In our lightfastness testing of metal-complex solvent dye solutions, we see some samples that fade a lot and are very easy to qualify as “fast-fading” dyes. (See our previous post for more information on metal-complex solvent dyes and why we’re using them; as well as previous posts that detail our sample set and sample preparation) By visually comparing the test samples to the controls we can see those differences, even after as little as 24 hours in our exposure test-chamber. However, we need to quantify those changes in order to describe them in a more objective way than can be done based on human sight alone. Doing this requires some means for reproducibly recording color and calculating change. But how do we do that?
Answer: we use an instrument called a spectrophotometer to make color measurements, and then use principles of colorimetry to interpret them.
Background: A Note on the Difference Between Color and Colorants
Before describing the workings of a spectrophotometer and the principles of colorimetry, a refresher on the two different types of color theories – the way humans see color – is necessary.
1. Subtractive color theoryThis is the type of color-mixing we are taught in grade school: whereby colorants are mixed and then absorb light from certain regions of the visible spectrum, thereby subtracting them from the reflectance spectrum that is perceived by the human eye. Under this theory the primary colors are red, blue, and yellow, and secondary colors are orange, green, and violet. For example, a blue colorant (which absorbs light in the red, orange, and yellow parts of the spectrum) mixed with a yellow colorant (which absorbs light in the red, blue, and violet parts of the spectrum) will produce green (the remaining color in the reflectance spectrum). In modern color printing, cyan, magenta, and yellow are the usual primaries. Black is produced when all colors are present because all wavelengths are absorbed.
2. Additive color theory –This is the type of color perception that we encounter on computer- and television monitors when projected light is combined to make different colors. In additive color theory, visible wavelengths in the spectrum of light are mixed and/or added together, received by the eye, and interpreted by the brain as color. The additive primary colors are red, green, and blue, roughly corresponding to cones in the eye that are sensitive to long, medium, and short wavelengths, respectively. Secondary colors are yellow, cyan, and magenta. For example, a mixture of equal parts red (~650 nm) and green (~510 nm) light stimulates the cones of the eye in a manner that is similar to pure spectral yellow (~570 nm), so the eye does not detect the difference between the two conditions. White light is created when red, green, and blue are all present because they encompass the entire visible spectrum.
Spectrophotometry: Making Color Measurements
Spectrophotometry is a “noninvasive technique that measures the amount of light reflected or transmitted by a material at individual wavelengths of the spectrum” (Johnston-Feller, 2001: p. 1). A spectrophotometer is the instrument that’s used to measure light reflected, or transmitted, by a material. To do this, it relies on a light source, a monochromator that isolates and directs the wavelengths, and a photodetector that detects reflected or transmitted radiation. The measurement is unit-less, or may be given in percent absorbance or transmittance. The reflectance or transmission spectrum of the material describes how a spectrum of light incident on it will be modified upon reflection from, or transmission through, it. That modified spectrum is what we observe and interpret as the material’s color under that particular light.
For this project, we purchased an X-Rite Ci62 handheld spectrophotometer with a tungsten light source, a grating monochromator, and a photodetector consisting of blue-enhanced silicon photodiodes. With this instrument we measure successive reflectance spectra from each sample at intervals during our light exposures. When a sample is measured, the amount of light reflected at each wavelength in the visible spectrum is recorded and plotted along a curve that describes the reflectance of that dye sample. By comparing successive measurements, we can see the spectral-curve change as the dye fades or discolors over time.
Then, from each reflectance spectrum we can calculate parameters that uniquely describe the color we will observe under a particular light and the changes in that perceived color from our exposure test. That translation of light spectrum into color description is done with the tools of colorimetry, the scientific description of color.
Colorimetry: Interpreting Color
Colorimetry is a branch of color science that studies precisely what we need for our research: it is the quantification of color, or, as Ruth Johnston-Feller describes, a way to “describe a color unambiguously and uniquely to distinguish it from all other colors” (Ibid.; p. 15). Most colorimetric systems characterize color in three dimensions because they describe human visual perception, which is a function of the three types of photoreceptors in our eyes. A variety of these systems exist, but most of the descriptors for perceived color are derived from the CIE color system administered by the International Commission on Illumination since 1931, which is itself based on additive color mixture and the visual response to various wavelengths of light that reach our eyes.
CIE 1931 RGB and CIE 1931 XYZ Color Spaces
The 1931 RGB and 1931 XYZ color spaces created by the CIE were the first numerical models linking the wavelength regions of the visible spectrum to human color vision. The CIE system defines a series of standard illuminants (sources) and a standard observer (mathematical representations of average human color vision), since the perception of color requires both a light source to illuminate a material and the human visual response to the light reflected (or transmitted) by that subject. A standard illuminant is characterized in terms of the spectral power distribution that distinguishes a specific light source, including the one most widely used: 6500K daylight (abbreviated D65). A standard observer is defined by a set of three mathematical color-matching functions that describe the average spectral sensitivity of the human eye at each wavelength in the visible spectrum, as derived from experimentally determined response curves for a particular field of view (such as 10 degrees, a wide field suited for viewing rough textured surfaces like fur samples). These color-matching functions are dependent on the selection of a set of three additive primary colors (for example, monochromatic red, green, and blue wavelengths, as in CIE RGB, described below) that together with a reference white point (such as D65) define a unique color space containing the gamut of all possible combinations of those primary color components. The functions are used to convert the reflectance spectrum measured with the spectrophotometer into tristimulus values, which are the relative amounts of each primary color needed to match the color sample measured.
For example, the CIE RGB color space is defined by red (700 nm), green (546.1 nm), and blue (435.8 nm) primary colors, and contains the gamut of colors that can be produced from RGB tristimulus values. A mathematically related color space, CIE XYZ, is derived from CIE RGB by means of a simple conversion, but it is useful because it makes for easier calculations than the RGB space. [For further reading on CIE XYZ, check out other on-line resources.]
CIE 1976 (L*a*b*) Color Space
There have been many developments in color science since 1931, in attempts to describe perceived color in a more straightforward and intuitive way, leading to the development of Lab color space by Richard S. Hunter, in 1945, and later the CIE 1976 (L*a*b*) color space. CIE L*a*b* color space is a mathematical derivative of the CIE XYZ color space, in which the L* parameter captures lightness, and the a* and b* parameters capture the other color dimensions. L* is proportionally related to tristimulus Y, the luminance, with darkest black at 0, and brightest white at 100. Red/green colors are represented along the a* axis, with neutral gray at 0, green at the negative values, and red at positive values. The yellow/blue colors are represented along the b* axis, with neutral gray at 0, blue at negative values, and yellow at positive values.
L*a*b* color is widely used in many industries because it offers a number of advantages over previous RGB and XYZ systems. It more closely approximates the nonlinear response of human vision, and includes a much wider color gamut than its predecessors. And it is more perceptually uniform, meaning that uniform changes in color values produce uniform changes in perceived color. Because of these capabilities, we are using L*a*b* values to describe the appearance of dye samples in our project.
Related to the L*a*b* color system is the color space CIE L*c*h°. In this system the a* and b* parameters are replaced by parameters describing chroma (or relative saturation) and hue. Unlike the L*a*b* system, which uses three-dimensional xyz coordinates to locate a point in color space, L*c*h° uses a polar coordinate system, with h° denoting a hue angle, and c* a radial distance from a central point. This color space is conceptually related to the familiar Munsell notation of color in terms of its hue, value, and chroma. It is also the color description necessary for calculating color differences with certain formulas.Putting It All Together
Like many spectrophotometers available today, the X-Rite Ci62 that we are using for this project has integrated software that can quickly execute the complex mathematical calculations needed to translate the measured reflectance spectrum into various colorimetric systems. From each reflectance spectrum, it computes and outputs tristimulus XYZ, L*a*b*, and L*c*h° values based on the standard illuminant (D65) and standard observer (10°) that we have selected. We then use those values to consider the overall amount of perceived color change, as well as changes in individual parameters, such as lightness.
We will go into greater depth about how we are interpreting our color measurements and tracking color changes in the up-coming Part 2 of this blog post.
Billmeyer, Jr., Fred W., and Max Saltzman. 1981. Principles of Color Technology. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Christie, R.M. 2001. Colour Chemistry. UK: Royal Society of Chemistry.
Johnston-Feller, Ruth. 2001. Tools for Conservation: Color Science in the Examination of Museum Objects, Nondestructive Procedures. Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute. Available online.
Whitmore, Paul M., Editor. 2002. Contributions to Conservation Science: A Collection of Robert Feller’s Published Studies on Artists’ Paints, Paper, and Varnishes. Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University Press.


