I was the recipient recently of a bursary from the Irish Writers Union for a one-week visit to Rome (9th-17th September 2018), with a stay at the Hotel Diplomatic. This central location allowed me to make a number of visits on foot or by bus to noteworthy sites such as the Pantheon, Chiesa San Stefano Rotondo, Piazza Novana and the Spanish Steps (with a visit to the adjacent Keats-Shelley House). I also visited the non-catholic cemetery which contains the graves of many leading literary figures, including the aforementioned poets.
I was also able to take in places away from the usual tourist itineraries through the generosity of my counterpart in this year's 2018 writers' exchange project, Anna Maria Robustelli, who had been to Ireland some weeks earlier. I was fortunate to have with me a knowledgeable person prepared to go to considerable lengths to ensure a well-rounded Rome visit. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to her.
My visit was also facilitated by Mr Simone di Conza of FUIS (Federazione Unitaria Italiana Scrittori), the Italian counterpart of our IWU who arranged an event at the FUIS centre, at which I was able to read some of my work in English and in my Italian translations, with which I was greatly assisted by Anna maria. The FUIS president Natale Antonio Rossi chaired our meeting and several Italian writers and a number of writers/translators attended and contributed to the discussions regarding my work and the Irish/Italian writing scene.
My visit to Rome was a rewarding experience and provided several new ideas for my writing, as well as reviving several older ones which I can now look at afresh. Inevitably, writing is a solitary activity and it helps greatly to be in touch with other writers, in my case especially with Italian writers, given my long-term interest in the literature and music of Italy. I have no doubt but that my contact with Anna Maria and the other writers will continue and once again I wish to express my gratitude her and to the IWU and FUIS for a fruitful and very enjoyable week in Rome.
Previous Post: 'It's Time', a Review by Fred Johnston in Poetry Ireland Review 125.


