Poetry in stone jalakandeeswarar temple , vellore

Don’t Underestimate the Simple Power of Writing Down Your Goals

Having dreams is one thing; actually accomplishing them is quite another, especially given the fact that relentless fantasizing may actually reduce one's odds of achieving goals. So it's no surprise that motivation researchers are interested in how to best bridge this gap. New research suggests a surprisingly simple, powerful method, at least for students: Simply write down your goals.

Over at NPR, education reporter Anya Kamenetz details the results of new research from University of Toronto professor Jordan Peterson, who recorded what happened when 700 students did a short writing exercise over the course of two years. Specifically, Peterson asked the students to think about their lives, especially pivotal moments from the past that helped shape who they are. Then, they were to use these memories to help design a path toward achieving their future goals, something Peterson calls "self-authoring."

Because these were students, a prerequisite to achieving many of their larger goals involved staying in school and completing their coursework. And in the end, the students who did the self-authoring exercise completed more course credit and were more likely to have stayed in school than the students in the control group, who had not done the writing assignment. Even more important, Kamenetz notes, "after two years, ethnic and gender-group differences in performance among the students had all but disappeared." In other words, the achievement gap between the minority and white students narrowed.

Here's what might help explain these results:
Peterson believes that formal goal-setting can especially help minority students overcome what's often called "stereotype threat," or, in other words, to reject the damaging belief that generalizations about ethnic-group academic performance will apply to them personally. ... Writing down their internal motivations and connecting daily efforts to blue-sky goals may have helped these young people solidify their identifies as students.

One big fat caveat here: Peterson's got a personal, financial investment in this self-authoring idea, as he's selling the curriculum online; so far, Kamenetz reports, some universities in the Netherlands are showing interest. But the idea behind self-authoring is sound, as it taps into what researchers call a growth mind-set, the idea that adopting the mind-set that your strengths and abilities are not fixed, but can improve over time and with effort, can have self-fulfilling results. And on a purely practical level, the writing exercise might have forced the students to consider the potential obstacles they might face and to connect the drudgery of everyday undergraduate life with their longer-term goals. The simple act of writing, as Peterson notes to NPR, "is more powerful than people think."

Courtesy: Science of US Author:  Melissa Dahl

http://psychpedia.blogspot.com

Why did muslim rulers destroy Hindu temples by Dr. Ram Punyani.

 Mahmud Ghaznavi (ca. 1000 CE); during the actual conquest of North India by Mohammed Ghori and his lieutenants (1192 ff.); and under theDelhi Sultanate (1206-1526).”

He ( Koenraad Elst) also writes in his book “Negation in India”:

“The Muslim conquests, down to the 16th century, were for the Hindus a pure struggle of life and death. Entire cities were burnt down and the populations massacred, with hundreds of thousands killed in every campaign, and similar numbers deported as slaves. Every new invader made (often literally) his hills of Hindus skulls. Thus, the conquest of Afghanistan in the year 1000 was followed by the annihilation of the Hindu population; the region is still called the Hindu Kush, i.e. Hindu slaughter.”

ANCIENT NAVAL DEFENCE SYSTEM IN BHARAT! HISTORY BOOKS WON'T TELL YOU!!

