Tag: labor (page 1 of 4)

The Class-Domination Theory of Power

May 9, 2015 / / 0 Comments

by G. William DomhoffNOTE: WhoRulesAmerica.net is largely based on my book,Who Rules America?, first published in 1967 and now in its7th edition. This on-line document is presented as a summary of some of the main ideas in that book.Who has predominant power in the United States? The short answer, from 1776 to the present, is: Those who have the money -- or more specifically, who own income-producing land and businesses -- have the power. George Washington was one of the biggest landowner [...]

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17 Surprising Reasons You’re Stressed Out

April 13, 2015 / / 0 Comments





Excerpt from huffingtonpost.com
By Amanda MacMillan


You're probably all too aware of the major sources of stress in your life -- money, your terrible commute, the construction workers who start jackhammering at 5 a.m. But stress and anxiety don't have to just come from obvious or even negative sources. "There are plenty of chronic strains and low-grade challenges that don't necessarily overwhelm you in the moment, but almost take more of a toll in the long run," says Scott Schieman, Ph.D., professor of sociology at the University of Toronto. These are some of unexpected reasons why you might feel anxious or agitated. By recognizing them for what they are, says Schieman, you can better prepare to cope.

1. Your Significant Other
Even if you have a blissfully happy relationship with your live-in partner or spouse, you're both bound to do things that get on each other's nerves. "Early in the relationship, it's usually about space and habits -- like whether you squeeze the toothpaste from the middle or the bottom of the tube," says Ken Yeager, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. "Later on, you might clash over parenting style or financial issues, and finding a unified front to face these issues together." So what's the key to surviving and thriving in your life together? Finding balance, says Yeager: spending the right amount of time together (not too much and not too little), making compromises, keeping communication open and honest, and remembering to acknowledge what you love about each other on a daily basis.

2. Everyday Annoyances
We're told not to sweat the small stuff, but sometimes it's the little things that have the biggest impact on our mood: the never-ending phone calls with your insurance company, the rude cashier at the grocery store, the 20 minutes you lose looking for a parking space. "We let these things bother us because they trigger unconscious fears," says Yeager -- fears of being seen as irresponsible, of being bullied or embarrassed, or of being late all the time, for example. "Sometimes you need to take a step back and realize that you're doing the best you can given the circumstances." 

3. Other People's Stress
Stress is contagious, according to a 2014 German study: In a series of experiments, most participants who simply observed others completing a stressful task experienced an increase themselves in production of the stress hormone cortisol -- a phenomenon known as empathic stress. You can also experience stress when someone you know is affected by a traumatic event, like a car crash or a chronic illness. "You start to worry, 'Oh my gosh, could that happen to me?'," says Yeager. "We tend not to think about these things until they hit close to home."

4. Social Media social media
It may seem like Facebook is the only way you keep up with the friends you don't see regularly -- which, during particularly busy times, can be just about all of them. The social network also has a downside, according to a 2015 study from the Pew Research Center: It can make you aware of stressful situations in your friends' lives, which in turn can add more stress to your life. The Pew report didn't find that social media users, overall, had higher levels of stress, but previous studies have suggested that frequent social-media use can be associated with negative body image and prolonged breakup pain.

5. Distraction
A distraction can be a good thing then when it takes your mind off of a stressful situation or difficult decision, like when you take a break from work to meet a friend for lunch. But it works the other way, as well: When you're so busy thinking about something else that you can't enjoy what's going on around you, that kind of distraction can be a recipe for stress. Practicing mindfulness gives you brain the refresh it needs, says Richard Lenox, director of the Student Counseling Center at Texas Tech University. Paying full attention to your surroundings when you're walking and driving can help, he adds. "Stress and anxiety tend to melt away when our mind is focused on the present." 

6. Your Childhood
Traumatic events that happened when you were a kid can continue to affect your stress levels and overall health into adulthood. A 2014 University of Wisconsin-Madison study found that these childhood experiences may actually change parts of the brain responsible for processing stress and emotion. The way you were raised can also have a lasting impact on your everyday angst, suggests a 2014 Johns Hopkins University study. Researchers found that children of parents with social anxiety disorders are more likely to develop "trickle-down anxiety" -- not simply because of their genes, but because of their parents' behaviors toward them such as a lack of warmth and emotion, or high levels of criticism and doubt.

7. Tea And Chocolate
You probably know to take it easy on the coffee when you're already feeling on edge. "Caffeine is always going to make stress worse," says Yeager. But you may not think as much about drinking several cups of tea at once, or chowing down on a bar of dark chocolate -- both of which can contain nearly as much caffeine as a cup of joe. "Chocolate is a huge caffeine source," says Yeager. "I know people who don't drink coffee but they'll eat six little candy bars in a two-hour period because they want the same kind of jolt." Too much caffeine, in any form, can cause problems with sleep, digestion, and irritability. 

