Daily Archives: July 26, 2011
Time Travel is NOT Possible
Discovery News – Hong Kong physicists say they have proved that a single photon obeys Einstein’s theory that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light — demonstrating that outside science fiction, time travel is impossible.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology research team led by Du Shengwang said they had proved that a single photon, or unit of light, “obeys the traffic law of the universe.”
“Einstein claimed that the speed of light was the traffic law of the universe or in simple language, nothing can travel faster than light,” the university said on its website.
“Professor Du’s study demonstrates that a single photon, the fundamental quanta of light, also obeys the traffic law of the universe just like classical EM (electromagnetic) waves.”
The possibility of time travel was raised 10 years ago when scientists discovered superluminal — or faster-than-light — propagation of optical pulses in some specific medium, the team said.
It was later found to be a visual effect, but researchers thought it might still be possible for a single photon to exceed light speed.
Du, however, believed Einstein was right and determined to end the debate by measuring the ultimate speed of a single photon, which had not been done before.
“The study, which showed that single photons also obey the speed limit c, confirms Einstein’s causality; that is, an effect cannot occur before its cause,” the university said.
“By showing that single photons cannot travel faster than the speed of light, our results bring a closure to the debate on the true speed of information carried by a single photon,” said Du, assistant professor of physics.
“Our findings will also likely have potential applications by giving scientists a better picture on the transmission of quantum information.”
The team’s study was published in the U.S. peer-reviewed scientific journal ‘Physical Review Letters’.
This makes me very sad, because I had always held out hope that it was possible. Science being able to disprove the theory of time travel is like telling me that Santa doesn’t exist, and well, that’s just a little hard to handle.
Watching ‘Law & Order’ Doesn’t Make You A Professional
Gawker – There’s a specific kind of person who thinks, after watching tons of procedural justice TV shows, that he could commit the perfect crime. And there’s an even more specific kind of person who actually can. Enacting an elaborate plot to frame his ex-girlfriend for armed robbery, Queens resident Jerry Ramrattan almost became the latter.
According to the New York Times, Seemona Sumasar says Ramrattan “cornered her, taped her mouth shut, and raped her” while they were in a relationship. Apparently Sumasar, a former Morgan Stanley analyst and restaurateur, had realized that Ramrattan was a compulsive liar. A Law & Order and CSI fanatic, he pretended to be employed as a police investigator for the duration of their relationship. Sumasar pressed charges for the rape. Ramrattan made bail. Soon thereafter, he launched his alleged revenge plot:
They said he coached the supposed victims, driving them past Ms. Sumasar’s house so that they could describe her Jeep Grand Cherokee and showing them her photo so they could pick her out of a police lineup.
The setup began in September 2009, prosecutors said. An illegal immigrant from Trinidad told the police that he had been handcuffed and robbed of $700 by an Indian woman who was disguised as a police officer and had a gun, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said Mr. Ramrattan had persuaded the immigrant to lie, telling him that he could receive a special visa for victims of violent crimes.
Other “victims” came forward with similar stories. Some clues made it look like Sumasar had been covering her tracks. So, even though Sumasar had an alibi and phone records to back it up, she ended up with a $1 million bail after her arrest, forcing her to languish behind bars while Ramrattan went free. Eventually an “informant” blew the whistle; now Sumasar is in the clear and Ramrattan is awaiting trial for rape and conspiracy. His defense: She framed him. Double frame job!
Sumasar is planning lawsuits against the police departments of New York City and Nassau County. The Queen District Attorney marveled, “in the collective memory, no one has ever seen anything like this before.”
Glenn Beck’s New Low
US conservative pundit Glenn Beck gestures as he speaks to Israeli members of parliament on July 11, 2011 at the Knesset in Jerusalem. AFP PHOTO/GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images)
LA Times – “There was a shooting at a political camp, which sounds a little like, you know, the Hitler youth. I mean, who does a camp for kids that’s all about politics? Disturbing,” Beck stated in the first minute of his syndicated radio show Monday.
Torbjørn Eriksen, the former press secretary to Norway’s prime minister, was not amused.
