Similar advertising claims to those of Radam can be found throughout the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. “Dr.” Sibley, an English patent medicine seller of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, even went so far as to claim that his Reanimating Solar Tincture would, as the name implies, “restore life in the event of sudden death”. Another English quack, “Dr. Solomon” claimed that his Cordial Balm of Gilead cured almost anything, but was particularly effective against all venereal complaints, from gonorrhoea to onanism. Although it was basically just brandy flavoured with herbs, it retailed widely at 33 shillings a bottle in the period of the Napoleonic wars, the equivalent of over $100 per bottle today.

Not all patent medicines were without merit. Turlingtons Balsam of Life, first marketed in the mid-18th century, did have genuinely beneficial properties. This medicine continued to be sold under the original name into the early 20th century, and can still be found in the British and American Pharmacopoeias as “Compound tincture of benzoin”. It can be argued that for some of these medicines this is an example of the infinite monkey theorem in action.

The end of the road for the quack medicines now considered grossly fraudulent in the nations of North America and Europe came in the early 20th century. February 21, 1906 saw the passage into law of the Pure Food and Drug Act in the United States. This was the result of decades of campaigning by both government departments and the medical establishment, supported by a number of publishers and journalists (one of the most effective of whom was Samuel Hopkins Adams, whose series “The Great American Fraud” was published in Colliers Weekly starting in late 1905). This American Act was followed three years later by similar legislation in Britain, and in other European nations. Between them, these laws began to remove the more outrageously dangerous contents from patent and proprietary medicines, and to force quack medicine proprietors to stop making some of their more blatantly dishonest claims.

Medical quackery and promotion of nostrums and worthless drugs were among the most prominent abuses that led to formal self-regulation in business and, in turn, to the creation of the NBBB.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Quackery, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

Qi (ch’i)

Qi (roughly pronounced as the sound ‘chee’ in English) is a movable positive or negative life force which plays an essential role in feng shui. In feng shui as in Chinese martial arts, it refers to ‘energy’, in the sense of ‘life force’ or élan vital. A traditional explanation of qi as it relates to feng shui would include the orientation of a structure, its age, and its interaction with the surrounding environment including the local microclimates, the slope of the land, vegetation, and soil quality.

The ”Book of Burial” says that burial takes advantage of “vital qi.” Wu Yuanyin (Qing dynasty) said that vital qi was “congealed qi,” which is the state of qi that engenders life. The goal of feng shui is to take advantage of vital qi by appropriate siting of graves and structures.

One use for a Luopan is to detect the flow of qi. Magnetic compasses reflect local geomagnetism which includes geomagnetically induced currents caused by space weather.

Professor Max Knoll suggested in a 1951 lecture that qi is a form of solar radiation. As space weather changes over time, and the quality of qi rises and falls over time, feng shui with a compass might be considered a form of divination that assesses the quality of the local environment—including the effects of space weather.

Polarity

Polarity is expressed in feng shui as Yin and Yang Theory. Polarity expressed through yin and yang is similar to a magnetic dipole. That is, it is of two parts: one creating an exertion and one receiving the exertion. Yang acting and yin receiving could be considered an early understanding of chirality. The development of Yin Yang Theory and its corollary, Five Phase Theory, have also been linked with astronomical observations of sunspots.

The Five Elements or Forces (wu xing) — which, according to the Chinese, are metal, earth, fire, water, and wood — are first mentioned in Chinese literature in a chapter of the classic Book of History. They play a very important part in Chinese thought: ‘elements’ meaning generally not so much the actual substances as the forces essential to human, life. Earth is a buffer, or an equilibrium achieved when the polarities cancel each other. While the goal of Chinese medicine is to balance yin and yang in the body, the goal of feng shui has been described as aligning a city, site, building, or object with yin-yang force fields.

Bagua (eight trigrams)

Two diagrams known as bagua (or ”pa kua”) loom large in feng shui, and both predate their mentions in the ”Yijing” (or ”I Ching”). The ”Lo (River) Chart” (”Luoshu”, or ”Later Heaven Sequence”) was developed first. The ”Luoshu” and the ”River Chart” (”Hetu”, or ”Early Heaven Sequence”) are linked to astronomical events of the sixth millennium BC, and with the Turtle Calendar from the time of Yao. The Turtle Calendar of Yao (found in the ”Yaodian” section of the ”Shangshu” or ”Book of Documents”) dates to 2300 BC, plus or minus 250 years.

In ”Yaodian”, the cardinal directions are determined by the marker-stars of the mega-constellations known as the Four Celestial Animals:

;East: The Green Dragon (Spring equinox)—”Niao” (Bird), α Hydrae

;South: The Red Phoenix (Summer solstice)—”Huo” (Fire), α Scorpionis

;West: The White Tiger (Autumn equinox)—”Xu” (Emptiness, Void), α Aquarii, β Aquarii

;North: The Dark Turtle (Winter solstice)—”Mao” (Hair), η Tauri (the Pleiades)

The diagrams are also linked with the ”sifang” (four directions) method of divination used during the Shang dynasty. The ”sifang” is much older, however. It was used at Niuheliang, and figured large in Hongshan culture’s astronomy. And it is this area of China that is linked to Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, who allegedly invented the south-pointing spoon.

Schools

A ”school” or ”stream” is a set of techniques or methods. The term should not be confused with an actual school—there are many masters who run schools.

Some claim that authentic masters impart their genuine knowledge only to selected students, such as relatives.

Techniques

Archaeological discoveries from Neolithic China and the literature of ancient China together give us an idea of the origins of feng shui techniques. In premodern China, Yin feng shui (for tombs) had as much importance as Yang feng shui (for homes). For both types one had to determine direction by observing the skies (what Wang Wei called the Ancestral Hall Method; later identified by Ding Juipu as ”Liqi pai,” which westerners mistakenly label “compass school”), and to determine the Yin and Yang of the land (what Wang Wei called the Kiangxi method and Ding Juipu called ”Xingshi pai,” which westerners mistakenly label “form school”).

Feng shui is typically associated with the following techniques. This is not a complete list; it is merely a list of the most common techniques.

