Soxy

Trib link U. of C. to bid for Fermilab School hopes to bring new accelerator to site By Jon Van Tribune staff reporter Published August 23, 2006 For more than 20 years Fermilab in Batavia has held bragging rights both impressive and arcane: It is home to the world's most powerful atomic particle accelerator, the Tevatron. But Fermilab will lose that title next year when a new machine in Switzerland and France fires up. Moreover, with the Tevatron scheduled to shut down in 2010 it means that America's longstanding leadership in particle physics will slip away to Europe and Asia. It also signals the likely end of Fermilab and its 2,000 jobs and $315 million annual operating budget. Administrators at the University of Chicago don't want to see that happen, and their first step in saving Fermilab and keeping America at the forefront of particle physics will occur Thursday when they submit a bid to become Fermilab's co-administrator. Should that happen, the U. of C. intends to build a new physics machine at Fermilab, a multibillion-dollar, 18-mile-long facility dubbed the International Linear Collider. It would complement and compete with the European accelerator in seeking to unravel nature's most fundamental secrets. "We bring leadership," said Thomas Rosenbaum, University of Chicago research vice president, "and a single point of accountability." The Tevatron remains a wonder of engineering, a 4-mile-around electronic racetrack that accelerates streams of protons to nearly light speed and slams them head-on into opposing streams of antimatter protons. Particles that fly out of these subatomic collisions provide scientists with clues about the makeup of atoms and how matter converts to energy. Since its inception in 1967, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has been operated by a collaboration of 90 research universities. That group included the University of Chicago, but it had no special role. Under the proposal to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy, which funds Fermilab, the U. of C. would be an equal partner with Universities Research Association Inc. It would also include Northwestern University, the Illinois Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois and Northern Illinois University in oversight advisory roles. If Fermilab is to survive beyond the Tevatron, it must begin work to build a giant new physics machine, or find another mission, said Rosenbaum. The situation echoes the 1980s, when the federal government agreed to build a superconducting supercollider that would be more powerful than the Tevatron, but decided to put the new machine in Texas rather than Illinois. Later, amid cost overruns, Congress canceled the supercollider, and Fermilab upgraded the Tevatron, giving it new life. The Tevatron has helped physicists prove that their still-incomplete view of the natural world, called the Standard Model, is accurate as far as it goes. The Tevatron has identified the subatomic particle known as the top quark, one of the building blocks of protons in the nuclei of atoms. These discoveries confirmed that quarks come in three families that include particles seldom seen outside accelerator experiments. While the focus of particle physics is esoteric to most people, doing the science has often led to technology breakthroughs with widespread benefits. The graphics-based Web grew out of physicists' need to send large amounts of data expressed as images to colleagues worldwide. Advances in supercold superconducting magnets used in the Tevatron were later applied to CT X-ray imaging used in medicine. Consumer electronics gadgetry is also an outgrowth of particle physics. Now it is the European physics machine that has the edge. Straddling the Swiss-French border outside Geneva, the Large Hadron Collider consists of a circular track that accelerates protons, and it is bigger and about seven times more powerful than the Tevatron. If America and Fermilab hope to retain a leadership role in particle physics, they would need to build a different kind of machine that will accelerate lighter particles--electrons and their antimatter counterparts--for high-speed collisions. Such a machine would provide a much sharper view of events than the hadron colliders, said a report from the National Research Council, which this year recommended that Fermilab be the site of the proposed linear collider. "We're not in the situation that occurred with the superconducting supercollider," said Rosenbaum. "Then you had several different U.S. sites all competing with Fermilab to win that facility. This time the entire American scientific community is backing Fermilab as the site." No plans for the International Linear Collider have been drawn nor cost estimates made, but the machine would likely cost tens of billions to build. Because the costs of these facilities are so large, no single country can expect to pay for everything. The United States, for example, kicked in more than half a billion dollars toward building the new Large Hadron Collider in Europe. As the last national laboratory dedicated solely to particle physics, Fermilab is the logical candidate for the International Linear Collider site, but there are other reasons to put it here, said Rosenbaum. Illinois is also home to Argonne National Laboratory, which itself runs several accelerators, including the Advanced Photon Source, the nation's most powerful X-ray generator. "Building the International Linear Collider requires advances in accelerator technology," said Rosenbaum. "Between Fermilab and Argonne, we have the best accelerator minds in the world." The University of Chicago has managed Argonne since it was founded 60 years ago, and just last month won the right to continue managing it. A change in federal law requires that management of national labs be put up for public bid. It is because of that law that the U. of C. is submitting a bid to take over Fermi. It's uncertain if there will be competition to manage Fermilab, but with the lab's very future in question, unless the government reverses a policy of declining funding for particle physics, that seems unlikely. If U.S. scientists allow leadership in this field to move overseas, Rosenbaum said, "It poses a real threat to our leadership in science and technology generally because particle physics is so fundamental to all of science. "The university values Fermilab as a part of our teaching and research, but even more important, we value its leadership for this nation's global role in scientific inquiry." A decision on Fermilab's management is expected in October.