Mark Peterson Arkansas USA (vworks@uaex.edu) has sent us this quaint little story.
At the end of the Second World War, Germany was an "emerging market". It was industrializing rapidly and producing brisk economic growth. Today, Germany is a mature "developed market" that grows slowly if it grows at all. Today, China is the new Germany. The industrial dynamism that produced Germany's post-war success is moving to the East… piece by piece.
One of the largest steel mills in Germany was the ThyssenKrupp mill in the Ruhr Valley, the heart of Germany's industrial area. At the turn of the millennium (2000), mills and factories in Germany began to close, unable to compete with lower wages in the developing world. A Chinese company bought the ThyssenKrupp mill, and soon 1,000 Chinese workers arrived to take it apart – they worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, and dismantled the plant in less than a year, two years faster than the Germans anticipated. The Germans complained, so the Chinese took a day off. Over 5,000 miles away, the Chinese then put together the 275,000 tons of equipment and material, and the plant now produces as much steel as the entire production of China in 1975.
When the Chinese departed, they left the makeshift dormitories and kitchens they occupied for a year neat and clean. There was, however, a single pair of black boots left in one of the dormitories. It carried the brand name of Phoenix, which was also the name of the plant the Chinese just took apart. The boots also carried the label "Made in China".
The Cockatoo has a Cluster ScoreCard which is basically an advance on Porter's Competitiveness Diamond – we use it to provide an objective analysis of a cluster, to highlight deficiencies, and to formulate Action Agendas.
We analysed Adelaide's advanced manufacturing (AM) industry cluster in 2006, and it is still very accurate according to local players. The cluster rates at 70.2 out of a maximum 100 points on our Cluster ScoreCard, which encompasses 10 performance criteria. Excerpts from the analysis are as follows.
§ Reasonable concentration of companies. Adelaide ranks 3rd behind Melbourne and Sydney. The core comprises 25-30 companies, near vehicle manufacturers and Technology Park.
§ Only 25% have significant global supply chains. Moderate beacon for investors, technology, venture capital. Good technical back-up, but banks are not attuned to financing needs.
§ Adelaide is an attractive industrial location due to its compactness and the good road, rail, sea and air services. Substantial flat land, and building costs are very competitive.
§ Considerable R&D and education infrastructure – arguably an over-supply of this infrastructure.
§ Elizabeth and Mawson Lakes are attracting interest because of examples of inter-firm collaboration.
§ Social capital quite strong. Economic adjustment since 1990s led to stronger sense of community.
§ The majority of the companies and development agencies don't think of it as an industry.
§ Adelaide's key industries are seen as automotive, defence, electronics, information technology and perhaps food processing. AM firms are seen as suppliers to these industries.
§ The roles of the various development agencies are not understood by the industry.
§ Other threats are shortages of skilled labour, and low cost-competition from Asia.
As a result, companies are diversifying into medical equipment, defence, food processing & mining.
Australia's minerals export boom to China did not happen overnight. In 1986, our Ambassador to China convinced Canberra to organise a series of technical missions to advise the Chinese on the best technology for their ageing lead and zinc smelters, alumina refineries, steel mills etc.
My job was to be the government person on the non-ferrous mission, along with the mining engineers and metallurgists from CRA, Western Mining, BHP, CSIRO etc. Eight of us literally bounced into Beijing, and for the next 21 days (except Sundays) the mission members gave free advice to the management of sixty plants across the length and breadth of China.
We saw unimaginable amounts of machinery, concrete, ores and metals, all the while advising on what type of minerals processing technology could deliver better productivity. Much of the plant was old Russian or local stuff, so Team Australia was merrily recommending they purchase particular equipment from Sweden, USA, Canada, Japan and Italy. Strange, I thought.
After a week, we were knackered – lack of sleep, long train trips, cat-sized rats around our feet, copious amounts of food and Mao-tai (like metho mixed with soy sauce). After two weeks, we were fading, and one mission member was even packed off home. After three weeks, we emerged at Guangzhou in a state worse than knackered.
We recuperated in Hong Kong, and finalised our mission report for subsequent translation and dispatch to the Chinese agencies. When I got back to Canberra, my big boss called me in for a de-brief. He was less than impressed when I said not to expect a spike in exports of Australian mining equipment to China. He stared at the far wall for an eternity, and then asked why I was even on the mission (the same thought had crossed my mind somewhere around Zhuzhou).
Those were the days when the big mining companies literally told our equipment suppliers to 'get out of the way', and they in return lobbied government for local content arrangements. The federal agencies were similarly aligned. Indeed, Australian equipment sales counted for nought with my hard-nosed mission members. No wonder they created enormous goodwill with our Chinese hosts.
While we never sold much mining technology to the Chinese, they began to make significant investments in Australia – the Portland smelter was one of the early investments. Then the massive sales of iron ore, gas, nickel, lead, zinc, copper began to take shape.
Lessons? – You can't beat mutual self interest. The Chinese are patient and gracious people. Our foreign service is seriously professional, but we failed to roll our mining equipment into the equation.
Paul Frater, Director, Enterprise & Innovation, NZ Trade & Enterprise, Wellington.
Responsible for the identification of mature NZ R&D (private & public resourced), triaging it for its possibility to be built into a technology platform for NZ industry under a Technology Innovation Partnership Programme (TIPP). For priority projects, TIPP will undertake a range of initiatives including assistance with enterprise formation, feasibility and scoping studies, Technology Road Maps and market-catalysing demonstration projects. The aim is to build innovation systems around the technology and help the core NZ firms become members of the innovation leadership group of key global value chains.
1. High Temperature Superconductivity (HTS). A series of technologies are being built upon this NZ-developed IP, which is now integrated with technology developed under research programs resourced by the US Dept of Energy: equipment using high strength magnetic fields (e.g. NMR); HTS cables; cryo-cooling; specialist components incl. current leads & stable power supply systems.
2. JAIN SLEE Industry Forum (JSIF). JAIN SLEE is a telco middleware that integrates the management of telecom network traffic from different technologies (e.g. mobile, internet, fibre, copper etc) and executes the inter-company call administration, billing and reconciliation. The core company is Open Cloud (Cambridge UK, Madrid & Wellington bases). JSIF has been assisting other NZ ICT firms to exploit this market leadership to build their own international applications businesses. The software handles high volumes of simultaneous activity on a fault tolerant/high reliability basis. Open Cloud has activities in Europe, North & Latin America, Asia and Oceania.
3. Titanium Alloy (Titap) Powder Metals. This is a new, low cost, environmentally friendly powder metal technology, which avoids the difficulties of handling the pure metal form of Titanium (explosive in certain situations). The alloy powder process is able to produce the strongest form of Titap alloys, the gamma phase. This technology opens many new market segments for a wide range of engineering firms, including bio-medical, coatings and specialist product forming. The opportunity is being taken by NZ firms to introduce a range of new powder metal consolidation technologies into their businesses, expanding their production capabilities & capacities.
§ 2nd & 3rd generation bio fuels, including algae-based & industrial gas exhaust streams.
§ integrated sensor technology systems, including environmental sensing.
§ nano-pore technology, with in-service aperture adjustment.
The TIPP program is based on the establishment of trust relationships and the building of partnerships. International partnerships are a key element to the program, and strong links have been established with technology partners in Europe, the US & Asia. The 3 key projects are now in a position to explore a new level of international collaboration, and are well placed to make a significant innovation contribution to a number of international industries.
From our archives, we have accessed a very interesting overview of Louisiana's approach to this industry. It was highlighted by at The Competitiiveness Institute conference in Tucson a couple of years back by David 'Preacher' Dodd, the US economic development and cluster expert. Herewith a summary of his riveting story (excuse the pun) and please note that this was pre-Katrina.
What happens when cluster logic takes hold organically? In early 1998, the shipbuilding boom in the bayou region of southern Louisiana was creating serious problems that posed a threat to the future of the industry – based in the local government areas of St Mary, La Fouche, Terre Bonne and Assumption.
Due to robust growth in the shipbuilding and oil/gas industries, a serious skills shortage had developed. The subsequent poaching of staff, active and strident competitiveness, bidding wars, development of "fly in- fly out" labor teams that gave nothing back to the resident communities, and the impact on labor costs had all the earmarks of serious industry and community dislocation.
In addition, the geography of this wide marshy area of the Mississippi Delta meant there was physically no room for expansion to service the burgeoning demand. This was compounded by the cyclical nature of these businesses, which caused only very cautious investment capital to be available.
Vic LaFonte is the economic development professional of the South Louisiana Economic Council. Anticipating serious economic impact, he contacted me to brainstorm some solutions. The suggested solution was to motivate the metal working sector in Northern Louisiana to join forces to meet the demand in the south. The north still had under-utilised capacity from the 1980's oil and gas boom. There were still skilled workers in the region.
The plan was to integrate clustering dynamics to form a network in the north to respond to the need in the south, and nurture collaboration between the two networks so they could develop the trust and identify common needs that would accelerate cluster development. Using funds from the Department of Economic Development, the project started.
The first meeting was at Minden and in attendance were 15 firms, whose employment ranged from 10 to 500. The atmosphere was conservative and guarded. There was an identified concern about being in the same room with competitors to discuss industry development opportunities. However, after careful explanation, a second meeting was agreed at which the issues would become more specific.
The second meeting saw 12 firms in attendance. It was polite, but no progress until one business owner, Brad Reynolds of Reynolds Machinery, clicked to the concept. He told his peers that he was sick to death of each of them trying to cut each others' throats when the real competition wasn't in this room but from the world market. He told them he was "in" and he hoped they all would join him.
This was the turning point. The others quickly agreed to a meeting with the southern shipbuilding industry sector. A membership agreement was drafted and reviewed at a 3rd meeting. Before the meeting, the industry hit a serious downturn…the pressure that created the opportunity was released – this removed the opportunity to fill a gap, since there was no longer a gap in demand for labor and resources.
Members of the initial group, having formed to identify broader opportunity, continued their dialogue after external facilitation stopped. They truly understood the need to collaborate. They formed the Ark-La-Tex Businesses Consortium by teaming 3 companies. Together they have weathered a cyclical industry and are quoted as saying "the key ingredient is trust".
This is a useful example of facilitation being a catalyst to cluster development but the real core activities MUST be driven from within.
Corporate R&D labs used to be the key for companies to create competitive advantage.
But now innovation is moving across the globe.
That's why Harvard Business School professor, Alan MacCormack, believes that a real source of competitive advantage is skill in managing innovation partnerships.
Innovation is increasingly driven through collaborative teams due to product complexity, availability of a low-cost but highly skilled labor pool, and advances in development tools.
Collaboration adds to the top and bottom lines by shortening development lead times, increasing capacity, and facilitating access to skills, capabilities, and IP that a firm does not possess internally.
Many efforts at innovation collaboration fail because they begin with the goal of lowering costs.
Successful collaboration programs develop a strategy aligned to their business needs. They also organize for effective collaboration and invest in building collaborative capabilities.
Previously many companies secured competitive advantage by investing in internal R&D.
But today "not invented here" is becoming a badge of honor…and a source of competitive advantage.
Go to Innovation through Global Collaboration: A New Source of Competitive Advantage. Source: Harvard Business School, via Superfactory.
From our archives, we have retrieved a very instructive note from Tijs Creutzberg, editor of the slick OREDI newsletter – part of the Program on Globalization and Regional Innovation Systems, Munk Centre for International Studies, Univ. Toronto. He gives some good examples of collaborative industry initiatives in Europe and Canada that could stir the interest of readers.
Multimedia pole in Montbeliard in Franche-Compte (France) – Over the last decade, a territory better known for its automotive industry has developed competencies and employment in multimedia. Each year, over 150 international designers and artists are hosted in the Montbeliard area to develop their projects. The local universities support developments in the engineering of virtual applications. This is a good example of economic modernisation of existing activities by exploiting synergies.
Global Village in the Arcadian Peninsular (Canada) – the economy of the Acadian peninsula (francophone rural region) depends on seasonal activities. The population lives in small villages with very few services. An ICT-based program offers "intelligent integrated services" concerning the economy, education, governance, health services and francophone networking in Canada and beyond.
ICT for development of peripheral regions (Denmark) – the Danish Ministry for Science, Technology and Innovation launched the "North Digital Program" to develop the ICT industry – 89 projects have been selected, covering digital administration, e-learning and qualification, culture and multi-media, industrial development. The program has helped make the region a dynamic learning territory.
Naval industry, Haute-Normandie (France) – 24 vertically linked enterprises decided to join forces following the loss of their principal client company in 1999. With the support of the trade unions and public authorities, they created the Industrial and Naval Centre of Normandie. The collective structure allows them to exploit the knowhow acquired by their employees.
Biotech cluster (Germany) – in 1996, the Federal Ministry for Research launched the Bio Regio program, and the Rhine Neckar triangle (Bade Wurtemberg Länder) has benefited. On the basis of its scientific resources and of existing enterprises, this cluster has now become one of the most creative in the field of biotechnology.
Mechanical sector cluster – transnational partnership between Tunisia & Languedoc Roussillon (France) – cooperation is underway between enterprises in the Metal Alliance Club for Industrial Development (CAMDIB) of the Beziers Region and some Tunisian SMEs. Mutual advantages derive from the sharing of markets and through the development of new opportunities on emerging markets.
A US colleague recently asked me where the main investment hubs were in Australia. She said she knew about Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, but after cruising the various websites she was more confused than never. A week later a chap from Switzerland asked roughly the same question.
I replied that there's no consensus or considered view on this. However it got me thinking – investment is the key to economic development. So could we develop a framework of investment hubs that could be marketed to local and foreign investors, both large and small? In coming months, I will address all states and territories.
Here are my initial impressions of the competitive advantages held by the main hot spots, and the themes around which investment hubs could be positioned. First up is Queensland. The key point here is that the state government is pretty aggressive about its ED agendas, and is one of the more 'regional thinking' states.
Let's start at the Top End and work south. I figure there are 10 latent investment hubs there.
Cairns – where the competitive advantage lies in co-location of tropical reef and rainforests; international airport; proximity to Asia and the Pacific Islands.
Hub angles – sustainable tourism; tropical health & medicine; aviation (including Outback); marine industries; international aid.
Townsville – access to Barrier Reef; Defence bases; Mt. Isa connection; international airport.
Hub angles – minerals processing; defence technology; tropical health & medicine; aviation.
Mackay – proximity to coal and mineral resources; access to Barrier Reef.
Hub angles – minerals processing; mining technology; export of containerised food and agricultural product.
Gladstone – minerals processing & energy facilities; port infrastructure; civic buildings.
Hub angles – as for Mackay, but with additional energy aspect.
Sunshine Coast – natural beauty; environmental icons; educated, well-heeled population; lifestyle image.
Brisbane – Australia's third city; climate; competitive cost of living; excellent airport and adjacent precinct.
Hub angles – financial services; aviation; ICT; biotechnology and wider life sciences; education; logistics; construction.
Ipswich Road corridor – engineering capability; competitively-priced land; access to Brisbane port and airport.
Hub angles – heavy engineering; building and construction; logistics.
Toowoomba – service centre for Darling Downs; climate; rural lifestyle.
Hub angles – food processing; agricultural and water equipment & services; environmental management; light engineering.
Logan Corridor – access to airport & port; manufacturing capability.
Hub angles – light engineering; food processing; logistics.
Gold Coast – natural beauty; tourism icons; lifestyle and entertainment.
Hub angles – as for Sunshine Coast, but wider-scale e.g. marine engineering, medical services.


