text:
Sorry, no definitions found.
"Aztec icons like goddess Chalchiuhtlicue, whose jade skirts represented her protection of lakes and streams, and river god, Tlaloc, share space with a map that depicts our current state of dwindling local water sources."
"Observances aimed at garnering the favor of Chalchiuhtlicue and Tlaloc, the chief rain gods, included displaying rows of rubber-spotted Banners draped over wooden poles outside the temple."
"Chalchiuhtlicue - Lady of the jade skirt; goddess of ground waters"
"Finally she asked Chalchiuhtlicue, Goddess of Water, to cast out all evil from the body of the child, to set it aside and take it with her."
""Feel the freshness and greenness of Chalchiuhtlicue," she said, "who is always alive and awake, who never sleeps or dozes, may she be with you and embrace you and keep you in her arms so that you will be awake and resolute on this earth.""
These user-created lists contain the word 'Chalchiuhtlicue'.
Words associated with beauty, love, and a happy feeling!
"Spanish náhuatl, from Nahuatl, that which pleases the ear, from nahua-, audible, intelligent, clear."
- etymology from The American Heritage Dictionary
Looking for tweets for Chalchiuhtlicue.


text:
Indigenous women discuss managing water resources to enhance food security and adapt to climate change
On 2–3 December 2011, MWD Thailand, together with the Inter Mountain Peoples' Education and Culture in Thailand Association (IMPECT), the Hill Area and Community Development Foundation (HADF), and the Indigenous Women's Network of Thailand, held a seminar in Chiang Rai for indigenous women to discuss and exchange views on managing water resources to enhance food security and adapt to climate change. Twenty women representing 10 ethnic groups (including Karen, Hmong, Mien, Palong, Lawa, Shan, Lahu, Lisu, Kachin and Akha) from Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai took an active part in the event.
The seminar was organised under the MWD Thailand work plan for 2011, which aims to improve understanding of women's concerns, interests, opportunities and traditional knowledge, as well as their perceptions of the risks and threats to food and water resources posed by social, cultural, economic and environmental changes.
Among the concerns raised by women at the seminar was the rapid expansion of cash crops such as corn (maize) and rubber in the Mekong basin in north and northeastern Thailand. They fear that this is degrading watersheds, causing a loss of plant diversity, declining food sources and food security, and more frequent droughts, flash floods and landslides. Indigenous communities living in highland areas are especially vulnerable to these impacts. Seminar participants recommended that women be encouraged to take a leading role in campaigning and raising awareness on conserving water resources and biodiversity in their villages, and more widely in watersheds through river basin planning and management.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


| | |
India Top Headlines
Ahmedabad Coronavirus News: Ahmedabad has the highest number of deaths by crown in India / m population | India News
Although Delhi and Mumbai appear to be worse with the highest number of Covid-19 cases and deaths each day, Ahmedabad with less than half the population of these meters has the highest deaths per million population in the country. It also has the highest case fatality rate (CFR) (number of deaths per 100 cases) among the nine megapolis with populations of more than 5 million.
With 115 deaths per million, Ahmedabad is much worse than Mumbai in second place with 80 deaths per million. Among the main meters, Bangalore seems to be doing its best with only one death per million. When it comes to CFR, Chennai's 0.9 is the lowest among the nine megacities. The data is from Friday morning.
The comparison here is between the nine urban agglomerations (cities and their urban growths, such as Greater Mumbai or Greater Calcutta) in the country that has 5 million or more people living in them.
More about Covid-19
A low CFR is often seen as a result of extensive testing and therefore the detection of a large number of positive cases. The greater the number of positive cases, the denominator, the lower the CFR. Ahmedabad's CFR of 6.9 has been explained by many as the result of inadequate testing. But the city's death toll per million suggests that Covid's mismanagement of cases has more than just inadequate evidence.
Even in absolute numbers, Ahmedabad, which has recorded 953 deaths, is second only to Mumbai with 1,698 deaths. Delhi follows Mumbai with 650 deaths. Bangalore has recorded only 14 deaths so far and the fewest number of cases, only 428.
Although many cities have been trying to comfort their recovery rates, epidemiologists have repeatedly pointed out that in an infection like Covid, where more than 90% of those infected are expected to recover, the proportion of those who recover can only increase. Consistently over time, and therefore recovery rates are a misleading measure of progress in fighting the disease.
These nine urban agglomerations contribute more than 1.3 lakh of cases (almost 60% of the total of India) and 4,299 deaths, more than two thirds of the total of the country. An urban agglomeration (UA) is a continuous urban habitation that surrounds a city or the continuous geographic stretch of two or more cities that, in many ways, function as the same city.
Mumbai UA, for example, is made up of the municipal corporations of Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivali, Ulhasnagar and Mira Bhayandar. Similarly, Kolkata UA spans the 24 Parganas, Hooghly and Howrah districts of Kolkata, North and South. Chennai UA has Chennai, Thiruvallur, and Kancheepuram, while Hydarabad UA includes Hyderabad, Rangareddy, and Medak. Ahmedabad UA also includes Gandhinagar.
The 2020 population estimates for these AUs from the United Nations Global Urbanization Outlook were used to calculate deaths per million. The India census does not include the Delhi satellite districts, such as Ghaziabad and Gurgaon, in the UA of Delhi and therefore the cases and population of Delhi are only for the state of Delhi or the city of Delhi. Delhi's population for 2020 is taken from the census population projections for the states.
Watch Covid-19: Why is Ahmedabad the most affected city in India?
Times of India


Stay local to exercise, says government
The government has said people should "stay local" and not travel unnecessarily for exercise.
New advice clarifies that people must use "open spaces" near to home, where possible.
It follows confusion over whether people could drive places to go walking, running, or cycling.
Exercise is one of the few defined reasons that people in the UK are allowed to leave their home during the coronavirus pandemic.


from the kernel solutions. Using the NP-hard Matching Cut problem parameterized by structural parameters such as the vertex cover number or the cyclomatic number of the input graph, we show that the new enumeration kernels present a useful notion of data reduction for enumeration problems which allows to compactly represent the set of feasible solutions.
joint work with Christian Komusiewicz, Dieter Kratsch, and Van Bang Le
19 novembre 2020
Júlio Araújo (Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil)
Some results on (circular) backbone colorings
A proper $k$-coloring of a simple graph $G$ is a function $c: V(G)\to \{1,...,k\}$ such that, for each edge $uv\in E(G)$, we have $1≤|c(u)-c(v)|$. Given a graph $G$ and a spanning subgraph $H$ of $G$, a $q$-backbone $k$-coloring of the pair $(G,H)$ is a proper $k$-coloring $c$ of $G$ such that $q≤|c(u)-c(v)|$ for each edge $uv$ in $E(H)$. A $q$-backbone $k$-coloring of $(G,H)$ is circular if $|c(u)-c(v)|≤k-q$. In their seminal paper Broersma et al. (2007) conjectured that if $G$ is planar and $T$ is a spanning tree of $G$, then $(G,T)$ admits a 2-backbone 6-coloring. They also conjectured that if $G$ is planar and $M$ is a spanning subgraph of maximum degree one, then $(G,M)$ admits a 2-backbone 5-coloring. Similar conjectures for the circular case have been proposed (with one extra color).
In this talk, we present some results related to these conjectures and their corresponding circular versions obtained in distinct works coauthored by Frédéric Havet, Matthieu Schmitt, Ana Silva, Fabricio Benevides, Alexandre Cezar and Camila Araujo.
12 novembre 2020
Fabien Jacques (Équipe AlGCo, LIRMM)
Homomorphisms of planar (m,n)-colored-mixed graphs to planar targets
An (m,n)-colored-mixed graph G=(V,A1,A2,⋯,Am,E1,E2,⋯,En) is a graph having m colors of arcs and n colors of edges. We do not allow two arcs or edges to have the same endpoints. A homomorphism from an (m,n)-colored-mixed graph G to another (m,n)-colored-mixed graph H is a morphism φ:V(G)→V(H) such that each edge (resp. arc) of G is mapped to an edge (resp. arc) of H of the same color (and orientation). An (m,n)-colored-mixed graph T is said to be Pg(m,n)-universal if every graph in Pg(m,n) (the planar (m,n)-colored-mixed graphs with girth at least g) admits a homomorphism to T. We show that planar Pg(m,n)-universal graphs do not exist for 2m+n≥3 (and any value of g) and find a minimal (in the number vertices) planar Pg(m,n)-universal graphs in the other cases.
05 novembre 2020
Florian Hoersch (GSCOP, Grenoble)
Reachability in arborescence packings
An $r$-arborescence $B$ is an orientation of a tree in which all arcs are directed away from a given root $r$ and the arborescence is said to span $V(B)$. Given a digraph $D$, an $r$-arborescence $B$ that is a subgraph of $D$ is said to be spanning if it spans $V(D)$. In 1973, Edmonds characterized digraphs admitting a packing of $k$ spanning $r$-arborescences for a fixed root $r$ and some integer $k$. It can readily be seen that this theorem can be generalized to allow fixed but distinct roots for the arborescences.
In case that some vertex cannot be reached from a given root, the only information we obtain from Edmonds theorem is that the desired packing does not exist. For this reason, in 2009, Kamiyama, Katoh and Takizawa introduced the concept of reachability arborescences. An $r$-arborescence is called a reachability $r$-arborescence if it spans all the vertices reachable from $r$ in $D$. They characterize digraphs that, for a given root multiset $R$, have a packing of arborescences $\{B_r : r ∈ R\}$ such that $B_r$ is a reachability $r$-arborescence for all $r ∈ R$. A new, shorter proof for the theorem of Kamiyama, Katoh and Takizawa will be presented. Being of inductive nature, it uses a stronger form of Edmonds' theorem and is self-contained otherwise. Further, several ways of generalizing these concepts will be mentioned. Firstly, the condition on the arborescences to be spanning or reachability arborescences can be relaxed to more general conditions called matroid-based packing and matroid-reachability-based packing. Further, the objects of consideration can be generalized from digraphs to mixed graphs, dypergraphs and mixed hypegraphs. All the proofs considered provide efficient algorithms for finding the desired arborescences.
This is joint work with Zoltán Szigeti.
08 octobre 2020
Matthieu Rosenfeld (Équipe AlGCo, LIRMM)
A new Approach to Non-Repetitive Colorings of Graphs of Bounded Degree
We propose a new proof technique that applies to the same problems as the Lovasz Local Lemma or the entropy-compression method. In terms of upper-bounds our approach seems to be as strong as entropy-compression, but the proofs are more elementary and shorter. A path $(v_1,,,..., v_{2n})$ is repetitively colored by a coloring $C$ if for all $t$, $C(v_t)= C(v_{t+n})$. A coloring is non-repetitive if none of the paths is repetitively colored. I will present the proof technique in the context of non-repetitive colorings and use it to improve upper-bounds relating different non-repetitive chromatic numbers to the maximal degree of a graph.
01 octobre 2020
Ignasi Sau (Équipe AlGCo, LIRMM)
Reducing graph transversals via edge contractions
For a graph parameter $\pi$, the Contraction($\pi$) problem consists in, given a graph $G$ and two positive integers $k,d$, deciding whether one can contract at most $k$ edges of $G$ to obtain a graph in which $\pi$ has dropped by at least $d$. Galby et al. [ISAAC 2019, MFCS 2019] recently studied the case where $\pi$ is the size of a minimum dominating set. We focus on graph parameters defined as the minimum size of a vertex set that hits all the occurrences of graphs in a collection H according to a fixed containment relation. We prove co-NP-hardness results under some assumptions on the graphs in H, which in particular imply that Contraction($\pi$) is co-NP-hard even for fixed $k=d=1$ when $\pi$ is the size of a minimum feedback vertex set or an odd cycle transversal. In sharp contrast, we show that when $\pi$ is the size of a minimum vertex cover, the problem is in XP parameterized by $d$.
Joint work with Paloma T. Lima, Vinicius F. dos Santos and Uéverton S. Souza, available at arXiv:2005.01460.
24 septembre 2020
Marin Bougeret (Équipe AlGCo, LIRMM)
Kernelization of Vertex Cover under structural parameterizations
We consider here the area of Parameterized Complexity called «structural parameterization». The idea is to analyze the computational complexity of a problem taking into account a structural property of the input graph, which captures, informally speaking, its inherent "complexity" according to some measure. There is a whole ecology of structural parameters, cf. for instance [1]. For example, for VC (the classical Vertex Cover problem consisting in, given a graph $G$ and an integer parameter $k$, deciding whether $G$ contains at most $k$ vertices intersecting all its edges) one can consider VC parameterized by $κ$, where the parameter $κ(G, k)$ is not necessarily $k$, but a function depending on $G$, such as the treewidth of $G$. Kernelization considering structural parameters has grown dramatically thanks to [2], which proves that VC/FVS (meaning VC parameterized by the size of a feedback vertex set) admits a polynomial kernel, that is, a polynomial-time algorithm that transforms an instance into an equivalent one with size polynomially bounded in terms of the parameter. As occurs quite often in Parameterized Complexity, the Vertex Cover


