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POPSOffice Wars It's a binder clip pencil shooter. How can you win an office war without one?
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POPSorganizing idea Love the small one - would work great for pens, markers, colored pencils and oil pastesl
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POPSScientists Create World's Thinnest Balloon Other potential applications include hyper-fine sensors and ultra-pure filters. "Once you have a membrane that won't let anything past, the most interesting thing is to then poke a hole in it. Then you can detect what leaks through that hole with high sensitivity, or make sure only what you want leaks through that hole," McEuen said. The only way gas leaked out from inside the balloons was through the glass that the bubbles were anchored on, McEuen explained.
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POPSStrategy Or Magic Numbers And Stump Politics? Yet, unlike the Iraq surge he opposed (and still opposes), where increased numbers were based on a mission transition in 2007 and requirements to fulfill that mission, Senator Obama’s surge plan for Afghanistan appears on its face to have little concrete vision beyond sending in more troops. What’s more telling is that there is little in the way of detailing how that specific number of additional troops was arrived at. The lack of accompanying explanation - suggests it may be just that, a number. This, if so, is not a plan. Perhaps his military advisors may want to sharpen their pencils and share a thought or two. Perhaps we simply missed them amid the frequent criticism. Or perhaps the senator may reverse course and return to his once-stated predisposition to send US troops into Pakistan. Otherwise, it all rings as hollow criticism without serious alternative. That’s not a plan. And it’s not a strategy. That’s simply stump politics.
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POPSPencil Art Evolves Into Unusual Sculptures Before pencils, Maestre was originally building with nails and a liquid rubber-type glue. She started to worry about inhaling all the toxic fumes, however, and began to experiment with different techniques until she settled on beading. Her method of choice? The peyote stitch. #3 In Watchtower, Maestre focuses on a more architectural form. Peer inside and you'll see a series of pencil struts spiraling up like a staircase in a tower. #4 Maestre was originally inspired by the push-pull reaction she had to sea urchins. #5 Hive is one of Mastre's unintentionally more suggestive sculptures. "Certain viewers find it a little obscene," she says. "Maybe because I used the pink eraser ends to outline the orifices." (OK?) #6 Some see a frog, others a gorilla, and some even an Egyptian mask. What does Threnody look like to you? Maestre may not know herself, but her primary goal was to convey the feeling of something howling.
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POPSThe Serious Fraud Office- Yes I know! #1: But won't they be confused with the Serious Fraud Office? #2: Oh I don't think so. One deals with stolen office supplies the other with multi-billion pound defense contracts. The difference is very clear. #1: I see what you mean. Well good day James, have to get back to work. #2: Take care Harold! -End of Scene-
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POPSResearchers leap a nano hurdle They have managed to make sheets of carbon one atom thick. The graphite in pencils is made of stacks of these sheets, but they have had trouble separating them without clumping. Now they have found and easy way (always easy once you work out how) The are many applications, particularly because of the biological affinity for carbon, and can be useful as electrodes for bionic devices, such as cochlear implants.
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POPSPencil Sculptures Pencils can be used for drawing and writing but also in a creative way to build colorful sculptures taking various forms. Artwork by Jennifer Maestre.