In this Stashin' with Stephanie video, I show you how to take a fat quarter bundle and turn it into a fun NO Y-Seam star quilt.
I walk you through how to cut 60 degree diamonds and triangles from your fat quarters, sew them together with no fuss at all and pin to get perfect points every time.
This pattern is easily customizable, since two fat quarters with make two blocks. So the pattern includes fabric requirements and cutting instructions for lap, twin, full and queen sized versions of this quilt. I made a full-sized version using 20 fat quarters for this video.
The fabric used for the quilt pictured is Gypsy, by Jessica VanDenburgh for Windham Fabrics. The quilt shown is the full size version.
The link to the PDF pattern will be sent to your email with your Completed receipt immediately following your purchase. Check your spam folder if you don't receive it. You can also access your pattern after purchase by logging into your My Account page and clicking on the "Downloads" link. If you have any troubles accessing your download, please email adam@quiltaddictsanonymous.com and he will send you your pattern link via email. Thank you!


text:
A Dream with Wheels
May 3, 2017 by Byron Writers Festival
Local author and Byron Writers Festival board member Jesse Blackadder shares the history of StoryBoard, after the unveiling of the magical bus which will bring a touring creative writing workshop to Northern Rivers kids.
In 2014, Dave Eggers – author, storyteller, publisher and radical ambassador for kids' creativity (not to mention mind behind the best book title ever: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) visited Sydney and spoke about his work on youth literacy in the inspiring organisation 826 Valencia.
It galvanised an idea that had already been stirring inside me. I dreamt of starting up a kids' creative writing centre – like 826 Valencia, Sydney Story Factory and 100 Story Building in Melbourne – but here in Northern NSW. I was the first author to ever visit St Joseph's primary school in Casino, so I knew first hand how hungry those kids were for stories and creativity. On indicators including social competence, communication skills and general knowledge, Northern Rivers kids scored lower than other parts of NSW. But our regional schools didn't have a culture or tradition of author visits.
I was on the Board of Byron Writers Festival. At our annual visioning day I presented the idea and got the board's blessing to pursue it. I started a small working group and one of the volunteers – Hayley Katzen – put forward what became the founding idea of StoryBoard. We didn't need a creative writing shopfront, much as we loved the crazy shops fronting the creative writing centres: the Martian Embassy (Sydney Story Factory), The Pirate Supply Store (826 Valencia, San Francisco), the Greater Boston Bigfoot Research Institute (826 Boston) and Hoxton Street Monster Supplies (Ministry of Stories, London).
In a widely spread region, we needed a way to take authors and illustrators directly into our local schools to run the kinds of workshops that these organisations offer.
The idea of the StoryBoard bus was borne – a magical story bus embodying creativity and the 'weirdness' that Dave Eggers says is the key to making these places work for kids. We took the dream to Byron Writers Festival kids' tent and asked them to dream with us – resulting in sketches of a five story bus that farted fairy floss.
The real work began in 2015 – raising funds to make the vision a reality. Countless grant applications led to some seed funding from Arts NSW – enough to run a small pilot. In 2016 Byron Writers Festival appointed Coralie Tapper as the project manager, and we planned 25 school visits with two brilliant kids authors from the region – Tristan Bancks and Samantha Turnbull. StoryBoard was a reality- but without wheels.
More funding applications. A couple of local politicians got behind our efforts: Ben Franklin MLC and Justine Elliot MP – thanks to their efforts, we raised enough money to buy a bus and fit it out. And then, just before Christmas the news came – we were awarded a $300,000 grant from Catalyst over three years. StoryBoard was a reality.
"Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope."
We had wheels and we had to get up to speed fast for 2017. Coralie doubled her work hours, we called for design proposals to transform the iron grey Hastings Valley Community Transport bus into StoryBoard, and chose an incredible design presented by animator Justine Wallace. She set to work, and we began calling for authors, volunteer tutors and schools.
Last Friday it all came together with the launch of the StoryBoard bus in all her glory, by special guest Leigh Hobbs, author/illustrator and Australian Children's Laureate. This year the bus will make more than 100 school visits – all of them free. Our authors and illustrators are paid at Australian Society of Authors rates.
Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General, says: "Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right… the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential."
It is the realisation of a dream for me. Can't wait to see how StoryBoard ignites the imagination of our local kids – and a few adults too.
Originally published on Jesse Blackadder's blog. Read more from Jesse at https://jesseblackadder.me
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


There is always so much going on at Voice Ministries. Here is just a glimpse of some of the events we have had captured digitally. If you have a photo or video from any event at Voice, please feel free to contact the web administrator. Enjoy!