text:
There's (at least) two different types of normalmaps you can use, world-space and tangent-space.
With world-space normalmaps the normals are already pointing in the right direction. On the back-side of a cube the normals are pointing backwards, on the front side they point forward. This means that every face on the cube needs to be mapped uniquely, faces can't share the same uv-space on the normalmap, unless the face orientation is the same. This can be a disadvantage (with tangent-space normals you could share uv space), but often you want a unique texture for all faces anyway, like when the cube has a scar on one side, but not the other.
World-space normalmaps are easier to program, and should be slightly more efficient, because you don't need to rotate the normals, to align them with the surface of the mesh. Your mesh doesn't even need to contain normals at all, if you do the lighting calculations in the pixel shader. You only need to rotate the normalmap normals with the main world rotation matrix of the object. That's one matrix multiplication per pixel, not a big problem nowadays. If your mesh doesn't need to rotate at all, this method will be very fast, because you can use the normals directly, without any extra rotations.
In tangent-space the normals in the normalmap are relative to the vertex normal and bi-normal they belong to. They need to be rotated first, to align them with the mesh surface orientation. That's a little bit of extra work, but it allows you to share texture space between faces of different orientation, but maybe more important, it will work on deformable meshs, like skinned characters.
To build the surface-alignment rotation matrix you just combine the vertex normal, the vertex bi-normal, and their cross product into a float3x3. You can do that in the vertex shader, and pass the matrix on to the pixel shader. You probably want to incorporate the object rotation matrix as well, that way you only need one matrix multiplication in the pixel shader. It shouldn't be too complicated, your mesh just needs to have those bi-normals.
Whichever method you use, you need to have the right type of normalmap. Tangent-space normalmaps are usually mostly purple, because the normals tend to face in a forward direction only. World-space normalmaps tend to use a larger color space, as the normals can point in all directions.
Wouldn't that make the lighting dependent on the camera position?

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Practitioner's List for Top Digital Forensic Investigation & Analysis Tools
Dexter Morgan | Last Modified: October 5th, 2017 | Updates
Top 10 Cyber Forensics Investigative & Analysis Tools for Experts
The art of Cyber forensic investigation is quite complex and requires rigorous precision in following every investigative step from Acquisition to Analysis & Reporting. Experts now face the need for dependable tools that help them to do so, from the beginning. Every investigation requires usage of multiple tools, dependence on a sole tool causes the investigation to lose its flexibility and makes it prone towards ambiguity. So, in this article, we have explained the top digital forensic tools using which the investigators can get best results.
When an Investigator raids a crime scene, he is greeted with multitudes of evidence from a computer to a simple mobile. So the examiner requires multiple tools that could help perform hard drive, volatile memory, and network & email forensics.
List of Top Digital Forensic Tools by the Practitioners :
Developed by a German company, the software is based on the concept of Win-Hex which was itself a versatile hex editor, disk editor, ram editor, data recovery and a computer forensics application. The software allows you to image or clone a suspect device forensically. It helps you to read file systems such as FAT, NTFS, EXT, HSE, etc., inside the forensically acquired images. Another reason due to which it is added to the list of best cyber forensic tools is that it allows you to take volatile memory dumps and perform analysis on the same without tampering the memory dump.
The software is generally preferred over other tools under the same domain due to its superior and fast digital imaging and processing strength. The advanced filtering and reporting mechanism also makes it the most dependable forensic investigation utility.
SANS Investigative forensics Toolkit; based on UBUNTU environment is an all in one package, which utilizes the concept of VMware Computer forensics. It comes pre-configured with all the related tools that need to be deployed in an investigation such as; network tools, memory forensics, etc. It supports forensic image formats such as RAW DD, Expert Witness File format E01 and Advanced Forensic Format (AFF).
The key feature of the software is that it supports multiple OS such as Windows, Mac & Solaris due to which it secured its position in top computer forensics analysis tools. It is incorporated with other free tools such as volatility, autopsy, sleuth kit, etc.
MailXaminer is the Flagship product developed by SysTools Software, which is an efficient email forensic examination tool. The software runs on Windows platform and supports Web-based, Desktop Based and Cloud-Based Emails. It provisions an investigator to maintain a case repository, scan email evidence and search within them by using search options such as Advanced Search, Fuzzy, Wildcard, Predefined, Regular Expression, Stem Search and much more. MailXaminer also features an important email forensic feature utilization i.e. Skin tone analysis (detecting obscene Images, especially used in CP) in the suspect emails.
MailXaminer - Email Forensic Analysis, Extraction & Reporting Tool
MailXaminer – Email Forensic Analysis, Extraction & Reporting Tool
The software provides multiple review platforms including SaaS-based review platform, Team Collaboration and reviewing evidence via email or shared location. It also features reporting probative evidence by exporting the emails into formats such as concordance, PDF, CSV, etc. All these features included makes this software the top digital forensic tool.
 4.Encase Computer Forensics
EnCase comes under the computer forensics analysis tools developed by Guidance Software. The software is mainly used for digital forensic machine acquisition, imaging, analysis and reporting of the evidence. It generally covers forensic solutions for hard disk, removable media, Smart Phones, Tablets, etc.encase-forensics
The software incorporates a scripting facility EnScript, with various APIs to interact with the evidence. It also features a simple review process to share the artifacts and findings with the investigators. It also gets integrated using its modules to forensics acquisition products such as Tableau. Decryption suites, Image emulators, etc. are all incorporated within the tool. The Toolkit features Registry viewers, Forensic toolkit, Password recovery toolkit and FTK Imager.
Volatility stands amongst the dedicated tools developed for memory forensics, it helps you take volatile memory dumps, analyze the digital artifacts from them. It enumerates process lists, network connections, open ports, cached hives, open process, etc. It supports ram dumps from Windows 7, 8 and also from all the major 32 and 64-bit versions.
Volatility-Memory Forensics Tool
The software also helps to analyze hibernation file (hyberfile.sys), virtual machine snapshot, crash dumps etc. Plugins such as Psscan, DllList, Kpcrscan, etc. helps to correctly identify system profiles, analyze malware, rootkits present in the system memory and much more because of which it secures its place in top digital forensic tools.
6.FTK Imager
FTK Imager comes under the Access Data Forensic Toolkit, specially developed for digital forensic imaging, mounting, and analysis. It runs without installation and creates an image using the common formats such as raw (dd), SMART or E01 file format.
Besides GUI interface, it also provides a command line version for operating the tool. Features such as adding evidence items, mounting acquired images using read/write blocked mode extends user's capability to perform investigation without tampering the evidence. It also serves as a HEX viewer/interpreter.
7.Bulk Extractor
Bulk Extractor generally serves the need to scan a forensically acquired disk image and extract viable information from the same. It does not parse the file system or structures as such, but the results obtained from the tool can be easily parsed, processed with automated tools. The software is generally known for its speed and meticulousness towards the details.
Bulk Extractor maintains an output directory that stores the data accordingly and maintains a histogram of the features that appear frequently. The software can be used as a command line tool or a GUI tool.
8.Oxygen Forensics
Oxygen forensic software is specially developed to perform a logical analysis of mobile devices, cell phones, PDA(s), etc. The suite helps to extract crucial information out of the mobile device such as messages, call logs, events, calendar data, event logs and much more. The suite features timeline analysis, social interaction map, detects user passwords and decrypts them respectively.
The tool provides support for common mobile devices such as Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Sony, etc. And allows physical acquisition of the device to discover artifacts inaccessible to detect through logical acquisition. Oxygen forensics also has many miscellaneous utility features such as tracking device owner's movements, analyze application data and helps to report the findings respectively.
Xplico is an Open source network cyber forensics analysis tool which functions by reconstructing the data accumulated using Packet Sniffers. The software identifies POP, SMTP, IMAP, HTTP, VoIP, MSN, IRC etc. protocols. One of the best features of Xplicio is that it is able to reconstruct data from large-scale PCAP data.
The software gets incorporated by default in the digital forensics and penetration testing environments such as backtrack, deft, Cert (Linux forensics), etc. It outputs data and information in a SQL Lite database or MySQL database, also the software utilizes Port independent Protocol Identification for each application protocol.
10.Mandiant Red line
The host investigative tool helps to analyze and report the presence of malicious activity using memory and file analysis. It also helps to develop a threat assessment profile by auditing the running process, network information, user activity, tasks, web history etc.
The software assesses process and activities using Malware Risk Index score and helps to sort out the processes worth investigating. Features such as Time Crunch and Time Wrinkle help to filter the results on the basis of timeline analysis and assess the malware activity. All these features are the reason, this computer forensics analysis tool secures its place in the list of top digital forensic tools.
Cyber Crime Investigator, legal practitioner or researchers require a bundle of tools that might be resourceful in an unanticipated situation. The above-mentioned tools are handpicked and are considered as the best & trusted by the practitioners and they do deserve a special place in your Complete Forensic Toolbox. There is a healthy debate regarding few norms that need to be maintained in the mobile forensics and network forensics as these are ever-widening fields, and practically new to everyone.
The key to succeed in speedy investigations is to have handy tools like the Top digital forensic tools mentioned above, step by step analysis of suspected arena, proper documentation, and analysis of artifacts will ensure an erroneous free investigation. Tools, however, help you discover digital artifacts and truths circumscribing the crime scenario but only proper utilization of these best cyber forensics tools can lead you towards probative evidence.