Xingshi Pai (“Forms” Methods)

* Luan Dou Pai, 峦头派, Pinyin: luán tóu pài, (environmental analysis without using a compass)

* Xing Xiang Pai, 形象派 or 形像派, Pinyin: xíng xiàng pài, (Imaging forms)

* Xingfa Pai, 形法派, Pinyin: xíng fǎ pài

Liqi Pai (“Compass” Methods)

San Yuan Method, 三元派 (Pinyin: sān yuán pài)

* Dragon Gate Eight Formation, 龍門八法 (Pinyin: lóng mén bà fǎ)

* Xuan Kong, 玄空 (time and space methods)

* Xuan Kong Fei Xing 玄空飛星 (Flying Stars methods of time and directions)

* Xuan Kong Da Gua, 玄空大卦 (“Secret Decree” or 64 gua relationships)

San He Method, 三合派 (environmental analysis using a compass)

* Accessing Dragon Methods

* Ba Zhai, 八宅 (Eight Mansions)

* Water Methods, 河洛水法

* Local Embrace

Others

* Four Pillars of Destiny, 四柱命理 (a form of hemerology)

* Major & Minor Wandering Stars (Constellations)

* Five phases, 五行 (relationship of the five phases or ”wuxing”)

* BTB Black Tantric Buddhist Sect (Westernised or Modern methods not based on Classical teachings)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Feng shui, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

Scurvy is a disease now known to be caused by a deficiency of vitamin C, but in Lind’s day, the concept of vitamins was unknown. Vitamin C is necessary for the maintenance of healthy connective tissue. In 1740 the catastrophic result of Anson’s circumnavigation attracted much attention in Europe; out of 1900 men, 1400 had died, most of them allegedly from having contracted scurvy. According to Lind, scurvy caused more deaths in the British fleets than French and Spanish arms.

Since antiquity in various parts of the world, and since the 1600s in England, it had been known that citrus fruit had an antiscorbutic effect, when John Woodall (1570–1643), an English military surgeon of the British East India Company recommended them but their use wasn’t widespread. Although Lind was not the first to suggest citrus fruit as a cure for scurvy, he was the first to study their effect by a systematic experiment in 1747. It ranks as one of the first clinical experiments in the history of medicine.

Lind thought that scurvy was due to putrefaction of the body which could be helped by acids; that is why he chose to include a dietary supplement of acidic quality in his experiment. This began after two months at sea when the ship was afflicted with scurvy. He divided twelve scorbutic sailors into six groups. They all received the same diet but, in addition, group one was given a quart of cider daily, group two twenty-five drops of elixir of vitriol (sulfuric acid), group three six spoonfuls of vinegar, group four half a pint of seawater, group five received two oranges and one lemon and the last group a spicy paste plus a drink of barley water. The treatment of group five stopped after six days when they ran out of fruit, but by that time one sailor was fit for duty and the other had almost recovered. Apart from that, only group one also showed some effect of its treatment.

Shortly after this experiment Lind retired from the Navy and at first practised privately as a physician. In 1753 he published ”A treatise of the scurvy”, which was virtually ignored. In 1758 he was appointed chief physician of the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar at Gosport. When James Cook went on his first voyage he carried wort (0.1& mg vitamin C per 100 g), sauerkraut (10–15& mg per 100 g) and a syrup, or ‘rob’, of oranges and lemons (the juice contains 40–60& mg of vitamin C per 100 g) as antiscorbutics, but only the results of the trials on wort were published. In 1762 Lind’s ”Essay on the most effectual means of preserving the health of seamen” appeared. In it he recommended growing salad, i.e. watercress (662& mg vitamin C per 100 g) on wet blankets. This was actually put in practice, and in the winter of 1775 the British Army in North America was supplied with mustard and cress seeds. However Lind, like most of the medical profession believed that scurvy was essentially a result of ill digested and putrefying food within the body, bad water, excessive work and living in an damp atmosphere which prevented healthful perspiration. Thus, while he recognised the benefits of citrus fruit (although he weaken his case by switching to a boiled concentrated or ‘rob’, the production of which unfortunately destroyed the vitamin C), he never advocated citrus juice as a single solution. He believed that scurvy had multiple causes which therefore required multiple remedies.

The medical establishment ashore continued to be wedded to the idea that scurvy was a disease of putrefaction, curable by the administration of elixir of vitriol, infusions of wort and other remedies designed to ‘ginger up’ the system. It could not account for the benefits of citrus fruits and dismissed the evidence in their favour as unproven and anecdotal. In the navy however, experience had convinced many officers and surgeons that citrus juices provided the answer to scurvy even if the reason was unknown. On the insistence of senior officers, led by Rear Admiral Alan Gardner, in 1794 lemon juice was issued on board the ”Suffolk” on a twenty-three week, non-stop voyage to India. The daily ration of two-thirds of an ounce mixed in grog contained just about the minimum daily intake of 10& mg vitamin C. There was no serious outbreak of scurvy. This astonishing event resulted in a widespread demand within the navy for lemon juice, backed by the Sick and Hurt Board whose numbers had recently been augmented by two practical naval surgeons who were well aware of Lind’s experiment with citrus. The following year the Admiralty accepted its recommendation that lemon juice should be issued routinely to the whole fleet. Another Scot, Archibald Menzies, picked up citrus plants and dropped them off at Kealakekua Bay in Hawaii on the Vancouver Expedition, to help the Navy re-supply in the Pacific.

This was not the immediate end of scurvy in the Navy, as lemon juice was at first in such short supply that it could only be used in home waters as a cure under the direction of the surgeons rather than issued routinely as a preventative. Only after 1800 did the supply increase sufficiently so that, on the insistence of Admiral Lord St Vincent, it began to be issued generally.

Prevention of Typhus

Finding that typhus disappeared from the top floor of his hospital, where patients were bathed and given clean clothes and bedding, while it raged through the floors below where such hygiene measures were not in place, Lind recommended that sailors be stripped, shaved, scrubbed, and issued with clean clothes and bedding regularly. As a result, British seamen did not suffer from typhus, giving the British navy a significant competitive advantage over the French.

Fresh water from the sea

In the 18th century sailors took along water, cordial and milk in casks. According to the ”Regulations and Instructions relating to His Majesty’s Service at Sea”, which had been published for the first time in 1733 by the Admiralty, sailors were entitled to a gallon of weak beer daily (5/6 of the usual British gallon, equivalent to the modern American gallon or slightly more than three and a half litres). As the beer had been boiled in the brewing process it was reasonably free from bacteria and lasted for months unlike water kept in a cask for the same time. In the Mediterranean, wine was also issued, often fortified with brandy.

A frigate with 240 men, equipped with stores for four months, carried more than a hundred tons of drinkable liquid. Water quality depended on the original source of the water, the condition of the casks and for how long it had been kept. During normal times sailors weren’t allowed to take any water away. When water got scarce, it was rationed and rain water was collected with spread sails. Fresh water was also collected when an opportunity presented itself ”en voyage”, but watering places were often marshy, and in the tropics infested with malaria.

In 1759, Lind discovered that the steam of heated salt water was fresh. He also proposed to use solar energy for the distillation of water. But only when a new type of cooking stove was introduced in 1810 did the possibility arise of producing fresh water by distillation on a useful scale.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article James Lind, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

With instability across the region in Iraq and Lebanon, Jordan is emerging as the “business capital of the Levant” and “the next Beirut”. Jordan’s economy has been growing at an annual rate of 7% for a decade. Jordan’s economy is undergoing a major shift from an aid-dependent, rentier economy to one of the most robust, open and competitive economies in the region. In recent years, there has been shift to knowledge-intensive industries, i.e ICT, and a rapidly growing trade sector benefiting from regional instability.