8. Your Expectations woman trail running
When things don't go the way you've planned, do you tend to get upset and act defensively, or do you roll with the punches and set off on a new plan? If it's the former, you could be contributing to a mindset of pessimism and victimization that will slowly wear you down, even when things may not be as bad as they seem. "Your level of serenity is inversely proportionate to your expectations," says Yeager. That doesn't mean you shouldn't set ambitious goals for yourself or settle for less than what you want, of course, but being realistic about what's truly possible is important, as well.

9. Your Reaction To Stress
If you tend to deal with stressful situations by working long hours, skipping your workouts, and bingeing on junk food, we've got some bad news: You're only making it worse. "We know that physical activity and healthy foods will help your body better deal with stress, and yet we often avoid them when we need them the most," says Yeager. "People really need to think about this downward spiral we get into and work harder to counteract it."

10. Multitasking
Think you're being super efficient by tackling four tasks at once? Chances are you're not -- and it's only decreasing your productivity while increasing your stress. A 2012 University of Irvine study, for example, found that people who responded to emails all day long while also trying to get their work done experienced more heart-rate variability (an indicator of mental stress) than those who waited to respond to all of their emails at one time. Focusing on one task at a time can ensure that you're doing that job to the best of your abilities and getting the most out of it, so you won't have to worry about or go back and fix it later, says Schieman. And don't worry: You'll have enough time to do it all. In fact, you may discover you have more time than you thought.

11. Your Favorite Sport
Watching a tight game of college hoops can stress you out -- even if your alma mater wins. "The body doesn't distinguish between 'bad' stress from life or work and 'good' stress caused by game-day excitement," says Jody Gilchrist, a nurse practitioner at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Heart and Vascular Clinic. Watching sports can even trigger the body's sympathetic nervous system, releasing adrenaline and reducing blood flow to the heart. Those temporary consequences aren't usually anything to be concerned about, but over time, chronic stress can lead to high blood pressure and increased disease risk. And, of course, it doesn't help if you're adding alcohol and binge-eating to a situation that's already stressful on your body. You may not be able to control the outcome of the game, says Gilchrist, but you can limit its effects on your own body. 

12. Digital Devices laptop in bed
Whether you're using it for work or play, technology may play a large role in your mental health, says Yeager. Using computers or e-readers too close to bedtime could lead to sleep problems, he says, and spending too much time virtually socializing can make real-life interactions seem extra stressful. (Plus, texting doesn't trigger the same feel-good hormones as face-to-face talk does.) Then there's the dreaded "work creep," says Schieman, when smartphones allow employees to be tethered to their jobs, even during off-hours. "People say they're only going to check email for an hour while they're on vacation, but the problem with email is that they're filled with responsibilities, new tasks, and dilemmas that are going to be hard to compartmentalize and put out of your head once that hour is up."

13. Your (Good) Health
While it may not be as stressful as having a chronic illness or getting bad news at the doctor's office, even people in the best shape of their lives worry about their bodies, their diets, and their fitness levels. In fact, people who take healthy living to an extreme may experience some rather unhealthy side effects. People who follow low-carb diets, for example, are more likely to report being sad or stressed out, while those on any kind of restrictive meal plan may feel more tired than usual. And it's not unheard of for someone to become obsessed with healthy eating (known as orthorexia) or working out (gymorexia). Like any form of perfectionism, these problems can be stressful at best, and extremely dangerous at worst.

14. Housework
Does folding laundry help you feel calm, or does it make your blood boil? If you're in a living situation where you feel you're responsible for an unfair share of work, even chores you once enjoyed may start to feel like torture. "Dividing up housework and parenting responsibilities can be tricky, especially if both partners work outside the home," says Schieman. "And whether you define that division of labor as equal or unequal can really change your attitude toward it."

15. Uncertainty
Stress can be defined as any perceived or actual threat, says Yeager, so any type of doubt that's looming over you can contribute to your anxiety levels on a daily basis. "When you know something could change at any minute, you always have your guard up and it's hard to just relax and enjoy anything." Financial uncertainty may be the most obvious stressor -- not being sure if you'll keep your job during a round of layoffs, or not knowing how you'll pay your credit card bill. Insecurities in other areas of life, like your relationship or your housing status, can eat away at you too.

16. Your Pet bulldog puppy
No matter how much you love your furry friends, there's no question that they add extra responsibility to your already full plate. Even healthy animals need to be fed, exercised, cleaned up after, and given plenty of attention on a regular basis -- and unhealthy ones can be a whole other story. "Pets can be the most positive source of unconditional love, but at the same time they require an extreme amount of energy," says Yeager. People also tend to underestimate the stress they'll experience when they lose a pet. "I've had people in my office tell me they cried more when their dog died than when their parent died. It's a very emotional connection."

17. Your Education
Having a college degree boosts your odds of landing a well-paying job, so although you're less likely to suffer from money-related anxiety, your education can bring on other types of stress, according to a 2014 study by Schieman and his University of Toronto colleagues. His research found that highly educated people were more likely to be stressed out thanks to job pressures, being overworked, and conflicts between work and family. "Higher levels of authority come with a lot more interpersonal baggage, such as supervising people or deciding whether they get promotions," says Schieman. "With that type of responsibility, you start to take things like incompetency and people not doing their jobs more personally, and it bothers you more."

