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Researchers using the testbed interferometer at Palomar Observatory have achieved the best-ever distance measurement to a type of star known as a Cepheid variable. The new results improve the "cosmic yardstick" used to infer the size and age of the universe.
In the September 28 issue of the British journal Nature, a group of astronomers from the California Institute of Technology, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center announce that the distance to the star Zeta Geminorum in the Gemini constellation is 1,100 light years. The degree of accuracy in the measurement is about 13 percent, meaning that the star could be as close as 960 or as far away as 1,240 light-years. This represents an improvement of a factor of three over previous measurements.
The improvement is due to the use of the Palomar Testbed Interferometer, of which JPL engineer Mark Colavita is the principal investigator and codesigner. "This has been a bit of a Holy Grail in the field," says Benjamin Lane, a graduate student in Caltech's planetary science program and the lead author of the study. "The measurement of accurate distances to Cepheids is widely considered to be a principal limitation in determining the Hubble constant."
Cepheid variables for several decades have been an important link in the chain of measurements that allow astronomers to estimate the distances to the farthest objects in the universe—and ultimately, the overall size and expansion rate of the universe itself.
Cepheid variables are stars that have very predictable relationships between their absolute brightness and the frequency with which they brighten up. A Cepheid is useful for measuring distances because, if it is known how bright the star really is, then it is a simple task to measure how bright it appears on Earth and then calculate the distance.
A good analogy is a light bulb shining at an unknown distance. If we are certain that only 100-watt light bulbs brighten once a day, and we observe that the light indeed brightens once daily, then we can calculate its distance by measuring the brightness of the light reaching us and comparing it to the known absolute brightness of a 100-watt light bulb.
"Zeta Geminorum is known to grow larger and smaller," says Lane. "We already knew this because we can see the Doppler effect." In other words, astronomers can measure a slight difference in light coming from the star because the surface of the star moves toward us and away from us as the star expands and contracts.
In the Nature study, the researchers couple this information with new data collected with the Palomar Testbed Interferometer. The interferometer combines the images from two 16-inch telescope mirrors in such a way that images are as sharp as they would be if the telescope mirror were 360 feet in diameter.
Data from the interferometer showed that Zeta Geminorum went through a change in angular size of about five hundred-millionths of a degree during its 10-day cycle. "That's roughly the size of a basketball on the moon, as seen from Earth," says Colavita.
From previous Doppler measurements, the researchers already knew that the change in the star's diameter was about 4.2 million kilometers. By combining that information with the newly measured change in angular size, they were able to deduce the distance to the Cepheid.
The direct measurement of distance to Zeta Geminorum shows that the basic technique works, Lane says. "As a graduate student, it has been exciting to be at the leading edge of this field."
The Palomar Testbed Interferometer was designed and built by a team of researchers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena led by Colavita and Michael Shao. Funded by NASA, the interferometer is located at the Palomar Observatory near the historic 200-inch Hale Telescope.
The device is intended as an engineering testbed for the interferometer that will soon link the 10-meter Keck Telescopes atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
The Keck Interferometer has been funded to find and study extrasolar planets. The Navy and the NSF are also funding the development of interferometers for astrometry and stellar astronomy.
"The current precision is a significant improvement over the previous determinations, but we expect to achieve distance measurements at the level of a few percent in the near future," says Shri Kulkarni, a professor of astronomy and planetary science at Caltech and a coauthor of the paper.
In addition to Lane and Kulkarni, the other authors are Marc Kuchner, a Caltech graduate student in astronomy; Andrew Boden of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), and Michelle Creech-Eakman, a postdoctoral scholar at JPL.
Details about the grant and the implications this work could have on fuel usage internationally will be announced at a press conference at 4 p.m. Friday, September 22, at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, 431 West Seventh St., President's Room, fourth floor, Olive Street parking entrance.
Speakers will include Sir John Browne, BP's Chief Executive, David Baltimore, president of Caltech, and UC Berkeley Vice Chancellor Joseph Cerny.
Browne also will field questions about other energy-related issues including gas prices, crude oil supply, BP's take-over of ARCO, and cleaner burning fuels.
The grants have been agreed upon in principle by the universities, clearing the way for BP to establish a university research program at the two institutions, similar to one it previously announced at England's Cambridge University. The research will be directed by the respective faculty members and will involve undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral level students. Under the pending BP-funded proposal, each of the universities will work closely with BP and will receive $1 million per year for 10 years for the study of methane conversion.
The discovery of large reserves of natural gas in many parts of the world, some very remote, has stimulated efforts by BP to catalytically convert methane to useful end products, such as much cleaner fuels and chemicals that are more economical to transport and market.
"We believe the next breakthrough in the conversion of natural gas to liquids, which will help bring us the next generation of cleaner burning fuels, will come from catalysis combined with process engineering. These two universities have some of the world's finest scientific and engineering minds to help us accomplish this," said Browne.
"By undertaking this progressive collaboration with Caltech and UC Berkeley - which have taken vastly different approaches to solving this difficult methane conversion problem - we have formed a very innovative and substantial team."
The U.C. Berkeley group will be headed by Professor Alex Bell and will focus on heterogeneous catalytic approaches for producing liquid fuels and chemicals. Building on its strength in understanding catalyst structure-performance relationships, this group will seek major breakthroughs in catalyst and process design for both direct and indirect conversion of methane. By contrast, the Caltech team, led by Caltech's Beckman Institute Administrator Jay Labinger and Professor John Bercaw, will develop novel, homogeneous catalytic approaches, building on work their group has pursued for 10 years.
This new grant allows Caltech to take its research to the next level. The new, expanded research team will encompass work by some of the Institute's most respected researchers, Robert Grubbs, Mark Davis, Harry Gray, and Nate Lewis.
The funding will partially support as many as eight faculty members and 30 to 35 research staff, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows at the two universities. As part of the grant, there will be frequently scheduled meetings and collaboration between the two groups.
Information in a number of supporting research areas - such as theoretical modeling, catalyst preparation, and process design - will also be shared, according to BP.
The two schools were selected based on their history of progressive research into catalytic conversion and on the reputation of their combined schools of chemistry and chemical engineering.
In accepting the grant, Caltech's president, David Baltimore, a Nobel prize-winning biologist, said, "The work performed will contribute to the education of a large number of young researchers, as it concurrently advances our ability to develop and exploit emerging technological and scientific concepts. It also enables us to broaden our base of funding for important scientific research that might otherwise go unexplored.
We applaud BP for its sincere efforts to bridge the gap between academia and the private sector in seeking ways to prevent the waste of natural resources and minimize environmental impact through research on converting natural gas to more economical and environmentally sensitive end uses," he added.
"From BP's perspective, partnering with leading educational and research institutions enables us to demonstrate responsible leadership while remaining on the cutting edge of scientific development, through funding projects that will not only benefit the company, but society as well, while offering opportunities that can result in a cleaner environment and a stronger economy. That is very much the way we expect to pursue aspects of fundamental scientific research," said Browne.
He also said that BP feels that because liquefaction and shipping of natural gas are expensive, the conversion of its principal component, methane, into useful end products is very attractive. The economics of methane conversion are strongly related to the capital investment required. To some extent, high capital costs are a consequence of the small scale that has been envisioned for most processes.
An overall aim is a major reduction in the energy required for conversion, potentially leading to substantially lower emissions of greenhouse gases.
London-based BP is a leader in solar power generation. It recently announced its "Clean Fuels 40 Cities' 2000 Program," dedicated to bringing cleaner fuels to cities worldwide.
For further information, contact:
BP: Cheryl Burnett (714) 670-5161 Berkeley: Jane Scheiber (510) 642-8782 Caltech: Jill Perry (626) 395-3226
A new five-minute vision test using a desktop computer and touch-sensitive screen is showing promise as a diagnostic tool for a variety of eye diseases and even certain brain tumors.
Invented by California Institute of Technology physicist Wolfgang Fink and University of Southern California professor of ophthalmology and neurosurgery Alfredo A. Sadun, the 3-D Computer-Based Threshold Amsler Grid Test offers a novel method for medical personnel to evaluate the central visual field. The test is sensitive and specific enough to allow an ophthalmologist to diagnose visual disorders such as macular degeneration, and to discriminate between visual disorders with subtly different symptoms, such as macular edema and optic neuritis.
In order to take the test, the patient sits in front of a touch-sensitive computer screen displaying a grid pattern and a central bright spot. Staring at the central spot with one eye closed, the patient traces a finger around the portions of the grid he or she can see, and the computer records the information.
After the computer records the patient's tracings, the operator changes the contrast of the grid slightly and the patient again traces the visible portions of the grid. This process is repeated and information is gathered for the computer to process a three-dimensional profile of the patient's visual field for that eye. Then, the process is repeated for the other eye.
Patients suffering from macular degeneration, for example, experience a loss of vision at the central focus and thus will have trouble seeing the grid pattern near the center. Since macular degeneration sufferers have peripheral vision, they would likely trace a central hole on the screen, and if they also had a relative field defect, they might trace an ever-smaller circle as the brightness of the grid pattern intensified. Once the information was processed, the 3-D graph would provide doctors with a complete description of what the patient sees under various conditions.
The test will also be useful for diseases and conditions such as optic neuritis, detached retina, glaucoma, anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION), macular edema, central or branch retinal artery occlusions, and several genetic impairments. Also, the test can be used to detect, characterize, and even locate several types of brain tumors.