Jordan has more free trade agreements than any other Arab country. Jordan has FTA’s with the United States, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, the European Union, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Iraq, Turkey and Syria. More FTA’s are planned with the Palestinian Authority, the GCC, Lebanon, and Pakistan. Jordan is a member of the Greater Arab Free Trade Agreement, the Euro-Mediterranean free trade agreement, and the Agadir Agreement. Increased investment and exports are the main sources of Jordan’s growth. Continued close integration into the European Union and GCC markets will reap vast economic rewards for the Kingdom in the coming years.

The main obstacles to Jordan’s economy are scarce water supplies, complete reliance on oil imports for energy, and regional instability.

Rapid privatization of previously state-controlled industries and liberalization of the economy is spurring unprecedented growth in Jordan’s urban centers like Amman and especially Aqaba. Jordan has six special economic zones that attract significant amount of investment amounting in the billions: Aqaba, Mafraq, Ma’an, Ajloun, the Dead Sea, and Irbid. Jordan also has a plethora of industrial zones producing goods in the textile, aerospace, defense, ICT, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic sectors.

King Abdullah has repeatedly emphasised that Jordan has a bright future and that it compares favourably with much of the region on key social and economic indicators. According to JIB (Jordan Investment Board)officials, Jordan receives twice the level of per capita foreign investment than its larger neighbour Egypt does. Even though inflation pushed its way up to the 13% mark in the first half of 2008, the shocks to the system are far less than in Egypt where inflation crept up to around 23%. Jordan’s economy has come under some pressure in 2007 and perhaps more so in 2008, primarily from global increases in oil and food prices that have affected the government budget and the current account balance. While Jordan is facing enormous economic pressures, it is managing to sustain good levels of GDP growth and foreign investment.

Jordan’s free trade agreements, investment incentives and low transport costs for shipping to major markets are still drawing producers to the country. Steel and cement productions are due to rise, with two additional cement plants under construction and likely to provide further export income. The government is also pushing ahead with the establishment of economic zones to attract new industry and services to less developed areas of the country where problems of unemployment and poverty are particularly acute.

However, its domestic developments will be the key to improving conditions. The government will push ahead with major projects such as the housing initiative, the economic zones, and attracting knowledge-intensive investments that require high-skilled labour and vocational programmes in the hope of creating more jobs and helping to counteract the impact of higher living costs, while at the same time hoping that global developments do not make its job even harder.

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States that went into effect in December 2001 will phase out duties on nearly all goods and services by 2010. The agreement also provides for more open markets in communications, construction, finance, health, transportation, and services, as well as strict application of international standards for the protection of intellectual property. In 1996, Jordan and the United States signed a civil aviation agreement that provides for open skies between the two countries, and a U.S.-Jordan treaty for the protection and encouragement of bilateral investment entered into force in 2003. Jordan has been a member of the World Trade Organization since 2000.

Many Iraqi and Palestinian businesses maintain important offices in Jordan. Due to the instability in these two regions, many Iraqis and Palestinians work out of Jordan. With Jordan becoming known as the gateway to Iraq and the Palestinian territories and for its free trade policies, Amman and the Kingdom of Jordan as a whole has the potential to monopolize business and trade in the Levant.

In the 2000 Competitive Industrial Performance (CIP) Index, Jordan ranked as the third most industrialized economy in the Middle East and North Africa, behind Turkey and Kuwait. Jordan was in the upper bracket of nations scored by the CIP index.

In the 2009 Global Trade Enabling Report, Jordan ranked 4th in the Arab World behind the UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar. The report analyzes the country’s market access, the country’s transport and communications infrastructure, border administration, and the business environment of the country Textile and clothing exports from Jordan to the United States shot up 2,000 percent from 2000 to 2005, following introduction of the FTA. According to the National Labor Committee, a U.S.-based NGO (Non-Governmental Organization), Jordan has experienced sharp increases in sweatshop conditions in its export-oriented manufacturing sector.

The proportion of skilled workers in Jordan is among the highest in the region. The services sector dominates the Jordanian economy. Tourism is a rapidly growing industry in Jordan with revenues over one billion. Industries such as pharmaceuticals are emerging as very profitable products in Jordan. The Real Estate economy and construction sectors continue to flourish with mass amounts of investments pouring in from the Persian Gulf and Europe. Foreign Direct Investment is in the billions. The stock market capitalization of Jordan is worth nearly $40 billion.

Jordan is classified by the World Bank as a “lower middle income country.” The per-capita GDP was approximately USD $5,100 for 2007 and 14.5% of the economically active population, on average, was unemployed in 2003. Education and literacy rates and measures of social well-being are very high compared to other countries with similar incomes. Jordan’s population growth rate is high, but has declined in recent years, to approximately 2.8% currently. One of the most important factors in the government’s efforts to improve the well-being of its citizens is the macroeconomic stability that has been achieved since the 1990s. However, unemployment rates remain high, with the official figure standing at 12.5%, and the unofficial around 30%. Rates of price inflation are low, at 2.3% in 2003, and the currency has been stable with an exchange rate fixed to the U.S. dollar since 1995.

By 2003 onwards following the invasion and occupation of Iraq, Jordan lost its vital oil grants provided by the regime of Saddam Hussein. This, combined with soaring world oil prices resulted in an acceleration of inflation and further pressures a gradual undermining of real income. So far the government of Jordan has not found means to reduce dependence on oil (with the exception of gas imports from Egypt).

While pursuing economic reform and increased trade, Jordan’s economy will continue to be vulnerable to external shocks and regional unrest. Without calm in the region, economic growth seems destined to stay below potential. On the positive side, however, there is huge potential in the solar energy falling on Jordan’s deserts, not only for the generation of pollution-free electricity but also for such spin-offs as desalination of sea water (see Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC)).

Jordan is pinning its hopes on tourism, future uranium and oil shale exports, trade, and ICT for future economic growth.

Amman was ranked as the Arab World’s most expensive city in 2006 by the Economist Intelligence Unit, beating Dubai. In 2009, Amman ranked as the 4th most expensive city in the Arab World, behind Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Beirut.

Jordan is an importer of low skilled and semi-skilled laborers from Egypt, South Asia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. There are about three to four hundred thousand migrant workers of this type. These migrant workers often work in construction, the textile factories in Jordan’s Qualified Industrial Zones, municipal maintenance services, and as domestic workers. Recently, these migrant workers were incorporated into the Kingdom’s labor laws giving them a wide range of benefits and rights and access to legal protection, the first Arab country to do so.

Since 2009, there are 2 Jordanian companies listed in the Forbes Global 2000 list, Arab Bank ( Rank 708) and Arab Potash (Rank 1964)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Jordan, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs)

The work on applying light-emitting diodes in NASA space shuttle plant growth experiments led to the development of a hand-held, high-intensity, LED unit developed by Quantum Devices Inc. The WARP 10 is said to relieve minor muscle and joint pain, stiffness,and increases local blood circulation. The WARP 10 is being used by the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Navy as a noninvasive “soldier self-care” device for minor injuries and pain. The next-generation WARP 75 has been used to relieve pain in bone marrow transplant patients, and will be used to combat the symptoms of bone atrophy, multiple sclerosis, diabetic complications, Parkinson’s disease, and in a variety of ocular applications.

