’ a core electron from every aluminum atom in a sample without disrupting the metal’s crystalline structure. This turned the aluminum nearly invisible to extreme ultraviolet radiation.
''What we have created is a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before. We have turned ordinary aluminum into this exotic new material in a single step by using this very powerful laser. For a brief period the sample looks and behaves in every way like a new form of matter." said Professor Justin Wark of Oxford University’s Department of Physics, one of the authors of the paper.
The discovery was made possible with the development of a new source of radiation that is ten billion times brighter than any synchrotron in the world. The FLASH laser, based in Hamburg, Germany, produces extremely brief pulses of soft X-ray light, each of which is more powerful than the output of a power plant that provides electricity to a whole city.
The Oxford team, along with their international colleagues, focused all this power down into a spot with a diameter less than a twentieth of the width of a human hair. At such high intensities the aluminum turned transparent.
Whilst the invisible effect lasted for only an extremely brief period – an estimated 40 femtoseconds (A femtosecond is one millionth of a nanosecond or 10 to the minus 15th of a second. For comparison, a millisecond is one thousandth of a second).
Professor Wark added: ‘What is particularly remarkable about our experiment is that A report of the research, ‘Turning solid aluminium transparent by intense soft X-ray photoionization’, is published in Nature Physics.
An international team, led by Oxford University scientists, report that a short pulse from the FLASH laser ‘knocked out’ a core electron from every aluminum atom in a sample without disrupting the metal’s crystalline structure. This turned the aluminum nearly invisible to extreme ultraviolet radiation.
''What we have created is a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before. We have turned ordinary aluminum into this exotic new material in a single step by using this very powerful laser. For a brief period the sample looks and behaves in every way like a new form of matter." said Professor Justin Wark of Oxford University’s Department of Physics, one of the authors of the paper.
The discovery was made possible with the development of a new source of radiation that is ten billion times brighter than any synchrotron in the world. The FLASH laser, based in Hamburg, Germany, produces extremely brief pulses of soft X-ray light, each of which is more powerful than the output of a power plant that provides electricity to a whole city.
The Oxford team, along with their international colleagues, focused all this power down into a spot with a diameter less than a twentieth of the width of a human hair. At such high intensities the aluminum turned transparent.
Whilst the invisible effect lasted for only an extremely brief period – an estimated 40 femtoseconds (A femtosecond is one millionth of a nanosecond or 10 to the minus 15th of a second. For comparison, a millisecond is one thousandth of a second).
Professor Wark added: ‘What is particularly remarkable about our experiment is that A report of the research, ‘Turning solid aluminium transparent by intense soft X-ray photoionization’, is published in Nature Physics.
Lance Armstrong
He was born Lance Edward Gunderson, 18 September 1971 in Plano, Texas, USA. His name was changed when he was adopted. His ancestors have been in the US since the 1600s. In 1992, Lance Armstrong finished last in the San Sebastian Classic, his first race as a professional. Then went on to win the Tour de France seven times, before taking a few years off.
Armstrong willingly took a backseat to Contador and put the team before his own needs assisting the 26-year-old Spaniard in winning the Tour de France this July. Armstrong put his aspirations for a eighth Tour victory on the backburner, but most certainly has his eyes on the prize in 2010.
Armstrong willingly took a backseat to Contador and put the team before his own needs assisting the 26-year-old Spaniard in winning the Tour de France this July. Armstrong put his aspirations for a eighth Tour victory on the backburner, but most certainly has his eyes on the prize in 2010.
Kaiser Permanente EHR
How much does it cost to implement the new EHR (Electronic Health Records) systems that are demanded by the government? One group, Kaiser Permanente took 7- years to switch to EHR system and it cost $4.2 billion so far to implement an electronic health records system at all facilities. It is not finished yet. Numbers for EHR implementations are not included in the CBO estimates of cost for the healthcare bill.
Quotable
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it. A true patriot must always be ready to defend his country against its government.
Jul 30, 2009
Did You Know
Anson Williams, Potsie, of Happy Days is the nephew of Dr. Henry Heimlich, creator of the 'Heimlich maneuver'. He sure has aged well.
Respect
This is an example of a word that is not used enough today. When Nelson Mandela was in jail and his lawyer came to see him, he said to the lawyer, "I’m sorry, I have not introduced you to my guard of honor (eight guards).” Mandela identified each of the officers to his lawyer by name. The guards were so stunned that they actually behaved like a guard of honor, each respectfully shaking the lawyer's hand. To get respect, you must give respect.
San Andreas Fault
See the diagonal line that runs through the orchard in this photo? That's the San Andreas Fault - a point where the edges of two tectonic plates meet, producing a visible displacement amongst the rows of trees.
When they were planted years ago, the rows were straight, but as the two land masses moved in opposite directions and rubbed against each other over the years the orchard was split. The top half of the field sits on the pacific plate, the bottom half on the North American plate.
Health Insurance Costs
Most of the time you read about the cost of healthcare, the article really means healthcare insurance, not the cost of care. Healthcare insurance costs have gone up 119% from 1999 to 2008, while salaries went up 34% during the same period.
Vincent van Gogh
On July 29, 1890, Vincent van Gogh died at age 37 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the abdomen. He was born in the Netherlands and had a happy childhood, but suffered serious mental problems during his adult life.He committed himself to an artistic career at age 27, and all of his art was produced during the next decade. A quote of his, "As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed."
While van Gogh’s Christian affiliations resulted in his interest in the suffering of others, when he moved to Arles he ceased painting poor peasants, and instead subjected himself to suffering under the undue strain of painting. Having known early in his life about the suffering many peasants undergo, it is no surprise that when he learned of Buddhism, van Gogh would embrace its ideas of enlightenment through suffering, as he did to Christianity.
Van Gogh was born with a brain lesion that many doctors believe was aggravated by his prolonged use of absinthe, causing his epileptic condition. Dr. Gachet, another of Van Gogh's physicians, was thought to have treated his epilepsy with digitalis. This prescription drug can cause one to see in yellow or see yellow spots. This may have been one of the reasons why Van Gogh loved this color.
PC Monitor All in One
A few weeks ago, I showed a complete PC on a keyboard with built in monitor. This week we have a monitor PC, but without the keyboard built in.
The Averatec D1005 All in One PC comes with a 22 inch WXGA LCD display, and Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 3GB of DDR2 RAM which can be increased to 4GB, a 320GB SATA hard drive and a DVD drive.
On top of that there is Intel X4500HD graphics, 802.11n WiFi, Ethernet, a 2.0 megapixel web camera, 6 x USB 2.0 ports, and a card reader. All this for $799. Hey, maybe this chocolate and graham cracker keyboard might work with it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)