Thus, the new test is not only more revealing than standard visual field tests, but it is also much quicker and simpler than existing methods of characterizing the visual field, says Sadun. Likening the test to a recreational video game, Sadun says the new technology will be cheap and easily marketable, and also will be a powerful means of processing patient data.
"The patient is playing the game while the machine is digesting the information," Sadun says.
Fink created a program that permits the computer acquisition and analysis of the psychophysical techniques developed by Sadun. The computer processes patient responses into a computer profile.
Fink says the test is "a completely noninvasive way to understand and diagnose certain eye diseases."
"We can gain more information from this test than any other visual field test," Sadun says. "The test creates a greater sensitivity for detecting problems, it provides quantitative measures for monitoring, and it characterizes the 3-D visual field, which makes a big contribution to diagnosis."
The test has already been used since April on about 40 patients suffering from macular degeneration, AION, and optic neuritis. In the coming months, the researchers will begin testing the program on patients with glaucoma.
The 3-D Computer-Based Threshold Amsler Grid Test has been approved by USC's institutional review board. Fink and Sadun have applied for a U.S. patent.
Fink was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation during the course of his work.
The announcement was part of a $90 million information technology research initiative the NSF announced today in Washington. The awards are aimed at seeding fundamental research in innovative applications of information technology.
Caltech's new Institute for Quantum Information will draw on several fields, including quantum physics, theoretical computer science, mathematics, and control and dynamical systems engineering, says founding director John Preskill, a professor of theoretical physics at Caltech.
"The goal of the institute will be to understand ways in which the principles of quantum physics can be exploited to enhance the performance of tasks involving the transmission, processing, and acquisition of information," says Preskill, who has worked on quantum computation algorithms for the last five years.
"The most potentially exciting aspect of the field is the promise of a quantum computer," he says. "If you could process quantum states instead of classical information, there are problems you could solve that could never be solved with classical technology."
Quantum computers would be more efficient than conventional computers because they would greatly reduce the number of steps the computer would have to jump through to solve many problems. For example, the encryption used to protect credit cards relies on the fact that it would take huge amounts of time for a conventional computer to break down a large number into its factors (the numbers one multiplies together that will equal this number).
It now takes the best computers several months to find the factors of a 130-digit number, and it would take 10 billion years to factor a 400-digit number—nearly the entire age of the universe. But a quantum computer with the same clock speed could factor the 400-digit number in about a minute, according to the figures Preskill has worked out.
At the same time, quantum information would provide a new means to thoroughly protect information from any intruder, Preskill says.
"By using quantum information, it's possible to make unbreakable codes, and this security is founded on fundamental physical laws," he says.
Also, the work of the new institute will advance research in the further miniaturization of classical electronic components. Quantum effects are becoming increasingly important for microelectronics as devices continue to shrink toward atomic dimensions.
In addition to Preskill, the Institute for Quantum Information will be led by two co-principal investigators who, in consultation with other Caltech researchers, will guide and supervise scientific activities. The initial co-principal investigators will be Jeff Kimble, an experimental physicist who has done groundbreaking work in the transmission of quantum information, and John Doyle, a professor of electrical engineering who is interested in control issues of quantum systems.
Other investigators at the institute will include Michelle Effros, Hideo Mabuchi, Michael Roukes, Axel Scherer, and Leonard Schulman, all Caltech faculty members. The institute will develop a substantial visitors' program and will aim at hiring postdoctoral researchers and graduate students who wish to enter the field of quantum information systems.
Contact: Robert Tindol (626) 395-3631
PASADENA—Using a new process of "sex in the test tube," a California Institute of Technology research group has been able to mate genes from different organisms and breed new genetic pathways in bacteria. These bacteria make an array of natural products that are naturally found in much more complex organisms.
The natural products, which are carotenoids similar to the pigment that gives carrots their color, are made by many different plants and microbes, but are totally foreign to the E. coli bacteria the researchers used. The new results, reported in the July issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology, show that the carotenoid-producing genes from different parent organisms can be shuffled together to create many-colored E. coli. Many of the carotenoids made in the bacteria are not even made by the organisms from which the parent genes came.
One of the reddish products, torulene, is not produced by any known bacteria, although it is found in certain red yeasts. "With molecular breeding, the experimenter can train the molecules and organisms to make new things that may not even be found in nature, but are valuable to us," says Frances Arnold, professor of chemical engineering and biochemistry at Caltech and coauthor of the new study.
Conceptually similar to dog breeding, the process generates progeny that are selected by researchers on the basis of attractive features. In this study, former Caltech researcher Claudia Schmidt-Dannert (now on the faculty at the University of Minnesota) and Caltech postdoctoral researcher Daisuke Umeno selected the new bacteria by their color.
This process of directed evolution, which Arnold has been instrumental in developing, is capable of creating new biological molecules and even new organisms with new or vastly improved characteristics. Unlike evolution in nature, where mutations are selected by "survival of the fittest," directed evolution, like breeding, allows scientists to dictate the characteristics of the molecules selected in each generation.
"We are now able to create natural products that usually have to come at great cost from esoteric sources simply by breeding ordinary genes in ordinary laboratory organisms," says Schmidt-Dannert.
The researchers believe that this method will be widely useful for making complex and expensive natural molecules such as antibiotics, dyes, and flavors. "Imagine being able to produce in simple bacteria many of the compounds that come from all over nature," says Arnold.
And, according to the authors, an even more irresistible target of directed evolution is finding bacteria that make biological molecules not yet found in nature.
PASADENA- Two of the key inventions that made possible the monumental task of sequencing the human genome came from the California Institute of Technology. These were especially important in the sequencing of the 3 billion DNA base pairs composing the human genome because the inventions speeded up progress on the task.
The first landmark invention was a method for the automated sequencing of DNA by Leroy Hood, then a professor of biology at Caltech, and his colleagues, Mike Hunkapiller, Tim Hunkapiller, Charles Connell, and Lloyd Smith. Before their discovery, figuring out the sequence of a segment of DNA had been exceedingly difficult and laborious. Because the process was so slow and required the work of highly skilled technicians, it was clear to most scientists in the mid '80s that it would not be possible to sequence entire genomes by manual methods.
The method devised by Hood and his colleagues changed that. They developed a novel chemistry that permitted a machine to detect DNA molecules, using fluorescent light. This method revolutionized DNA sequencing, ultimately making it possible to launch the Human Genome Project. Coupled with some recent advances, the method remained the core for the just-completed phase of sequencing the human genome.
A second key invention for the genome project was developed at Caltech by Professor Melvin Simon, chair of Caltech's biology division, and his coworker Hiroaki Shizuya. They recognized that a critical part of sequencing would be preparing large DNA segments for the process. To accomplish this, they invented "bacterial artificial chromosomes" (BACs), which permit scientists to use bacteria as micromachines to accurately replicate pieces of human DNA that are over 100,000 base pairs in length. These BACs provided the major input DNA for both the public genome project and Celera.
The Simon research group was also a major contributor to the mapping and sequencing of chromosome 22-a substantial segment of the human genome, which was completed in 1999. These researchers are presently using genomic information to create an "onco-chip," which will give researchers convenient experimental access to a miniature array containing hundreds of BACs, each carrying a gene whose mutation can cause human cancer.
Caltech researchers, both current and past, have also been important in promoting the Human Genome Project itself-a project that originally met with scientific skepticism when it was born 12 years ago, particularly when the goal of a fully sequenced human genome by the year 2003 was announced.
That skepticism has long since been replaced by wholesale enthusiasm from the scientific community. David Baltimore, president of Caltech and a Nobel laureate for his work on the genes of viruses, was a highly influential supporter of the Human Genome Project at its inception. Baltimore, then a professor of biology at MIT, was one of an international cadre of farsighted biologists that also included Hood and Simon. They shared a vision of the future in which knowledge of every gene that composes the human genome would be available to any scientist in the world at the click of a computer key.
To shape this unprecedented and complex project, Caltech professors Norman Davidson, Barbara Wold, and Steve Koonin have served in national scientific advisory roles to the genome project in the intervening years. Also, Baltimore chaired the National Institutes of Health (NIH) meeting where the human genome project was launched.
Koonin, who is Caltech's provost, was chair of the JASON study of 1997, which noted to the scientific community that quality standards could be relaxed so that a "rough draft" of the human genome could be made years earlier and still be of great utility. This, in fact, was the approach that prevailed.
The Human Genome Project is unique among scientific projects for having set aside, from the beginning, research support for studies of the ethical, legal, and social implications of the new knowledge of human genes that would result. In Caltech's Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor Daniel Kevles has examined these ethical issues in his book The Code of Codes: Scientific and Social Issues in the Human Genome Project, which he coedited in 1992 with Leroy Hood.
Caltech scientists are also actively engaged in the future of genomics, which is the use of the newly obtained DNA sequences to discover and understand the function of genes in normal biology and in disease and disease susceptibility. This includes devising new ways to extract and manipulate information from the human genome sequence and from recently completed genome sequences of important experimental organisms used by scientists in the laboratory, such as the fruit fly, mustard weed, and yeast.
In one new project, Caltech recently became the home site for the international genome database for a key experimental organism called C. elegans, under the direction of Caltech Professor Paul Sternberg. This tiny worm has about 19,000 different genes, many of which correspond to related genes in humans. The shared origin and functional relationships between the genes of worm and man (and fruit fly and all other animals) let scientists learn much about how human genes work, by studying these small creatures in the laboratory.
