Happy Holidays everyone. I hope everyone enjoys their various winter
oriented holiday of choice. Well, for those in the northern hemisphere
at least, for those in the southern, have a good seasonally opposite
Holiday of choice? Anyway, enjoy the various forms of merriment!
Cyc
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
A random quote that has nothing to do with the holidays, but enjoy anyway
I just stumbled upon this quote from Mark Twain's Letters from the Earth and I thought I would share it with you. He really was a brilliantly clever man and far ahead of his time. I hope everyone has a wonder Holiday.
The priest said, "Imitate our Father in Heaven, learn to be like him." The man studied his Bible diligently and thoroughly and understandingly, and then with prayers for heavenly guidance instituted his imitations. He tricked his wife into falling downstairs, and she broke her back and became a paralytic for life; he betrayed his brother into the hands of a sharper, who robbed him of his all and landed him in the almshouse; he inoculated one son with hookworms, another with the sleeping sickness, another with gonorrhea; he furnished one daughter with scarlet fever and ushered her into her teens deaf, dumb, and blind for life; and after helping a rascal seduce the remaining one, he closed his doors against her and she died in a brothel cursing him. Then he reported to the priest, who said that that was no way to imitate his Father in Heaven. The convert asked wherein he had failed, but the priest changed the subject and inquired what kind of weather he was having, up his way.
Republicans rush to the aid of the Christmas tradition
There comes a time when abusing the system to pander for votes changes from a bad idea to outright absurd. A prime example of this comes from Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) and 55 co-sponsors who have just brought a resolution onto the House floor that comes to the defense of our precious Christmas traditions. Earlier this month, on December 7th, they introduced H. Res. 489. I shall let it speak for itself:
It is certainly good to know that the Republican party thinks that we can waste tax payer money on a resolution that does absolutely nothing about a problem that doesn't exist but we can't spend money on extended medical coverage for veterans or education.
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the symbols and traditions of Christmas should be protected for use by those who celebrate Christmas.
Whereas Christmas is a national holiday celebrated on December 25; and
Whereas the Framers intended that the First Amendment of the Constitution, in prohibiting the establishment of religion, would not prohibit any mention of religion or reference to God in civic dialog: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes the importance of the symbols and traditions of Christmas;
(2) strongly disapproves of attempts to ban references to Christmas; and
(3) expresses support for the use of these symbols and traditions by those who celebrate Christmas.
It is certainly good to know that the Republican party thinks that we can waste tax payer money on a resolution that does absolutely nothing about a problem that doesn't exist but we can't spend money on extended medical coverage for veterans or education.
Discovery of the chib(3p) particle
The Large Hadron Collide (LHC) has proved its value once again. This time by confirming the existence of an up till now hypothetical particle. Known as the Chib(3p) particle, it is a boson, the same class of particle the Higgs is in. Bosons are any particle with an integral spin (0, 1, 2, etc). The existence of Chib had been expected for quite a while, but the energies required to detect it had yet to be attained. However thanks to the LHC, teams of physicists working with the ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS ) detector were able to do just this.
Unlike the Higgs Boson, the chip particle is not an Elementary Boson, but composed out of other particles, namely a pairing of a Bottom and an antiBottom quark. Sometimes still refereed to as the Beauty quark (it all depends on where the team you are working with hails from), interactions between this kind of pairing had been beyond the abilities of particle accelerators until now.
For a little more explanation into what this means, let me first explain what a meson is. A meson is a pairing of a quark and an anti-quark. While quarks are technically fermions (particles that have fractional spins, such as 1/2, 2/3, etc) and have a mass, when a quark and its anti-quark join up, their spins combine to form an integral spin (1/2 + 1/2 = 1), making them actually a Boson. As I said, this puts them in a different class from elementery Bosons such as the photon, W and Z Bosons, gluon, and potentially the Higgs and Graviton. Instead, they are called Composite Bosons, due to their being constructed of multiple parts. This allows them to have mass and, because of this, does not allow them to have a trait shared by Elementary Bosons such as the ability for multiple to be in the same place at the same time. Known as the Pauli Exclusion Principle, particles with mass cannot exist in the same place at the same time. But Bosons do have an effect on the Pauli Exclusion principle, being that, for a short range, particles are attracted to one another if they are of the right type.
To elucidate this, think of a simple atom, say Helium. A neutral atom of Helium is made of two protons, two neutrons (though this varies in isotopes) and two electrons. Each Proton is composed of a series of Quarks, namely two Down and an Up Quark (while a Neutron is made up of one Down and two Up Quarks). These are held together by the exchange of the Elementary Bosons called Gluons, which mediate the Strong Nuclear Force. At very close distances, the interaction of these Quarks through their Gluons emit short lived Mesons, which, as we said, are Composite Bosons, usually made of an Up and an antiDown Quark (or vice versa) that radiates away and quickly decays. But before it can decay, it extends the Strong Nuclear Force (mediated by the Gluons) to the nucleaus and holds the protons and neutrons together despite being of the same charge and wanting to be apart (remeber how like charges such as with a magnet repel?). This is what I was meaning as the short range of the Pauli Exclusion principle where Fermions (in this case, the protons) can be held together. The Composite Bosons (if you wish to know, the up and antidown pair is known as a Pion) keep them together, elaborating upon the Strong Nuclear Force.