Light-emitting diodes for medical purposes were inducted into the Space Foundation’s Space Technology Hall of Fame in 2000.

Infrared ear thermometers

Diatek Corporation and NASA developed an aural thermometer, which weighs and uses infrared astronomy technology to measure the amount of energy emitted by the eardrum, the same way the temperature of stars and planets is measured. This method avoids contact with mucous membranes, and permits rapid temperature measurement of newborn or incapacitated patients. NASA supported the Diatek Corporation through the Technology Affiliates Program.

Ventricular assist device

Collaboration between NASA, Dr. Michael DeBakey, Dr. George Noon, and MicroMed Technology Inc. resulted in a heart pump for patients awaiting heart transplants. The MicroMed DeBakey ventricular assist device (VAD) functions as a “bridge to heart transplant” by pumping blood until a donor heart is available. The pump is approximately one-tenth the size of other currently marketed pulsatile VADs. Because of the pump’s small size, fewer patients developed device-related infections. It can operate up to 8 hours on batteries, giving patients the mobility to do normal, everyday activities.

Artificial limbs

Advancements such as Environmental Robots Inc.’s development of artificial muscle systems for use in NASA space robotic and extravehicular activities have been adapted to create more functionally dynamic artificial limbs. Other commercial uses of NASA’s temper foam include moldable materials offering the natural look and feel of flesh, as well as preventing friction between the skin and the prosthesis, and heat/moisture buildup.

Transportation=

Aircraft anti-icing systems

Adapted from the Wikipedia article NASA spin-off, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

Image:Kunigal.jpg| Agastya Mobile Lab visiting a village in Kunigal

Image:Activity_kuppam.jpg|The Kuppam Creative Lab encourages hands-on learning of scientific concepts.

The Agastya program began to expand in 2000-01 when Agastya acquired of rocky wasteland in Kuppam, a deprived rural area in Andhra Pradesh. A science centre was set up that housed various interactive models [in physics, chemistry, biology, math and ecology] and that could be used by rural schoolchildren and teachers to explore concepts. The Science Center at Kuppam now houses over 300 low-cost experiments. The Discovery Center has several interactive science exhibits, and is one of the few newly emerging interactive science museums in rural India. Children and teachers from the surrounding villages and other schools in Kuppam and KGF in Karnataka visit the Center on a periodic basis. These children are exposed to a number of basic concepts in physics, biology, chemistry and ecology and are allowed to explore and operate the models on their own.

Science on Wheels (mobile lab)

Mobile science labs are vehicles manned by a driver and two instructors that carry experiments and travel long distances to remote rural schools to demonstrate models and experiments and involve children and teachers in hands-on science. The Agastya instructors teach scientific concepts through simple experiments in sessions that emphasize interaction and questioning. While most experiments are simple in nature and use material that is commonly available, the mobile lab also has complete working models of the entire solar system.

Children are able to relate better to concepts explained through interactive demonstrations rather than through rote learning. They learn about a range of topics including astral bodies, rotation and revolution, the effect of gravitation, eclipses and how the brain deciphers signals.Agastya’s Mobile Labs operate regularly across Karnataka and near its campus in Andhra Pradesh. The Mobile Lab has also visited Maharashtra, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

The Mobile Labs (“Spokes”) work in concert with satellite science centers(“hubs”). The “hub-and-spoke model” is scalable and operates in over 20 rural districts.

Watch the Agastya mobile lab in action by clicking here. Night mobile lab visits aimed at village community members, demonstrate the fun of science and encourage parents to value learning and send their children to school.

Science fairs

Science fairs are held to enable Agastya to reach out to large groups of children simultaneously. Using simple models, 12 to 16 year old young instructors demonstrate phenomena such as the solar and lunar eclipse, seasonal changes, concepts such as pressure and volume relationship and the protein chains that link together to form insulin. A feature of the experiments is that they are carried out with easily available materials such as scraps of paper, pieces of nylon ropes and broken pieces of buttons. These Science fairs in addition to targeting a large audience of children (a mega science fair attracts over 15,000 children in a week) serve as a platform to encourage young instructors to demonstrate programs to their peers. This facilitates greater interaction and understanding of concepts, boosts confidence and improves their communication skills.

Teacher development programs

The Foundation’s teacher training programs aim to propagate creative-thinking and problem-solving skills. Agastya uses a variety of channels to help teachers, including mobile labs, science center workshops, learning by observation, learning by doing and campus based programs.

Agastya uses non-standard approaches to transform teachers; offering modules that integrate learning and knowledge across subjects, and working with mixed groups of teachers and children to raise interaction and bridge the gap between teacher training and the school classroom. A program to train dropouts (Operation Vijay) was launched in 2008. In addition to this, the new campus-based Center for Creative Teaching (sponsored by the Schlumberger Foundation) is expected to be a model for holistic, creativity-based learning. Experienced resource persons support Agastya staff to train rural teachers.

Young Instructors Program – Children teach children

Apart from teaching and demonstrating through experiments, the Science on Wheels program also identifies and trains students to be young instructors. These students are provided training on science models in addition to building their capacities to present and interact with their peers. They then explain scientific concepts to other children at specially organized science fairs. The audience (children) is able to absorb information better as they can interact with their peer instructors without the fear of being reproached, eliminating barriers that normally exist between an adult and a child. Two Agastya rural young instructors won a Special Award at IRIS 2008, and four won awards at IRIS 2009 an annual science competition sponsored by Intel, the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India and the Confederation of Indian Industry. The Agastya young instructors were among 24 awardees from 1000 entrants across India and were the largest group of rural children to win the award.

Ecology and environment

Hundreds of rural children make time during their summer holidays to work on Science and Environment projects at Agastya’s Creativity Lab in Kuppam. Gigantic human figures landscaped on the slopes of a hillock have a variety of medicinal plants and herbs. The medicinal benefits of these plants are correlated with various parts of the human body through specific planting patterns. Around the campus, 15,000 medicinal plants have been planted and rainwater harvesting has been introduced. The campus has regenerated over 300 different species of trees, plants and shrubs and is being transformed from an arid dry area into a lush, semi-deciduous forest with several medicinal plants. The environmentalist A N Yellappa Reddy has led this project and has initiated a second one, “Bala Vana” or “the forest of the prodigies”. Harish Bhat and his team from the Indian Institute of Science are documenting the biodiversity improvements effected on the Agastya campus. This includes night eco studies to which children are invited. Campus land that was overgrazed (circa 1999) now produces several varieties of grass – villagers are given free access to cut and use the grass to feed their cattle. Agastya, in August 2007 initiated a Mobile Ecology Lab and community education program sponsored by Agilent Technologies in Kunigal, Karnataka. About 10 models dealing with water, soil, energy and agriculture were developed. It seeks to not just educate but tackle issues that threaten the local environment and create awareness about the scale and nature of environment degradation. A second Mobile Ecology Lab sponsored by UPS was launched in 2009 to serve communities surrounding the campus.