The Worm Genome Database, called Wormbase, is undertaking the major task of collecting and making computer-accessible key information about every worm gene, its DNA sequence, and what its function is in the animal. This will require that new methods in automated data-mining and computing be brought together and fused with expert knowledge in biology, and then made accessible by computer to anyone interested.
Because of the relatedness of many genes and their functions among all animals, this information about the worm and its genome will be important for understanding human genes, and vice versa.
Another major genomics effort at Caltech is aimed at understanding how groups of genes work to direct development from a fertilized egg to an adult organism, and how these groups of genes change their action or fail in aging, cancer, or degenerative disease. The genomics approach to these problems involves the application of new computational methods and automated experimental technologies.
To do this, Barbara Wold, together with Mel Simon, Professor Stephen Quake from Caltech's Division of Engineering and Applied Science, and Dr. Eric Mjolsness of the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, have established the L. K. Whittier/Caltech Gene Expression Center, funded by the Whittier Foundation. The new work in genomics is also fueling new interdisciplinary programs at Caltech in the computational modeling of cells and organisms.
Physicists at the California Institute of Technology have announced the first observation of the quantum of thermal conductance. This discovery reveals a fundamental limit to the heat that can be conducted by objects of atomic dimensions.
The findings, reported in the April 27 issue of the journal Nature, could have profound implications for the future design of microscopic electronic devices and for the transmission of information, according to the research team leader, Caltech physics professor Michael Roukes.
The quantum of thermal conductance is best understood by beginning with a simple explanation of heat flow. In the everyday world, the amount of heat carried by an object can vary in a smooth and continuous way. Heat actually flows by means of collective, wavelike vibrations of the atoms that make up a solid material. Usually immense numbers of such waves, each inducing a unique type of synchronous motion of the atoms, act simultaneously to carry heat along a material.
Physicists know that waves sometimes act like particles and vice versa, so they've given these vibrations the particle-like name phonon (reminiscent of "electron" but named after the Greek root phon for sound.) For heat flow in the macroworld, since each phonon is just one among a sea of many others, an individual phonon's contribution alters the total only imperceptibly.
But in the nanoworld, this "phonon sea" is actually rather finite, quantum effects rule, and the heat conduction can become radically different. When an object becomes extremely small, only a limited number of phonons remain active and play a significant role in heat flow within it. In fact, in small devices at temperatures close to absolute zero, most types of motion become almost completely "frozen out," and heat must then be carried by only the several remaining types of wavelike motions that persist.
It has recently become apparent that, in this regime, a strict limit exists to the amount of heat that can be conducted in a small structure or device. Although never before observed, this maximum value is actually a fundamental law of nature, independent of composition or material. It stipulates that the only way thermal conductance can be increased in a very small device is simply to make the conductor larger.
The Nature paper reports that this fundamental limiting value, called the quantum of thermal conductance, can be observed by using tiny devices with specially patterned features only 100 billionths of a meter across (about 300 atoms wide). To carry out this work, Keith Schwab, a postdoctoral fellow in Roukes's group, developed special devices from silicon nitride with assistance from research staff member Erik Henriksen. The work was carried out in the group's nanofabrication and ultralow-temperature laboratories in Pasadena, in collaboration with University of Utah research professor, John Worlock, a visiting associate at Caltech.
The Roukes team has demonstrated that the maximum possible value of energy transported per wavelike motion (phonon mode) is a number composed of only fundamental physical constants and absolute temperature itself. (The relation is given by the product of pi squared, Boltzmann's constant squared, and absolute temperature, over three times Planck's constant.)
Numerically, at an ambient temperature of one kelvin, this quantized conductance roughly translates into a temperature rise of one kelvin upon the application of only a thousandth of a billionth of a watt of power (its precise value is 9.4 x 10^-13 W/K).]
Their new result has important implications for nanotechnology as well as for the transmission of information. Moore's Law, a popularized rule-of-thumb, can be used to loosely describe the continuous decrease in size of the individual building blocks (the transistors) that populate, now in the tens of millions, the integrated circuits forming today's powerful computer chips.
In the unrelenting technological drive toward increased function and decreased size, these individual transistor components have been scaled downward in size to a realm where the underlying physics of their operation can change. In the most extreme cases at the smallest scales, conventional operation may completely break down.
One example is the so-called "power dissipation problem" stemming from the fact that when each individual transistor on a microchip is turned on, each gives off a little heat. This accumulates to become a very significant problem when millions of such transistors, each in effect a microscopic heat generator, are placed in close proximity.
"This will become especially serious for future molecular-scale devices," says Roukes. "No matter how small it is, you always have to put a finite amount of power into a device to turn it on. In this quantum regime, when only a limited number of modes are capable of transferring heat, it will be crucial to take this fundamental limitation into account."
Separate theoretical studies carried out elsewhere indicate that this quantum of thermal conductance is universal, and independent of whether the heat is carried by electrons, phonons, or any other mechanism. "It would seem there is no way of escaping this fundamental law of nature," says Roukes.
These other studies indicate that the maximum thermal conductance, observed in this work, is linked to the maximum rate that information can flow into a device having a single quantum "channel." This surprising connection between information theory and thermodynamics is a manifestation of a deep connection between information and entropy.
"As we engineer smaller and higher speed computational elements, we will also encounter this fundamental quantum limitation in the rate of information flow," Schwab says.
The group's three-year effort followed upon work of Thomas Tighe, a previous postdoctoral fellow in the group, and culminated in new techniques for creating the miniature devices studied. At the heart of each device is an isolated heat reservoir, which the researchers term a "phonon cavity." It resembles a miniature plate freely suspended by four narrow beams. Each beam acts as a quasi one-dimensional "phonon waveguide" for heat flow, and it is precisely this reduced-dimensional flow that is the focus of the researchers' measurements.
On top of the cavity, Schwab and Henriksen patterned two small, separate patches of thin-film gold, described by Roukes as "puddles of electrons." In the course of a measurement, one of these is heated by passing a very small electrical current through it. Electrical connections allowing this current to flow were made using superconducting leads (patterned on top of the phonon waveguides).
This insures that heat is deposited only within the resistive gold film and, therefore, transferred only to the phonon cavity. To escape from the suspended device, the heat must eventually flow through the phonon waveguides. Since the waveguides' thermal conductance is weak, the phonon cavity temperature ultimately rises to a new, and hotter, steady-state level that directly reflects the thermal conductance of the phonon waveguides.
Measurement of the current-induced temperature rise within the small devices is a significant challenge in its own right, and required both ingenuity and the investment of a significant portion of the researchers' efforts. Most available thermometry techniques applicable at the nanoscale are electrical, and thus involve power levels that greatly exceed that used by the researchers in their measurements.
"The power level we used to carry out these experiments, about a femtowatt, is equivalent to the power your eye would receive from a 100-watt light bulb at a distance of about 60 miles," says Schwab. Instead of the standard electrical methods, the researchers coupled the second "electron puddle" to extremely sensitive dc SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) circuitry.
This allowed them to observe the feeble current fluctuations that have a magnitude directly proportional to the absolute temperature of the nanoscale device. This so-called Johnson/Nyquist noise, which is also the origin of the electrical noise causing background hiss in audio systems, here plays a pivotal role by allowing the local temperature of the phonon cavity to be measured without perturbing the ultraminiature device.
In the end, because the researchers know the precise amount of heat deposited, and can directly measure the absolute temperature reached by the phonon cavity in response to it, they can directly measure the thermal conductance of the narrow beams acting as phonon waveguides. Simply stated, the ratio of the heat flowing through the waveguides to the rise in cavity temperature is the phonon thermal conductance of the quasi one-dimensional waveguides.
This work was carried out over the past three years within the research laboratories of Caltech Professor of Physics, Michael Roukes. Schwab, formerly a Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Postdoctoral Scholar within Roukes' group, is the principal author of the paper.
Schwab's life as a young postdoctoral scientist, and his role in the efforts to observe the quantum of thermal conductance, are the subjects of an upcoming documentary film by independent filmmaker Toni Sherwood. The title of the film is The Uncertainty Principle: Making of an American Scientist.
Coauthors of the paper are John Worlock, visiting associate at Caltech and research professor of physics at the University of Utah, a long time collaborator with Professor Roukes; and former research staff member Erik Henriksen.
PASADENA—Caltech cosmologists and other scientists involved in an international collaboration have released the first detailed images of the universe in its infancy. The images reveal the structure that existed in the universe when it was 50,000 times younger and 1,000 times smaller and hotter than it is today.
Detailed analysis of the images is already shedding light on some of cosmology's outstanding mysteries, including the nature of the dark matter and energy that dominate intergalactic space, and whether space is "curved" or "flat." The team's results are being published in the April 27 issue of the scientific journal Nature.
Cosmologists believe that the universe was created approximately 12–15 billion years ago in an enormous explosion called the Big Bang. The intense heat that filled the embryonic universe is still detectable today as a faint glow of microwave radiation that is visible in all directions. This radiation is known as the cosmic microwave background (CMB).
Since the CMB was first discovered by a ground-based radio telescope in 1965, scientists have eagerly sought to obtain high-resolution images of this radiation. NASA's COBE (Cosmic Background Explorer) satellite discovered the first evidence for structures, or spatial variations, in the CMB in 1991.
The new experiment, dubbed BOOMERANG (Balloon Observations of Millimetric Extragalactic Radiation and Geophysics), obtained the images using a telescope suspended from a balloon that circumnavigated the Antarctic in late 1998.
