In a simulation, a Titan-like atmosphere produces nearly all of life's building blocks
Titan Atmosphere Chamber Energized by microwaves, the Titanic gas mix inside the reaction chamber lights up like a neon sign. Thousands of complex organic molecules accumulated on the bottom of the chamber during this experiment, suggesting Titan's atmosphere is capable of producing the precursors for life. Sarah Hörst/University of ArizonaScientists studying Titan’s atmosphere have learned it can create complex molecules, including amino acids and nucleotide bases, often called the building blocks of life. They are the first researchers to show it’s possible to create these molecules without water, suggesting Titan could harbor huge quantities of life’s precursors floating in its atmosphere. It’s a breakthrough that even has implications for the beginning of life on Earth.
Researchers at the University of Arizona built a simulated Titan atmosphere in a special chamber in Paris and blasted it with microwaves, simulating the effect of solar energy. The reactions produced aerosols, which sank to the bottom of the chamber, where scientists scooped them up for study. What they found was unexpected, to put it mildly: all the nucleotide bases that make up the genetic code of all life on Earth, and more than half of the 22 amino acids that make proteins.
Of course, this doesn’t prove Titan has life — this was a test chamber, not the actual moon’s atmosphere, for one thing — but it’s intriguing, at least.
“Our results show that it is possible to make very complex molecules in the outer parts of an atmosphere," said Sarah Hörst, a graduate student in the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Lab, in a UA News story. She led the research effort with her adviser, planetary science professor Roger Yelle.
Titan is one of the most promising places for life elsewhere in the solar system. It has huge methane lakes and scientists recently learned that hydrogen is disappearing faster than it should at the surface, suggesting some sort of chemical reaction is consuming it.
The best data about Titan’s characteristics has come from the spacecraft Cassini, which has tasted some of the moon’s outermost atmosphere in a series of flybys since 2004. But Cassini was not designed to dip below 560 miles above the surface, much too far to really get a sense of what the moon’s atmosphere contains.Related Articles
Tags
Science, Rebecca Boyle, astrobiology, atmosphere, Cassini, extraterrestrial life, methane, ringed planet saturn, Saturn, smog, titanTo truly test its capabilities, researchers would have to recreate the atmosphere in a lab, mixing the gases found on TItan and subjecting them to radiation. The microwaves caused a gas discharge, the same process that makes neon signs glow, which caused some of the nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide to bond together into solid matter. These aerosols were levitated in a special chamber before they got heavy enough to fall down.
The prospect of small floating life forms in the Titanic atmosphere is intriguing enough, but the study also revealed some interesting possibilities about the genesis of life on Earth. Titan’s atmosphere might be chemically similar to that of the early Earth, suggesting that instead of emerging from a primordial soup, the building blocks of life might have rained down from on high.
Hörst said the most interesting aspect of the study was proof that you can make pretty much anything in an atmosphere — a finding with major implications for astrobiology.
"Who knows this kind of chemistry isn’t happening on planets outside our solar system?” she said.
Smog on Titan Moon May Hold Ingredients For Life, New Study Says
Friday, October 8, 2010
Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded For Graphene, the Material of the Future
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics today to University of Manchester professors Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov for their work isolating graphene from graphite and identifying its behavior. Graphene, a one-atom thick sheet of carbon, is the thinnest, strongest material ever discovered. It conducts heat and electricity, and despite being one atom thick, is so dense even helium cannot pass through it. As the Swedish Academy of Sciences said in the Nobel Prize announcement: "Carbon, the basis of all known life on earth, has surprised us once again."
See our gallery of graphene's greatest hits.Surprisingly, the isolation was the easy part – they peeled the graphene off of a graphite crystal using Scotch tape. However, their work from that moment on has already had a huge effect on materials science.
Here at PopSci, we’ve been tracking graphene’s developments closely (and not just so we can say “we knew it when”). As it proves itself useful in everything from bandages to faster-than-ever transistors, we can’t help but wonder if its talents will ever stop emerging. We’ve compiled a gallery of graphene’s greatest hits so far so you can revisit its humble beginnings before the Nobel Prize goes to its head.
[CNET]
This Year's Ig Nobel Prize: Fruit Bat Fellatio, Whale Snot, and More Weird Science
Friday, October 1, 2010
The Ig Nobel Prize studies are not a joke, but that's not to say you won't laugh.
