Florida's Universities Are Teaming Together And Making The Best Of Their Grants

Public colleges and universities in Florida have received millions of dollars in grants to help enhance the programs that they offer in engineering, health and medicine. The money, provided as part of what's known as Scholars Boost Grants, Clustering Grants and R&D commercialization grants, were distributed in November by the New Florida Initiative, a program established to enhance science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, degree programs in the state. The New Florida Initiative is designed also to produce graduates who can further progress in business, health care and education and transform the state's economy to one that's considered sustainable.

The grant winners plan to put some of the grant money towards working together to establish "cluster industries" and recruiting and keeping teaching scholars. Florida Board of Governors Chair Ava L. Parker, citing modern day challenges in Florida, was quoted in an announcement. She suggested that the university system can't afford the state universities suffering financially by using up all their funding and resources. They are enormously important not only to the regions and communities they serve, but they have a great effect on the state's financial future. Following are some of the initiatives that the grants are to help fund:

An Orlando university, in addition to partnering with an institution in Tallahassee to establish an aerospace institute that might help NASA workers update their skills, is to spend part of its grant money on research towards developing engineering technologies such as wind tunnel technologies. As part of the wind technology program, the Orlando institution wants to sponsor a week long summer engineering camp for high school students interested in this field, information from the university shows.

An agricultural and mechanical university in Tallahassee received a grant to recruit a new professor of mechanical engineering, according to its university's blog. This university also received a grant that it intends to share with two other institutions to establish a Health Workers Research and Training Institute, the blog noted.

The university in Tallahassee that's teaming up with the Orlando institution for the aerospace institution plans to put additional grant money towards a team project involving its College of Medicine and a Gainesville institution. The project would involve creating a statewide network of university affiliates where people could connect professionals with research physicians and scientists on efforts such as monitoring the effects of a mild traumatic brain injury among youngsters in organized sports or looking at how information technology might help with monitoring diet, exercise and obesity related health risks in children and adolescents.

The Gainesville university itself received six other collaborative grants as well. With these grants, the institution and others throughout the state are to work together on studying climate change, addressing health care needs in rural and urban communities, enhancing supercomputing abilities throughout the state, plus developing a high-performance prosthesis. In Fort Myers, a grant provided to a university is to pay for a chair who, among other things, could help advance renewable energy research and help with the institution's plans for developing an innovation hub. The studying of renewable energies such as solar, wind and bio-fuel will take place at this 241-acre research park with a brand new 50,000 square-foot building.

A university in Miami plans to put its grant money towards hiring a biomedical engineering professor to lead a Department and Center for Adaptive Neural Systems at its College of Medicine, information on the New Florida Initiative website shows. A Palm Beach County-based university announced plans for recruiting a professor and chair for an ocean and mechanical engineering program where students, among other things, would work in areas such as ocean energy. This same institution is to put New Florida Initiative grant money towards establishing a neuroscience cluster with the Max Planck Institute, a non-profit research organization based in Germany and establishing a location in South Florida.

The Palm Beach County-based university and Max Planck, along with the Scripps Research Institute, are located in the same Jupiter, Fla., community. As Florida universities continue to receive grants and high-tech firms continue to establish themselves in the state, more of these firms might be located within research parks on state college and university campuses. Students who are interested in fields benefiting from these university program changes and enhancements should apply for scholarships and grants. Education Connection is a great tool for matching students with schools and merit awards as well as other forms of tuition assistance.

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Bologna Process: What Does It Mean?

The process involves new requirements for degree and transcripts. In accordance with the ECTS (European Credit Accumulation and Transfer System), a bachelor's degree can be obtained only for three years. That's why business schools should prepare themselves to treat European three-year education at the same level with American four-year one.

However, European education should not be put on a stage with Indian BComm, which is not equivalent to bachelor's degree and requires further preparation for admission to a business school. In addition, this year prepares changes in requirements for transcript.

More bachelors, more masters. The most significant implications of the Bologna Process include increase in the number of graduates with a bachelor's degree. Experts already estimated universities will prepare more than 2.4 million students per year, when the Bologna process finally enters into force. This will also lead to an increase in the number of applicants wishing to obtain master's degree.

Reduction of training time significantly saves costs. In addition, three years in the university seem more optimistic than four. However, higher education often delayed by 5 or even 7 years in pre-Bologna Europe. Students were not placed in strict framework, so the end of training depended on their desire.

Besides, only a small number of students "survived" until graduation. Consequently, only "selected centenarians" had a chance to become masters.

Thus, Bologna process makes higher education attractive. Certainly, some students will go to work immediately after the bachelor's degree, but saved time will necessarily make them think about the prospect of returning to the alma mater.

If considering continuation of training after a certain experience, MBA turns ideal. Maybe this trend would not be particularly pronounced for American students, but European applicants will definitely feel changes.

However, one cannot make predictions so early, as Europe has its own view on what students will do. Professors doubt popularity of MBA will increase. On the contrary, they consider an employer's perception towards bachelor's degree will change. They believe bachelor's degree is enough to move up the career ladder.

Established MBA markets in Britain and United States feature different trend. Number of students wishing to continue their education after bachelor's degree will be reduced to 20-25%, which is 500,000-600, 000.

More willing to study abroad. Bologna process will reduce amounts of money government annually spends on student training. Moreover, it provides smooth transition to paid education. The same system of assessment of knowledge will allow students moving freely from one country to another, without losing valuable years of education.

This is a huge minus for European MBA, since students will strive to secure business schools accepting students with sufficient academic knowledge. On the other hand, changes caused by Bologna process can attract American students.

Theoretical Space Weaponry

Although so far space weaponry is mostly reserved to dumping payloads from space and sending missiles into orbit to take out satellites. But lets face it that isn't as cool as it should be. When you think of space war you think of lasers and boarding actions between giant space ships and to put it simply that's how it should be and luckily there a lot of scientists out there who agree with us. Thus far very little of this technology is anything but theoretical but that doesn't make it any less cool.

First lets talk a little bit about more realistic space warfare and the history of space warfare. Originally space warfare was going to be nothing more than an extension of nuclear warfare. Basically we were going to nuke each other from space which would make it harder to detect and intercept. However in 1967 the Outer Space Treaty was made and signed by the majority of the world. One of the things that was outlawed by the Outer Space Treaty was storing testing or using nuclear weaponry in space. During the cold war a lot technology was thought up and a lot of it was tested. A lot of the technology included rail guns and lasers which were mostly though up to shoot down incoming missiles.

Today the most cutting edge technology that is currently being tested and developed are small satellites called Micro-sats as a Micro-sat is about the size of a refrigerator and Pico-sats. A Pico-sat is even smaller being only a little bit bigger then a cubic foot. These mini satellites are designed to maneuver and interact with other orbiting machines to repair hijack sabotage or sometimes just collide with.

