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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/48168064/
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Friday, July 13, 2012
Getting amped: Instrument for exploring the cosmos and the quantum world created
ScienceDaily (July 13, 2012) ? Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have developed a new type of amplifier for boosting electrical signals. The device can be used for everything from studying stars, galaxies, and black holes to exploring the quantum world and developing quantum computers.
"This amplifier will redefine what it is possible to measure," says Jonas Zmuidzinas, Caltech's Merle Kingsley Professor of Physics, the chief technologist at JPL, and a member of the research team.
An amplifier is a device that increases the strength of a weak signal. "Amplifiers play a basic role in a wide range of scientific measurements and in electronics in general," says Peter Day, a visiting associate in physics at Caltech and a principal scientist at JPL. "For many tasks, current amplifiers are good enough. But for the most demanding applications, the shortcomings of the available technologies limit us."
Conventional transistor amplifiers -- like the ones that power your car speakers -- work for a large span of frequencies. They can also boost signals ranging from the faint to the strong, and this so-called dynamic range enables your speakers to play both the quiet and loud parts of a song. But when an extremely sensitive amplifier is needed -- for example, to boost the faint, high-frequency radio waves from distant galaxies -- transistor amplifiers tend to introduce too much noise, resulting in a signal that is more powerful but less clear.
One type of highly sensitive amplifier is a parametric amplifier, which boosts a weak input signal by using a strong signal called the pump signal. As both signals travel through the instrument, the pump signal injects energy into the weak signal, therefore amplifying it.
About 50 years ago, Amnon Yariv, Caltech's Martin and Eileen Summerfield Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering, showed that this type of amplifier produces as little noise as possible: the only noise it must produce is the unavoidable noise caused by the jiggling of atoms and waves according to the laws of quantum mechanics. The problem with many parametric amplifiers and sensitive devices like it, however, is that they can only amplify a narrow frequency range and often have a poor dynamic range.
But the Caltech and JPL researchers say their new amplifier, which is a type of parametric amplifier, combines only the best features of other amplifiers. It operates over a frequency range more than ten times wider than other comparably sensitive amplifiers, can amplify strong signals without distortion, and introduces nearly the lowest amount of unavoidable noise. In principle, the researchers say, design improvements should be able to reduce that noise to the absolute minimum. Versions of the amplifier can be designed to work at frequencies ranging from a few gigahertz to a terahertz (1,000 GHz). For comparison, a gigahertz is about 10 times greater than commercial FM radio signals in the U.S., which range from about 88 to 108 megahertz (1 GHz is 1,000 MHz).
"Our new amplifier has it all," Zmuidzinas says. "You get to have your cake and eat it too."
The team recently described the new instrument in the journal Nature Physics.
One of the key features of the new parametric amplifier is that it incorporates superconductors -- materials that allow an electric current to flow with zero resistance when lowered to certain temperatures. For their amplifier, the researchers are using titanium nitride (TiN) and niobium titanium nitride (NbTiN), which have just the right properties to allow the pump signal to amplify the weak signal.
Although the amplifier has a host of potential applications, the reason the researchers built the device was to help them study the universe. The team built the instrument to boost microwave signals, but the new design can be used to build amplifiers that help astronomers observe in a wide range of wavelengths, from radio waves to X rays.
For instance, the team says, the instrument can directly amplify radio signals from faint sources like distant galaxies, black holes, or other exotic cosmic objects. Boosting signals in millimeter to submillimeter wavelengths (between radio and infrared) will allow astronomers to study the cosmic microwave background -- the afterglow of the big bang -- and to peer behind the dusty clouds of galaxies to study the births of stars, or probe primeval galaxies. The team has already begun working to produce such devices for Caltech's Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) near Bishop, California, about 250 miles north of Los Angeles.
These amplifiers, Zmuidzinas says, could be incorporated into telescope arrays like the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy at OVRO, of which Caltech is a consortium member, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile.
Instead of directly amplifying an astronomical signal, the instrument can be used to boost the electronic signal from a light detector in an optical, ultraviolet, or even X-ray telescope, making it easier for astronomers to tease out faint objects.