Even before the accounts of the 1st century BC, there were written accounts of Shipbuilding and war-craft at sea. Professor R.C. Majumdar says that there existed a comprehensive book of Naval-architecture in India datingback to 2nd century BC, if not earlier.
During the reign of Raja Raja and his son, there were a complex classification of class of vessels and its utility. Some of the survived classes' name and utility are below.
The close diplomatics tie between the Song dynasty of China and the Medieval Cholas facilitated many technological innovations to travel both ways. The more interesting ones to have reached Chinese shores are:
*. The famous Chola ship-designs employing independent water tight compartments in the hull of a ship.
*. The mariner's compass
*. The continuously shooting Flamethrowers for naval warfare.
*. Dharani - The equivalent of modern-day destroyers designed to take combat to high-seas.
*. Loola - The equivalent of modern day Corvettes ; designed to perform light combat and escort duties.
*. Vajra - The equivalent of a Frigate maybe, a fast attack craft lightly armored.
*. Thirisadai - Probably the battle cruisers or battleships of the day, they are reported to be armored heavily and could engage more than 2 targets in combat, and relied on its built rather than speed to survive and attack.
Though all ships of the time employed a small Marine force (for boarding enemy vessels), this class of ship seems to have had aseparate cabins and training area for them. This ship also is said to be able to engage in asymmetrical warfare.
Dharani The primary weapons platform with extensive endurance (up to3 months), they normally engaged in groups and avoided one on one encounters. Probably equivalent to modern day Destroyers .
Lola They were lightly armored, fast attack vessels. Normally performed escort duties. They could not perform frontal assaults. Equivalent to modern day Corvettes.
Vajara They were highly capable fast attack crafts, typically used to reinforce/rescue a stranded fleet. Probably equivalent to modern day Frigates .
Thirisadai The heaviest class known, they had extensive war-fighting capabilities and endurance, with a dedicated marine force of around 400 Marines to board enemy vessels. They are reported to be able to engage three vessels of Dharani class, hence the name Thirisadai , which means, three braids . (Braid was also the time's name for oil-fire.)
Apart from class definitions, there are names of Royal Yachts and their architecture. Some of which are,
*. Akramandham - A royal Yacht with the Royal quarters in the stern.
*. Neelamandham - A royal Yacht with extensive facilities for conducting courts and accommodation for hi-officials/ministers.
*. Sarpammugam - these were smaller yachts used in the Rivers (with ornamental snake heads)
In addition to these, we find many names of Ship classes in Purananuru and its application inboth inland waters and open oceans. Some of them are,
*. Yanthiram - Hybrid ship employing bot sails and oars or probably Paddle wheels of some type (as Yanthiram is literally translated to mechanicalwheel)
*. Kalam - Large vessels with 3 masts which can travel in any direction irrespective of winds.
*. Punai - medium sized vessels that can be used to coastal shipping as well as inland.
*. Patri - Large barge type vessel used to ferrying trade goods.
*. Oodam - Small boat with large oars.
*. Ambi - Medium sized boat with a single mast and oars.
*. Toni - small boat used in rocky terrain.

APJ Abdul Kalam Former President of India and renowned scientist died

Former President of India and renowned scientist APJ Abdul Kalam died after he was hospitalized in a very critical condition at a private hospital in Meghalaya's capital Shillong on Monday.

Kalam, 84, arrived at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Shillong, at 6pm to deliver lecture to post graduate students of the institute. He reached Shillong by road from Guwahati. He was supposed to addressed the students till 10.40pm on the same day.

After he reached IIM-Shillong, he collapsed around 7pm while delivering lecture to students and was rushed to a nearest private hospital.

The former President was also supposed to address the students from 10am to 12.30pm on Tuesday.

An IIM-Shillong faculty said that Kalam has been visiting the institute for last three years to address the students. This year it was Kalam's third visit to IIM-Shillong on Monday.

Kalam was the 11th President of India and held the post from July 25, 2002 to July 25, 2007.

He was a renowned scientist and is considered to be the main brain behind India's space launch vehicle (SLV) and missile programme.

Assam and Nagaland governor, PB Acharya said that the nation has suffered a great loss in the demise of Kalam. Acharya said that Kalam is not only a former president but also a highly respected scientist internationally.

In 2012 Kalam was in Guwahati where he attended the 14th convocation function of IIT-Guwahati. Speaking at the convocation function, Kalam told students that wanted to see a "silent" Brahmaputra emerging into a "smart" waterway in the country. Kalam told the students that it is his dream to make Brahmaputra the most vibrant waterway in the country.

"Brahmaputra is very close to me. Yesterday and even today I visited the river. It is a silent river with limited activities now. My dream is to see Brahmaputra become a smart waterway in the country," Kalam had said then.

The government has declared a 7-day national mourning as a mark of respect for the departed former President.

 கல்லூரி படிப்பின்போது அப்துல்கலாம் எடுத்துக்கொண்ட குரூப் போட்டோ. (அப்துல் கலாம் உருவம் வட்டமிட்டுக்காட்டப்பட்டுள்ளது).
 இதே புகைபடத்தில் கடைசி வரிசை இடமிருந்து வலம் 5ஆம் நபர் எழுத்தாளர் சுஜாதா அவர்கள் இருவரும் திருச்சி செயின்ட் ஜோசேப் கல்லூரியின் இயற்பியல் பாடபிரிவில் ஒன்றாக படித்தவர்கள் நல்ல தோழர்கள்

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is a Scientist Without any Formal PhD Degree.
Yes you read it right he didn't have PhD Degree from any Famous Institution.
He was Rejected by Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore because he didn't have Requisite Scientific Credentials. Within a Decade he received Honorary PhD Degrees from more than 30 Institutions making him the one of Greatest Scientist of India.

