Thursday, January 7, 2016

Tiny robots pull objects up to 2,000 times their own weight

Engineers from Stanford University have created miniature robots named "MicroTugs" capable of pulling and lifting objects more than 100 times their own weight. The strongest of the bots weighs just 12 grams but can pull objects 2,000 times heavier than itself, reports the New Scientist. This is the equivalent of a human dragging a blue whale, says David Christensen, an engineer from the lab that created the robots.
Another of the robots weighs just 9 grams but can climb up vertical walls carrying objects heavier than a kilogram — the equivalent of a human hoisting an elephant up the side of a building. Even the smallest of the bots — a miniature beast of burden that weighs 20 milligrams and was assembled under a microscope with a pair of tweezers — can pull objects 25 times its own weight.

The secret to the bots' strength comes from techniques borrowed from the animal kingdom. Inspired by the gecko, the engineers covered the robots' feet with tiny rubber spikes that bend when pressure is applied. This increases their surface area and thus their stickiness. When the foot is lifted, the spikes straighten out, making them easy to detach from surfaces. And from the inchworm, the engineers borrowed the wall-climbing bot's method of locomotion: while one half of its body moves forward, the other stays locked in place. This allows the bot to climb walls without losing its grip.


Engineers from Stanford University have created miniature robots named "MicroTugs" capable of pulling and lifting objects more than 100 times their own weight. The strongest of the bots weighs just 12 grams but can pull objects 2,000 times heavier than itself, reports the New Scientist. This is the equivalent of a human dragging a blue whale, says David Christensen, an engineer from the lab that created the robots.
Another of the robots weighs just 9 grams but can climb up vertical walls carrying objects heavier than a kilogram — the equivalent of a human hoisting an elephant up the side of a building. Even the smallest of the bots — a miniature beast of burden that weighs 20 milligrams and was assembled under a microscope with a pair of tweezers — can pull objects 25 times its own weight.
BORROWING SECRETS FROM THE GECKO AND THE INCHWORM
The secret to the bots' strength comes from techniques borrowed from the animal kingdom. Inspired by the gecko, the engineers covered the robots' feet with tiny rubber spikes that bend when pressure is applied. This increases their surface area and thus their stickiness. When the foot is lifted, the spikes straighten out, making them easy to detach from surfaces. And from the inchworm, the engineers borrowed the wall-climbing bot's method of locomotion: while one half of its body moves forward, the other stays locked in place. This allows the bot to climb walls without losing its grip.
A close-up of the tiny rubber spikes on the robots' feet. (BDML Stanford/Youtube)
The robots will be presented next month at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation, with the Stanford team hoping they could be set to various tasks in the future. Larger and more powerful versions could be used to move heavy loads around factories or building sites, while specialized models could be useful in emergencies — climbing buildings, for example, to deliver rope ladders to trapped people.






Wednesday, January 6, 2016

The public school educational system designed to fail from long ago.

