Tuesday, September 15, 2009
black hole information paradox
The black hole information paradox results from the combination of quantum mechanics and general relativity. It suggests that physical information could "disappear" in a black hole. It is a contentious subject since it violates a commonly assumed tenet of science—that information cannot be destroyed. _Wikipedia (Black hole Information Paradox)
The scenario John Myers describes "is true, but it's really an issue of information getting scrambled, not lost." In the black hole paradox, the problem is that the information appears to be truly lost, not merely scrambled, yet "the foundations of classical mechanics and statistical mechanics are based on the exact conservation of information." Finally, "a number of the letters express a very common misconception, namely, that because an outside observer sees an infalling observer slow down, that the in falling observer sees the outsider speed up. This is simply not so. The in falling observer looks back and sees nothing unusual."--R. COWEN
Monday, September 14, 2009
Ii; inimical
Adjective
1. adverse or unfavourable: inimical to change
2. unfriendly or hostile [Latin in- not + amicus friendly]
Collins Essential English Dictionary 2nd Edition 2006 © HarperCollins Publishers 2004, 2006
Winter is an inimical world; its punishment for doing things wrong is sure and prompt: death from cold or death from hunger. No margin, no reprieve. A man can trust his luck, but a society can't and culture change, like random mutation, may make things chancier. So they have gone very slowly. At one point in their history a hasty observer would say that all technological progress and diffusion had ceased. Yet it never has. Compare the torrent and the glacier. Both get where they are going. Le Guinn (The Left Hand of Darkness) page 99.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Cc: Crime
n.1. An act committed or omitted in violation of a law forbidding or commanding it and for which punishment is imposed upon conviction.
2. Unlawful activity: statistics relating to violent crime.
3. A serious offense, especially one in violation of morality.
4. An unjust, senseless, or disgraceful act or condition: It's a crime to squander our country's natural| Noun | 1. |  crime - (criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act; "a long record of crimes"evildoing, transgression - the act of transgressing; the violation of a law or a duty or moral principle; "the boy was punished for the transgressions of his father" barratry - the offense of vexatiously persisting in inciting lawsuits and quarrels capital offense - a crime so serious that capital punishment is considered appropriate cybercrime - crime committed using a computer and the internet to steal a person's identity or sell contraband or stalk victims or disrupt operations with malevolent programs felony - a serious crime (such as murder or arson) forgery - criminal falsification by making or altering an instrument with intent to defraud fraud - intentional deception resulting in injury to another person Had crime - (Islam) serious crimes committed by Muslims and punishable by punishments established in the Koran; "Had crimes include apostasy from Islam and murder and theft and adultery" highjack, hijack - seizure of a vehicle in transit either to rob it or divert it to an alternate destination mayhem - the willful and unlawful crippling or mutilation of another person attempt, attack - the act of attacking; "attacks on women increased last year"; "they made an attempt on his life" Tazir crime - (Islam) minor crimes committed by Muslims; crimes that are not mentioned in the Koran so judges are free to punish the offender in any appropriate way; "in some Islamic nations Tazir crimes are set by legislation" regulatory offence, regulatory offense, statutory offence, statutory offense - crimes created by statutes and not by common law thuggery - violent or brutal acts as of thugs vice crime - a vice that is illegal victimless crime - an act that is legally a crime but that seem to have no victims; "he considers prostitution to be a victimless crime" war crime - a crime committed in wartime; violation of rules of war criminal law - the body of law dealing with crimes and their punishment abduct, kidnap, nobble, snatch - take away to an undisclosed location against their will and usually in order to extract a ransom; "The industrialist's son was kidnapped" shanghai, impress - take (someone) against his will for compulsory service, especially on board a ship; "The men were shanghaied after being drugged" commandeer, highjack, hijack, pirate - take arbitrarily or by force; "The Cubans commandeered the plane and flew it to Miami" skyjack - subject an aircraft to air piracy; "the plane was skyjacked to Uzbekistan" carjack - take someone's car from him by force, usually with the intention of stealing it; "My car was carjacked last night!" extort - obtain through intimidation blackmail - obtain through threats scalp - sell illegally, as on the black market bootleg - sell illicit products such as drugs or alcohol; "They were bootlegging whiskey" black market, run - deal in illegally, such as arms or liquor push - sell or promote the sale of (illegal goods such as drugs); "The guy hanging around the school is pushing drugs" black marketeer - deal on the black market pyramid - use or deal in (as of stock or commercial transaction) in a pyramid deal traffic - deal illegally; "traffic drugs" shoplift - steal in a store mug - rob at gunpoint or with the threat of violence; "I was mugged in the streets of New York last night" |