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Awards and honours
2014------->Doctor of Science
2012------->Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa)
2011------->IEEE Honorary Membership
2010------->Doctor of Engineering
2009------->Honorary Doctorate
2009------->Hoover Medal
2009------->International von Kármán Wings Award
2008------->Doctor of Engineering (Honoris Causa)
2007------->King Charles II Medal
2007------->Honorary Doctorate of Science
2000------->Ramanujan Award
1998------->Veer Savarkar Award
1997------->Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration
1997------->Bharat Ratna
1994------->Distinguished Fellow
1990------->Padma Vibhushan
1981------->Padma Bhushan

Five Ways Dreams Can Help at the End of Life (And How You Can Help Your Dreams Now)

The end of life is a powerful, emotionally wrenching, and often profoundly spiritual time. I have been talking with people who are dying and with their families (I define family as all those who are emotionally close to the person who is dying. They might be related by blood, marriage, love, or friendship. Family members can be caregivers, but not all caregivers are family) for more than twenty years as both a social worker and a volunteer, and I have seen how often people's night time dreams help them find peace at the end of life. When I first began asking, "How are your dreams these days?," I was surprised at how many people were pleased and grateful to be talking about something other than their illness. Some responded by entertaining me with bits of dream adventures while others launched into discussions about religion and science. Sometimes people invited me into the very heart of their lives. What I learned from all of them eventually led me to write Dreams at the Threshold: Guidance, Comfort, and Healing at the End of Life, a book that explores the powerful support dreams offer the dying and their loved ones. 

Dreams help the dying and their families focus on what matters most for them. Dreams help people open the important but difficult conversations they need to have with each other. Dreams become extraordinary when they help people who are dying imagine where they are going or reveal glimpses of a possible afterlife. Grief dreams give solace to the bereaved, so much so that some people learn how to influence their dreams, and eventually build a trusting relationship with them. More than anything, dreams help people love each other as deeply and honestly as they can. Below are five ways that dreams help at the end of life.

1. Dreams Focus on What Matters
   Have you ever reached the end of a day and wondered what you did with your time? Daily life can get so filled with the basic tasks of daily living (work, groceries, laundry, car repair, feed the kids, get the kids to feed the parrot) that we forget to pay attention to what matters to our soul. At the end of life these daily tasks multiply. People need help with basic tasks such as bathing, dressing, or walking across the room. All of this extra work, however, is set against the backdrop of a frightening and limited future.
   
   When time becomes short, many people turn their attention back to their heart's longing, often with help from their dreams. A man who is estranged from his children dreams of asking them or their forgiveness and when he wakes he knows it is time to call them. A woman who farmed all her adult life dreams of digging her hands into the soil and wakes knowing she needs to feel the earth in her hands one last time. A woman dreams she is a ballet dancer again, spinning on point for her family, and decides to leave her grandchildren a record of all the decisions—her personal turning points, she explains with a smile—that formed who she is. (Please note that the above examples are composites of many different people I've met over twenty years and do not describe any individual person).
   
   These are dreams of the soul, helping to point the dreamers straight into the heart of whatever made this life uniquely theirs. Dreams can help people focus on what has been most important to them.
 
2. Dreams Open Important Conversations
   In all of the examples above, the dreamers felt inspired to talk with their families about what they needed most for their life. The man who dreamed of forgiveness expressed his love and regret for the first time in years. The retired farmer asked for help getting to a nearby patch of earth. The former ballet dancer passed along to her family the lessons she had learned over a lifetime. Some people use their dreams to open the most delicate conversations of how they wanted to be remembered, or what they would like for their funeral.
   
   An elderly woman who was hospitalized with a severe illness listened as her children encouraged her to try a new treatment. (The full story can be found in Dreams At the Threshold.) Then she told them all she had a dream in which her late husband came and told her he was waiting for her. After telling this dream she was then able to say out loud that she was ready to die, something that might have shocked them if she hadn't first described her husband's dream visit. Her dream helped relieve her children of the natural guilt they felt at not being able to make her well again, and reassured them that she knew she would be all right. She died in peace with them at her bedside a few days later.
   
   Dreams encourage people to listen to their hearts' longing, and sometimes—sometimes—help people show their unguarded hearts to those they love. For many family members these conversations remain treasured memories for the rest of their lives.
 
3. Dreams Prepare the Dying for a Journey
   As death approaches, many people dream more often of traveling or moving. In their dreams they pack their clothes in suitcases and box up their belongings. They close up their stores and lock the doors behind them. They buy tickets for boats, buses, and airplanes, and consult maps to destinations they can't quite remember the next morning. Some will complain to family of waiting in line or struggling with heavy boxes, and fret about whether they will miss their connections.
   
   In these dreams death no longer feels like the cessation of life, but more like a transition to something new. As dreamers engage in the familiar tasks of travel, they remember what it feels like to anticipate a trip. The excitement of a new adventure can linger for several days after such a dream, and dreamers and families alike draw comfort from it.
   
   These dreams show a future in which the dreamers are still themselves after they have separated from their loved ones. The dreams assume the dreamer is not heading into an abyss of nothingness but instead is moving to a new place, albeit an unfamiliar one. The dream gives people new courage to say goodbye by giving a glimpse of what is coming next, and the dreamers turn their eyes to a horizon that now holds more promise than dread.
 