Ig Nobel Prize Creative Commons: Jeff DlouhyIf the MacArthur "Genius" Grants announced earlier this week were too staid for you, the Ig Nobel Prize (now in its 20th year--here's last year's coverage) might be the scientific awards presentation for you. The Ig Nobels aren't a joke; every winning study has a legitimate scientific purpose and execution, making real discoveries and solving real problems. But they're also all chosen for their ability to "make you laugh and then make you think." This year's winners include remote-controlled whale snot retrieval, the benefits of roller coaster riding on asthma sufferers, and our own personal favorite which you may remember: transit planning by slime mold
Ten Ig Nobel awards were handed out in categories including public health, biology, transportation planning, medicine, and physics. The prize for transportation planning went to one of our favorite studies of the year: Slime mold mapping. In this study, a map of the United States is created out of agar gel, with nutrients for mold placed throughout the map. The concentration of nutrients depends on the population in that area, so big cities get lots of nutrients, and open land gets little. The mold is then started in the "New York" area of the map, and ventures outward in the most direct path to other nutrients, forming a peculiarly organic method of transit planning. Here's our exclusive video on the slime mold map:
Other highlights include the Engineering Prize, awarded for outstanding achievement in the field of whale snot removal. The "novel non-invasive tool" mentioned in the title of that study just happens to be a remote-controlled helicopter. The Medicine Prize was awarded for a study showing that symptoms of asthma can be treated with "positive emotional stress," in this case a roller-coaster ride. The Biology Prize was awarded for the official scientific documentation of fellatio in fruit bats. The title of that study? "Fellatio by Fruit Bats Prolongs Copulation Time." Does it ever!
Perhaps my favorite study is the winner of the cheekily named Peace Prize, some experimental research indicating that swearing reduces pain. The researchers aren't sure of the precise biological reason for the finding, but it seems that swearing, unlike the use of other language, activates the amygdala's fight-or-flight instinct, triggering a rise in heart rate and a reduced sensitivity to pain. From an evolutionary standpoint, it's suggested that swearing is a slightly more conscious version of a defensive outburst--a sort of controlled or channeled shriek--that's compared to a car's horn.
You can check out the rest of the winners at the Ig Nobel site.
Power to the Paper: Researchers Turn Paper into Flexible Lithium-Ion Battery
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
A Flexible Paper Li-ion Battery Yi Cui/Stanford UBatteries are the bane of all portable electronics. Bigger, heavier batteries make devices less portable, while smaller batteries lead to low performance or short battery life – or both. But while Stanford’s new lithium-ion batteries don’t necessarily cut down on footprint, they certainly cut down on mass; the new ultra-thin, rechargeable battery has been fabricated on a single sheet of paper, making it super-light, flexible, and as portable as a piece of A4.
The batteries were fabricated by materials scientists at Stanford by depositing a thin film of carbon nanotubes followed by another thin film of metal-containing lithium compound on top of the nanotube layer. These thin bilayer films are layered onto both sides of a piece of ordinary paper, which serves as both the structural support of the battery as well as the electrode separator. The lithium serves as electrodes, while the nanotube layers are current collectors.
The result is a working battery just 300 micrometers thick – that’s 300 millionths of a meter – that is flexible, super-thin, and more energy dense than other thin-bodied batteries. It’s also durable; over a 300-cycle recharge test, performance remained satisfactory. It’s also fairly easy to fabricate, making it far more commercially viable than other methods of downsizing battery technology.Related Articles
A Portable Battery That Runs on Saltwater – or Urine Vibration-Powered AA Battery Charges Up When You Shake It Swapping Graphite Anodes For Silicon Improves Li-ion Battery Capacity Five Times Tags
Technology, batteries, battery tech, carbon nanotubes, lithium ion batteries, materials science, stanfordSuch batteries aren’t ideal for every application, but they could be extremely useful in future incarnations of smart packaging, RFID sensing, and electronic paper products.
New Process Uses Genetically Modified Yeast to Turn Carbon Dioxide Emissions Into Bricks for Construction
CO2 To Bricks Carbon dioxide is bubbled into water and then added to a solution of mineral ions. Genetically engineered yeast help turn the dissolved CO2 into solid carbonates. Patrick Gillooly/MITA method developed at MIT and modeled after seashells could provide a new way to sequester carbon dioxide — by using it to manufacture new carbonate building materials.
To reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (and therefore lessen global warming), some researchers are studying ways of sequestering it in underground reservoirs. But this is expensive and difficult, and has not yet been achieved on a large scale. MIT engineer Angela Belcher is leading an effort to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and construct buildings out of it.