| 2. | crime - an evil act not necessarily punishable by law; "crimes of the heart" evildoing, transgression - the act of transgressing; the violation of a law or a duty or moral principle; "the boy was punished for the transgressions of his father" |
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Dd: Dark Energy
A form of energy hypothesized to reside in the structure of space itself, responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe. Dark energy theoretically counterbalances the kinetic energy of the universe's expansion, entailing that that the universe has no inherent curvature, as astronomical observations currently suggest. Dark energy appears to account for 73 percent of all the energy and matter in the universe. See also big bang.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Ss: Sons eso tse-na! (Zuni)
ZUÑI INTRODUCTION
It seems--so the words of the grandfathers say--that in the Underworld were many strange things and beings, even villages of men, long ago.
[1. From té-na-la-a, "time or times of," and pé-na-we, words or speeches (tales): "tales of time."
2. The invariable formula for beginning a folk tale is, by the raconteur: "Són ah-tchi!" ("Let us take up")--té-la-p'-ne, or "a folk tale," being understood. To this the auditors or listeners respond: "É-so!" (" Yea, verily.") Again, by the raconteur: "Sons i-nó-o-to-na! Tem," etc. ("Let us (tell of) the times of creation! When," etc.) Again, by the listeners: "Sons éso! Te-ä-tú!" ("Yea, let us, verily! Be it so.")]
Friday, September 4, 2009
Rr: Resonance
n.
1. The quality or condition of being resonant: words that had resonance throughout his life.
2. Richness or significance, especially in evoking an association or strong emotion: "It is home and family that give resonance . . . to life" (George Gilder). "Israel, gateway to Mecca, is of course a land of religious resonance and geopolitical significance" (James Wolcott).
3. Physics The increase in amplitude of oscillation of an electric or mechanical system exposed to a periodic force whose frequency is equal or very close to the natural undamped frequency of the system.
4. Physics A subatomic particle lasting too short a time to be observed directly. The existence of such particles is usually inferred from a peak in the energy distribution of its decay products.
5. Acoustics Intensification and prolongation of sound, especially of a musical tone, produced by sympathetic vibration.
6. Linguistics Intensification of vocal tones during articulation, as by the air cavities of the mouth and nasal passages.
7. Medicine The sound produced by diagnostic percussion of the normal chest.
8. Chemistry The property of a compound having simultaneously the characteristics of two or more structural forms that differ only in the distribution of electrons. Such compounds are highly stable and cannot be properly represented by a single structural formula.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
From beyond the low hills across the water came the dull resonance of distant guns and a remote weird crying.The War Of The Worlds by Wells, H.G.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Jj: Joke Insurance
September 1, 2009 Urban Word of the Day
When two mates have a mutual understanding to laugh at each others jokes, no matter how lame or awkward said joke is, therefore lessening the social failure of the bad joke.
I was talking to some girls the other day when I cracked a 'your mother' joke. Luckily, I had joke insurance with Chris so I still ended up getting both their numbers. All Chris got was a weird look for his over-the-top laugh.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Hh: Howl
The HOWL is the latest indie rock
collectible. Catch the trend live tonight with the
Screaming Females, who measure up to the name. The trio
from New Jersey is led by Marissa Paternoster, who
"possesses a stellar, guttural scream," writes Amanda
Petrusich. But "the bulk of her vocals are steady, tough
and clear, a nice accompaniment to the group's thumpy,
lo-fi punk-rock." They play with Black Wine, You Without
Teeth and Shellshag at the Mercury Lounge. -
NY TIMES September 1, 2009
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