text:
Tourmaline Gemstone Properties
Tourmaline gemstones, the birthstone for October come in a rainbow of color, tones and hues. In fact it is sometimes referred to as the "gemstone of the rainbow". There are actually ten separate mineral species in the tourmaline gemstone group, of which only three are suitable as gemstones.
The elbaite species is the one that is most often used for creating beautiful jewelry. The color in tourmaline is a result of substitutions of various transition elements or metals in the crystal structure. Rarely can one find a tourmaline crystal with a single color, most tourmaline crystals are found with numerous colors.
Tourmaline is a very dichroic gemstone, meaning that colors look more or less intense depending on the viewing angle. This presents challenges to the gemstone cutter when orienting the gemstone for best color. Tourmaline is a fairly hard (7-7.5 on Mohs scale) and mostly durable gemstone.
Some tourmalines can crack or become unstable due when faceted or heat treated. Color can and may be improved by heat treatment and/or irradiation. These treatments are permanent and generally accepted in the gemstone trade if properly disclosed. Tourmaline also possesses the interesting electrical phenomenon of piezoelectricity.
Tourmaline Gemstone History and Lore
The first confirmed use of tourmaline is by the Greeks, who imported the gem from Asia in the second century BC. In the sixteenth century, Portuguese explorers though they had discovered emeralds when it was really green tourmaline.
The word tourmaline is derived from the Sinhalese word "tora malli", which refers to any unidentified yellow, green or brown stone and literally means "something out of the earth". In 1822 red and green tourmaline was discovered in Maine and, as this new source produced sufficient quantities of gemstones, a new market was created and gave tourmaline value. During this time Maine and California were the world's largest producer of gem tourmalines.
Tourmaline Gemstone Sources and Occurrences
Tourmaline is the most common boron bearing silicate mineral and is almost exclusively found in geological formations known as pegmatites. Brazil is the world's largest producer of gem quality tourmaline.
In recent years, African nations of Zambia, Madagascar and Mozambique have also produced enormous quantities of gem grade material. The most exciting discovery of a new gem variety of tourmaline was made in the early 1990's when a neon blue colored tourmaline started to appear from the state of Paraiba Brazil.
This gem displays amazing blue and green colors unlike anything ever seen in tourmalines. As the only mine has dried up in recent years, prices for these extraordinary gems have reached astronomical levels of up to $15,000/ct wholesale! Another very exciting tourmaline gemstone discovery occurred in Mozambique in the past 2 years. Copper bearing tourmaline with colors similar to the famous Paraiba tourmalines from Brazil began appearing in the gemstone markets. Although not quite as intense and vivid as the Paraiba's from Brazil, these new tourmalines are being called Paraibia tourmaline.
Tourmaline Gemstone Evaluation and Valuation
Like most colored gemstones, tourmalines are evaluated by the purity and intensity of color. Clarity is an important factor in almost all tourmalines except Rubellite and Paraiba varieties.
The most valued of tourmalines is the Paraiba tourmaline by far. Any intense, vivid "Windex" blue gemstone commands a terrific price. Rubelite, fine blue tourmalines (Indicolites), blue/green, and bi-color and parti color can also command good prices. Values are not affected by permanent treatments such as heat and irradiation.
When you are ready to order contact us at _EMAIL_ and we will find any gem you want. These gems used to be cheap a few years back but now are getting harder to find each year and the price goes up as well all the time. So grab one now.
Have a good New Year


text:
Every time you board an aircraft in Alaska, you hear the flight attendant talk of safety precautions before a takeoff. This is usually done with a reason. It is to ensure plane passengers are free from unexpected happening such as occurrence of turbulence. Plane turbulence has remained to be the leading cause of injuries to passengers or crews on board. Sometimes these accidents happen when an individual's seat belt sign is off. In such a case, you may have a successful claim if you can prove that the flight attendant never illuminated the seat belt sign on time and consequently you suffered injuries.
Plane Crash Injuries Caused By Turbulence
In almost every year, plane passengers and flight attendants sustain injuries as a result of plane turbulence. This may be caused by storms, change of temperature or any other natural occurrence. Though most of these causes are always unexpected, the pilot or the flight attendant may take some actions to reduce the effect of airplane turbulence. For instance, the pilot should check the weather condition or any other factor that may lead to turbulence. As well, the pilot may change the plane speed, or use radar to help avoid massive clouds. Correspondingly, the flight attendants should make sure to give instructions to the passengers necessary to reduce risk before a takeoff. When a plane experiences air turbulence, this may lead to injuries such as:
- Broken bones: A severe turbulence may lead to broken bones such as ankle bones, tibia. This is especially to those who have not buckled their seat belts properly. Rolling carts can also hit passengers leading to broken bones.
- Slips and falls: This may happen to passenger or crews who may be walking or standing at the time of the turbulence occurrence.
- Traumatic brain injury: These may stem from head wounds resulting from baggage falling or being knocked over by overhead bins. Besides, for the unbelted passengers, they may be thrown off their seats and hence suffer from such kinds of injuries.
- Soft tissue injuries: The injuries mostly happen when passengers are trying to stabilize themselves after a sudden change of position.
You cannot hold an airline or its employees liable due to an "act of God". But this may not be the case if turbulence occurred and caused injuries due to flight crew or pilot negligence. Under such circumstance, the rule of negligence applies. This can only be brought to attention with the help of Alaska aircraft accident lawyers. For example, if a flight attendant failed to close the luggage bin properly and passengers sustained injuries due to turbulence, he/she may be held liable. But to obtain compensation, one has to prove that because of the attendant breach of duty, there were injuries suffered. However, if passengers never fastened their seat belt safely when the attendant gave the command and turbulence occurred unexpectedly, they may have a tough time trying to seek compensation. The same case applies to the attendants or the pilots. If they can foresee turbulence and fail to give precaution to passengers, they may be held liable for injuries suffered.
Common Claims Available To getting Compensation For Airplane Injuries
There are many legal claims you may use to recover from airplane injuries as a result of turbulence. They include:
- Product liability claim: This claim can stem from defective plane parts or equipment such as the improper installation of overhead bins. But you may need to show who was negligent in causing you harm to recover compensation.
- Strict liability claim: This may arise if a certain component fails to function. The plaintiff doesn't have to prove that the crew or the pilot acted negligently such as to cause harm. This is because the pilot may have reasonably navigated the plane but still, an accident occurred.
- Claim based on negligence: If you suffered injuries due to flight attendant or pilot negligence, you may file a claim based on the fact that the defendant was careless or failed to act reasonably.
Who Can Be Held Liable For Turbulence?
While turbulence cannot be avoided, there are many steps a pilot or cabin crew may take to ensure they reduce risk and hence reduce the number of injuries. Therefore one may seek compensation against the airline or the staff. Additionally, injuries may be caused by defective components. In such a case, the plaintiff may hold the plane manufacturer liable. If you have suffered injuries from turbulence, you may pursue compensation with the help of an experienced plane accident lawyer. Since these cases are overly complicated, it would be unwise to think you can have self -representation. This is because you will have to deal with the insurance adjuster of a large corporate who will work out every possible way to give you minimal payment.