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Yes, that 3D-printed mansion is safe to live in

February 13, 2015 / / 0 Comments


WinSun claims that their new 3D printed five-story building is the tallest of its kind in the world. Credit: 3ders.org
WinSun claims that their new 3D printed five-story building is the tallest of its kind in the world. 


Excerpt from

Back in April, a team of Chinese construction workers used a 3D printer to construct houses. By day’s end, there were 10 standing. They were compact and fairly bare bones — nothing much to look at besides the “wow!” factor of there being as many as — count them — 10. But this time around, those same builders have taken the wraps off an achievement that’s roundly more impressive.
In Suzhou Industrial Park, adjacent to Shanghai, stands a five-story structure that the WinSun Decoration Design Engineering firm claims is “the world’s tallest 3D-printed building.” Next to it is the equally massive 3D-printed mansion, which measures 11,840 square feet. Like the previous buildings, the walls are comprised of a mix of concrete and recycled waste materials, such as glass and steel, and formed layer by printed layer. The company stated that the total cost for the mansion was roughly $161,000. 
In a broader sense, this latest feat is yet another indication of how rapidly additive manufacturing techniques are advancing. Once used primarily as a means to quickly render miniature model versions of products, the technology has reached a point where large-scale printers are now capable of making life-sized working creations, such as automobiles, in mere days. For instance, it took less than 48 hours for start-up Local Motors to print a two-seater called the Strati into existence and drive it off the showroom.
Many of these designs, however, typically don’t amount to much beyond being passion projects meant to push 3D printing into new frontiers and drum up some publicity along the way. One example of this is the massive 3D Print Canal House that’s being constructed entirely on-site along a canal in Amsterdam, a process that’s slated to take longer and is less feasible than standard construction, Phil Reeves of UK-based 3D printing research firm Econolyst recently told CNN.
More promising, though, is a system developed by Behrokh Khoshnevis, a University of Southern California engineering professor. His concept machine, called Contour Crafting, involves a clever combination of mechanical cranes and 3D layering to print and assemble entire homes simultaneously — complete with insulation and indoor plumbing — in less than a day. 

Assembling 3D printed buildings is quite similar to erecting prefab homes. Credit: 3ders.org
Assembling 3D printed buildings is quite similar to erecting prefab homes. 


The approach employed by WinSun isn’t anywhere near that level of sophistication, but it may well prove to be the most practical – at least thus far. There is some labor and equipment costs that comes from trucking in and piecing together the various sections on-site, though the manner in which it all comes together is comparable to the ease of prefab assembly. It’s also reportedly greener thanks to the addition of recycled materials. 
To pitch the advantages of their technology, the company held a news conference to announce that they had taken on orders for 20,000 smaller units as well as highlight some significant cost-cutting figures. According toindustry news site 3Der:
The sheer size of the printer allows for a 10x increase in production efficiency. WinSun estimates that 3D printing technology can save between 30 and 60 percent of building materials and shortens production times by 50 to even 70 percent, while decreasing labor costs by 50 up to even 80 percent. Future applications include 3D printed bridges or tall office buildings that can be built right on site.
WinSun did not respond to a request to disclose how they arrived at those numbers, but Enrico Dini, an Italian civil engineer and chairman of competing start-up Monolite, says that he suspects the calculations may be a tad bit inflated. Still, he emphasized that his own data does back up the claim that, compared to conventional methods, layering may boost overall efficiency. 
“It would be very difficult to fabricate such large sections with traditional concrete casting,” he says. “With 3D printing, you have a lot less waste because you’re only printing out as much material as you need and you can custom shape whole sections on the spot, which can be a big challenge.”

WinSuns 3D printed villa has several rooms and has been deemed to be up to Chinas national safety standards. Credit: 3ders.org
WinSun’s 3D-printed villa has several rooms and has been deemed to be up to China’s national safety standards.

One major concern is whether these large-scale dwellings can hold up over time against the elements. According to 3Der, Ma Rongquan, chief engineer of China Construction Bureau, inspected the building’s structural integrity and found them to be up to code, but was careful to note that state officials have yet to establish specific criteria for assessing the long-term safety of 3D printed architecture.   
And as Dini, who supports the technology, points out, there is the possibility that the use of additive manufacturing may pose some degree of risk. “The only issue is that as the layers of concrete are bonded together, they’re drying at slightly different rates and that’s not very ideal,” he explains. “So there’s maybe a higher chance of it fracturing at the contact point if there’s a strong enough force at play.” 
Regardless, Dini says he’d feel completely safe going inside any floor of either building since construction materials used today are likely to contain special additives to enhance strength and resistance. One such formulation, fiber-reinforced Ductal, has been shown in some tests to be 10 times stronger and last twice as long as regular concrete. He stressed that walls should also be tested to ensure that other properties, such as acoustics, ventilation and thermal insulations are on par with existing buildings.
“In Italy, building standards are extremely strict,” he noted. “But I can’t say I can say the same about China.”

