Many fell for Chávez et al.'s socialist act, especially since out there you don't have enough tidbits to glean and see their true colors: authoritarian, bald-faced liars, sore losers, sectarian... It's all been a gradual power grab with "boiled frog" written all over it.
But you cannae change the laws o' economics, and the whole farce was teetering before Chávez died (officially on March 5, but his voice hadn't been heard since early December). Maduro's ineptitude as a statesman is more evident than Chávez's only because of his frequent blunders (Bush 43 shines by comparison), but the collapse was a matter of time:
* Local production of goods has waned, in good part because of ridiculous controls and destructive expropriation of businesses, increasing the demand for foreign goods and the currency to buy them. * Venezuela barely exports anything beyond oil and some steel. * The state oil company was run into the ground by bad management and direct social spending (by presidential mandate); even less dollars coming in.
Venezuela owes some $215bn (60% of GNP), and Maduro had to go in person to China to negotiate the latest $5bn loan. 12-month inflation is 54%, likely to increase as December rolls in. Nope, not looking good.
Yes, WIkipedia tells me that the Great Britain was floated out. It may have been the 1898 battleship HMS Albion, whose launching washed ~200 people standing on a rickety temporary "bridge" at a slipway on the opposite bank, of which 34 drowned.
Do you know anything about this "controlled launch by tether breaking"?
The headline reminded me of a story in a book of mine:
When Brunel's Ship the SS Great Britain was launched into the River Thames, it made such a splash that several spectators on the opposite bank were drowned. Nowadays, engineers reduce the force of entry into the water by rope tethers which are designed to break at carefully calculated intervals.
When the first computer came into operation in the Mathematisch Centrum in Amsterdam, one of the first tasks was to calculate the appropriate intervals and breaking strains of these tethers. In order to ensure the correctness of the program which did the calculations, the programmers were invited to watch the launching from the first row of the ceremonial viewing stand set up on the opposite bank. They accepted and they survived.
Nice. Then the third link is related - the nanoparticles ease phase change at the microfluidics scale by adding nucleation sites, like boiling chips do at a larger scale.
They also soaked infected periwinkle cuttings in different chemical compounds and found that two of them performed well as potential HLB treatments.The team published the results in the journalPhytopathology. Duan emphasized that the results are limited to greenhouse settings and that the chemical compounds, penicillin G sodium and biocide 2,2-dibromo-3-nitrilopropionamide (DBNPA), must still be evaluated in field trials and approved for use by regulatory agencies before commercial use is possible.
From Wikipedia:
DBNPAor2,2-dibromo-3-nitrilopropionamideis a quick-killbiocidethat easilyhydrolyzesunder bothacidicandalkalineconditions. It is preferred for its instability in water as it quickly kills and then quickly degrades to form a number of products, depending on the conditions, includingammonia,bromineions,dibromoacetonitrile, anddibromoacetic acid.[2]DBNPA acts similar to the typical halogen biocides.
IANAB, but this could do the trick; I'm not too hopeful for penicillin as more than a stopgap.
At any rate, odds are that some problems will only be solved by GM. We'd better understand and regulate before harm is done.
Got it. That's interesting, but I would curb my hopes. If the damn bug infects *different species*, how likely is it that a yet-unknown variety will be resistant, let alone a variety for each species? Of course monoculture is unwise, but diversity is in no way a guarantee of success.
We already have several GM crops in full production and chances are that you and I have eaten some of them, processed or fresh. I'm more concerned about unforeseen environmental effects (horizontal gene transfer) and proprietary genomes including Monsanto-esque shenanigans.
I wasn't talking about artificial sunlight (why wouldn't you use a transparent/mesh ceiling?), but investment in infrastructure and maintenance. At any rate, indoor crops are high-yield, like mushrooms and pot. 14 High-Tech Farms Where Veggies Grow Indoors - Gizmodo
You're funny, but I want to do the numbers... some cultivars claimed to get 100 tons/acre of Valencia oranges at the trees' peak*. At 60% juice content (optimistic), that's 60,000 liters/acre-year. How much for a 1-acre (63 m square) sealed greenhouse with filtered air? You can take it from here, but I guess our screwdrivers are getting expensive that way. (:
How would that work? Both the article I linked and TFA (quoted) say it affects citrus plants in general: mandarins, Seville oranges, navel oranges, juice oranges... the only reason it hasn't gone global is that the vector bugs are more-or-less heat-sensitive. And it was described way before monoculture of citruses was a thing.