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Aug 22, 2006 -> 10:41 PM) I would bet that if you had them listen to some one play a piece on a $52,000 violen, and then the same person play the same piece on one half the price, they couldn't tell the difference. I can tell you that 99% of the people listening to the music couldn't. However, its 'ease of play, or the way it feels to the musician may be the important factor, even if most people can't tell a difference in sound. I'm not a trained, but I can tell the difference. I bet most people could, a good violin has a pure crisp sound. It really is surprisingly obvious. And if I'm paying $50 to go see some orchestra, you better bet they should not be giving me a "Bob's Discount Viola" sound. . .

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Aug 22, 2006 -> 02:02 PM) So no one saw SNakes on a plane. You all failed me cause I want to see how it was. I sure hope its going to be as brutally horrid as I expect (which in turn means it will be hysterical). Oh Jas, there's a whole thread on SOAP.

QUOTE(Steff @ Aug 22, 2006 -> 12:48 PM) If her other "grama" has anything to do with it, it will probably be something along the lines of "that b**** whore skank douche bag"... though I'm just rooting for something simple like "Steff" Here's another at about 6 hours old. Even cuter! Look at those perfectly arched eyebrows! And that would be a mouthful for a kid, Steff is waaaaay better. Oh, and congrats!

QUOTE(Steff @ Aug 22, 2006 -> 08:41 AM) LOL.. I wonder what the WR is for youngest grama. Here's the little cutie. She looks like a little sumo wrestler here. What a little cutie pie! Have you decided what she's going to call you?

Went and saw Little Miss Sunshine tonight. Easily one of the funniest films I've seen in a very long time. The scene at the beauty pageant literally had me laughing until I was out of breath and had a stomache ache. I definitely recommend this film. It was funny but also sweet.

I had a handful of oyster crackers. I wish I had some potato leek soup to go with my crackers.

I worked as a research assistant at the University of Montreal a few summers back. Awesome! Great city, fun co-workers, and lax lax lax. On nice days my boss would just come in and would say go out and enjoy the day. It was so wonderful.

QUOTE(SnB @ Aug 19, 2006 -> 12:53 PM) real excited to see 'little miss sunshine', basically just because steve carrel's in it........and he has a beard Let us know how it is. I think I may see it tomorrow night.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Aug 20, 2006 -> 11:24 AM) the infraction of driving under the age of 21 with a blood alcohol level of .05 or higher. Am I reading this wrong? If you're under 21, shouldn't any amount of alcohol in your system be illegal?...not top mention driving. I'm not sure, but I think it varies state to state, IL, for example, is a zero tolerance state which means (I think) that any amount of alcohol in a minors' system results in a revocation of the license.

I hate people that lie by omission. Or only tell you exactly what they think you want to hear. News flash! I really just want to know the truth. People that aren't honest are just empty hollow shells of people whom I would rather not know. And those people, the ones that would rather just tell you you your "personal version of reality" instead of the truth, are the most annoying and fake when they get caught in their lies. I would rather spend the rest of my life alone than be in one more hollow, empty, half-truth relationship/friendship.