To make the CO2 bricks, Belcher and her graduate students modified baker's yeast to express genes that are normally found in sea creatures like abalones, which make hard carbonate shells. Carbon dioxide is bubbled into water, and then combined with mineral ions to make solid carbonate materials. Enzymes in the yeast help the mineralization process.Related Articles
Tags
Technology, Rebecca Boyle, biobricks, biomimicry, building, carbon dioxide, carbon sequestration, CO2, yeastThe process can produce two pounds of carbonate for every pound of captured CO2, according to MIT.
Other environmentally friendly bricks use fly ash, a byproduct of coal power plants, or even sand and urine. Bricks made of CO2 could solve two problems by sequestering CO2 and eliminating additional CO2 emissions from traditional brick-making.
Belcher and her graduate students are not the first to propose solidifying captured CO2, but they are the first to prove a biological process works. It involves no chemicals or temperature changes, unlike chemical solidification methods.
The researchers hope to scale up the process so it could be used in a power plant or industrial factory.
[MIT News]
Sneak peak @ Chapter 2
Friday, July 23, 2010
hungry, so I put a potpie in my little counter top oven, then sat down
to watch some TV. I found a movie (Monkey Shines), which seemed to fit
my screwed up mood, then sat back in my old Good Samaritan chair and
relaxed until my food was done. I got up to get my pie when I heard a faint knock on my door. I took
the pie out of the oven and sat it down on the counter. I ran to the
door and to my surprise it was Jasmine. I looked at her face, dumb
stricken. She was wearing a hooded-sweatshirt, hood up and baggy
pants, all gray. It was as if she was hiding from the world. “Aren’t you going to at least invite me in,” she said in a faint
tear-filled voice? “Oh I’m sorry, come on in. Can I get you something to drink?” She walked in and I shut the door. She then said. “No, I’m ok.” Her
voice cracked. “I’ve been thinking about your call.” “Yeah, we really need to talk, sit down please.” “Jack, before I go any further, I need to know something.” I noticed she wouldn’t look me in the eye and I was confused. “Ok, go ahead.” “Were you at my mother’s tonight?” “Yes ma’am, I was.” “I thought so, why were you there?” I knew that I wouldn’t lie to her, but I didn’t think telling her the
whole truth with her being in what I knew was an upset mood, would be
the right thing to do right now. “Well Jazz, dad called me and said
that she had told him she needed to see me, it was important. So I
went over there.” She finally looked at me in the eyes, but it wasn’t the look I had
longed to see. She had been hurt and hurt deep. To my dismay it was my
own damn fault. She asked as she was sitting down, “Does this have
something to do with your not coming around for a year?” I sat down beside her. “I didn’t come around because my business
tanked and I couldn’t pay back the debt.” I paused then said, “there
is something else that honestly Jazz, it scared the hell out of me.” I saw her tears well up when she asked, “But why not come around me?
Jack, you and I have been so close for so long. I don’t give a damn
about that money, I care about you and I thought you cared about me.” Her voice radiated the hurt I had caused. She was now crying, I tried
to take her in my arms but she pushed me away. “Ok Jazz, if you promise to keep an open mind I will tell you. This
is hard as hell for me to say especially to you, so please bear with
me.” “Tell me, I’m listening!” Her tears continued to flow from her
beautiful blue eyes. She still wouldn’t look at me for any significant
length of time. “But Jazz, this is far different than anything we have ever talked about.” “Just tell me, Jack! Can’t you at least do that,” she cried? She had me on the verge of just telling her to never mind, but I knew
I was the cause of all this, and had to be a man and face up to
whatever punishment the woman I love, more than anything had in-store
for me. “Jazz, do you remember during last Christmas, one minute we
would be talking like our old selves, but then I would walk away and
try to do something, anything different?” “Yeah I remember, I thought this whole time I did something to you and
you were mad at me.” “Jazz, I could never be mad at you, but I’m about to tell you
something about last Christmas and long before, that could explain my
actions. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve screwed-up not talking to you about
it sooner. I just couldn’t find my words.” I could feel my heart
beating so hard it hurt. “I already know I did something, but for you to stay away for a year.
