[scifinoir2] A new force of gravity called gravitomagnetism
My husband His found this earlier today. Gravity's secret * 11 November 2006 * NewScientist.com news service * Stuart Clark Gravitomagnetism Enlarge image Gravitomagnetism Gravity has a secret side. As well as the brute force that holds us to the ground, large masses should also exert a subtle swirling influence when they rotate, a force called gravitomagnetism. It's so faint that a NASA spacecraft called Gravity Probe B has been orbiting the Earth for over two years to accrue enough evidence to have a chance of confirming this force. Yet in a lab in Austria, Martin Tajmar and his team have already succeeded in detecting a faint signal that seems to be due to this elusive component of gravity. A reason for celebration? Not quite. Puzzlingly, the force they seem to have generated is vastly more powerful than anyone else expected. Despite its name, gravitomagnetism has nothing to do with magnetic fields as we think of them. According to Einstein's general theory of relativity, a rotating mass such as a planet should twist the fabric of space-time, and any object nearby should be dragged around by the vortex. It is really just another case of matter telling space-time how to curve and space-time telling matter how to move. Just as a stationary mass creates a dip in space-time that we perceive as gravity, a rotating mass creates a twist in space-time. This gravitomagnetism is a feeble phenomenon: an object orbiting close to the Earth should be shifted just a few nanometres per year. In contrast, the gravitomagnetic force Tajmar's team have seen is trillions of times stronger, which is why they are treating the results so cautiously. What's more, their force is only generated by a spinning superconductor, not any other kind of matter. We cannot find a mechanism to explain this in either general relativity or quantum mechanics, says Clovis de Matos, who works at the European Space Agency in Paris and helped establish the theory behind the experiment. Their startling measurement might point towards a new quantum theory of gravity. It might even herald a futuristic technology that could be used to pull, push or levitate any object, regardless of its composition, electrical charge or shape. With so much at stake, it's no wonder Tajmar and his collaborators are treading carefully. We tried everything we could think of to make this reading go away, says Tajmar. And yet after three years and more than 250 experimental runs at the Austrian Research Centers facility in Seibersdorf, near Vienna, the gravitomagnetic signal remains. By sheer coincidence, their experiment was originally designed to investigate an old mystery about the innards of Gravity Probe B. NASA launched this spacecraft on 20 April 2004 to directly measure the effects of this long-sought-after component of gravity. The spacecraft finished collecting data in August 2005, and the science team is on course to announce its results in April next year. Gravitomagnetic fields affect spinning objects more strongly than non-spinning objects, so Gravity Probe B's detector is based around four gyroscopes. The Earth's gravitomagnetism should tilt them by 11 millionths of a degree per year. To register this minuscule shift, the gyroscopes must run as smoothly as possible, and each one contains a rotating quartz sphere so perfectly crafted that if it were blown up to the size of the Earth, the tallest mountain would be less than 3 metres high. At the size of the gyroscopes, about the diameter of a ping-pong ball, that's an accuracy of just 40 atoms' thickness. Having made something so flawless, the Gravity Probe B team realised that they had painted themselves into a corner. How do you measure a spinning, perfectly uniform sphere that has no marks on it? asks the spacecraft's principal investigator, Francis Everitt of Stanford University in California. The trick was to coat each quartz sphere in a layer of niobium. When cooled to the point where it superconducts, the niobium generates a magnetic field as it spins, whose axis is exactly the same as the sphere's axis of rotation. The team then adapted sensitive magnetometers called SQUIDs (superconducting quantum interference devices) to measure the axis of this field and so track the motion of the sphere. The result is a gyroscope 30 million times more accurate than any previously constructed. In the mid-1980s, Blas Cabrera, also of Stanford University, saw Everitt's work on these gyroscopes and realised that they offered a way to test the theory of superconductors proposed in 1957 by John Bardeen, Leon Cooper and Robert Schrieffer, known as BCS theory. It says that when the temperature of the material falls below the critical temperature for superconductivity, pairs of electrons overcome their normal repulsion and join into bound systems known as Cooper pairs. Cabrera realised that since the gyroscope's magnetic field is due
[scifinoir2] Woman Offers Self for Video Game Gold