A theoretical style of space warfare is kinetic bombardment. This form of weaponry takes the most advanced technology available to mankind and bends it to one of the most crude and primitive styles of ancient warfare used in the dark ages. Basically kinetic bombardment is where you take a rock and drop it from orbit sounds simple? Well it is there's not much more to it then that except for how we can make the rock survive re-entry. Then if the rock survives re-entry it could be extremely effective. It would basically become a meteorite.

Then of course there are the directed energy weapons. Most likely when you think of futuristic weapons you are thinking of this. This category includes weapons that use plasma microwave radiation and of course lasers. Energy based weapons are more effective in a vacuum environment. We are just now starting to use laser technology in war but the most developed weapon in the field of energy based weaponry is a particle beam. This is where you take bunch of neutral particles and fire them in a stream against an enemy or target at incredibly high speeds.

Micro Fans of Graphene Harvesting Energy or the Kinetic Flows Everywhere - Unlimited Micro Energy

It may be possible to use spinning pieces of Graphene at a micro scale to collect background energy, noise, and vibrational energy. There is static electricity from wind, and there is energy from noise. It may be entirely possible to collect all this excess energy and reuse it. Consider if you will the simple technology behind electrical magnetic induction. Now then, using spinning pieces of Graphene perhaps trapped within miniature carbon structures (nano scale), or within micro-manufacture acoustic transducers, it could be possible.

Think of a micro scale wind turbine generator creating energy; but in this case it would be vibrational energy and not wind which spins these micro-generators. And if we put millions of them within a structure about 1/10 of the width of a very thin sheet of plywood, and made these the walls to our homes, businesses, schools, and government agencies - we might be able to collect enough energy to run LED circuits, LED lighting, and perhaps even other things such as computers, air-conditioning units, refrigerators, and other large electrical appliances.

If we made this the skin or structure of the exterior of a spaceship or space probe, or even a colony on another planet or moon, we might be able to collect all the energy we needed to power up such facilities. This is not necessarily a science fiction thought, as I am known for those, but rather a real potential eventuality for our future, and there is enough sound science behind it to bring these ideas and concepts to fruition.

Just imagine micro-scale fans of Graphene harvesting energy, noise, or vibrational flows, everywhere on Earth and in space. We would have unlimited energy, using the energy that's present everywhere in the universe. Why not? Please consider all this.

Lance Winslow is the Founder of the Online Think Tank, a diverse group of achievers, experts, innovators, entrepreneurs, thinkers, futurists, academics, dreamers, leaders, and general all around brilliant minds. Lance Winslow hopes you've enjoyed today's discussion and topic. http://www.WorldThinkTank.net - Have an important subject to discuss, contact Lance Winslow.

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Article Submitted On: October 23, 2010

African Libraries - Museums For Artifacts!

Information Science which is primarily concerned with the analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information helped so much in the areas of information preservation. The need to preserve information led to the discovery of libraries. There would have been information chaos had man not come to the discovery of managing information. The word "library" came from a Greek word "liber" meaning, book. Library therefore means a collection of sources of information such as books, audio visuals, etc which are usually kept in a house.

Education which is the bedrock of any nation is dependent on information which can be sourced from the libraries. It is unfortunate that these institutions have been left for so long unattended to, thus jeopardizing information acquisition and its subsequent dissemination. Public libraries in most African countries, which could be a source of invaluable knowledge to users especially students, have over the years suffered total neglect by government at various levels. It is surprising to hear about the huge sums of money allocated to the education sector each year but there is always nothing to show for these allocations.

Because these libraries are owned and funded by the government and their uses, free for all people, adequate attention has not been given to public libraries over the years. Most public libraries do not provide the needed conducive reading environment and are not accessible to their users. Out of sheer ignorance on the parts of some countries' Educational Ministries they do not see the library as an integral part of learning; hence most libraries today in most of these African countries are nothing more than museums for antiquities, where you readily see books of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

The criteria for selecting those who are saddled with the responsibility of manning the education ministries are a wonder to so many well-meaning people of Africa and beyond. When people who are qualified to hold such sensitive positions are put in place, things will look different in terms of overhauling, rebuilding, rehabilitating and re-equipping these libraries with up-to-date books and even computerize them.

However, it is evident that public libraries which have the functions of acquiring and organizing information materials are in themselves lacking in these areas due to negligence. Libraries, as part of the institutions that emerged to keep track of information, need continuous updating so as to keep interactions and even the business of information acquisition and dissemination booming. It is not surprising that Africa which is the base of civilization is still trotting backwards in these areas information technology. It should be remembered that the earlier we began seeing things in the right perspective, the better it would be for us. When we understand that nothing is truly impossible, our desire for excellence will be achieved. Also, encouraging private participation by way of giving support to private and other special libraries that are open to the general public, can as well be an added advantage.

Use the Power of the Sun As an Alternative Energy Source and Save

Getting the world to shift away from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources whenever and wherever possible is the reason for this article because i really believe in a better tomorrow with a cleaner planet for everyone to enjoy. Having crystal clear water to drink fresh from any source anywhere without having to clean it with chemicals and processes and fresh clean air to breath without any co2's or diesel fuel emission or any other chemicals in it which makes up the soup we breath today - should be our rights. With all the natural disasters like floods and hurricanes and the continually changing weather patterns should be enough to make everyone think seriously of using alternate green sources of energy to supply energy needs.

So, that being said i think everyone should try to convert totally or at least half of all their energy needs from gas / coal or electricity ( from electrical plants ) to alternative clean energy sources - be it wind power, solar power or zero point power which is made using magnets or even wave and tidal power. Lead by example and people will follow. I myself own an adult electric tricycle and i use it for all my intercity trips ( shopping / visiting ), it saves me on gas and works even in the winter. I get compliments all the time for how cool it is and let me say just about everybody wants one.

Solar Power Your Life

Did you know that harnessing and converting the energy coming from our Sun as a source is one of the coolest and most talked about ways for producing alternative energy these days? Using solar panels to gather the heat rays from the Sun and then convert them into electricity is just starting to catch on and you can learn to use it to power your lights in your home or instead of gas to heat your home. You can also convert your car to electricity and just plug it in to recharge it at your own house for next to nothing. Hey business owners you can power your business with solar power too. The best thing about converting your home and business to solar power is that it can and will be able to take care of all of everyone's energy needs far into the future at a fraction of the cost of purchasing from electrical retailers and will only create a fraction of the pollutants.

In researching which alternative energy source to use you will want to make sure that you seriously take solar power into consideration by learning all the advantages this alternative power source has to offer, it would well be worth your time and effort to do the research before starting any project.