The Industrial Revolution changed forever both the way goods are made and the lives of the workers who make them. In the early years, workers did not like the changes. They challenged the factory owners, sometimes violently destroying the machinery that was transforming their lives. These protesters were called Luddites. Listen to learn about how these protestors tried to keep their world from changing.
Story Length: 4:58
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The glaciers in the European Alps started melting rapidly in the 1860s. But that didn’t correspond with the warming of the European climate at the end of what is known as the Little Ice Age. That warming didn’t occur until the 1910s. To understand the causes of the glacial melt, scientists considered the possible impact of the Industrial Revolution, which began in the 1840s. The recent melting in the Rocky Mountains of America could be caused by the same reasons. Listen to this story to learn about the theory that dust and soot are contributing to how quickly glaciers are melting.
Some basic economic norms shape how most retail stores operate. These include: attract as many potential shoppers as possible; make it easy for them to find what they need; and make it appealing for them to return often so that they will spend money at the store. But some members-only warehouse stores break all those rules--and succeed anyway. Listen to find out why these stores do it differently, and why, despite breaking the rules of retail, they thrive.
How people have made artificial light over the past 4,000 years reflects the history of economic growth in the world. One economist has explored the cost of light, starting in ancient Babylonian times and ending in the 1990s. He discovered that for most of the past four millennia, light was very expensive. Then, in the past 200 years, scientific advances caused the cost of light to drop precipitously, and economies grew with a speed and intensity unknown before. Listen to hear how light became cheap and how its cost helps show how economic growth happens.
Venezuela has one of the world’s largest oil reserves, but its economy has collapsed, and its government isn’t doing too well either. The country is beset by shortages—of everything. Listen to this story to find out how a country rich in natural resources has descended from wealth and democracy into financial and political chaos.
These levels of listening complexity can help teachers choose stories for their students. The levels do not relate to the content of the story, but to the complexity of the vocabulary, sentence structure and language in the audio story.
NOTE: Listenwise stories are intended for students in grades 5-12 and for English learners with intermediate language skills or higher.
These stories are easier to understand and are a good starting point for everyone.
These stories have an average language challenge for students and can be scaffolded for English learners.
These stories have challenging vocabulary and complex language structure.


When it comes to the environment, there are a lot of lists out there — 50 things you can do, 100 things you can do, 1000 things you can do — and while it's all useful, we decided to investigate to see what, out of all the things you can do in your home, makes the most difference overall. The focus is climate change, since that's something we need to solve as quickly as possible. It turns out that 38% of the carbon emissions in the U.S. come directly from households. While politicians debate the best policies to create, we can take action right away.
Last fall, researchers writing for Environment Magazine calculated how households could potentially save 58% of the energy they use by taking 17 actions. If you're reading Re-Nest, the good news is you've probably already done many of these things. If you live in a city and don't use a car, you're ahead of the game. For people that do drive, the steps are simple: carpool, get frequent tuneups, combine errand trips, drive slower, and maintain the correct tire pressure. To really make a difference, get a fuel-efficient car and low-resistance tires.
Inside your house or apartment, switch to compact fluorescent bulbs (or LEDs), keep the thermostat no higher than 68 degrees (if it's cold out) or no lower than 78 degrees (if it's hot). Wash your clothes with cold water. If you own your home, you can install weatherproofing and attic insulation and ventilation. The article has a few more tips for homeowners who want to go even farther.
Almost all of these steps are easy to take without radically changing your lifestyle. If you know someone who wants to make a difference but doesn't know where to start, pass this on!
Read the full article here.
(Image: Paris Apartment)


Height: To 15 feet, but usually little more than a shrub
Lifespan: Very short lived; rarely more than 25 years
Fall Foliage: Very attractive bright red; can be quite eye-catching as you drive along forested roads
Range: The eastern United States from New England to Texas
Typical Habitat: Sunny, open habitats, such as old fields, road sides and other types of disturbed areas
The Winged Sumac: An Often-Overlooked Sumac
The winged sumac is a common shrub or small tree that – like many other sumacs — grows in old fields, edge habitats, and other places where many other members of the local flora assemblages have trouble thriving. This means it often turns up alongside roads and overgrown commercial lots, in addition to wild areas.
But while the staghorn (Rhus typhina) and smooth sumacs (Rhus glabra) get most of the attention, the winged sumac is rarely as celebrated. This is unfortunate, as the species is quite attractive. Its leaves are quite glossy all year long (hence the alternative common name for the species: shiny sumac), and they become incredibly vibrant red during the fall.
Winged Sumac Tree Identification: Tips & Tricks
The winged sumac is pretty similar looking to other sumacs, meaning that you’ll have to begin by distinguishing it from elderberries (Sambucus canadensis) and the tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima).
But the fruit often make identification easy enough, when present. Habitat will also provide clues, as winged sumacs generally like to grow in open, sunny habitats, often in areas with poor soil.
Distinguishing this particular species from other sumacs is pretty easy too, as you can simply look for the tree’s namesake “wings” on the leaves and stems.
The Winged Sumac: Additional Information
Don’t stop learning about this interesting little species now! Check out some of these resources to broaden your winged sumac horizons even further:
- North Carolina State Extension: All of the primary information you’d expect, but this resource also provides a handy quick-reference chart and numerous attractive photographs.
- Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: A comprehensive guide to the species, perhaps most notable for the assortment of additional resource links it provides.
- The Morton Arboretum: Most of the basic information interested readers will want, in an easy to digest form.


What science knows and what school does
Motivation research has not only analyzed the behavior of adults, but of school age and university students as well, with identical results. Time and again the research demonstrates that it is intrinsic motivation which truly allows young people to create, problem solve and learn deeply. The research finds that extrinsic motivation, such as gold stars or grades are actually obstacles to creativity.
Recently, the ISP parent group, Edge in Education, viewed and discussed the Dan Pink TED Talk, The Puzzle of Motivation.
ISP Parent Group “Edge in Education”
In his talk, Pink convincingly demonstrates the true nature of how we are motivated to work creatively and solve problems.
In his book Drive, Pink discusses an early research study, which involved pre-school children who were divided into three groups. One group, “the expected award group” of children were asked if they wanted to draw for a special award certificate (extrinsic motivation). The second group, “the unexpected award group” were asked if they wanted to draw and were given an award when they finished drawing. The third group “the no award group” were asked if they wished to draw, but were not promised an award, nor presented with an award at the end of the drawing session (intrinsic motivation). When researchers returned weeks later to observe the three groups of children, they discovered that the children in the expected award group had far less interest in drawing, as compared to the other two groups, who had not been offered an award to draw. Furthermore, the unexpected award group, who had been given the award at the end of the session, did not exhibit any greater interest in drawing, as compared to the group which had not received an award at all. The researchers concluded, (and this type of experiment has been replicated over and over again with different age groups), that if a child (or adult) is asked to solve a difficult problem or task, with the promise of a reward, they only act to receive the award and typically do not display further interest in the task. It turns out that the promise of rewards or the threat of punishment dampens a child’s interest in deeper learning or further exploration.
Due to the consistent and controversial results of the research into motivation, in 1999 a group of researchers “reanalyzed nearly three decades of studies” and concluded the following:
Careful consideration of reward effects reported in 128 experiments lead to the conclusion that tangible rewards tend to have a substantially negative effect on intrinsic motivation…When institutions–families, schools, businesses, and athletic teams, for example–focus on the short-term and opt for controlling people’s behavior,” they do considerable long-term damage. “A Meta-Analytic Review of Experiments Examining the Effects of Extrinsic Rewards on Intrinsic Motivation,” Psychological Bulletin 125, no. 6. (cited in Drive)
The research convincingly establishes that it is intrinsic motivation which drives us to go deeper into solving a problem, to learn and to explore further. This has great implications for educators. During our parent Edge in Education meeting, we explored some of the implications of the research findings and raised questions about how educators and parents can apply what we know about motivation in school or at home.
Punished by Rewards
Many of the ideas and research presented in the book Drive, were first addressed in 1993 in the ground-breaking book by Alfie Kohen, Punish by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise and Other Bribes. In it, Kohen makes the compelling case, based on numerous research studies, that rewards, like punishment, stunt creativity and are an obstacle to sustained problem solving.
One such study, also cited in by Pink, was conducted as part of a New York University doctoral dissertation, involving 128 undergraduates. Each student was given the same materials: matches, thumbtacks, and the boxes they came in. The problem students were asked to solve, was how to attach the candle to the wall without dripping wax on the table.
The Candle Problem
The result was that those students who were offered a significant financial reward “took nearly 50% longer to solve the problem,” as compared to those students who were not offered an incentive. Again these results point to the power of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation.
The Candle Problem Solved
The abundant research about motivation and how we learn, compels educators to rethink traditional practices in favor of facilitating intrinsically motivating learning in our schools. We understand, for example, that using grades as a reward or punishment (extrinsic motivation) does the opposite of promoting deep, sustained learning.
The research leads us to find ways to provide students with choice in their learning, to support students in exploring their own interests and passions, and to discover and draw on what intrinsically motivates them to create and problem solve. Otherwise, we perpetuate a mismatch between what science knows and what school does.