4. Dreams Bring the Dying Loving Visitors
   As people draw closer to death they are sometimes visited in their dreams by loved ones who have long since died. Occasionally people dream about religious figures coming to greet them, but much more often they are visited by people who have loved them: parents, grandparents, children, brothers, and sisters. Whatever fears or hurts the visitors might have had when they were living are now long forgotten, and they show the dreamer only a radiant, constant love.
   
   Research shows most visitations take place in vivid dreams, but sometimes the dying person is awake, making the visitation less like a dream and more like a vision. The visitor might sit on the bed or lean against the window or linger by the door, invisible to all but the dying person. They bring comfort, love, and companionship at a time when people feel most alone, and they all make the same promise.
   
   Visitation visitors, whether in the dream or in a waking vision, promise they have come to help guide the dying over the threshold of death. They offer no hints about from where they've come or what they've been doing, but they show themselves as ready to guide their loved one on to whatever is next beyond the moment of death. Sometimes the one who is dying is ready to go but the visitor says not yet. Sometimes the dying person is not ready but the visitor gently says now, and the person dies.
   
   The emotional impact of visitation dreams can be profound. The dying feel more accepting of death and more willing to move forward, sure now that existence continues beyond life. Families feel relieved and grateful when they see their loved ones smile and reach out for someone they themselves can't see. For some these visits feel like a glimpse into the world beyond this one, and they are filled with hope.
 
5. Dreams Connect Mourners with Those They Love
   There are many ways grief dreams help those in mourning live with grief. Families and caregivers, friends, and distant relatives may all have grief dreams as they come to grips with a painful new reality. Some dreams play over the final moments of the loved one's life, leaving dreamers with a raw pain when they awaken. Some bring images that reflect the enormity of the loss—like the wind blowing through an empty house—and dreamers wake with a better understanding of their emotions.
   
   But the grief dreams most people treasure, even long for, are the ones in which the person who died returns and reassures the dreamer that they are physically and emotionally whole again, safe, and still loving them from afar. Some of these grief dreams are so vivid that the dreamers are sure they have seen their loved one again. They wake knowing their loved one has come back from the other side miraculously unscathed, bringing messages of love, comfort, and reassurance. The dreams give mourners another chance to say what they most need to say: goodbye, I love you, please forgive me, I forgive you, I will remember you. Just one grief dream of a loved one looking happy and healthy again can soften the sharpest edges of grief.
   
   Grief dreams can be so comforting that some people seek out help to learn how to find their loved one in a dream. I have met several dream workers who teach their clients how to help their dreams bring a visit from their deceased loved ones.

How You Can Help Your Dreams
Dream workers know that dreams often reflect what we do and experience during the day. Our dreaming minds and waking minds are engaged in a conversation every day, whether or not we are aware of it. When we are under stress we might dream of falling or being chased, and when we succeed we sometimes dream of celebrations or flying.
By becoming more aware of this conversation, you can have more of a say in what your dreams bring you. You won't ever be able to control your dreams, but you can influence what you dream about. Here are three steps you can take now to build a stronger relationship with your dreams.

1. The first step is to remember the conversation you are already having with your dreams. Start by telling yourself just before you go to sleep that you want to remember your dreams. Your dreaming mind will hear that simple statement as an invitation to retain the images as you wake up. Some people put a notebook and pen by their bed or download a dream application, and then record the dreams they remember.
 
2. The second step is to think about the dreams you remember. Play the dream over in your head when you first wake up. Even if you don't write anything down, thinking about the dream for just a few minutes will engage your conscious mind with your dreaming mind. Then ask yourself two questions: What did you feel in the dream? And what does the dream remind you of? With these two questions you are building a bridge between your waking life and your dreaming mind. You are helping your dream learn what is most important to you, and what kind of dreams you will remember in the future.
 
3. Finally, trust that you can make your own sense of your dreams in whatever way works for you. Trust that your dream is a part of you and that it reflects what you want from your life. If you want to explore a dream further, find a dream dictionary online or in any bookstore or library. If your dream makes absolutely no sense, let it go and look for the next one. Another dream will arrive soon enough, whether or not you understand this one. Start with trying to understand some dreams sometimes, and soon you will find more of your dreams making more sense.
   
   Then let the dream go. Building a relationship with your dreams means trusting not just the dream, but also your own readiness to think about them. If you are like me, your dreams have already shown they are sturdy enough to withstand being ignored. As you remember your dreams you will see they are strong enough to engage your wildest fears and brightest hopes, and they are polite enough to fade away when you turn your attention to something else. You will find your dreams are, in fact, you—they are the product of your dreaming mind as much as your emotions are part of your waking mind. You have the ultimate say in how many dreams you will remember and what you will do with them. And if you decide not to remember your dreams right now, be assured they will return when you look for them again.