Okay I'm totally lame, but last night's segment on the Daily Show about existentialism and President Bush literally had me in stitches. Ahhhh, so funny.

The trib is reporting that this guy extensively studied the Ramsey case and the Klaas (I think) case. Sounds to me like a crazy, it will be interesting to see how this turns out. . .

QUOTE(Rex Kicka** @ Aug 16, 2006 -> 01:12 PM) Pluto/Charon = Minneapolis/St. Paul Cold and boring. Boo. MSP > NYC

QUOTE(Queen Prawn @ Aug 15, 2006 -> 12:42 PM) Pain...sucks. Well now, that depends entirely on the type of pain. Good to hear the teeth are starting to shape up though. When do you get the braces off?

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Aug 15, 2006 -> 12:21 PM) Fergie the 'Butterface' or the Duchess of York? The former. Although, cleverly her album is called (I think) The Dutchess of York. (please also note the incorrect spelling, though it would have been clever is she actually had grown up in Poughkeepsie or another partof Dutchess County in NY)

Who the heck decided it was okay for Fergie to make an album? Seriously, stepping on my dog's tail often results in more pleasant vocal stylings. Ish.

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Aug 14, 2006 -> 04:03 PM) Her skin is so orange it looks like a similar shade of an Oompa Loompa in that pic with Lo Duca. I call it the "Long Island Orange" look.

Linkage How to Make Sure Children Are Scientifically Illiterate By LAWRENCE M. KRAUSS Published: August 15, 2006 New York Times Voters in Kansas ensured this month that noncreationist moderates will once again have a majority (6 to 4) on the state school board, keeping new standards inspired by intelligent design from taking effect. This is a victory for public education and sends a message nationwide about the public’s ability to see through efforts by groups like the Discovery Institute to misrepresent science in the schools. But for those of us who are interested in improving science education, any celebration should be muted. This is not the first turnaround in recent Kansas history. In 2000, after a creationist board had removed evolution from the state science curriculum, a public outcry led to wholesale removal of creationist board members up for re-election and a reinstatement of evolution in the curriculum. In a later election, creationists once again won enough seats to get a 6-to-4 majority. With their changing political tactics, creationists are an excellent example of evolution at work. Creation science evolved into intelligent design, which morphed into “teaching the controversy,” and after its recent court loss in Dover, Pa., and political defeats in Ohio and Kansas, it will no doubt change again. The most recent campaign slogan I have heard is “creative evolution.” But perhaps more worrisome than a political movement against science is plain old ignorance. The people determining the curriculum of our children in many states remain scientifically illiterate. And Kansas is a good case in point. The chairman of the school board, Dr. Steve Abrams, a veterinarian, is not merely a strict creationist. He has openly stated that he believes that God created the universe 6,500 years ago, although he was quoted in The New York Times this month as saying that his personal faith “doesn’t have anything to do with science.” “I can separate them,” he continued, adding, “My personal views of Scripture have no room in the science classroom.” A key concern should not be whether Dr. Abrams’s religious views have a place in the classroom, but rather how someone whose religious views require a denial of essentially all modern scientific knowledge can be chairman of a state school board. I have recently been criticized by some for strenuously objecting in print to what I believe are scientifically inappropriate attempts by some scientists to discredit the religious faith of others. However, the age of the earth, and the universe, is no more a matter of religious faith than is the question of whether or not the earth is flat. It is a matter of overwhelming scientific evidence. To maintain a belief in a 6,000-year-old earth requires a denial of essentially all the results of modern physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology and geology. It is to imply that airplanes and automobiles work by divine magic, rather than by empirically testable laws. Dr. Abrams has no choice but to separate his views from what is taught in science classes, because what he says he believes is inconsistent with the most fundamental facts the Kansas schools teach children. Another member of the board, who unfortunately survived a primary challenge, is John Bacon. In spite of his name, Mr. Bacon is no friend of science. In a 1999 debate about the removal of evolution and the Big Bang from science standards, Mr. Bacon said he was baffled about the objections of scientists. “I can’t understand what they’re squealing about,” he is quoted as saying. “I wasn’t here, and neither were they.” This again represents a remarkable misunderstanding of the nature of the scientific method. Many fields — including evolutionary biology, astronomy and physics — use evidence from the past in formulating hypotheses. But they do not stop there. Science is not storytelling. These disciplines take hypotheses and subject them to further tests and experiments. This is how we distinguish theories that work, like evolution or gravitation. As we continue to work to improve the abysmal state of science education in our schools, we will continue to battle those who feel that knowledge is a threat to faith. But when we win minor skirmishes, as we did in Kansas, we must remember that the issue is far deeper than this. We must hold our elected school officials to certain basic standards of knowledge about the world. The battle is not against faith, but against ignorance. Lawrence M. Krauss is a professor of physics and astronomy at Case Western Reserve University.