The balloon carried the telescope at an altitude of almost 37 kilometers (120,000 feet) for 10 1/2 days. As it flew, an extremely sensitive detector system developed at Caltech recorded the faint signals from the early universe.
The BOOMERANG images are the first to bring the CMB into sharp focus. The images reveal hundreds of complex regions that are visible as tiny variations—typically only one ten-thousandth of a degree (0.0001 C)— in the temperature of the CMB. The complex patterns visible in the images confirm predictions of the patterns that would result from sound waves racing through the early universe, creating the structures that by now have evolved into giant clusters and super-clusters of galaxies.
"These images represent the ultimate limit of our vision," said U.S. team leader Andrew Lange, physics professor at Caltech.
"The enormous structures that they reveal predate the first star or galaxy in the universe."
Lange and Italian team leader Paolo deBernardis of the University of Rome, La Sapienza, together led the international team that developed the sophisticated experiment. The entire payload was integrated at Caltech for months of extensive testing before it was taken to Antarctica.
Already, analysis of the size of the structures has produced the most precise measurements to date of the geometry of space-time, which strongly indicate that the geometry of the universe is flat, not curved.
"It is really exciting to obtain such strong evidence for a flat universe. This result is in agreement with a fundamental prediction of the 'inflationary' theory of the universe," said Caltech Postdoctoral Scholar Eric Hivon.
The theory hypothesizes that the entire universe grew from a tiny sub-atomic region during a period of violent expansion that occurred a split second after the Big Bang. The enormous expansion stretched the geometry of space till it was precisely flat.
"These measurements represent a watershed event in cosmology" commented Mark Kamionkowski, professor of theoretical astrophysics at Caltech. "The results suggest that we are on the right track with inflation—a hitherto speculative theory for the origin of the universe—and thus open up a path toward scientifically addressing what happened in the very first micro-micro-second after the Big Bang."
"The key to BOOMERANG's ability to obtain these powerful new images," explained Lange, "is the marriage of a powerful new detector technology developed at Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Lab with the superb microwave telescope and cryogenic systems developed in Italy."
The telescope optics focus the radiation from the early universe onto button-size "bolometric" detectors cooled to a fraction of a degree above absolute zero. Extremely sensitive thermometers embedded in each detector record tiny changes in temperature as the telescope scans across the sky.
"These detectors can 'see' tiny differences in the temperature of the early universe in much the same way as the back of your hand responds to the heat from the sun," explained Caltech graduate student Brendan Crill.
"What really sets this detector system apart," continued Viktor Hristov, a senior electronics engineer at Caltech, "is the stability of the detectors and the electronics used to record the faint signals."
Caltech and JPL are responsible for fabricating a similar detector system for the Planck Surveyor, a satellite that will someday image the CMB over the entire sky from a vantage point 1 million miles from Earth.
In a complementary effort, another Caltech team led by Professor Anthony Readhead is now obtaining images of the CMB at even sharper resolution, using a specially built radio telescope, the Cosmic Background Imager (CBI), from a remote site in the Chilean Andes. BOOMERANG and CBI herald a new era of precision cosmological measurement that promises to provide new insights into fundamental physics.
The 36 BOOMERANG team members come from 16 universities and organizations in Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Primary support for the BOOMERANG project comes from the Italian Space Agency, Italian Antarctic Research Programme; and the University of Rome, La Sapienza; from the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council in the United Kingdom; and from the National Science Foundation and NASA in the United States.
PASADENA—Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have developed a pump that is less than one-half the width of a human hair. The device is a breakthrough in the 3-D microfabrication of soft materials and could be applied to revolutionize and simplify many technologies, including drug discovery and delivery, according to Caltech applied physics professor Stephen R. Quake and his colleagues, who report their findings in the April 7 issue of Science.
Unlike the silicon-based micromachining techniques used for computer chips, this team has developed a technique called multilayer soft lithography, which is essentially an intricate casting of soft rubber. The work is an extension of soft lithography casting, originally developed by George Whitesides at Harvard University.
"Basically, it's plumbing on a very small scale," says Quake. "We are trying to show that it is useful to make microdevices out of soft rubber for certain applications, rather than the hard materials like glass or silicon used in traditional micromachining. In order to make a valve, one needs to figure out how to make it seal, which is usually done with a rubber washer. We made the entire valve out of the sealing material."
The pump is made possible because of the material's softness and pliability. Embedded in a small clear rubber chip the size of a postage stamp, the pump is actually a series of tiny, multilayer channels that each measure 50 by 30 by 10 microns. By contrast, a human hair is about 100 microns wide.
Operation of the pump is similar to the peristaltic motions that make human digestion possible. By applying pressure in one of the channels, another channel above it or below it in the 3-D matrix can be closed off, thereby allowing the channel to act either as a pump or as a valve.
While the research is basic and mainly aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of the technique, Quake says the pump could have a number of practical applications, including drug delivery, one day possibly enabling doctors to implant a biocompatible device about the size of a postage stamp into a patient's body to deliver drugs for chronic disorders such as allergies, pain, diabetes and cancer.
The device may allow the drug to be delivered in a time-released manner customized for each patient. In addition to delivering the drug, the device could also contain a microsized component that would enable regular monitoring of the patient's condition.
Quake's own lab intends to use the microfabricated valves and pumps in two devices: a DNA sizer, which is a replacement for the current technique known as gel electrophoresis; and a cell sorter, a machine that physically separates microscopic materials such as bacteria or viruses. Both devices originated from research in Quake's lab. Caltech has licensed this technology to Mycometrix Corporation of South San Francisco, which will apply it to develop a variety of commercial products.
In addition to Quake, the others involved in the research are Axel Scherer, a professor of electrical engineering, applied physics, and physics at Caltech; Marc Unger, a postdoctoral scholar in applied physics; Hou-Pu Chou, a graduate student in electrical engineering; and Todd Thorsen, a graduate student in biochemistry.
PASADENA—In the world of engineering and applied science, ideas that look good on the drawing board often turn out to have annoying real-world problems, even though the finished products still look pretty good. An example is the aluminum car engine, which has the advantage of being lightweight, but tends to wear out more quickly than its heavier steel counterpart.
To solve such bedeviling problems, experts often find it necessary to go back to "first principles," which in the case of the aluminum engine may include a computer simulation of how the individual atoms slide around under wear and tear.
California Institute of Technology chemistry professor Bill Goddard had this type of problem in mind when he established a special center a decade ago within the campus's Beckman Institute. Christened the Materials and Process Simulation Center (MSC), Goddard's group set as their goals the development of computer simulation tools necessary to deal with materials and process issues, and the transfer of solutions to government and industry for the creation and improvement of products.
"We started the center to follow the dream of being able to predict chemical, biological, and materials processes with a computer," says Goddard. "The idea was to get a simulation that was close enough so that you wouldn't have to do the experiment."
Now that the MSC is celebrating its 10th anniversary, Goddard says the group has made some genuine progress on a number of real industrial problems—much to the satisfaction of corporate collaborators and sponsors, which at present are underwriting about 10 new projects each year.
In addition, the conference celebrates the 100th birthday of Arnold Beckman, the founder of Beckman Instruments and the benefactor of the Beckman Institute.
Since technology transfer and real-world results are a high priority, Goddard and his colleagues sponsor an annual meeting in which the collaborators showcase all their activities. This year's meeting, to be held March 23–24 at the Beckman Institute on campus, is also the 10th anniversary celebration of the center itself.
"There are several new accomplishments we'll discuss at this year's meeting," Goddard says. "We've had the first prediction of the structure of a membrane-bound protein, we've shown how to grow a new class of semiconductors to make real-world devices, and with our local collaborator Avery Dennison we've had success in predicting gas diffusion polymers.
"The bottom line is that it has worked out," he says. "In this center we have probably the most complete group of theorists in the world—about 40 people—and we've continued to have a flow of excellent grad students and postdocs who have gone on to be leaders in their fields."
A unique feature of the MSC is its emphasis in starting out with first principles, using quantum mechanics (the Schrödinger equation) to describe what is happening between atoms. For example, if the real-world problem is how best to lubricate a certain type of moving part (which is an actual industrially funded project the center has worked on), then the researchers would use the Schrodinger wave equation to build a simulation to show precisely how the electrons of a certain lubricant would interact with other electrons, how variable factors such as temperature and pressure would enter into the picture, and how a host of other interactions at the atomic level would play out.
But the quantum level is only the first in a hierarchy of regimes the center researchers might use in investigating complex problems. The quantum level with its Schrödinger equation is good for a system of about 100 atoms, but currently no computer can use quantum mechanics to predict the structure of hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen to our muscles.
Rather, for systems with up to about a million atoms, the center uses molecular dynamics techniques, essentially solving Newtonian equations.
For the billion or so atoms or particles that compose a "segment" of material, the MSC investigators employ the techniques of coarse-grain meso-scale modeling and tools such as phase diagrams. Beyond this point, for process simulation, materials applications, and engineering design involving the entire object, the center has developed yet another set of techniques.
This hierarchy of materials modeling is not describable merely by the number or size scale of particles. Time scales are also involved, with quantum mechanics operating at the femtosecond scale (a millionth of a billionth of a second), molecular dynamics at the nanosecond scale (a billionth of a second), coarse-grain meso-scale modeling at the millisecond scale, process simulation at the scale of minutes, and engineering design over periods ranging up to years.
Finally, the hierarchy has many crossover points, which particularly allow the center's research to be innovative and interdisciplinary.
"So you start with fundamentals of quantum mechanics, and imbed this in the next steps at all length scales and time scales," Goddard says. "The idea is to figure out why these things happen, and how looking at first principles can solve industrial problems."