National Action Committee on the Status of Women
The National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC) is a Canadian feminist activist organization. NAC was founded in 1971 as a pressure group to lobby for the implementation of the 167 recommendations made in the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada's 1970 report on matters such as day care, birth control, maternity leave, family law, education and pensions. Initiated by the Committee for the Equality of Women in Canada which was founded in 1966 and successfully lobbied for the creation of the Royal Commission, NAC was founded as CEWC's successor on January 30, 1971 with the purpose of being for the exchange of information about the activities and plans for action of the women's participating groups" and to "spearhead a drive for the implementation of those recommendations of the Royal Commission Report on the Status of Women which are aimed at equality of opportunity for women.
A coalition of 22 groups when it originated under the name of the National Ad Hoc Committee on the Status of Women, NAC eventually grew into the largest national feminist organization with a total of 700 groups claiming affiliation. Its mandate grew beyond the implementation of the Royal Commission's recommendations to include issues such as poverty, racism, same-sex rights and violence against women.
NAC received much of its funding from the federal government until cuts by the Brian Mulroney government in the wake of NAC's opposition to the Charlottetown Accord forced the organization to lay off its staff and cut its budget. The cuts continued during the Jean Chrétien government and, in 1998, the group largely ceased operations for a time after Status of Women Canada, a department of the federal government, ceased granting money for day-to-day operations. NAC soon accumulated debts in excess of $100,000 and was forced to close some of its regional offices. Although NAC's activities were greatly reduced through the 1990s into the 21st century. NAC has revived and renewed itself in recent years and is primarily funded largely through donations and membership fees.
NAC Chairpersons and Presidents
- Laura Sabia (1971-1974)
- Grace Hartman (1974-1975)
- Lorna Marsden (1975-1977)
- Kay Macpherson (1977-1979)
- Lynn McDonald (1979-1981)
- Jean Wood (1981-1982)
- Doris Anderson (1982-1984)
- Chaviva Hošek (1984-1986)
- Louise Dulude (1986-1988)
- Lynn Kaye (1988-1990)
- Judy Rebick (1990-1993)
- Sunera Thobani (1993-1996)
- Joan Grant-Cummings (1996-1999)
- Terri Brown (2000-2002)
- Sungee John (2003-2005, interim)
- Dolly Williams (2006- )


We all know the power of a good story, but did you know that a good story is a powerful painkiller?
Helen Mullen, a librarian, tells the story about visiting the pediatric wards of hospitals and telling stories to the children, many of whom were in severe pain. While the children were listening to the stories, they did not feel the pain.
Madeleine L’Engle shares in her book Walking on Water:
I remember my elder granddaughter’s ninth summer, most of which was spent on the pediatric floor of a city hospital after she had been hit by a truck on her way home from swimming. She could not be given any painkillers because of the head injury, and she was in great pain.
As she returned to full consciousness, she said to her parents and grandparents, “I love you,” and then, “Read to me.” So we read to her, hour on hour. When our voices would tire and we would slow down, we would immediately hear, “Keep on reading,” and so we kept on.
Story was a painkiller, quite literally. When her brain was focused on story, then it was not on the pain center. Story was a more effective painkiller than any chemical medication.


An electrician can train to become a journeyman, master electrician, independent electrical contractor, residential electrician, or commercial electrician. Quality electrician training in an accredited institution can equip these experts with the right skills for the job. Here are the training requirements for becoming an electrician:
High School Diploma or the Equivalent
Aspiring electricians should earn a high school diploma or a general education development (GED) certificate. Subjects that offer valuable skills for this career are mathematics, physics, and English. Understanding algebra, geometry, and trigonometry can help electricians analyze circuit diagrams and calculate voltage, current, and resistance, boosting safety.
Physics principles such as electrical theory, electromagnetism, and the traits of current and voltage help electricians troubleshoot and fix electrical issues. Knowledge of written and spoken English helps electricians read and understand technical documents and communicate effectively with clients.
Vocational or Technical Training
Enrolling in a vocational school that offers electrician training programs provides aspiring electricians with the knowledge and expertise needed for the job. The curriculum typically covers electrical theory, motor control, circuitry, electrical codes and regulations, safety practices, reading and decoding blueprints, wiring tactics, and electrical troubleshooting. Students learn about first aid, asbestos awareness, fall protection, confined spaces, aerial lift, and drug-free workplace safety. Students can also pursue coursework in specific areas, such as residential, commercial, or industrial electrical systems.
Technical schools offer comprehensive hands-on training to equip aspiring electrical specialists with practical experience. Qualified instructors teach students and help them gain expertise in wiring, maintaining, installing, and repairing electrical units and systems. This training lasts for a few months to a couple of years, depending on the depth of the curriculum and the level of certification or diploma being pursued. Some vocational training programs prepare students for upcoming electrician licensing exams.
An apprenticeship combines classroom learning and on-the-job training. Students can apply for apprenticeships in trade schools, unions, and non-union organizations. When applying to become an apprentice, candidates can complete aptitude tests that evaluate their mathematical and comprehension skills. Some institutions may ask students to take drug tests and complete job interviews.
An apprenticeship covers topics like using special devices to test and check electrical systems for anomalies. Students also learn to do electrical work compliant with national, state, and local regulations. Throughout the apprenticeship, apprentices benefit from the mentorship and guidance of qualified electricians. Mentors provide valuable insights, share their expertise, and offer support as apprentices develop their proficiency and knowledge in the trade.
Licensing and Certification
After aspiring electricians complete their education and apprenticeship, they can obtain a license or certification, depending on their location. Licensing requirements vary by state and city, so students can research the specific requirements for the area where they intend to work. A key step in acquiring licensure and certification is to pass an exam that assesses knowledge of electrical concepts, local electrical codes, and safety procedures.
You must meet specific requirements to obtain a license from trade unions, government licensing boards, or professional associations. The requisites include completing an approved training program, accumulating a certain number of work hours, passing an electrical exam, and submitting an application with the appropriate licensing authority. Candidates should also offer proof that they’ve completed an apprenticeship to obtain their license and certification. Various organizations offer certifications that ratify specific skills or specializations within the electrical trade, such as a certified electrician or electrical technician certification.
Once licensed, electricians are required to pursue continuing education to maintain their licensure. Continuing education courses help electricians stay updated with the latest technologies, code revisions, safety practices, and industry innovations. These courses contribute to professional development and boost electrician knowledge and skills to perform work safely and effectively.
Electricians can look for BICSI-certified training centers that offer continuing education to enhance their expertise and knowledge. With such programs, electricians can work on more complex and specialized projects that can propel their careers. These experts can also learn to work with advanced electrical systems, smart technologies, and energy-efficient solutions.
Comprehensive Electrician Training
A career as an electrician requires a GED or high school diploma, vocational training, apprenticeship, licensure, and certification. Continuing education allows electricians to maintain their professional standing and stay updated with dynamic industry practices. Get comprehensive electrician training to prepare you for the competitive job market. The right training center offers an inclusive curriculum to help you gain in-depth electrical industry knowledge. Contact a vocational school or training center today to learn more about becoming an electrician.


Flying over Nevada on a clear day is one of the great joys of being an economic geologist. The Basin and Range country has abundant structural features, intrusions, deformed bedding and pits and plenty to keep one occupied. Every so often the occasional grid drilling pattern, hinting of what will or what just didn’t quite comes into view. The driver is of course gold, with Nevada dominating US gold production claiming 78% of the total. The perceptive might wonder why then is it called the “Silver State” – the answer is the Comstock Lode.
Like all great deposits, the Comstock Lode did many things; it broke Nevada away from Utah, it pushed mining technology ahead by leaps and bounds, it was critical in kick-starting the study of hydrothermal alteration, it brought the first elevator to Nevada, and it made a few people very, very rich. Not the original discoverers, they died of gangrene and starvation1, not the second discoverers, they sold out for fractions of the true value. As the archetype for all that came after it, (the term “Bonanza” entered the English language as a result of the Comstock Lode), the people who made the money were the promoters, whiskey sellers, lawyers, and assorted hangers-on that colonize every new discovery. Shares in what we would consider to be “moose pasture” were selling for $40 a share in 1860 – about $1100 each in today’s dollars. The first whiskey salesman on scene, did a cool $200 ($5,600)2 his first night. The lawyers did even better, with some 265 lawsuits in the first 10 years of operation and over $10,000,000 ($281,000,000) spent on legal dueling.
Behind all this was the biggest silver discovery since the Spanish knocked off the Inca and claimed Potosi. Assays of 3,000 oz Silver per tonne where not uncommon. When the Ophir Company shipped its first ore to San Francisco, it made $112,000 ($3,150,000) gross on 38 tons for an average of $78,000 (2017 dollars) per ton. Later in 1873, mining really got going when The Consolidated Virginia and California mines hit “The Big Bonanza” 1000 feet below the surface. It produced $116,500,000 ($3.3 Billion) of gold and silver in 7 years, and was responsible for a quarter of the Lode’s total gold production and a third of the silver.
So what was it? It was is what is now known as a low-sulphidation epithermal deposit. It has the typical quartz-adularia+/- pyrite alteration with elements of high sulphidation alteration as shown by the presence of dickite, kaolinite, pyrophyllite, and diaspore. In 2003 Hudson3 proposed 4 broad zones grading from distal illitic-anhydrite to quartz-adularia with stockwork (vein systems) and massive quartz, to massive and stock work quartz with a sericitic phase coming in from the north. Pre-faulting reconstruction puts the ore bodies on roughly the same horizon, and with bases of massive calcite. This makes intuitive sense as, ore deposition was accomplished by “boiling” off of hydrothermal fluids and deposition of metals. Hudson suggested that unusual superposition of high sulphidation and low sulphidation was due to two distinct episodes occurring in close proximity in time and space. Interestingly the high sulphidation system was essentially barren and deposited only pyrite.
Structurally the area is in the Basin and Range, and that gave the district one of it’s most endearing characteristics. Each time the ore ran out, another ore body was discovered only deeper down. The deposit had been dismembered by normal faults and the ore bodies had been dropped relative to each other. The faults also played a critical role in exposing the upper levels of the Comstock Lode to the elements, exposing and letting a few veins bleed gold into the local creeks, and exposing the silver to become enriched by supergene processes (near surface weathering and leaching). More fundamentally, ore was deposited in bends and open spaces created by the faulting during the mineral process. The process of faulting can be considered like a pump, whereby faulting would open space that would be filled with ore-bearing fluids that would crystallize, and the fault would crack and brecciate (break-apart) the zone again allowing more fluid and ore to arrive and be deposited .
The lithology is a Miocene aged (16-14 million years ago) felsic volcanic pile, emplaced on an older Mesozoic sequence. The Alta, Sutro and Kate Peak, formations are the mine sequence, with the Kate Peak apparently being the best candidate for the mineralizer, while the Alta being the best host. The formations are hornblende-pyroxene andesites with associated sub volcanic intrusions, lahars, breccias, ashfall tuffs, and synvolcanic sediments.
Records are hard to come by but it 1969 it was been estimated that the Comstock produced around 8,256,000 oz gold and 192,000,000 oz Silver, with minor copper and lead as a byproduct. This should be taken as a minimum especially due to poor record keeping in the early years. Also, much of the silver was lost to poor milling and recovery technology. This is still enough to rank it in the top 10 epithermal districts globally.
The contributions to science of exploration and mining are significant. In 1864 Baron Von Richtofen applied the term “Propylite” to the local rocks, in 1882 George Becker, made the connection that “Propylite” was hydrothermally altered andesite, kickstarting the study of hydrothermal alteration. Before Comstock, the previous methods of milling silver involved mules, mercury and sunlight- the “Washoe method” replaced the mules and sunlight with steam, iron and noise and upped the consumption of mercury, to speed up the process from 5-6 weeks to 6 hours. Philip Deidesheimer invented squareset timbering after being inspired by honeybees and saved innumerable lives from cave-ins in the soft ground. The Sutro Tunnel was a 4 mile long engineering marvel that drained billions of gallons of water from the mines, and continues to function to this day.
Perhaps the most significant impacts it were on the mentality of the people who saw it. After Comstock, the focus of exploration turned from placer to hardrock exploration, with prospectors fanning out across the Western US and then all of North America. It’s no accident that the rich strikes of Copper in Arizona, Silver in British Columbia and Silver and Gold Colorado occurred after the Comstock. It also legitimized mining to a whole section of the investing public, wild though the markets were. Capital was needed and some people were getting fabulously wealthy. According to Cathro4 in 1863 during the height of the Comstock boom, some 2933 companies incorporated in California, 84% being gold and silver miners. From 1850 to 1859 the total was 432 of all types. There was also a boom in stock exchanges with California and Nevada opening 21 stock exchanges between 1863 and 1865, and Oregon throwing another 4 for good measure.
All that wealth, had strategic consequences as well. At the height of the civil war the Union needed the money and the risk of the Confederates having it, was too much. So it was decided that Nevada should become a territory. Prior to organization as a territory, what became Nevada was part of Utah, and administered from Salt Lake City. By 1860 with the flood of miners, the good Mormons wrote off “Carson” as Nevada was then known as “A worthless unaccountable scab, which cannot find a place in any class of honest vocabulary” in Lord’s immortal words. They later regretted when Nevada ate the western half of Utah up to the 113th meridian in 1866.
Finally, like all great deposits the final chapter has not been written. A deposit so famous will continue to attract its share of dreamers, and mavericks. After lying dormant for many years, Comstock Mining has moved in with some new ideas, and the accumulated knowledge of century and a half of study. They have drilled off a Measured and Indicated Resource containing about 1,820,000 oz gold and 17,100,000 oz silver with an average grade of about 1 gram per ton for each5. Will they find the next big bonanza? Who knows but if history is any guide the final chapter is far from being written.
Sources and Further Reading
- Lord, Eliot. Comstock mining and miners. Vol. 4. US Government Printing Office, 1883. Great read on the early history of the Comstock.
- 1860 Dollars (2017 Dollars) calculated here.
- Hudson, Donald M. “Epithermal alteration and mineralization in the Comstock district, Nevada” Economic Geology 98.2 (2003): 367-385.
- Cathro, R. J. “The Comstock Lode, Nevada (Part 3)” CIM Magazine – Canadian Institute of Mining Metallurgy and Petroleum 3.4 (2008): 74.
- Comstock Mining Technical Reports (Website)
- Silver ingot photo from silveringot.blogspot.ca