You should be with someone that WANTS to be with you. Not someone that every couple of months changes her mind. Find someone that wants to commit to you without breaking up with you first, changing her mind, and blah, blah, blah. That's just not a healthy relationship. And do try to stay friends. By doing that it will probably reinforce WHY you shouldn't be together.

Happy birthday to the funniest poster on this site!

QUOTE(maggliopipe @ Aug 10, 2006 -> 05:54 PM) Anyone have a deodorant/anti-perspirant recommendation? I've been using Degree spray for years but lately I've been sweating like I'm not even wearing it. I don't know if there's such a thing as building a tolerance to anti-perspirant but it's pretty bad. I had an interview today. I was wearing a t-shirt under a long sleeve button up (so not too much clothing). It lasted about 30-40 minutes and I wasn't very nervous but I had these enormous sweat rings soaking through both shirts. I could tell it was wet so I didn't raise my arms at all (thus neglecting my standard end-of-the-interview hug) but still, it had the potential for embarrassment. I'm really into spray deodorants as the roll-on varieties feel gross and sticky. Any suggestions? I've used Lady Mitchem and it's excellent. I'm sure the men's version is also quite good.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 04:40 PM) Belive it or not, I used to get them as a kid. In like 7th and 8th grades, I'd have to go home like once every 6 weeks. It would start with the blurry vision, then I'd puke, then the headache, then I'd fall asleep, wake up three hours later and felt fine. Wierd. They eventually just went away. I got them very young too. I remember being in elementary school, just lying down because I would lose most of my vision, but they always thought I was faking.

Maybe she'll run as an independant.