Overcoming Summertime Blues
As summer gets going, the number of members attending services drops off until school starts back up. Here are a few ways to combat the summertime blues.
1. Fireworks Display: invite the entire community to your church for a concert and fireworks display. Have information available about summertime programs and fall kick offs to hand out to guests.
2. Church Picnic: plan a picnic for your church with games and music for the whole family. You could even move the church service outside to the local park and invite the whole community to join you before the picnic lunch.
3. End of Summer Celebrations: Invite different age groups to gather for an end of summer party. Invite the teachers from the local school so that they can meet their students. Celebrate with pizza, a bonfire, ice cream, etc.
4. Cool Comfort: There are many people in each community that do not have air conditioning. Invite them to spend a day in the church cooling off with free wifi, games for the kids, movies, snacks, etc. Invite a local store to sponsor a day where they provide the snacks and activities in return for advertising their services to those present.
5. Vacation Bible Camp: Make learning a fun adventure through a week-long day camp, or evening program. Invite kids from the local neighborhoods to join in the fun along with your church's youth. Design a program for older youth with day trips around the city, etc.
These are just a few ways to encourage attendance at church during the summer. What are some other ways your church overcomes the summertime membership blues?
For more information on our FREE services and how Guide Book Publishing can help retain new members, visit our website at _URL_
Leave a Reply


text:
Health and Safety
Teen Pregnancy Prevention
- Pregnancy rates, Prevention strategies, information for parents, teens, community partners. Find out more about teen pregnancy prevention.
- AmeriCorps HOPE - members work with youth to build resiliency, develop skills, and avoid teen pregnancy.
- My Future My Choice Program - My Future My Choice is a comprehensive sexuality education curriculum. It meets the requirements of HB 2509 to provide age-appropriate sexuality education as an integral part of the health education curriculum.
The DHS child welfare Independent Living Program (ILP) is designed to assist youths, who are or were in foster care, to become independent adults. Youth served must be age 14 or older.
Data and Publications


text:
A fast way of electron orbit simulation in complex magnetic fields
In a storage ring like BESSY II electrons circulate nearly with the speed of light passing complex magnetic structures. These magnets guide the electron beam and focus it on the ideal orbit. They are comparable to optical lenses which focus the light. To evaluate the stability of the electron trajectories in the magnetic fields, several thousands of turns need to be simulated. After each revolution the trajectories are slightly different, passing the magnets at slightly different positions. These combined and complex orbit and field calculations require a precise algorithm which could easily result in time consuming simulations.
Already in 2011, a team out of the HZB undulator group and of the HZB-institute of accelerator physics has published a first paper of a new simulation algorithm, which drastically speeds up the simulation time for trajectories in complex undulator fields. This simulation routine was implemented into the public domain code "elegant" of the Advanced Photon source / Argonne, and it is available, worldwide.
Now, the young scientist Malte Titze together with the senior scientists Johannes Bahrdt and Godehard Wüstefeld could extend this method to another important class of three dimensional magnets: multipoles such as quadrupoles or sextupoles.
"The paper demonstrates, that this method yields very precise results, particularly within the fast changing fringing fields of the magnets", Malte Titze explains. He is now engaged in research activities at CERN. "Such simulation methods are of great interest for future light sources, especially for diffraction limited storage rings, which may include combined function magnets and exhibit significant cross talking between neighboring magnets" comments Johannes Bahrdt. "This is of clear relevance for a successor of BESSY II". The scientists describe their methods in the renowned journal of Physical Review Special Topics Accelerator & Beams.
 M. Titze, J. Bahrdt, G. Wüstefeld, „Symplectic tracking through straight three dimensional fields by a method of generating functions"
 J. Bahrdt, G. Wüstefeld, "Symplectic tracking and compensation of dynamic field integrals in complex undulator structures", Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 14, 040703 (2011).
Press officer: Dr. Antonia Roetger


From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Whoops! Maybe you were looking for Lego Bricks?
Whoops! Maybe you were looking for BIONICLE?
Just let me masturbate!!
~ Sexually frustrated teenage Lego person
For those without comedic tastes, the so-called experts at Wikipedia have an article very remotely related to LEGO.
LEGO is a play set, originally made in Denmark, that depicts the almost-perfect Communist society. Everything and everyone in this society looks and behaves almost exactly the same. The people are all very short, lack any type of genitalia and also lack any capability of free thought. As such, they are frequently mistaken for North Koreans. This confusion is not helped by the fact that they do not talk to foreigners. They also hate America (a fact which led them to assassinate JFK.) Furthermore, since their original creators were danes, all Lego people are programmed to hating Sweds.
edit A typical day in the life of a Lego
DFRLego 045
A typical Lego day involves Lego people driving around in various Lego vehicles made entirely out of Lego bricks, talking to each other in the street and then returning to their Lego home. They may also visit other Lego people in their Lego homes to sit down and chat. They do not have the ability to do anything that would actually be fun to a real person, like going to strip clubs, giving birth, and having sex.
edit Jobs
Lego people do have jobs, but they have to work all day and night at their job because they are permanently dressed in relation to the job (example: if a Lego person is a doctor then he/she wears a doctor's uniform but they cannot take it off, see below.)Furthermore, due to a severe condition only found among Lego people, they are unable to sleep(see below).
edit Fashion
They have a wide variety of fashions, however, they cannot take their clothes off because their clothes are fused to their bodies. If they were to change clothes, they would have to tear their bodies apart, effectively killing them. However, if they somehow do put their bodies back together, they will be reincarnated as a completely different person.
edit LSD
Lego Sleeping Disorder is a virus which tends to attack Lego people, Refugees and Marine soldiers on duty. It is quite simply the lack of chromosones and semen that prevents the brain from sleeping. Due to it's nature, their are two knows cures, of which the first the infected would have to be Chuck Norris, and the second would require you'd kill a virgin. The first of the cures is quite simply to steal chromosones using the electronegativity of the body to rip them off a person, with a weaker electronegativity, taking them to yourself. The second is the injection of sperm cells into the infected's Testicles, and as any European knows, virgins have the largest sperm count of all people, as they will generate 12 years of sperm cells before they begin releasing their seed. People infected with LSD who choose to live with the condition, either due to weakness (Pity Yo' Fool) or human morals (pffh), will often find themselves excluded from the world, as people believe them to be Twilight vampires (see Edward Cullen).
edit Lego Puberty
Puberty for Lego people is generally an extremely frustrating experience. Without even the free will to reach their crotch, male teenage Lego men suffer from extreme sexual frustration and boredom as they do not know how to fill 90% of their time. As a result, extensive sex education programmes have been campaigned for by the Rights Association for Things That Aren't Alive.
edit In women
Basically the same thing, except they cannot reach their vagina and cannot have sex.
Personal tools


text:
Keep up-to-date with the latest Cowbellpedia news
History of Cowbellpedia
In an era dominated by technological advancements, it is refreshing to witness an initiative that places a strong emphasis on the importance of mathematics in education. Cowbellpedia, a mathematical competition in Nigeria, has emerged as a groundbreaking platform for nurturing mathematical talent, encouraging healthy competition, and promoting excellence in the field of mathematics among secondary school students. Since its inception, Cowbellpedia has become a symbol of inspiration, resilience, and intellectual growth, showcasing the incredible potential of young minds in Nigeria.
One of the primary objectives of Cowbellpedia is to enhance the quality of mathematics education in Nigeria. By creating a competitive atmosphere, the initiative encourages students to delve deeper into the subject and explore its intricacies. Through regular practice, problem-solving, and critical thinking, participants sharpen their mathematical skills and develop a strong foundation in the subject. Cowbellpedia acts as a catalyst, igniting a passion for mathematics and pushing students to achieve their full potential.
The competition is divided into two main categories: the Junior and Senior Secondary categories. The Junior category is open to students in Junior Secondary School (JSS) while the Senior category welcomes participants from Senior Secondary School (SSS). Students from both public and private schools across Nigeria are eligible to compete. Cowbellpedia follows a rigorous selection process, with schools conducting preliminary examinations to identify their top-performing students who will represent them at the state level.
The competition progresses through several stages, starting from the preliminary rounds at the state level, followed by the regional level, and culminating in the ultimate showdown at the national level. Contestants engage in timed, written tests, which assess their problem-solving abilities and mathematical proficiency. The questions are designed to challenge participants, pushing them to think creatively and apply their knowledge in real-world scenarios.
Cowbellpedia has had a profound impact on the educational landscape in Nigeria. It has successfully fostered a culture of excellence in mathematics, encouraging students to strive for academic brilliance. The competition not only boosts students' confidence in their mathematical abilities but also instills in them essential life skills such as discipline, perseverance, and teamwork. The exposure to rigorous competition helps participants develop resilience and learn from their experiences, preparing them for future challenges.
Furthermore, Cowbellpedia has proven to be a launching pad for many young mathematical prodigies. Several past winners and participants have gone on to excel in national and international mathematics competitions, representing Nigeria and bringing accolades to their schools and the nation. Cowbellpedia serves as a stepping stone for these exceptional students, providing them with opportunities for scholarships, mentorship, and further academic pursuits in mathematics-related fields.
Cowbellpedia's success would not be possible without the dedication and support of various stakeholders. The initiative has garnered the backing of corporate sponsors, educational institutions, teachers, parents, and the government. Corporate organizations, such as Promasidor Nigeria Limited, have played a pivotal role in providing financial and logistical support, making the competition accessible to a wider audience. Educational institutions and teachers have nurtured students' mathematical talent, preparing them for the rigorous challenges of the competition. Parents have been instrumental in supporting and encouraging their children to participate, recognizing the importance of mathematics in their academic journey.
Cowbellpedia has emerged as a beacon of excellence, promoting mathematical education and competition in Nigeria. The initiative has created a platform for students to showcase their mathematical prowess, fostered a culture of academic excellence, and provided a springboard for young mathematical talents. Cowbellpedia's impact extends beyond the competition, shaping the future of mathematics education in Nigeria and inspiring generations of young minds to explore the fascinating world of numbers. As this initiative continues to thrive, it will


At Christ Church, we have the following admissions criteria and follow the local authority's admissions policy:
 1. Children in care.
 2. Children (siblings) with a brother or sister at the school and who will still be in attendance at the time the sibling enters the school.
 3. Children who have applied to the school on denominational grounds: Anybody whose parent/guardian regularly attends the local Church of England Parish Church. We define regular as meaning once a month for a twelve month period and this will be confirmed by a letter from the local minister. (No supplementary information form is used at Christ Church CE Primary School).
 4. Children who live nearest the school..
The local authority's admissions policy is available here:


View Full Version : Motion is mathematically impossible.
09-05-2013, 01:55 PM
Suppose you want to move an object at A from A to B.
So in going from A to B, what's the first point that the object passes through while on the way?
If you decide on some point A1 say, then between A and A1 you can draw a line segment. Between any 2 points a line segment can be drawn. That line segment has a midpoint that lies betwen A and A1.
Therefore the object would have to travel through that midpoint before going through A1. So A1 couldn't be the first point on the way to B.
So it's impossible to say which point is the first one traveled through on the way to B. But there has to be a first one if the object is to move at all. So we have a contradiction.
Motion is impossible.
09-05-2013, 03:09 PM
Thank you Zeno
Stu Pidasso
09-05-2013, 04:10 PM
This is why Marijuana will never be totally legal for everyone.
09-05-2013, 04:31 PM
That's because it's on my steak and it can't be two places at once silly.
09-06-2013, 02:29 PM
Zeno was right.