(Apr 2, 2019)
Beethoven in the modern way…
If there is one symphony that is more famous than any other, this may be it. I’m linking to only the 4th movement. Movement’s are a bit like episodes, or different books in a serious that make a story. There are four movements in all, and this one actually starts at the end of the 3rd. You have to hear the whole symphony to understand.
I believe all of us – not just a few of us – get bored after a minute or two of anything new unless we instantly feel a connection that grabs our attention. At first, listening to a symphony may not seem like that, because symphonies are usually somewhere between 30 minutes long and an hour. Some are even longer. How does anyone listen to a symphony for the first time in a world where everything is packaged in short bursts?
The answer is probably that each important thing is about 3 minutes long. In this last movement the main section is about 3 minutes long. By that time you either know you are not interested, or you are. Then it repeats. If you liked it the first time, you probably want to hear it again. Why not? What follows is not new. It is the same idea, developed (actually called the development section), and that’s always when things get highly interesting, more dramatic, more intense. It’s like listening to what you now know a third time, but it’s different enough to catch your interest. That also lasts around 3 minutes. Then the first 3 minute section repeats again with small changes, which recaps the whole thing. And this is called the recapitulation. Finally there is an ending, called the “coda”, and of course you have to have an ending.
Try to start out first with the last movement. The first movement, if you get to it, is one of the most famous pieces of music ever written. Then after this I’ll give a link to the whole symphony. Usually people start out with one movement, then try another, and finally, if they like the feeling, the story feels more complete listening to “the whole story”.
As a contrast to the video above, what is below is a very different sound. Now the instruments are as close as humanly possible to what Beethoven wrote for.
These are the instruments Beethoven wrote for…
John Eliot Gardiner
He is a modern conductor who has worked his entire life to champion the music of Beethoven’s time (and earlier and a bit later) in the way it would have been heard in Beethoven’s time, a sound that had totally been forgotten. That sound was lost.
Did players play as well back then as the players in this amazing orchestra?
Today’s virtuosos players on all instruments perform with a technical perfection that was not known a couple centuries ago, and that includes modern players who specialize on these old instruments. It is questionable whether modern artists play more musically on their own, but when assembled under the greatest musical minds of our time so that we hear modern recordings or get to hear them live, we hear something that is frighteningly good.
This recording is deceptive, and perhaps a bit a bit unfair, because these older instruments are not as powerful as modern instruments. Live they are not as loud. They do not have the same overpowering intensity – although the flip side is that they are quieter.
BUT: when recorded, that difference disappears, and suddenly there is often a rawness and perhaps an element of danger that you will never hear from a modern orchestra. The reason? Because these older instruments are more difficult to play. For instance, hitting the right pitches on these old horns is about 10 times more difficult. They had a rougher sound, and in the right places it is edgier, harsher, more primitive sounding. When notes are missed, it sounds downright embarrassing, but when it all works, the effect is unbelievably exciting.
For me it suits Beethoven, who was untamed, unapologetic, unyielding, and a man whose emotions were in every way bigger than life. This is by far the best performance I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard many.
I often wonder why Beethoven, right now, is not even more famous and more popular than he is, because in this modern era, when people insist on being heard and valued for being themselves, for “doing their own thing”, Beethoven is the very embodiment of that individualism. I often think of him as the “first rock star”.


The Belted Kingfisher
by Dante Beretta, April 17, 2018
The bird sits perched on a branch at shore-side waiting patiently for the right moment. All of a sudden it dives rapidly head first into the lake coming up with a fish for its dinner. This bird is the Belted Kingfisher, a common summer visitor to Long Lake.
The Belted Kingfisher is commonly found in summer throughout the U.S. wherever there are suitable bodies of water for its habitat. Like many other birds (and people) on Long Lake, these are ‘snowbirds’, moving down south for the winter. I have seen them many times in Florida and the Caribbean, especially in lagoons.
A mid sized bird with a large head and a distinctive mohawk crest, the Belted Kingfisher is easy to identify. Sometimes you can only see the profile but this is sufficient to tell it is a kingfisher.
In good light, you can see the slate blue coloration of its back and breast band. In many of species of birds, males are brighter than females (think Cardinals, Hummingbirds, Orioles). In an an apparent reversal, the female Belted Kingfisher is showier than the male, as she sports a rust color band on the belly.
Often when I’m kayaking at Long Lake, I hear the kingfisher's territorial call, a repetitive chattering. I don’t really understand bird guide books description of bird calls, but the kingfisher has such a distinctive call that you can quickly learn to recognize it.
Keep an eye and ear out for the Kingfisher on Long Lake this summer.
These 2 drawings of Kingfishers by Dante Baretta's can be seen in a larger size by clicking on them.
★ Note: Our Long Lake Area Association annual meeting is coming up on Saturday, June 30, 2018 at the Hubbard Community Center. Social time, refreshments & registration start at 9:30 AM with the business meeting starting at 10 AM. This year's speaker is Jason Durham, a well-known guide and sport fishing educator.