text:
Internal (Tentative) Planning Calendar
TASC Articles by Year
Amazing Creation Podcast
Triangle Association for the Science of Creation
Triangle Association
for the Science of Creation
TASC meets every 2nd Thursday, at 7pm, in Room 237, Providence Baptist Church, 6339 Glenwood Ave, Raleigh, NC 27612 across from Pleasant Valley Promenade and Townridge Square shopping centers, north of Crabtree Valley Mall.
TASC Articles
Red Shift Riddles
David Plaisted PhD
Shifts in the lines of absorption in the spectrum of visible light
When astronomers view distant objects through the telescope, they find that the more distant objects have a larger red shift. This means that their light is shifted towards the red end of the spectrum; in other words, the wavelengths have become longer than for similar objects seen close to us. They interpret this as meaning that these distant objects are receding from us and that objects farther away are receding from us faster. It's a little like the Doppler effect that makes sound have a lower pitch when the source is traveling away from us. The faster an object travels, the larger the change in pitch. However, some properties of the red shift call this interpretation into question; these are the subject of the article that follows. One such property is the quantization of red shifts. They seem to occur in abrupt steps rather than continuously, which has interesting implications for the study of the universe. This suggests that the red shift may be caused by something other than the expansion of the universe, at least in part.
Note: The following is taken directly from an article concerning this phenomenon entitled "Quantized Galaxy Redshifts" by William G. Tifft and W. John Cocke, University of Arizona, Sky & Telescope Magazine, January 1987, pages 19–21.
As the turn of the next century approaches, we again find an established science in trouble trying to explain the behavior of the natural world. This time the problem is in cosmology, the study of the structure and "evolution" of the universe as revealed by its largest physical systems, galaxies and clusters of galaxies. A growing body of observations suggests that one of the most fundamental assumptions of cosmology is wrong.
Most galaxies' spectral lines are shifted toward the red, or longer wavelength, end of the spectrum. Edwin Hubble showed in 1929 that the more distant the galaxy, the larger this "redshift". Astronomers traditionally have interpreted the redshift as a Doppler shift induced as the galaxies recede from us within an expanding universe. For that reason, the redshift is usually expressed as a velocity in kilometers per second.
One of the first indications that there might be a problem with this picture came in the early 1970's. William G. Tifft, University of Arizona noticed a curious and unexpected relationship between a galaxy's morphological classification (Hubble type), brightness, and red shift. The galaxies in the Coma Cluster, for example, seemed to arrange themselves along sloping bands in a redshift vs. brightness diagram. Moreover, the spirals tended to have higher redshifts than elliptical galaxies. Clusters other than Coma exhibited the same strange relationships.
By far the most intriguing result of these initial studies was the suggestion that galaxy redshifts take on preferred or "quantized" values. First revealed in the Coma Cluster redshift v.s. brightness diagram, it appeared as if redshifts were in some way analogous to the energy levels within atoms.
These discoveries led to the suspicion that a galaxy's redshift may not be related to its Hubble velocity alone. If the redshift is entirely or partially non-Doppler (that is, not due to cosmic expansion), then it could be an intrinsic property of a galaxy, as basic a characteristic as its mass or luminosity. If so, might it truly be quantized?
Clearly, new and independent data were needed to carry this investigation further. The next step involved examining the rotation curves of individual spiral galaxies. Such curves indicate how the rotational velocity of the material in the galaxy's disk varies with distance from the center.
Several well-studied galaxies, including M51 and NGC 2903, exhibited two distinct redshifts. Velocity breaks, or discontinuities, occurred at the nuclei of these galaxies. Even more fascinating was the observation that the jump in redshift between the spiral arms always tended to be around 72 kilometers per second, no matter which galaxy was considered. Later studies indicated that velocity breaks could also occur at intervals that were 1/2, 1/3, or 1/6 of the original 72 km per second value.
At first glance it might seem that a 72 km per second discontinuity should have been obvious much earlier, but such was not the case. The accuracy of the data then available was insufficient to show the effect clearly. More importantly, there was no reason to expect such behavior, and therefore no reason to look for it. But once the concept was defined, the ground work was laid for further investigations.
The first papers in which this startling new evidence was presented were not warmly embraced by the astronomical community. Indeed, an article in the Astrophysical Journal carried a rare note from the editor pointing out that the referees "neither could find obvious errors with the analysis nor felt that they could enthusiastically endorse publication." Recognizing the far-reaching cosmological implications of the single-galaxy results, and undaunted by criticism from those still favoring the conventional view, the analysis was extended to pairs of galaxies.
Two galaxies physically associated with one another offer the ideal test for redshift quantization; they represent the simplist possible system. According to conventional dynamics, the two objects are in orbital motion about each other. Therefore, any difference in redshift between the galaxies in a pair should merely reflect the difference in their orbital velocities along the same line of sight. If we observe many pairs covering a wide range of viewing angles and orbital geometries, the expected distribution of redshift differences should be a smooth curve. In other words, if redshift is solely a Doppler effect, then the differences between the measured values for members of pairs should show no jumps.
But this is not the situation at all. In various analyses the differences in redshift between pairs of galaxies tend to be quantized rather than continuously distributed. The redshift differences bunch up near multiples of 72 km per second. Initial tests of this result were carried out using available visible-light spectra, but these data were not sufficiently accurate to confirm the discovery with confidence. All that changed in 1980 when Steven Peterson, using telescopes at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and Arecibo, published a radio survey of binary galaxies made in the 21-cm emission of neutral hydrogen.
Wavelength shifts can be pegged much more precisely for the 21cm line than for lines in the visible portion of the spectrum. Specifically, redshifts at 21 cm can be measured with an accuracy better than the 20 km per second required to detect clearly a 72 km per second periodicity.
Red shift differences between pairs group around 72, 144 and 216 km per second. Probability theory tells us that there are only a few chances in a thousand that such clumping is accidental. In 1982 an updated study of radio pairs and a review of close visible pairs demonstrated this same periodic pattern at similarly high significance levels.
Radio astronomers have examined groups of galaxies as well as pairs. There is no reason why the quantization should not apply to larger collections of galaxies, so redshift differentials within small groups were collected and analyzed. Again a strongly periodic pattern was confirmed.
The tests described so far have been limited to small physical systems; each group or pair occupies only a tiny region of the sky. Such tests say nothing about the properties of redshifts over the entire sky. Experiments on a very large scale are certainly possible, but they are much more difficult to carry out.
One complication arises from having to measure galaxy redshifts from a moving platform. The motion of the solar system, assuming a doppler interpretation, adds a real component to every redshift. When objects lie close together in the sky, as with pairs and groups, this solar motion cancels out when one redshift is subtracted from another, but when galaxies from different regions of the sky are compared, such a simple adjustment can no longer be made. Nor can we apply the difference technique; when more than a few galaxies are involved, there are simply too many combinations. Instead we must perform a statistical test using redshifts themselves.
As these first all-sky redshift studies began, there was no assurance that the quantization rules already discovered for pairs and groups would apply across the universe. After all, galaxies that were physically related were no longer being compared. Once again it was necessary to begin with the simplest available systems. A small sample of dwarf irregular galaxies spread around the sky was selected.
Dwarf irregular galaxies are low-mass systems that have a significant fraction of their mass tied up in neutral hydrogen gas. They have little organized internal or rotational motion and so present few complications in the interpretation of their redshifts. In these modest collections of stars we might expect any underlying quantum rules to be the least complex. Early 20th century physicists chose a similar approach when they began their studies of atomic structure; they first looked at hydrogen, the simplest atom.
The analysis of dwarf irregulars was revised and improved when an extensive 21-cm redshift survey of dwarf galaxies was published by J. Richard Fisher and R. Brent Tully. Once the velocity of the solar system was accounted for, the irregulars in the Fisher-Tully Catalogue displayed an extraordinary clumping of redshifts. Instead of spreading smoothly over a range of values, the redshifts appeared to fall into discrete bins separated by intervals of 24 km per second, just 1/3 of the original 72 km per second interval. The Fisher-Tully redshifts are accurate to about 5 km per second. At this small level of uncertainty the likelihood that such clumping would randomly occur is just a few parts in 100,000.
Large-scale redshift quantization needed to be confirmed by analyzing redshifts of an entirely different class of objects. Galaxies in the Fisher-Tully catalogue that showed large amounts of rotation and interval motion (the opposite extreme from the dwarf irregulars) were studied.
Remarkably, using the same solar-motion correction as before, the galaxies' redshifts again bunched around certain specific values. But this time the favored redshifts were separated by exactly 1/2 of the basic 72 km per second interval. This is clearly evident. Even allowing for this change to a 36 km per second interval, the chance of accidentally producing such a preference is less than 4 in 1000. It is therefore concluded that at least some classes of galaxy redshifts are quantized in steps that are simple fractions of 72 km per second.
Current cosmological models cannot explain this grouping of galaxy redshifts around discrete values across the breadth of the universe. As further data are amassed the discrepancies from the conventional picture will only worsen. If so, dramatic changes in our concepts of large-scale gravitation, the origin and "evolution" of galaxies, and the entire formulation of cosmology would be required.
Several ways can be conceived to explain this quantization. As noted earlier, a galaxys' redshift may not be a Doppler shift, it is the currently commonly accepted interpretation of the red shift, but there can be and are other interpretations. A galaxys' redshift may be a fundamental property of the galaxy. Each may have a specific state governed by laws, analogues to those in quantum mechanics that specify which energy states atoms may occupy. Since there is relatively little blurring on the quantization between galaxies, any real motions would have to be small in this model. Galaxies would not move away from one another; the universe would be static instead of expanding.
This model obviously has implications for our understanding of redshift patterns within and among galaxies. In particular it may solve the so-called "missing mass" problem. Conventional analysis of cluster dynamics suggest that there is not enough luminous matter to gravitationally bind moving galaxies to the system.
‹ 2011 up How Did This Happen? ›
In the Beginning - Shang Di? (4)
Josephus and other Ancient Scholars on the Biblical Flood (4)
The Ancient Jewish Wedding: A Missing Link in Christianity (3)
What Scientists REALLY Say about God, Creation and Evolution (3)
TASC typically meets the 2nd Thursday monthly, at 7:00 pm (except some Decembers) at:
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TASC Meeting
Sep 12 2019 - 7:00pm
If you would like to make a donation to help the work of TASC, you can do so here.
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MUŻA is located at Auberge d'Italie, a historic site in Valletta, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where the first Malta Museum was established in 1924. Read more here.
Central Holidays is offering a series of "Europe City Stays Sale" specials from now through mid-March. Destinations include Naples, Barcelona, Madrid and more.