Because the instrument is so sensitive and introduces minimal noise, it can also be used to explore the quantum world. For example, Keith Schwab, a professor of applied physics at Caltech, is planning to use the amplifier to measure the behavior of tiny mechanical devices that operate at the boundary between classical physics and the strange world of quantum mechanics. The amplifier could also be used in the development quantum computers -- which are still beyond our technological reach but should be able to solve some of science's hardest problems much more quickly than any regular computer.
"It's hard to predict what all of the applications are going to end up being, but a nearly perfect amplifier is a pretty handy thing to have in your bag of tricks," Zmuidzinas says. And by creating their new device, the researchers have shown that it is indeed possible to build an essentially perfect amplifier. "Our instrument still has a few rough edges that need polishing before we would call it perfect, but we think our results so far show that we can get there."
This research was supported by NASA, the Keck Institute for Space Studies, and the JPL Research and Technology Development program.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by California Institute of Technology. The original article was written by Marcus Woo.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Byeong Ho Eom, Peter K. Day, Henry G. LeDuc, Jonas Zmuidzinas. A wideband, low-noise superconducting amplifier with high dynamic range. Nature Physics, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nphys2356
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120713161947.htm
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Report on abuse scandal tarnishes Paterno legacy
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ? A blistering report that claims Joe Paterno and other top Penn State officials concealed what they knew about Jerry Sandusky's sexual abuse of children may prove to be an indelible stain on the beloved coach's 61-year tenure at the school where he preached "success with honor."
Paterno's supporters are legion, though, and some insist the late coach got a raw deal from former FBI Director Louis Freeh, whose 267-page report on the Sandusky scandal Thursday asserted that Paterno and senior Penn State officials made a decision to protect Sandusky to avoid damaging the image of the school and its powerful football program.
Penn State's internal investigation into one of the worst scandals in sports history is unlikely to settle the debate about Paterno's culpability ? even as it showed him to be more deeply involved in the university's response to 1998 and 2001 abuse complaints about Sandusky than previously thought.
Damaging emails unearthed by Freeh and his team of lawyers and ex-law enforcement officials show the extent to which Paterno, Penn State President Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley and senior vice president Gary Schultz fretted over what to do about Sandusky. Ultimately, they did nothing ? and their inaction allowed the retired defensive coordinator to continue molesting boys, the report found.
Freeh also faulted university trustees for failing to exercise proper oversight and said a culture that showed excessive reverence for the football program helped protect a pedophile. Sandusky, 68, was convicted last month of abusing 10 boys over 15 years and will likely die in prison.
Freeh's report could impact the ongoing criminal case against Curley and Schultz, who are charged with lying to a grand jury and failing to report child abuse. It will certainly factor into any future discussion about Paterno and a Hall of Fame career that includes two national championships, 409 wins, and the coach's self-proclaimed "grand experiment" that tried to blend academics, athletics and right living.
Karen Peetz, chairwoman of the board of trustees, said the panel believes Paterno's "61 years of excellent service to the university is now marred" by the scandal. Phil Knight, the Nike founder who won thunderous applause with his passionate defense of the coach at his January memorial service, acknowledged Thursday that "it appears Joe made missteps that led to heartbreaking consequences. I missed that Joe missed it, and I am extremely saddened on this day."
Yet hours after the release of Freeh's report, people were still eating scoops of Peachy Paterno ice cream at Berkey Creamery on campus, Joe Paterno shirts still hung in stores across the street from the administration building, and many of those closest to Penn State and Paterno said their faith in the coach remained unshakeable.
"I don't care what anyone says, it doesn't change the fact that he's a great man," said Briana Marshall, a junior from East Stroudsburg.
Some students and alumni felt that Freeh turned Paterno into a scapegoat, and that there was little direct evidence that he took part in a cover-up. Paterno died before he could meet with investigators.
"It's easy to vilify or blame someone who's not alive to defend himself," said Tim Sweeney, president of Penn State's official Football Letterman's Club.
Freeh, who was hired by the school's board of trustees to investigate the scandal, expressed regret for any damage to Paterno's "terrific legacy." But he stood by his work.
"What my report says is what the evidence and the facts show," he said.
What they showed, the report said, was that Paterno, Spanier, Curley and Schultz "failed to protect against a child sexual predator," burying the allegations against Sandusky out of a desire to "avoid the consequences of bad publicity."
Freeh said officials had opportunities in 1998 and 2001 to step in.