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How Much Does it Cost to Build a Tiny House?

January 6, 2015 / / 0 Comments




Excerpt from tinyhousetalk.com
If you’ve been wondering how much does it cost to build a tiny house you’re at the right place. Designing and building your own tiny house is a great way to create a mortgage-free lifestyle fast.
So it’s no wonder that you’d be interested… But the question is, “how much?”

Question: So How Much Does it Cost to Build a Tiny House?


Answer: Usually Around $25,000 to $30,000

This is for a relatively ‘high end’ tiny home on wheels with all of the amenities of home you’d be looking at around $25,000 to $30,000 in materials to build it yourself.

This figure normally includes buying a brand new trailer, professional construction plans, your appliances, and other materials brand new at the store.

Of course it’s always possible to do it for $13,173, $9,802, $21,204, or even $65,439 but this is just an estimation so you know what to expect and what I’ve believe to be most common but..


Here’s How You Can Do It For Less

  • Find and use recycled materials on places like Craigslist and Habitat Restores.
  • Use less expensive but reliable materials and appliances.
  • Do absolutely all of the labor yourself and with the help of friends and family.
  • Do your due diligence researching and designing to avoid costly mistakes.
  • Take time to find a good deal on the right used trailer instead of buying a brand new one.
  • Take the time to salvage another structure or recreational vehicle so you can use them to build your tiny home.
  • Find useful or reclaimable appliances on Craigslist or your nearest Habitat ReStore.

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Is AI a threat to humanity?

December 30, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Excerpt from cnn.comImagine you're the kind of person who worries about a future when robots become smart enough to threaten the very existence of the human race. For years, you've been dismissed as a crackpot, consigned to the same category of peop...

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The New American Dream ~ The Case for Colonizing Mars

November 10, 2014 / / 0 Comments




Excerpt from Ad Astra

by Robert Zubrin


Mars Is The New World

Among extraterrestrial bodies in our solar system, Mars is singular in that it possesses all the raw materials required to support not only life, but a new branch of human civilization. This uniqueness is illustrated most clearly if we contrast Mars with the Earth's Moon, the most frequently cited alternative location for extraterrestrial human colonization.

In contrast to the Moon, Mars is rich in carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen, all in biologically readily accessible forms such as carbon dioxide gas, nitrogen gas, and water ice and permafrost. Carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen are only present on the Moon in parts per million quantities, much like gold in seawater. Oxygen is abundant on the Moon, but only in tightly bound oxides such as silicon dioxide (SiO2), ferrous oxide (Fe2O3), magnesium oxide (MgO), and aluminum oxide (Al2O3), which require very high energy processes to reduce.

The Moon is also deficient in about half the metals of interest to industrial society (copper, for example), as well as many other elements of interest such as sulfur and phosphorus. Mars has every required element in abundance. Moreover, on Mars, as on Earth, hydrologic and volcanic processes have occurred that are likely to have consolidated various elements into local concentrations of high-grade mineral ore. Indeed, the geologic history of Mars has been compared to that of Africa, with very optimistic inferences as to its mineral wealth implied as a corollary. In contrast, the Moon has had virtually no history of water or volcanic action, with the result that it is basically composed of trash rocks with very little differentiation into ores that represent useful concentrations of anything interesting.

You can generate power on either the Moon or Mars with solar panels, and here the advantages of the Moon's clearer skies and closer proximity to the Sun than Mars roughly balances the disadvantage of large energy storage requirements created by the Moon's 28-day light-dark cycle. But if you wish to manufacture solar panels, so as to create a self-expanding power base, Mars holds an enormous advantage, as only Mars possesses the large supplies of carbon and hydrogen needed to produce the pure silicon required for producing photovoltaic panels and other electronics. In addition, Mars has the potential for wind-generated power while the Moon clearly does not. But both solar and wind offer relatively modest power potential — tens or at most hundreds of kilowatts here or there. To create a vibrant civilization you need a richer power base, and this Mars has both in the short and medium term in the form of its geothermal power resources, which offer potential for large numbers of locally created electricity generating stations in the 10 MW (10,000 kilowatt) class. In the long-term, Mars will enjoy a power-rich economy based upon exploitation of its large domestic resources of deuterium fuel for fusion reactors. Deuterium is five times more common on Mars than it is on Earth, and tens of thousands of times more common on Mars than on the Moon.

But the biggest problem with the Moon, as with all other airless planetary bodies and proposed artificial free-space colonies, is that sunlight is not available in a form useful for growing crops. A single acre of plants on Earth requires four megawatts of sunlight power, a square kilometer needs 1,000 MW. The entire world put together does not produce enough electrical power to illuminate the farms of the state of Rhode Island, that agricultural giant. Growing crops with electrically generated light is just economically hopeless. But you can't use natural sunlight on the Moon or any other airless body in space unless you put walls on the greenhouse thick enough to shield out solar flares, a requirement that enormously increases the expense of creating cropland. Even if you did that, it wouldn't do you any good on the Moon, because plants won't grow in a light/dark cycle lasting 28 days.