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Smith roars into British Open contention
By Australian Associated Press
Australian golfer Cameron Smith has lived up to his promise and roared into British Open contention at Royal Portrush.
Smith vowed to find another gear after his first-round 70 and did just that with a spectacular seven-hole stretch either side of the turn on Friday.
Birdies on the seventh, eighth, 10th 12th and 13th holes sent the 25-year-old rocketing up the leaderboard into a share of fifth place at six under for the championship.
Smith's scorching five-under-par 66, ignited by a birdie on the opening hole, left him two strokes behind American clubhouse leader JB Holmes.
"A few putts went in today, which was nice. Yesterday felt like I played the same or maybe even a touch better with the longer stuff and not quite as many dropped," Smith said.
"I was just feeling really good with the putter so I just knew if I gave myself anything inside 20 foot, I'd have a decent look at it.
"That was kind of the game plan, not necessarily so attacking today. Just give myself a chance and some of them went in."
The world No.42 is bidding to become the first Australian to win The Open since fellow Queenslander Greg Norman at Royal St George's in 1993.
Smith was born less than a month after Norman won his second Open.
"It's always good to be in contention, whether it's a regular tournament or a major championship - an Open Championship definitely, one that I typically haven't played my greatest golf in," he said.
"It's just nice to get that feedback from everyone else that I'm playing decent golf again."
Smith is Australia's only remaining hope of ending Australia's 26-year Open title drought after Jason Day inexplicably collapsed after being right in the mix for most of his second round.
With three birdies in his first 11 holes, Day climbed into the top 10 on the leaderboard before capitulating.
The former world No.1 went bogey, double, bogey, bogey, bogey in a diabolical run from the 13th to 17th holes to plummet out of red figures to plus two for The Open.
He was in serious danger of missing the halfway cut, which was projected at one over.
Adam Scott and Marc Leishman crashed out of contention with disappointing first-round 78s.
Leishman's second-round 72 left him with no hope of making the halfway cut at eight over.
Rookie Jake McLeod can also pack his bags despite backing up his opening five-over 76 with an even-par 71 on Friday.
After a horror 83 on Thursday, fellow major championship debutant Dimi Papadatos returned a respectable 72 on Friday to finish at 13 over par.


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0611 3607 01-855-577-94891-877-288-30371-877-288-3037
Call at 0611 3607 0Call at 1-855-577-9489Call at 1-877-288-3037Call at 1-877-288-3037
St. Andres Monastery & Robla Winery
Argostoli, Kefalonia, Greece
Prices are shown in EUR
€ 43 08
See how Argostoli has flourished since the 1953 earthquake by visiting a largely spared monastery, an esteemed winery and a village that has been almost completely rebuilt.
Your tour commences with a brief drive inland to the St. Andrews Monastery, which was founded in the 16th century. It's one of the few buildings around the capital of Argostoli to survive the earthquake of 1953. Ironically, the earthquake had one positive effect; it cracked the monastery's walls and ceiling, exposing ancient frescoes that are now considered the island's greatest artistic treasures. Still, their significance is often eclipsed by a bizarre relic housed at the monastery that is alleged to be the sole of St. Andrew's right foot.
Next, you'll tour the nearby Robola winery, which produces a rare variety of wines using white Robola grapes that have thrived on the island since the time of Homer. Some of the winery's most famous vintages include the iconic white Robola of Kefalonia, a delicate Melambus and a dry, ruby-colored Linos. All of the wines have a distinct taste that reflects Argostoli's mild climate and predominately limestone soil.
Continuing on, you'll visit Kourkoumelata village, much of which was rebuilt after the earthquake. Financed largely by a local family of Greek shipping magnates, the reconstruction included homes, government buildings and a new cultural center. Despite its relative newness, Kourkoumelata has retained its lovely rural charm. Following some free time here to stroll about and admire the sweeping views of the sea, you'll rejoin your coach and travel back to Argostoli, making a brief photo stop at the Castle of St. George en route.
Note: This tour includes over 1 hour of moderate walking plus any additional walking at the guests' discretion during free time in Kourkoumelata. There will be uneven and natural surfaces to negotiate as well as some steps. The tour is not available to wheelchair guests and those with mobility concerns are cautioned to carefully evaluate their personal level of stamina and ability. Weather appropriate clothing, hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, and flat, comfortable walking shoes are recommended.
Scenic & City Tours
Local Food-Wine Tasting
0611 3607 0
Snorkel Safari
Turquoise Bay VIP All Inclusive Beach Break