Now that this is in place, we can understand what the Chib particle really is. It is a Composite Meson that is made up of, and in turn, holds together a Bottom and and antiBottom pair. Through this process, many ordinary bits of matter get much of their mass. Their mass is an effect of the Strong Nuclear Force emiting these Mesons and holding things together. The Higgs field is still needed to determin what that mass will be, but it cannot do it without the Strong Force.
While this new particle is very short lived, it shows that the underlying physics that we have developed is still displayed in nature which is good news for researchers looking for this Higgs Boson. It doesn't mean the Higgs does exist, it just means that there is a bit more evidence to suggests that it does based on what we have observed.
Unlike the Higgs Boson, the chip particle is not an Elementary Boson, but composed out of other particles, namely a pairing of a Bottom and an antiBottom quark. Sometimes still refereed to as the Beauty quark (it all depends on where the team you are working with hails from), interactions between this kind of pairing had been beyond the abilities of particle accelerators until now.
For a little more explanation into what this means, let me first explain what a meson is. A meson is a pairing of a quark and an anti-quark. While quarks are technically fermions (particles that have fractional spins, such as 1/2, 2/3, etc) and have a mass, when a quark and its anti-quark join up, their spins combine to form an integral spin (1/2 + 1/2 = 1), making them actually a Boson. As I said, this puts them in a different class from elementery Bosons such as the photon, W and Z Bosons, gluon, and potentially the Higgs and Graviton. Instead, they are called Composite Bosons, due to their being constructed of multiple parts. This allows them to have mass and, because of this, does not allow them to have a trait shared by Elementary Bosons such as the ability for multiple to be in the same place at the same time. Known as the Pauli Exclusion Principle, particles with mass cannot exist in the same place at the same time. But Bosons do have an effect on the Pauli Exclusion principle, being that, for a short range, particles are attracted to one another if they are of the right type.
To elucidate this, think of a simple atom, say Helium. A neutral atom of Helium is made of two protons, two neutrons (though this varies in isotopes) and two electrons. Each Proton is composed of a series of Quarks, namely two Down and an Up Quark (while a Neutron is made up of one Down and two Up Quarks). These are held together by the exchange of the Elementary Bosons called Gluons, which mediate the Strong Nuclear Force. At very close distances, the interaction of these Quarks through their Gluons emit short lived Mesons, which, as we said, are Composite Bosons, usually made of an Up and an antiDown Quark (or vice versa) that radiates away and quickly decays. But before it can decay, it extends the Strong Nuclear Force (mediated by the Gluons) to the nucleaus and holds the protons and neutrons together despite being of the same charge and wanting to be apart (remeber how like charges such as with a magnet repel?). This is what I was meaning as the short range of the Pauli Exclusion principle where Fermions (in this case, the protons) can be held together. The Composite Bosons (if you wish to know, the up and antidown pair is known as a Pion) keep them together, elaborating upon the Strong Nuclear Force.
Now that this is in place, we can understand what the Chib particle really is. It is a Composite Meson that is made up of, and in turn, holds together a Bottom and and antiBottom pair. Through this process, many ordinary bits of matter get much of their mass. Their mass is an effect of the Strong Nuclear Force emiting these Mesons and holding things together. The Higgs field is still needed to determin what that mass will be, but it cannot do it without the Strong Force.
While this new particle is very short lived, it shows that the underlying physics that we have developed is still displayed in nature which is good news for researchers looking for this Higgs Boson. It doesn't mean the Higgs does exist, it just means that there is a bit more evidence to suggests that it does based on what we have observed.
Friday, December 23, 2011
...Eh?
I was just shown this. I don't think I can do it any credit other than looking at it in a confused manner. If this was written with sincerity it is the most absurd thing since the Time Cube. Whoever this person is, they need help, desperate help. Warning, it will take a while and afterwards you may have little hope left for humanity, read at your own risk.
Republicans decide to finally grow up, sort of
It seems that the Republican party has finally realized that it cannot get away with having things their way or else throwing a tantrum. As anyone with a grain of intelligence can tell you, American politics are screwed up, but the GOP has taken things to the next level and beyond in many instances. The entire concept of the 'Tea Party' and their often racist, homophobic, big business promoting ways that have pushed into popular Republican values has become a joke onto itself. But their general plan of acting like they are the good guys when in fact they only care about getting paid well finally backfired.
When a bill to renew a cut in payroll taxes by about $20 a week for an average worker making $50,000 a year came to the senate was first stopped, Republicans claimed it was because the only way to do it was not a 2 month renewal, but a full year, Thus tricking the voters into thinking the Democrates were idiots for thinking of this and couldn't be bothered to deal with when real issues were at hand. But once word of this spread that if this wasn't done now, the payroll tax would be increased in an attempt to find funds for a previous cut in social security tax, Republicans realized that they would receive harsh criticism for their actions and gave in to negotiations. Instead of looking for money where it could be appropriated more easily and less destructively to the working class, it would have been placed at the foot of middle class taxpayers had things stalled further.