Jack, I thought I meant more to you. If nothing else you could have
called me? You couldn’t pick up the damn phone?” Her tears affected me
to the point that I almost lost my nerve to say what I so desperately
needed to tell her. I took a deep breath muscled up my nerve then said, “Jazz, I’m in
love… She has always been so close to me, yet so far away. She’s
always been like looking through a store window knowing exactly what
you want, but knowing that you couldn’t have your greatest desire…
I’ve never been able to tell her how I feel, but to me, she is the
most beautiful woman that I have ever seen, even as a girl she had my
heart… I want to marry her, but I don’t know how to ask her, even that
is complicated.” I saw her expression and could tell she was mad. She stood up pacing
around the room. I was waiting for her to throw something, that’s what
she had usually done when she was mad. I stood up and tried to calm
her down, but was punched in the nose for my effort. “WHO, who in the hell is she JACK?” She yelled at me as I bent over
from the surprising force of her punch. I sucked back my anger, not my anger at her but my anger at myself,
saying. “Who in the hell do you think it is,” I yelled back? I was
pissed, but luckily I had always been cool under pressure. “Probably some damn tramp you found at a bar or something!” “Damn-it Jazz,” I paused and the tears raced down my cheeks. “You know
you’re not the same girl who had my heart the first time I remember
looking at you.” I took a deep breath as my emotions overcome me and
my voice cracked. “Yeah it’s you Jazz, it has always been you…
Damn-it, I ache for you! (I then almost whispered) Every girl, I’ve
ever been with, it was you that I made love to. Go ahead, call me a
sick basterd, maybe I am, but I know what I feel, what I have always
felt. Let me ask you something. How do you tell your cousin that she
is the only girl in your dreams? How do you tell her that even on
Christmas day, I couldn’t enjoy being around my best friend because I…
because I love her so deep that not being able to hold her in my arms
was hell? Jasmine, you’re my reason. I am so sorry for the pain I have
caused you, that was the last thing I ever wanted to do. The last
thing I ever wanted to do was cause the most important person in my
life any pain. If you want to hit me again go ahead, hell I deserve
it.” I sat on the arm of my old couch with my head in my hands. I didn’t
hear a sound until she asked crying, “Do you really mean that?” I was still a little pissed and bleeding, but mostly felt a great
burden had been lifted off my shoulders. I then said sadly, “Jazz, I
really don’t think that’s something to kid about, do you?” I slowly
stood up walking over to her. She wasn’t the same girl as before. She
changed her whole demeanor. She wasn’t mad anymore but frightened. I
untied and pulled back her hood taking her into my arms. Holding onto
her tightly, not hurting her, but also letting her know I wasn’t going
to let her go unless she really wanted me to. She slowly wrapped her
arms around my waist. It felt so good to hold her, even with all that
had just gone-on between us, feeling her in my arms made it all worth
it. After a minute of nothing being said between the two of us she spoke
first. “Jack, come home with me. I need to show you something.” I was amazed but a little leery of the idea of going to her
apartment. What could she have to show me? “You think I should be over
there after what I have told you?” “That’s why I asked you over.” “Let me get my stuff. I’ll be right behind you.” That was a preview of Chapter 2. Let me know what you think on my
Twitter account @J_D_bell
Steve Jobs replies to another email, but this time it’s personal…
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Steve Jobs replies to another email, but this time it’s personal…
Posted by Zee Follow Zee on twitter on May 15th, 2010
Gawker bloggers certainly know how to push Jobs’ buttons.
This time it’s actually the Gawker blog (rather than subsidiary Gizmodo) and its Contributing Editor Ryan Tate - although Tate didn’t disclose himself as a Gawker blogger till later on in the thread.
On Friday night, after watching one of the company’s new ads promoting the iPad as “revolutionary”, Tate decided to sit down with a cocktail (probably a few) and email Jobs into explaining just how revolutionary a closed platform could be.
A question about “freedom” and a reference to Bob Dylan (famously Jobs is a big fan) turned into a lengthy email thread and much of the same Jobs stubborness with a disappointing ending because well, pulling the “what have you done that’s so great” card is just…cheap.
Besides, Jobs should know better than to get into a discussion with a blogger (not that he knew he was one) late on a Friday night. Wonder what the Apple board would make of this.
For more, follow TNW Apps on twitter, Buzz, and Facebook. Follow TNW Network on twitter, Buzz, and Facebook for all our top stories.
About the Author
Zee
Based in London, Zee is Editor in Chief of The Next Web. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
Discussion - 4 Comments RSS feed for comments on this post
Brad McCarty said May 15, 2010ReplyMan…the last email was the one that pushes the edge for me. Sure, I can see Steve being a bit PO’d. But really, belittling someone goes a bit too far. Regardless of what was thrown at him, it’s his job to not throw it back.