Demystify the Machine Sewing Needle with Some Factscomments (4) May 27th, 2008
So why did I pick needle parts and sizes as a topic? Would you believe that a needle of the wrong size or type can make or break your project? It can make that fantastic silk that you paid $25 a yard for turn into a warped, crinkle-seamed mess or transform a tired, hand-me-down georgette into a work of art. A needle's penetration will determine how the fibers in the fabric are separated when the machine stitch takes place. This penetration is just the first step in the quick action of a stitch that results in a seam. So the quality of the resulting seam is determined when that needle goes through your fabric. So here is the shimmy about needle parts!
Anatomy of a Machine Sewing Needle
Shank: Starting at the top of the needle, you have the shank. This is the part of the needle that goes up into the shaft of your machine. The shank usually has a rounded, front part and a flat back part. This is a very easy way to tell if you're putting the needle in correctly. The flat side always goes towards the back of the machine. The needle size is usually etched into the shank.
Shaft: This is the part of the needle between the base of the shank and the point of the needle. It is also called the blade of the needle, and it's the part that will be doing most of the sewing work for you.
Groove: If you take your finger and run it down the blade/shaft of the needle, right before you come to the eye of the needle, you will reach a slight indentation called the groove. This is a place for the thread to lay into the needle. When we talk about different types of needles in a later post, this will be an important part of the needle to reference.
Scarf: This is the groove on one side of the shaft of the needle that allows the bobbin-case hook to connect with the top thread to form a stitch.
Eye: The most widely known part of the needle for sure. This little hole changes in size depending on the type/size of the needle. The eye is the place for the top thread to pass through in order to complete the top of the stitch.
Point: The point is the very tip of the needle. This part can change not only in size but also in sharpness, depending on the type of needle.
So now that we have the parts down, let's talk sizes.
You can find the size of the needle either etched into the side of the needle shaft or within the circle located on the needle's package.
Both U.S. and European sizes are printed on the needles; the U.S. size is listed first and the European size is listed after the "/." For example, 70/10 and 90/14 would designate U.S. needle sizes of 70 and 90, respectively, and a European size of 10 and 14, respectively. The lower the number of the needle size, the lighter and thinner the needle shaft.
Needle size is important as different sizes are used for different weights and types of fabrics. For example, a sheer organza will most likely require a smaller needle, such as a 70/10 or 75/11. Smaller needles will have a thin needle shaft that is perfect for penetrating lightweight fabrics without creating too large a stitch hole. Conversely, a dense, coarse boating canvas will need a large 110/18 or 120/19 size to get through such a thick fiber. If you used the 70/10 needle on the boating canvas, your needle would snap rather quickly, and if you used the 110/18 needle on your organza, you would find big penetration holes in your seam.
Needles are really a fascinating part of the sewing process, and sometimes, simply using the proper needle can make an enormous difference in the quality of your sewing. I would love to hear any questions that you may have, and I will do my best to answer as we make our way through the needle series!


Nikola Tesla's career is re-energized by cartoonist Matthew Inman
It took a cartoonist to re-energize interest in eccentric scientist Nikola Tesla. Matthew Inman recently posted a piece on The Oatmeal, his comic website, explaining "Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived," and it's inspired more than a million dollars in donations to turn one of his labs into a museum. Too bad that lab is on Long Island, not in Colorado Springs, even though Tesla conducted some of his most famous experiments in Colorado.
Tesla set up a lab in Colorado Springs in 1899, lauding the thin, electrically charged dry air there. He said he was going to try to send a signal from Pikes Peak to Paris, and he also tested his Tesla Coil there. In June 1900, Tesla published his Colorado Springs findings in an essay for Century Illustrated Magazine.
But there's not much to commemorate Tesla's time in Colorado Springs, other than a plaque in Memorial Park and a couple of artifacts in the Pioneers Museum. A museum dedicated to Tesla, which had housed photos, documents, artifacts and replicas closed in 1998.
J.W. McGinnis, who started the museum in 1986 and stepped down in 1997, says he saw his efforts go down the drain when the museum went bankrupt six months after he left the organization -- and the collection is missing. "Unbeknownst to me, there were a couple crooks in the outfit," McGinnis says. "They were stealing assets and took the place apart. I blame myself for not really following that. I had great trust in these people, but they were not trustworthy at all."
Tesla's Lab in Colorado Springs
After staying out of the gray for a decade, McGinnis recently resurrected the International Tesla Society, which now has chapters in Colorado Springs and Los Angeles. And next summer, he plans to hold a four-day conference in Tesla's honor that would focus on the same issues the inventor did more than a century ago, including the hunt for clean, unlimited energy.
And the Colorado Springs Science Center Project also wants to remember Tesla -- if it ever gets off the ground. "It's a project right now...more an idea than anything else. It's an effort to create a science center in the Pikes Peak Front Range region," says Steven Rothstein, the project's president. "A modernized version of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. It's a $50 million to $60 million vision right now."
If that vision becomes a reality, it will honor Tesla and his work in Colorado Springs. But it will also approach the subject with caution, Rothstein notes, since Tesla, his research and his followers are "a fringe kind of thing."
Adds Rothstein, "We're very interested in honoring that heritage, and rolling that heritage into whatever program we do if we can, but we want to do it in a very scientific and legitimate manner, and really stay away with a ten-foot pole from all the eccentricities that go with it."
That doesn't worry McGinnis. "I was tempted to go mainstream," he says. "But if I should do that, I can no longer be the critic of the very people I'm saying are not going in the right direction. They're going in the direction of profit and not of making life a little better." And they're not doing anything fast enough, he adds: "I think we're just getting a spoonful of technology at a time, and we should be getting a flood."
Continue to read more about Nikoa Tesla and Matthew Inman.


In the classroom, along with her sixth-grade classmates, Yudeisy tells us that what she likes doing the most during the day is watching videos and tutorials on YouTube. She also likes to use her computer and cell phone because she can watch music videos, influencers' clips and interviews with her favorite artists. Yudeisy, along with her classmates in a public elementary school in Santo Domingo, is part of a four-month pilot to reinforce mathematics using software that adapts to the math level of each student.
To be disruptive in education, it is essential to exploit the curiosity of children and provide them with learning opportunities that are engaging and spark their interest. What if we take childhood curiosity as a starting point and channel it towards math learning, in a way that interests them?
This is precisely what the Dominican Republic is attempting. This Caribbean nation is not exempt from the global learning crisis described in the World Development Report 2018. The government is implementing an ambitious education reform aimed at investing more and better in human capital. Only 27 percent of third grade students achieve a satisfactory level of learning in mathematics, according to a diagnostic assessment by the Ministry of Education of the Dominican Republic (MINERD), while only 48 percent of Dominican children born today, once they grow up, will be as productive as they could if they had enjoyed complete education and full health (See Human Capital Index).
Given these challenges, MINERD, with the support of the World Bank and in cooperation with McGraw Hill, conducted a pilot study with 500 sixth-grade students in five public schools located in vulnerable areas of Santo Domingo. The goal was to use adaptive technology to evaluate students’ initial learning level to then walk them through math exercises in a dynamic, personalized way, based on artificial intelligence and what the student is ready to learn. Recent worldwide research has shown that teaching at the student's level is an effective way to increase learning; this has been tested in places such as India. The content of the software, called ALEKS, was adapted to the Dominican six grade math curriculum.
Regardless of the technological solutions that may exist, implementation capacity determines success. Therefore, the pilot also evaluated the Ministry's capacity to deploy this type of disruptive technology.
To ensure successful implementation, MINERD established strategic teams composed of school principals, mathematics and computer teachers, as well as teacher coordinators. The students used the platform as part of the extended school day, for at least 90 minutes per week in existing computer labs, and with one computer per student per session. Simultaneously, the math teacher was present in the laboratory to clarify the students' questions and concerns. This allowed teachers to identify which topics needed reinforcement in the classroom.
While the impact evaluation of this adaptive technology on learning will soon start, there are already some lessons learned:
- Software was interesting enough to encourage its active use by both teachers and students;
- The number of hours of the full-day program used for curricular activities increased; and
- Valuable information was collected regarding the differences in learning levels, even within the same classrooms, and the amount of information collected presents an opportunity for teacher to better cater to students’ learning gaps.
In the future, this information will inform the learning processes in the classroom and in the lab. Additionally, using existing resources, allowed for the integration of the new technologies with the existing educational processes at a low additional cost.
Participating teachers considered the adaptive technology strategies as an aid that improves their teaching and ability to meet the learning needs of all students, while ensuring that there is greater scope for learning among students in the classroom.
At the public education system level, the greatest challenges were internet connectivity and a limited number of computers per classroom. Direct coordination with the school principals helped minimize these bottlenecks during implementation, as they could maximize existing resources.
In terms of learning, after three months of implementation, students with the lowest performance at the beginning showed substantial improvements in knowledge verification, which correlated with how much time students spent using the software. This shows the importance of adjusting content to the level of students to reduce learning lags, and the potential of technology to increase learning outcomes, especially among students lagging behind their peers.
"I would like this type of software to be available for all my subjects," said Yudeisy's classmate who also acknowledged using the platform outside of school hours. The platform's administrators reported seeing students' use spike during weekends and evenings. The students reported better understanding in a range of different topics - basic arithmetic, carrying operations, etc. - because of effective explanations provided by the software complemented by regular teacher instructions that support learning.
The Dominican Republic pilot shows how adaptive technologies at the student level, generate great interest among 21st century students and present a potential path to supporting the learning and teaching of future generations.
*** The team supporting the Ministry included: Melissa Adelman, Rafael de Hoyos, and Anna Popova.


The pancreas is a large gland of which is located behind the stomach. It segregates digestive enzymes into the duodenum. Within the pancreas there are islets of langerhans, these secrete into the blood the hormones insulin/ glucagon, these are clusters of pancreatic cells, they sense blood sugar levels and release insulin to maintain a normal healthy balance. The pancreas is extremely important as it assists in the conversion of food into fuel for our bodily cells. Other than regulating our blood sugar levels it has an exocrine function in which helps with our digestion. The pancreas is a digestive organ in which secretes pantreatic liquid containing digestive enzymes, these assist in the absorption of all good nutrients and the process of digestion in the small intestine. Furthermore these enzymes assist in breaking down the proteins, carbohydrates and liquid substance called ‘chyme’, this is a combination of partly digested food and digestive secretions formed within the stomach and intestine during the process of digestion. If your pancreas was to fail, the liquid substance it contains would be released in the body potentially in a more severe case resulting in death.


