Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Lie and succeed
Reinforcing what we all knew for so long, BBC has reported that a new study in Canada that suggests that toddlers who tell lies early on are more likely to do well later in life.The complex brain processes involved in formulating a lie are an indicator of a child's early intelligence. Their children are not going to turn out to be pathological liars. Almost all children lie. It is a sign that they have reached a new developmental milestone. Those who have better cognitive development lie because they can cover up their tracks. This was because they had developed the ability to carry out a complex juggling act which involves keeping the truth at the back of their brains. A researcher added: "They even make bankers in later life."
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Astronomers have announced that they have found a massive star that has been flung out of the cluster in which it was born. The star is huge — 90 times the mass of the Sun — and is screaming away at 400,000 kilometers per hour.
This incredible image is from the ESO’s 2.2 meter telescope in Chile. It shows an overview of the sprawling 30 Doradus star-forming cloud, located about 180,000 light years away in the satellite galaxy to the Milky Way called the Large Magellanic Cloud.
In the center of 30 Dor sits a vast cluster of stars called R136. The total combined mass of all the stars in R136 is unclear, but it has several that tip the cosmic scale at 100 times the mass of the Sun, which is the upper limit of how big a star can get without tearing itself apart.
The inset image is from Hubble, and shows the runaway star, named 30 Dor 016.
If you don’t think that’s a big deal, I’ll note that this equals 180 octillion tons — that’s 180,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons.
The UV observations also confirm that the star is plowing through the gas that lies in interstellar space in the LMC. Here is a closeup of the star:
The new observations, using Hubble’s new ultraviolet camera called the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, confirm that this is a single star (and not, say, a binary with two members each with 45 solar masses), making it one of the most massive stars ever seen. This kind of star is extremely rare!
Amazingly, the star is 375 light years from the cluster! A star this massive can’t live very long, a few million years at most. At 400,000 kph, it takes about a million years to travel that distance.
How small we are! I'm reminded of what Carl Sagan once said. I found a visual on the net which I'm reproducing below:
See this link for the complete story - http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1008a/
Image credit: Hubble: NASA, ESA, J. Walsh (ST-ECF) Acknowledgment: Z. Levay (STScI). ESO image: ESO Acknowledgments: J. Alves (Calar Alto, Spain), B. Vandame, and Y. Beletski (ESO), processing by B. Fosbury (ST-ECF).
This incredible image is from the ESO’s 2.2 meter telescope in Chile. It shows an overview of the sprawling 30 Doradus star-forming cloud, located about 180,000 light years away in the satellite galaxy to the Milky Way called the Large Magellanic Cloud.
In the center of 30 Dor sits a vast cluster of stars called R136. The total combined mass of all the stars in R136 is unclear, but it has several that tip the cosmic scale at 100 times the mass of the Sun, which is the upper limit of how big a star can get without tearing itself apart.
The inset image is from Hubble, and shows the runaway star, named 30 Dor 016.
If you don’t think that’s a big deal, I’ll note that this equals 180 octillion tons — that’s 180,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons.
The UV observations also confirm that the star is plowing through the gas that lies in interstellar space in the LMC. Here is a closeup of the star:
The new observations, using Hubble’s new ultraviolet camera called the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, confirm that this is a single star (and not, say, a binary with two members each with 45 solar masses), making it one of the most massive stars ever seen. This kind of star is extremely rare!
Amazingly, the star is 375 light years from the cluster! A star this massive can’t live very long, a few million years at most. At 400,000 kph, it takes about a million years to travel that distance.
How small we are! I'm reminded of what Carl Sagan once said. I found a visual on the net which I'm reproducing below:
See this link for the complete story - http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1008a/
Image credit: Hubble: NASA, ESA, J. Walsh (ST-ECF) Acknowledgment: Z. Levay (STScI). ESO image: ESO Acknowledgments: J. Alves (Calar Alto, Spain), B. Vandame, and Y. Beletski (ESO), processing by B. Fosbury (ST-ECF).