text:
Monday, September 24, 2012
HealthTeacher recently released the first-ever interactive, pro-social mobile game to address one of the nation's leading issues affecting youth: bullying. This game titled "Awesome Upstander!" encourages young kids to race through a school cafeteria and bathroom to help rescue a target from a bully. Along the way, players must collect enough friends to stand up to the bully together.
"Awesome Upstander! offers a highly entertaining play experience for kids while teaching them they have the power to diminish bullying by banning together as upstanders," said John Herbold, VP Product of HealthTeacher. "Kids tell us Awesome Upstander! is fun to play, and parents say it gives them peace of mind knowing their children are learning how to deal with an issue affecting the emotional and physical safety of their kids."
Filled with challenges, levels, hidden objects and fun sound effects, Awesome Upstander! is designed to engage kids just like other popular interactive games while promoting social good. At the Awesome Upstander! website _URL_, teachers can download supporting material for their classroom, and parents can download resources for teaching their kids about upstanding at home.
Baptist Health Systems in Jackson, Miss. partnered with HealthTeacher last year, providing high quality health education resources for teachers, school nurses, and school counselors in 18 counties in central MS. HealthTeacher is an online resource of lessons and interactive tools that help kids live well. Lessons cover relevant youth health issues and are designed to engage students and fold seamlessly into the classroom setting. Baptist is the only hospital in Mississippi offering this program.
"As the 2012/2013 school year kicked-off, we continue to work with the funded school districts providing HealthTeacher access and training," added Shay Lewis, Health Education Coordinator for Mississippi. "The new interactive anti-bullying game is a powerful tool for engaging kids and teaching them how to make a stand against bullying. The video game can be played at home or in the classroom setting and works hand in hand with HealthTeacher's lesson plans centered on the topic of bullying."
According to a study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), 1.6 million children in grades 6 through 10 in the United States are bullied at least once a week and 1.7 million children bully others as frequently. Bullying most often occurs where adult supervision is low or absent: schoolyards, cafeterias, bathrooms, hallways, and stairwells. According to the U.S. Department of
Justice's "Bullying in Schools" report, only 10 to 20 percent of non-involved students provide any real help when another student is victimized.
Bullying has been a hot topic in Mississippi during the last few years. In 2010, the Mississippi legislature passed Senate Bill 2015, requiring public schools to adopt an anti-bullying policy, prohibiting bullying or harassing behavior in schools. Mary Ann Simpkins, Director of Community Education for HealthTeacher stated that "Awesome Upstander! is a great teaching tool for supporting MS anti-bullying policies and addressing the real-life issues of bullying in our schools. We all want our children to thrive and succeed in a safe environment, free of danger or barriers to learning. It is important to educate all kids about the importance of standing up for someone being bullied and to encourage them to be an upstander, not a bystander."
Dr. Susan Lipkins, child psychologist and leading expert in the development of Awesome Upstander!, believes playing this game can set the standards for teaching elementary-aged kids how to be an upstander, a person who knows how to intervene in a bully situation in a safe and positive manner. According to Dr. Lipkins, "Bystanders are the answer...we're all bystanders. And when bystanders are empowered and they learn how to prevent and intervene in bullying, I think we're going to see a change."
Awesome Upstander! is brought to you by HealthTeacher, the interactive leader in youth health. AwesomeUpstander! can be played online for free at _URL_, or purchased in the Apple App Store or Google Play for $.99.
ABOUT AWESOME UPSTANDER!
Awesome Upstander!, the first-ever anti-bullying game for young kids, is the most fun way to learn how to deal with bullies. Awesome Upstander! is a side-scrolling adventure where players must race through school cafeterias and bathrooms to rescue a target from a bully. To successfully rescue the target, players must collect enough friends to become upstanders and stand up to the bully together.
ABOUT BAPTIST HEALTH SYSTEMS' HEALTHTEACHER PARTNERSHIP
Baptist joined forces with teachers throughout 34 school districts in central Mississippi to make it easy for them to teach good health habits to children. Funded by Baptist Health Foundation, the project includes health education materials and professional development for K-12 schools, preschools, after school programs, and community organizations. The 2007 Healthy Students Act requires that all schools implement 45 minutes of Health Education per week, and 150 minute of physical education/physical activity per week in grades K-8. It also requires half Carnegie Unit of Health Education and Physical Education in high school for graduation. Baptist Health Systems is the parent company of Baptist Medical Center, The Mississippi Hospital for Restorative Care and a number of related healthcare services and programs. For over 100 years, Baptist Medical Center has served Mississippi and the surrounding states as a Christian-based, non-profit comprehensive medical Center.
HealthTeacher is the interactive leader in youth health, creating games, apps, and educational resources to make health awesome for kids. HealthTeacher's research based products are designed to get kids moving and to develop healthy behaviors that last a lifetime. Reaching over 6 million kids through its fast-growing network of 11,000+ schools, HealthTeacher's interactive products are used by teachers, parents, and kids to address important youth health issues, including physical activity, nutrition, and social and emotional well-being. To learn more, visit _URL_.
What can we help you find?close ×


text:
Teaching synonyms helps students gain a deeper understanding of words and their relationships to each other. In addition, synonyms help expand a child's vocabulary from an early age and improve reading and comprehension skills. Students who are adept at using synonyms also have stronger writing skills and are often able to think more critically. If you need help downloading the printables, check out these helpful tips.
Farm Synonym Worksheet
Once young children learn to read you can begin to teach synonyms. Before doing the synonym worksheet, make sure that all of the children understand what a synonym is. Write several synonym examples on the board. Read all of the words on the synonym worksheet and make sure that the children know what each word means. Some students may need help with cutting.
Garden Synonym Worksheet
Students in second and third can improve their reading and comprehension skills by learning synonyms. Teach basic dictionary skills by having students look up any words for which they do not know the meaning. Once students are finished with the garden worksheet, ask for volunteers to read the story.
Choose the Best Word Synonym Worksheet
Once children reach fourth and fifth grades, they should be challenged to find synonyms out of a group of words. Both synonyms and antonyms help to expand vocabulary and improve reading and sentence structure skills. Allow students to use a dictionary to find the meaning of any words they are not familiar with.
"RE" Synonym Worksheet
Students in 6th grade have a rapidly expanding vocabulary and combining a continued understanding of synonyms with prefixes and suffixes helps to round out many basic language arts concepts. Have the children write the dictionary definition of each word before they begin the worksheet. This will make completing the sheet easier.
Synonyms for Better Language Arts
When your student is finished with the worksheets, put the sheets in a binder, and use them as a mini-thesaurus to help students improve their writing skills. Encourage students to use stronger synonyms for weaker ones. In addition, help your student figure out which words are weaker and which ones make for stronger writing. All of this not only helps improve writing skills, but it goes a long way to improve reading comprehension as well.


text:
Iconic Telescopes Threatened by Looming Budget Cuts
Observations using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have revealed an unexpected spiral structure in the material around the old star R Sculptoris.
CREDIT: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
LONG BEACH, Calif. — With fiscal cliffs, debt ceilings and other financial woes facing the country, several iconic telescopes may lose funding and possibly even close.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) faces several years of stagnating or even shrinking funding, even as the bills for major new telescopes, such as the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile's Atacama Desert, come due.
As a result, some older telescopes, such as the Very Long Baseline Array and several at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, may not receive funding from NSF's Division of Astronomical Sciences. While that doesn't guarantee the telescopes' closure, it almost certainly means that astronomers won't be able to sign up for observation time on these majestic sky-watchers, said Daniel Eisenstein, an astronomer at Harvard University and co-author of a report on the NSF's astronomy budget that recommended defunding the telescopes.
In fact, U.S. science agencies are in limbo after the fiscal deal finalized Jan. 1 delayed a decision on budget cuts for two more months.
"We're fortunate to be constructing some major new facilities," Eisenstein said. "That money has to come from somewhere, and the size of the pie is decreasing."
Eisenstein's team looked at two scenarios, discovering that, even in the best-case scenario, funding for astronomy would drop in the next few years and only rebound to the levels from fiscal years 2010 to 2012 in the year 2022. In the worst-case scenario, funding would drop by 20 percent relative to the last three years and stay at that lower level for the next decade. The committee didn't foresee funding growing in even the most optimistic scenario.
At the same time, U.S. tabs for new projects like the ALMA, which will probe the heavens billions of light-years away, and Hawaii's Advanced Technology Solar Telescope, which will study the sun, come due in the next five years. [See Amazing Photos from ALMA]
Eisenstein's report recommended dropping funding for the Very Long Baseline Array, as well as several telescopes at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, including the Mayall 4-meter telescope, the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, and the Wisconsin Indiana Yale 3.5-meter telescope. The Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia would also likely stop receiving funding by 2017, but final recommendations will have to come by the end of 2013 in order to work those closures into future budgets.
Instead, the report placed high priority on funding the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which photographs the entire sky, and continuing work on the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and Chile's Victor Blanco 4-meter telescope, which holds a 570-megapixel dark-energy camera.
The cuts are necessary in order to prevent a catastrophic reduction in the number of individual grants available for astronomers, Eisenstein said.
MORE FROM SPACE.com


text: R package CluMix. Provides utilities for clustering subjects and variables of mixed data types. Similarities between subjects are measured by Gower's general similarity coefficient with an extension of Podani for ordinal variables. Similarities between variables are assessed by combination of appropriate measures of association for different pairs of data types. Alternatively, variables can also be clustered by the 'ClustOfVar' approach. The main feature of the package is the generation of a mixed-data heatmap. For visualizing similarities between either subjects or variables, a heatmap of the corresponding distance matrix can be drawn. Associations between variables can be explored by a 'confounderPlot', which allows visual detection of possible confounding, collinear, or surrogate factors for some variables of primary interest. Distance matrices and dendrograms for subjects and variables can be derived and used for further visualizations and applications.