Mr. Jobs got a little irritated. :)
Nashville Flood 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
From:
Date: Wed, May 5, 2010 at 12:50 AM
Subject:
Excerpt from My first book, The Sons of Salem - The Seer
Monday, April 5, 2010
The Valley of my Despair
Jazz and I went to bed then straight off to sleep. It was a restless
sleep. Several times in the night I woke up and went out to the
balcony to try and cool off but nothing seemed to cool me down, until
I filled the tub with cold water, and then put every ice cube in the
apartment in with me. I was finally able to go to sleep after the ice
bath. A restless night turned into a day of horror. Lying beside Jasmine on
my back I felt a great heat and a very hot trickle almost like
scalding water, but much hotter running down my right hand onto the
floor. I could hear a searing sound but couldn’t think whether this
was a dream or was this reality, even though my dreams and reality
lately have became almost intertwined, with the two rapidly becoming
the same state of mind. The heat had become almost unbearable, so I
opened my eyes and looked at my right hand. To my horror I saw that
the ring Clara had given me, had actually melted off of my finger, and
the gold was now eating a hole through the hardwood floor. I reached
down to scoop it off of the floor to keep it from going completely
through to the lower apartment. I could feel the intense heat but
didn’t feel any pain at all, neither was I harmed. I didn’t know what to do. I will be honest I panicked. I walked out of
our room and paced around like a madman. I couldn’t decide what to do.
So, I finally made my way out to the balcony. The sun was just now
coming up. I didn’t see anyone around me, so out of frustration and
fear I jumped off of the balcony landing hard. I rolled and rolled for
several feet. I stood looking at my body in the morning sunlight,
having only my shorts and a t-shirt on. “Everything seems fine, but I
can’t go back to them like this. Oh my god what do I do?” I didn’t get
any answers, so I started running, hoping no one could see me it still
being a little dark. I ran and ran. For some odd reason I didn’t get
winded and didn’t seem to be tired. I didn’t know where I was going,
but a couple hours later I realized I had ran to our property. I
roamed around seemingly endless until I found a large field. I
couldn’t concentrate on anything but I knew one thing for certain, my
family would never be safe with me around. I fell to my knees in
tears. I thought I had finally lost all will to continue. I began to
yell, “I give up. I can’t do this anymore. Pick someone else, someone
who doesn’t have a wife and children. They can’t be safe around me. Oh
god, please help me… help me.” I then heard someone walking up to me and to no surprise it was the
chief. He said, “So you have finally reached your breaking point. I
have to admit, you made it longer than I ever thought you would.” “Please, take this away from me. I can’t live like this anymore. I
have a son and a beautiful wife, with a little girl on the way. Why
can’t I just be a husband and father, that’s all I ever wanted?
Please, please sir, I can’t do this anymore.” He kneeled infront of me then said, “Son, you didn’t choose this, just
like none before you chose to be this way, it doesn’t matter what you
do this is you, but there is something you can do. It will not be easy
and it will be great pain you will suffer. However at the end of this
journey you will be able to control yourself and be stronger than you
ever dreamed.” “Please sir, I will do anything for that.” “You must be completely sure or I cannot take you.” “I am very sure, please sir, I beg you to take me. I am worthless in
this condition.” The chief did take me and he did train me, like I never thought
possible. In all I spent what would to the natural man be over a
hundred years in my solitude. The nights, if they’re where nights
would be spent thinking of my family and what I would say when I
finally saw them again. I worried many times that I had missed the
life’s of my Jasmine, Charlie and my Izzy Clare’s to come, but was
reassured they would only know the time in which I was on earth. It
would be only a few hours, which had passed by to them. So my training
went on and on. Many scars and just as many beatings I had to endure
through my years on this plain, I could only describe as preheaven,
but sometimes it was more hell than heaven. The only comfort I had was
I could talk to my departed family, but even though I loved them, I
still missed my family in Denver. Many journeys I had to trek testing
my limits and abilities. I was more than ever before, but didn’t know
when it was time for me to return. To me I had lived another life,
since I had lie beside my Jasmine, but my desire for her had never
died, nor did it ever wane. I had been taught so many things and now
possessed a confidence I never knew before my solitude. The chief and
I had our arguments and many times I wanted to go back, but I would in
no way allow him to know that. Nevertheless through it all I had come
to respect and even love him. Somewhere in what I think was my
eightieth year, I began to call him father. After that I saw a change