Boys don't cry, but speakers do!
IBNLive reports that the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Ishwardas Rohani broke down and cried in the House on Wednesday after learning that Congress MLAs had allegedly taunted a BJP woman MLA.
Congress MLAs allegedly told the woman MLA she was late because she must have been busy at a beauty parlour.
Rohani was so moved to tears after learning about the incident, he refused to give any ruling on the Congress’ boycott of the Assembly. He said that he considers the Congress’ protest unconstitutional, but the party had a right to express its opinion. The Speaker said he will not recognise their protest, but he will not give any ruling on the issue either.
I consider it incredibly silly. Both, the Congress MLAs alleging that the lady was at a beauty parlour and that the speaker cried! Was it so serious a remark that warranted such a wet response? I'm sure there are a whole lot of other important and pertinent issues relating to working of the government. Was he moved enough to cry when the innocent were murdered or the poor died of hunger?
And to top it all, the Congress is holding a parallel session since last evening by organising a Symposium to corner the government on the issue of corruption, power and water crisis and to highlight the problems of the people!!!!
Congress MLAs allegedly told the woman MLA she was late because she must have been busy at a beauty parlour.
Rohani was so moved to tears after learning about the incident, he refused to give any ruling on the Congress’ boycott of the Assembly. He said that he considers the Congress’ protest unconstitutional, but the party had a right to express its opinion. The Speaker said he will not recognise their protest, but he will not give any ruling on the issue either.
I consider it incredibly silly. Both, the Congress MLAs alleging that the lady was at a beauty parlour and that the speaker cried! Was it so serious a remark that warranted such a wet response? I'm sure there are a whole lot of other important and pertinent issues relating to working of the government. Was he moved enough to cry when the innocent were murdered or the poor died of hunger?
And to top it all, the Congress is holding a parallel session since last evening by organising a Symposium to corner the government on the issue of corruption, power and water crisis and to highlight the problems of the people!!!!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
American Presidents on energy dependency
In 1974 with 36.1% of oil from foreign sources, President Richard Nixon said, “At the end of this decade, in the year 1980, the United States will not be dependent on any other country for the energy we need.”
In 1975 with 36.1% of oil from foreign sources, President Gerald Ford said, “We must reduce oil imports by one million barrels per day by the end of this year and by two million barrels per day by the end of 1977.”
In 1979 with 40.5% of oil from foreign sources, President Jimmy Carter said, “Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 – never.”
In 1981 with 43.6% of oil from foreign sources, President Ronald Reagan said, “While conservation is worthy in itself, the best answer is to try to make us independent of outside sources to the greatest extent possible for our energy.”
In 1992 with 47.2% of oil from foreign sources, President George Bush said, “When our administration developed our national energy strategy, three principles guided our policy: reducing our dependence on foreign oil…”
In 1995 with 49.8% of oil from foreign sources, President Bill Clinton said, “The nation’s growing reliance on imports of oil…threatens the nation’s security…[we] will continue efforts to…enhance domestic energy production.”
In 2006 with 65.5% of oil from foreign sources, President George W. Bush said, “Breakthroughs…will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025.”
In 2009 with 66.2% of oil from foreign sources, President Barack Obama said, “It will be the policy of my administration to reverse our dependence on foreign oil while building a new energy economy that will create millions of jobs.”
In 1975 with 36.1% of oil from foreign sources, President Gerald Ford said, “We must reduce oil imports by one million barrels per day by the end of this year and by two million barrels per day by the end of 1977.”
In 1979 with 40.5% of oil from foreign sources, President Jimmy Carter said, “Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 – never.”
In 1981 with 43.6% of oil from foreign sources, President Ronald Reagan said, “While conservation is worthy in itself, the best answer is to try to make us independent of outside sources to the greatest extent possible for our energy.”