text:
Synopsis: Wetting Physics on a Squishy Surface
It is well known that the surface tension of a liquid determines how it wets an underlying solid, but the wetting characteristics also depend on surface stresses in the solid itself. Surface tension in a solid is, however, notoriously difficult to measure because a solid's bulk elasticity dominates its response to external forces. In a paper in Physical Review Letters, Robert Style and colleagues at Yale University, Connecticut, demonstrate a new technique to measure surface tension in soft surfaces that, unlike existing methods, does not require knowledge of the bulk properties of the underlying solid.
Style et al. study how a soft surface bends when a liquid droplet rests on it. Typically, the angle at which the surfaces of a droplet and a solid meet—the contact angle—is determined by Young's Law, but the authors show that on soft surfaces the measured contact angle deviates from the predicted one by as much as degrees. They argue that this failure of Young's Law on a soft surface occurs because the liquid's surface tension is able to significantly deform a soft solid.
Using confocal microscopy, the authors study glycerol and oil droplets of various sizes resting on silicone gel of different thicknesses. They show that there is a very small region around the contact line where the deformation is universal in the sense that it depends only on the surface tension in the underlying solid. Style et al.'s approach is the first that allows surface stresses to be measured in any soft solid, regardless of its bulk rheological properties. – Sami Mitra


Accept and Continue
Cookies on this site
Skip to main content
Anti-bullying Policy
St Ives Bowling Club
Anti-bullying Policy
Within bowls there is a commitment to providing a caring, friendly and safe environment for all bowlers so they can take part in a relaxed and secure atmosphere regardless of their age or background.
Quite simply, bullying of any kind is unacceptable in bowls.
If bullying does occur, all members should be able to tell and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively. This means that anyone who knows that bullying is happening is expected to tell the Club Welfare / Safeguarding Officer as soon as they have concerns.
What is Bullying?
Bullying is the use of aggression with the intention of hurting another person.
Bullying results in pain and distress to the victim.
Bullying can be:
Emotional - being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting (e.g. threatening gestures)
Racist - racial taunts, graffiti, gestures
Sexual - unwanted physical contact or sexually abusive comments
Homophobic - because of, or focussing on the issue of sexuality
Sexist – belittling someone because of their gender
Verbal - name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, teasing
Cyber - Any issues relating to the internet, such as email, social media & internet chat room misuse.
Mobile threats by text messaging & calls Misuse of associated technology, i.e. camera &video facilities
Why is it Important to Respond to Bullying?
The sport has a responsibility to respond promptly and effectively to issues of bullying.
Objectives of this Policy
All members, coaches, volunteers and parents should understand what bullying is
All members, coaches and volunteers should know what the policy is on bullying, and follow it when bullying is reported
All players and parents should know what the policy is on bullying, and what they should do if bullying arises
As a sport, we take bullying seriously. Anyone involved in bowls should be assured that they will be supported when bullying is reported
Very simply - Bullying will not be tolerated.
1. Report bullying incidents to the Club Welfare / Safeguarding Officer, member of the club committee or an adult you can trust or the County Welfare Officer. 2. In cases of serious bullying, the incidents will be referred to the relevant NGB Safeguarding Officer. 3. In serious cases parents, should be informed and asked to come in to a meeting to discuss the problem. 4. If necessary and appropriate, police will be consulted. 5. The bullying behaviour, or threats of bullying, must be investigated and the bullying stopped quickly. 6. An attempt will be made to help the bully/bullies change their behaviour. 7. If mediation fails and the bullying continues further disciplinary action will be taken.
Recommended Club Action
If the club decides it is appropriate for them to deal with the situation they should follow the procedure outlined below:
1. Reconciliation by getting the parties together. It may be that a genuine apology solves the problem
2. If this fails or is not appropriate, a small panel of club officers should meet with the parent and child making the allegation to obtain more information. This panel will normally include the Welfare Officer. Minutes should be taken for clarity, which should be agreed by all as a true account
3. The same panel should meet with the alleged bully and parent/s, detail the allegation and allow them an opportunity of reply. Minutes should again be taken and agreed
4. If it is considered that bullying has taken place, the individual should be warned and put on notice of further action if the bullying continues, i.e. temporary or permanent suspension.
Consideration should be given as to whether a reconciliation meeting between parties is appropriate at this time.
The club committee should monitor the situation for a given period to ensure the bullying is not repeated.
All appropriate coaches, volunteers or team managers involved with both individuals should be made aware of the concerns and outcome of the process i.e. the warning
1. The bully/bullies may be asked to apologise
2. In serious cases, suspension or exclusion will be considered
3. If possible, the people concerned will be reconciled
4. Monitoring should be put in place to ensure repeated bullying does not take place.
1. The club will have a written constitution, which includes what is acceptable and proper behaviour for all members of which the anti-bullying policy is one part
2. All club members and parents of young bowlers should sign a code of conduct on an annual basis. The code of conduct should include reference to bullying
3. The Club Welfare Officer will raise awareness about bullying and why it matters
Further Information
See Guideline 10 Useful External Support contact List
Safeguarding Bowls – January 2017
Guidelines Page 37


text:
Never assume aspects of an artist's work are meaningless, especially when it comes to Leonardo da Vinci's doodles.
Until now, art historians had dismissed some doodles in the leading artist and intellectual's notebooks. But now, a new study from Ian Hutchings, a professor at the University of Cambridge, proves there's more than meets the eye. In fact, one page of these scribbles from 1493 actually contained something groundbreaking: the first written account demonstrating the laws of friction.
While common knowledge credits da Vinci with conducting the first systematic study of friction, as the Renaissance inventor incorporated friction into the behaviour of wheels, axles, and pulleys, recognizing its role in limiting operation and efficiency, no one actually knew how he came up with these ideas. But Hutchings was able to put together a detailed chronology that marks the very spot of da Vinci's "Aha!" moment.
The notebook, which contains the page of seemingly meaningless scribbles penned in red chalk on a piece of yellow scrap paper back in 1493, is held in the Victoria and Albert Museum of London. The page in question was already the subject of academic debate years ago, regarding, in particular, the faint sketch of an old woman near the top, with the statement "cosa bella mortal passa e non dura," which translates to "mortal beauty passes and does not last." Beneath these works lay the sketches that were dismissed by a 1920s museum director as "irrelevant notes and diagrams in red chalk."
Nevertheless, nearly a century later, Hutchings stirred up discussion on that very page once again, as he discovered that the rough geometrical figures drawn underneath the red notes show rows of blocks being pulled by a weight hanging over a pulley. This is the exact kind of experiment students would conduct today to show how the laws of friction work.
"The sketches and text show Leonardo understood the fundamentals of friction in 1493," explains Hutchings. "He knew that the force of friction acting between two sliding surfaces is proportional to the load pressing the surfaces together and that friction is independent of the apparent area of contact between the two surfaces. These are the 'laws of friction' that we nowadays usually credit to a French scientist, Guillaume Amontons, working two hundred years later."
Hutchings also revealed how da Vinci used his understanding of friction to create sketches meant for complex designs over the following two decades. He was aware of how useful and effective friction can be, and put his concept into practice through the works of wheels, axles, and pulleys, all of which were essential parts of his complex machines. He was, to say the least, centuries ahead of his time.
"Leonardo's 20-year study of friction, which incorporated his empirical understanding into models for several mechanical systems, confirms his position as a remarkable and inspirational pioneer of tribology," Hutchings notes.
This sort of fascinating news ought to encourage scientists and engineers to dive deeper into all of Leonardo's old notes in hopes that other overlooked insights can be revealed.
Having trouble losing excess weight? This could be one of the biggest reasons why.
We know so much about food now yet much of the population is overweight and unhealthy because of the quality of our food and our perception about food.
Luckily there's a quiz that you can take to find out where you stand on food addiction. You can take it here.
After you will get results and specific information based on your score. Try the quiz!


text:
Vinberg M, Miskowiak KW, Kessing LV
J Clin Psychiatry. 2013 Aug;74(8):e747-53.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether measures of cognitive function can predict onset of affective disorder in individuals at heritable risk.
METHOD: In a high-risk study, 234 healthy monozygotic and dizygotic twins with and without a co-twin history of affective disorder (highand low-risk twins, respectively) were identified through nationwide registers and assessed at baseline using the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry, the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), and the cognitive tests Trail Making Test Parts A and B, the Stroop test, and the Cambridge Cognitive Examination-Revised (CAMCOR). Participants were followed longitudinally at 6-month intervals for up to 9 years and finally reassessed with a personal interview to obtain information on whether they had developed psychiatric illness. The study was conducted between 2003 and 2012.
RESULTS: 36 participants (15.4%) developed psychiatric disorder, mainly affective and anxiety disorders (31 diagnoses) (ICD-10). Onset was predicted by decreased executive function as reflected by performance on the Trail Making Test A – B (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.02; 95% CI, 1.00-1.03) when adjusted for sex, age, years of education and HDRS score at baseline. Reduced global cognitive function as indicated by a lower CAMCOR score at baseline showed a trend toward an association with subsequent illness onset (P =.08). With regard to the 5 CAMCOR subscales, lower scores on attention (HR = 0.71; 95%, CI, 0.54-0.94) and language (HR = 0.76; 95% CI, 0.58-0.99) were significantly associated with subsequent illness onset.
CONCLUSIONS: Among healthy individuals at heritable risk for affective disorder, discrete cognitive deficits, especially within executive function and attention, seem to predict subsequent onset of affective illness.