Most of us in Western culture have been taught that dreams are nothing more than our brains spluttering out nonsense. At the end of life, however, dreams often reveal themselves as a strong, supportive ally. They can be funny, bold, irrational, frightening, reassuring, and insightful. They frequently offer hope and comfort when we are feeling vulnerable and afraid. Best of all, they can remind us of our emotional strengths, our spiritual beliefs, and our most pressing life goals. They help us deepen our emotional bonds with the people we love and they gently lead us back, over and over, to the wonder of our hearts.

Jeanne Van Bronkhorst

What is dark energy?

The so-called mystery of Dark Energy

Currently fashionable presentations of Dark Energy routinely begin with questions such as "how can we solve the mystery of Dark Energy?" One is seldom told why or how is Dark Energy a mystery, and is never really told what Dark Energy is.

There are very good reasons for this. The long and short of it is that Dark Energy - as conceived by our modern physicists - is a fanciful notion that would bring a Mona Lisa smile even to Einstein's lips. There is no proof that it exists, but it must exist, solely because it is universally agreed that: 1) the universe had a beginning; 2) the universe is expanding; 3) the known mass-energy of the universe cannot account for the supposed rate of expansion. Add to this that, somehow, by more recent so-called computations, this rate of expansion is accelerating, and one obtains all the ingredients for a modern scientific religion - a metaphysics of physics. Note that all of these requirements were Einstein's legacy (for all that he would have smiled!); but please remark further that, despite thousands of papers published on the subject, there is literally no experimental evidence for any of them. Hence, it is all a matter of credo quia absurdum est.

Indeed, the idea that the universe had a beginning is nothing more than an interpretation, and at that, one that is not legitimized by the First Law of Conservation of Energy. That the universe is expanding is not the result of any direct observation, but of yet another interpretation - of Redshifts and Blueshifts. And that the total measurement of mass-energy would have to account for the constraints of an interpretive model, is simply a self-validating requirement for which there can be no independent experimental proof. As for the acceleration of that expansion - well, it's all in the eyes of the beholders. All of this should have put Einstein's legacy into question. But it didn't. Instead, it produced yet another false problem: if there is not enough Matter in the universe, not enough Dark Matter, then there must be some Dark Energy.

The twists and turns of the argument are remarkable. And they indicate just how obstinate, desperate orthodoxies are - in their refusal to alter the parameters of a field of inquiry or investigation - and the extent to which they're willing to go on co-opting, patching, mending with sheer spit, models that have obviously outlived their usefulness.

Ask yourself - what would it mean to Albert Einstein to hear Dark Energy spoken of as distinct from Dark Matter or Dark Mass?? And why make the distinction when, by Dark Energy, physicists mean the most massive particle that supposedly exists? Albert undoubtedly would have exclaimed: "it's nothing more than a marketing gimmick!" And he wouldn't have been far from the truth, even if for the wrong reasons. For, indeed, according to Einstein, all energy is mass, carries mass, affects mass - and energy and mass interconvert. Mass, says Albert, is an intrinsic property of all energy. These authors happen to think he was wrong, but that is what Albert said. The mass-property of all energy was even supposed to apply to kinetic energy! - which is how DeBroglie got his Matter Waves going with a relativistic solution. There could never be Dark Energy without mass. And there could never be mass less energy. Not, at least, according to Albert. Anyway, this is a minor detail, since the Dark Energy that our particle physicists talk about is only 'massless' for laughs - it was 'massless' in a distant past, but is super massive today.

In truth, the import of uncertainty has been so abused in physics, by physicists, that they literally do not know what Dark Energy is. That is to say, they are not just uncertain about it, they are totally uncertain, ie completely confused. It's hardly surprising, then, that when they speak, they are inclined to say precisely nothing. Here, for example, is Rocky Kolb, of Fermilab, U. of Chicago:

We do not know, but it is known that exists because it HAS a property, at least but not last.

An example of how tenure precedes essence. And it does not really matter for the fate of the universe what is. The irrelevance of "to be". Just want to know what has, of its own, qualities that are essential, but not if essence itself, that is sufficient to note their properties and to answer this very human question that is lost in the mists of time to predict the future holds for us our Universe.

Even if dark energy does not exist (in essence) as some theories postulate, the observed effects would continue demanding (in possession). Whereby gravity must have some properties that we have not identified to date, as also theorized to explain the observed phenomena of universal accelerated expansion.

In short, to have or not have, that is the question for existence.