In 1992 with 47.2% of oil from foreign sources, President George Bush said, “When our administration developed our national energy strategy, three principles guided our policy: reducing our dependence on foreign oil…”
In 1995 with 49.8% of oil from foreign sources, President Bill Clinton said, “The nation’s growing reliance on imports of oil…threatens the nation’s security…[we] will continue efforts to…enhance domestic energy production.”
In 2006 with 65.5% of oil from foreign sources, President George W. Bush said, “Breakthroughs…will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025.”
In 2009 with 66.2% of oil from foreign sources, President Barack Obama said, “It will be the policy of my administration to reverse our dependence on foreign oil while building a new energy economy that will create millions of jobs.”
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Goldman Has Zero Trading Loss Days In Last Quarter
If you ever wanted to see what monopoly looks like in chart form, see this:
In the quarter ended March 31, Goldman made money on every single trading day. The firm did not record a loss of even $0.01 on even one day in the last quarter. That's 63 days profitable out of 63 trading days. The statistic probability of this event is itself statistically undefined. Goldman is now the market - or, in keeping with modern market reality, Goldman is the house, it controls the casino, and always wins. Congratulations America: you now have far, far better odds in Las Vegas that you have making money with your E-Trade account.
Adding to the alice in wonderland insanity of this announcement, the firm made over $100 million daily on 35 different days. Of Goldman's $9.7 billion in total Q1 revenue, 76% came from trading. Forget investment banking, forget underwriting, forget advisory: over three quarters of the firm's value is based on being the house to the biggest corrupt casino in existence. Ever.
If you ever wanted to see what monopoly looks like in chart form, see this:
In the quarter ended March 31, Goldman made money on every single trading day. The firm did not record a loss of even $0.01 on even one day in the last quarter. That's 63 days profitable out of 63 trading days. The statistic probability of this event is itself statistically undefined. Goldman is now the market - or, in keeping with modern market reality, Goldman is the house, it controls the casino, and always wins. Congratulations America: you now have far, far better odds in Las Vegas that you have making money with your E-Trade account.
Adding to the alice in wonderland insanity of this announcement, the firm made over $100 million daily on 35 different days. Of Goldman's $9.7 billion in total Q1 revenue, 76% came from trading. Forget investment banking, forget underwriting, forget advisory: over three quarters of the firm's value is based on being the house to the biggest corrupt casino in existence. Ever.
How serious?
The US government spent $175 million investigating the Challenger space shuttle disaster.
It spent $152 million on the the Columbia disaster investigation.
It spent $30 million investigating the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
It authorized only $15 million for the 9/11 Commission.
And how much has the government authorized for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission? You know, the commission charged with getting to the bottom of what caused the financial crisis?
Just $8 million.
You can tell alot about the questions which the government is truly interested in finding answers to by the amount of money it authorizes for the various investigations.
It spent $152 million on the the Columbia disaster investigation.
It spent $30 million investigating the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
It authorized only $15 million for the 9/11 Commission.
And how much has the government authorized for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission? You know, the commission charged with getting to the bottom of what caused the financial crisis?
Just $8 million.
You can tell alot about the questions which the government is truly interested in finding answers to by the amount of money it authorizes for the various investigations.
Cul-de-sacs are killing our community
The Harvard Business Review has a piece this month on research by Lawrence Frank, Bombardier Chair in Sustainable Transportation at the University of British Columbia, on the effects of cul-de-sacs (thats 'dead ends') in neighborhoods in King County, Washington. To summarise the findings, as pros and cons
Pros
Residents in areas with the most interconnected streets travel 26% fewer miles by automobile than those in areas with many cul-de-sacs.
The higher a neighborhood’s overall walkability, the greater the amount of walking and biking— which means a drop in per capita air pollution, fuel use, and body mass index.
Cons
The theory behind cul-de-sacs was that they lessened traffic, since they change the primary function of local streets. The problem is that this design inherently encourages car use, even for the shortest trips.
It also limits the growth of communities and transportation options.
The argument that cul-de-sacs increase safety because they limit traffic is also misguided — the more empty and desolate a suburban (and often affluent) street is, the more likely crime is to occur.
