Monthly Archives: April 2013

Shakespeare shown as ruthless businessman

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“Hoarder, moneylender, tax dodger – it’s not how we usually think of William Shakespeare.  But we should, according to a group of academics who say the Bard was a ruthless businessman who grew wealthy dealing in grain during a time of famine.  Researchers from Aberystwyth University in Wales argue we can’t fully understand Shakespeare unless we study his often-overlooked business savvy.  One said that oversight is the product of ‘a willful ignorance on behalf of critics and scholars who I think – perhaps through snobbery – cannot countenance the idea of a creative genius also being motivated by self-interest’.”

http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/16481164/shakespeare-shown-as-ruthless-businessman/

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A millionaire, a market crash and a murder

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“He may have been dubbed the founding father of economics, but, when he was alive 300 years ago, banker Richard Cantillon drew the fury of angry investors who lost money in schemes he had recommended.  He was jailed briefly, but emerged with the millions he made from share dealing and currency speculation intact. Sound horribly familiar?  Cantillon was the first to use the term ‘entrepreneur’, describing the vital role of risk-takers and speculators in generating economic growth.  He practised what he preached, and the financial risks he took made him one of the wealthiest men in the Europe of his day.”

http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/a-millionaire-a-market-crash-and-a-murder-29177742.html

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Great Scientist ≠ Good at Math

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“Many of the most successful scientists in the world today are mathematically no more than semiliterate.  Pioneers in science only rarely make discoveries by extracting ideas from pure mathematics. Most of the stereotypical photographs of scientists studying rows of equations on a blackboard are instructors explaining discoveries already made. Real progress comes in the field writing notes, at the office amid a litter of doodled paper, in the hallway struggling to explain something to a friend, or eating lunch alone. Eureka moments require hard work. And focus.  Ideas in science emerge most readily when some part of the world is studied for its own sake.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323611604578398943650327184.html

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Millions, possibly billions of dollars awarded to scientists for duplicate studies

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“Big Data computation at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech reveals that over the past two decades funding agencies may have awarded millions and possibly billions of dollars to scientists who submitted the same grant request multiple times — and accepted duplicate funding. An analysis led by Harold R. Garner, a professor at Virginia Tech, not only indicates that millions in funding may have been granted and used inappropriately, it points to techniques to uncover existing instances of duplicate funding and ways to prevent it in the future.”

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/01/30/duplicate-science-funding-agencies-may-have-awarded-millions-and-possibly-billions-of-dollars-to-scientists-for-duplicate-studies/

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World landmarks go dark for Earth Hour

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“The Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower and the Kremlin—along with a slew of other landmarks around the world—went dark to draw attention to climate change.  In a symbolic show of support for the planet, people across the continents switched off their lights for 60 minutes—all at 8:30 pm local time—to make ‘Earth Hour.’  In bustling New York, that’s exactly what happened when the Empire State Building pulled the plug on its nighttime brilliance.  In Paris, the city of light, the Eiffel Tower turned off its illumination—but only for five minutes due to security reasons.”

http://phys.org/news/2013-03-world-landmarks-dark-earth-hour.html

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The French surrender to Astronomers – my town likely to be next

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“New enviro-policy to ‘end light pollution’ has France on track to look like North Korea at night.”

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/02/04/the-french-surrender-to-astronomers-my-town-likely-to-be-next/

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Sun Storm Forecast: Tiny Chance of Havoc

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“It was the biggest geomagnetic storm in recorded history. The Sun hurled billions of tons of electrons and protons whizzing toward Earth, and when those particles slammed into the planet’s magnetic field they created spectacular auroras of red, green and purple in the night skies — along with powerful currents of electricity that flowed out of the ground into the wires, overloading the circuits.  Scientists say it is impossible to predict when the next monster solar storm will erupt and whether Earth will lie in its path. What they do know is that with more sunspots come more storms, and this fall the Sun is set to reach the crest of its 11-year sunspot cycle.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/science/space/on-the-watch-for-a-solar-storm.html?_r=4&pagewanted=all&

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Ecuador announces plans to launch first two satellites into space

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“Ecuador will launch its first satellite into space from China in two weeks, President Rafael Correa announced Saturday. ‘It’s not a satellite bought in another country, it’s a satellite made in Ecuador,’ Correa said proudly during his weekly address of the homegrown engineering team. The ‘Pegaso’ (pegasus) nanosatellite will be launched from China aboard an unmanned rocket at 0513 GMT on April 26.  Measuring just 10 by 10 by 75 centimeters (four by four by 30 inches), and weighing 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds), Pegaso will beam live video images back to Earth from an onboard camera.  The Ecuadoran Space Agency plans a second satellite launch in July.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/13/ecuador-announces-plans-to-launch-first-two-satellites-into-space/

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Swiss Space Systems aims for low-cost satellite service

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“A new Swiss-based company said Thursday it would offer low-cost satellite launches which it claims could be a quarter of current market rates.  Swiss Space Systems-S3 said its goal was to offer launches for 10 million Swiss francs (8.1 million euros, $10.5 million) using unmanned suborbital spaceplanes that could carry satellites weighing up to 250 kilos (550 pounds).  The company said it planned to open such a spaceport by 2015 at the Payerne airfield in western Switzerland, which has already been used by the Solar Pulse sun-powered aircraft of Swiss astronaut Bertrand Piccard.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/14/swiss-space-systems-aims-for-low-cost-satellite-service/

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Swiss solar-power plane set for trans-US flight

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“The experimental Solar Impulse plane, which has made several trips since its maiden flight in 2009, will take off on May 1st on a transcontinental tour split in five stages.  ‘We are ready to do this flight across America,’ said Solar Impulse co-founder Andre Borschberg during a press conference at a hangar in Mountain View, near San Francisco.  A non-stop flight would take approximately three days travelling at the aircraft’s cruising speed of around 43 miles (70 kilometres) per hour. ‘We have limited ourselves to fly a duration maximum of 24 hours,’ said Borschberg, who will share the piloting duties with Solar Impulse president Bertrand Piccard.”

http://www.thelocal.ch/page/view/swiss-solar-power-plane-prepares-for-trans-us-flight

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