I've Been Awarded!

Nutschell at The Writing Nut and Su at Cheekyness have awarded me in the past couple of weeks, so I think it's time for an awards post!

First, the Seriously Cute Award:

. . . which is adorable. Thank you, Nutschell! :) For this I have to list 5 books/movies/TV programs I've watched in the past 12 months. I've never been awarded this one before, so this should be interesting:

1. TV Program: The PBS NewsHour. I like keeping current with politics.

2. Book: The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Rick Yancey. I finished it earlier this afternoon, actually. I found it interesting that it says the character dies later in the story right on the first page. (Whether or not he does, I'm not saying. You'll have to read the book.)

3. Movie: I think the last movie I watched might have been the BBC's A Midsummer Night's Dream. (I know, I know . . .)

4. TV Program: NOVA. Yay for fascinating science shows.

5. Book: The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones. I was sorry to hear she died this March. She was one excellent writer.

I don't think there's a set number of people you have to award for this one, so I'm just going to award six bloggers:

RaShelle Workman at A No. 2 Pencil Stat! (Don't forget to wish her a happy B-day on July 22nd!)
Madeleine at Scribble and Edit (You have to sign up for her Novel Films Blogfest.)
Bethany Elizabeth at Ink-Splattered (She posts some very interesting questions, and I love her comments.)
Krispy at A Nudge In the Right Direction (Vlogs, blogfests, memes, it's a great place to visit. Head over!)
Samantha Sotto at the blog of the same name (Her book, Before Ever After, is coming out this August.)
Tere Kirkland at The Lesser Key of Tere (I always enjoy her posts.)

And now for the the Versatile Blogger Award:

Thank you, Su! :)

Seven facts:

1. I like Blogger-in-Draft's new interface. When I first saw it a couple days ago (it had been like regular Blogger's that morning) I was frantically hovering and clicking and thinking "Wait! What does that arrow mean? Why are there drop-down menus all over the place? Why is it white and orange? HUH?!" But I like it now. The only problem I have is with the fact it's hard to see the shading in some places (or maybe it's just the angle I'm sitting) and I can't scroll through a post when I'm viewing it in the Editor. I have to use the cursor and arrow keys. But the home page is LOADING SO MUCH FASTER. Really, it's great. See (and/or use) the interface HERE.

2. Dance competition was awesome. Sure, I had to hang around for about eight hours, and yes I had only one dance, and there were over 400 numbers there, but it was still a lot of fun. And our studio took home awards!

3. I have decided what I'm going to do my website on. I mentioned before I was learning HTML in another awards post, and I want to experiment with it a little--so I'm planning to set up a website. I'm not telling you what it's about right now, though. You'll just have to see. ;)

4. I am currently listening to Maurice Andre, Trumpet Masterpieces. I love it. And he can certainly nail those trills.

5. Writing is slowing down. I did manage to write 30,000 words in June, which was my goal, but I've written little in July and it's already the 9th. I know what's supposed to happen . . . the inspiration just hasn't arrived. But I'm still optimistic about the novel right now.

6. I have an absurd number of books out on my card right now. It's over 50, I can tell you that.

7. I know I haven't been doing as much blogging lately. And I've said that before. And I know, it's about time I got back into the blogging swing--I had been following a schedule for a while there.

I've been awarded as a Versatile Blogger many times, so I'm not going to pass it on this time. (If you want to take it, though, feel free to do so!)


-----The Golden Eagle

A-Z Blogging Challenge: C Stands For: Cold

There's a limit to cold.

0 Kelvin degrees (-273.15 C/-459.67 F) is absolute zero, the point where thermal energy effectively disappears, even if the kinetic energy doesn't. Matter begins to act strange at those extremely low temperatures, presenting quantum effects such as superconductivity and superfluidity. This is due to the Bose-Einstein condensate, which is a state of matter of weakly interaction bosons, within a confined external potential.

Basically, "A new form of matter at the coldest temperatures in the universe", if you'd like the explanation from the website.

Phenomenon caused by absolute zero temperatures:

Superfluidity. At temperatures very, very close to absolute zero (they have't gotten all the way down, if that's even humanly possible) matter acts as if it has no viscosity at all, and that allows it to flow literally anywhere--including up, for gravity doesn't affect things with zero viscosity.