Eriksen had stated that beck’s comments were ignorant and hurtful. These are you people trying to gain an education about politics, which is a good thing. The general public should be educated and have the ability to learn the things they wish. Hitler’s Nazi Germany was attempting to brainwash young minds into believing what they believed, not opening up their mind to politics and the many offers they may come across.
I assume he doesn’t understand the concept because, unfortunately, he’s been rather successful with knowing nothing. His ignorance his brought him money and fame and the more people know, the less room there is for people such as himself. Either way, insulting a camp that has just lost a large number of people due to ignorance and hate is rather ridiculous.
Man Attempts Surgery on His Hernia With Butter Knife
LA Times – “A 63-year-old Glendale man was in stable condition after he attempted surgery on himself with a six-inch butter knife to remove a protruding hernia from his stomach, police said Tuesday.
When police arrived at the man’s home on the 1000 block of Columbus Avenue on Sunday evening, they saw the man lying naked outside on a lounge chair with what appeared to be the handle of a knife protruding from his stomach, Sgt. Tom Lorenz of the Glendale Police Department told the Glendale News-Press.
As police waited for paramedics to arrive, Lorenz said the man pulled out the knife and shoved a cigarette he was smoking inside the open wound.
The man, whose name was not released, was immediately placed on a psychiatric hold and taken to a hospital, Lorenz said. The man’s wife had reportedly notified police that her husband had become upset about the hernia and wanted to take it out.”
This is just fucking weird. I mean, I can understand wanting to take care of business on my own, especially considering that most people either don’t have or can’t afford medical insurance, but seriously?! First of all, this procedure is impossible to do by yourself with a butter knife. It’s a dull knife that can barely cut butter or bread. How the fuck do you think you’re going to be able to remove a hernia from your damn stomach with a dull ass knife?! And now, instead of JUST paying for the operation, you’re also going to have to pay for the fancy ambulance ride. Wow.
Mother Convicted in Son’s Jaywalking Case
A mother from Georgia was convicted of homicide in the death of her son, for jaywalking. While this case may seem simple and the mother is to blame for jaywalking with her four-year-old, which resulted in the death, there is much more to it than one might assume.
Raquel Nelson does not own a vehicle and relies on the public transportation system to get her and her (then) three children to and from places. On the day that her son was hit and killed (by a man who had been drinking), she was dropped off across the street from her apartment. The nearest crosswalk was three-tenths of a mile from there they currently were, and as you could imagine, would be more of an adventure for a single mother and three children than one would want. She made a decision which ruined her life, as well as many others.
Her fear now is that she may face up to three years in prison for this, and be separated from her other two children. What’s worse is that the man who admitted to drinking before hitting the child only served a sixth of that possible sentence.
“I think to come after me so much harder than they did him is a slap in the face because this will never end for me,” she said. “It’s three years away from the two that I have left.”
‘Wired Science News for Your Neurons Black Hole Holds Universe’s Biggest Water Supply’ (So Far)
A black hole has been discovered that is 12 billion light years away. This black hole is relevant because it holds the most water we’ve been able to find in the entire universe, 140 trillion times the amount of water of all of Earth’s oceans combined. That is a whole hell of a lot of water.
Wired – “This quasar holds a black hole that’s 20 billion times more massive than the sun, and after gobbling down dust and gas it belches out as much energy as a thousand trillion suns. The water vapor is spread around the black hole in a gaseous region spanning hundreds of light years.
The water reservoir was discovered by astronomers, led by scientists at the California Institute of Technology, and using the Z-Spec instrument at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory in Hawaii and the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-Wave Astronomy (CARMA) in the Inyo Mountains of Southern California.”
Astronomers are currently working on building a telescope that will enable them to better focus on these wavelengths; It is being called the CCAT (Cornell Caltech Atacama Telescope). They are hoping to begin construction in 2013 and have it all finished by 2017.
The fact that there is water prevalent in space is a wonderful sign. The existence of water goes well beyond our knowledge, considering the length that it took the light from this black hole to travel to us. The more we learn, the more exciting the future becomes as far as observing space. Way to go on this great find!
Kat Von D and Jesse James End The Relationship
So after jackass Jesse James cheated on his wife Sandra Bullock and found himself single, he quickly snagged young tattoo artist Kat Von D. The 29-year-old has a new season of LA Ink, which is set to air this Thursday (July 28th) and you can see many of the struggles of their relationship throughout the season.