Amazing Facts About Human Body ::

1. The human has 70,000 miles of blood vessels.
2. Human teeth are almost as hard as rocks.
3. The stomach of an adult can hold 1.5 liters of material.
4. There are 400 species of bacteria in the human colon.
5. There are more than 640 muscles in human body.
6. On average, a person has two million sweat glands.
7. The surface of the human skin is 6.5 square feet (2m).
8. The brain has no sensation of pain, even when it is cut.
9. Our eyes never grow, our nose and ears never stop growing.
10. The sneez can exceed the speed of 100 mph.
11. It requires the use of 72 muscles to speak a single word.
12. A kiss for one minute can burn 26 calories. wink emoticon
13. A blink of an eye lasts about one-tenth of a second.
14. A man's beard contains between 7,000 and 15,000 hairs.
15. The average human blinks their eyes 6,205,000 times each year.
16. There are 1,200,000 fibers in a human optic nerve.
17. You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.
18. The life span of a taste bud is 10 days.
19. In a lifetime, an average human produces 10,000 gallons of saliva.
20. The kidneys filter over 400 gallons of blood each day.

Graphene-based film can be used for efficient cooling of electronics.

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have developed a method for efficiently cooling electronics using graphene based film. The film has a thermal conductivity capacity that is four times that of copper. Moreover, the graphene film is attachable to electronic components made of silicon, which favours the film's performance compared to typical graphene characteristics shown in previous, similar experiments.

Electronic systems available today accumulate a great deal of heat, mostly due to the ever-increasing demand on functionality. Getting rid of excess heat in efficient ways is imperative to prolonging electronic lifespan, and would also lead to a considerable reduction in energy usage. According to an American study, approximately half the energy required to run computer servers, is used for cooling purposes alone.

A couple of years ago, a research team led by Johan Liu, professor at Chalmers University of Technology, were the first to show that graphene can have a cooling effect on silicon based electronics.That was the starting point for researchers conducting research on the cooling of silicon-based electronics using graphene. "But the methods that have been in place so far have presented the researchers with problems," Johan Liu says. "It has become evident that those methods cannot be used to rid electronic devices off great amounts of heat, because they have consisted only of a few layers of thermal conductive atoms. When you try to add more layers of graphene, another problem arises, a problem with adhesiveness.

After having increased the amount of layers, the graphene no longer will adhere to the surface, since the adhesion is held together only by weak van der Waals bonds." "We have now solved this problem by managing to create strong covalent bonds between the graphene film and the surface, which is an electronic component made of silicon," he continues.

The stronger bonds result from so-called functionalisation of the graphene, i.e. the addition of a property-altering molecule. Having tested several different additives, the Chalmers researchers concluded that an addition of (3-Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) molecules has the most desired effect. When heated and put through hydrolysis, it creates so-called silane bonds between the graphene and the electronic component (see picture).

Moreover, functionalisation using silane coupling doubles the thermal conductivity of the graphene. The researchers have shown that the in-plane thermal conductivity of the graphene-based film, with 20 micrometer thickness, can reach a thermal conductivity value of 1600 W/mK, which is four times that of copper.

"Increased thermal capacity could lead to several new applications for graphene," says Johan Liu. "One example is the integration of graphene-based film into microelectronic devices and systems, such as highly efficient Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), lasers and radio frequency components for cooling purposes. Graphene-based film could also pave the way for faster, smaller, more energy efficient, sustainable high power electronics."

The research was conducted in collaboration l with Shanghai University in China, Ecole Centrale Paris and EM2C -- CNRS in France, and SHT Smart High Tech in Sweden.

SOURCE: Science Daily.

What Determines The Value of Something?

Our perception of our own self-worth is how we ultimately judge the value of anything outside of ourselves. It could be anything…a relationship, a great functional pair of shoes, or a reliable piece of technology. You never know how valuable something is until it’s gone and you rarely realize it while you have it. When we appreciate everything in our lives, we have a sense of gratitude for the simple things that make a difference. The more you are grateful, the more things will come into your life to be grateful for, and consequently value becomes a constant rather than something wavering.

Self-respect is one of the most crucial aspects of our lives. If we do not understand how to appreciate ourselves and our worth, how can we ever expect others to?

There are social and cultural systems at play which influence our views and personal values. From the time we start school to the time we enter our career path, society is constantly trying to guide our emotions in an effort to make us feel incomplete, or below par, if we don‘t buy what they are selling. This affects our self-worth and self-respect.

“Consumption-Vanity Disorder” is an invented disease as are the thousands of others fabricated by our modern medical paradigm, but with one exception – it is a disease of the mass mental mindset and unlike the fictionalized diagnoses of other medical maladies, this one is a reality. It has spread not through a mutating virus or genetic predisposition - but through cultural “Memes” - turning the world into a cesspool of mini-malls, fashion obsessions, fake boobs and belligerent gadgetry.