Every cause has an effect!
Abstract: American education needs to be fixed, but national standards and testing are not the way to do it. The problems that need fixing are too deeply ingrained in the power and incentive structure of the public education system, and the renewed focus on national standards threatens to distract from the fundamental issues. Besides, federal control over education has been growing since the 1960s as both standards and achievement have deteriorated. Heritage Foundation education policy experts Lindsey Burke and Jennifer Marshall explain why centralized standard-setting will likely result in the standardization of mediocrity, not excellence.
National education standards and assessments are getting renewed attention from the Obama Administration as the missing ingredient in American education reform. Proponents of national standards argue that establishing “fewer, higher, and clearer” benchmarks and aligned assessments will empower parents with information about what their children should know and which skills they should possess and that they will hold schools accountable for producing those results. National standards and testing, they say, will ensure that all children are ready for college or the workforce and will advance the educational standing of the United States.
On the one hand, such a critique of the status quo is well founded. Parental empowerment is essential and currently lacking. The monopoly that is the public education system must be more accountable to parents and taxpayers. Too many students leave high school without basic knowledge or skills. American education should be more competitive, particularly given the amount of money that taxpayers invest.
On the other hand, national standards and testing are unlikely to overcome these deficiencies. These problems are too deeply ingrained in the power and incentive structure of the public education system. A national standards debate threatens to distract from these fundamental issues. Centralized standard-setting would force parents and other taxpayers to relinquish one of their most powerful tools for school improvement: control of the academic content, standards, and testing through their state and local policymakers. Moreover, it is unclear that national standards would establish a target of excellence rather than standardization, a uniform tendency toward mediocrity and information that is more useful to bureaucrats who distribute funding than it is to parents who are seeking to direct their children’s education.
Common national standards and testing will not deliver on proponents’ promises. Rather than addressing the misalignment of power and incentives from which many public education problems arise, national standards and testing would further complicate these same problems. An effort by the Clinton Administration to produce national standards and tests during the 1990s was roundly rejected because of strong opposition among Members of Congress, state leaders, and others.[1] This renewed push for common national standards and assessments should be similarly resisted.
Instead, federal policy can improve the alignment of power and incentives in public education by enhancing transparency of existing accountability tools and providing flexibility in program funding for states to do the same. State policy should advance systemic reforms that better align power and incentives with educational outcomes, including enhanced accountability and parental empowerment through educational choice. By pursuing this combination of reforms, Americans can better address the core issues that continue to inhibit meaningful education reform.
From a “Common Core” to National Standards
The Obama Administration’s current push for national education standards builds on an initiative led by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). In September 2009, the groups’ Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) released college and career readiness standards for math and English language arts.[2] In March 2010, CCSSI published grade-by-grade benchmarks for each of these two subject areas.
From the beginning, proponents of the Common Core State Standards Initiative have maintained that the standards are voluntary and outside of the realm of the federal government. But federal funding has been linked to their adoption from the early stages. The February 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)—the “stimulus bill”—included $4.35 billion in discretionary funding for the Secretary of Education, known as Race to the Top. One of the requirements for states to qualify for this competitive grant funding was to have signed on to the CCSSI. Failing to adopt common standards and assessments puts a state at a significant disadvantage in the Race to the Top competition.[3]
In the context of state budget shortfalls, the prospect of funding was enticing enough for most states to sign on to the common standards—sight unseen.[4] Initially, only Texas and Alaska resisted. Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott stated that the common standards movement amounted to a “desire for a federal takeover of public education.”[5] Now, additional states, including Massachusetts, Iowa, Kansas, and Virginia, are expressing concerns about the common standards initiative.[6]
Meanwhile, the Obama Administration announced in February 2010 that it intends to make receipt of Title I funding contingent on the adoption of common standards. Nearly every school district participates in the $14.5 billion Title I program, which provides federal funds for low-income students.[7] Furthermore, the Obama Administration has announced a grant competition for the creation of common assessments among states that would replace state assessments.[8]
Federal pressure to adopt national standards and assessments has elicited concerns across the political spectrum. During a House Education and Labor Committee hearing, Representative Glen Thompson (R–PA) observed that “the Common Core is being transformed from a voluntary, state-based initiative to a set of federal academic standards with corresponding federal tests.”[9]National School Boards Association Executive Director Anne L. Bryant voiced similar concerns in a recent statement:
While the goal of high academic standards is laudable and school boards strongly support it, this amounts to an unnecessary over-reach by the federal government to coerce states to adopt a particular approach or be shut out of future funding for key programs…. This new condition on funding for key federal programs also opens the door for the federal government to call for even more conditions, such as the use of national tests for accountability purposes.[10]
Misconceptions About the Promise of National Standards and Testing?
You care to read it > http://tinyurl.com/2e9sdm3



Even Alex “Jade Helm” Jones Thinks the Oregon Militiamen Are Idiots

*Alex Jones denouncing a conspiracy theory, unbelievable.
There’s almost no freedom-fueled cause that furious truther and conspiracy kingpin Alex Jones won’t cosign, but apparently, even Alex Jones himself can’t get behind the crazed militiamen currently throwing a fit on an Oregon nature trail.
Let’s be clear: The Bundys and others have very legitimate issues with the federal power grab over land outside of law, and people doing controlled burns and being called arsonists, and people being charged. The federal government is power-grabbing everywhere, it’s true... But all that’s coming out, and the establishment is in political trouble right now. So they want to overturn the chess board right now. We need Americans to realize we’re all being played off against each other...
...The timing of this now allows the whole debate to not be about the gun-grab, to not be about all the gun control, to not be about the victim disarmament, but to be about citizens with guns taking over buildings.
Jones goes on to say that while the Bundys did have grazing rights in Nevadathe last time they pulled this shit, in this case, the Hammonds (the family actually in the center of this mess) don’t even support what the Bundy family is doing.
Of course, Jones does also say that the whole thing is a race-baiting false flag cooked up by the Obama administration, but in Alex Jones speak, that’s about as close as you can get to calling someone ostensibly on your side (the side of Freedom with a capital “F”) an idiot without actually coming out and saying it.
Either way, when Alex Jones himself is telling you that perhaps you’re taking things a little too far—maybe it’s time to reassess your decision to hold nature hostage.