Money Concerns Will Make You Take Solar Power Seriously

Pretty soon everyone will have to start taking solar power seriously anyway because purchasing electricity from retailers is going to start taking up more and more of peoples disposable incomes and soon will become to expensive for the average family and it's up to you to lead the way and convert your home to a clean alternate energy source and to make sure all of the others in your family get into thinking how to save energy and use it more wisely while they're still young and impressionable. Try making up games to play together for brainstorming ideas on how to save energy. Here's a couple of ideas to start off with - 1 - sell off a TV set so the family can gather in one room to watch TV together instead of separately on different sets, just doing this can save some money and bring your family back together as a loving family unit for a result and - 2 - convert you car to electricity and save on transportation costs and at the same time you will be helping to save the environment too.

Modern Times Call for Modern Thinking

It is the modern times and there are modern ways to approach things like electricity and transportation. You really should want to help the world to clean the atmosphere that we have been destroying for a hundred years by making sure the energy sources and any way we use them give off fewer pollutants and help preserve and possibly rejuvenate the Earth for future generations.

I'll bet that you and others you know use solar power and don't even know it. I'm sure someone you know owns a swimming pool, well,the blanket they put over it when nobody is using it is called a solar blanket which is a crude but is still an effective type of solar energy. The solar blanket helps harness the suns warmth and then transfers it to the water keeping the pool at a more palatable temperature. This way you don't need to use a direct heating source to keep your pool comfortably heated and this saves you money not having to use electricity to do this job for you. Surely this is not same way of collecting the Sun's power and converting it into easy to use electricity, however it is the idea that started the ball rolling on solar energy.

Solar - The Way To Go

The Sun has enough energy to power yours and everyone's lives on the planet with ease. Everybody needs to learn how to efficiently capture the Sun's energy by using solar panels, saving money and the planet as a spin-off benefit. Solar panels were designed for us to do just this.

The initial outlay for purchasing your own solar power generation system to power every aspect of your life can range anywhere from 10-25 thousand dollars depending on your lifestyle, however you can recuperate your costs within an average of 5-15 years through savings on electricity bills and if you enlarge your system so you make extra power you then sell to the electric suppliers break-even time will be shortened again.

Something you may not have thought of is that you can reduce your start-up and repair costs considerably by learning to do it all by yourself.

Nowadays it's easy to find solar panels at your local solar power retailer outlet but to save some money you should learn to build and install your own solar system. Adding enough panels to your project to totally convert your home to solar power and run all the appliances within is easily figured out and you may even add a couple extra panels to have a little left over energy to sell back to the power companies and pocket some profits. New and more efficient products are being developed every day to help you achieve this.

I must say this again - it is very important that you consider solar power and all that this technology can offer for the building or remodeling of a home or business so make sure to do the research and learn about it. Just imagine no more blackouts or problems with your outdoor lighting or security because the power is out. There is a never-ending list of uses for solar power and the sooner we convert the easier it will be for everyone to breathe easy again too.

Zero carbon emissions when using solar power

And when it comes to using solar power there are zero carbon emissions which today is what is ruining our environment, and with solar power there isn't any major pollution that you need to worry about. Only the batteries you use would fall into this category and if you just make sure to dispose of your used up batteries through a proper government-run disposal service you can be sure they know what they are doing and will dispose of it properly and in an environmentally friendly manner. All that you need to do is to be sure to extend the life of your batteries by keeping your batteries charged at all times and don't leave batteries under charged because this leads to lead sulfates accumulating and reducing the storage capacity of batteries.

Another thing is try to keep your battery cool and if at all possible try not placing it in a hot area like under the hood of your car. If you must do this place a heat shield over it to protect it from the heat that's under the hood of your car - excessive heat can reduce the life span of battery by 6-8 months. There are many different types of batteries and different little things you can do to extend their life. Like on a cell phone you can turn down the screen brightness to save on energy and recharging cycles (the less you need to recharge a battery the longer it will last). And when your batteries just don't perform as they should anymore another option you have is to recycle or recondition the batteries yourself. There are guides to teach you to do this and it's not as hard as you think.

Wind Power is Good But...

Don't get me wrong wind power will work fine but the maintenance of a wind turbine is a little costly because moving parts just seem to break more often and the windmill blades sometimes get bent in big storms leaving you scrambling to fix it, whereas solar panels require basically no maintenance but will incur replacement costs if one fails (try to keep a spare panel handy for just such an instance). But if you live in a place where light from the Sun is a little scarce then wind power generation is another way to go green and save, it's just a little more work.

An Inexhaustible Energy Source

The Sun is one energy source that we are going to be able to exploit for thousands of years to come. It is going to be there even when all other sources have become unavailable. You will find that there is a lot of solar-powered research being done today and it is the most promising future power source at the moment,who knows what the far future may bring.

However the future is happening now just look around and you will see all the solar-powered vehicles, lights, houses, offices and so much more. Actually go outside now and take a walk around your neighborhood and see all people who already use solar power these ways, just look for the solar panels outside a home or business or even the outside solar lights people use to light up their property and you know they are doing their part to save the environment, are you?

If you live in a hot and sunny climate you will find that solar panels are going to be the most efficient alternative power source for you, and the more sun your area receives the better it is for recharging you're system to full capacity everyday.

Read this article about a highly promising new solar panel technology -> http://goo.gl/EH9jf

Do It All Yourself

Don't forget there are guides you can purchase to teach you how to build and set up your own system. These guides will help you learn to do this and are a good way that you can learn something which will save you money and will even help you put some away for a rainy day if you want. If you construct your own solar panels and do all the system set up yourself you can save thousands over paying an installer to do the work for you and that money will now stay in your pocket and now you won't have to pay the big electricity retail giants anything for their power because you will be enjoying the pride and joy of being self-sufficient when your finished.

On a Personal Note

I feel using any of the alternative green sources of energy generation is our duty to help alleviate the stress on all the coal-fired power plants and to save some hard-earned cash. If enough people switch their home energy source to solar maybe we could shut down some of them coal-fired electrical generation plants and be able to breath easier.

It's also my opinion that governments should retrofit all existing houses with solar panels and / or wind turbines to meet everyone's personal needs. Making repairs tax exempt and / or tax-deductible would help people pay for their own repairs and as a result everyone would live better and most of all more self-sufficient.

Businesses should have to retrofit their own businesses but the same tax exempt and / or tax-deductible offer should be given for repairs.

Purchasing a clean alternative energy should not cost a pound of flesh either, especially in cold climates where energy is needed to keep you warm and ALIVE. Governments must be made to understand this and quit giving approval for insane energy rate hikes year in and year out.

Keep an open mind and you will see that the new ways of producing clean green power has enough benefits to convince you to convert your life and believe me - you won't be disappointed.

Have a Great Day.

Written for E-Zines

My name is Mark Demers and i was born in Windsor Ontario Canada 47 years ago and I have in this city all my life.
I love writing to help people think of things in a way they may never have thought of and to try to inspire people to do things differently and most of all get people to think progressively and honestly - if I can.
To help save the environment and cut back on my carbon footprint I ride an electric powered adult tricycle and I must say i have a blast riding it around. I love the outdoors and keeping the air clean is very important to me. I'm constantly looking for and trying to think of new ways to save energy and applying the methods i already know to improve my life not restrict it.
My website http://www.electric-reviews.org/ is dedicated to making this world a better and healthier place to live by encouraging people to switch from burning fossil fuels for energy generation to using alternate methods of renewable green energy generation to supply everyone`s needs and to help people become more self sufficient.