These distorted views cause us to underestimate the value of many things in our lives. We place the highest value on things, relationships and experiences before we have them, and then once we do, that value diminishes over time. Only once we’ve lost what we have valued do we appreciate that value at the same or higher level before we had it in the first place.

When we place greater importance on external validation rather than internal validation those distortions are amplified. It’s human nature to want the approval of others, but it should not be the standard by which we gauge our own worth.

This does not come easy so a conscious effort must be consistently made on a day-to-day basis. A lack of self-respect can, and most often does, result in depression and self-destructive behaviors. We need to reinforce our positive qualities and actively try to fix our negative qualities. When everything else in the world fails we will always have our self-respect to fall back on. How we feel about ourselves affects every single aspect of our life.

We need to develop an empowering belief about our own worth as a person, and it should form the basis for our personal validation. External validation should be used to reinforce our beliefs, not as a basis for them.

Never allow someone else’s opinion of you to shape your view of yourself. Practice giving sincere approval to yourself every single day.
By achieving this, you set boundaries for your life and your relationships. Self-respect and self-esteem play hand in hand with one another. Self-esteem gives you the confidence to succeed and without it you are simply placing limitations on yourself.

How much stuff we own has absolutely nothing to do with our personal value. Your contributions are much more important than your acquisitions. Giving from the heart is a reflection of your inner self. It speaks of who you are, not how much you can afford.

Making personal value judgments based on material assets is for shallow thinkers only. Leave that thinking for the creditors. We don’t want to think that way, and we don’t need to be influenced by those who do.

This one seems obvious enough, and yet our culture often places greater value on flash. Never mistake looks, abilities, outrageous behavior or material wealth as a measure of self-worth. Substance is the name of the game. No matter how nicely wrapped a package is, the important thing is what’s inside.

The same is true of people, it’s what’s inside that counts. When we are true to our personal ethics, we have integrity. When we care about the welfare of others, we have compassion. When we give without expecting anything in return, we are generous.

Cultivate these qualities and you will be a person of substance. What a wonderful basis for a strong sense of self-worth and feelings of true value.

Try counting your positives and be grateful for all the good things and people in your life. If you’re concerned about wealth and success, know that these can be whatever you like. Abundance comes in many forms. If you’re healthy, think about how many people are counting their last breath. If you don’t have as much money as you would like, think about the millions of parents in the world that cannot even feed their families. Perhaps redefining what wealth and abundance are may go a long way.

Josh Richardson

From mountains to moons: Multiple discoveries from NASA’s New Horizons Pluto mission..

Icy mountains on Pluto and a new, crisp view of its largest moon, Charon, are among the several discoveries announced Wednesday by the NASA's New Horizons team, just one day after the spacecraft's first ever Pluto flyby. "Pluto New Horizons is a true mission of exploration showing us why basic scientific research is so important," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "The mission has had nine years to build expectations about what we would see during closest approach to Pluto and Charon. Today, we get the first sampling of the scientific treasure collected during those critical moments, and I can tell you it dramatically surpasses those high expectations."

"Home run!" said Alan Stern, principal investigator for New Horizons at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado. "New Horizons is returning amazing results already. The data look absolutely gorgeous, and Pluto and Charon are just mind blowing."

A new close-up image of an equatorial region near the base of Pluto's bright heart-shaped feature shows a mountain range with peaks jutting as high as 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) above the surface of the icy body.

The mountains on Pluto likely formed no more than 100 million years ago -- mere youngsters in a 4.56-billion-year-old solar system. This suggests the close-up region, which covers about one percent of Pluto's surface, may still be geologically active today. "This is one of the youngest surfaces we've ever seen in the solar system," said Jeff Moore of the New Horizons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging Team (GGI) at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

Unlike the icy moons of giant planets, Pluto cannot be heated by gravitational interactions with a much larger planetary body. Some other process must be generating the mountainous landscape. "This may cause us to rethink what powers geological activity on many other icy worlds," says GGI deputy team leader John Spencer at SwRI.

The new view of Charon reveals a youthful and varied terrain. Scientists are surprised by the apparent lack of craters. A swath of cliffs and troughs stretching about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) suggests widespread fracturing of Charon's crust, likely the result of internal geological processes. The image also shows a canyon estimated to be 4 to 6 miles (7 to 9 kilometers) deep. In Charon's north polar region, the dark surface markings have a diffuse boundary, suggesting a thin deposit or stain on the surface.

New Horizons also observed the smaller members of the Pluto system, which includes four other moons: Nix, Hydra, Styx and Kerberos. A new sneak-peak image of Hydra is the first to reveal its apparent irregular shape and its size, estimated to be about 27 by 20 miles (43 by 33 kilometers).