Short story: citrus as they exist now are kinda screwed, and this time our only fault is (possibly) helping spread the disease. Either we let them get screwed, spray the bugs and bacteria to extinction, or tweak evolution a bit.
“In all of cultivated citrus, there is no evidence of immunity,” the plant pathologist heading a National Research Council task force on the disease said.
Deal with it: there's no all-wise Mother Nature who has arranged for the perfect harmony of all beings. Species evolve taking advantage, in spite of, or in a mutual-benefit relationship with other; and then sometimes because the other simply isn't around. Previously isolated species may meet, and whole taxa may thrive or perish.
Citrus greening disease has been around for a century across species, and it's incurable. The alternatives are 1. eradicating the pathogen (good luck), 2. eradicating the vector (even harder, and craptons of pesticides are required), 3. making the vector immune (read: genetic manipulation), or 4. making the plant immune (again, genetic manipulation). Pick your poison.
I saw a TV program about that once; somehow the results of the experiment could be interpreted to cast doubt on what constitutes free will, but I can't find anything else about it. Do you know a few keywords I could use? A link would be superb.
Sadly, yes, and it's hard to tell how long it will last. I guess there's no statute of limitations for him but the next president might grant him a pardon out of spite for Obama.
He really should have thought out this better, unless he has some martyrdom wish.
He'd be free to dodge crime and scarcity with us, but he'd likely have to help out with a bit of propaganda. I'm guessing that he won't take Maduro's offer, and Maduro hopes as much.
Slashdot Mirror
Many fell for Chávez et al.'s socialist act, especially since out there you don't have enough tidbits to glean and see their true colors: authoritarian, bald-faced liars, sore losers, sectarian... It's all been a gradual power grab with "boiled frog" written all over it.
But you cannae change the laws o' economics, and the whole farce was teetering before Chávez died (officially on March 5, but his voice hadn't been heard since early December). Maduro's ineptitude as a statesman is more evident than Chávez's only because of his frequent blunders (Bush 43 shines by comparison), but the collapse was a matter of time:
* Local production of goods has waned, in good part because of ridiculous controls and destructive expropriation of businesses, increasing the demand for foreign goods and the currency to buy them.
* Venezuela barely exports anything beyond oil and some steel.
* The state oil company was run into the ground by bad management and direct social spending (by presidential mandate); even less dollars coming in.
Venezuela owes some $215bn (60% of GNP), and Maduro had to go in person to China to negotiate the latest $5bn loan. 12-month inflation is 54%, likely to increase as December rolls in. Nope, not looking good.
So,
Can any headline which ends in a question mark be answered by the word no?
Umm... no?
Wasn't it supposed to be Google's alternative? Was it too hard to adapt to mobile?
Yes, WIkipedia tells me that the Great Britain was floated out. It may have been the 1898 battleship HMS Albion, whose launching washed ~200 people standing on a rickety temporary "bridge" at a slipway on the opposite bank, of which 34 drowned.
Do you know anything about this "controlled launch by tether breaking"?
The headline reminded me of a story in a book of mine:
When Brunel's Ship the SS Great Britain was launched into the River Thames, it made such a splash that several spectators on the opposite bank were drowned. Nowadays, engineers reduce the force of entry into the water by rope tethers which are designed to break at carefully calculated intervals.
When the first computer came into operation in the Mathematisch Centrum in Amsterdam, one of the first tasks was to calculate the appropriate intervals and breaking strains of these tethers. In order to ensure the correctness of the program which did the calculations, the programmers were invited to watch the launching from the first row of the ceremonial viewing stand set up on the opposite bank. They accepted and they survived.
Very funny, and it's a matter of knowing when to stop complicating them and write a bit of code to help (eg switch statements).
That said, basic knowledge is sorely lacking among coders.
I believe the proper unit in this case is either earth-moon distances (33.3), or NYC-LA straight lines (3,265)
[Cue unoriginal, long-drawn Aerosmith "power" ballad]
Nice. Then the third link is related - the nanoparticles ease phase change at the microfluidics scale by adding nucleation sites, like boiling chips do at a larger scale.
As ridiculously shallow as the TFA is, there is some work on nanoparticle-liquid suspensions:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S135943111200511X
Nanoparticles in Thermoelectric Power Plant Cooling Fluids
Nanoparticle Additives Boost Industrial Cooling Systems (That Means Saving Energy)
I'll try to make sense of it (can someone more competent provide a Cliff's-notes version, please?).