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Turning Networked Participatory Action Research Into a "Train the Trainer" Model

In another article, I wrote about the "spokes on a wheel" design for networked participatory action research (NPAR). The concept is simple. Organizations, businesses, or educational environments that are challenged by the need to create complex change in a hurry can support hubs of participatory action research (PAR) teams in their various work environments. For school systems, each school might be a hub. In a large multinational business, offices in various countries might be hubs. In a public service environment, various work task teams might be hubs. These small groups of people will be undertaking a year of action research where they study what needs to happen to create the change in the area under their control, implement small steps towards that change, measure the results of those steps, and finally report on what they have learned and their strategic plans for the future. These clubs or teams come together into the center part of the wheel to meet as a larger group approximately every two months for one day. These meetings are facilitated by someone who has deep experience in helping people through this practice. This article will take this model one step further and addressed the question of how does management establish the expertise in-house to facilitate networked participatory action research in future years?

The Train the Trainer Model for NPAR

Creating systemic change is a multiyear process. Therefore, to cut costs, businesses or educational institutions will want to develop the facilitation skills to continue a NPAR design over multiple years. This requires a team of people in-house who not only know how to facilitate groups, but also know how to deal with the inns and outs of supporting teams to successful participatory action research outcomes and reports. What are the steps involved?

First Step: Choose the People You Want to Be Trained
Prime candidates for facilitating NPAR teams will have demonstrated certain qualities. These include: endurance, a sense of humor, flexibility, a clear focus on the desired outcomes, and problem-solving skills. A desirable plus, but not absolutely prerequisite would be experience in facilitating large groups over extended period of time. Naturally, any company investing in the education required for people to become trainers, hope that the employees they choose will be with them for multiple years after the training is over. These people should also believe wholeheartedly in, and be cheerleaders for, the reform efforts that are creating the need for that and par groups.

Second Step: Train the Future Trainers in Action Research
The usual procedure for implementing a year-long NPAR dynamic change effort is to enroll the people in the hubs or teams, and then give them an overview of what they will be expected to do. Then the actual meeting every two months facilitation starts at the most convenient time their the organizational calendar. As an example, many schools operate from the fall and late spring. To do NPAR in that situation, the first meeting of teams would be in the spring of the year prior to the year in which the change process would be implemented. For convenience sake, the future trainers meet for a couple of days at a time-period surrounding that initial spring meeting. The future trainers have different needs than the hubs or teams. They need to know more about action research, the theoretical and practical challenges associated with it, and they need to be given some time in advance of the actual project, so that they can research and ask questions. I like to involve them in a beginning action research cycle that runs from the initial training through to the beginning of the change process. The topic for this article is all about action research, and a discussion of the local cultural issues and challenges that this form of process may involve. In this preliminary time-period, it is also useful for the future trainers to bond as a group, and get comfortable with the person in facilitating the process.

Third Step: a Year of Meetings and Several Cycles of Research
Once the change process begins, the facilitator or consultant should be on premises one or two days every other month. During the first meeting the facilitator works with the hubs or teams of people to facilitate their understanding of action research, and the planning of what will go on in the months following that meeting. Everyone leaves with a clear agenda and commitment to accomplish certain tasks. However, we all know that things go awry once teams are confronted with the daily challenges of their work environment. That is where the future trainers come in. They act as the local eyes and ears for the facilitator, creating communication where needed when they see the process breaking down.

In subsequent meetings the facilitator comes in for two days, the first day to work with the future trainers, and the second day to work with the team's. During that time this person first is first caught up on what the future trainers see as successes and challenges. Field trips are also taken as necessary to see sites. But on the second day everyone meets together and the facilitator moves the process along by introducing the next set of ideas, working tools, and challenges. Once again everyone leaves with a clear sense of what they are supposed to do in the subsequent two-months.

Fourth Step: Ending the Cycles, Transitioning the Trainers, and Celebrations
The way you end a year cycle of change is as important to the sustainability of the project as the beginning. In this case the facilitator will need to gradually pass the baton of facilitation from himself or herself to the local future trainers, thus enabling complete local ownership of the change effort by the time the teams complete their report. Once local teams finished their reports it is equally critical that they come together one last time and celebrate their successes, commenting on and committing to their strategic plans to carry the change effort forward in future years. During that session, the new trainers will more fully understand the supports they need to give the first-year sites, as they plan to bring on more teams, or more activity in future years.

Networked participatory action research has consistently proven to give transformational results to local change efforts in complex situations. This is true because it empowers people to look seriously at their own work. For this reason it is equally critically important that the people being trained as trainers complete their own action research during the year they are being trained. They have to know in their heart why this process is so successful, how to maneuver past the sticky points, when to bring in flexible problem-solving, and when to just stay with the task knowing that positive efforts will pay off soon. This train the trainer model successfully transitions a large change effort from the hands of the consultant to the hands of local leaders, where it belongs, and where it will have the most effect long-term.

Would you like to learn more about how your voice can make a difference to the future of education? If you are a student, a parent, an educator or any other type of concerned party who may want to pursue the conversation or host strategy meetings with others, join the network by registering with http://www.futureofeducationproject.net/ and we will keep you in touch with the group as it grows. Dr. E. Alana James, writes on and facilitates participatory action research studies where people research their own particular dilemma is an effective way to address complex issues that otherwise can cause despair. Through PAR, local adaptations can be implemented and evaluated simultaneously. This strategy allows for a world of individuals to work together through the net to re-design education.

Do you want to learn more about how the three magic steps of action research can benefit your life or your business? Visit E. Alana James, Ed.D. at http://www.reinventinglife.org/ where this and other key techniques for making our lives more efficient are discussed.

Dr. James has authored several books on the use of action research in education and business and their upcoming book: Action Research for Business, Non Profits, and Public Administration: A Tool for Complex Times will be published by Sage Publications in 2011.

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Film Versus Literature

Nicolas Sparks is another author who found success in the same vein as J.K. Rowling. His novels are not for children as they are fictional love stories. Why I can relate the two is because of commercial success and their place as low brow literature. Most people can relate on some level to the natural topic of love. Nicolas Sparks tricks the reader into what Sprat says "It is now therefore seasonable for natural knowledge to come forth and to give us the understanding of new virtues."

The reader will come away from novels like The Notebook by Nicolas Sparks or the Harry Potter series misguided into believing they gained some meaningful knowledge. This is the power that Sprat was saying the prose style can have. Basic language is enough to clearly convey any story or message. Texts from J.K Rowling and and Nicolas Sparks are read so widely that they are very powerful in and of themselves.