The Arts program

Agastya has also initiated an “Art on Wheels” program (sponsored by Art Venture, Singapore) to expose children to art and design concepts. The Arts Center at the Agastya campus links science and ecology to art and introduces children to the concepts of color, texture, shapes and art in nature. In addition to making science creative for rural children, it also seeks to encourage rural children to express themselves through drawing, painting and sculpting.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Agastya International Foundation, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

The basis of all Taoist thinking is that qi is part of everything that exists. It is related to another energetic substance contained in the human body known as jing (精), and once all this has been expended, you will die. Jing could be lost from the body in a variety of ways, most notably the bodily fluids. Taoists would use practices to stimulate/increase and conserve their bodily fluids to great extents, and some reportedly recycled and composted their own fecal matter. The fluid that contained the most Jing was male semen. Therefore the Taoists believed that men should decrease the frequency or totally avoid ejaculation in order to conserve their life essence.

Male control of ejaculation

Many Taoist practitioners link the loss of ejaculatory fluids to the loss of vital life force: where excessive fluid loss results in premature aging, disease, and general fatigue. While some Taoists contend that one should never ejaculate, others provide a specific formula to determine the maximum amount of regular ejaculations in order to maintain health. The general idea is to limit the loss of fluids as much as possible to the level of your desired practice. As these sexual practices were passed down over the centuries, some practitioners have given less importance to the limiting of ejaculation. Nevertheless, the “retention of the semen” is one of the foundational tenets of Taoist sexual practice.

There are different methods to control ejaculation prescribed by the Taoists. In order to avoid ejaculation, the man could do one of two things. He could pull out immediately before orgasm, a method which Joseph Needham termed “coitus conservatus”. The second method involved the man applying pressure on perineum, thus retaining the sperm. While, if done incorrectly can cause a retrograde ejaculation, the Taoists believed that the semen traveled up into the head and “nourished the brain.” This method is referred to by some Taoist scholars as “The Million Dollar Point” (reference Mantak Chia), regarding it as either a cheap lesson for income or a backup method, believing that it somehow lessened the loss of “jing” from a full ejaculation. Some modern teachers have come to the conclusion that the method should not be used because of potential dangers. Another method involves the Taoist to train himself to separate the impulses of ejaculation and orgasmic contraction (the contraction of the pelvic muscles that “pump” the prostate and the ejaculate). By separating these impulses, at the point of orgasm, the man can halt penetration but remain inside his partner, and forcibly clench his pelvic floor (“stunting” the initial prostate contractions), while simultaneously adopting a meditation like “intention” that these Taoists believe redirect not the physical sperm, but the life energy (jing) it contains up the back and to the center of the brain. This way the man will still have orgasm, but will not ejaculate, and most importantly will not lose his erection. This formula prescribes the man to climb a “ladder” of escalating orgasms in conjunction with the meditation like “intention”, in order to cultivate and store massive amounts of “jing”. If performed successfully the male should have no stagnating pain in the testes, and should have no semen in his urine, as well as the health benefits expected by practitioners. Those that practice this method believe that it is one of the keys to immortality.

Jing

Another important concept of “The Joining of the Essences” was that the union of a man and a woman would result in the creation of jing, a type of sexual energy. When in the act of lovemaking, jing would form, and the man could transform some of this jing into qi, and replenish his lifeforce. By having as much sex as possible, men had the opportunity to transform more and more jing, and as a result would see many health benefits.

Yin/Yang

The concept of Yin and yang is important in Taoism, and consequently also holds special importance in sex. Yang usually referred to the male gender, whereas Yin could refer to the female gender. Man and Woman were the equivalent of heaven and earth, but became disconnected. Therefore while heaven and earth are eternal, man and woman suffer a premature death. Every interaction between Yin and Yang had significance. Because of this significance, every position and action in lovemaking had importance. Taoist texts described a large number of special sexual positions that served to cure or prevent illness.

Significance of woman

For Taoists, sex was not just about pleasing the man. The woman also had to be stimulated and pleased in order to benefit from the act of sex. Sex could only happen if both partners desired it. If sex were performed in this manner, the woman would create more jing, and the man could more easily absorb the jing to increase his own qi. Women were also given a prominent place in the Ishinpō, with the tutor being a woman. One of the reasons women had a great deal of strength in the act of sex was that they walked away undiminished from the act. The woman had the power to bring forth life, and did not have to worry about ejaculation or refractory period.

Yet, women were often still given a position of inferiority in sexual practice. Many of the texts discuss sex from a male point of view, and avoid discussing how sex could benefit women. Men were encouraged to not limit themselves to one woman, and were advised to have sex only with the woman who was beautiful and had not had children. While the man had to please the woman sexually, she was still just an object. At numerous points during the Ishinpō, the woman is referred to as the “enemy.” This was because part of the act of intercourse was an assumption by the male of dominance of the woman’s sexual prowess. In later sexual texts from the Ming, women had lost all semblance of being human and were referred to as the “other,” “crucible” or “stove.” The importance of pleasing the woman also diminished in later texts. The practise was known as Caibao (採補), as a man enter many women without ejaculation.

Women were also considered to be a means for men to extend men’s lives. Many of the ancient texts were dedicated explanation of how a man could use sex to extend his own life. But, his life was extended only through the absorption of the woman’s vital energies (jing and qi). Some Taoists called the act of sex “The battle of stealing and strengthening.” These sexual methods could be correlated with Taoist military methods. Instead of storming the gates, the battle was a series of feints and maneuvers that would sap the enemy’s resistance. Some taoists said to emperors by using their power to do that could extend their lives, but it actually weakened them..

When and where to have sex

Another text, ”Health Benefits of the Bedchamber”, indicates that certain times were better for intercourse than others. A person had to avoid having intercourse on quarter or full moons and on days when there were great winds, rain, fog, cold or heat, thunder, lightning, darkness over heaven and earth, solar and lunar eclipses, rainbows and earthquakes. Having intercourse at these times would harm a man’s spirit and would cause women to become ill. Children conceived at these times would be mad, stupid, perverse or foolish; mute, deaf, crippled or blind; unfilial and violent.

Also important was selecting the right day for intercourse if a person desired children. After the woman’s period, the first, third or fifth days were the best. If on these days the man ejaculated after midnight, the child would likely be male. If a female child was desired, the man needed to ejaculate on the second, fourth or sixth days after the cessation of the woman’s period.

The location of sex was also important. People had to avoid the glare of the sun, moon or stars, the interior of shrines, proximity to temples, wells, stoves and privies, and the vicinity of graves or coffins.

If these suggestions were followed the family’s offspring would be good, wise and virtuous. If they were not followed, the offspring would be evil and the family would eventually die off.