It's time we question the vested interests of people and media who promote 'Islamophobia' and say that Muslims are terrorists and that Islam is a terrorist religion.
What a shame it is to live in a world where each bomb that explodes, each fire that burns and each cry that is heard is credited not to a group of heartless hyenas but the followers of a particular religion- a religion that preaches peace – Islam. How do we tell the world that this word, 'Islamophobia', that was coined in the United States of America after the 9/11 attack is actually an exaggeration of threats faced in the world today? Two well recognised Islamist groups that are known for terrorising the world in the name of Holy Jihad are Al Qaeda and Taliban. But how many of us are aware that only 6% of the attacks that the world faces today are by Muslims?
A minority group in the States named Latino is a major threat to the world. They comprise of Roman Catholics who are descendants of people of Spanish speaking countries of South and Central America and Iberian peninsula. They were responsible for the violence from Puerto Rican separatist groups in 1980.
Coming to the followers of Judaism, the Jewish extremists proliferated due to Jewish political and religious movement called Zealotry. This was the 1st example of terrorism. They are the creators of mayhem in the holy lands of Israel and Palestine.
There are some people as well who are in the forefront of establishing a socio-economic order by common ownership of means of production and consumption. They are often referred to as The Communists.
The heart wrenching Cambodian genocide was the deed of Communists. From 1975 to 1979, Khmer Rouge, a heinous Communist regime which came to power due to regional instability, wiped out 21% of Cambodia's population. S-21, one of the notorious Cambodian prisons was known as a torture and interrogation centre. Also, most Cambodian villages and prisons had a killing field, the place where those who were sentenced to death were taken for execution. They were ruthlessly made to dig their own graves. And do you know what is the most inhumane of this all? Only 5 people have been brought to justice for the Cambodian Genocide.
Now, turning to the Left Wing Extremist Groups who are attributed to the Marxist-Leninist terrorism, we get to see that their actions are meant to overthrow the capitalist systems all over the world and replace them with socialist societies. The Naxalites in India and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (a group of the Sri Lankan Tamils demanding a separate state) are well known examples.
Who would have known that a day would come when racist ideology would give birth to the concept of White Supremacy. This view is cornered on the belief that the whites are superior in race and blood, far ahead of the browns and the blacks. A study by The New American Foundation reveals that the White Americans are one of the biggest threats breathing on the US soil. Almost twice as many people have died in attacks by Right Wing groups in America.
There are enthusiasts all around the globe who are concerned with the health, safety and psychological wellness of animals. They enrol themselves in what are commonly known as 'Animal Welfare Societies'. These groups can sometimes take violent forms. One such is the Animal Liberation Front- an international, leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal rights. They pose a threat to the peace of the world.
So do you see? Do you? If you have been a stereotypical critique, it's time you change your mindset towards people who wake to the melodious sound of the Azaan, the people who abide by the peace keeping principles listed down in the Holy Quran and the Hadith, the ones who believe in a different way to communicate with the Supreme Power.


I have two shrubs in front of my townhouse and they are attracting lots of flies, and I mean lots. I do not know what they are, or what I can do. If anyone knows anything about shrubs, please help. My best description of the shrubs with the problem:The shrubs have white small blooms at the ends of their branches the seem to have like 5 or 6 small balls radiating out from the stem. The blooms are small and the shrub is covered in them.


Sources are two manuscript copies of the score. The first one is located at Conservatorio di Musica S. Pietro a Majella, Napoli (IT\ICCU\MSM \0092509), the second one is available at SLUB, Dresden (Mus.3262-F-3). The second source was used for this transcription.


Ylang Ylang – Harmonizes and balances male-female energies. It increases sexual energy in both men and women.
How – Topically on the inner thighs, Vita Flex points, wrists or thymus. Aromatically you can diffuse or inhale from the bottle.
Orange – Effects areas for feelings of pleasure, creativity and sensuality. Helps frigidity.
How – Topically on the inner thighs, Vita Flex points or wrists. Aromatically you can diffuse or inhale from the bottle.
Clary Sage – Contains phytoestrogens that increase estrogen levels which increases mood and lubrication. Balances hormones during the monthly cycle.
How – Topically on the forearems, Vita Flex points on the ankle, wrists, nape of neck, or below navel to the pubic bone. Aromatically you can diffuse or inhale from the bottle.
Joy – Stimulates the brain and senses for love and affection.
How – Topically on the inner thighs, below navel to pubic bone, heart, thymus, temples, wrists. Aromatically you can diffuse or inhale from the bottle.
How – Topically on the inner thighs, Vita Flex points, edge of ears, nape of neck, crease of cleavage, female pleasure spot (diluted). Aromatically you can diffuse or inhale from the bottle.
Shutran – Formulated for a man to wear to turn on his lady. Full of chemical constituents that stimulate a woman.
How – Daily. Topically on the forearms, inner thigh, male shaft, Vita Flex points. Aromatically you can diffuser or inhale from the bottle.
In addition to this blend, there are also some oils that are great for circulation and firmness. Idaho Blue Spruce and Goldenrod are both used in this way. You can apply it to the man's inner thigh or to the lower male shaft and surrounded area (diluted).
If you would like to learn more on this topic and get some great recipes, you can buy the Lucy Libido book here or on Amazon. There's even a Facebook group with information from Lucy herself, including a Lucy Libido class. There are more oils than I have listed here that can help with intimacy and libido so continue to research, listen to some classes, read some books and have a good time!


Family owned and operated Tampa plumbing company proudly serving residential and commercial plumbing customers in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties. We are committed to providing our customers with professional, timely, and quality service.
You can rely on the fast response and professional service you will receive from our licensed, insured, and reliable Tampa Plumbers. We value and respect the space you call home and will provide attention to detail with a service guarantee that ensures unmatched plumbing services. We look forward to welcoming you as a customer and being your preferred Tampa Bay Plumbing contractor for day-to-day plumbing repairs, as well as unexpected Emergency Plumbing needs.
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Famous Names See Heavy Losses - InternetNews.
Internet stocks plunged lower in Monday's trading following comments made by Merrill Lynch chief market analyst Richard McCabe.
He suggested that investors reduce their exposure to the technology sector. That recommendation translated into heavy losses for some former high-fliers, including Internet Capital Group, Inktomi and Juniper Networks.
internet.com's Internet Stock Index lost 78.53, or 8.42 percent, to 853.71, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 258.25, or 5.81 percent, to 4,188.20, and the Dow Jones industrial average gained 75.08 to 11,186.56.
Internet Capital Group (ICGE) fell 8-11/16 to 64, Inktomi (INKT) gave up 19-5/8 to 161-1/4, and Juniper Networks (JNPR) lost 31-27/64 to 238.
The business-to-business (B2B) sector continued getting hammered; Commerce One (CMRC) was down 20-1/2 to 119-1/2, Ariba Inc. (ARBA) finished 12-3/4 lower at 90-3/4, and i2 Technologies (ITWO) was off 28-7/8 to 108-1/16.
Interestingly, Safeguard Scientifics (SFE) has decided to stop investing in business-to-business Internet companies according to an article in today's Wall Street Journal. The company, already well known for investments in such high-profile B2B plays as ICGE (14%), will instead concentrate on the infrastructure sector. Management believes that SFE will now be well positioned to benefit from the overall growth of the Internet. Shares slipped 1-9/16 to 57-15/16 following the news.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) lost 3 to 86-1/16. Published reports Monday said the company might be forced to open the source code to Internet Explorer to computer makers to settle antitrust allegations brought by the Justice Department and 19 states.
Shares of eBay Inc. (EBAY) were down 25-3/16 to 155-11/16. The online auctioneer Monday launched an auction site in Canada.
CMGI Inc. (CMGI) fell 9-13/16 to 83-15/16 and Netcentives (NCNT) was up 3-3/4 to 27-1/4. CMGI Monday took a 4.9 percent stake in the incentive marketer and announced plans for the two to create a new loyalty program for CMGI properties.
Real Networks Inc. (RNWK) lost 5-1/4 to 44-3/4 and Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) finished down 12-3/8 to 133-5/16. Akamai Monday licensed Real's multimedia technology.
FairMarket Inc. (FAIM) dropped 4-3/8 to 20-3/8. The e-commerce company was initiated by Robertson Stephens with a "buy" rating.