If you have ever seen a the films about Harry Potter you can confirm that the legend is true. The legend says that the book is always better than the movie. This is especially true when the books were written so many years before. Sometimes the director of the film has a different vision for their work than the previous author and this clash can be deadly. The Notebook by Nicolas Sparks might be one of the few that oppose this position because the movie is the famous one. The book is so low brow that only a romance fiction lover would enjoy it. The movie is very captivating and a high percentage of people will cry when they see the ending.

Naval Mini Swarm Dart Microwave Burst Projectiles

Indeed, I'm not sure if you've been following all the technology in the policing subsector of our economy - however, there are now devices that police officers can use which shoot a dart into the vehicle that is trying to evade police, which introduces a tremendous voltage into the car, and thus fries electrical system and stops the vehicle. Then the suspect can be put under arrest or try to run, and get caught anyway but they won't be able to crash a 4,000 pound car into anyone else.

Now then, it is come to my attention that we may need such a device in the US military. Consider if you will that the new Joint Strike Fighter can only hold a certain number of missiles, because they have to be tucked into the bomb bay area rather than attached to the bottom the wings so the aircraft can maintain stealth capability. What we need is smaller missiles which have the same potential. But what if we could work to remove the warhead, and make the missile more of a dart?

A projectile would puncture into the aircraft of the enemy, and lodge itself into the fuselage or wing, and then they would introduce a huge microwave burst of energy, rendering the aircraft obsolete, or igniting any fuel? And what if the missile or dart actually wound itself up with a small fast spinning propeller harvesting energy and loading up a small battery system as it flew towards the target. One that can only hold a charge for a very short time, albeit a very high voltage charge.

Hopefully, the enemy aircraft would have completely mechanical ejection seats?

If we loaded the stealth aircraft with darts rather than missiles, we could save space, and the space we saved could assist us with the problem and challenges of the number of missiles the aircraft could hold. If we could build these systems very light and cheap we can also fire them like a bullet from a gun, and they might make a good artillery shells which would not kill humans but would disable military equipment. Something that could be used in a nonlethal capacity, and only on rare occasions become lethal.

We could actually load these up on UAVs, which could take out all the approaching vehicles of an enemy Army, and such a weapon could be shot from a shoulder launched system, or from a high-powered ship gun. Indeed I hope you will please consider this concept. Think on it.

How to Become a Coroner

If you're wondering how to become a coroner, you are probably a unique type of person, as it takes a certain kind of individual to do this job and do it well. Coroners have an incredible responsibility - they determine the cause of death when a person has passed away, listing the official cause on the death certificate. When murder is a possibility this is an especially important task. Having the responsibility to determine whether a death was an accident, homicide or suicide is a big deal - are you up for the challenge?

The first step to becoming a coroner is to find out what the job requirements are in your local area. Talk to a coroner, or check with your state government and find out what the levels of preparation are for your city, county or region. Then you can decide whether this job is right for you, and if so, begin preparing yourself. Many coroners start out by pursuing a criminal justice degree, while others follow state-run training programs. Some coroners have degrees in medicine or law, and many of them are pathologists or doctors. Since the job will often require you to move in both the legal and medical worlds, an expertise in both areas is a plus. Skills in analyses and communication will also help.

Networking is a big part of succeeding as a coroner. You will need to meet people who work in this field and get as much experience as you can, using the opportunity to establish your character and build your reputation as an honest and hard working individual. This is just as important as having the education that is comparable to other coroners in your area. You will need to be able to lead and manage others, but you'll also need to work well with teams that include both technicians and doctors all striving to solve the problems at hand.

If you have what it takes to become a successful coroner, you can do quite well for yourself. With salaries ranging from $40,000 to $70,000 annually there is plenty of room to make good money once you have some experience.

Unique Polymer Chain DNA Could Stop Counterfeit Goods Cold

Sometimes the fake counterfeit version is so close to the original, that you cannot tell the difference. It hardly matters if it is an expensive watch, a car part, or a toy. Nowhere on Earth is there more counterfeit goods made today than in China. They know they have a problem and that this challenge makes many companies very leery of building factories there. It's going to be an even bigger problem for their own manufacturers and Chinese brands in the future.

Perhaps, there is a way to prevent such things from happening, and in solving this problem perhaps we can use the technology discovered for other things as well. Let me explain my thinking on this, as I believe it's worth mentioning.

In fact, there was an interesting article in PlasticsToday Magazine titled "Ceramic Nano-particles Could Help Processors Beat Copycats and Pirates," written by Matt Defosse and published online on November 9, 2010, and also appearing in the print version. The article states in the introduction, "A small company in Southern Germany has developed a new means to help plastics processors, their customers, and others take some of the sting out of the damage done by product piracy. The high-tech solution relies on a material used for centuries to give a product "its own DNA."

Now then, this is an awesome idea, and I once had an acquaintance who had come up with a device which allowed recyclers to instantly identify the type of plastics used to sort robotically. So, the technology to determine what's in the plastic already exists, but I was thinking about other uses for it. For security purposes such as plastic badges, gate keys, and even nose cones for fighter aircraft to determine if it was friendly or foe? Okay, so now I've piqued your curiosity, so let's talk.

Is it possible to use such strategies to determine red force or blue force in the modern battlespace, to catch spies and those who engage in industrial espionage? Could be, and it makes perfect sense. Not only can we instantly prevent counterfeit goods, we can protect US retailers from being ripped off with fake goods, and consumers from buying unsafe products. Maybe we might even protect our nation's security, and stop the bad guys from stealing our proprietary information in the first place.

Indeed, this is exactly what we discussed the other day in our think tank, and we believe we are onto something, something that has commercial value and could be very big. Please consider all this.

Are Audiobooks the Future of Reading?

In an increasingly digital world, many find the process of reading a book to be archaic or not easy to incorporate into their busy lifestyle. However, reading literature is an extremely important component of a well rounded education and, arguably, a fulfilling life. This conflict can be reconciled with audiobooks, where most of the benefits of reading still come across. Furthermore, the audiobook industry is only growing, so more and more books are available in an audio format.

Here are some benefits of audiobooks:

1. They fit into a modern lifestyle

Audiobooks can be listened to in a car, at the gym, on a bus or train, while walking or running, or in many other situations in which holding a book might be difficult.

2. They make it easier to focus on the book

Many people find that the rise of digital media is reconfiguring what holds their attention. Reading a physical book is becoming more challenging than it used to be. Listening to audiobooks can help to solve this problem because in many cases, the story-telling aspect keeps readers hooked. Many readers of audiobooks are basically voice actors who help to make the characters in the book come alive.

3. They make reading more accessible - especially for young people

Today's generation of young people are constantly plugged in. Whether they are listening to mp3's on their ipods, blackberries, iphones, or other electronic devices, it seems that most young people are completely adapted to having headphones in their ears at all times. This shows how easy it is for them to simply switch over from music to literature. Perhaps schools could even begin to offer audiobooks as an alternative for students who prefer them.