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Extention of campus reps and competitions to UK
Over a year ago
It just might help this to happen if a few UK members of the PeTAUK growing community think this is a good idea, please post a comment or two 🙂
Please log in to reply.
Over a year ago
Yes please…. I would love to enter the competitions! 🙂You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

subset: commoncrawl


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Perez Hilton's Daily Update: Nick Jonas Turned Down $2 Million To Perform At The Republican National ConventionThe RNC wanted him to perform at a free concert for the people of Cleveland as a thank you to the city for hosting their Convention.
Perez Hilton's Daily Update: Fifth Harmony Partied Without Camilla Cabello In BrazilFifth Harmony was all over Snapchat that night, but Camila Cabello was missing!
Perez Hilton's Daily Update: Celebs Twitter Accounts Keep Getting HackedSeems like no one is safe!
Perez Hilton's Daily Update: Janet Jackson is Expecting!Congratulations, Janet!
Kim Kardashian and Amber Rose Post Selfie TogetherDoes it mark a ceasefire? An attempt to break the internet? Or an announcement of the casting of "True Detective 3?"
What Kanye West Learned During His Wiz Khalifa FeudKanye learned a social media lesson.
Kanye West Responds to Amber RoseWest refutes some of Rose's racier claims.
Amber Rose Joins the Kanye Wiz Beef and We Can't Print it HereCareful what you say about your ex on Twitter.
Perez Hilton's Daily Update: Gwen Stefani 'Likes' A Tweet From Miranda Lambert's
Perez Hilton's Daily Update: Adele Shares New Album Details
Amber Rose Forgives Kanye West and Wiz Khalifa in Emotional 'Slut Walk' Speech"I was called 'nothing but a stripper.' Why would he be interested in me...just a bald-head stripper from Philly.'"
Perez Hilton's Daily Update: Omi's "Cheerleader" Is The Song of the Summer


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- Report: #904753
Report - Rebuttal - Arbitrate
Complaint Review: Vision Security
Vision SecurityInternet United States of America
Vision Security GE auth rep Repair panel , authorized , GE , Enter home, Internet
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I asked for ID and he said that if I go to a website, they will verify that he is an employee. He asked on multiple occasions to come in and start his work. I called ADT (my alarm company) to see if this guy was legit.
He asked me why I called ADT? I asked him why he is asking me why I called MY alarm company to verify if he's allowed to touch it? I then asked if I would sign a new contract with him for the free service/upgrade he was doing. He said yes. I called the police, at that point he and his partner jumped into the car and took off.
If you're doing things legally, I'm sure fleeing the scene when hearing about cops demonstrates that right?
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 06/29/2012 02:35 PM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Vision-Security/internet/Vision-Security-GE-auth-rep-Repair-panel-authorized-GE-Enter-home-Internet-904753. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.
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What's Happening Now
Operation Safe Passage is a proactive program developed to protect children from being abducted while walking to and from school. In addition, it enhances pedestrian safety along safe walking routes and reduces opportunities for bullies to intimidate other children. This program was designed to add an increased element of safety to students by reporting suspicious activity, and by giving the students a person to turn to if something goes wrong.
For more information:
Dawn Black 801-568-7200
Operation Safe Passage Brochure
Concern for the safety of our children and our neighborhood is something most of us take very seriously. One great time to take advantage of talking with your children about safety is at the beginning of every school year. Take a few moments to go over safety rules with your children.
click here to view entire article
The Sandy City Police Department Detectives is seeking the following person of interest. If you have any information concerning this individual, please contact the Sandy City Police Department 801-568-7200 or call the Tip Line at: 801-568-INFO (4636).
Vehicle Description: Suspect vehicle is possibly a Chrysler Lebaren or Buick Lesabre. If you recognize this individual, please contact Detective Marquez 801-568-7200 reference case #SY2016-19567.
If you recognize this individual, please contact Detective Hess at: 801-568-7200, reference case #2016-21014.
Sandy City Police Department conducts free car seat safety checks between 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
For an appointment contact: Officer T. Marquez 801-568-7299
10000 South Centennial Parkway Sandy City Police Department
The Sandy City Explorer Post is now accepting applications. This program is for anyone between the ages of 14 to 20 who is interested in a career in Law Enforcement. The program gives youth the opportunity to experience law enforcement firsthand and assist the police department in various activities while serving the community. Explorers receive police training in weekly meetings held at the Sandy City Police Department.
For more information contact Bart Webb 801.568.7216
Current Weather Conditions
For current weather conditions please visit:
Current Road Conditions
For up to date road conditions and information, visit:


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Best bluetooth headset till date
In simple words, this is the by far best bluetooth headset I have used. It surpassed my expectations and went way beyond. It does what they claim that it'll do (seriously!!!). Noise reduction is awesome. I have tried everything. I have talked while vaccumming my room, while driving the car at more than 60mph with windows down. And it manages to supress all the noise. The person at other end is able to hear me loud and clear. AWESOME!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! In addition to that, it fits perfectly on my ear (way better than my 3 previous bluetooth headsets) and is very comfortable for long hours. Since I bought this headset, I must have talked for about 40-50 total hours on this headset (over may be 60-80 total number of calls) and it has dropped the connection with phone only twice. Also its design to make this headset fit to both your left and right ear is by far the best design I have seen. Battery back up is also very decent. I have been in conferences lasting 3 to 3.5 hours so I can confirm that it goes for at least 3.5 hours without any worries. Given that, I think it is quite possible that it may easily go upto the claimed 6 hours. I was beginning to think that bluetooth headsets can never be satisfactory. But my quest for wireless freedom and the great reviews of this headset made me give it a try. Now I am very happy that I bought this. I love the quality of wireless freedom it has given me. Exactly what I wanted!!! I'll definitely gift it to people with whom I talk the most [If they don't buy it themselves ofcourse :-)].
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- Report: #952916
Report - Rebuttal - Arbitrate
Complaint Review: Insight Cable
Insight Cable515 Double Springs Road Bowling Green, Kentucky United States of America
Insight Cable cable installation tech router scam Bowling Green, Kentucky
*Author of original report: RESOLVED...
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It was my fault... I was moving in to new apartment. Had several friends helping me. Completely distracted. Cable installation guy was there. It was Saturday July 7th, 2012, 9000 degrees and rising. He acted as if he didn't want to be there and was pissy about it. Dude, the apartment is air conditioned. I had bigger things to coordinate, plus I was on the hook for an additional charge due to a Saturday installation.
He says the work order states that I would use my own internet equipment (modem & router). I hand him my modem and he proceeds with the installation of cable and high speed internet. I didn't hand him my peronal N-router, but it was there in the box and I let him know that it was in proximity if he required it for the installation. He works for almost an hour setting everything up, finishes the installation and shoves a service ticket at me to sign. I didn't read it. I smiled, thanked him... I mean, I thanked him..., signed the sheet. Out the door he went.
Two months later, September 18, 2012, I have to move due to a job opportunity that I couldn't pass up. Bundled up the DVR with remote that was installed and headed down to my local Insight Cable Company to return their equipment. This is when the trouble began. The cashier informed me that I needed to return their router that I had in my possession.
I informed her that I didn't have it and that the installation was completed using my equipment. She insisted that I had it. I retorted that I didn't. Now we're at an impasse. Asked her to check with the tech, there must have been a mistake. She agreed that she would. I thanked her, gave her my forwarding address for my final bill and out the door I went.
October 1, 2012 - I receive my final bill from Insight for $47.46 that I will have auto pay out of my credit card account. No worries... router problem resolved. Today, October 9, 2012, I receive another bill from Insight for an additional $159.00, bringing the total to $206.46. WTF?!?
I contact Insight customer service and start asking questions. The agent, Brandon, responds that I signed for the router and that I am ultimately responsible for it. At this point, I'm pissed and acting like a total d-bag... I apologize to him, and reassure him that I'm not taking it out on him, it's not his fault. He accepts my apology and states that he will have a manager contact me to try to resolve the matter.
I thank him for his patience and apologize again for my attitude. As we are ready to conclude our phone conversation, as one last parting shot... Brandon states to me that after the manager contacts me, I will still have to pay for the router because I signed for it... You...little... p***k... I turn back into a d-bag and hang up. Not the way I wish this day had turned out, but add it to the list.
So now, I'm sitting here, writing this report because they have my signature on the installation document for a $159 P.O.S. router. I will try to find a replacement for a cheaper price that hopefully they will take in trade. I won't know until I speak with the "manager".. whatever. Anyway, the moral to the story kids is this... no one does their job and apparently this includes me. I didn't read the service ticket. If I had taken 5 minutes to look at it, I wouldn't be writing this report. I'm doing this to warn existing and potential customers.
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 10/09/2012 01:31 PM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Insight-Cable/Bowling-Green-Kentucky-42101/Insight-Cable-cable-installation-tech-router-scam-Bowling-Green-Kentucky-952916. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.
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AUTHOR: Colin - (United States of America)
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The Norris & Long Show Best Of - Week Of August 27thThe Norris & Long Show Best Of - Week Of August 27th
College Football Report With AP's Ralph RussoTopics discussed are Jameis Winston and coaches on the hotseat. Ralph also says the game of the week is happening out on the west coast.
The AP's Ralph Russo Talks College FootballRalph Russo from the AP previews this week in college football.
The Associated Press' Ralph Russo Talks College FootballThe AP's Ralph Russo previews some of this week's biggest college football games.
Does The Honey Badger Care? Now that Tyrann Mathieu, an All-American cornerback and Heisman Trophy finalist, has been kicked off the team, what does it mean for LSU's national championship hopes?