in him. Don’t get me wrong, he never let up on me and to be perfectly
honest I didn’t want him to, I had made a remarkable transformation
and I owed it all to him. One day the chief walked up to me, as I sat looking pointlessly down
the same hall he had taught me the first steps at controlling my fire
making abilities. “What are you waiting on, son?” I looked up at him and asked. “What are you talking about, father?” “You have completed your training, I can’t teach you anymore.” “But father, you have such wisdom, I can never learn everything you
have to teach me.” “Jack,” Him saying that surprised me, since I had been in training he
hadn’t called me by my name. If it wasn’t for my family occasionally
calling me, Jack, I don’t think I would have remembered it was in fact
my name. “Yes that is your name. Son it is time for you to go back
home. You have what you came here for. I hate to say this but I will
miss you.” “I can come back whenever I need you, father.” “Yes son, you can come back at any time, but this will be the last you
see of me,” he said and for the first time I saw tears in his eyes. I stood up, “No father, I need your guidance.” “I can’t teach you anymore,” He back handed me then said almost
without breath, “I have to go, Jack, and so do you, there is nothing
else for you to learn here.” He then turned his back to me, but I
could tell he was trying not to cry. Reluctantly and nervously, with a bit of a broken heart, I sent myself
to the same field I was when he had taken me to start my training. I
felt the bright light of the sun beaming down on me. I looked all
around, and the sights of the property reminded me of what I had left
behind so many years ago, in my mind. As I walked, I was reminded of how scared I felt almost constantly
before, but I would never admit it to myself and I wouldn’t dare admit
it to my loved ones. I knew what I had to do to straighten out the
confusion I had caused, but my paramount destination was to see my
Jasmine and my Charlie. Time hadn’t meant anything to me in such a
long time, so I don’t know how long it took me to walk back to the
apartment, but as I walked through that door I saw exactly what I had
spent all my time away or, my Jasmine and Charlie.
Excerpt from My first book, The Sons of Salem - The Seer
A Gleann de Mo Dùisg
The Valley of my Despair
Jazz and I went to bed then straight off to sleep. It was a restless sleep. Several times in the night I woke up and went out to the balcony to try and cool off but nothing seemed to cool me down, until I filled the tub with cold water, and then put every ice cube in the apartment in with me. I was finally able to go to sleep after the ice bath.
A restless night turned into a day of horror. Lying beside Jasmine on my back I felt a great heat and a very hot trickle almost like scalding water, but much hotter running down my right hand onto the floor. I could hear a searing sound but couldn’t think whether this was a dream or was this reality, even though my dreams and reality lately have became almost intertwined, with the two rapidly becoming the same state of mind. The heat had become almost unbearable, so I opened my eyes and looked at my right hand. To my horror I saw that the ring Clara had given me, had actually melted off of my finger, and the gold was now eating a hole through the hardwood floor. I reached down to scoop it off of the floor to keep it from going completely through to the lower apartment. I could feel the intense heat but didn’t feel any pain at all, neither was I harmed.
I didn’t know what to do. I will be honest I panicked. I walked out of our room and paced around like a madman. I couldn’t decide what to do. So, I finally made my way out to the balcony. The sun was just now coming up. I didn’t see anyone around me, so out of frustration and fear I jumped off of the balcony landing hard. I rolled and rolled for several feet. I stood looking at my body in the morning sunlight, having only my shorts and a t-shirt on. “Everything seems fine, but I can’t go back to them like this. Oh my god what do I do?” I didn’t get any answers, so I started running, hoping no one could see me it still being a little dark. I ran and ran. For some odd reason I didn’t get winded and didn’t seem to be tired. I didn’t know where I was going, but a couple hours later I realized I had ran to our property. I roamed around seemingly endless until I found a large field. I couldn’t concentrate on anything but I knew one thing for certain, my family would never be safe with me around. I fell to my knees in tears. I thought I had finally lost all will to continue. I began to yell, “I give up. I can’t do this anymore. Pick someone else, someone who doesn’t have a wife and children. They can’t be safe around me. Oh god, please help me… help me.”
I then heard someone walking up to me and to no surprise it was the chief. He said, “So you have finally reached your breaking point. I have to admit, you made it longer than I ever thought you would.”
“Please, take this away from me. I can’t live like this anymore. I have a son and a beautiful wife, with a little girl on the way. Why can’t I just be a husband and father, that’s all I ever wanted? Please, please sir, I can’t do this anymore.”