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Home Latest Insights | News Top 10 Emerging Technologies – The World Economic Forum, 2019
Top 10 Emerging Technologies – The World Economic Forum, 2019
July 6, 2019 | by	Nnamdi Odumody | 0
By Nnamdi Odumody
Here are the top ten emerging technologies of 2019 according to the World Economic Forum.
Bioplastics for a Circular Economy: Plastic waste in the ocean kills sea animals. It also causes environmental nuisance when dumped in landfills. The use of Biodegradable plastics helps to create a Circular Economy as the plastic waste can be converted to biomass energy. Biodegradable plastics like the common one from petrochemicals consists of polymers which can be molded in their fluid state into a variety of forms. Chrysalix Technologies, a spin off from Imperial College London has created a process that uses low cost ionic liquids to separate cellulose and lignin from starting materials. Finnish Biotech company MetGen Oy produces a number of genetically engineered enzymes that cleave lignins of different origins into components needed for a wide range of applications. Mobus is developing lignin based plastic pellets for use in biodegradable flower pots, agricultural mulches, etc.
Social Robots: These are robots which use artificial intelligence in response to data captured from cameras and other sensors by recognizing people's voices, faces and emotions, interpret speech and gestures, responds accurately to complex verbal and non verbal cues, makes eye contact, speaks conversationally, and adapts to people's needs by learning from feedback, rewards and criticisms. Pepper, a humanoid robot from Softbank Robotics recognizes faces and basic human emotions and engages in conversations via a touchscreen on its chest. About 15,000 Pepper robots worldwide perform hotel check-ins, airport customer service, shopping assistance and fast food checkout while at Alibaba's Flyzoo Future Hotel in Hangzhou, China it's T-Mall Genie helps guests adjust their room temperature, lights, curtains and TV, plays music and even handle room service. In Dubai Airport, its police robot helps answer tourist enquiries in English and Arabic.
Meta Lenses for Miniature Devices: Metalenses are flat surface, thinner than a micron that is covered with an array of nanoscale objects such as jutting pillars or drilled holes. As incident light hits these elements, many of its properties change including its polarization, intensity, phase and direction of propagation. They allow for greater miniaturization of microscopes and other laboratory tools as well as consumer products like cameras, mixed reality headsets and optical sensors for internet of things solutions as well as enhancing the functionality of optical fibres.
Disordered Protein As Drug Targets: Scientists are utilizing a rigorous combination of biophysics, computational power and a better understanding of the way that IDPs (Intrinsically Displaced Proteins) function to identify compounds that inhibit these proteins and some have emerged as bonafide drug candidates. French and Spanish researchers in 2017 proved that an FDA approved drug called trifluoperazine which is used in treating psychotic disorders and anxiety bound to and inhibited NUPR1, a disordered protein involved in a form of pancreatic cancer. Large scale screening tests to evaluate thousands of drug candidates for therapeutic potential have shown several that inhibit c-Myc with some headed towards clinical development.
Smarter Fertilizers To Tackle Environmental Contamination: Smart fertilizers made possible by sophisticated materials and manufacturing techniques that can tune the shells so that they alter release rates in desired ways as the soil's temperature, acidity or moisture changes have been developed recently. Through the combination of different types of tuned capsules, manufacturers can make fertilizers that have profiles tailored to the needs of specific crops or growing conditions. Haifa Group and ICL Specialty Fertilizers are examples of those offering more precise control.
Collaborative Telepresence: Collaborative telepresence is transforming how people collaborate virtually in business and beyond. Proximie, an augmented reality enabled surgery platform builds a bridge between surgeons in developed countries and those operating under austere conditions in developing countries. Recently Dr Ling Zhipei, a Chinese surgeon performed the first ever brain surgery over a 3,000km distance through China Mobile's network and Huawei's 5G technology.
Advanced Food Tracking and Packaging: IBM's Food Trust, a blockchain platform for the food industry which integrates growers, distributors and retailers to create a trusted record of a food's journey through the end to end supply chain. Walmart used this system to trace the origin of a contaminated item in seconds. Other food giants such as Carrefour, Sam's Club, Smithfield foods, Beefchain, Albertsons Companies, Wakefern Food and Topco Associates have joined this initiative. Timestrip UK and Vitsab International have independently developed RFID tags that change colour if a product has been exposed to above recommended temperatures while Insignia Technologies created a solution which slowly changes colour after a package has been opened and indicates when it's time to dispose the food into the refuse bin.
Safer Nuclear Reactors: Manufacturing developments are seeing to the production of accident tolerant fuels which are less likely to overheat and in case they do will produce little or no hydrogen. Some are replacing zircomium and uranium dioxide with different materials. The new fuels could help nuclear plants run more efficiently making nuclear power cost competitive for electricity generation.
DNA for Data Storage: DNA can accurately store massive amounts of data at a density which exceeds that of electric devices. Measuring about one metre on a side, at about 10 bits per cubic centimeter, all the world's current storage needs could be meet by a cube of DNA.
Utility Scale Storage Of Renewable Energy: Advancements in technology are seeing a redesign from solely lithium ion batteries to batteries which can generate and store four- eight hours or more of electricity which is long enough to shift solar generated power to the evening peak in demand.
Nnamdi Odumody
Nnamdi Odumody is a Lagos based Innovation Consultant. He can be reached on [email protected] or 2348068802713.


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Q: What does the sum $\sum_{k=r}^{n} {k\choose r} p_{n,k}$ equal to? Let $p_{n,k}$ be the number of permutations of $[n]$ such that there are exactly $k$ fixed points. Let $r\in[n]$.
What does the sum $$\sum_{k=r}^{n} {k\choose r} p_{n,k}$$
equal to? I'm told that there is a simplified answer but I'm unable to find it.
I think that $$p_{n,k}={n\choose k}!(n-k)$$ because to choose a permutation with $k$ fixed points we first have to choose the fixed points and then choose any derangement of the $n-k$ points that we didn't choose.
${n\choose k}{k\choose r}$ looks promising but I don't know how to deal with the $!(n-k)$.
Any hints would be appreciated.

A: Define the set $S$ as follows;
$$S=\left\{(\sigma,A):\sigma\text{ is a permutation of }[n], A\text{ is an }r\text{-subset of }[n],\sigma\text{ fixes each element of } A\right\}$$
We count the size of $S$ in two different ways.
If we fix the first coordinate, $\sigma$, then the set $A$ must be chosen from the fixed points of $\sigma$, and it is easy to see that this gives the expression $\sum_{k=r}^{n} {k\choose r} p_{n,k}$ as you required.
On the other hand, once we fix the second coordinate, $A$, the action of permutation $\sigma$ is already decided on $A$ and there are $(n-r)!$ further options to consider. This gives $\#S={n\choose r}(n-r)!=n!/r!$, as in the comments.

A: This sum counts the ways to mark $r$ fixed points in permutations of $n$ elements by summing over the total number $k$ of fixed points in the permutation. You can count the same thing directly by first choosing $r$ elements to mark and then permuting the remaining $(n-r)!$ elements without constraints. There are $\binom nr$ choices for the $r$ points and $(n-r)!$ permutations for the remaining elements, for a count of $\frac{n!}{r!}$.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Deborah Elaine Deans
Deans, circa 2004
Missing From Spring Hope, North Carolina
Deans disappeared her home on Wiley Road in Spring Hope, North Carolina on January 19, 2004. At the time of her disappearance, she was living with Kimberly Hancock, her sister-in-law. In October 2019, Deans's remains were found in a shallow grave behind her former home on Wiley Road, where Hancock was still living. Hancock has been charged with first-degree murder in her death.
Hancock had previously been charged with manslaughter in the death of her father, but was given a suspended sentence. She is awaiting trial in Deans's death. Curiously, her brother Roger "Kojack" Ayscue, has been missing since 2009, but authorities haven't said whether Hancock is a suspect in that case.
Rocky Mount Police Department 252-972-1411
North America Missing Person Bureau
Missing in the USA
The Rocky Mount Telegram
Rocky Mount Police Department
ABC 11
Updated 4 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated October 26, 2019; case resolved.