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Star Tracks: Monday, May 16, 2016 42 years, 2,191 covers and 55,436 stories from PEOPLE magazine's history for you to enjoy
Latest News!
- From INSTANT: Meet Mr. Bagel, the World's Cutest Pet Chinchilla
- Read the Cover Story: The Final Five: Their Amazing Journey!
- Man Charged in Murder of Friend's 5-Year-Old Daughter Allegedly Sexually Assaulted Her and Left Suicide Note
- WATCH: The Real Housewives of New York City's LuAnn de Lesseps Confronts Fiancé over Infidelity Rumors – 'How Could You Do This To Me?'
- WATCH: Find Out What It's Like to Fight with Bethenny Frankel Straight from One of Her RHONY Costars!
On Newsstands Now
The Final Five: America's Sweethearts!
People Top 5
LAST UPDATE: Tuesday February 10, 2015 01:10PM EST
PEOPLE Top 5 are the most-viewed stories on the site over the past three days, updated every 60 minutes
- February 06, 1989
- Vol. 31
- No. 5
Dangerous Liaisons' Violated Beauty, Uma Thurman, 18, Is a Little Risky Herself
Obviously, this Uma may be young, but she's pretty outspoken and self-assured. "She's 18 going on 40. She's far more worldly than I am," says Liaisons director Stephen Frears. "There is nothing twitchy teenager-ish about her," agrees co-star Malkovich. "I haven't met anyone like her at that age. Her intelligence and poise stand out. But there's something else. She's more than a little haunted."
Blame it on a spirited childhood. Her father, Robert, a religion professor at Columbia University, named her Uma after a goddess in Hindu mythology. The Thurmans—her father, mother Nena and three brothers—led an itinerant life. Uma was born in Boston, where her father was a grad student at Harvard. Sabbaticals were spent in Europe and India. Says Thurman: "I didn't completely belong at any of the schools I went to. I had a funny name, a funny face, big nose, and people told me I was more ugly than pretty." Uma developed a tough, independent personality. At 15, she left Woodstock, N.Y., where her family was living, to pursue acting in Manhattan. She supported herself by modeling and washing dishes.
No more. Next she'll be seen as Venus in Terry Gilliam's comedy The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, due out in March. Her offscreen romances may not be as heated as her onscreen romps. Does she have a beau? "What? Do you think I'm a lesbian?" she barks. Pressed, she says, "I'm a neuter. I'm not dating anybody now. I like my jade plant, Henry." Any other questions?
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Raumfeld 2Raumfeld review
Superb speakers offer proper hi-fi sound quality, but it isn't quite as slick as a Sonos system
Sonos has had the high-end multiroom audio space to itself for the past few years, but now there's a new challenger in town: small German manufacturer, Raumfeld. Its wireless audio system (available in two and three-room packages, hence the awkward 2Raumfeld name) tackles Sonos' expensive bundles head-on, but does it in a rather different way.
The speakers are the key differentiator in a Raumfeld system. Rather than building the wireless technology into a discrete amplifier or streaming module as Sonos does, Raumfeld builds it all directly into one of the speakers, along with a 30W per channel amplifier. The other speaker is passive, powered by the amp via a single length of standard speaker cable.
All you need to complete the picture is the Raumfeld Base, and the Controller - an angular slab of plastic complete with 4.25in, 280 x 476 capacitive touchscreen - and you have yourself a beautifully minimalist system. The design is pure Bauhaus and looks stunning.
Setting up the system is as simple as it is minimalist, and the process compares well with Sonos systems we've tested. All you need to do is switch on all the components, wire the left and right speakers together with the supplied speaker cable, and run through the setup routine on the controller. This creates a self-contained 802.11g wireless network centred on the Raumfeld Base, and all that remains is to transfer your music to the Base's 160GB internal hard disk via the Ethernet port at the rear.
The Raumfeld system isn't just about single-point streaming, however - it can also hook into your existing network and stream music stored on UPnP-equipped NAS devices and connected computers via its second Ethernet socket. Using the same connection, it has access to digital radio via the RadioTime network, Last.fm and the Napster online music services, and a nice bonus is that a year's subscription to the latter worth £60 is provided free.
Twin USB sockets on the rear panel of the Base allow you to add further external storage. And on the rear of the speakers, a stereo phono line-in allows you to connect any hi-fi source, and also stream that to other Raumfeld components around your network.
Also included with the base level system on review, is a Connector. Used to include an existing hi-fi system in the Raumfeld network, this has a pair of stereo phono plugs, electrical and optical S/PDIF for output, plus inputs for streaming from that stereo system across the network.
|Display type
|Colour touchscreen LCD
|Screen size
|480 x 272
Audio format support
|MP3 support
|WMA support
|AAC support
|OGG support
|FLAC support
|WAV support
|ASF support
Ports and communications
|Remote control?
|UPnP media server?
|802.11b support
|802.11g support
|Ethernet interface
|Wired adapter speed
|RCA (phono) outputs
|Optical S/PDIF audio output ports
|Electrical S/PDIF audio ports


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Melissa Jaffer appeared as a guest on the Guy Nobel radio show on April 1, 1996.
Melissa Jaffer's want for meditative prayer led her to become a nun, one of the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament, before returning to acting.
When asked if her character Noranti on Farscape was a drug "pusher", Melissa defended her, saying, "Noranti is a doctor, Utu means doctor. I am Utu Noranti Pralatong. Noranti only ever suggests drugs for the relief of pain or suffering."
The interest of Melissa Jaffer in science fiction started when she played an alien in the 1992 film The Distant Home.
Melissa Jaffer is currently represented by BLA Management, located in Woolloomoooloo, Australia.
Melissa Jaffer was one of the few cast members of Farscape who did special signed trading cards of her character, Noranti, for the show's season 4 trading card set.
Melissa played the role of Vi on stage at the Sydney Theatre Company's production of Harbour.
Melissa Jaffer was the only main cast member of Farscape who appeared in The Peacekeeper Wars to not appear at the Dragon Con convention in Atlanta, Georgia.
The character of Noranti on Farscape is modeled upon Melissa Jaffer herself.
Melissa Jaffer's makeup on Farscape took about two hours to apply and about one hour to remove.
Melissa Jaffer worked as a hair stylist for the 1982 movie Heatwave.
In 1976, Melissa Jaffer won an AFI Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in Caddie.
Melissa Jaffer: (Regarding a character from her film "My Mother Frank") She's like lots of nuns who taught me in that she's always teaching a lesson and means well, but she has no idea how aggressive she is and she crashes in and says what she thinks, relentlessly telling the truth motivated by a genuine deep love for Frank.
Melissa Jaffer: (Regarding her character onFarscape) She lives entirely for the present moment. The past is sleeping in the memory bank, the future does not exist.
Melissa Jaffer: I only ever take a role if I like the script and believe that I am right for the role.
Melissa Jaffer: We all have this unseen eye which we use to recall things, to foresee things, to imagine things and so on.
Melissa Jaffer: My life is deeply rooted in Body and Spirit. I have been passionate about the marriage of these two elements all my life.
Melissa Jaffer: (Regarding the true nature of the food her character Noranti is seen cooking on Farscape) The ingredients in Noranti's cooking are predominately of Asian influence and all edible. The Farscape props department goes to great lengths to ensure the safety and comfort of the actor at all times. Indeed, some of it is quite tasty!
Melissa Jaffer: (Regarding playing science fiction creatures) As an actor born with a lively imagination, my mind, in its passionate search for truth, has always been open to all possibilities.
User Score: 44
User Score: 10


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04 November 2007
It wasn't all work on my trip to Microsoft last week.
Actually, it was a great opportunity to catch up with various folks from Windows Live, Virtual Earth, Photosynth and ASP.NET.
I think Mix 08 is going to be pretty exciting …
Copyright © 20005 - 2015
Rob Blackwell. All rights reserved. email@example.com Last Updated 26 Oct 2015


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Wednesday Oct. 8, 2008
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- The International Olympic Committee
will retest all doping samples from the Beijing Games to check for
traces of a new blood-boosting drug.
The IOC says the samples are being sent to the doping lab in
Lausanne, Switzerland. IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau says the samples will be tested specifically for CERA, an advanced version of the endurance-enhancing hormone EPO.
The IOC conducted more than 5,000 drug tests during the Beijing
Games. Wednesday's decision to reopen the samples was taken after
French officials detected CERA during retesting of samples from the
Tour de France.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


text:
I Don't Know
- Height: 30m
- Ascents: 1
Route History:
- There is no known route history.
Located in Great Wall Area approx:
Long/Lat: 138.620090,-31.610119
Route Grade Citations
|Community registered grade
|Pocket RockGUIDE: Mt Geryon and The Acropolis and New Climbs
Route quality
Overall quality score: 33%
Lead Styles
Comments keywords
Learn about creating circuits.
Activity Configure
Check out what is happening on I Don't Know (note there is an unresolved system issue where ascents logged before 2010 are not displayed in the stream below). If you just want to see beta then click on view ascents with beta.