To be fair, many Republicans were fully on board with the tax cut, but the idea that they had to convince so many others that this was the right thing to do and had to be done now is absurd. It is this part of the Republican party that has made American politics a joke to much of the rest of the world. Even this side was mostly on board with the idea, but kept wanting to hold out for more breaks for small businesses instead of seeing that the economy was not in a state to allow the American taxpayer to pick up this burden at this time.
I do hope that this will be a step in the right direction and that the Republican party can become a more unified whole, stepping away from the crazy direction that it has been following with increasing intensity in modern years. It is time for the world to be shown that we Americans should be a leading force in the world not because of our power, but because of our system, that we have the right ideals. Unfortunately actual political work seems to only only become muddled in the bureaucracy far too much as of late. I believe that such a turn around would be just what many nations need to restore some of their faith in the economic and political strength of the Unites States.
When a bill to renew a cut in payroll taxes by about $20 a week for an average worker making $50,000 a year came to the senate was first stopped, Republicans claimed it was because the only way to do it was not a 2 month renewal, but a full year, Thus tricking the voters into thinking the Democrates were idiots for thinking of this and couldn't be bothered to deal with when real issues were at hand. But once word of this spread that if this wasn't done now, the payroll tax would be increased in an attempt to find funds for a previous cut in social security tax, Republicans realized that they would receive harsh criticism for their actions and gave in to negotiations. Instead of looking for money where it could be appropriated more easily and less destructively to the working class, it would have been placed at the foot of middle class taxpayers had things stalled further.
To be fair, many Republicans were fully on board with the tax cut, but the idea that they had to convince so many others that this was the right thing to do and had to be done now is absurd. It is this part of the Republican party that has made American politics a joke to much of the rest of the world. Even this side was mostly on board with the idea, but kept wanting to hold out for more breaks for small businesses instead of seeing that the economy was not in a state to allow the American taxpayer to pick up this burden at this time.
I do hope that this will be a step in the right direction and that the Republican party can become a more unified whole, stepping away from the crazy direction that it has been following with increasing intensity in modern years. It is time for the world to be shown that we Americans should be a leading force in the world not because of our power, but because of our system, that we have the right ideals. Unfortunately actual political work seems to only only become muddled in the bureaucracy far too much as of late. I believe that such a turn around would be just what many nations need to restore some of their faith in the economic and political strength of the Unites States.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
A final note on Christopher Hitchens
I had recently stumbled upon this video over at Spanish Inquisitor. After watching it...and once the numbness finally left my limbs from my proximity to that kind of stupid, I decided to have a go at this. The individual in the video brings up the idea that, according to his doctrine, Christopher Hitchens is in hell not because of some punishment, but because god loves him ever so much. For those of you with a low stupidity tolerance, I shall give you a moment before trudging on.
So how does someone love another enough to let them burn eternally? Well, there really isn't any way that it can make sense, at least not the kind of sense that is seen outside of serial killers and, apparently, Christian talk show hosts. According to him, Hitchens was in pursuit of damnation his entire life, by not accepting the loving embrace of Jesus (I still cannot write that without getting a bit of a shiver down my spine at the thought of just what that embrace might entail). So in his infinite and unquestionable wisdom, god gave him just what he had always strived for, an unveiling of the truth and a betterment of humanity...wait, I'm sorry, god was just fresh out of those and instead Hitchens has to settle for an infinite understanding of pain and agony, same thing right?
According to this man and all those countless others who follow such doctrine, god loves everyone and is willing to let everyone have what they desire. And by that I mean give those who believe in his kid everything they could hope for while torturing the rest. All the good the man did, all the events he brought to light in his various books and articles, his own moral stance and actions, all cast aside because Hitchens didn't believe in their god (specifically their god's son...who is also god...I hate the trinity), all his life's works condensed into one little nugget that, with the aid of a bit of Magic Jesus Juice, would be light enough to float into heaven. But Hitchens clearly made his choice, so his eloquent and satirically laced nodule would be just a bit too heavy and would sink down into hell (satire being the densest of all writing styles). Thus, god gives us what we truly desire, isn't it beautiful?
If that seems a bit, well, crazy to you, congratulations, you are not a psychopath! The attempt at wit at the very end of the video, where the individual states that Hitchens would not want to be given access to heaven is actually correct, but not for the reasons he thinks. For who in their right mind would want to enter into a heaven that involves spending all your time worshiping a tyrant. No, Hitchens wouldn't want entry into such a place based on the principles of its ruler, not out of pride as this person, and many others think. But luckily for him, we live in a universe where things don't work that way. Instead we have nothing to fear but the people who prop up their ideals upon the very gods they create in an attempt to raise some part of themselves above what they see as the 'enemy'. This is a sad state of affairs and one I wish was not so, but if anything, Christopher Hitchens taught us to look directly at what is worst about ourselves, he did this in a hope that the rest of humanity might rectify the wrongs of others. And for that we should thank him, for giving us a chance to look at the darker parts of our selves and figure out how to make things just a bit brighter.
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| 1949 - 2011 |
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