He kneeled infront of me then said, “Son, you didn’t choose this, just like none before you chose to be this way, it doesn’t matter what you do this is you, but there is something you can do. It will not be easy and it will be great pain you will suffer. However at the end of this journey you will be able to control yourself and be stronger than you ever dreamed.”
“Please sir, I will do anything for that.”
“You must be completely sure or I cannot take you.”
“I am very sure, please sir, I beg you to take me. I am worthless in this condition.”
The chief did take me and he did train me, like I never thought possible. In all I spent what would to the natural man be over a hundred years in my solitude. The nights, if they’re where nights would be spent thinking of my family and what I would say when I finally saw them again. I worried many times that I had missed the life’s of my Jasmine, Charlie and my Izzy Clare’s to come, but was reassured they would only know the time in which I was on earth. It would be only a few hours, which had passed by to them. So my training went on and on. Many scars and just as many beatings I had to endure through my years on this plain, I could only describe as preheaven, but sometimes it was more hell than heaven. The only comfort I had was I could talk to my departed family, but even though I loved them, I still missed my family in Denver. Many journeys I had to trek testing my limits and abilities. I was more than ever before, but didn’t know when it was time for me to return. To me I had lived another life, since I had lie beside my Jasmine, but my desire for her had never died, nor did it ever wane. I had been taught so many things and now possessed a confidence I never knew before my solitude. The chief and I had our arguments and many times I wanted to go back, but I would in no way allow him to know that. Nevertheless through it all I had come to respect and even love him. Somewhere in what I think was my eightieth year, I began to call him father. After that I saw a change in him. Don’t get me wrong, he never let up on me and to be perfectly honest I didn’t want him to, I had made a remarkable transformation and I owed it all to him.
One day the chief walked up to me, as I sat looking pointlessly down the same hall he had taught me the first steps at controlling my fire making abilities. “What are you waiting on, son?”
I looked up at him and asked. “What are you talking about, father?”
“You have completed your training, I can’t teach you anymore.”
“But father, you have such wisdom, I can never learn everything you have to teach me.”
“Jack,” Him saying that surprised me, since I had been in training he hadn’t called me by my name. If it wasn’t for my family occasionally calling me, Jack, I don’t think I would have remembered it was in fact my name. “Yes that is your name. Son it is time for you to go back home. You have what you came here for. I hate to say this but I will miss you.”
“I can come back whenever I need you, father.”
“Yes son, you can come back at any time, but this will be the last you see of me,” he said and for the first time I saw tears in his eyes.
I stood up, “No father, I need your guidance.”
“I can’t teach you anymore,” He back handed me then said almost without breath, “I have to go, Jack, and so do you, there is nothing else for you to learn here.” He then turned his back to me, but I could tell he was trying not to cry.
Reluctantly and nervously, with a bit of a broken heart, I sent myself to the same field I was when he had taken me to start my training. I felt the bright light of the sun beaming down on me. I looked all around, and the sights of the property reminded me of what I had left behind so many years ago, in my mind.
As I walked, I was reminded of how scared I felt almost constantly before, but I would never admit it to myself and I wouldn’t dare admit it to my loved ones. I knew what I had to do to straighten out the confusion I had caused, but my paramount destination was to see my Jasmine and my Charlie. Time hadn’t meant anything to me in such a long time, so I don’t know how long it took me to walk back to the apartment, but as I walked through that door I saw exactly what I had spent all my time away for, my Jasmine and Charlie.
Rough draft excerpt from The Sons of Salem The Dreamer (the book i’m working on now)
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
grandfathers grave stone. He didn’t know it but Taranis’ wheel loomed
over his head as lightning struck all around our hero. This is the
grand father that Devon and his father had seen in their livingroom so
long ago. He didn’t know why but there was a link he felt with him
even though he died before Devon was even born. His grand mother even
told him that the way he looked out of his eyes reminded her of her
long dead husband. He had but one thought on his mind. What would have been different if
his grandfather had never died so long ago? Would it be that
different? How would his father be different if he had grown into a
man with someone to guide him into manhood? These questions our Devon
didn’t have an answer to, but he did know that there would be no way
to find out, so he stared at the stone that spelled the gloom of the
one he so longed to know all throughout his life. He was doing everything in his soul to keep the thought of his lost
sister out of his mind, but the look of her just kept creeping back.