4. They maintain mostly all the benefits of reading

Although many believe that the audiobook industry is destroying literature as we know it, this couldn't be further from the truth. Many of the subtle benefits of reading, such as honing one's imagination and learning new vocabulary, are still transmitted when listening to audiobooks. They are simply another innovative creation in an increasingly digital world. What do you think?

Lily Faden is a Blog Contributor at http://www.examville.com/. Examville is a global online education platform where users can connect and interact with others from around the world. Our innovative platform creates an open, virtual meeting place that allows for learning without borders. Examville facilitates online user-to-user collaborative learning at an affordable cost.

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Fluidism Philosophy - Alternatine To Pop Postmodernism

"Pop Postmodernism" is what I call the popular, exaggerated idea that human beings cannot share common experiences of the world. Individual people are too different to cooperate naturally. Only power mongers establish standards to control individuals and civilizations according to power-mongering policies.

A Dead End View

I believe that this point of view has run rampant for too long. It has stabilized as a standard in its own right, thus contradicting its own doctrine against standards. Pop postmodernism in art and in philosophy simply has disabled civilization. Thinkers who inspired this view behaved as young children revolting against considerable life experiences of seasoned adults. They acknowledged no common beauty, no common truth, and no common good. "Beauty", "truth", and "good", in fact, were suspicious words, with no possibility of naturally occurring, shared meanings.

Ironically, the only truth that has prevailed among these thinkers is the truth that there is no truth. Such a truth that destroys itself renders the whole mindset dysfunctional.

Senses Do Not Lie

I propose that a large body of sensory evidence supports the belief that human beings actually do have perceptions similar enough to call the same. Perceptions might not be exact, from individual to individual, but they are self-similar, which is close enough. Self-similar perceptions, then, lead to self-similar sensations, feelings, meanings, and purposes. Resonances, harmonies and symphonies occur in this sea of self-similarity. Shared forms, then, arise in minds, in societies, and in whole cultures.

Order, thus, exists beside chaos. Order actually arises from chaos. Polar opposites that work together in this manner comprise the foundation of all human existence. Postmodern philosophy seems to focus on deconstruction, rather than on construction, which is the inevitable byproduct of a continually rhythmical cycle of opposite (yet integrated) forces.

Conceptual Confusion-Perceptual Accord

Where do human beings see formation and deformation as differences in a mass that is the same?

I suggest fluids. Fluids, although plastic and forever morphing, form bubbles, cells, membranes, veins, and other pleasing, natural patterns. Life itself emerged from these patterns. Human bodies developed around these liquid patterns. We are complex bags of seawater walking on bony stilts.

Human bodies are normally very similar, consisting of a head, two arms, two legs, ten fingers and toes. These anatomical structures express our perceptions and experiences. Individual minds do not exist apart from similar physical bodies that house them. Only minds severely divided from bodies think that people are too different to realize common standards.

Fluidism In Place Of Postmodernism

I propose that a fluid understanding of the cosmos can nurture standards that are attractive to the largest number of people. A fluid understanding allows for both construction and deconstruction in a healthy balance. I call such an understanding by the same name that I call the related style of my art, "fluidism".

Where pop postmodernism looks angrily upon standards, fluidism acknowledges standards that give higher meaning and purpose to societies. Where pop postmodernism rests on mental conceptions, fluidism actively engages physical perceptions.

(c) 2011 Robert G. Kernodle

Communicating By Reflecting Moon Light Rays Encoded With Data on the Light Beams Possible

Will humans use the moon to relay information in the future to faraway places? Will other species use our moon to reflect an encoded message using data in light? Should humans use the moon to reflect messages half way around the world using light by bouncing messages off the moon in the event that a massive solar flare takes out all of our satellites?

Well, if everyone was doing it, it probably wouldn't work, but it is theoretically possible, and it might be a good way to use the reflectivity of Mars' moon to stay in contact with a Mars colony when they are turned away from Earth, and we need to get a message to them. In fact, we wouldn't need to have a working satellite to do this orbiting the planet, Mars' moon is already there.

What about sending information from another solar system, and allowing our long-term space exploration space crews to contact us here when they are on the other side of a Sun. That is to say on the other side of a Sun in another far way solar system. It could work. Not long ago, I was reading a science fiction novel where an alien species had been trying to contact humans for 10's of 1,000s of years and they knew of our existence.

Unfortunately, no one had figured out how to decode the light signals bouncing towards us. This gave rise to the concept of using the moon's reflectivity and subtle changes in the frequency of light send messages across the Galaxy. Yes, there is a time delay, but the concept is still viable. Please consider all this.

Lance Winslow is the Founder of the Online Think Tank, a diverse group of achievers, experts, innovators, entrepreneurs, thinkers, futurists, academics, dreamers, leaders, and general all around brilliant minds. Lance Winslow hopes you've enjoyed today's discussion and topic. http://www.WorldThinkTank.net - Have an important subject to discuss, contact Lance Winslow.

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This article has been viewed 42 time(s).
Article Submitted On: October 28, 2010

Top 5 Veterinary Specializations

The top 5 veterinary specializations are currently the best specializations to go into based on the demand for their services, the popularity of degree programs that prepare you for the specialization, the scope of the field and other factors. Veterinary medicine used to be a very general subject-if you were a veterinarian, you were expected to be able to do any kind of work on almost any kind of animal in practically any situation. Now there are veterinary scientists who do research and quality control, zoologists who care for wild animals and animals in zoos, equine veterinarians who care for horses and many other specialized types of veterinarians.

Being specialized isn't necessarily required, but it will definitely help you find your niche and be more successful in your career. If you are thinking of going into the veterinary field in a specialized capacity the following top 5 veterinary specializations are worth considering:

Anesthesiology: These veterinary specialists have expertise with the same kinds of drugs and equipment used for anesthesia in human patients, but their focus is on the animal populations, which all have very different physiologies.

Behavior: More and more pet owners are concerned with their animals' behavioral problems, and there is a whole field that has grown around it. Just think about the success of "The Dog Whisperer."

Dermatology: Animals have some very particular skin issues that differ from humans, largely because of their feathers, fur and scales. Skin allergies are especially common in dogs and cats. The services of animal dermatologists are very much in demand at the moment.

Emergency and Critical Care: There are ERs for animals, just like for humans. When veterinary offices are closed or animals' injuries are too severe to take them to a regular vet, an emergency or critical care veterinarian is the one to run to.

Surgery: There are a number of surgeries that animals may need from time to time. Some are simple, like removing a cyst, and some are more complex, like amputating a leg or performing heart surgery.

EBDD - Electromagnetic Burst Diffuser Device - Do We Really Need That Technology?