The Ultimate College Student Health Handbook
As a new college student straight out of high school, alone for the first time, it can be scary to become sick. Many kids are used to their parents taking care of them and giving them advice. However, once you are in college you must take care of yourself. The Ultimate College Student Health Handbook provides the essential tips and tricks a student would need to prevent an illness or take care of themselves when they fall ill. This exceptional guide will help you determine whether you just need a warm tea and some sleep or a doctor visit.
The Ultimate College Student Health Handbook is the perfect book for parents to slip into their kids luggage when they go off to college. Written by a doctor, it is filled with reliable and factual information presented in easy and understandable terms. It prepares young adults and enables them to be self reliant. Nothing tests your capability like being sick with no one around to care for you as your mother would. You are vulnerable and weak. You have to make important decisions like how high a fever is too high.
The Ultimate College Student Health Handbook has a laid back style with a pinch of humor. It covers a wide range of topics from hangovers to real health issues. Jill Grimes, MD, FAAFP, has tailored the content to a specific demographic, but it is also accessible to everyone else. While you could just Google 'hangover cure', the results you get are not always accurate and could lead you down a rabbit hole of bizarre stories. This informative and engaging guide comes from a medical professional. Jill Grimes has created a book that is perfect as a quick reference for common issues. It's easy to flip to a section, learn about symptoms, treatment, and prevention.
What I liked most about this book was how it distills issues down into easily understood pieces of information. While it could be easy to spend a whole page or two explaining why things occurred, Jill Grimes is able to sum up issues in a small paragraph followed by bulleted points. The accompanying illustrations are simple, cute, and effective.
I know this book is aimed at college kids, but I really think that this book is a great medical reference guide for everyone. Again, you could go to the internet, but then you have to dig through ads, comments from non-professionals, and misleading information to find what you need. If you are a parent with a child about to depart for college, give yourself peace of mind by gifting this book to them. I found it immensely helpful.
Pages: 333 | ASIN: B084G9BF3P
Buy Now From B&
About Literary Titan
You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )
Google photo
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Connecting to %s
%d bloggers like this:


text:
The 3 Bodies of the Buddha [trikaya]
Trikaya is a Sanskrit word used in the Buddhist context to refer to levels of manifestation or activity. Tri means three and trikaya as a concept concerns three levels of buddhahood.
Shakyamuni, the historical
Buddha who is generally considered one of many buddhas to have come to the help
of sentient beings, is understood to be accessible in various ways. These
are called the dharmakaya, samboghakaya, and nirmanakya. They
have been translated into English as: truth-body, blissor enjoyment-body, and
The sound Aum (Om) evokes the dharmakaya. One explanation found in the Hindu Puranas is that it is the grunt of the Goddess as she gives birth to creation. In Buddhism, that which it represents is entirely unborn.
3 components of this syllable, here in a Tibetan form, can also be understood as
the kayas, and also as symbolic of the 3 Jewels.
In the Buddhist tradition which focuses on Buddha Amitabha, his pavilion is bounded by three walls each of which symbolizes one of the kayas: the rim of skulls, of the dorjes, of the lotuses.
The ancient Celts who some scholars believe originated near the Caspian Sea, had a similar belief in the Three Existences: the spiritual, symbolic and physical. Several of their myths, symbolism and practices resemble those of ancient India.
Is there a 4th kaya?
In "Transforming Poison into Nectar," Drikung Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen Rinpoche teaches about empowerment with reference to four kayas.
The 4th kaya is called, Svabhavikakaya (of an essence, or essential.)
A Further Example of Levels of Manifestation and Activity
Yeshe Tsogyel was once a merchant who lived during the time of a former Buddha when she went before him and swore not to be reborn except for the benefit of beings. She manifested as Ganga, the Indian goddess who sprang from Lord Shiva's topknot to flow as the Ganges, the river watering the plain of north India, and then as Saraswati, the Indian goddess of the flow of language and music. She was once a disciple of Buddha Shakyamuni, as well. Then, according to Nyingma tradition, in 8th century Tibet, Guru Padmasambhava invoked Saraswati to manifest as a woman who would help disseminate the Mantrayana.
In the same tradition, Yeshe Tsogyel is an emanation of Samantabhadri, consort of primordial Samantabhadra. Both are Samboghakaya Buddhas. In tangkas, he is depicted as dark blue in colour, and she as pure white. Due to their union, Yeshe Tsogyel was born into this world, first as an Indian princess.
Aspects of Deity
Tantric deities, which are the focus of individual practice either through assignment by the guru or through personal connection, are considered to operate in several ways, usually five: body, speech, mind, quality, and action. Sometimes, we speak of a sixth or "essence" aspect.
As a "meditational deity" or yidam, Yeshe Tsogyel is regarded as the manifestation of the speech of Vajrayogini, herself a form of Vajravarahi, who is the Sambhogakaya aspect of Samantabhadri. One of her early teachers, Kalasiddhi, is considered the quality of Vajravarahi, and Tashi Chodren, one of her early students was recognized as the activity emanation of Varahi.
The word deity is understood in a rather unique way by Buddhists; it is used for lack of a better word. The Tibetan expression is yidam (Skt. ishta.devata) and it refers to a symbolic embodiment that is the focus of mental and ritual practice. Chosen by the teacher or by the student with guidance from the teacher, this figure can act as a psychological complement or support.
Deities are also viewed as mythic figures, but they are understood to arise and return to Emptiness. Although they have no inherent reality nevertheless they do exist, according to such excellent teachers as Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche.
are not worshipped in the sense of idolatry, though certainly it may seem to be
so for example, when someone first encounters people doing full prostrations
before images on a shrine. That is one reason for not using the term 'altar,' by
Saraswati: This name is also given to a river, one that no longer exists but once watered northeast India.
Ancient Egyptian Doctrine of 3
We cannot know how the ancient Egyptians actually viewed reality, or how they applied their views in their quest for higher meaning, despite all the writing that has been translated. (Think of how it was with many of us before we were so fortunate as to have real teachers, when we only had access to Tibetan Buddhism via vaguely translated books.) They seem to have had a three-part theory of existence that seems similar to the doctrine of trikayas. At least from earliest Old Kingdom times (5,000 Before the Present) beings were considered to have a ka which was equated with the vital essence, a ba that was one's 'name' or identity, and the khu.


text:
|_URL_ A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine®|
Erythromelalgia is a condition characterized by episodes of pain, redness, and swelling in various parts of the body, particularly the hands and feet. These episodes are usually triggered by increased body temperature, which may be caused by exercise or entering a warm room. Ingesting alcohol or spicy foods may also trigger an episode. Wearing warm socks, tight shoes, or gloves can cause a pain episode so debilitating that it can impede everyday activities such as wearing shoes and walking. Pain episodes can prevent an affected person from going to school or work regularly.
The signs and symptoms of erythromelalgia typically begin in childhood, although mildly affected individuals may have their first pain episode later in life. As individuals with erythromelalgia get older and the disease progresses, the hands and feet may be constantly red, and the affected areas can extend from the hands to the arms, shoulders, and face, and from the feet to the entire legs.
Erythromelalgia is often considered a form of peripheral neuropathy because it affects the peripheral nervous system, which connects the brain and spinal cord to muscles and to cells that detect sensations such as touch, smell, and pain.
The prevalence of erythromelalgia is unknown.
Mutations in the SCN9A gene can cause erythromelalgia. The SCN9A gene provides instructions for making one part (the alpha subunit) of a sodium channel called NaV1.7. Sodium channels transport positively charged sodium atoms (sodium ions) into cells and play a key role in a cell's ability to generate and transmit electrical signals. NaV1.7 sodium channels are found in nerve cells called nociceptors that transmit pain signals to the spinal cord and brain.
The SCN9A gene mutations that cause erythromelalgia result in NaV1.7 sodium channels that open more easily than usual and stays open longer than normal, increasing the flow of sodium ions into nociceptors. This increase in sodium ions enhances transmission of pain signals, leading to the signs and symptoms of erythromelalgia. It is unknown why the pain episodes associated with erythromelalgia mainly occur in the hands and feet.
An estimated 15 percent of cases of erythromelalgia are caused by mutations in the SCN9A gene. Other cases are thought to have a non-genetic cause or may be caused by mutations in one or more as-yet unidentified genes.
Changes in this gene are associated with erythromelalgia.
Some cases of erythromelalgia occur in an autosomal dominant pattern, which means one copy of the altered gene in each cell is sufficient to cause the disorder. In some of these instances, an affected person inherits the mutation from one affected parent. Other cases result from new mutations in the gene and occur in people with no history of the disorder in their family.
These resources address the diagnosis or management of erythromelalgia and may include treatment providers.
You might also find information on the diagnosis or management of erythromelalgia in Educational resources (_URL_ and Patient support (_URL_
General information about the diagnosis (_URL_ and management (_URL_ of genetic conditions is available in the Handbook. Read more about genetic testing (_URL_ particularly the difference between clinical tests and research tests (_URL_
To locate a healthcare provider, see How can I find a genetics professional in my area? (_URL_ in the Handbook.
You may find the following resources about erythromelalgia helpful. These materials are written for the general public.
You may also be interested in these resources, which are designed for healthcare professionals and researchers.
For more information about naming genetic conditions, see the Genetics Home Reference Condition Naming Guidelines (_URL_ and How are genetic conditions and genes named? (_URL_ in the Handbook.
Ask the Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center (_URL_
autosomal ; autosomal dominant ; cell ; channel ; familial ; gene ; increased body temperature ; ions ; mutation ; nervous system ; neuropathy ; nociceptors ; peripheral ; peripheral nervous system ; peripheral neuropathy ; prevalence ; sodium ; sodium channel ; subunit
You may find definitions for these and many other terms in the Genetics Home Reference Glossary (_URL_
The resources on this site should not be used as a substitute for professional medical care or advice. Users seeking information about a personal genetic disease, syndrome, or condition should consult with a qualified healthcare professional. See How can I find a genetics professional in my area? (_URL_ in the Handbook.


Take the 2-minute tour ×
I build a model for our problem, but i cannot get a result from my model. Could anyone give me some idea to solve this formula: $aX+bX^2=e^{cX}$
Thx in advance!
share|improve this question
What is $a$, $b$ and $c$? I assume those are constants and you want to solve for $X$? It seems unlikely that you can get closed formulas for $X$. other than in very special cases. For fixed $a$, $b$ and $c$ any standard numerical method for solving equations should suffice. (Newton's method, bisection, or some variant of those.) – mrf May 22 '12 at 9:54
Newton's method will converge for "most" values of $a,b,c$ but studying precisely each case could be time-consuming. You may start with $(a,b,c)=(1,1,1)$, the function is convex near its negative $0$, and use a homotopy method to reach all other values of $(a,b,c)$. Matlab or Mathematica will solve this for you efficiently too. I do not think there is an explicit solution in terms of roots exponentials and logarithms but I would be greatly interested if someone could point to possible proofs of this, perhaps using methods of differential algebra. – plm May 22 '12 at 10:09
add comment
1 Answer
I am by far no expert on this and maybe you should wait for somebody with more expertise, but I can tell you that this equation has no analytical solution and has to be solved numerically (I guess you already know that, given your tag). One of the easiest options is Newton's method. To find a zero of $$f(X)=aX+bX^2-e^{cX}$$ you start with a $X_0$ which should be close to the expected zero and then compute inductively $$X_{i+1}=X_i-\frac{f(X_i)}{f'(X_i)}.$$ The sequence should then converge to a solution. There are multifarious ways to improve this and there are situations where this approach doesn't work, but this is a start.
share|improve this answer
add comment
Your Answer