To step away for a moment from the heaviness of homicidal maniacs, suicide bombers in Iraq, and administration missteps... For those of you who don't pay attention to the video game world, it's a multi-billion dollar market that by most accounts is surpassing Hollywood in sales dollars. Video games are up there with pornography and DVD/on-demand rentals in terms of money spent by Americans each year. MMORPG's (Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games) have followings in the millions worldwide. In recent years the phenomenon of creating/buying in-game characters hit. Level up enough to make your wizard go from hobbit to Gandalf and you have a hot commodity. Pimp your ride out with sufficient flash and horsepower, and you have a monster that not only looks good, but can smoke the competition on the streets. Three years ago a Japanese dude brought an intellectual properties lawsuit against another gamer who somehow managed to steal a virtual character the guy had created. The plaintiff placed a dollar value on the game charcacter he created, and sued for damages. Now video game makers allow you to upgrade characters by using points won from other games, by accumulating in-game money to be exchanged for the upgrades or characters, or even by engaging in transactions through eBay! Many of the most fanatic players clock 40+ hours per week easy just playing their games, and their worlds of dragons, warriors and wizards is a meaningful to them as ours is to us. So no surprise that this happens. If people can sue for the theft of a virtual character, why wouldn't some woman hit on using the world's oldest bargaining chip to gain some quick and easy gaming money? You might want to stay abreast of the gaming and movie industries, as the changes there will impact our society in ways you may not have anticipated. And please: no corny jokes about her needing an epic mount! *** Woman Offers [Favors] for 'Warcraft' Gold By: Ruben Diaz For: Game Invasion Reports are circling around the Internet at a rapid pace about a woman who had posted a personal ad on Craigslist.org offering sexual favors in exchange for 'World of Warcraft' gold. Needing 5000 gold to purchase an 'Epic Flying Mount,' one of the fastest mounts in the game, she offered anyone, male or female, playing on her server the opportunity to perform a variety of sexual acts in exchange for the in-game currency. Chief among her deviant interests was finding a partner into role-playing, going so far as to inform potential suitors that she has a costume ready for the occasion. ClubSi.com managed to snag screenshots of the postings, including a posting the next day about her success, before they were removed from Craigslist. Obviously she didn't read the upcoming 'World of Warcraft' development notes where her character class will be able to acquire an epic mount (epic flying form) through a quest in lieu of purchasing one. Look at this as an example of immediate vs. differed gratification, kids. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [scifinoir2] Woman Offers Self for Video Game Gold
Agreed. The video game industry has been good to me since 2002, so I've been with you for a WHILE now. This Japanese case was dope because it's like suing someone for jacking your graffiti style or because you called yourself DJ such- and-such when you know there's a DJ such and such in Miami. As I recall, the reason there was ever a Notorious B.I.G. brand is because some wack emcee named Biggie Smalls tried to sue just as Ready to Die dropped. I'm reminded of how fans of adult actress Asia Carrera came out and sent her money when her husband died last year because she'd blown her fortune on online gambling. This woman WILL get what she's looking for. And more. As soon as an advertiser figures out how to sponsor her in virtual money, she's good! On Apr 17, 2007, at 3:38 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: To step away for a moment from the heaviness of homicidal maniacs, suicide bombers in Iraq, and administration missteps... For those of you who don't pay attention to the video game world, it's a multi-billion dollar market that by most accounts is surpassing Hollywood in sales dollars. Video games are up there with pornography and DVD/on-demand rentals in terms of money spent by Americans each year. MMORPG's (Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games) have followings in the millions worldwide. In recent years the phenomenon of creating/buying in-game characters hit. Level up enough to make your wizard go from hobbit to Gandalf and you have a hot commodity. Pimp your ride out with sufficient flash and horsepower, and you have a monster that not only looks good, but can smoke the competition on the streets. Three years ago a Japanese dude brought an intellectual properties lawsuit against another gamer who somehow managed to steal a virtual character the guy had created. The plaintiff placed a dollar value on the game charcacter he created, and sued for damages. Now video game makers allow you to upgrade characters by using points won from other games, by accumulating in-game money to be exchanged for the upgrades or characters, or even by engaging in transactions through eBay! Many of the most fanatic players clock 40+ hours per week easy just playing their games, and their worlds of dragons, warriors and wizards is a meaningful to them as ours is to us. So no surprise that this happens. If people can sue for the theft of a virtual character, why wouldn't some woman hit on using the world's oldest