Why hadn’t he have known that this was going to happen to her. Why
couldn’t he, if he really does have all of this so-called power? Why
couldn’t he have saved her from her demise? Why would this happen to
her, why? His heart ached as deep sheering pain tore through his
heart, through his soul. He had faced loss in his life, but none had
cut him so deep. Was it his maturity? All of the other losses had come
when he was still young, but he loved them just as much as he had
loved his sister. Why is she so different? When his niece died…
What I'm working on.
For me this is a long and drawn-out process, but when it comes
together there is little like it. I am far from done, but thought I
would share what I have been up to. Hope you enjoy.
World's Most Efficient Insulation Made From Synthetic Crystal Could Keep Satellites Pinging From Deepest Space
Deep-space probes and scientific devices in Antarctica could soon get a new form of insulation based on synthetic crystals that stop and reflect heat. Such material could eventually lead to the best insulation ever created, even at room temperatures.
The crystals work by manipulating phonons, or vibrational waves that can carry either sound or heat depending on the frequency. Each crystal structure consists of alternating layers of silicon dioxide and a polymer material, so that the spacing between similar layers matches the wavelength of phonons. That allows the material to block and reflect back the phonons in the form of heat.
Most prior research used larger crystals to deal with sound-related phonons, but nanotechnology has given researchers the ability to create the tiny structures necessary to control heat-related phonons.
Phonons reflected by the new material represent low-frequency heat, and so the material only does its insulating trick in sub-freezing temperatures. That means the most immediate applications could involve protecting scientific instruments in an Antarctic environment, or insulating devices on spacecraft operating far from the sun.
But researchers hope to come up with room-temperature variants by thinning the layers that make up the crystal structure -- a necessary step toward reaching the range of a supposedly 'perfect insulator' that blocks heat at certain frequency ranges.
The work done by MIT researchers and their colleagues in Germany and Greece has greater possibilities beyond the 'perfect insulator.' The ability to control phonons could lead to more efficient ways of scavenging phonon-related heat in computers, cell phones and cars to create electricity.
And that's just the beginning, according to Edwin Thomas, a materials scientist and engineer at MIT. He compared the early scientific understanding of phonons with that of understanding electrons and photons behind electricity and light.
Mastering electrons and photons has led to technological innovations that built the modern world and gave us lasers, transistors, photovoltaic cells and microchips. Thomas believes that we may be sitting on the brink of a phonon-driven technological revolution as well.
[MIT]
Caverns-unusualy under ground places
Monday, March 15, 2010
Caverns-unusualy under ground places
Posted by panta in Environment on 03 4th, 2010 | no responses
A cave is a natural opening in the ground extending beyond the zone of light and large enough to permit the entry of man. Occurring in a wide variety of rock types and caused by widely differing geological processes, caves range in size from single small rooms to interconnecting passages many miles long. The scientific study of caves is called speleology (from the Greek words spelaion for cave and logos for study). It is a composite science based on geology, hydrology, biology, and archaeology, and thus holds special interest for earth scientists of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Caves have been natural attractions since prehistoric times. Prolific evidence of early man’s interest has been discovered in caves scattered throughout the world. Fragments of skeletons of some of the earliest manlike creatures (Australopithecines) have been discovered in cave deposits in South Africa, and the first evidence of primitive Neanderthal Man was found in a cave in the Neander Valley of Germany. Cro-Magnon Man created his remarkable murals on the walls of caves in southern France and northern Spain where he took refuge more than 1O,000 years ago during the chill of the ice age.
There are many types of caves including fissure, talus, solutional, granite, slate, erosional, man-made, rare emerged sea caves, sea caves, and sandstone caves.
Amongst the most famous caves in the world are the caves in Mulu National Park, Sarawak, which was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 2001. Some of the caves there are world record holders, such as Gua Nasib Bagus which houses the world’s largest chamber – Sarawak Chamber. Clearwater Cave is the 10th longest in the world, at 110km. Deer Cave is one of the world’s largest passages. The Niah Caves, also in Sarawak, is a famous archaeological site. A 40,000 year old human skull has been found there, and the rock paintings have been dated at 1200 years. Near Kuching the caves of Bau can be visited.
Ice caves are very different from normal caves.
The term ice cave refers to any type of natural cave (most commonly lava tubes or limestone caves) that contains significant amounts of perennial (year-round) ice. At least a portion of the cave must have a temperature below 0 °C (32 °F) all year round, and water must have traveled into the cave’s cold zone.
The term ice cave is often used to describe a cavity formed within ice, which is properly called a glacier cave.
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