But on Mars there is an atmosphere thick enough to protect crops grown on the surface from solar flare. Therefore, thin-walled inflatable plastic greenhouses protected by unpressurized UV-resistant hard-plastic shield domes can be used to rapidly create cropland on the surface. Even without the problems of solar flares and month-long diurnal cycle, such simple greenhouses would be impractical on the Moon as they would create unbearably high temperatures. On Mars, in contrast, the strong greenhouse effect created by such domes would be precisely what is necessary to produce a temperate climate inside. Such domes up to 50 meters in diameter are light enough to be transported from Earth initially, and later on they can be manufactured on Mars out of indigenous materials. Because all the resources to make plastics exist on Mars, networks of such 50- to 100-meter domes could be rapidly manufactured and deployed, opening up large areas of the surface to both shirtsleeve human habitation and agriculture. That's just the beginning, because it will eventually be possible for humans to substantially thicken Mars' atmosphere by forcing the regolith to outgas its contents through a deliberate program of artificially induced global warming. Once that has been accomplished, the habitation domes could be virtually any size, as they would not have to sustain a pressure differential between their interior and exterior. In fact, once that has been done, it will be possible to raise specially bred crops outside the domes.

The point to be made is that unlike colonists on any known extraterrestrial body, Martian colonists will be able to live on the surface, not in tunnels, and move about freely and grow crops in the light of day. Mars is a place where humans can live and multiply to large numbers, supporting themselves with products of every description made out of indigenous materials. Mars is thus a place where an actual civilization, not just a mining or scientific outpost, can be developed. And significantly for interplanetary commerce, Mars and Earth are the only two locations in the solar system where humans will be able to grow crops for export.

Interplanetary Commerce

Mars is the best target for colonization in the solar system because it has by far the greatest potential for self-sufficiency. Nevertheless, even with optimistic extrapolation of robotic manufacturing techniques, Mars will not have the division of labor required to make it fully self-sufficient until its population numbers in the millions. Thus, for decades and perhaps longer, it will be necessary, and forever desirable, for Mars to be able to import specialized manufactured goods from Earth. These goods can be fairly limited in mass, as only small portions (by weight) of even very high-tech goods are actually complex. Nevertheless, these smaller sophisticated items will have to be paid for, and the high costs of Earth-launch and interplanetary transport will greatly increase their price. What can Mars possibly export back to Earth in return?
It is this question that has caused many to incorrectly deem Mars colonization intractable, or at least inferior in prospect to the Moon.

For example, much has been made of the fact that the Moon has indigenous supplies of helium-3, an isotope not found on Earth and which could be of considerable value as a fuel for second generation thermonuclear fusion reactors. Mars has no known helium-3 resources. On the other hand, because of its complex geologic history, Mars may have concentrated mineral ores, with much greater concentrations of precious metal ores readily available than is currently the case on Earth — because the terrestrial ores have been heavily scavenged by humans for the past 5,000 years. If concentrated supplies of metals of equal or greater value than silver (such as germanium, hafnium, lanthanum, cerium, rhenium, samarium, gallium, gadolinium, gold, palladium, iridium, rubidium, platinum, rhodium, europium, and a host of others) were available on Mars, they could potentially be transported back to Earth for a substantial profit. Reusable Mars-surface based single-stage-to-orbit vehicles would haul cargoes to Mars orbit for transportation to Earth via either cheap expendable chemical stages manufactured on Mars or reusable cycling solar or magnetic sail-powered interplanetary spacecraft. The existence of such Martian precious metal ores, however, is still hypothetical.

But there is one commercial resource that is known to exist ubiquitously on Mars in large amount — deuterium. Deuterium, the heavy isotope of hydrogen, occurs as 166 out of every million hydrogen atoms on Earth, but comprises 833 out of every million hydrogen atoms on Mars. Deuterium is the key fuel not only for both first and second generation fusion reactors, but it is also an essential material needed by the nuclear power industry today. Even with cheap power, deuterium is very expensive; its current market value on Earth is about $10,000 per kilogram, roughly fifty times as valuable as silver or 70% as valuable as gold. This is in today's pre-fusion economy. Once fusion reactors go into widespread use deuterium prices will increase. All the in-situ chemical processes required to produce the fuel, oxygen, and plastics necessary to run a Mars settlement require water electrolysis as an intermediate step. As a by product of these operations, millions, perhaps billions, of dollars worth of deuterium will be produced.