Just the other day an acquaintance mentioned jokingly, that if all this nuclear war posturing continues we will need to build an "electro-magnetic burst diffuser device" or "EBDD" - that's hilarious, but then again, maybe we need one of those anyway? Maybe this is how new military innovations come about, jokes in the hallway between think tank rooms, indeed, maybe I should call RAND and ask them?

An EBDD, well hmm, that's a brilliant idea, not only for human-to-human conflict, but also for an atmospheric asteroid entry and air-burst. You are talking about creating the world's biggest aurora borealis event in broad daylight, but I bet there is a way. That would be a heck of a disruption to the create, maybe modern physics could figure that one out?

And what would you make an electromagnetic burst diffuser device out of, how would you detonate it or how would you go about disrupting such an electromagnetic burst? Would you use a Gamma Ray burst, would you use a xenon blast, and what tricks of physics might you use to cause such electromagnetic pulse to wrap-around itself and disappear into a different dimension? This may sound crazy but theoretically this is totally possible - sure it could be done.

And since we are the United States of America, and we want to be on the leading edge of all physics, especially when it comes to energy weapons, then in fact we should be the ones to create such a device. By using this we would be able to protect our citizenry, our electronics, our computer networks, our satellites, our carrier fleets, and just about everything else.

After all, the last thing we'd want to do is become rendered "dead in the water" after an enemy created electromagnetic burst. There are some other possibilities too; we could send energy back in time, and stop the burst before it happens. Am I suggesting time travel? No, I'm suggesting using the tunneling effect of various particles creating time gaps that we could send energy back through.

Perhaps you may think this is too much science fiction, and not enough reality. But as the founder of a think tank which operates online, I assure you that's why they pay me the big bucks. And if we can conceive it, we can create it, that's something that this species has been doing for tens of thousands of years. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this, and if you have any ideas or other concepts along this line of thinking, then please shoot me an e-mail.

Breaking Magnetic Symmetry, Let There Be Light (Part 3)

You may wonder why work CANNOT be harnessed from Permanent Magnets. Yes, the Universe does appear to be governed by a set of rules. But, guess what - we've hardly a clue what many of those actually are. Yes, Science is better than ignorance.

Accepting the premise that energy cannot be created or destroyed. It certainly can be reused over and over again. Energy is often not thought of in this fashion, it's never consumed or "used up". When you use energy to perform work, you either diverge or spread it out, change its form, or a combination of both.

You still have all the energy remaining, after the work has been accomplished. So by simply capturing and recycling that energy, you can re-use it again, it does re-converge. The Law of Entropy and classical Thermodynamics without reservation assume single-pass energy collection. This activity then would not violate the law; it would just violate an assumption. It would not apply to the collecting and reusing process.

A magnetic system can quite naturally collect energy from the same space simultaneously and over and over again. The emitted energy from the multi-collection process can be of a higher density than the operator is inputting. A coefficient-of-performance then would obviously be greater than one (COP>1) as measured by conventional means. The COP method of energy measurement is often confused with efficiency, which is inappropriate, and fails to correctly identify the performance.

We continue to use terms like "apparent" input of energy, which now should be reconsidered. Does a wind turbine or solar panel have no apparent input of energy?

Many also think that: "You cannot break the Lorentz Symmetry in your circuit or system, and thus violate the present Electrical Engineering Model, you will not, and cannot produce COP>1.0 via excess 'free' EM energy utilized from the vacuum." I think Symmetry can be broken, replaced with anisotropy.

It's believed that: "Permanent magnets cannot perform work, that would violate the first and second Laws of Thermodynamics. The game is over, they just can't work. It's not a matter of looking for the one special arrangement that works among millions that don't. There is exactly ZERO arrangements that work". It probably comes to no surprise, I don't agree with this statement.

It's also accepted that: "The EMF induced in an electric circuit always acts in such a direction that the current it drives around a closed circuit produces a magnetic field which opposes the change in magnetic flux." I believe the virtual equal and opposite actions can be nullified or modified.

It's generally accepted that: "The normal field from a magnet as a bar with two opposite poles, one each end, only produces a conservative field. That is, when one integrates the force from that field around a closed path, the overall net force sums to a Vector ZERO. Hence, NO work can be performed."

Simply put, it takes as much "work" to separate two magnets as the repelling power they may offer - more with friction. So you end up with less than you began with, not more. A motor uses an electro-magnet, allowing one to "turn off" the opposing pole, or on - allowing it to perform work (at the expense an energy input of course). I believe Vector Zero can be overcome. This can be accomplished without violating Thermodynamic Laws, although we may have to tread on a few incorrect, "assumptions".

If you have viewed my recent You-Tube video related to the magnetic aspect of this article, it may require further explanation. Please reference the video, "Can Magnets Perform Work?" (bdsolar), it offers an actual demonstration of what is discussed here.

Of course we all know: "Present science says it's NOT possible, that acceleration of an object via Permanent Magnets without 'LOCK-UP', demonstrating net gain of energy with NO apparent input of energy." Ah, there's a rub. Perhaps, if we break Symmetry?

Let us examine more closely what is occurring in our magnetic track model in the video, that we cannot "see". First, we have Asymmetric Dual static Permanent Magnets that create an attraction permanent magnetic field, and Dual asymmetric PM Back-Drag that is understood as balanced, or symmetrical.

Everything appears, and behaves static, locked in place. It's just what you would expect from combining hundreds of the world's strongest Neodymium magnets. In this model, the magnetic attraction is so strong; one cannot separate the magnets by hand. Two Tesla is developed in many areas. This "static" condition exists between the rotor and track stator at every point.

However, the overall creations of every magnetic field, including the ones within the rotor itself, are carefully positioned. When the electrical conducting and magnetic rotor enters the "field" and begins to move all conditions change! The track rail (stator) is also an electrical conductor (static field) and the Moving Dual Permanent Magnets induce a Motional EMF and cause currents to flow.

Yes, this creates an electromagnetic field, actually several. The first is the space-filling electric field generated by a changing magnetic field, the second is the electric field inside a conductor when it moves through a magnetic field. These two forces join to create an asymmetric situation. This allows a torque that is in our favor; the first imbalances in the symmetry have begun!

Yet another is the magnet alloy material rotating through its own magnetic field, which does not rotate with the physical elements. A rotating conductive magnet is detectable by the electric field produced when its free charges separate radially, due to the force produced by rotation of the conductor within its own magnetic field. All of these actions are taking place simultaneously. The spinning and the movement is magnetically induced and sustained just as in nature. The likeness of a universal macro effect dynamo has been created at a micro scale with numerous asymmetrical induced changes.

The magnetic field and electric field are inseparable. I would go so far as to say they are virtually the same entity, yet they do coexist. It's another dichotomy that stretches the limitations of the human mind. Duality of energetic matter allows formations to simultaneously occupy two different realms.

Two mutually exclusive characteristics. Using Special Relativity, the electric and magnetic fields are two aspects of the same thing. A changing magnetic field is mathematically the same as a moving magnetic field. So part of it is manifested as an electric field component. It's apparent this multiple existence is not limited to two only fields of energy, but many fields simultaneously.