In 1998, campus police investigated after a woman complained that her son had showered with Sandusky. The investigation did not result in charges. But the emails show Paterno clearly followed the case, Freeh said, and university officials took no action at the time to limit Sandusky's access to campus ? a decision that would pave the way for Sandusky to victimize more youths.
Three years later, a coaching assistant told Paterno that he had seen Sandusky sexually abusing a boy in the locker room showers.
Freeh, citing emails and handwritten notes, concluded that Paterno intervened to stop a plan by Curley, Schultz and Spanier to report the 2001 allegation by graduate assistant Mike McQueary to child-welfare authorities.
According to the report, the administrators intended to inform the state Department of Public Welfare. But Curley later said in an email that he changed his mind about the plan "after giving it more thought and talking it over with Joe." Instead, Curley proposed to offer Sandusky "professional help."
In an email, Spanier agreed that course of action would be "humane" but noted "the only downside for us is if the message isn't (heard) and acted upon and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it."
Paterno "was an integral part of this active decision to conceal" and his firing was justified, Freeh said at a news conference in Philadelphia, calling the officials' disregard for child victims "callous and shocking."
In a statement, Paterno's family strongly denied he protected Sandusky for fear of bad publicity.
"The idea that any sane, responsible adult would knowingly cover up for a child predator is impossible to accept. The far more realistic conclusion is that many people didn't fully understand what was happening and underestimated or misinterpreted events," the family said. "Sandusky was a great deceiver. He fooled everyone."
Attorneys for Spanier, Curley and Schultz vehemently denied Freeh's conclusions and said there was no effort to hide Sandusky's behavior.
The report chronicled a culture of silence that extended from the president down to the janitors in the football building. Even before 1998, football staff members and coaches regularly saw Sandusky showering with boys but never told their superiors about it. In 2000, after a janitor saw Sandusky performing oral sex on a boy in the team shower, he told his co-workers. None of them went to police for fear of losing their jobs.
Reporting the assault "would have been like going against the president of the United States in my eyes," a janitor told Freeh's investigators. "I know Paterno has so much power, if he wanted to get rid of someone, I would have been gone." He went on to assert that "football runs this university."
Freeh said Thursday the janitors "were afraid to take on the football program. If that's the culture at the bottom, God help the culture at the top."
Attorneys representing Sandusky's victims say the report showed that Penn State failed the youngsters it had a responsibility to protect.
"The Freeh report is absolutely devastating to Penn State," said Andrew Shubin and Justine Andronici, part of a legal team that represents several victims in the case, including three who testified against Sandusky. "It confirms that at the highest level, Penn State officials, including the university president and head football coach, knew that Sandusky was a child predator, but made the deliberate and reprehensible decision to conceal his abuse. They chose to protect themselves, Penn State's brand and image, and their football program instead of children."
___
Associated Press National Writer Nancy Armour and AP writers Marc Scolforo in Harrisburg, Genaro C. Armas in Scranton and Geoff Mulvihill, Maryclaire Dale and Randy Pennell in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-abuse-scandal-tarnishes-paterno-legacy-064835162--spt.html
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Good Information From a Psychic | Reference and Education Bioethics
Most psychic readings remain far too long. Why? Because people do not know what to ask! Or in other words, they know what to ask, but are not well enough organized and collected in advance to ask what they really want to know, before it ebbing away too much time ? CATCH and you play until you?ve read.
Let us teach you how to avoid that being the bottom.
Step 1 ? Always (always!) Write your questions in advance
I do not care to know what you write what areas of your life or improve what does the conflict get back to your questions in advance and do they want in writing is the key to good information and insightful answers to your experience.
In fact, I will write down 5 major problems in life, and hope to get three of them settled on the call (or visit) to read, how to feel it a success.
Note: Believe it or not, is in preparation on your part, a so-so ?much better psychological and spiritual counseling with a huge life-changing experience you will make remember for years why, because it better organized and the administration?s information.? into your active consciousness ? the easier it is to read your energy ? and soon you connect clairvoyant.
Step 2 ? Shrink-theater
Believe it or not, have the emotional question of the most popular request (of love, romance, relationship, etc.), they are also, occasionally, the most contradictory answers. Why? Because all the good fortune tellers to work on the emotional energy and information exchange between people. (Yours and you) The problems that you get more emotional, angry or anxious or aggravated it, came the ?sensitivity? of static play.