Ideas may be another possible export for Martian colonists. Just as the labor shortage prevalent in colonial and nineteenth century America drove the creation of "Yankee ingenuity's" flood of inventions, so the conditions of extreme labor shortage combined with a technological culture that shuns impractical legislative constraints against innovation will tend to drive Martian ingenuity to produce wave after wave of invention in energy production, automation and robotics, biotechnology, and other areas. These inventions, licensed on Earth, could finance Mars even as they revolutionize and advance terrestrial living standards as forcefully as nineteenth century American invention changed Europe and ultimately the rest of the world as well.

Inventions produced as a matter of necessity by a practical intellectual culture stressed by frontier conditions can make Mars rich, but invention and direct export to Earth are not the only ways that Martians will be able to make a fortune. The other route is via trade to the asteroid belt, the band of small, mineral-rich bodies lying between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. There are about 5,000 asteroids known today, of which about 98% are in the "Main Belt" lying between Mars and Jupiter, with an average distance from the Sun of about 2.7 astronomical units, or AU. (The Earth is 1.0 AU from the Sun.) Of the remaining two percent known as the near-Earth asteroids, about 90% orbit closer to Mars than to the Earth. Collectively, these asteroids represent an enormous stockpile of mineral wealth in the form of platinum group and other valuable metals.


Historical Analogies

The primary analogy I wish to draw is that Mars is to the new age of exploration as North America was to the last. The Earth's Moon, close to the metropolitan planet but impoverished in resources, compares to Greenland. Other destinations, such as the Main Belt asteroids, may be rich in potential future exports to Earth but lack the preconditions for the creation of a fully developed indigenous society; these compare to the West Indies. Only Mars has the full set of resources required to develop a native civilization, and only Mars is a viable target for true colonization. Like America in its relationship to Britain and the West Indies, Mars has a positional advantage that will allow it to participate in a useful way to support extractive activities on behalf of Earth in the asteroid belt and elsewhere.

But despite the shortsighted calculations of eighteenth-century European statesmen and financiers, the true value of America never was as a logistical support base for West Indies sugar and spice trade, inland fur trade, or as a potential market for manufactured goods. The true value of America was as the future home for a new branch of human civilization, one that as a combined result of its humanistic antecedents and its frontier conditions was able to develop into the most powerful engine for human progress and economic growth the world had ever seen. The wealth of America was in fact that she could support people, and that the right kind of people chose to go to her. People create wealth. People are wealth and power. Every feature of Frontier American life that acted to create a practical can-do culture of innovating people will apply to Mars a hundred-fold.

Mars is a harsher place than any on Earth. But provided one can survive the regimen, it is the toughest schools that are the best. The Martians shall do well.


Robert Zubrin is former Chairman of the National Space Society, President of the Mars Society, and author of The Case For Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must.

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Researchers make 32 differently-shaped DNA crystals – is this the future of nanotech?

October 22, 2014 / / 0 Comments



Researchers have achieved 32 different–shaped crystal structures using the DNA–brick self–assembly method. (Photo : Harvard’s Wyss Institute)

Excerpt from
zmescience.com 

A team at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering demonstrated the latest advances in programmable DNA self-assembly by crystallizing 32 structures with precisely prescribed depths and complex 3D features. The DNA crystals could potentially be used as the basis of a programmable material platform that would allow scientists to build extremely precise and complex structures rivaling the complexity of many molecular machines we see in nature – all from the bottom up!

Nanotechnology like Lego

For the past twenty years or so, there’s been a lot of interest shown into designing large DNA crystals of various desired shapes by exploiting DNA’s inherent ability to self-assemble. We’re recently beginning to see the fruits of this labor, first in 2012 when the same team described their “DNA-brick self-assembly” method that allowed them to build more than 100 3D complex nanostructures about the size of viruses. The 32 designs reported in this latest research are 1000 times larger, close to the size of a speck of dust, which makes them closer to applicable scale where they can be used practically.

With conventional methods of DNA assembly, the resulting design tends to become more and more imperfect as you scale the design because at each step there’s a risk of error. The technique developed at Harvard is different because since it uses short, synthetic strands of DNA that work like interlocking Lego® bricks to build complex structures – it’s a modular design. Each structure first starts off as a computer model of a molecular cube (the master canvas), then individual DNA bricks are removed or added independently until a desired shape is met. These bricks bind to as many as four neighboring strands or bricks. Thus, two bricks connect to one another at a 90-degree angle to form a 3D shape, just like a pair of two-stud Lego bricks. Each individual brick is coded in such a way that they self-assemble in a desired 3-D shape. What’s fantastic is that this method allows for intricate shapes to built on an extremely tiny scale opening up a slew of applications. For instance, a cube built up from 1,000 such bricks (10 by 10 by 10) measures just 25 nanometers in width – thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair!
“Therein lies the key distinguishing feature of our design strategy—its modularity,” said co-lead author Yonggang Ke, Ph.D., formerly a Wyss Institute Postdoctoral Fellow and now an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. “The ability to simply add or remove pieces from the master canvas makes it easy to create virtually any design.”