18 Things People Don’t Seem To Get About White People

***I don't make this shit up, I just blog it.
The only thing that is physically “White” about me is the underside of my forearms. Ethnically I am Middle Eastern (Jewish). Culturally I am Middle Eastern (Jewish). Linguistically I am English. But only during the work week.

Yet due to my lighter complexion and lack of a sexy accent, most people do tend to assume that I am “white.” (in fact, most non-Middle-Eastern Americans that I have met seem to think that Middle-Eastern people look like Indians). I am therefore comfortable speaking from the point of view of the average “white” New Yorker who, according to people like Macy Domingo who make assumptions about “white people” go about their daily existence blissfully ignorant of the plethora of privileges and blessings they enjoy at the expense of people of “color.”

In response to Domingo’s list of “18 Things White People Seem To Not Understand (Because, White Privilege),” I have made my own list of 18 things that she and others like her seems to miss. The observant among you will notice that my list seems to correspond to hers in most areas. Enjoy.

1. “White” privilege is being able to move into any neighborhood you choose, knowing that your neighbors will welcome you and treat you warmly. Unless, of course, you move into one of the many neighborhoods in New York City where “whites” are not welcomed. Just look at Crown Heights, Brooklyn, home to both a “Black”/Caribbean community, and a “White”/Hasidic-Jewish community. Last fall the Jewish community of Crown Heights was terrorized by a series of random “knockout” attacks perpetrated by “Black” youths against Jewish residents. According to city councilwoman Lauire Cumbo, who represents the “Black”/Caribbean section of the neighborhood, the violence could be blamed on “a genuine concern [from the “Black” community] that as the Jewish community continues to grow, they would be pushed out by their Jewish landlords or by Jewish families looking to purchase homes.” Comforting.

2. “White” privilege means that your race is represented and spoken for across all spectrums of media, such as books, movies, television shows, etc. That is, providing that you feel attachment to the so-called “white” race, which in my experience most light-skinned people do not. Here in New York there are very few people who identify as “white,” or exhibit any sort of “white” pride. There are, however, plenty of Italians, Irish, Albanians, Jews, Greeks, Poles and Russians, none of whom seem to be overrepresented or spoken for by any media.

3. “White” privilege means being able to seek and obtain legal, financial and medical assistance without having your race work against you. You will, however, have your income, credit score, education, genetic health, physical appearance, religion, accent and political views work against you.

4. “White” privilege means living in a world where the standard of beauty is defined by people who share your skin tone, because all “white” people are creamy-colored Scandinavians with blonde hair and blue eyes. Just don’t tell the multi-million dollar tanning industry…

5. “White” privilege is never being told that you should “Get over slavery.” This is actually a valid point, I totally agree. Having said that, “white” privilege may also mean that people tell you they are sick and tired of hearing about your Holocausts and Kosovos.

6. “White” privilege means that you get to laugh at all of the immigrants and “colored” people who come to your country and fail to learn English, while enjoying the benefit of automatically being fluent. Of course, that is with the small exception of every single “white” immigrant who comes to this country (or came to this country) from a foreign state that doesn’t speak English, such as Russia, Poland, Italy, Spain, Greece, Albania, Macedonia, Germany, Turkey, etc. Not too mention all of the “non-white” people who continue to ridicule and even attack new immigrants to this country who do not speak English (do a Google search on Black-Mexican relations in Port Richmond, Staten Island.)

7. “White” privilege is daring to actually believe that reverse racism exists. Except for, you know, those cases in which it does exist. Like in the Nation of Islam and Black Hebrew Israelite supremacist groups. Or all those times when I walked through Jamaica, Queens, Wyandanch, Long Island, and Far Rockaway, Queens and was kindly informed that I was “in the wrong neighborhood, White Boy.”