text:
Special Patrol Group (RUC)
|Royal Ulster Constabulary
|Agency overview
|1 June 1922
|Preceding agency
|Royal Irish Constabulary
|4 November 2001
|Superseding agency
|Police Service of Northern Ireland
|Legal personality
|Governmental: Government agency
|Jurisdictional structure
|National agency
|Northern Ireland, UK
|Map of Royal Ulster Constabulary's jurisdiction.
|13,843 km²
|General nature
|Operational structure
The Special Patrol Group (SPG) of the Royal Ulster Constabulary was a tactical reserve of 150 officers which had the role: to provide backup in civil commotion, to police sensitive areas at times of confrontation, and to show the flag in a disciplined and impressive way to those who wished to break the peace. [1] Formerly known as the Police Reserve Force, the name was changed to Special Patrol Group in 1970 to avoid confusion between the Reserve Force and the newly formed RUC Reserve.[2]
Each SPG had 30 members. These were the first policemen trained by the British Army in the use of riot equipment and tactics which it had developed since starting Operation Banner in Northern Ireland in 1969.[3] They were given upgraded weaponry and dispersed in units across the region.[4]
The SPG was the closest thing the RUC had to a dedicated anti-paramilitary unit in the earlier days of the Troubles.[5] The British Army disagreed with its use, believing that army units were better disposed to carry out this role.[5]
Bronze section[edit]
Within the SPG another unit was formed and given the name "Bronze section". Apparently modelled on the Mobile Reaction Force created by Brigadier (later general) Frank Kitson.[5] Whilst, like its army counterpart, not enjoying any notable successes, the formation of Bronze section led directly to the creation of the police "E" units within Special Branch the best known of which is the E4A department which dealt with humint and E4B which specialised in operations such as ambushes etc.[5] Bronze section itself was replaced by the secretive Special Support Unit (SSU) which was trained by the SAS and intended for direct action against IRA ASU's using humint supplied by E4A.[5]
Two SPG members, John Weir and Billy McCaughey were arrested in 1979 and confessed to paramilitary activities. In June 1980, they were convicted of the murder of Catholic chemist William Strathearn in April 1977.
Weir accused his colleagues of participation in 11 killings. An independent inquiry in 2006 found that in 7 out of 8 cases, ballistics tests corroborated his claims, linking the killings to weapons carried by RUC officers.[6] The Barron report found that a group of loyalist paramilitaries, RUC officers, and British military personnel operating out of a farm in Glenanne was responsible for up to 31 killings.[7] This group become known as the Glenanne gang.
The SPG was temporarily restricted from patrolling republican areas such as Crossmaglen and Silverbridge. However, some of the restrictions were lifted after Weir and another RUC officer met Harold McCusker, the local Unionist MP and asked for them to be lifted.[8][9] According to Toby Harnden, "the years when McCaughey and the RUC Special Patrol Group were at large represented the only period when loyalist paramilitaries made forays deep into South Armagh, a republican stronghold".[10]
The Armagh SPG was stood down and the remainder of the Special Patrol Group was renamed as the Divisional Mobile Support Unit (DMSU) which had already existed as to supplement the numbers in the SPG.[3]
The first SPG casualty was Const Robert Buckley from Portadown, married with two young daughters. Killed 26 February 1971 when gunmen opened fire from the cover of a rioting mob at Alliance Avenue, Belfast [3][3][11] An SPG constable, Noel Davies, was the first policeman killed by the INLA as he made to drive away a recovered stolen vehicle.[12]
- Doherty, Richard. The Thin Green Line The History of the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC, Pen & Sword, 2004, ISBN 1-84415-058-5
- Ellison, Graham; Smyth, Jim. The Crowned Harp: Policing Northern Ireland. Pluto Press, London, 2000, ISBN 978-0-7453-1393-1.
- Harnden, Toby. Bandit Country:The IRA and South Armagh . Hodder Paperbacks; New Ed edition, 6 July 2000, ISBN 0340717378
- David R Orr (2013), "RUC Spearhead: The RUC Reserve Force 1950-1970" Redcoat Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9538367-4-1.
- ^ Doherty p58
- ^ Doherty p93
- ^ a b c d Doherty p134
- ^ Ellison:Smyth p105
- ^ a b c d e "CAIN: Issues: Policing: Graham Ellison and Jim Smyth (2000) 'The Crowned Harp: Policing Northern Ireland'". Cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
- ^ "SeeingRed [John Weir's Affadavit]". Seeingred.com. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
- ^ Barron throws light on a little shock of horrors, Susan McKay, Sunday Tribune, 14 December 2003.
- ^ "RUC men's secret war with the IRA". Sunday Times. Liam Clarke. 7 March 1999.
- ^ The Barron Report and South Armagh
- ^ Harnden p139
- ^ Doherty p98
- ^ Doherty p119


text:
Ideal for carrying and organizing extension cords, power tools, buckets, sporting goods and hundreds of other uses. Features an ergonomic soft grip handle for comfort and lightweight aluminum construction for durability.
28-4467 - 100 Ft Yellow Jacket 14/3 Contractor Grade Cord
Woods® Yellow Jacket® Contractor Grade Extension Cord - 100 ft
28-4468 - 25 Ft Yellow Jacket 12/3 Contractor Grade Cord
Woods® Yellow Jacket® Contractor Grade Extension Cord - 25 ft
22-11455 - 12 Volt Max 1/4" Compact Screwdriver Kit
Compact, lightweight design fits into tight areas but is powerful enough to handle many applications. Belt hook included for portability making it handy on the go. 3 LED lights provide visibility without shadows. One handed loading 1/4" hex accepts 1" bit tips.
73-1135 - 100W Multi Range 60V/5A DC Power Supply
This compact switching power supply offers the unique capability of providing 100W output in any volt/amp combination within its 60V and 5A limits. By providing a wide range of power combinations, fewer supplies are required, saving money and valuable bench spac...
106-007 - 350 Multi-Purpose Work Center
A versatile combination designed for holding larger, heavier objects. Very stable. An exceptional choice for any workbench!
I have used MCM for many years and would give high recommendation for getting the job done right.


text:
Join world leaders in the field to discuss the latest research results and advances related to the use of natural refrigerants in different types of systems and application areas at the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) conference.
The annual meeting will provide delegates with business sessions and opportunities for industry networking.
Participants from around the world will gather for three days to discuss technical, policy, financing, and program issues related to increasing energy efficiency in industry.
Grand Rapids (Mich.) Community College will be offering IGSHPA Accredited Heat Pump Installer Training.
Join ASHE in for education, networking, and advancement for health care facility management professionals.
Taught by Dan Holohan, the all-technical seminar will make you familiar with the many types of old steam heating systems and what goes wrong with them.
The conference, hosted by Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA), is developed by and for affiliated local association executives,
The Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) Assembly of Committees (AOC) brings together top executives to learn, network, and collaborate.
APPA's 100th anniversary celebration will culminate with its 100-year conference. The APPA 2014 conference sessions will offer diverse perspectives from today's leading facilities officers, campus administrators, college presidents, students, and education experts who are shaping and influencing the direction of education and the campus facilities environment.
For authors wishing to present papers at any of the conferences, the abstract submission deadline is Dec. 20, 2013.
Copyright ©2016. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.
Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing


text:
Brooklyn Bonnie Jean Massin - May 11, 2011
To Brock and Susan Massin of Lincoln on Wednesday, May 4, 2011, at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Lincoln, a daughter, Brooklyn Bonnie Jean, weighing seven pounds, 10 ounces. She was welcomed home by a brother, Christian, and a sister, Addison.
Paternal grandparents are Rocky and Chris Massin of St. Joe, MO. Maternal grandparents are Ed and Deb Krone of Gothenburg.
Great-grandparents include Bonnie Bauman and Audrey Krone, both of Gothenburg, and Ross and Carolyn Klein of North Platte.
Latest Headlines
- New hospital safety ratings now available to the public
- Mentees, others share value of TeamMates
- Playground equipment tops Lake Helen priority
- School administrators reorganize with one less
- Turning to the next page
- The Crossing gets special use permit
- Hotline brings sellers and buyers together