The observations also indicate Hydra's surface is probably coated with water ice. Future images will reveal more clues about the formation of this and the other moon billions of years ago. Spectroscopic data from New Horizons' Ralph instruments reveal an abundance of methane ice, but with striking differences among regions across the frozen surface of Pluto.

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland designed, built and operates the New Horizons spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. SwRI leads the mission, science team, payload operations and encounter science planning. New Horizons is part of NASA's New Frontiers Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

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Freezing single atoms to absolute zero with microwaves brings quantum technology closer.

Physicists at the University of Sussex have found a way of using everyday technology found in kitchen microwaves and mobile telephones to bring quantum physics closer to helping solve enormous scientific problems that the most powerful of today's supercomputers cannot even begin to embark upon.

A team led by Professor Winfried Hensinger has frozen single charged atoms to within a millionth of a degree of absolute zero (minus 273.15°C) with the help of microwave radiation. This technique will simplify the construction of 'quantum technology devices' including powerful quantum sensors, ultra-fast quantum computers, and ultra-stable quantum clocks. Quantum technologies make use of highly strange and counterintuitive phenomena predicted by the theory of quantum physics.

"The use of long-wavelength radiation instead of laser technology to cool ions can tremendously simplify the construction of practical quantum technology devices enabling us to build real devices much faster," said Professor Hensinger.

Once quantum technology is harnessed into practical devices it has the potential to completely change everyday life again -- just as computers have already done. Quantum technologies may one day revolutionise our understanding of science answering open questions of biology and solving the origin of the universe and other puzzles as well as allowing for a revolution in sensing, time keeping and communications.

"By taking advantage of simple well developed technology we have be able to create a remarkably robust and simple method, which is expected to provide a stepping stone for this technology to be integrated into a breadth of different quantum technologies spanning from quantum computers to highly sensitive quantum sensors," said Professor Hensinger.

Freezing atoms puts them into the lowest possible energy and is a step towards harnessing the strange effects of quantum physics, which allow objects to exist in different states at the same time. "Besides finding an easy way to create atoms with zero-point energy, we have also managed to put the atom into a highly counter intuitive state: where it is both moving and not moving at the same time," said Professor Hensinger. Professor Hensinger's team, consisting of postdoctoral fellows Dr Seb Weidt, Dr Simon Webster, Dr Bjoern Lekitsch along with PhD students Joe Randall, Eamon Standing, Anna Rodriguez and Anna Webb, developed this new method as part of their effort to build a microwave ion trap quantum computer at the University of Sussex.

What is SmB6: Samarium hexaboride

Samarium hexaboride (SmB₆) is an intermediate-valence compound where samarium is present both as Sm²⁺ and Sm³⁺ ions at the ratio 3:7. It belongs to a class of Kondo insulators.

At temperatures above 50 K its properties are typical of a Kondo metal, with metallic electrical conductivity characterized by strongelectron scattering, whereas at low temperatures, it behaves as a non-magnetic insulator with a narrow band gap of about 4–14 meV.

The cooling-induced metal-insulator transition in SmB₆ is accompanied by a sharp increase in thermal conductivity, peaking at about 15 K. The reason for this increase is that electrons do not contribute to thermal conductivity at low temperatures, which is instead dominated by phonons. The decrease in electron concentration reduced the rate of electron-phonon scattering.

New research seems to show that it may be a topological insulator.

Its electrical resistance indicates that the material behaves as an insulator; however, its Fermi surface (an abstract boundary used to reliably predict the properties of materials) contradicts this, indicating that the material actually behaves as a good metal. At temperatures approaching absolute zero, the quantum oscillations of the material grow as the temperature declines, a behavior that contradicts both the Fermi analysis and the rules that govern conventional metals.

Researchers have identified  material (SmB6: Samarium hexaboride) that behaves as a conductor and an insulator at the same time, challenging current understanding of how materials behave, and pointing to a new type of insulating state.

(Image: PhD student Maria Kiourlappou holding a piece of SmB6)

The material, a much-studied compound called samarium hexaboride or SmB6, is an insulator at very low temperatures, meaning it resists the flow of electricity. Its resistance implies that electrons (the building blocks of electric currents) cannot move through the crystal more than an atom’s width in any direction. And yet, Sebastian and her collaborators observed electrons traversing orbits millions of atoms in diameter inside the crystal in response to a magnetic field — a mobility that is only expected in materials that conduct electricity. Calling to mind the famous wave-particle duality of quantum mechanics, the new evidence suggests SmB6 might be neither a textbook metal nor an insulator, Sebastian said, but “something more complicated that we don’t know how to imagine.”