The most important?
Of course, you may be able to put the relationship in question, why most of us need advice in the first place. But to visualize, take a few minutes before the lecture starts and to convey, just relax and go back in fear and anxiety and let the state of emotional equilibrium to rule instead. * (You will be much easier to read carefully and your questions will be answered and much more accurate)
Finally, do not ask ?about? terrible question. Life and death issues are not really suitable for a psychic medium or know until you ask them. (Even then, many media not answer questions about your own mortality, for example ? and would be offended, ask if you will)
The main takeaway should be adjusted and happy and do not forget to enjoy the experience. A good measurement should be informative and enlightening, inspiring and enlightening. Do not ask serious questions about just super ? Room for frivolity and fun, and you will find reading you (and your life) is richer and more meaningful to boot!
No related posts.
Source: http://www.artebioetica.org/2012/07/13/good-information-from-a-psychic/
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Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Trying to Untangle Anarchist Attacks On Scientists
bricko writes with an analysis at New Scientist of recent violence by self-described anarchists against scientists or scientific establishments, including the non-fatal shooting in Genoa in May of the head of a nuclear energy company. That attack "was the latest in a series of alleged anarchist attacks on scientists and engineers, including the attempted bombing of nanotechnology labs in Switzerland and Mexico. This wave of politically motivated violence has raised the question: why do anarchists hate science? Beyond the unsubtle threat of brute force, there are deeper issues that merit attention." The "hate science" line is just a line; the author is under no illusion that there is a single conspiracy, or that all who claim the "anarchist" mantle have identical (or even similar) views of science. "Despite the recent attacks and propaganda, anarchists actually have a complex relationship with science and technology. Some leading figures from anarchist history were scientists, notably Russian biologist Peter Kropotkin. Many hacktivists are anarchists who embrace technology; fiction authors sometimes look toward a future 'technotopia' based on anarchist ideals."
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Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Rags-to-riches stories are pure Hollywood
By Allison Linn
Just 4 percent of people who grew up in the bottom fifth of the household income ladder?made it to the top fifth as adults, according to a new long-term study showing the limits of American mobility.
?The rags-to-riches story is more often found in Hollywood than in reality,? said Erin Currier, project manager with the Pew Charitable Trust's Economic Mobility Project, which prepared the report.
The analysis of household income across two generations, released Monday, found that very few people?born to poor parents?ended up rich, and?only 8 percent of people whose parents were in the top fifth of?households dropped to the bottom fifth as adults.
The study?found that the vast majority of American families are bringing in more money than their parents did, adjusted fror inflation,?than when they were the same age. But especially among the most poor, bigger paychecks aren't?often enough to push families? up the income ladder.
Most people raised in very rich and very poor households didn?t see their own circumstances change?much when they grew up. The report found that 70 percent of Americans whose parents were in the bottom fifth of the income ladder stayed below the middle as adults. And 63 percent of those born in the top fifth of the income ladder stayed above the middle when they became adults.
Those born in the?middle three-fifths of the income spectrum did have a higher likelihood of moving either up or down the ladder as adults.
In all, 35 percent of?American households could be classified as upwardly mobile, meaning they had a higher household?income than their parents at the same age and were at a higher point in the income distribution ladder than their parents had been.
People can make more money than their parents and still not rise up the income ladder because median income has increased at all levels.
Currier said that means many people may feel more successful than their parents ? maybe because they own a slightly bigger house or have a flat-screen TV ? but?aren?t much better off relative to other households today.
"The general public thinks there?s much more mobility than there actually is," said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, who was not involved in the research.
Mishel also noted that many households have more income than their parents did at the same age because more women are working than in the previous?generation.
That's a contributing factor that the Pew report also acknowledged. Looking more narrowly just at men, they found that 59 percent of sons are earning more than their dads did at the same age.
The Pew analysis was based on the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, an in-depth look at family finances, using data from 1968 through 2009. The long-running study allowed the researchers to compare how adults are doing in comparison to how their parents were doing at the same point in their lives. The figures were adjusted for inflation, family size and age.
A separate look at total wealth found that half of Americans are wealthier than their parents were at the same age.
The fact that most households are bringing in more income than their parents but only half are wealthier is a little troubling, Currier said.
