Nantucket not only recycles most of their trash, but their landfill is actually shrinking. Click here for more.
If they can do it, so can the rest of us. Hopefully it doesn't take too long to figure that out.
The associated article is here. Looks like it's catching on.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Work update:
Finally got email/network access on Thursday. It's amazing how much more work I can get done when I don't have to drive to the library, email a document to myself, drive back to work, kick someone off their computer, just to print a page. Or, save it on their desktop to email to someone else...
I love earthquakes. But...
This? Very scary.
That's seventy-nine earthquakes (map), starting at an 8.0 (!!) and aftershocking in the 4s and 5s for days.
The biggest earthquake I've personally experienced was probably in the 5 range. I cannot imagine going through what the people in that part of the world have been going through. And this, of course, is just one of the many earthquake disasters in recent history.
That's seventy-nine earthquakes (map), starting at an 8.0 (!!) and aftershocking in the 4s and 5s for days.
The biggest earthquake I've personally experienced was probably in the 5 range. I cannot imagine going through what the people in that part of the world have been going through. And this, of course, is just one of the many earthquake disasters in recent history.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Finally officially working, but...
still without internet access at the office. Grrrr.
See how much of that requires internet? Communication? Mostly via email. Websites? Obviously on the internet. Keeping in the loop? Yep, all the information distro is via email.
What's the holdup? I submitted paperwork for my background check near the end of August. The proper procedure is for the powers-that-be to start/finish my background check at the same time I'm waiting for my official paperwork to get through the system so that I can get my ID/computer access card. The paperwork for the card happened faster than the background check. So, the intelligence folks at my workplace submitted the request for network access with an old clearance investigation. Hopefully it'll still work (it did at Ft Jackson a few years ago), but if not, I'm hoping they'll check the system on their own and see if the background check has been completed and run with that.
Until then, I'm trying my very best to be patient, and running to the library with my personal laptop to handle the internet stuff that needs to be done. Not very efficient, but it'll work in a pinch.
I'm enjoying the job so far. Lots of fantastic people. I'll be very happy to be completely up and running.
Duties: The Family Readiness Support Assistant (FRSA) serves as the administrative assistant for the units Family Readiness Group (FRG) Program. The incumbent performs a variety of clerical, technical, and administrative duties, and implements and maintains family support services for family members separated from the military sponsor due to mobilization/deployment or other duty requirements. Contribute to combat readiness by promoting efficient and effective communication. Demonstrate sensitivity to the diverse needs of mobilized or deployed soldiers and family members. Maintains oversight of FRG activities and updates the commander. Provide assistance, information, referral, and follow-up on all areas of FRG programs. Identifies family readiness requirements and participates in the development of local programs and policies. Maintain knowledge of latest changes in the FRG Program, Army Family policy and community resources. Assist with maintenance of the unit's virtual FRG and AKO websites.
See how much of that requires internet? Communication? Mostly via email. Websites? Obviously on the internet. Keeping in the loop? Yep, all the information distro is via email.
What's the holdup? I submitted paperwork for my background check near the end of August. The proper procedure is for the powers-that-be to start/finish my background check at the same time I'm waiting for my official paperwork to get through the system so that I can get my ID/computer access card. The paperwork for the card happened faster than the background check. So, the intelligence folks at my workplace submitted the request for network access with an old clearance investigation. Hopefully it'll still work (it did at Ft Jackson a few years ago), but if not, I'm hoping they'll check the system on their own and see if the background check has been completed and run with that.
Until then, I'm trying my very best to be patient, and running to the library with my personal laptop to handle the internet stuff that needs to be done. Not very efficient, but it'll work in a pinch.
I'm enjoying the job so far. Lots of fantastic people. I'll be very happy to be completely up and running.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Another wow.
If all goes according to plan, cancer survivor Kyle Garlett will compete in October's Ford Ironman World Championship, a grueling triathlon made up of a 2.4-mile ocean swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a 26.2-mile run. And he'll do it with another man's heart pumping in his chest. "I don't think there's anybody who wouldn't consider me a success story and a survivor," Garlett said.
His medical issues began in 1989 when he received his first Hodgkin's disease diagnosis as a high school senior. In 1995, during his third battle with the cancer, doctors ceased his chemotherapy treatment when they discovered it had weakened his heart. Two years later, Garlett learned he had secondary leukemia as a result of chemotherapy to treat the Hodgkin's, and three more years of chemotherapy ensued. And after five years on the waiting list, he received a new heart in 2006.
Now, the 37-year-old savors his body's capabilities. "It's kind of like the starving person who all of a sudden finds himself in front of a buffet. And now I've got the buffet. I've got my all-you-can-eat plate, and I'm just loading it up," Garlett said.
More here.
His medical issues began in 1989 when he received his first Hodgkin's disease diagnosis as a high school senior. In 1995, during his third battle with the cancer, doctors ceased his chemotherapy treatment when they discovered it had weakened his heart. Two years later, Garlett learned he had secondary leukemia as a result of chemotherapy to treat the Hodgkin's, and three more years of chemotherapy ensued. And after five years on the waiting list, he received a new heart in 2006.
Now, the 37-year-old savors his body's capabilities. "It's kind of like the starving person who all of a sudden finds himself in front of a buffet. And now I've got the buffet. I've got my all-you-can-eat plate, and I'm just loading it up," Garlett said.