Immortality

Some Ming Dynasty Daoist sects believed that one way for men to achieve longevity or immortality is by having intercourse with virgins, particularly young virgins. This has been disapproved and criticized by most other Daoist schools as “Pseudo-Tao”. Daoist sexual books, such as the ”Hsuan wei Hshin” (“Mental Images of the Mysteries and Subtleties of Sexual Techniques”) and ”San Feng Tan Cheueh” (“Zhang Sanfeng’s Instructions in the Physiological Alchemy”), written, respectively, by Zhao Liangpi and Zhang Sanfeng (not to be confused with Zhang Sanfeng who lived in an earlier period), call the woman sexual partner ”ding” (鼎) and state that the most desirable ”ding” is a girl about 14, 15, or 16 years old just before or after menarche. Zhang Sanfeng went further and divided ”ding” into three ranks:

*the lowest rank, 21- to 25-year-old women;

*the middle rank, 16- to 20-year-old menstruating virgin girls;

*the highest rank, 14-year-old premenarche virgin girls.

All of these various precepts were believed by some in those sects to be able to serve to help people attain immortality.

According to Ge Hong, a 4th century Daoist alchemist, “those seeking immortality must perfect the absolute essentials. These consist of treasuring the jing, circulating the qi and consuming the great medicine.” The sexual arts concerned the first precept, treasuring the jing. This is partially because treasuring the jing involved sending it up into the brain. In order to send the jing into the brain, the male had to refrain from ejaculation during sex. According to some Daoists, if this was done, the semen would travel up the spine and nourish the brain instead of leaving the body. Ge Hong also states, however, that it is folly to believe that performing the sexual arts only can achieve immortality and some of the ancient myths on sexual arts had been misinterpreted and exaggerated. Indeed, the sexual arts had to be practiced alongside alchemy to attain immortality. Ge Hong also warned it could be dangerous if practiced incorrectly.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Taoist sexual practices, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

Carlisle Area School District administrative costs in 2008 were $668.30 per pupil. The lowest administrative cost per pupil in Pennsylvania was $398, in 2008. The district provides an extensive benefit package to all administrators. On July 1, 2010, John Friend will assume superintendent duties with a five-year contract. His initial one-year salary for 2010-11 was set at $143,000. Christina Spielbauer will assume Assistant Superintendent position in July 2009 at a salary of $96,000. Gary Worley, Assistant Superintendent’s salary effective July 1, 2009 will be paid $120,000 annually. His role will be to supervise the High School and Middle School principals.

Reserves – In 2008, the district reported an unreserved designated fund balance of zero and a unreserved-undesignated fund balance of $11,615,997.00.

The district is funded by a combination of: a local earned income tax – 1.6%, a local real property tax, a real estate transfer tax, and a per capita tax, coupled with substantial funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the federal government. Grants provide an opportunity to supplement school funding without raising local taxes. In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pension income and Social Security income are exempted from state personal income tax and local earned income tax regardless of the income level.

State basic education funding

In the 2009-2010 budget year the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided a 5.12% increase in Basic Education Funding for a total of $12,158,246. Seven county school districts received increases of less than 6% in Basic Education Funding in 2009-10. Shippensburg Area School District received an 8.43% increase. In Pennsylvania, over 15 school districts received Basic Education Funding increases in excess of 10% in 2009. Muhlenberg School District in Berks County received the highest with a 22.31% increase in funding. The state’s Basic Education Funding to the Carlisle Area School District in 2008-09 was $11,565,596.80. The amount of increase each school district receives is determined by the Governor and the Secretary of Education through the allocation set in the state budget proposal made in February each year.

Federal Stimulus Funding

The district received an extra $2,618,458 in ARRA – Federal Stimulus money to be used in specific programs like special education and meeting the academic needs of low income students.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 1,136 students qualified for free or reduced lunch due to low family income in 2008. The funding is for 2009-2011 school years.

Race to the Top grant

Carlisle School District officials did not apply for the Race to the Top federal grant which would have brought the district up to one million additional federal dollars for improving student academic achievement. Participation required the administration, the school board and the local teachers’ union to sign an agreement to prioritize improving student academic success. In Pennsylvania, 120 public school districts and 56 charter schools agreed to participate. Pennsylvania was not approved in the first round of the grant. The failure of districts to agree to participate was cited as one reason that Pennsylvania was not approved. A second round of state Race to the Top application judging will occur in June 2010.

Environmental Education Grant

The Environmental Education Grant Program was established by the Environmental Education Act of 1993, which mandates that 5 percent of all pollution fines and penalties collected annually by the Department of Environmental Protection be set aside for environmental education. In 2010, Carlisle Area School District was awarded $3000 for students to participate in educational programs and activities on solar and wind energy, alternative transportation fuels and green building practices.

Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence

Carlisle Area School District was a recipient of the award in 2010. It cited the installation of a 1000-kW photovoltaic array system which represents about 15 percent of the annual power used by the school district. This will save about $105,000 per year considering the sale of renewable energy credits of $0.25 kWh. The school district received a $1 million Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority award and a $950,000 Commonwealth Financing Authority Solar Energy Program award.

Real estate taxes

Property tax rates in 2009-10 are 14.3300 mills. In 2008-2009 the rate was set by the school board at 13.80000 mills. A mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value. Irregular property reassessments have become a serious issue in the commonwealth as it creates a significant disparity in taxation within a community and across a region.

Act 1 Adjusted index

The Act 1 of 2006 Index regulates the rates at which each school district can raise property taxes in Pennsylvania. Districts are not allowed to raise taxes above that index unless they allow voters to vote by referendum, or they seek an exception from the state Department of Education. The base index for the 2010-2011 school year is 2.9 percent, but it can be adjusted higher, depending on a number of factors, such as property values and the personal income of district residents. Act 1 included 10 exceptions including: increasing pension costs, increases in special education costs, a catastrophe like a fire or flood, rising health care costs for contracts in effect in 2006 or dwindling local tax bases. The base index is the average of the percentage increase in the statewide average weekly wage, as determined by the PA Department of Labor and Industry, for the preceding calendar year and the percentage increase in the Employment Cost Index for Elementary and Secondary Schools, as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the U.S. Department of Labor, for the previous 12-month period ending June 30. For a school district with a market value/personal income aid ratio (MV/PI AR) greater than 0.4000, its index equals the base index multiplied by the sum of .75 and its MV/PI AR for the current year.

The School District Adjusted Index for the Carlisle Area School District 2006-2007 through 2010-2011.

2006-07 – 4.8%, Base 3.9%

2007-08 – 4.2%, Base 3.4%

2008-09 – 5.4%, Base 4.4%

2009-10 – 5.0%, Base 4.1%

2010-11 – 3.5%, Base 2.9%

In the Spring of 2010, 135 Pennsylvania school boards asked to exceed their adjusted index. Approval was granted to 133 of them and 128 sought an exception for pension costs increases.