It’s much harder for emergency vehicles to reach these homes if they’re sequestered in the belly of a web of disconnected dead-ends.
Effect
As more and more direct evidence piles up that these dead-end developments are doing no one any good, the cul-de-sac tides are beginning to change: legislatures are passing laws limiting cul-de-sacs in future developments.
More efficient streets that are cheaper to maintain, as well as other savings from not having to widen arterial roads that otherwise were overburdened by cul-de-sacs.
Are we having too many cul-de-sacs in our life? If yes, are we freeing them up? And allowing life to flow through?
Pros
Residents in areas with the most interconnected streets travel 26% fewer miles by automobile than those in areas with many cul-de-sacs.
The higher a neighborhood’s overall walkability, the greater the amount of walking and biking— which means a drop in per capita air pollution, fuel use, and body mass index.
Cons
The theory behind cul-de-sacs was that they lessened traffic, since they change the primary function of local streets. The problem is that this design inherently encourages car use, even for the shortest trips.
It also limits the growth of communities and transportation options.
The argument that cul-de-sacs increase safety because they limit traffic is also misguided — the more empty and desolate a suburban (and often affluent) street is, the more likely crime is to occur.
It’s much harder for emergency vehicles to reach these homes if they’re sequestered in the belly of a web of disconnected dead-ends.
Effect
As more and more direct evidence piles up that these dead-end developments are doing no one any good, the cul-de-sac tides are beginning to change: legislatures are passing laws limiting cul-de-sacs in future developments.
More efficient streets that are cheaper to maintain, as well as other savings from not having to widen arterial roads that otherwise were overburdened by cul-de-sacs.
Are we having too many cul-de-sacs in our life? If yes, are we freeing them up? And allowing life to flow through?
History of Facebook privacy settings
A very interesting graphic of Facebook's privacy settings by Matt McKeon illustrates how Facebook has, over the years, tightened privacy settings. Its an interesting presentation of a concept, with outstanding visualisation.
Its very good when seen in animation. Link below
http://mattmckeon.com/facebook-privacy/
Its very good when seen in animation. Link below
http://mattmckeon.com/facebook-privacy/
Friday, May 7, 2010
Dus hazaar thadthadate toofan! Tintin in Hindi
Om Books International has acquired rights to release Adventures of Tintin in Hindi. The popular comic strip has had over 40 translations, including languages like Zulu.
Tintin’s dog Snowy will be called Natkhat and detectives Thomson and Thompson will be christened Santu and Bantu. Black Island is 'Kaala Dweep', Cigars of the Pharaoh is 'Misr Samrat Ke Cigar', The Broken Ear is 'Tuta Hua Kaan', and the funniest is this - 'Sunehre Panjonwala Kekda'. I need not tell you which one that is.
Tintin will gasp 'Baal ki khaal' instead of 'Great snakes'. And imagine Haddock saying 'Ten thousand thundering typhoons' in Hindi: 'Dus hazaar thadthadate toofan'. See this interesting link to a list of Captain Haddock's curses - http://www.tintinologist.org/guides/lists/curses.html
Waiting to lay hands on the treasure of funny translations!
Tintin’s dog Snowy will be called Natkhat and detectives Thomson and Thompson will be christened Santu and Bantu. Black Island is 'Kaala Dweep', Cigars of the Pharaoh is 'Misr Samrat Ke Cigar', The Broken Ear is 'Tuta Hua Kaan', and the funniest is this - 'Sunehre Panjonwala Kekda'. I need not tell you which one that is.
Tintin will gasp 'Baal ki khaal' instead of 'Great snakes'. And imagine Haddock saying 'Ten thousand thundering typhoons' in Hindi: 'Dus hazaar thadthadate toofan'. See this interesting link to a list of Captain Haddock's curses - http://www.tintinologist.org/guides/lists/curses.html
Waiting to lay hands on the treasure of funny translations!
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