?Clearly families do have more money in terms of what?s coming in every month, but they don?t?have greater savings,?they don't have?greater assets - for the most part -?than their parents did,? she said.
One of the biggest ways individuals can improve their?circumstances relative to their?parents is to get a college degree.
The researchers found that a four-year degree triples a person?s chances of making it from the bottom to the top of the income ladder. College graduates also were more likely to be doing better than their parents were at the same age, in terms of both income and wealth.
The researchers also found that African-Americans were less likely than whites to outearn their?parents. The data was too limited to do a similar analysis of other racial and ethnic minorities.
Related:
To get your kids ahead in life, get a college degree
We are the median: Living on $50,000 a year
Are you better off financially than your parents were at your age?
?
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Monday, July 9, 2012
Chinese company plans to buy Hawker Beechcraft
Hawker Beechcraft has reached an exclusive agreement with Superior Aviation Beijing Co. in which the Chinese company will acquire Hawker Beechcraft for $1.79 billion and make payments over the next six weeks to support on-going jet-related operations.
The funds will help the company sustain the jet business until the close of the transaction, Hawker Beechcraft said today.
Superior intends to maintain Hawker Beechcraft?s U.S. headquarters, management team and employees and continue product development throughout its commercial lines, according to a statement from Hawker Beechcraft..
Superior also plans to maintain its existing operations while investing substantial capital in the company and its business and general aviation line, the company said, ?saving thousands of American jobs.?
During the 45-day exclusivity period, Superior will perform due diligence while the two companies negotiate the definitive documentation of the transaction.
Hawker Beechcraft?s defense business is not part of the proposed transaction. Neither ownership nor control of the defense business will transfer to Superior.
If the defense piece is sold, up to $400 million of the purchase price will be refundable to Superior, the company said.
If there is no deal at the end of the 45 days, Hawker Beechcraft will proceed with its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which contemplates Hawker Beechcraft emerging as a standalone entity with a more focused portfolio of aircraft.
Hawker Beechcraft entered into the agreement with Superior as part of its ongoing review of strategic options, including continuing to operate as a stand-alone company.
The company decided to proceed with Superior after determining that its proposal would create the greatest value for the company and position it for long-term growth.
?Superior has had a long-standing interest in the commercial aircraft business of Hawker Beechcraft, having first approached the company several years ago regarding a potential strategic partnership,? Steve Miller, Hawker Beechcraft CEO, said in a statement.
Superior has had previous experience operating a U.S. business and it?s demonstrated the ability to quickly restore a business to profitability after emerging from Chapter 11, Miller said.
?We believe a transaction with Superior would maximize value for Hawker Beechcraft and its stakeholders,? Miller said. ?Importantly, this combination would give Hawker Beechcraft greater access to the Chinese business and general aviation marketplace, which is forecast to grow more than 10 percent a year for the next 10 to 15 years.?
The decision to move forward with Superior?s offer was based on two key factors, said Bill Boisture, chairman of Hawker Beechcraft Corp.
For one, the bid was the most attractive Hawker Beechcraft received during the strategic review process, Boisture said.
In addition, its plan going forward offered the most continuity for the business, allowing it to preserve jobs, product lines and the ability to maintain commitments to customers, Boisture said.
Superior?s proposal reflects its intention to make Hawker Beechcraft its flagship investment, the company said.
Superior has received and expects to continue to receive the full support of the City of Beijing municipal government in completing the transaction.
The Chinese company is working to obtain all regulatory approvals from the Chinese central government for this foreign investment project.
The sale is also subject to approval by the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, as well as additional customary U.S. regulatory reviews and approvals.
The bankruptcy court must also approve Hawker Beechcraft?s agreement to negotiate exclusively with Superior and for any agreement that may be negotiated.
Hawker Beechcraft filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 3.
Superior Aviation Beijing Co. is an aerospace manufacturer that engages in research and development, production and the sale of general aviation engines and parts.
It is 60 percent owned by Beijing Superior Aviation Technology Corp., a closely held private company, and 40 percent owned by Beijing E-Town International Investment & Development Corp., a company that?s controlled by the Beijing municipal government.
Source: http://www.kansas.com/2012/07/09/2402469/chinese-company-plans-to-buy-hawker.html
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