Thought I would post this article, in case we have any migraine people that don't read the Times. Interesting stuff. Linkage Scientists Cast Misery of Migraine in a New Light By JANE E. BRODY Published: August 8, 2006 Everything you thought you knew about migraine headaches — except that they are among the worst nonfatal afflictions of humankind — may be wrong. At least that’s what headache researchers now maintain. From long-maligned dietary triggers to the underlying cause of the headaches themselves, longstanding beliefs have been brought into question by recent studies. As if that were not enough dogma to overturn, there is growing evidence that almost all so-called sinus headaches are really migraines. No wonder then that the plethora of sinus remedies on the market and the endless prescriptions for antibiotics have yielded so little relief for the millions of supposed sinus sufferers. While these findings may not be an obvious cause for joy among the afflicted, the good news is that there are available many drugs that can either prevent migraine attacks in the frequently afflicted or abort the headaches once they start. Knowing Where to Turn Migraine therapy has come a long way in two decades, and those who know or suspect that they have migraines would be wise to see a neurologist or a headache specialist to obtain a proper diagnosis and the best treatment now available. Surveys have indicated that only about half of “classic” migraine sufferers are reaping the benefits of what modern medicine offers. If those presumed to have sinus headaches are included, the numbers of underserved migraine sufferers could easily be doubled. The World Health Organization ranks migraines among the most disabling ills. About 28 million Americans suffer from severe migraines that leave them temporarily unable to function at work, at home or at play. Many more millions have them in milder forms. All told they cost employers about $13 billion a year in lost productivity, with another $1 billion spent on medical care. A migraine is more than a headache. The throbbing pain of a migraine, which typically occurs on one side of the head, is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting and extreme sensitivity to light and sound. A person feels sick all over. Symptoms may include nasal stuffiness, blurry vision, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, abnormal sensations of heat or cold, anxiety, depression, irritability and inability to concentrate. Without effective treatment, those most severely affected are unable to cope with even the simplest tasks and must take to their beds until the attack ends. Afterward, people often feel tired, irritable, listless or depressed, though some feel unusually refreshed and energized. About 4 percent of prepubescent children have migraines. After puberty, the incidence rises to 6 percent among men and 18 percent among women and gradually declines after age 40. The higher rate among women is linked to fluctuations in blood levels of estrogen; the drop in estrogen just before menstruation sets off menstrual migraines, which tend to be more severe and longer lasting than other forms. I suffered from estrogen withdrawal migraines three times a month from age 11 until menopause. Each attack lasted three days. Pregnancy, when estrogen levels remain high, was my only respite until menopause ended the estrogen fluctuations. Though long believed to be primary vascular headaches, the result of constriction then expansion of blood vessels in the head, migraines are now recognized to stem from neural changes in the brain and the release of neuroinflammatory peptides that in turn constrict blood vessels. The headache often begins before these vessels dilate. The inflammatory peptides sensitize nerve fibers that then respond to innocuous stimuli, like blood vessel pulses, causing the pain of migraine. In some people, the headache is preceded by an aura of visual, sensory or motor symptoms that last for less than an hour. They include seeing flashing lights or specks, numbness in the hand, dizziness and an inability to speak. People who experience these have a doubled risk of cardiovascular diseases, according to findings published last month in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Migraines sometimes run in families, and these familial migraines have been traced thus far to mutations in either of two genes. Although hard to mistake in their classic form, migraines can be — and apparently often are — misclassified as sinus or tension headaches, probably because they can cause nasal congestion, pressure or pain in the forehead or below the eyes, and discomfort on both sides of the face. Getting the Right Diagnosis In one study by Dr. Eric Eross of Scottsdale, Ariz., 90 of 100 people with self-diagnosed sinus headaches were found to have migraines. On average, they had seen more than four physicians for their headaches before getting the correct diagnosis and significant relief. Neither the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology nor the American Academy of Otolaryngology recognizes “sinus headache”; headaches only sometimes occur with sinus infections. Migraine sufferers have long been cautioned to avoid certain foods believed to bring on attacks, especially chocolate, alcohol (red wine in particular) and aged cheese. But the evidence supporting this notion is meager. More common causes include stress (positive or negative), weather changes, estrogen withdrawal, fatigue and sleep disturbances (hence, perhaps, the association with alcohol, which can disrupt sleep), as well as overuse of over-the-counter pain medications. Finding the Cause To determine what may set off your headaches, keep a calendar to record occurrences, noting foods you ate or the circumstances preceding each one. If you are a woman of childbearing age, record the stages of your menstrual cycles. If necessary, to uncover foods that may cause your headaches, try an elimination diet, cutting sharply on various foods, then reintroducing them one at a time. This way, a friend discovered that her migraines were set off by corn and corn products. Preventives and treatments are numerous. If one doesn’t work, try another. If your migraines are rare, using a drug in triptans class at the very onset of a headache can usually abort it or reduce its severity and duration. Frequent migraines are best treated preventively, with rescue medication — like a triptan or an opiate, perhaps combined with aspirin, amphetamine and caffeine to relieve a breakthrough headache. Among the medications most effective as preventives are tricyclic antidepressants, beta blockers like propranolol and anti-epileptic drugs like gabapentin. Some people are helped by relaxation therapy, biofeedback or stress management. Several good studies have shown benefits from supplements of the B vitamin riboflavin (400 milligrams a day) or the herb butterbur (50 to 75 milligrams twice daily). Perhaps most important in finding relief is seeing a doctor highly experienced in diagnosing and treating migraines. Too many people try to muddle through, sometimes causing more frequent migraines by overusing self-prescribed medications. Others may see a physician who fails to help and then conclude that their headaches are beyond help. Even if an expert was unable to help you years ago, there are now so many new therapies — and a far better understanding of the nature of migraines — that you’d be wise to try again.