The relative motion is quite a significant factor. A time varying magnetic field creates an electric field, and the induced current within the electric field creates a magnetic field. This electromagnetic field interacts with the permanent magnet just as another PM would. The moving magnet assemblies create a virtual electromagnet, when it moves within the correct proximity of a conductor.

A force between a permanent-magnet and a permanent-magnet can be made equivalent to that between current-element and current-element. Continuous rotational motion is possible between multiple PMs, contrary to conclusions, which may seem to violate certain physics principals. As stated by Einstein, it is known that Maxwell's Electrodynamics, as understood when applied to moving bodies, leads to asymmetries, which do not appear to be inherent in the phenomena.

How about another set of electric-magnetic fields, from the dynamics of a slowly accelerating electron from rotation. As quickly as this all begins the first magnetic back-drag and potential magnetic lock-up would normally be felt on the rotor, immediately slowing and abruptly stopping the rotor. However, the magnetic pole back-drag normally experienced with permanent magnets, which prevents an object from continuous motion, and the magnetic lock-up that stops all motion, is overcome by the overall effect of the numerous multiple induced secondary currents.

Combined forces create a uniform asymmetric field well exceeding the drag and preventing the magnetic lock-up. The effects of back-drag virtually cease to exist and lockup does not occur. As explained, the multiple dual sets of induced electromotive effects are due to the permanent magnets rotation, plus the rotor-conductors motion relative to the asymmetric stators permanent magnetic fields.

The process further reinforces the magnets, which cause more current to be generated. The electric currents, once started, are then sufficient to sustain themselves and even increase in strength and torque. The phenomenon appears to perform much as a natural dynamo or spiral in space does. If these actions actually eliminate the potential back-drag, or simply overcome this force is not certain - the results are the same.

Barry Dean is an Engineer with http://solarworks211.com/ an eCommerce retail outlet for Renewable Energy products, and a passion for Solar Power. He has been an enthusiast of Solar Power for almost four decades. "I'm pro Renewable Energy. I'm passionate about Solar Power, and I care tremendously about our environment."

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Our Life Log Reality is Coming and It's Too Bad We Didn't Get it Sooner

Not long ago, I was talking to a lady who had traveled throughout the United States. Several times she had opted to take the bus, Trailways, rather than fly. She didn't appear to be the type who was afraid of flying, rather she enjoyed seeing the country and talking to people. We both lamented about the fact that it was interesting to meet people during our travels, and getting a little slice of life from their various stories.

She had told me that she had consider writing a book, and she believed other people should write books on this topic to share what they had learned, to save a piece of American culture. We both agreed that the United States of America is a completely diverse country with mountains, rivers, lakes, glaciers, deserts, and shoreline. And that the Midwest was a giant expanse with very little population in the middle, compared to the incredible acreage where no one lived at all.

We talked about the reality that there are many ongoing efforts right now to save the lost languages of the world as many of the elders are reaching the sunset of their lives, and they will be taking the language with them because their children were raised in schools and taught a different language, and we discussed how important it was that we preserve that culture, either in literature or in video, along with the language, all the words, their definitions, and the emotions and thought behind them. This is critical.

Back in the 70s at Bell Labs there was a gentleman Vannevar Bush who had a concept of life log, where you would record everything during your life, all the books that you've read, all the TV shows you watched, all the places that you went, and in today's world such an effort would include all the websites that you visited; including all the blog posts that you made, the pictures that you uploaded, and the YouTube videos that you watched.

At MIT they have created video sunglasses which would video tape everything that you were looking at, that is to say everything that you saw to be downloaded. In the future life log will be a reality, but apparently it cannot come soon enough because when each individual expires from their time here on earth, they take with them all of their memories, leaving nothing for us to help know who they were or the way they live their life experience.

Indeed, the same thing goes for all those cultures which are slowly dying, and being absorbed by larger populations and groups. We can't afford to lose that, so life log is overdue. Indeed, I hope you will please consider all this and again if you have any comments, questions, or concerns please e-mail me on this topic.

Lance Winslow is the Founder of the Online Think Tank, a diverse group of achievers, experts, innovators, entrepreneurs, thinkers, futurists, academics, dreamers, leaders, and general all around brilliant minds. Lance Winslow hopes you've enjoyed today's discussion and topic. http://www.WorldThinkTank.net - Have an important subject to discuss, contact Lance Winslow.

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This article has been viewed 17 time(s).
Article Submitted On: January 17, 2011

More Funding Stemming From The Importance of STEM Studies

President Obama unveiled his new budget this February, and anyone who understands history might notice he's pulling one of his old tricks again. Anyone planning to be a teacher should pay particular attention. This bill has some special acts just for them, particularly in elementary and secondary schools.

For the record, when Obama pushed through his health care reform act last year, he slipped in an act to revamp the government's financial aid and college loan systems. It took the loans out of the hands of private banks and returned their administration to the federal government. This reduced interest on these loans as much as 50%. It also provided a number of new tax credits for people going for an advanced education.

This year, Obama's new budget includes provisions to vastly increase the number of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) teachers in the U.S., particularly at the K-12 level. These acts will infuse an additional $100 million into the education program in 2012 alone; $80 million from the federal Department of Education, $20 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The objective, to put it simply, is to create 100,000 new STEM teachers between now and 2022. In a press release, the White House states this is part of Obama's State of the Union promise this year to maintain our country's lead in research and technology. He feels this is crucial to America's future success.

So why should this be of interest to anyone planning to be a teacher? For starters, Obama proposes the creation of two new financial aid packages, whose titles should be fairly self-explanatory. The first is the Presidential Teaching Fellowship, aimed at educators working on their post-graduate degrees. The second is the Undergraduate STEM Education, which is designed to help finance educators in obtaining their basic 4-year degrees.

There are a number of other plans and programs throughout this act too. The bulk of these are designed to encourage elementary and high school students to take an interest in STEM courses, properly stock these schools with needed equipment and other educational material, and the possibility of giving the NSF a complimentary program to its S-STEM scholarship.

In all, Obama's dream is to create what he called a "DARPA" for STEM teachers. DARPA was created back in the 1970s and did the research and development for what would eventually become the Internet. This bill does come with some sacrifice. For instance, Obama proposes the eventual phasing out of the NSF"s SMART program.

Still, while this proposal does come with some cuts, it more than likely will be balanced by the possibility of creating thousands upon thousands of new STEM teachers within the decade. It could be that in very short time there will be a virtual flood of new financial aid packages-including grants, scholarships and loan forgiveness plans-that will help students decide to become science, math and related teachers, even through online college education. One should turn to Education Connection as a reputable resource for learning more about specific degree programs and which schools offer them. If enacted, it could create a number of opportunities to create a number of new jobs for anyone interested in the STEM professions.

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