This fall and winter, health experts expect two types of deadly viruses to be circulating widely in the US. But they don’t yet know what the extent of the damage will be when the two collide.
In the absence of a coherent federal response, the novel coronavirus continues to spread across the country, with two states still battling active outbreaks. Experts estimate it could continue to hospitalize thousands and kill hundreds of people a day into October, with more spikes in the coming months.
We’re also now staring down the annual flu season, which typically starts in October and burdens the health care system even in normal years. The 2018–2019 flu season in the US, for example, resulted in about half a million hospitalizations and more than 34,000 deaths. The previous season, deaths were double that. And communities of color, which have already been disproportionately impacted by Covid-19, historically have also been more likely to have chronic health conditions that put them at higher risk of influenza-related complications.
In the Southern Hemisphere this year, where the seasons are opposite those in the US, there has been substantially less fall and winter flu activity (possibly due to effective Covid-19 measures, which can also limit the spread of other respiratory viruses). But not all experts are counting on that same scenario in the US.
Yes, the preventative measures we’re taking for #COVID19 will have an impact on overall prevalence of influenza, but these preventative measures are not uniform across the US (eg <38 States have a mask mandate)— Dr. Syra Madad (@syramadad) September 17, 2020
So...get your flu shot!
Which means the months ahead could be bleak. “Based on all the current trends in the US, and our inability to control Covid-19 spread, especially in some parts of the country, I think we are in for a rough fall and winter,” Tony Moody, an immunologist at Duke University Medical Center and the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, told Vox in an email. “If we have Covid-19 on top of the usual seasonal rise in hospital admissions due to influenza and other illnesses, we could overwhelm the health care system.”
Stephen Morse, an epidemiologist at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, is also worried: “Adding another half million [flu] patients needing hospitalization, some requiring ICU beds, is a recipe for disaster. It could stretch our health care systems and personnel close to the breaking point.”
One problem is that because influenza and Covid-19 are both respiratory viruses, severe cases will be treated on much of the same limited medical equipment, like ventilators. And because they can have overlapping symptoms, figuring out whether someone has the flu or Covid-19 — or neither — will be tricky but also important.
Fortunately, we already have a safe vaccine for the flu, and nearly 200 million doses are slated to be available. Access and supply issues could arise in the pandemic, but in a more typical year, some research shows October may be the best time to get the flu vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that everyone 6 months and older (with very rare exceptions) should get a flu shot. And this year, it is more crucial than ever to get one, experts say, to reduce the spread of that virus and keep the health care system from being overtaxed with continued surges of Covid-19.
Yet the barriers will also be higher than usual. Many workplaces that typically offer flu shot clinics either aren’t open or are reducing their size. Mass vaccination events, like those at schools, community centers, and religious institutions, have also been scaled back this fall due to physical distancing precautions. Instead, many individuals will need to get their vaccine this year by visiting their doctor’s office or an urgent care clinic, pharmacy, or local health department.
It’s clear this year’s flu season in the midst of a pandemic promises to be especially fraught. Let’s take a closer look at why that is — and why flu shots even under difficult circumstances should be worth the effort.
Why this year’s flu season is extra unpredictable
Uncertainty looms over flu season every year, but this time there are even more unknowns than usual — from precisely which strains will be circulating to how the virus will interact with Covid-19 to whether our new pandemic habits will impact its spread. “This year, in particular, we don’t know what to expect,” says Stacey Schultz-Cherry, an influenza researcher at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
The influenza virus is a mercurial one. It mutates quickly, and multiple strains circulate at any given time, some more harmful than others. This is why each year’s flu shot hedges its bets by fending off a few different strains — and why you need to get a new flu shot every year.
This rapid evolution is also why it’s hard to develop a vaccine that is a precise match for the strains of flu that end up circulating. Vaccines take months to manufacture in such large quantities, so the process of designing the year’s vaccine begins way before flu season hits the US.
Early in the year, scientists start looking at what strains of influenza are circulating around the world, especially south of the equator, just before their full flu season starts. But this year, we are largely missing this crucial piece to the puzzle because the Southern Hemisphere has seen very little flu. According to a September CDC report, rates of positive influenza test results in South Africa, Chile, and Australia overall have been just a fraction of what they usually are (0.06 percent this year, compared with 13.7 percent for 2017-2019).
The paucity of flu cases in the Southern Hemisphere this year also means we haven’t been able to learn much about how Covid-19 interacts with influenza.
Some case reports from early in the pandemic, when the flu was still circulating in China over the winter, showed that some people did have simultaneous infections.
“We really don’t know what a co-infection would look like,” Schultz-Cherry says. But, she says, “I wouldn’t want to have the lungs that would find that out.” She does hypothesize that it would be “a more significant infection” — especially in those at a higher risk for severe Covid-19 and for severe flu illness (including older adults and people with heart disease or cancer).
Other researchers have proposed a model by which familiar seasonal viruses, like the flu, might actually out-compete the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in the body (due in part to its relatively slower replication rate), thus potentially making full-blown Covid-19 less likely. And a preliminary report from China proposes limited clinical evidence for this idea.
Still other small reports have documented similar outcomes for patients with co-infections of the flu and Covid-19 as those who only had Covid-19.
Moody notes that gathering more of this important data is going to take time. “We expect that we will see co-infections once influenza season gets underway. Unfortunately, we will probably be deep into influenza season before we can say if outcomes are worse if you have both,” he says. “For this reason, we are encouraging people to get their influenza vaccine this season — to blunt this risk.”
We also don’t know how much our restrictions to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2, such as mask-wearing and physical distancing, will impact the spread of influenza this year. Many experts attribute the decrease in flu cases in many Southern Hemisphere countries this year, including Chile, South Africa, and New Zealand, to these measures. But it’s not clear whether the US, which has had patchwork restrictions on things like mask-wearing, will see the same trend.
“I would be hesitant to compare ourselves to New Zealand,” says Schultz-Cherry, where there has been virtually no flu this winter — but also went months without a single local transmission of Covid-19. (The country spiked a high of 95 new daily Covid-19 cases at the end of March.)
James Quinn, an emergency medicine professor at the Stanford University Medical Center, says he is optimistic “that our overall flu and common cold virus season will be much better this year,” he wrote to Vox in an email. “I hope it will provide some relief to the surge in Covid-19 that we will undoubtedly see.”
No, the flu shot won’t give you the flu — and it could save a life
Each year, only about half of people in the US get a flu shot. One of the major blocks to higher uptake has been rampant misperceptions about it — and lack of understanding of how deadly the seasonal flu can be.
For example, contrary to popular belief, the flu shot cannot actually give you the flu.
But it does have its share of shortcomings. Researchers fully acknowledge that they cannot always predict which strains they will need to fend off months ahead of time. But, says, Schultz-Cherry, “even if one of the components [in the seasonal flu shot] isn’t a good match, you’re still protected against the other circulating strains.”
The flu shot also doesn’t always keep people from getting the flu (and of course doesn’t protect against other respiratory viruses). But it does help keep their cases milder, including reducing the risk of getting admitted to the ICU.
Schultz-Cherry is constantly reminding people of this. “People come up to me and argue all of the time” that they got a flu shot but still caught the flu that season. Her response: “Yeah, you got the flu. But you didn’t die.”
This plays out on the population level, too. For the 2018–2019 flu season, even with only about half of the US population getting a flu shot, it prevented about 4.4 million cases of the flu, 58,000 hospitalizations, and 3,500 deaths, according to a CDC analysis. And this year, many of those additional hospital beds will likely be needed to treat Covid-19 patients.
“We know flu vaccines aren’t perfect, but they do help, and can help blunt the onslaught,” Morse says. “Anything that helps reduce disease is a terrific return on the investment.”
The power of the flu shot to prevent illness is so well-documented that many more workplaces and education systems are mandating it this year. The entire University of California system, for example, announced that it is requiring all students and staff to get a flu shot by November 1. (Universities often already require students to have certain vaccinations, such as the one for measles, mumps, and rubella.) And some experts have argued that it is actually a smart business move to mandate flu vaccines for employees; the CDC estimates that the US loses about 17 million workdays a year due to people getting sick with the flu. And many health care systems already do this.
How overlapping Covid-19 and flu symptoms are going to make this season very confusing
As US Surgeon General Jerome Adams noted in a radio interview in August, “This is the most important flu season that we’ve faced, I’d say, in my lifetime.”
Beyond pushing hospitalization capacity, flu season also has the potential to overwhelm clinics and testing resources. “Both Covid-19 and the flu are contagious respiratory illnesses that present with similar symptoms,” Libby Richards, who teaches nursing at Purdue University and studies individual health behavior, wrote to Vox in an email.