bargaining chip to gain some quick and easy gaming money? You might want to stay abreast of the gaming and movie industries, as the changes there will impact our society in ways you may not have anticipated. And please: no corny jokes about her needing an epic mount! *** Woman Offers [Favors] for 'Warcraft' Gold By: Ruben Diaz For: Game Invasion Reports are circling around the Internet at a rapid pace about a woman who had posted a personal ad on Craigslist.org offering sexual favors in exchange for 'World of Warcraft' gold. Needing 5000 gold to purchase an 'Epic Flying Mount,' one of the fastest mounts in the game, she offered anyone, male or female, playing on her server the opportunity to perform a variety of sexual acts in exchange for the in-game currency. Chief among her deviant interests was finding a partner into role-playing, going so far as to inform potential suitors that she has a costume ready for the occasion. ClubSi.com managed to snag screenshots of the postings, including a posting the next day about her success, before they were removed from Craigslist. Obviously she didn't read the upcoming 'World of Warcraft' development notes where her character class will be able to acquire an epic mount (epic flying form) through a quest in lieu of purchasing one. Look at this as an example of immediate vs. differed gratification, kids. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[scifinoir2] Hollywood preparing to unleash 'Summer of the Sequel'
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070417/ennew_afp/entertainmentusfilmsequels_070417195748 Hollywood preparing to unleash 'Summer of the Sequel' by Tangi Quemener Tue Apr 17 LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Hollywood is banking that good things really do come in threes as it prepares to unleash an unprecedented series of blockbuster sequels on the summer box-office. In a rare alignment of the tinseltown stars, three of the most profitable franchises in history release their long-awaited third instalments next month: Pirates of the Caribbean, Spiderman and Shrek. The trio of blockbuster follow-ups are part of a broader trend of summer sequels as Hollywood studios opt for tried and tested formulas on the basis that if ain't broke, don't fix it. Somebody counted it and said there were 14 sequels this summer, Lew Harris, the editor of the respected movies.com website. This is absolutely the summer of the sequels. As well as Pirates, Spiderman and Shrek, a number of other successful films of recent years were readying sequels, with a fifth instalment of the money-spinning Harry Potter based on J.K Rowling's books heading the field. Matt Damon is reprising his role as assassin Jason Bourne for a third time in The Bourne Ultimatum. Other sequels include Bruce Willis action movie Die Hard 4 (Live Free and Die Hard), Fantastic Four, Evan Almighty and Hostel 2. The funny thing is that this summer, they (the sequels) are going to do well, Harris said. They're all kind of different. In fact, all of these sequels are going to rule the summer. Leading the first wave of the sequel-blitz is Spiderman 3, which opens in the US on May 4. The two previous films in the series about the Marvel comic-book hero have already raked in 1.6 billion dollars worldwide since 2002. Two weeks later, the jolly green ogre that is Dreamworks' Shrek will return, three years after the phenomenal success of Shrek 2, the third highest-grossing film in US box-office history behind Titanic and Pirates of the Caribbean 2. The third film in the Pirates series, starring Johnny Depp as captain Jack Sparrow, opens in the US on May 25. The two previous films in Disney's Pirates series have grossed over 1.6 billion dollars, and Harris is tipping the third to be the grand-daddy of this year's sequel season. My money would be on Pirates, Harris said. There's something about Johnny Depp as well. You just mention Depp and people go crazy. It's a lot of fun. The trend of sequels reflected the cautious nature of studios as well as the enduring appeal of characters like Depp's Jack Sparrow and Spiderman, Harris said. Studios are more and more afraid of trying something new, he said. The tried and true. In fact, the more familiar things are, the more people seem to like them. We seem to go more and more that way in books and music. Yet the recent success of films like 300 - a stylized historical epic about ancient Greece - proved that rewards remained on offer for studios willing to take creative risks, Harris said. The studios don't want to take a chance, Harris said. The films that they want to rely on are the movies that they think there's very little chance that they're going to lose money. But then you get something like 300 and look what happens. The different things do quite well. Gitesh Pandya, an analyst with Boxofficeguru.com, said that while Spiderman, Pirates and Shrek would slug it out as the biggest box-office films of the year, they would impact each other's earnings. May is going to be the biggest month in box-office history, he said. You have three 800-pound gorillas stepping out at the same time. I don't think they're going to cannibalize each other that much. They're so important and so popular that people are going to take the time and see each of them.
