Marion's Blurbs

Photo

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:06:58 -0400

dudeinpublishing: Not usually into just posting photos, but...

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 21:45:52 -0400

dudeinpublishing:

Not usually into just posting photos, but this seemed so very, very apt.

spaceplasma: Unrolling Household Tape Produces X-Rays If you...

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 21:41:07 -0400

spaceplasma:

Unrolling Household Tape Produces X-Rays

If you have ever (for whatever reason – that’s none of our business) locked yourself in a dark closet and peeled Scotch tape from its holder, you may have noticed a tiny bit of light. The tape actually emits a faint luminescence when it’s being separated. It’s due to a phenomenon known as triboluminescence, which has been documented as far back as the 17th century. In the 1950s, Soviet researchers claimed that unrolling sticky tape resulted also in the release of X-rays, but no one really bothered to follow up on that study until now.

A group of researchers at UCLA decided to test the X-ray claims recently. Using a machine to unroll the tape at 3 centimeters/second in a vacuum, they measured the electromagnetic output. The short bursts of X-rays lasted for about a billionth of a second each and output 300,000 X-ray photons. The researchers were even able to prove the presence of the X-rays by producing pictures of their finger bones. There’s no need to worry about getting a super-dose of radiation while taping the paper on birthday presents, though; the phenomenon seems to work only when the tape is in a vacuum.

The applications for this new knowledge are kind of sketchy at this point. The research team thinks that it may be useful for making cheaper X-ray machines or even for aiding in nuclear fusion. Both seem a little far-fetched, but harnessing this little-understood physical phenomenon may even create new, unforeseen possibilities in the future.

Powerful x-rays made from sticky tape [ video ]

"For seven years I ate at Bob’s Big Boy. I would go at 2:30, after the lunch rush. I ate a chocolate..."

Thu, 02 May 2013 17:58:15 -0400

““For seven years I ate at Bob’s Big Boy. I would go at 2:30, after the lunch rush. I ate a chocolate shake and four, five, six, seven cups of coffee—with lots of sugar. And there’s lots of sugar in that chocolate shake. It’s a thick shake. In a silver goblet. I would get a rush from all this sugar, and I would get so many ideas! I would write them on these napkins. It was like I had a desk with paper. All I had to do was remember to bring my pen, but a waitress would give me one if I remembered to return it at the end of my stay. I got a lot of ideas at Bob’s.””

- David Lynch.

Slate Magazine

opening speech on HBO’s “the Newsroom” (by Ken...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:54:57 -0400

opening speech on HBO’s “the Newsroom” (by Ken Miller)

"It’s not about passion. Passion is something that we tend to overemphasize, that we certainly place..."

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:32:30 -0400

““It’s not about passion. Passion is something that we tend to overemphasize, that we certainly place too much importance on. Passion ebbs and flows. To me, it’s about desire. If you have constant, unwavering desire to be a cook, then you’ll be a great cook. If it’s only about passion, sometimes you’ll be good and sometimes you won’t. You’ve got to come in every day with a strong desire. With passion, if you see the first asparagus of the springtime and you become passionate about it, so much the better, but three weeks later, when you’ve seen that asparagus every day now, passions have subsided. What’s going to make you treat the asparagus the same? It’s the desire.”
- Thomas Keller”

- swissmiss | Passion / Desire

Neil deGrasse Tyson: Living and Longevity (by bigthink)

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:19:33 -0400

Neil deGrasse Tyson: Living and Longevity (by bigthink)

"The more you learn, the more you’ll earn.” Warren Buffet"

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:39:12 -0400

““The more you learn, the more you’ll earn.”
Warren Buffet”

- After years of hearing one of my mom’s friend openly claiming “the less you know, the less you do”, this one give me a huuuge smile on my face.

"Capitalism means male baldness research gets more funding than malaria."

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:43:58 -0400

“Capitalism means male baldness research gets more funding than malaria.”

- Bill Gates, via Kanyi Maqubela. (via zachklein)

"When children have nothing to do now, they immediately switch on the TV, the computer, the phone or..."

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:34:03 -0400

““When children have nothing to do now, they immediately switch on the TV, the computer, the phone or some kind of screen. The time they spend on these things has increased. But children need to have stand-and-stare time, time imagining and pursuing their own thinking processes or assimilating their experiences through play or just observing the world around them.””

- Dr. Teresa Belton

swissmiss | Children Should Be Allowed to Get Bored

allahlas

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 09:37:04 -0400

allahlas

malformalady: Yoko Ono has tweeted this image of John Lennon’s...

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 09:10:32 -0400

malformalady:

Yoko Ono has tweeted this image of John Lennon’s bloodstained glasses together with a message about how many people have been killed by guns in the U.S. since his death. The message reads: Over 1,057,000 people have been killed by guns in the U.S.A since John Lennon was shot on December 8, 1980.