8. “White” privilege is never feeling the pain and dehumanization of being subjected to a racial slur. …Micks, Kykes, Crackers, Greaseballs, Guidos, Hebes, Blockheads, Oven Magnets, Honkeys, Dagos, Dogans, Gringos, Guineas and Ginzos excluded.

9. “White” privilege is never having to change your name into an easier-to-pronounce Anglo-Saxon name. Unless, of course, the origin of your last name is Yiddish, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Hungarian, Polish, Icelandic, or many of the hundreds of other names that “white” people who are not of Anglo-Saxon origin bear.

10. “White” privilege means the comfort of being able to staunchly fight racism one day, and then ignore it the next. Except for, you know, all of those times where that wasn’t and isn’t the case, such as when the Irish and Italians first came to this country, followed by the Jews, Russians, Poles, and now many of the “white” Muslims who have recently been immigrating here from Southeast Europe and Central Asia. Such is also the case for many individual “whites” who are minorities in the predominantly “Black” and Hispanic neighborhoods of New York. Off hand, I can name quite a few friends and coworkers from the inner city of Brooklyn who, due to the lighter color of their skin, were and are often targeted in their schools for bullying, violence, and robbery. For these “white” children the so-called luxury of ignoring the fight against racism wasn’t and isn’t a choice. (Much in the same way it isn’t a choice for the People of “color” who face similar circumstances in majority “white” neighborhoods… Remember, my point here is not to discount their suffering, but rather to show the error behind thinking that all or most “whites” are immune to or responsible for these kinds of issues. Indeed grouping all light-skinned peoples together as “white” is an error in its own right, in case you haven’t yet gathered that this far into the article.)

11. “White” privilege is having your words and actions attributed to you as an individual rather than as a group or a collective race. That is to say that when one “white” person errs and acts like a complete schmuck, their error is not projected onto all “whites” as a whole. Unless, that is, their name is Bernard Madoff, George Zimmerman, George Bush, Bill O’Reilly, Newt Gingrich, Jonathan Pollard, Meir Kahane… Okay, so maybe not then.

12. “White” privilege is being able to talk about the subject of racism without people automatically assuming that your intentions are self-serving. Unless, of course, you should bring up the subject of “reverse” racism, which as we saw in number 7 is a fairy tale, just like unicorns and mermaids. On a side note, and not to seem self-serving (heh), but I can’t tell you how many times I have heard gentiles, both “white” and “of color” say that they were “sick and tired of hearing about the Holocaust” (*cough cough Jessie Jackson cough cough*), and of the trials and tribulations of the “Poor Israeli Jews.” This is not to say that I consider Jews white, because I don’t, but since most other people in this world seem to see them as such I feel that this example proves relevant here.

13. “White” privilege is being able to be an articulate, intelligent-sounding speaker without people being shocked and surprised. This does not apply to you, however, if you are “white” and from anywhere south of the Mason-Dixon line, west of the Appalachians, or surrounding the New York and Boston metropolitan areas.

14. “White” privilege means being pulled over/taken aside by the police and knowing that you are not being singled out because of the color of your skin. Yeah, I actually agree with this one, but I’m not a cop so I can’t really comment on how true or untrue the statistics behind this claim are.

15. “White” privilege means not having to warn your children at an early age about the dangers of systematic racism. This one is very easy to disprove. Just ask all of the “white” Bosnian Muslim, Armenian, Jewish and Roma parents who had to explain to their children why the world hates them and why it was so easy for the world to turn a blind eye while their respective populations were systematically wiped out over the course of the last century.

16. “White” privilege is the luxury of being able to ignore the systematic political, economic and social unfairness that our government imposes on people of “color,” in favor of a world view which sees people of “color” as inherently inferior. I actually agree with this statement too, but only in part. The system is indeed biased against people of “color.” However this is not the result of self-declared “white” racists as much as it is of so-called “Liberal” humanitarians who, in strong part because of their “white” guilt, have helped to institute such anachronistic measures as a system that promotes affirmative action and moronic attempts at integration such as “Black History Month,” which only serve to further isolate and patronize people of “color.” True equality, it should be obvious, means not only integrating but also dissolving the superficial labels “white” and “colored,” which only serve to polarize our already divided society. Needless to say, this is not achieved by relegating an entire group’s history and culture to a single month and it is Definitely not achieved by acting as thought they need/are owed special assistance from “mainstream” society to get into better colleges and careers. What true equality actually means is focusing on an equality of opportunities, not outcomes, and these complex issues often transcend skin color and culture alone.