It is important to know whether someone has Covid-19, influenza, or neither, because treatment can look very different, such as administering specific antiviral drugs for influenza. And “that puts even greater demand on our already-limited diagnostic testing capacity,” Morse says. “Anything you can do to reduce the need for further testing is good. The flu vaccine won’t prevent this, but hopefully it will reduce the problem by lowering flu incidence.”
A large part of the testing concern is that tests for influenza often rely on the same techniques and equipment as those we are now using for Covid-19. “Many of the lab tests for influenza use the same swabs and viral transport media that we use for SARS-CoV-2 testing,” Melissa Stockwell, division chief of child and adolescent health at Columbia University who also studies population and family health, wrote to Vox in an email.
Major national testing companies are still figuring out how they will balance testing for Covid-19 and influenza at the same time. “Laboratories continue to navigate supply constraints,” Julie Khani, president of the American Clinical Laboratory Association, whose members include Quest, LabCorp, and other major testing companies, said in an email statement to Vox. So “boosting vaccination rates for the flu is just one way communities can do their part to minimize the burden on the health system and the labs performing critical Covid-19 testing.”
The very real potential for co-infection with the flu (or a cold) and Covid-19 also makes testing important and diagnosis tricky. Things like a runny nose or sore throat aren’t all that common with Covid-19, but as the authors of one paper on the topic noted, that doesn’t mean you definitely don’t also have the coronavirus. They saw some patients with flu and Covid-19, who “may be a reminder to those who had [those symptoms] not to ignore the possibility of Covid-19 infection.” And they caution health care providers not to overlook this possibility either, “to make sure that we could provide the best and the most comprehensive treatment to the patients.”
In an effort to ease some of the testing burden ahead of flu season this year, the US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new PCR-based test that can look for Covid-19 and influenza in a single analysis. This could not only save on testing resources but also give patients and health care professionals the best information for how to proceed. So far, though, this test has only been made available to CDC-supported public health laboratories (and not the many private laboratory companies, such as Quest or LabCorp, that are currently processing the bulk of the country’s Covid-19 tests).
But experts are not hanging their hats on dual testing or reduced spread due to physical distancing this year. “As Covid-19 sweeps through the country, local health care systems have been stretched to capacity in unimaginable ways. It is hard to imagine how adding yearly influenza to that can be handled,” Stockwell says. “It is something we are very worried about. ... It is extremely important that people protect themselves in all ways that they can.”
Flu shots can only save lives if people can get them
Although the pandemic has disrupted global medical supply chains, experts say that we should have a steady supply of flu vaccines. Because companies have to start making the vaccine so early, and because they have to do it every year, “the supply chain for that process is secured well in advance” of when they get distributed, explains Moody, who also is a principal investigator at the Duke Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Centers.
But even with ample supply, the barriers to getting a flu shot will be higher this year. “Unfortunately, efforts to reduce the spread of Covid-19, such as stay-at-home orders, have led to a decreased use of preventive health care services, such as vaccines,” Richards says. And this sort of “routine vaccination, including the flu shot, will prevent not only illness but also reduces unnecessary medical visits and hospitalizations.”
Updated recommendations from the CDC for this year’s flu season, for example, remind clinicians to offer the flu shot during most visits with patients. Even if the person has already had one bout of the flu that season, the other strains in the vaccine could still help protect them against future infections.
Uptake of the flu shot will also probably take an additional hit because many people are accustomed to getting it at their workplaces or other large flu shot events. “The mass flu shot clinics that people may usually depend on may not be available or have decreased capacity due to the need for social distancing,” Stockwell notes.
Instead, this year, more people will need to make a concerted effort to get their flu shot by, for example, making an appointment with a doctor, nurse, or local health department, or going to a pharmacy or urgent care clinic (which, Richards says, are “taking proper precautions to reduce the risk of disease transmission”). For those worried about visiting a doctor’s office or pharmacy while the coronavirus is circulating, Richards says, “I think it is a greater risk to not get a flu shot.” Drive-through flu shot offerings could also be good options, especially for people looking to minimize their exposure, she notes.
Also, you might not want to get your seasonal flu shot just yet, according to experts at Harvard University. Some studies have shown the vaccine’s efficacy can start to fade after four to six months. It can be a tricky balancing act, as the CDC recommends getting a flu shot before the flu begins circulating in your community, which tends to happen as early as October. But if peak flu happens later in the winter, in January or February — or even March — an August shot’s power could already be waning by then. So it recommends October as a good target, especially for older adults, whose immune systems tend to be weaker. But if the question is between getting a flu shot in September or not getting one at all, the CDC advocates getting the shot early.
Even with the slightly higher barriers this year, Schultz-Cherry says, relatively speaking, “this is a pretty easy thing. It’s a vaccine-preventable disease. Get a vaccine.”
The annual flu shot is also an equity and health care access issue. Historically, many people of color have been less likely to have gotten a flu vaccine. Richards notes that about 48 percent of white adults have typically gotten a flu shot; that rate drops to about 39 percent for Black adults and 37 percent for Latinx adults. Which packs an additional punch because people of color have also been more likely to have had reduced access to health care and preexisting conditions that put them at higher risk of complications from the flu.
And the pandemic might well drive these flu vaccination rates lower. Richards notes that nonwhite individuals have been more likely to lose income and health insurance during the pandemic. “This will likely impact vaccination rates, as those who are uninsured are less likely to receive a flu shot.” (She points out, though, that local health departments and community clinics offer low-cost or free flu vaccines for people without insurance.)
If this trend continues, it could add to the devastation many communities of color have experienced in vastly higher rates of hospitalization and death from Covid-19.
“Many people of color have lost faith in the health system,” Lawrence Gostin, an expert on health law and policy at Georgetown Law and co-author of a JAMA letter on the collision of Covid-19 and influenza, wrote to Vox in an email. “Covid-19 amplified distrust and highlighted unconscionable health inequalities. It is likely to keep people away from vaccine clinics and doctors’ offices. This is a major health concern.”
The CDC has noted that it will focus more efforts to improve public health messaging around the flu shot this year, particularly in higher-risk and underserved groups. Stockwell recommends that “underscoring the importance of the flu vaccine as well as countering misperceptions about the flu — such as it ‘just being a bad cold’ — as well as the vaccine — such as that it ‘causes the flu’ — can be helpful.” It might also help lay the groundwork for crucial vaccine use in the future.
Public health messaging about the flu shot could be stronger
In recent years, the US has seen a downturn in people getting vaccines of all kinds. The country is even now teetering on the edge of losing its measles eradication status because of people not vaccinating their children. “We need to socialize the idea of vaccinations,” Adams said in his radio interview. “We’ve been backsliding in terms of vaccine confidence over the last several years.”
Many experts worry that these attitudes will carry over once a Covid-19 vaccine becomes available, leading to more unnecessary illness, disability, and death. Not only that, but many questions remain about our country’s preparedness to widely deploy an effective Covid-19 vaccine once one becomes available. Researchers estimate we will need at least 55 percent of people (and possibly up to 82 percent) to get the vaccine (or be otherwise immune) before we can keep the virus in check without major societal restrictions.
But reimagining flu vaccine distribution and communication this season could also help bolster uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine, Gostin and his co-author note in their JAMA letter. For one, they advocate for improving health messaging around flu shots, “focusing on public benefit and personal obligation,” they write.
They also propose the federal government commit to purchasing additional flu vaccine this year (between 194 million and 198 million doses are expected to be available this flu season, based on estimates from private manufacturers; although that is at least 7 million more than last year, it is not enough to vaccinate everyone who should get it).
This government commitment would help avoid shortages and allow more Americans to get a flu shot. But it would also set a precedent for it placing orders for a future Covid-19 vaccine. “At the very least,” they note, “all levels of government should develop evidence-based immunization plans, appealing to individual’s ethical responsibilities to protect themselves, health care workers, family members, and vulnerable populations.”
By developing more effective and efficient ways of getting the flu vaccine to more people — and by honing public health communication around it — we could find ourselves better prepared not only for more protection this fall and winter, but also for a future in which we could get the Covid-19 vaccine to more people, faster.
In the meantime, Stockwell notes, “as we are all awaiting a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, the influenza vaccine is something we have now that we know helps prevent influenza-related hospitalization and death.”
Katherine Harmon Courage is a freelance science journalist and author of Cultured and Octopus! Find her on Twitter at @KHCourage.