LA Times – “I am no longer w Jesse, and out of respect for him, his family and myself, thats all the info I’d like to share. Thanks for respecting that,” 29-year-old Kat Von D said late Monday on Twitter.
Jesse James has been heard mentioning that the relationship was too difficult due to the distance. I would be willing to bet it was too difficult for him to keep it in his pants and realized that he’d be caught cheating yet again unless he ended this.
Many people had wondered why James was living in Texas. Quite simply, he wanted his children to be closer to his ex (Ms. Bullock), with whom they had a very close relationship. At least he has his childrens best interest in mind.
I personally am happy to see this relationship come to an end. I may be critical because I love Sandra Bullock, but I think that this man acts like a child and in turn, wanted to date a child (Kat Von D). Kat is 29-years-old and seems to be slightly less mature, no screw that, a lot less mature than Ms. Bullock. Although, I would never want Jesse James to be with Sandra Bullock ever again either.
‘ABC News Bans Paying Interview Subjects’
The Hollywood Reporter - “ABC News has announced the end of its policy of paying subjects licensing fees for photos and video in exchange for interviews, says news president Ben Sherwood.
‘We can book just about anyone based on the strength of our journalism, the excellence of our anchors, correspondents, and producers, and the size of our audience. These licensing deals had become a crutch, and an unnecessary one,’ ABC spokesperson Jeffrey Schneider tells The Daily Beast.”
The network has been scrutinized lately for paying individuals for photos, especially Casey Anthony in 2008, shortly before she was arrested. Anthony was paid $200,000 before being charged with the murder of daughter, Caylee. I can’t help but wonder if she used this money to pay her defense attorney. I mean, she sells photos of her “missing” daughter for that amount of money, and then gets off due to reasonable doubt.
ABC has also reported that it paid a woman who allegedly had relations with Mr. Weiner. While this is typical in this industry, they’re hoping that they can get people to hand over photos as well as partake in interviews based on the reliability of the source itself. I can’t help but wonder if this will hurt them because there are so many other agencies out there that will continue to pay; And unfortunately, money talks.
“Will we lose a booking here and there? Sure,” he said. “Are those lost bookings equal to the credibility of ABC News? Not in any way, shape, or form.”
‘Study Shows Racial Wealth Gap Grows Wider’
NPR – “There’s long been a big gap between the wealth of white families and the wealth of African-Americans and Hispanics. But the Great Recession has made it much worse — the divide is almost twice what it used to be.”
The Pew Research Center conducted a new study which led to the results, which they feel is majorly due to the housing market. Being that we’re currently in a recession and the housing market is doing so poorly, we are now seeing a wider gap between the income earned amongst white, black, and hispanic families.
“The numbers are astounding. The median wealth of a white family in 2009 was 20 times greater than that of the average black family, and 18 times greater than the average Hispanic family. In other words, the average white family had $113,149 in net worth, compared to $6,325 for Hispanics and $5,677 for blacks.
That’s the largest gap since the government began collecting the data a quarter of a century ago, and twice what it was before the start of the Great Recession.”
For more information on the Real Estate Downturn, read the FULL ARTICLE
No More Red Light Tickets in Los Angeles!
A red-light camera is posted at La Brea Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard. Critics say the photo enforcement program is flawed because the vast majority of the 180,000-plus camera-issued tickets since 2004 have been for illegal right-hand turns. (Glenn Koenig, Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles Times – “Motorists who get tickets under the city’s controversial red-light camera program can shrug them off, Los Angeles officials agreed Monday.
That was one of the few points of consensus to emerge from a three-hour City Council committee hearing on the future of the much-debated photo enforcement system. The session ended with a recommendation to stop issuing citations at the end of the month and “phase out” the program.
Richard M. Tefank, executive director of the city’s Board of Police Commissioners, told the Budget and Finance Committee that the tickets are part of a ‘voluntary payment program’ without sanctions for those who fail to submit fines.
‘The consequence is somebody calling you from one of these collection agencies and saying ‘pay up.’ And that’s it,’ said committee member and Councilman Bill Rosendahl. ‘There’s no real penalty in terms of your driver’s license or any other consequences if you don’t pay.’”