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Sen. Mike Lee Condemns Abortion Rights Protests at SCOTUS Justices' Homes
July 3, 2022 by NationalWatch
Sen. Mike Lee Condemns Abortion Rights Protests at SCOTUS Justices' Homes Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. (Getty Images)
By Fran Beyer | Sunday, 03 July 2022 12:47 PM EDT
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, on Sunday called rowdy demonstrations outside the homes of U.S. Supreme Court justices indefensible — and a federal crime.
In an interview on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," Lee said federal law "couldn't be any clearer" on the issue.
"When you show up at the residence of a Supreme Court justice in order to demonstrate, picket, parade or otherwise do the things that these people are doing, you have committed a federal crime," he asserted.
And he railed at the inaction on the issue as Maryland and Virginia have so far not acted on removing or prosecuting the demonstrators.
"It is beyond my ability to understand why it is that [U.S. Attorney General] Merrick Garland and his Department of Justice haven't investigated and prosecuted these crimes," Lee said.
"I hereby call on them to do so. If they're unwilling to do this, they're really imperiling our entire system of government, and they need to be held accountable."
Abortion rights activists began protesting outside the Maryland homes of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the Virginia home of Associate Justice Samuel Alito Jr. after the leak in May of a draft opinion indicating the court would overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision guaranteeing women the right to an abortion. The protests continued after the high court did just that.
The high court's top security officer has asked Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to enforce laws barring picketing outside the Maryland homes of high court justices, saying protests and "threatening activity" have increased.
Lee also lamented the Court's decision to allow the Biden administration to end the Remain in Mexico policy of the Trump era.
"This was a policy that helped us make our southern border secure for the first time in a long time," he said.
Father Pavone to Newsmax: Proponents Should Make Case for Abortion, Not Protest
Law Enforcement Braces for Summer of Unrest After Roe v. Wade Reversal
Rep. Liz Cheney Has Not Ruled Out '24 Presidential Run
Gov. Noem: I'd Be 'Shocked' If Trump Picked Me as Running Mate


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Don't stress out before the big show. Herbal Branding is always on time and always print perfect. We will assist you in all your graphics and marketing needs to promote your brand. Whether you are launching a new product or just getting started, having the right representation at trade shows can make or break your business. You've invested in participating at a show, don't let that investment go to waste. Rest assured, your promotional and display needs will be handled by experienced, competent & knowledgeable staff.


Medical coding and billing is one of the fastest growing industries today. Anyone who is in medical field needs these services to get their data filed and analyzed for further processes, especially for insurance claims.
If a person has some experience and knowledge in medical billing and coding he can get a job in any of the companies that need people for medical billing or a profitable home based on medical billing can be started up.
Many People think that this business is as simple as having medical billing software on a computer at home. There after marketing it to the medical professionals like doctors and specialists. But there is a lot more to this and medical billing training plays a very important role in this. It is not just data entry into a program.
Some knowledge and skills are required for this work, accuracy is of utmost importance. There are different kinds of forms to filled, claims to be processed and filed, records to be maintained. Coding knowledge is also required. Instead of going a route of learning by trial and error anyone can start the right way by getting a good medical billing training. There are a lot of medical billing schools and colleges which provide all the training and knowledge needed for the work.
Some of these courses are available online as well so you can have a convenience of time and place. Once you have the right skills there is no shortage of work you can get which can be scaled up easily into a good profitable business. It depends on your business and marketing skills after a point, you know what is required of the work and you can always hire people to get more work done.
If you are serious about making a career in this, medical billing training is the right way to do it. For any thing to be successful you have to put your best effort, a half hearted or a casual approach may be another way of trying it out but that won't make any difference. Right knowledge, experience, exposure and skills are very important aspects of any business and the same applies here as well.
I am working at Cacer Care in Winnipeg and I want to suppliment my earnings by doing Medical Billing from home. Can I download free traing software?


A medical marijuana user rolls a joint of B.C. bud in Vancouver November 8, 2012.
Teenagers in Canada use cannabis more than any other developed country, according to a new study released by Unicef.
The report released last week shows that 28 per cent of 15-year-olds admitted to having used cannabis in the past year. The figure comes from a World Health Organization (WHO) study conducted in 2009, which surveyed teenagers across 29 developed nations, including more than 15,000 in Canada.
This is the second time in a row that the WHO study has ranked Canadian teenagers as the highest cannabis users, though the percentage of teens itself has dropped. In 2002, the same survey showed that 37.5 per cent of 15-year-olds in Canada had used cannabis in the past year.
"They feel it's not a drug, that it's not harmful, it's not going to hurt me," said John Westland, a social worker in the adolescent substance abuse program at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. "Part of it is probably because it's smoked and not injected – they don't see it as a chemical since it's not a pill," he said. "They see it as natural, not man-made."
He added that, from what he's heard from the teenagers he speaks with in Toronto, ease of access may be another reason why Canada is ranked so high. "It doesn't matter which school you go to. You can go to a public school, a private school, a religious school – I've seen patients from all those," he said.
"They can access it from school, they can get it from their older siblings. It doesn't have to be a stranger on the corner."
Still, the 28-per-cent figure from the WHO sounds high, he said. He questioned the report's methodology, saying self-reported surveys such as this one can be misleading, especially when comparing different countries where teenagers face differing levels of repercussions for admitted drug use. He cited a 2011 survey by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health that showed the number of teenagers from grade 7 through grade 12 in Ontario who had used cannabis is slightly lower, at 22 per cent.
Unicef Canada's president David Morley said he was "shocked" by Canada's ranking of cannabis use, especially given that the same survey showed that Canadian teens had a relatively low smoking rate (4 per cent). "Here we are amongst the best at smoking and exercise and healthy eating and stuff," he said. "But we're at the bottom for this?"
Michel Perron, CEO of the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, sees Canada's ranking as a potential symptom of "mixed messages" over cannabis in recent years. He said that discussions over medical marijuana and decriminalization "gives rise to confusion among young people – 'is this drug good or bad, is it legal, is it illegal?"
He added that the high number may also speak to a generational shift, with the parents of young people today possibly having been cannabis users in their own youth. "There's a different relationship than, say, if you rewind 20 years ago between parents and the youth," he said.
Cannabis use is only allowed in Canada for medical purposes and with a doctor's approval. According to Health Canada, cannabis can be addictive, and long-term use can lead to breathing problems, cognitive impairment and an increased risk of psychosis or schizophrenia.
What exactly defines a liberal nowadays?


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text:
MAD Museums Musée des Arts Décoratifs Itinerary Japanism
Attributed to Gabriel Viardot (1830-1906)
Paris, c. 1880
Carved sycamore wood, mirror glass
Acquired with the support of Michel and Hélène David-Weill, 2002
Inv. 2002.57.1
Gabriel Viardot began his career as a cabinetmaker in 1849. He soon made a name for himself by producing pieces freely inspired by oriental furniture, which he adapted to European taste. In his case, "Asianism" might be a more appropriate term than "Japanism," as he drew inspiration from Asia as a whole, and more especially from Chinese art. His production is characterized by dragons, present on this mirror. In addition to finding inspiration in Asian furniture forms, he fitted his pieces with panels imported from China and Japan. Gabriel Viardot's creations were very successful: he was awarded a silver medal at the Paris World's Fair of 1878, and gold medals at the Exhibitions of Antwerp in 1884 and Paris in 1889 and 1900.