text:
- Report: #1050425
Report - Rebuttal - Arbitrate
Complaint Review: Champion Mortgage
Champion MortgagePO Box 40724 Lansing, Michigan USA
Champion Mortgage New Attempt this time tryed to change locks Lansing Michigan
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Added to my first post about this Fradulant co. This morning 5/13/2013 the " management company for them sent someone out to Change the locks on the house. He left when I answered the door, it was 8 in the morning. At no time was I contacted to be told this was going to happen and again there was a fake add on in my statement for a supposed inspection fee. This company is a total Ripoff.
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 05/13/2013 05:53 AM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Champion-Mortgage/Lansing-Michigan-48901-7924/Champion-Mortgage-New-Attempt-this-time-tryed-to-change-locks-Lansing-Michigan-1050425. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.
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I was just wondering how many of you as FTM's had their baby 2 weeks early from their EDD...my DH has a short 5 day window where he will be home, and if the baby comes at that time he won't have to leave again for a while, but he the baby DOESN'T come, then he will have to leave for the next 3 1/2 weeks...so just wondering what the chances are he would be early, and at what point they consider him FULL TERM, since someone told me at 38weeks he would be considered full term? DH is military and the only way they will let him be home if its not in that 5 day window is if I have a scheduled C-section, which I really don't want.
Baby 2 weeks early?
Most say 37 weeks is full term.
My son was 4 days late.
Baby will come when they are ready. Sorry but it is true.
any where between 37 weeks and 42 weeks your baby could be full term but not every ones child is the same. Some babies lungs develop fully by 37 weeks while others do not. My girlfriend induced labor and her baby's lungs were not fully developed!
>>Brianna �[Military W&M]�
I was induced at 37 weeks and 6 days due to swelling and my son is perfectly fine. He was 7lbs 6oz so they said it's a good thing they induced me because he would have been over 9lbs. Apparently I can't push out a bigger baby or so they tell me.
Wife to Corey, Mom to Braden Lee 7/25/08, and Emberly Grace due 10/13/10!!!
oh and my son came 6 weeks early so he doesn't count lol
>>Brianna �[Military W&M]�
My first was born at 38 weeks exactly, but from what I have heard most FTM go at least a few days past their due date. This isn't based on anything scientific, just what I have experienced with most of my friends, co-workers, etc. I DID NOT do anything to induce labor with my son, I went into labor naturally.
I'm not sure, but I do know of two friends who last year their hubby's were leaving for training and their doctors were nice enough to induce them a week or so early in order for their DH's to be there.. the baby's were fully developed and completely fine, so maybe if you wanted, your doctor would give you that option?
If my DH had to leave and my baby was doing fine, I'd consider it. I'm thinking about mentioning it now just so that we can make sure all family can be here for the birth since we live 2,400 miles away.
~Married to *C* since 5/26/2007 ~�*C* arrived on 10/05/10 weighing 8lbs 10oz!
TTC #2 since 08/2014
Mandy...I think I will talk to DH about it and talk to the doctor next time we go in. I want to make sure the baby is safe and everything, but I also really want my DH there. Not sure about induction though, because I am at a military hospital and the only other girl I know who had a baby at a military hospital said that they would not induce her until 9 days overdue. Can't hurt to ask I guess.
My baby was 20 days early. He was 6lbs 14 oz. He was alittle sleepy for the first few weeks and I had some difficulty with BF but otherwise no complications.
My first was born 2 days after his due date. They tried to induce me a week earlier because they said he was at least 10 pounds but after 12 hours on pitocin nothing happened. So i went home and waited for him to come on his own. He was 8 lbs 4 oz. My 2nd was born at exactly 37 weeks. I woke up and discovered my water had broken. I went in to the hospital and was given pitocin to start contractions. My daughter was born 10 hours later at 7 lbs 1 oz.
They will not induce you at 38 weeks, trust me. Military hospitals are less lenient than civilian ones. I was 3cm dialated and having regular contractions and was refused to be admitted until I had my 38 week appointment and my midwife felt sorry for me and stripped my membranes and made sure the doc on call was someone she knew. Otherwise the rest of them would have let me bake my son forever. He was 9lbs 4 oz by the way haha. I was trying to get to DH's basic training graduation, and my son was born 5 days before it. Otherwise I would never in a million years have been so pushy about having him and would have let nature take its course.
Catherine, mom to Gabriel 07/26/02, Thomas 03/26/04 and Zoey 09/22/10
Learn more
Look how far your child has come.
Review your child's growth milestones.
Read about 5 years 9 months : Week 3.
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text:
Are You Missing Out on Clients Because You Don't Accept Credit Cards?
By 2017, it is estimated that 95% of non-cash transactions will be paid by credit or debit cards. That leaves just a mere 5% paid through traditional paper check payments. Many attorneys are beginning to recognize if they don't accept credit cards already, they may need to reconsider in order to facilitate collection of fees in the very near future.


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I have the mission 3 w/ hammerschmidt, but I was thinking of going to a new crankset w/ a front derailleur. The issue at hand seems to be a missing part. I can't figure how the cable runs under the bottom bracket. Thanks in advance.
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text:
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Eight Alabama state senators gave one-thousand dollars each to the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort Thursday. They challenged other legislators in Alabama and across the
country to dig into their own pockets to help victims of the storm.
Senator Gerald Dial of Lineville says the eight Democratic senators want the 35 members of the Senate to donate $1,000 each to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund -- an effort to raise funds for the Katrina recovery being led by former presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush. House members are being asked to donate 250 dollars each. Dial says If every state legislator in the country made a similar donation, it would raise almost 3.4 million dollars for hurricane relief. The other senators making donations on Thursday were: Jeff Enfinger of Huntsville, Jim Preuitt of Talladega, Jimmy Holley of Elba, Tom Butler of Huntsville, Larry Means of Attalla, Bobby Singleton of Greensboro, Zeb Little and Gerald Dial.


text:
- Report: #965600
Report - Rebuttal - Arbitrate
Complaint Review: ICS, Independent Contractor's Service
ICS, Independent Contractor's ServicePO Box 480309 Delray Beach, Florida United States of America
ICS, Independent Contractor's Service Magazine Subscription--paid in full, no delivery Delray Beach , Florida
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This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 11/06/2012 03:15 PM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/ICS-Independent-Contractors-Service/Delray-Beach-Florida-33448/ICS-Independent-Contractors-Service-Magazine-Subscription-paid-in-full-no-delivery-D-965600. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.
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NewsUp one level
Bika Lab Systems News
Bika LIMS 1.2 "ISO 17025 Ready" available for download
Bika LIMS 1.2 press release
Bika Fire Assay model published
Version 1 of Bika's Fire Assay design has been published as html wireframe model and discussion invited towards refining it
BBK accredited using Bika Wine 1.2
Bika anchor client, BBK has been accredited as ISO 17025 conformant by SANAS, the South African National Accreditation System. To comply with the standard's LIMS requisites, BBK relies on Bika Wine 1.2 from Bika Lab Systems
Bika Wine 1.2 'Accreditation Ready' in production
Bika Wine 1.2 has been taken into production at BBK. To be released on GPL
Bika Interlab - LIMS for proficiency testing
Development has started on new product Bika Interlab, a web based inter-laboratory comparison LIMS, for the South African Wine Laboratory Association (SAWLA) to be implemented June 2006
Bika LIMS 1.2 - ISO ready
Both Bika's generic and Wine LIMS branches will be ISO 17025 ready in next release Version 1.2 going into testing 1 May and production 1 June. It will be released under the general public lisense soon after
Bika · CMS based - the next generation
Web enabled LIMS has been around for nearly a decade now. Bika represents the next generation - CMS based LIMS
Bika Installation Manual published
The Bika Installation Manuals have been updated and integrated in the Help Centre
Bika LSP and integrated CMS live at Cape Winelab
Bika's LIMS Service (LSP) has been taken into production at Cape Winelab in Stellenbosch, featuring Bika Wine 1.1.3 and integrated content management. Capewinelab.com is hosted on Bika's Plone servers in Cape Town
Get Bika RSS updates
Rich Site Summary has been enabled at www.bikalabs.com to allow visitors to subscribe to news feeds and be notified through their browsers or aggregators of updates
Bika Help & Software Centres launched
In further effort to enhance usability at bikalabs.com, Plone's Help Centre has been implemented as easy-to-use central repository for all Bika support and documentation needs. Latest Bika product release information is made available on Software Centre
Bika 1.1 Demo now on-line
The Bika on-line demonstration installation has been upgraded to version 1.1.3 and Plone 2.1.2
Bika 1.1 Manuals available
The Bika 1.1 Laboratory Manual and Schema Editor How To released
Bika LIMS 1.1 released
Improved performance and easy customisation for all sample types
Bika in Portuguese
A Bika Portuguese translation has been completed by Nuno R. Pinhão of the Physics & Nuclear Protection and Safety Departments at the Portuguese Nuclear and Technological Institute and the dictionary made available for download
Bika in Spanish
After publication of the 'How to' translate Bika at the Bika SourceForge community site, a Spanish translation has been completed by Luis Diego Espinoza of the Laboratorio Nacional de Materiales y Modelos Estructurales - Universidad de Costa Rica and the dictionary made available for download
Bika partnered in India by EFENP Automation
Bika Lab Systems proudly announces appointment of first international partner, EFENP Automation, providing solutions in the Indian food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors from Bangalore. EFENP services now include Bika Marketing and Sales, LIMS Analysis & Design, Bika Implementations and After-Sales Support
South Africa sees value in application hosting
SA companies are beginning to see business value in hosted software applications, despite local bandwidth costs and constraints, says a Pretoria-based application service provider (ASP).
Bika Newsletter · December 2005
On-line copy of our quarterly newsletter distributed Friday 9 December 2005. If you wish to receive future copies by e-mail, please send a request to email@example.com
Bika LSP at Cape Winelab
Cape Winelab, Stellenbosch, SA, will be evaluating the Bika Wine LSP with an option to take it into production early 2006. The trial installation is scheduled to go live 1 December