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POPSPhysicists investigate how time moves forward This provides an orientation, or arrow of time, and it is generally believed that all other time asymmetries, such as our sense that future and past are different, are a direct consequence of this thermodynamic arrow.” In their study, Feng and Crooks have developed a method to accurately measure “time asymmetry” (which refers to our intuitive concept of time, that the past differs from the future, in contrast with time symmetry, where there is no distinction between past and future). They began by investigating the increase in energy dissipation, or entropy, in various arrangements. While time blatantly moves forward in the macroscopic world, the direction of time becomes confusing on the scale of a single molecule
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POPSEurope's Love Affair With Barry a more "European" (that is, a more social-democratic) America, which at last casts off some of its nastier capitalist habits. An America that is a lot more like us Europeans who have forgone power politics and sovereignty in favor of communitarian politics and integration... After Inauguration Day, alas, Europe and the world will not face a Dreamworks president, but the leader of a superpower. Whether McCain or Obama, the 44th president will speak more nicely than did W. in his first term. He will also pay more attention to the "decent opinions of mankind." But he will still preside over the world's largest military, economic, and cultural power. This vast power differential is what Germans and Europeans don't quite fathom in their infatuation with Obama. Their problem was not Mr. Bush, but Mr. Big--America as Behemoth Among the Nations, unwilling to succumb to the dictates of goodness that animate post-heroic, post-imperial, and post-sovereign Europe.
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POPSTake MIT's Physics I: Classical Mechanics for FREE Professor Walter Lewin demonstrates that the period of a pendulum is independent of the mass hanging from the pendulum. This demonstration can be viewed on the video of Lecture 10. (Image courtesy of Markos Hankin, Physics Department Lecture Demonstration Group). The Video Index gives a breakdown of topics and the start time of the corresponding segment in each lecture. To access a particular segment, play the lecture in a RealPlayer window and adjust the slider bar to the designated start time. These files are also available for download from iTunes check my other clips for more resources from other universities
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POPSThe Ancient Mechanics and How They Thought He also majored in astronomy as an undergraduate, and about nine years ago, feeling science-deprived, he joined a multinational research endeavor called the Archimedes Project, based at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. The Archimedes team studies the history of mechanics, how people thought about simple machines like the lever, the wheel and axle, the balance, the pulley, the wedge and the screw and how they turned their thoughts into theories and principles. The textual record begins with “Mechanical Problems,” moves to Rome and then through the medieval Islamic world to the Renaissance. It ends, finally, with Newton, who described many of the basic laws of mechanics in the 18th century. By following the historical record, the Archimedes researchers have discovered that the evolution of physics — or, at least, mechanics — is based on an interplay between practice and theory.
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POPSUncooperative? Another Taser Death These stories are so heart wrenching! I thought that the classical conditioning and the ease with which others could torture, ie the law enforcer, was explained and warned against in basic general psychology classes! What's up w/that? The young man was in an accident, couldn't get to the airport to pick up his parents, and the patrolmen said he was agitated. REALLY? Can't imagine why! It seems to me that many of these people are only tasered for the CONVENIENCE of the police. That is what happened to thepoor man killed in the US airport in 2007. The police could have left him in the room where he was until they could find a translator....BUT NO! They had to hit him w/electricity and continue to let it pulse through his body until he was fried....dead.
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POPSBhutto Assasination and Paki "Regime Change" Agenda It was the CIA who helped Musharraf into power by coupe in 1999, who benefits most from Bhutto's assassination. The typical "militant Islam" and "Al Qaeda did it" propaganda being played by Musharraf government is highly incredulous, and the people are not believing the official story for a minute, while it is being played heavily in the U.S. to propagate the "war on terrorism" in order to continue global "regime change". The assassination of Bhutto represents classical "destabilization" tactics employed in history to radically alter governments. Musharraf benefits most from her assassination, along with the Anglo-American interests, and probably cement his power--until the people rise up against him in what should only be expected as "blow-back". Odds are he will again declare Martial Law, and begin iron fist rule, perhaps without suspension this time.
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POPSTrojan horse full of liberals - Is it too late to beat them back? "Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder", as "historian Arnold J. Toynbee famously observed" FROM THE SAME BLOG: "there's always the Benedict Option -- the path pioneered in the fifth century by St. Benedict and his followers: Those men and women decided that the survival of the moral community would not be possible under the old order – so they pioneered the nucleus of a new one. They became the Benedictine monks and nuns and their followers, who spread throughout the Europe of the Dark Ages, preserving the remnants of Christian and classical virtues and laying the groundwork for the rebirth of a new civilization."
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POPSWho Was the Most Right-Wing Man in History? "This brings me to another puzzle of ideological classification. The phrase is often used by thoughtless people, TV interviewers, tabloid columnists, etc. ‘He is even to the right of Genghis Khan.’ The implication is that Genghis Khan is on the extreme right of the political spectrum. What is the origin of this belief? And when did the phrase come into use? I believe it is hardly more than half a century old. Hitler, again, is to blame. He is seen, falsely, as the epitome of ‘the Right’. He is also seen, more accurately, as a mass killer on an unprecedented scale. Before the 20th century, the classical perpetrator of terrorist massacre, pillage and the destruction of cities was Genghis Khan."
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POPSHip Hop music fans have more sex: study Fans of hip hop music are likely to have had more sexual partners in the last five years while many of those who prefer classical strains will have tried cannabis, according to a study released on Thursday.
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