Property tax relief

In 2009, the Homestead/Farmstead Property Tax Relief from gambling for the Carlisle Area School District was $131 per approved permanent primary residence. In the district, 8,425 property owners applied for the tax relief. In Cumberland County, the highest amount of tax relief in 2009, went to Mechanicsburg Area School District at $140. The highest property tax relief, among Pennsylvania school districts, went to the residents of Chester Upland School District of Delaware County who received $632 per approved homestead. The relief was subtracted from the total annual school property tax bill. Property owners apply for the relief through the county Treasurer’s office. Farmers can qualify for a farmstead exemption on building used for agricultural purposes. The farm must be at least 10 contiguous acres and must be the primary residence of the owner. Farmers can qualify for both the homestead exemption and the farmstead exemption. In Cumberland County, 75.93% of eligible property owners applied for property tax relief in 2009.

Additionally, the Pennsylvania Property Tax/Rent Rebate program is provided for low income Pennsylvanians aged 65 and older; widows and widowers aged 50 and older; and people with disabilities age 18 and older. The income limit is $35,000 for homeowners. The maximum rebate for both homeowners and renters is $650. Applicants can exclude one-half (1/2) of their Social Security income, so people who make substantially more than $35,000 may still qualify for a rebate. Individuals must apply annually for the rebate. This rebate can be taken in addition to Homestead/Farmstead Property Tax Relief.

Property taxes in Pennsylvania are relatively high on a national scale. According to the Tax Foundation, Pennsylvania ranked 11th in the U.S. in 2008 in terms of property taxes paid as a percentage of home value (1.34%) and 12th in the country in terms of property taxes as a percentage of income (3.55%).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Carlisle Area School District, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

Beginning in the 1960s, anti-nuclear ideas received coverage in the popular media with novels such as ”Fail-Safe” and feature films such as ”Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” (1964), ”The China Syndrome” (1979), ”Silkwood” (1983), and ”The Rainbow Warrior” (1992).

”Dr. Strangelove” explored “what might happen within the Pentagon … if some maniac Air Force general should suddenly order a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union”. One reviewer called the movie “one of the cleverest and most incisive satiric thrusts at the awkwardness and folly of the military that has ever been on the screen”.

”The China Syndrome” has been described as a “gripping 1979 drama about the dangers of nuclear power” which had an extra impact when the real-life accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant occurred several weeks after the film opened. Jane Fonda plays a TV reporter who witnesses a near-meltdown (the “China syndrome” of the title) at a local nuclear plant, which was averted by a quick-thinking engineer, played by Jack Lemmon. The plot suggests that corporate greed and cost-cutting “have led to potentially deadly faults in the plant’s construction”.

”Silkwood” was inspired by the true-life story of Karen Silkwood, who died in a suspicious car accident while investigating alleged wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant where she worked.

Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) was a musical group founded in 1979 by Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, and John Hall, following the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. The group organized a series of five ”No Nukes” concerts held at Madison Square Garden in New York City in September 1979. On September 23, 1979, almost 200,000 people attended a large anti-nuclear rally staged by MUSE on the then-empty north end of the Battery Park City landfill in New York. The album ”No Nukes”, and a film, also titled ”No Nukes”, were both released in 1980 to document the performances.

In 2007, Bonnie Raitt, Graham Nash, and Jackson Browne, as part of the No Nukes group, recorded a music video of the Buffalo Springfield song “For What It’s Worth”.

Impact on policy

Historian Lawrence S. Wittner has argued that anti-nuclear sentiment and activism led directly to government policy shifts about nuclear weapons. Public opinion influenced policymakers by limiting their options and also by forcing them to follow certain policies over others. Wittner credits public pressure and anti-nuclear activism with “Truman’s decision to explore the Baruch Plan, Eisenhower’s efforts towards a nuclear test ban and the 1958 testing moratorium, and Kennedy’s signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty”.

In terms of nuclear power, ”Forbes” magazine, in the September 1975 issue, reported that “the anti-nuclear coalition has been remarkably successful … [and] has certainly slowed the expansion of nuclear power.” California has banned the approval of new nuclear reactors since the late 1970s because of concerns over waste disposal, and some other U.S. states have a moratorium on construction of nuclear power plants. Between 1975 and 1980, a total of 63 nuclear units were canceled in the USA. Anti-nuclear activities were among the reasons, but the primary motivations were the overestimation of future demand for electricity and steadily increasing capital costs, which made the economics of new plants unfavorable.

The proliferation of nuclear weapons became a presidential priority issue for the Carter Administration in the late 1970s. To deal with proliferation problems, President Carter promoted stronger international control over nuclear technology, including nuclear reactor technology. Although a strong supporter of nuclear power generally, Carter turned against the breeder reactor because the plutonium it produced could be diverted into nuclear weapons.

For many years after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster nuclear power was off the policy agenda in most countries. In recent years, intense public relations activities by the nuclear industry, increasing evidence of climate change and failures to address it, have brought nuclear power issues back to the forefront of policy discussion in the nuclear renaissance countries. But some countries are not prepared to expand nuclear power and are still divesting themselves of their nuclear legacy.

Under the ”New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act 1987”, all territorial sea and land of New Zealand is declared a nuclear free zone. Nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed ships are prohibited from entering the country’s territorial waters. Dumping of foreign radioactive waste and development of nuclear weapons in the country is outlawed. Despite common misconception, this act does not make nuclear power plants illegal. A 2008 survey shows that 19 % of New Zealanders favour nuclear power as the best energy source, while 77% prefer wind power as the best energy source.

In Italy the use of nuclear power was barred by a referendum in 1987. Recently, however, Italy has agreed to export nuclear technology and now intends to restart its civil nuclear power program.

Touted as a victory by the Alliance ’90/The Greens political party, which positions itself as anti-nuclear, Germany set a date of 2020 for the permanent shutdown of the last nuclear power plant in the Nuclear Exit Law, although recently there have been discussions about extending this date or repealing the law.

Ireland has no plans to change its non-nuclear stance and pursue nuclear power in the future.

In the United States, the Navajo Nation forbids uranium mining and processing in its land.

In the United States, a 2007 University of Maryland survey showed that 73 percent of the public surveyed favours the elimination of all nuclear weapons, 64 percent support removing all nuclear weapons from high alert, and 59 percent support reducing U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles to 400 weapons each. Given the unpopularity of nuclear weapons, U.S. politicians have been wary of supporting new nuclear programs. Republican-dominated congresses “have defeated the Bush administration’s plan to build so-called ‘bunker-busters’ and ‘mini-nukes’.”

As of 2010, Australia has no nuclear power stations and the current Rudd Labor government is opposed to nuclear power for Australia. Australia also has no nuclear weapons.

Thirty-one countries operate nuclear power plants. Nine nations possess nuclear weapons:

Today, some 26,000 nuclear weapons remain in the arsenals of the nine nuclear powers, with thousands on hair-trigger alert. Although U.S., Russian, and British nuclear arsenals are shrinking in size, those in the four Asian nuclear nations—China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea—are growing, in large part because of tensions among them. This Asian arms race also has possibilities of bringing Japan into the nuclear club.