17. “White” privilege means not having your people and their culture appropriated, generalized and turned into some kind of a minstrel show for others to laugh at. Well, you know, except for the Jersey Shore, Honey Boo Boo, Princesses of Long Island, Duck Dynasty, etc.

18. “White” privilege means being able to ignore the consequences of race. But actually, nobody can ignore the consequences of race so long as they live on a planet and in a society where race is assumed to exist. TC mark



Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Blown Street Cars for sale.



Ad #182620325
POSTED: Mon, Jan 04 2016
2003 Terminator Cobra/Trade

2003 Terminator Cobra/Trade
I have a 2003 Cobra SVT Terminator, 129,000 but looks like 50,000,lowered the right way,new top,aftermarket axles with extended wheel.....

$16,000.00
KENLY, NC


Ad #182564304
POSTED: Sun, Jan 03 2016
1994 Mazda rx7 Turbo Lsx drag car

1994 Mazda rx7 Turbo Lsx drag car
price drop $60k oboAbove Added: Sun January 3, 2016, 12:02 pm EST1994 Mazda Rx7 Base model 65k miles on chassis 1058hp on 13lbs of boost Body: Car is.....

$65,000.00
ROCKLEDGE, FL


Ad #182619315
POSTED: Sun, Jan 03 2016
mustang

mustang
big tire mustang
I have a 79 mustang 18.5 by 33 et streets with title 4 link recently 7.50 certified set up for sbc with glide ford 9 with 4.56 gears coilovers on all.....

$7,500.00
AYNOR, SC


Ad #182619069
POSTED: Sat, Jan 02 2016
1969 camaro

1969 camaro
BBC 69 camaro
I have a 69 camaro, with a 468" BBC, turbo 350 trans. cal tracks, moser 12 bolt, tubular control arms, coil overs on all corners. certified 8.50.......

$36,000.00
Port Alberni, BC


Ad #182618994
POSTED: Sat, Jan 02 2016
1990 Trans Am Roller

1990 Trans Am Roller
1990 Trans Am Clean Title and Registered Garage Kept and RUST FREE Turbo 400 B&M Shifter w/Transbrake Torque Convertor Full Factory Interior Power.....

$7,999.00
WEST PALM BEACH, FL




Ad #182618923
POSTED: Sat, Jan 02 2016
1970 CHEVY NOVA

1970 CHEVY NOVA
SUPER NICE BAD ASS 1970 CHEVY NOVA COMPLETE ROTISSERIE RESTORATION ALL NEW CHROME ALL NE LIGHT ASSEMBLIES AND LENSES ALL NEW URETHANE BUSHINGS.....

JONESBOROUGH, TN


Ad #182513805
POSTED: Tue, Jan 05 2016
1986 Monte Carlo LS1

1986 Monte Carlo LS1
Call or text 843-486-0276. I do not need help selling. Above Added: Wed June 24, 2015, 9:54 am ESTTHIS IS A GREAT STREET CAR. IT WILL CRUISE 70-75.....

$13,000.00
SUMMERVILLE, SC


Ad #182620438
POSTED: Mon, Jan 04 2016
chevy luv 434 nice   take a look
$1.00
VIRGIE, KY


Ad #182620373
POSTED: Mon, Jan 04 2016
1986 Monte Carlo SS street/strip drag

1986 Monte Carlo SS street/strip drag
Fulton built 421 Dart little M 400 small block 350 mains Eagle 4340 crank 3.875 stroke Eagle 5140 SIR 6" I beam rods JE pistons 4.155 bore domes 457.....

$17,000.00
WEST COLUMBIA, SC


Ad #182619678
POSTED: Sun, Jan 03 2016
358 Ford 720hp 520ft tq

358 Ford 720hp 520ft tq
358 Ford motor kryptonite crank corrila rod titanium valves dogbone lifters dry sump oil system MSD distributor water pump fuel pump intake. Complete.....

$7,500.00
BRIGHTON, MI

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