Precision controlled DNA

Most importantly, this modularity allows precision control of the structure’s depth. This is the first time that anyone has been able to design crystal depth with nanometer precision, up to 80 nm, as opposed to  two-dimensional DNA lattices which are typically single-layer structures with only 2 nm depth.
“DNA crystals are attractive for nanotechnology applications because they are comprised of repeating structural units that provide an ideal template for scalable design features”, said co-lead author graduate student Luvena Ong.

 “Peng’s team is using the DNA-brick self-assembly method to build the foundation for the new landscape of DNA nanotechnology at an impressive pace,” said Wyss Institute Founding Director Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D. “What have been mere visions of how the DNA molecule could be used to advance everything from the semiconductor industry to biophysics are fast becoming realities.”

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Galactic Federation of Light Hilarion 04-28-13.mp3

April 28, 2013 / / 0 Comments

HILARION’S WEEKLY MESSAGE 2013
Marlene Swetlishoff/Tsu-tana (Soo-tam-ah) Keeper of the Symphonies of Grace
http://www.therainbowscribe.com/hilarion2013.htm

April 28-May 5, 2013

Beloved Ones,

As a new day dawns on the horizon, more is asked of

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Location. Location. Location

April 26, 2012 / / 0 Comments

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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The following is an excerpt from Paradise: The Prime Real Estate of Consciousness. 

The prime real estate of consciousness is paradise. Unlike the financial arrangements on the physical pla...

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Project Blue Beam

March 13, 2011 / / 0 Comments

By Serge Monast
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/projectbluebeam25jul05.shtml
Originally Published 1994

[Note: Serge Monast [1945 – December 5, 1996] and another journalist, both of whom were researching Project Blue Beam, died of “heart attacks” within weeks of each other although neither had a history of heart disease. Serge was in Canada. The other Canadian journalist was visiting Ireland. Prior to his death, the Canadian government abducted Serge’s daughter in an attempt to dissuade him from pursuing his research into Project Blue Beam. His daughter was never returned. Pseudo-heart attacks are one of the alleged methods of death induced by Project Blue Beam.]

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Michael Teachings

July 11, 2010 / / 1 Comment

http://www.michaelteachings.com/

The Michael teachings explore the spiritual philosophy of the mid-causal plane entity Michael, popularized in the best-selling book, "Messages from Michael" by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.

The Mic...

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Participate in the Light Coming: the time is NOW

July 10, 2010 / / 0 Comments

a message from Meredith Murphy

Thursday, 8 July, 2010  (posted 9 July, 2010)

Qualities of the New Earth 

Hello you beautiful beings, and friends, members of the Family of Light.

I c...

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El Morya – Exquisite Ascension Guidance & Life Cycles as Reflections of Soul Cycles

May 13, 2010 / / 0 Comments

13 May 2010 - 4:56pm
Channeler: Marie Mohler

Blessings friends! This is another beautiful channeling that came through this week. This light-filled message offers an exquisite, higher lens - through which to view our inner rising/ascension experiences. If you seek additional positive messages and/or channelings, please visit my website at www.shineyourlightgifts.com. Heart blessings and light today! Namaste, Marie

Dear Ones,

It is I, El Morya, Keeper of the Golden Flame. I am here to assist with the ascension process, as a keeper of this Sacred Flame and as an ascended master myself. All who seek to know the riches of the kingdom within will walk a similar path. Some by sea, some by storm, by rugged path, or by small stair-step fashion. But all who seek to know thy self – will walk the age-old journey – that brings them home.

Why? “Why?” – so many are asking. It is a fascinating concept – beyond most’s comprehension. But to a soul – that is perfect Source essence in every way . . . the desire to deeply know itself – calls into question – that which is NOT like itself. To understand light, is to call to understand dark-ness. To understand full, is to call to understand hungry or empty. To understand prosperity, is to call to understand poverty. Each of these shadow sides are simply that – the other side of all light. So on the other side, or on extensions, of light . . . exists these contrasts.

To a soul – whose warm-hearted perfect center is Source essence – a desire to know thy self bursts into the ethers – at some point in one’s development. At first, soul play and soul essence and soul existence are enough. But the soul graduates at some point – to a new bigger reality . . . of wanting to know more. Wanting to know deeper. Wanting to experience – and to know itself more deeply and more completely. Just as an infant likes to be held and satisfied completely by its loving parents, eventually . . . the baby child will feel called to break out beyond this loving protection, safety, and existence – by exploring . . . toddling . . . and beginning to take its own steps. Making its own choices. And so each of you, as perfect essences of Source . . . each – in your own Soul’s development – graduated – to wanting to know more of your own inner essence – by seeking to stray from this utopian safety and make choices . . . to experience choice. To experience creation. To experience contrast. To experience light and dark, and all shades in between. For experiencing is a deeper form of knowing. By experiencing – a soul grows into a new level of becoming . . . Becoming EXPANDED Source Essence.

Expanded Source Essence is different you see from Beginning Source Essence – because it experientially knows more of its truer self. Make sense?