Meanwhile, sorry to rain on the bash party.
“Can every headline ending in a question mark be answered by the word 'no'?”
Also, it's not a headline. *runs*
EUV Chipmaking Inches Forward (IEEE Spectrum)
Nowadays, a reality show would fit the purpose just right.
From that link:
They also soaked infected periwinkle cuttings in different chemical compounds and found that two of them performed well as potential HLB treatments.The team published the results in the journalPhytopathology. Duan emphasized that the results are limited to greenhouse settings and that the chemical compounds, penicillin G sodium and biocide 2,2-dibromo-3-nitrilopropionamide (DBNPA), must still be evaluated in field trials and approved for use by regulatory agencies before commercial use is possible.
From Wikipedia:
DBNPAor2,2-dibromo-3-nitrilopropionamideis a quick-killbiocidethat easilyhydrolyzesunder bothacidicandalkalineconditions. It is preferred for its instability in water as it quickly kills and then quickly degrades to form a number of products, depending on the conditions, includingammonia,bromineions,dibromoacetonitrile, anddibromoacetic acid.[2]DBNPA acts similar to the typical halogen biocides.
IANAB, but this could do the trick; I'm not too hopeful for penicillin as more than a stopgap.
At any rate, odds are that some problems will only be solved by GM. We'd better understand and regulate before harm is done.
Got it. That's interesting, but I would curb my hopes. If the damn bug infects *different species*, how likely is it that a yet-unknown variety will be resistant, let alone a variety for each species? Of course monoculture is unwise, but diversity is in no way a guarantee of success.
We already have several GM crops in full production and chances are that you and I have eaten some of them, processed or fresh. I'm more concerned about unforeseen environmental effects (horizontal gene transfer) and proprietary genomes including Monsanto-esque shenanigans.
I wasn't talking about artificial sunlight (why wouldn't you use a transparent/mesh ceiling?), but investment in infrastructure and maintenance. At any rate, indoor crops are high-yield, like mushrooms and pot. 14 High-Tech Farms Where Veggies Grow Indoors - Gizmodo
You're funny, but I want to do the numbers ... some cultivars claimed to get 100 tons/acre of Valencia oranges at the trees' peak*. At 60% juice content (optimistic), that's 60,000 liters/acre-year. How much for a 1-acre (63 m square) sealed greenhouse with filtered air? You can take it from here, but I guess our screwdrivers are getting expensive that way. (:
* http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/orange.html#Yield
How would that work? Both the article I linked and TFA (quoted) say it affects citrus plants in general: mandarins, Seville oranges, navel oranges, juice oranges... the only reason it hasn't gone global is that the vector bugs are more-or-less heat-sensitive. And it was described way before monoculture of citruses was a thing.
Short story: citrus as they exist now are kinda screwed, and this time our only fault is (possibly) helping spread the disease. Either we let them get screwed, spray the bugs and bacteria to extinction, or tweak evolution a bit.
Quoth TFA:
“In all of cultivated citrus, there is no evidence of immunity,” the plant pathologist heading a National Research Council task force on the disease said.
Deal with it: there's no all-wise Mother Nature who has arranged for the perfect harmony of all beings. Species evolve taking advantage, in spite of, or in a mutual-benefit relationship with other; and then sometimes because the other simply isn't around. Previously isolated species may meet, and whole taxa may thrive or perish.
Citrus greening disease has been around for a century across species, and it's incurable. The alternatives are 1. eradicating the pathogen (good luck), 2. eradicating the vector (even harder, and craptons of pesticides are required), 3. making the vector immune (read: genetic manipulation), or 4. making the plant immune (again, genetic manipulation). Pick your poison.
I'm told that in America they call those "dicks" and they even have surnames, "Cheney" being the most popular.
Long time without seeing a WoD reference. (:
I saw a TV program about that once; somehow the results of the experiment could be interpreted to cast doubt on what constitutes free will, but I can't find anything else about it. Do you know a few keywords I could use? A link would be superb.
You wouldn't believe how many people haven't thought of that. To some of them, it's like finding the switch that turns off the light in the fridge.
Sadly, yes, and it's hard to tell how long it will last. I guess there's no statute of limitations for him but the next president might grant him a pardon out of spite for Obama.
He really should have thought out this better, unless he has some martyrdom wish.
He'd be free to dodge crime and scarcity with us, but he'd likely have to help out with a bit of propaganda. I'm guessing that he won't take Maduro's offer, and Maduro hopes as much.