During Barack Obama’s successful U.S. presidential election campaign, he advocated the abolition of nuclear weapons. Since his election he has reiterated this goal in several major policy addresses. In 2010, the Obama administration negotiated a new weapons accord with Russia for a reduction of the maximum number of deployed nuclear weapons on each side from 2,200 to between 1,500 and 1,675—a reduction of some 30 percent. In addition, President Obama has committed $15 billion over the next five years to improving the safety of the nuclear weapons stockpile.

Public opinion surveys on nuclear issues

In 2005, the International Atomic Energy Agency presented the results of a series of public opinion surveys in the ”Global Public Opinion on Nuclear Issues” report. Majorities of respondents in 14 of the 18 countries surveyed believe that the risk of terrorist acts involving radioactive materials at nuclear facilities is high, because of insufficient protection. While majorities of citizens generally support the continued use of existing nuclear power reactors, most people do not favour the building of new nuclear plants, and 25% of respondents feel that all nuclear power plants should be closed down. Stressing the climate change benefits of nuclear energy positively influences 10% of people to be more supportive of expanding the role of nuclear power in the world, but there is still a general reluctance to support the building of more nuclear power plants.

In the United States, the Nuclear Energy Institute has run polls since the 1980s. A poll in conducted March 30 to April 1, 2007 chose solar as the most likely largest source for electricity in the US in 15 years (27% of those polled) followed by nuclear, 24% and coal, 14%. Those who were favourable of nuclear being used dropped to 63% from a historic high of 70% in 2005 and 68% in September, 2006.

A CBS News/New York Times poll in 2007 showed that a majority of Americans would not like to have a nuclear plant built in their community, although an increasing percentage would like to see more nuclear power.

The two fuel sources that attracted the highest levels of support in the ”2007 MIT Energy Survey” are solar power and wind power. Outright majorities would choose to “increase a lot” use of these two fuels, and better than three out of four Americans would like to increase these fuels in the U. S. energy portfolio. Fourteen per cent of respondents would like to see nuclear power “increase a lot”.

A poll in the European Union for Feb-Mar 2005 showed 37% in favour of nuclear energy and 55% opposed, leaving 8% undecided. The same agency ran another poll in Oct-Nov 2006 that showed 14% favoured building new nuclear plants, 34% favoured maintaining the same number, and 39% favoured reducing the number of operating plants, leaving 13% undecided. This poll showed that the approval of nuclear power rose with the education level of respondents.

A September 2007 survey conducted by the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland showed that:

63 percent of Russians favor eliminating all nuclear weapons, 59 percent support removing all nuclear weapons from high alert, and 53 percent support cutting the Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals to 400 nuclear weapons each. In the United States, 73 percent of the public favors eliminating all nuclear weapons, 64 percent support removing all nuclear weapons from high alert, and 59 percent support reducing Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals to 400 weapons each. Eighty percent of Russians and Americans want their countries to participate in the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

According to a 2010 Soka Gakkai International survey of youth attitudes in Japan, Korea, the Philippines, New Zealand and the USA, 67.3% reject the use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances. Of the respondents 59.1% said that they would feel safer if nuclear weapons no longer existed in the world. Identified as most needed measures toward nuclear abolition were political and diplomatic negotiations (59.9%), peace education (56.3%) and strengthened measures within the UN framework (53.7%). While 37.4% said that nuclear abolition is possible, 40.7% said that nuclear arms reduction not abolition is possible.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Anti-nuclear movement, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.

The mission requirements would require of a broad suite of atmospheric trace gases for detection, characterization of their spatial and temporal variation, and localization of sources.

;Detection:

Nature of the methane source requires measurements of a suite of trace gases in order to characterize potential biochemical and geochemical processes at work. The orbiter would require very high sensitivity to (at least) the following molecules and their isotopomers:

Water (H2O), hydroperoxyl (HO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), acetylene (C2H2), ethylene (C2H4), ethane (C2H6), formaldehyde (H2CO), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbonyl sulfide (OCS), sulfur dioxide (SO2), hydrogen chloride (HCl), carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone (O3). Detection sensitivities would be of 1-10 parts per trillion.

;Characterization:

*Spatial and temporal variability: Latitude-longitude coverage multiple times in a Mars year to determine regional sources and seasonal variations (reported to be large, but still controversial with present understanding of Mars gas-phase photochemistry.)

*Correlation of concentration observations with environmental parameters of temperature, dust and ice aerosols (potential sites for heterogeneous chemistry.)

;Localization:

*Mapping of multiple tracers (e.g., aerosols, water vapor, CO, CH4) with different photochemical lifetimes and correlations helps constrain model simulations and points to source/sink regions.

*To achieve the spatial resolution required to localize sources might require tracing molecules at the ~1 part per billion concentration.

Instrumentation

The two space agencies issued on January 18, 2010 an Announcement of Opportunity inviting scientists to propose instruments to be carried on the mission. Once the proposals have been evaluated, the winning teams will build the actual hardware. Like Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter, the Trace Gas Mission (TGM) orbiter would be a hybrid science-telecom orbiter. Its maximum science payload mass is projected to be about 115 kg. Some of the instruments expected to be carried on board the orbiter are:

*TG-D: Trace Gas Detector (solar occultation; high spectral resolution across broad spectral interval; high data rate)

*FTIR: Fourier Transform IR Spectrometer

*TG-M: Trace Gas Mapper (moderate spectral resolution across selectable spectral intervals; might combine nadir, limb and/or occultation viewing)

*TIR: Thermal Infrared Imager (views atmospheric thermal emission sensitive to presence of dust)

*Sub-mm: Sub-millimeter/microwave spectrometer or equivalent (views atmospheric thermal emission -passive sounder not affected by presence of dust)

*WAC: Wide Angle Camera (provides frequent/global views of atmospheric phenomena and surface change)

*HRSCC: High Resolution Stereo Color Camera (~2 m/pixel, near simultaneous stereo, color discrimination of water ice, dust and surface variations)

Relay telecommunications

Due to the challenges of entry, descent, and landing, Mars landers are highly constrained in mass, volume, and power. For landed missions, this places severe constraints on antenna size and transmission power, which in turn greatly reduce direct-to-Earth communication capability in comparison to orbital spacecraft. As an example, the capability

downlinks on Spirit and Opportunity have only 1/600th the capability of the Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter downlink. Relay communication addresses this problem by allowing Mars surface spacecraft to communicate using higher data rates over short-range links to nearby Mars orbiters, while the orbiter takes on the task of communicating over the long-distance link back to Earth. This relay strategy offers a variety of key benefits to Mars landers: increased data return volume, reduced energy requirements, reduced communications system mass, increased communications opportunities, robust critical event communications and ”in situ” navigation aide.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Mars Trace Gas Mission, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

No related posts.