An example of superfluid going up and over:

(SOURCE. See the liquid at the bottom? It went up and over the rim of the bowl.)

Superconductivity. This is the state of zero electrical resistance. One fascinating property of this is that if there is electricity flowing through a superconducting wire, it will continue flowing indefinitely, provided the wire stays below a critical temperature.

An example of a magnet levitating due to superconductivity (Meissner effect):

(SOURCE)

*****

To learn more about cold, go HERE to check out the NOVA program website.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bose%E2%80%93Einstein_condensate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfluidity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconductivity
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/bec/

*****

Thoughts?


-----The Golden Eagle

A-Z Blogging Challenge: A Stands For: Astrophysics

Astrophysics is:

"The branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties (luminosity, density, temperature, and chemical composition) of celestial objects such as galaxies, stars, planets, exoplanets, and the interstellar medium, as well as their interactions."

Image via Wikipedia

Fascinating stuff, astrophysics.


Especially once you start thinking about just how many discoveries that could still be made about the universe. We know practically nothing about dark matter and dark energy (aside from the fact it exists); there are countless stars that could have exoplanets (and, therefore, the potential for alien life); black holes (which could be at the center of every galaxy in our universe); star-forming regions such as nebulae (which are sometimes also the leftover matter from exploding stars); and the galaxies themselves, which collide and interact (as the Milky Way will with Andromeda, some billions of years from now).

(SOURCE)

And who knows, maybe in the future people will be exploring the universe beyond this solar system, traveling to other stars, exploring satellites and creating a new frontier in space. There's no telling what could happen if Earth becomes one of two, or several, or many other planets that could sustain human life and we have the technology to take us there.


Ahem.


Can you tell I read and write and love Science Fiction?

(SOURCE)

*****

And if you want some videos to watch to learn more about astrophysics:

Monster of the Milky Way NOVA Program
Hunting the Edge of Space NOVA two-part series
Origins of the Solar System NOVA Program 


Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrophysics

*****

What do you think of astrophysics? Do you think any major discoveries about the universe will be made in the near future?

-----The Golden Eagle

The Man Who Invented Word Verification

Watch the full episode. See more NOVA scienceNOW.

Since you might not be able to watch the video, here's what it's all about:

Luis von Ahn wanted to know what he could do with 100 million people.

When he and his advisor were approached by Yahoo! with a spam problem in email--spammers were acquiring email addresses to send junk into people's inboxes--Von Ahn invented CAPTCHA, which humans can distinguish but computers cannot. (In theory. :P I've had trouble with CAPTCHA several times.)

But it takes time to type those words, and when 200 million people are spending it, it's a lot of seconds. So Luis von Ahn teamed up with a project to put thousands of books onto the Internet, and created something called reCAPTCHA, which places a known CAPTCHA word next to one that the computer does not know--and which comes from one of those books. On average, 120-150 books per day can be typed up thanks to the anti-spam program.

And it's not just books. It's also the entire archive of The New York Times.

So you, in theory, are actually helping to puzzle out hundreds of books when you type CAPTCHA to create accounts, get through computer programs and yes, you got it, comment.


-----The Golden Eagle

Awards and Miscellany

First, I have three awards to accept:

The Summer Blog Award from Carol Kilgore at Under the Tiki Hut:

It's such a summer-y picture, and a great award to receive--especially because it's cold outside! Thank you, Carol!

The Fearless Follower from Carolyn Abiad at Serendipity:

Thank you so much, Carolyn! (If you aren't following her blog, I highly suggest you do! Her posts are always fascinating.)

The Versatile Blogger Award from Misha at My First Book:

Thanks, Misha! I do love the look of this award, with the flower on the side and the words in the background. :)

I'd pass them on today, and I want to pass them on to you lovely bloggers, but I've got ground to cover and I don't have the time--nor will I have time later to visit the rest of your blogs. The rest of Life, you know.

*****

Speaking of life, we lost power on Monday. I was online, commenting on blogs, and suddenly it tells me I have no Internet connection. The power company got the electricity back on within two hours or so, but apparently it affected over a thousand people in the area.

(Of course, if houses were self-sufficient with solar, wind, and/or hydrogen, this wouldn't have been an issue. Thousands of people would not have lost power, and the power company would not have had to go out and mess with all that wiring.)