More here.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
Almost there...
I was called tonight by my soon-to-be boss. Yes, a job offer is extremely imminent!! Plus, I didn't think I would start working until October, but apparently funding has come through to start me as soon as the paperwork can be completed.
Outstanding.
Outstanding.
Fer real, transparent aluminum!
http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2009/090727_2.html
Oxford scientists have created a transparent form of aluminium by bombarding the metal with the world’s most powerful soft X-ray laser. ‘Transparent aluminium’ previously only existed in science fiction, featuring in the movie Star Trek IV, but the real material is an exotic new state of matter with implications for planetary science and nuclear fusion.
In this week’s Nature Physics an international team, led by Oxford University scientists, report that a short pulse from the FLASH laser ‘knocked out’ a core electron from every aluminium atom in a sample without disrupting the metal’s crystalline structure. This turned the aluminium nearly invisible to extreme ultraviolet radiation.
''What we have created is a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before,’ said Professor Justin Wark of Oxford University’s Department of Physics, one of the authors of the paper. ‘Transparent aluminium is just the start. The physical properties of the matter we are creating are relevant to the conditions inside large planets, and we also hope that by studying it we can gain a greater understanding of what is going on during the creation of 'miniature stars' created by high-power laser implosions, which may one day allow the power of nuclear fusion to be harnessed here on Earth.’
The discovery was made possible with the development of a new source of radiation that is ten billion times brighter than any synchrotron in the world (such as the UK’s Diamond Light Source). The FLASH laser, based in Hamburg, Germany, produces extremely brief pulses of soft X-ray light, each of which is more powerful than the output of a power plant that provides electricity to a whole city.
The Oxford team, along with their international colleagues, focused all this power down into a spot with a diameter less than a twentieth of the width of a human hair. At such high intensities the aluminium turned transparent.
Whilst the invisible effect lasted for only an extremely brief period – an estimated 40 femtoseconds – it demonstrates that such an exotic state of matter can be created using very high power X-ray sources.
Professor Wark added: ‘What is particularly remarkable about our experiment is that we have turned ordinary aluminium into this exotic new material in a single step by using this very powerful laser. For a brief period the sample looks and behaves in every way like a new form of matter. In certain respects, the way it reacts is as though we had changed every aluminium atom into silicon: it’s almost as surprising as finding that you can turn lead into gold with light!’
The researchers believe that the new approach is an ideal way to create and study such exotic states of matter and will lead to further work relevant to areas as diverse as planetary science, astrophysics and nuclear fusion power.
A report of the research, ‘Turning solid aluminium transparent by intense soft X-ray photoionization’, is published in Nature Physics. The research was carried out by an international team led by Oxford University scientists Professor Justin Wark, Dr Bob Nagler, Dr Gianluca Gregori, William Murphy, Sam Vinko and Thomas Whitcher.
Oxford scientists have created a transparent form of aluminium by bombarding the metal with the world’s most powerful soft X-ray laser. ‘Transparent aluminium’ previously only existed in science fiction, featuring in the movie Star Trek IV, but the real material is an exotic new state of matter with implications for planetary science and nuclear fusion.
In this week’s Nature Physics an international team, led by Oxford University scientists, report that a short pulse from the FLASH laser ‘knocked out’ a core electron from every aluminium atom in a sample without disrupting the metal’s crystalline structure. This turned the aluminium nearly invisible to extreme ultraviolet radiation.
''What we have created is a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before,’ said Professor Justin Wark of Oxford University’s Department of Physics, one of the authors of the paper. ‘Transparent aluminium is just the start. The physical properties of the matter we are creating are relevant to the conditions inside large planets, and we also hope that by studying it we can gain a greater understanding of what is going on during the creation of 'miniature stars' created by high-power laser implosions, which may one day allow the power of nuclear fusion to be harnessed here on Earth.’
The discovery was made possible with the development of a new source of radiation that is ten billion times brighter than any synchrotron in the world (such as the UK’s Diamond Light Source). The FLASH laser, based in Hamburg, Germany, produces extremely brief pulses of soft X-ray light, each of which is more powerful than the output of a power plant that provides electricity to a whole city.
The Oxford team, along with their international colleagues, focused all this power down into a spot with a diameter less than a twentieth of the width of a human hair. At such high intensities the aluminium turned transparent.
Whilst the invisible effect lasted for only an extremely brief period – an estimated 40 femtoseconds – it demonstrates that such an exotic state of matter can be created using very high power X-ray sources.
Professor Wark added: ‘What is particularly remarkable about our experiment is that we have turned ordinary aluminium into this exotic new material in a single step by using this very powerful laser. For a brief period the sample looks and behaves in every way like a new form of matter. In certain respects, the way it reacts is as though we had changed every aluminium atom into silicon: it’s almost as surprising as finding that you can turn lead into gold with light!’
The researchers believe that the new approach is an ideal way to create and study such exotic states of matter and will lead to further work relevant to areas as diverse as planetary science, astrophysics and nuclear fusion power.
A report of the research, ‘Turning solid aluminium transparent by intense soft X-ray photoionization’, is published in Nature Physics. The research was carried out by an international team led by Oxford University scientists Professor Justin Wark, Dr Bob Nagler, Dr Gianluca Gregori, William Murphy, Sam Vinko and Thomas Whitcher.
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