This study involved evaluating the feasibility of developing regional wastewater collection and treatment facilities to serve existing and future development in Calhoun County. Planning for regional wastewater collection and treatment facilities is important at this time for prevention of problems due to aging infrastructure, failing septic systems and to develop a plan for efficient sharing of resources. The population in the study area has increased in the past 10 years, and the population is projected to substantially increase over the next 20 years due to future developments along the coastal area.
The Calhoun County Regional Wastewater Study considered several regional solutions and focused on the areas of interest of the project participants. This report summarizes the findings of this study; information regarding the study area, projected population and wastewater flows, description of collection and treatment alternatives, wastewater reuse alternatives, proposed effluent standards, cost estimates and potential funding options are also included in this study.


The History of Dorchester High School
Dorchester (population 142) is located in the southwestern portion of Illinois in the south-central
portion of Macoupin County. The town is situated on County Highway 15 about one mile north of Illinois Route 138. Dorchester
is located about halfway between the towns of Gillespie and Bunker Hill.
A railroad was built in the area in 1855. A station was established where the town of Dorchester now sits
in 1861. Businesses began springing up near the depot and by 1866 the population began to grow. In addition
to the businesses two churches were established in the 1860s as well. Coal mining was an important part of the early
growth of Dorchester.
The first school in Dorchester was established in 1869. It appears that but for a few years Dorchester children
were limited to a the maximum of an 8th grade education. However, for at least a few years, the school
system offered courses that went beyond the eighth grade. During the years of 1910 through 1912 it is probable that
one to two years of high school courses were offered.
Dorchester High School Quick Facts
Year opened: 1910?
Year closed: 1912?
Consolidated to: Gillespie High School
Unknown if athletics offered


Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have proposed theoretical models to explain the normal magnetic properties in iron-based superconductors. This research was published in the December 21, 2008 issue of Nature Physics. Their research builds on earlier research they conducted proposing a theoretical model for superconductivity in newly discovered iron-based superconductors. That earlier research was published in Physical Review Letters.
To set the stage for the NRL researchers' recent accomplishments, looking back over the last 50 years, the following are three very important discoveries in terms of superconducting materials:
• high-Tc cuprates in 1988, with critical temperature up to 160 K,
• Magnesium diboride (MgB2) (2001, 39 K) and
• iron-based superconductors (2008, up to 57 K).
Superconductivity in cuprates (chemical compounds containing copper oxide) is believed to originate from electron-electron interaction, magnetic or Coulomb, and is understood as so-called d-wave symmetry superconductivity.
While in conventional BCS superconductors, the superconducting order parameter is the same for all electrons, as illustrated in the first panel, for d-wave it actually changes sign depending on the direction in which an electron moves (roughly, like cos2α). It is worth noting that in 20 years more than 100,000 papers have been published studying the high-Tc cuprates.
Many believe that MgB2 was the next milestone in the area of superconducting materials for the reason that the mechanism there is conventional, yet critical temperature is much higher that in any other conventional superconductor, and, at that time, was second only to cuprates. It appeared that MgB2 was the first example of a multigap superconductor, where the order parameter never changes sign, but is rather different for different groups of electrons. This fact was theoretically predicted at NRL and soon confirmed through experiments. While not elevating exactly to the level of excitement that cuprates produced, MgB2 resulted in 4,000 publications in seven years.
The most recent breakthrough in superconductivity was discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in iron-based material such as LaFeAsO, BaFe2As2, and others. With iron being a strongly magnetic species, these materials immediately promised a new paradigm in search of new superconductors. Indeed, it became increasingly clear that superconductivity here is very dissimilar to either cuprates or MgB2, and that string magnetism of iron likely plays a crucial role. Within a few months after the initial discovery, two NRL scientists, Dr. Igor Mazin and Dr. Michelle Johannes from the Materials Science and Technology Division, in collaboration with two researchers at Oak Ridge (both NRL alumni), proposed that a totally new superconducting state is realized in FeAs superconductors, which they dubbed "s±", where two groups of electrons sport not only different order parameters, but also different signs.
Soon experimental evidence began to accumulate in favor of the NRL researchers' proposal, and currently is generally considered as the most likely scenario. Their paper was posted on March 19, 2008, and published in Physical Review Letters on August 1, 2008, and by December 2008 had been cited in other articles and preprints more than a hundred times. These novel materials remain one of the hottest issues in physics; since their discovery, papers on this subject have been appearing at a steady rate of 2.5 per day. Should this rate remain active, the number of publications will surpass that on MgB2 in four years.
It appears though that superconductivity is not the only mystery of these so-called ferropnictides. In the undoped state, they demonstrate highly unusual magnetic properties with a very rare magnetic ordering pattern and highly unstable measurable magnitude of the magnetic moment. In fact, by small modifications of the materials they can be driven from practically nonmagnetic state to a strong magnetism comparable to that in pure iron. Most shockingly, the transition temperature barely changes. Some of the systems feature two transitions: a magnetic one, and a magnetically driven structural one. But, these occur counterintuitively; the structural transition occurs first and the magnetic one next. These and many other properties can hardly be explained by existing theories.
In the December 2008 Nature Physics article, Drs. Mazin and Johannes propose a highly unusual ground state. They suggest that the Fe ions are always magnetic in ferropnictides, but the observable magnetic moment is strongly reduced or entirely suppressed because of formation of antiferromagnetic domains whose boundaries are dynamic and strongly fluctuation. Observable long-range order appears when domains are large and their walls are pinned. Structural transition without observable long-range magnetism occurs when domain boundaries are predominantly antiphase ones so that the x/y symmetry is broken even though there is no long-range order. Superconducting composition where neither long-range magnetism nor structural distortions are observed corresponds to twin domains, which are small and their boundaries are dynamic. Should this conjecture be corroborated by the experiment, researchers will be entering an entirely new world of magnetic excitations (topological excitations of domain boundaries) that will most likely be very important, if not instrumental for the high-Tc superconductivity in ferropnictides.
Source: Naval Research Laboratory (news : web)
Explore further: Finding supports model on cause of DNA's right-handed double helix


<February 19, 1945 - March 16, 1945>
Iwo Jima, a barren volcanic island midway between Saipan and Japan, was desired by the Allied forces as an emergency base for B-29's flying to and from Japan. With its strategic location, Iwo Jima could serve as a fighter-escort station and repair location for damaged aircraft returning from Japan en route to Saipan. If the Allied forces took Iwo Jima – they would have the upper hand against the Japanese.
More than a 100,000 U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima only to find Japanese soldiers entrenched in caves or underground. After a month of heavy fighting, the island was secure while both sides suffered heavy losses in the process. Fifty MIS soldiers fought alongside the Marines. Their job was to flush the Japanese soldiers from the caves. One MIS soldier who was particularly courageous was Terry Takeshi Doi. Stripped to the waist and armed only with his helmet and a flashlight (to show he was unarmed), Doi entered cave after cave, urging the Japanese soldiers to surrender. Several of them, up to a dozen at a time crawled out from the caves. For his daring actions, Doi was awarded the Silver Star.
With the great efforts of everyone involved in the Iwo Jima campaign, a vital link in the U.S. chain of bomber bases was established.
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Every day, millions of computer users share files online. Whether it is music, games, or software, file-sharing can provide computer users with access to a wealth of information.
All that’s required to participate in Peer to Peer file sharing is the installation of the necessary file sharing software such as LimeWire, FrostWire, or Ares, that connects your computer to an informal network of other computers running file sharing software.
Millions of users could be connected to each other through this type of software at any one time. File sharing applications are often free, and easily accessible as a download on the Internet.
Sounds promising, right? Maybe; but make sure that you consider the trade-offs and the very real risks involved. The number of times I have been called upon to rescue a friend’s computer because of system damage caused by peer to peer downloading, has convinced me to give this form of file sharing, on public file-sharing networks, an automatic “thumbs down”.
Privacy: When you are connected to file-sharing programs, you may unintentionally allow others to copy confidential files you did not intend to share. So be sure to setup the file-sharing software very carefully. If you don’t check the proper settings when you install the software, you could allow access not just to the files you intend to share, but also to other information on your hard drive. Information such as your tax returns, email messages, medical records, photos, and other personal and financial documents.
It’s extremely important to be aware of the files that you place in, or download to, your shared folder. Don’t put information in your shared folder that you don’t want to share with others. Your shared folder is the folder that is shared automatically with others on peer to peer file sharing networks.
Copyright Issues: You may knowingly, or otherwise, download material that is protected by copyright laws and find yourself caught up in legal issues. Can this really happen? You bet.
Copyright infringement can result in significant monetary damages, fines, and even criminal penalties. Some statistics suggest as many as 70% of young people between the ages of 9 – 14, regularly download copyrighted digital music. I f you are a parent, you bear the ultimate responsibility for this illegal activity.
Adult Content: Again, if you are a parent you may not be aware that their children have downloaded file-sharing software on the family computer, and that they may have exchanged games, videos, music, pornography, or other material that may be unsuitable for them. It’s not unusual for other peoples’ files to be mislabeled, and you or your children, can unintentionally download these files.
Elsewhere in this Blog you can read an article on child safety on the Internet, and download a free parental control program that comes highly recommended.
Spyware: There’s a good chance that the file-sharing program you’re using has installed other software known as spyware to your computer’s operating system. Spyware monitors a user’s browsing habits and then sends that data to third parties. Frequently the user gets ads based on the information that the spyware has collected and forwarded to these third parties. I can assure you that spyware can be difficult to detect and remove.
Before you use any file-sharing program, you should buy, or download free software, that can help prevent the downloading or installation of spyware, or help to detect it on your hard drive if it has been installed.
Elsewhere on this Blog you can read an article on free anti-malware programs, including anti-virus software, and you can download those that may suit your needs.
Viruses: Use and update your anti-virus software regularly. Files you download could be mislabeled, hiding a virus or other unwanted content. Use anti-virus software to protect your computer from viruses you might pick up from other users through the file-sharing program. Generally, your virus filter should prevent your computer from receiving possibly destructive files. While downloading, you should avoid files with extensions such as .exe, .scr, .lnk, .bat, .vbs, .dll, .bin, and .cmd.
Default Closing Behavior: It is critical that you close your connection after you have finished using the software. In some instances, closing the file-sharing program window does not actually close your connection to the network. That allows file-sharing to continue and will increase your security risk. Be sure to turn off this feature in the programs “preferences” setting. What’s more, some file-sharing programs automatically run every time you turn on your computer. As a preventive measure, you should adjust the file-sharing program’s controls to prevent the file-sharing program from automatically starting.
For more on the potential dangers involved in peer to peer file sharing, check out the FBI’s web site.
LimeWire: Download at Download.com
Ares: Download at Sourceforge.net
FrostWire: Download at Download.com


A patriarch of the Old Testament, Abraham was called by God to be the father of the people of Israel. His wife Sarah was childless until an advanced age, when she bore Abraham's heir Isaac (Genesis 17, 18, 21).
God tested Abraham's obedience by asking him to sacrifice Isaac, but at the last moment he sent an angel to save the boy. Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son is seen as prefiguring God's sacrifice of Christ to redeem the world (Genesis 22).
Abraham's elder son Ishmael and his mother Hagar (Abraham's concubine) were expelled from the household by Sarah. They were helped by an angel and supposedly founded the Arabic tribes (Genesis 21).