*****

Did you hear Richard Holbrooke died? He was the former Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

It's sad because a) it's sad when anyone dies, and he did a lot of work, in many different things. b) because this probably will affect the USA relationship with Afghanistan and Pakistan, which is not the best it could be right now. He helped it along.

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Fractal awesomeness:

Watch the full episode. See more NOVA.

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I just realized how ridiculous it is that in the 2007 Beowulf movie Beowulf is the dragon's dad. And that Hrothgar is Grendel's dad. All courtesy of the seductive, evil water-demon of course (AKA Angelina Jolie.)

Ha. Har. Hrm.

I usually like what Neil Gaiman does, (he co-wrote the screenplay) but the plot does not follow the book at all, except in the loosest sense. I don't think I'll be watching it--I prefer it when the movies stick to the books! (Unless they do a spectacular job of making a new plot, which does not often happen.)

*****

Excellent writing day on Tuesday. I managed over 5,000 words and I got through a tricky spot. One character isn't quite in the right place, but that can be fixed so that she is in the right place or that she doesn't go there at all.

I hope you all have great writing progress yourselves, and I hope that there isn't too much snow to be shoveled on your sidewalks . . .


-----The Golden Eagle

Elevators

Elevators are one of the most common forms of transportation.

They transport around 10 billion people a week, more than the human population on the Earth.

26 people die in elevators every year on average, safer than cars (40,000 per year) and planes (700 per year).

There are around 58,000 elevators in NYC alone.

Watch the full episode. See more NOVA.

SITE for the show.

So this causes me to ask a question: Do you have Elephobia?


-----The Golden Eagle

I've been Awarded! (And here are the award-ees)

I've been awarded by Gwyn at The Celtic Cowgirl and the rules are to state 5 things people probably don't know about you (I'm online, so my responses are going to be extremely generalized) then award 5 people.

1. I've moved twice in the US and once outside of the US

2. My name is not something you hear every day, thought it's not weird like "Bliss-In-The-Morning-Dew" like the character in Bliss or whatever. (feel free to guess, but you're never going to get it. *cackles*)

3. I've never worn jeans

4. I've never been inside a movie theater.

5. I don't like chocolate, and whenever I walk around the mall, the Godiva store makes me want to gag.

Here are the people I award, and believe me, it was hard to choose since all of you are stylish . . .

1. Bleah Briann (I don't know if you've gotten this already or not)
2. Jojo
3. Jayden Black
4. ~Prism~
5. Kenzy

Okay, I think about sums it up!

*****

PIZZA.

Last night, my  mom (and I, somewhat, since I put on some cheese :D) made pizza! Homemade, too, so it didn't have to be reheated or anything. Then the whole apartment smelled food-y and the rolls she made later on simply added to it all. I love pizza . . .

*****

Nova last night was amazing, with all the images from the Hubble Space Telescope, other telescopes, explanations about red shift and dark matter/energy, and it was very informative. Astrophysicists, here I come! (Well, possibly. I'm still trying to decide whether to be a biologist or a physicist or a vet or an architect. I like keeping my options available.)

Well, I'd best be going now. Adios!

Rat Attack!

ACK! Help! RATS!! EECK!

THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!


Just kidding. LOL.

Anyways, that title was inspired by the NOVA/Natl.Geo Special program they showed on PBS last night, and I watched, even though I've seen it before. It gets a little icky in some places, since he dissects rats and examines their insides, (I don't feel much for the rats since there were thousands) but it was very informative.

Every 48 years, when the bamboo flowers and creates fruit, the rats appear. They're always there, perhaps one hundred or so in the field the scientist was in, but then they start to multiply.

One female can produce 200 offspring during this time. If you have 50 females, that is 10000 rats in the course of the flowering/fruiting period. So every 48 years, the rats descend on the farmers' fields and eat the crops, once the bamboo fruit had been devoured completely and the rest of the fruit has germinated.

The surge comes in four pulses: 100 to 600, 600 to 1000, 1000 to 4000, and 4000 to nearly 12000 rats. At one point, there can be up to 10000 rats per acre. Consequently, after they've eaten all the rice in the fields, the farmers have nothing to harvest. Famine is the usual occurence afterwards, but now that people know more about this, they can finally do something about it. Like plan ahead and plant crops that ripen faster, to stay ahead of the rats.