So as infants rest in the comfort of having all needs perfectly provided – toddlers begin their desire to choose for themselves their experiences. Tasting everything. Trying. Working. Moving. Maneuvering. Attempting. Falling. Getting up again. Attempting Anew. This is the journey that in many ways is what takes place in 3rd Dimension. It is the journey that represents these aspects of the human lifespan.

Only mastery, in this context, requires a soul’s expansion to rise to a stage – where they see again – through human physical eyes . . . the inner eyes once more --- that recognize the chosen path of "experiencing" – to better know one’s true self. An ascending master begins to remember – its own Source Seed origins. It remembers how all was one, and true, and perfect – when infinitely and eternally connected to Source and Source embrace. An ascending master sees through new eyes once more – without returning to infancy. But [rather] in choosing a conscious rebirth; As One IS – and "The New" – [that] One is expanding to become. A new graduation unfolds for the rebirthing soul. A graduation that cumulatively collects all wisdoms of the earth’s evolutionary journey, and begins to look for the new inner rising experience unfolding within – that fully promises to bring new expansion experiences. To the soul, there is nothing more delightful than to expand itself. For in expanding itself, it is deepening its sense of Source within. It is becoming an expanded sense of Source Essence itself. Each of us then is a growing, expanding, evolving unlimited essence of Source essence. And as we expand, so too does Source energy itself. Every expansion brings expansion. And the cycle and circles grow, and continue . . . rippling infinitely and eternally – bringing more and more of the core Source essence in all of us – TO LIGHT!

So – why? “Why” is the question many ask today. And today I say – think of your sense of self as an infant. While you liked the safety and security of your early embrace, did you not love the freedom and independence of toddlerhood? And thus expanded then – in girl or boyhood, or childhood? And then more and more – expanding your experiencing in bigger and newer and broader ways – as teenagers? And again – graduating to even more experiences and expansions – in early adulthood? And then maybe [onward] to birth a cycle of witnessing and nurturing your own children’s cycles of expansion and experiencing. To watch and participate in their expansion and unfolding. To ultimately know your self more deeply and truly.

The life cycle itself is a wondrous example of your journeys here, and their purpose. To assist your deepening experience of your Source Essence within your essence.

And now – as many of you are individually and collectively awakening, rising, and re-collecting the gifts of all this wondrous experimentation, experiencing, and expansion, it calls you once more to go within – to your Source Seed within – to tune into the new birth on the horizon . . . in the womb of your own Soul’s desires.

This is the platform of viewing life on this earth planet at this time. Many are seeing their soul desires [already] expanded . . . which is calling out a greater desire – to expand in community. To expand in group consciousness. To release the consciousness of Source separation and other-separation. And to expand into a greater state of Source-beingness with other Source-beings, [who are] also experiencing and expanding Source-beingness.

On this platform, you may be seeing others in different stages of life cycle development, chronologically and soulful-logically. Allow this all to be. It is the divine design. There is Source perfection in all that is.

An ascending master – sees without – the power of a Source Seed’s desires to expand itself – in all aspects of contrast to its original Light. And an ascending master – hears within – its own timing – coordinating with the infinite sense of group timing – that a developmental or essence-tial leap is upon and within them. Ready to burst forth – in new birth – of new desires – to more deeply know its Source essence through an expanded sense of Source-beingness, in higher rates and vibrations of love, . . . now that the contrast of the light is deeply known to them.

When Source-essence-energies act in good intentions of light and love and greater good for all, an expanded experience of the richness of Source in the inner kingdom of all becomes the greatest desire . . . and the drawn experience. The soul then rises into a new earth experience, or new birth experience, with a new level of sight, and an expanded sense of Source essence and perfection in the All That Is.

Judgment fades from consciousness, for Light is the inward sight - and this outer expansion experience. Light is all there is. And Light becomes the teaching tool for this stage of Soul-Mastery, reflected within the hearts of all joined in conscious, loving, co-creation together.

For now – this is a time of practice – to release judgment of the contrast. To honor it as a part of all souls’ journeys – to expand in depth of knowledge . . . of the soul as Source. And to further attend and focus on the Light – as much as can be found – in all things. These are the birthing practices – that help [and ease] the labor involved – in producing a new inner vision and a new earth’s birth.

We are ALL Ascending Masters. Just in different aspects and angles of the life cycle process – that birth’s higher and higher levels of consciousness . . . and Light in All That Is.

Call on the Golden Flame – if you find yourself in need – in a situation of darkness – [where you are] without a quick light to see – [in order] to release the contrast in your experience. The Golden Flame thus is an Ascension Flame – for all on the path of releasing and rising – to be their greater inner Source Flame. Expanded and more deeply known now within.

That is Grace. That is Prosperity. That is why we all make these incredible journeys. And this rediscovery to YOU – is as great – as the first baby steps for a soul JUST entering third dimensional awareness and experience.

So you see – Compassion is having True Sight in all things – even if no light appears to exist. Hold your Light. Be your Light. And allow it to fill your sight and full experiences.

Blessings One and All! A great message of heart – this is for All! Namaste.

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