Arabia
With short legs, a stout body, and a long tail, sand cats are among the tiniest of cats. Full-grown adults weigh only 1.35 to 3.2 kg (3.0 to 7.1 lb). Sand cats live in discontiguous ranges—so they are separated into several subspecies which are evolving in different ways. The tough little cats thrive in the deepest hottest deserts—the Sahara, the Rub' al Khali, the Lut—where they live without water by surviving on the moisture in their prey. Like all cats, they are formidable predators, but their hearing is superior even to other felids: sand cats have huge highly-refined ears which are capable of hearing tiny burrowing animals moving deep beneath the sand. They survive on rodents such as jerboas, gerbils, and spiny mice, but they also hunt small birds and reptiles (and they are known as a particularly adept killer of snakes). Sand cats have heavy fur on the pads of their paws so they can run across burning desert sands. They co-opt the abandoned burrows of other desert creatures as their own to hide from the scorching daytime heat.
A sand cat with a snake
A sand cat with a snake
Sand cat populations are diminishing in the wild as human development encroaches on the edge of their habitat–but the true depths of their hellish deserts are places where humans are unlikely to build condominiums, so sand cats are merely listed as near-threatened. Until recently sand cats did not do well in zoos, and they are a somewhat unfamiliar animal. Because they are used to profoundly arid climate, they would die of respiratory infections when brought into humid locations. Today zookeepers know to keep their sand cats in dry arid enclosures—which mean the creatures are beginning to do much better in captivity. In 2012, the first captive sand cat kittens were born in a zoo in Israel, and this year three kittens were born in the Czech Republic. Look at how adorable they are (well, assuming you are not some timid burrowing desert creature).
Sand cat kittens at Zoo Brno (credit: Zoo Brno)
Sand cat kittens at Zoo Brno (credit: Zoo Brno)
Ye Olde Ferrebeekeeper Archives
July 2021


text:
Counting Liquid Calories
When counting calories, don't forget the ones you drink. For many people, these so-called liquid calories can make or break an effort to lose pounds.
Beverages with high-fructose corn syrup can be a major contributor to weight gain and obesity, according to the CDC. These include sodas and sports and energy drinks.
Americans drink about 1-1/2 cans of soda per person per day, according to the USDA. For regular soda drinkers, that adds up to 240 empty calories per day, or 25 extra pounds per year. (Calories in soda and alcoholic drinks are called empty because they have no nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals.)
There is also some evidence that liquids are less satiating than solids, so it is easier to consume too many calories from beverages.
These tips from the CDC can help you reduce your liquid calories:
Calculate the calories in the beverages you drink by multiplying the calories per serving on labels by the number of servings you drink. If a canned or bottled drink has 150 calories per serving and contains two servings, you have consumed 300 calories.
Choose diet, low-calorie, or no-calorie beverages, such as tap or bottled water, and tea.
Keep your coffee simple. Black coffee is low in calories, but whole milk, flavored syrups, and whipped cream aren't. A 16-ounce cup of black coffee has 15 calories, but the calorie count jumps to 100 for cappuccino made with skim milk. A 16-ounce café latte with skim milk is 160 calories. A latte flavored with syrup and made with whole milk is 320 calories.
Remember that calories in alcoholic drinks can add up fast. Alcohol has 7 calories per gram, just short of the 9 calories in a gram of fat. Add soda or sugary mixers, and the calories can exceed 300 per drink.


Your job is to create the slowest growing function you can in no more than 100 bytes.
Your program will take as input a nonnegative integer, and output a nonnegative integer. Let's call your program P.
It must meet the these two criterion:
 - Its source code must be less than or equal to 100 bytes.
 - For every K, there is an N, such that for every n >= N, P(n) > K. In other words, lim(n->∞)P(n)=∞. (This is what it means for it to be "growing".)
Your "score" is the growth rate of your program's underlying function.
More specifically, program P is grows slower than Q if there is a N such that for all n>=N, P(n) <= Q(n), and there is at least one n>=N such that P(n) < Q(n). If neither program is better than the other, they are tied. (Essentially, which program is slower is based on the value of lim(n->∞)P(n)-Q(n).)
The slowest growing function is defined as the one that grows slower than any other function, according to the definition in the previous paragraph.
This is, so the slowest growing program wins!
 - To assist in scoring, try to put what function your program calculates in the answer.
 - Also put some (theoretical) input and outputs, to help give people an idea of how slow you can go.
 - 3
 \$\begingroup\$ Related. \$\endgroup\$ – Martin Ender Jun 8 '17 at 18:47
 - 4
 \$\begingroup\$ An effective strategy is to write a fast-growing function and take its inverse, i.e. find the smallest input to it that produces at least the required value. Perhaps this is a dupe? \$\endgroup\$ – xnor Jun 8 '17 at 18:59
 - \$\begingroup\$ A third of the "More specifically" paragraph was missing because Markdown thinks a < followed by a letter is the start of an HTML tag. Preview your questions before you post them please :P \$\endgroup\$ – ETHproductions Jun 8 '17 at 20:11
 - 1
 \$\begingroup\$ What large cardinal axioms can we assume? \$\endgroup\$ – Peter Taylor Jun 8 '17 at 20:46
 - 1
 \$\begingroup\$ Is the time machine to test our answers provided? \$\endgroup\$ – Magic Octopus Urn Jun 9 '17 at 16:20
14 Answers 14
Haskell, 98 bytes, score=fε0−1(n)
f n=[k|k<-[0..],k#[k]>n]!!0
How it works
This computes the inverse of a very fast growing function related to Beklemishev's worm game. Its growth rate is comparable to fε0, where fα is the fast-growing hierarchy and ε0 is the first epsilon number.
For comparison with other answers, note that
 - exponentiation is comparable to f2;
 - iterated exponentiation (tetration or ↑↑) is comparable to f3;
 - ↑↑⋯↑↑ with m arrows is comparable to fm + 1;
 - The Ackermann function is comparable to fω;
 - repeated iterations of the Ackermann function (constructions like Graham's number) are still dominated by fω + 1;
 - and ε0 is the limit of all towers ωωωω.
 - \$\begingroup\$ I like the description here better. \$\endgroup\$ – PyRulez Jun 9 '17 at 21:00
 - \$\begingroup\$ You could put in a link to Googology Wiki's introduction to the fast growing hierarchy \$\endgroup\$ – MilkyWay90 Jun 28 '19 at 3:05
Brachylog, 100 bytes
Try it online!
This is probably nowhere near the slowness of some other fancy answers, but I couldn't believe noone had tried this simple and beautiful approach.
Simply, we compute the length of the input number, then the length of this result, then the length of this other result... 100 times in total.
This grows as fast as log(log(log...log(x), with 100 base-10 logs.
If you input your number as a string, this will run extremely fast on any input you could try, but don't expect to ever see a result higher than 1 :D
 - 8
 \$\begingroup\$ +1 just for pure insanity :o Fun fact: Also works in Jelly if you make it all caps. :P \$\endgroup\$ – hyper-neutrino Jun 11 '17 at 21:34
 - 5
 \$\begingroup\$ The first number that outputs 2 is 10↑↑99. \$\endgroup\$ – Wheat Wizard Jun 22 '17 at 13:49
JavaScript (ES6), Inverse Ackermann Function*, 97 bytes
*if I did it right
a=(m,n=m,i=1)=>{while(A(i,m/n|0)<=Math.log2(n))i++;return i-1}
Function A is the Ackermann function. Function a is supposed to be the Inverse Ackermann function. If I implemented it correctly, Wikipedia says that it will not hit 5 until m equals 2^2^2^2^16. I get a StackOverflow around 1000.
Ackermann Function
A=(m,n)=> Function A with parameters m and n
 m? :n+1 If m == 0, return n + 1; else,
 A(m-1,n? :1) If n == 0, return A(m-1,1); else,
 A(m,n-1) return A(m-1,A(m,n-1))
Inverse Ackermann Function
a=(m,n=m,i=1)=>{ Function a with parameter m, with n preinitialized to m and i preinitialized to 1
 while(A(i,m/n|0)<=Math.log2(n)) While the result of A(i, floor(m/n)) is less than log₂ n,
 i++; Increment i
 return i-1} Return i-1
 - 2
 \$\begingroup\$ Isn't Stack Overflow good though? \$\endgroup\$ – NoOneIsHere Jun 21 '17 at 16:49
 - \$\begingroup\$ Your statement that it won't hit 5 until m=2^^7 is wrong. It won't hit 5 until m=2^^7-3, but at 2^^7-1, it is 5. I know that -3 is very small compared to 2^^7, but 5A5=2^^7-3<2^^7. (^^ represents tetration) \$\endgroup\$ – user75200 Jan 13 '18 at 17:46
Pure Evil: Eval
a=lambda x,y:(y<0)*x or eval("a("*9**9**9+"x**.1"+",y-1)"*9**9**9)
print a(input(),9**9**9**9**9)//1
The statement inside the eval creates a string of length 7*1010101010108.57 which consists of nothing but more calls to the lambda function each of which will construct a string of similar length, on and on until eventually y becomes 0. Ostensibly this has the same complexity as the Eschew method below, but rather than relying on if-and-or control logic, it just smashes giant strings together (and the net result is getting more stacks...probably?).
The largest y value I can supply and compute without Python throwing an error is 2 which is already sufficient to reduce an input of max-float into returning 1.
A string of length 7,625,597,484,987 is just too big: OverflowError: cannot fit 'long' into an index-sized integer.
I should stop.
Eschew Math.log: Going to the (10th-)root (of the problem), Score: function effectively indistinguishable from y=1.
Importing the math library is restricting the byte count. Lets do away with that and replace the log(x) function with something roughly equivalent: x**.1 and which costs approximately the same number of characters, but doesn't require the import. Both functions have a sublinear output with respect to input, but x0.1 grows even more slowly. However we don't care a whole lot, we only care that it has the same base growth pattern with respect to large numbers while consuming a comparable number of characters (eg. x**.9 is the same number of characters, but grows more quickly, so there is some value that would exhibit the exact same growth).
Now, what to do with 16 characters. How about...extending our lambda function to have Ackermann Sequence properties? This answer for large numbers inspired this solution.
a=lambda x,y,z:(z<0)*x or y and a(x**.1,z**z,z-1)or a(x**.1,y-1,z)
print a(input(),9,9**9