Posts Tagged ‘News’
Google Flights Search Is a Powerful, Intuitive, Lightning-Fast Tool for Finding Cheap Tickets
13
Sep
One in 25 business leaders may be a psychopath, study finds
01
Sep
Psychopaths use charm and manipulation to achieve success in the workplace, according to a US study
One out of every 25 business leaders could be psychopathic, a study claims.
The study, conducted by the New York psychologist Paul Babiak, suggests that they disguise the condition by hiding behind their high status, playing up their charm and by manipulating others.
Favourable environmental factors such as a happy childhood mean they can function in a workplace rather than channelling their energies in more violent or destructive ways. Revealing the results in a BBC Horizon documentary, Babiak said: "Psychopaths really aren't the kind of person you think they are.
"In fact, you could be living with or married to one for 20 years or more and not know that person is a psychopath.
"We have identified individuals that might be labelled 'the successful psychopath'.
"Part of the problem is that the very things we're looking for in our leaders, the psychopath can easily mimic.
"Their natural tendency is to be charming. Take that charm and couch it in the right business language and it sounds like charismatic leadership."
Babiak designed a 111-point questionnaire with Professor Bob Hare, of the University of British Columbia in Canada, a renowned expert in psychopathy. Hare believes about 1% of Americans can be described as psychopaths.
The survey suggests psychopaths are actually poor managerial performers but are adept at climbing the corporate ladder because they can cover up their weaknesses by subtly charming superiors and subordinates.
This makes it almost impossible to distinguish between a genuinely talented team leader and a psychopath, Babiak said. Hare told Horizon: "The higher the psychopathy, the better they looked – lots of charisma and they talk a good line.
"But if you look at their actual performance and ratings as a team player and productively, it's dismal. Looked good, performed badly.
"You have to think of psychopaths as having at their disposal a very large repertoire of behaviours. So they can use charm, manipulation, intimidation, whatever is required.
"A psychopath can actually put themselves in your skin, intellectually not emotionally.
"They can tell what you're thinking, they can look at your body language, they can listen to what you're saying, but what they don't really do is feel what you feel.
"What this allows them to do is use words to manipulate and con and to interact with you without the baggage of feeling your pain."
• Horizon: Are You Good Or Evil? is on BBC2 at 9pm on Wednesday 7 September
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Piece of crust stolen from Texas found in Antarctica
29
Aug
You’ve likely heard of Pangaea (not the one that sounds similar from Avatar), but you may not realize that it wasn’t the first supercontinent; several have been identified from the rock record. About a billion years ago, a supercontinent named Rodinia formed from the collision of a number of cratons which comprise parts of today’s continents. Evidence of the collisions that built Rodinia remains in a geological remnant called the Grenville mountain range.
Collisions of continents compress the crust between them, driving up a range of mountain peaks. We see a process like this going on today in the Himalayas, where the Indian plate is pushing northward into the Eurasian plate. With time, however, erosion will level out these mountains.
The Appalachian mountain range no longer reaches the impressive heights it once did because it has been eroding for over 400 million years. Deep in the roots of the Appalachians, though, we can see evidence of an even older mountain range that has long-since eroded from sight. The remnants of the Grenville range extend along the East Coast of the United States, but also continuing north into Canada as well as south through Texas and into Mexico.Â
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Orbiter spots possible water seepage on surface of Mars
04
Aug
Over the last several decades, evidence has piled up that Mars once played host to liquid water on its surface. But in its current geological era, the red planet is too cold and has too little atmosphere to allow liquid to survive for long. Even at the peak of Martian summer, water would evaporate off quickly during the day, or freeze solid as soon as night hit. But that doesn't mean it couldn't exist beneath the surface, where pressures and temperatures might be quite different, so researchers have been looking for signs that some subterranean liquid might bubble to the surface. Now, scientists are reporting some changes on the Martian surface that seem to be best explained by a watery seep.
The information comes courtesy of the finest resolution camera we've ever put in orbit there, the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The MRO has been circulating Mars for long enough that it's been able to image certain areas multiple times over a Martian year or more, which has enabled the authors of a new paper to identify seasonal changes on the planet's surface.
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How an argument with Hawking suggested the Universe is a hologram
31
Jul
The proponents of string theory seem to think they can provide a more elegant description of the Universe by adding additional dimensions. But some other theoreticians think they've found a way to view the Universe as having one less dimension. The work sprung out of a long argument with Stephen Hawking about the nature of black holes, which was eventually solved by the realization that the event horizon could act as a hologram, preserving information about the material that's gotten sucked inside. The same sort of math, it turns out, can actually describe any point in the Universe, meaning that the entire content Universe can be viewed as a giant hologram, one that resides on the surface of whatever two-dimensional shape will enclose it.
That was the premise of panel at this summer's World Science Festival, which described how the idea developed, how it might apply to the Universe as a whole, and how they were involved in its development.
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Microsoft Research Open-Sources Experimental Operating System
13
Jul
ETH Zurich open-sourced an experimental operating system called BarrelFish, which it built in conjunction with Microsoft Research. The purpose of BarrelFish is to explore the best ways to structure OSes for multicore systems.
BarrelFish is a completely new OS "built from scratch," so it doesn't depend on any proprietary Microsoft components. The source code is available under an MIT license.
Sponsor
The BarrelFish site actually runs on a BarrelFish server, but the OS is a long way from being used for mainstream applications. Still, it's a step forward for Microsoft to be working on an open source operating system, even if it is "just" Microsoft Research.
I've made the case that Microsoft needs to open-source something big. I wouldn't count this as "something big" yet, but it is progress.
One criticism I frequently hear of Microsoft, and the Research division in particular, is that it works on many cool projects that are ultimately abandoned and never released. Making work open source means that even if Microsoft decides to pull the plug on a project, other developers can continue the work if there's enough interest.
(Hat tips to Computer Weekly and James Governor).
DiscussSpace Shuttle Atlantis Launch Video: The Final Flight
08
Jul
At 11:26 ET Friday, space shuttle Atlantis flew up in the sky toward the International Space Station, marking an end of an era: It was the last aircraft to launch as part of NASA’s space shuttle program.
Atlantis will carry four astronauts during the 12-day mission, bring supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station and conduct an experiment to test new refueling and repair technology for satellites in orbit, after which it will return to Earth and retire.
If you’ve missed the live stream of the launch, you can see it in the archived video below. The actual liftoff starts somewhere around 18:00 in the video.
Photos from the Final Atlantis Flight
Stay tuned. We’ll keep updating this gallery with new photos.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of NASA.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of NASA.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of NASA.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of NASA.
Solid Rocket Booster Separation
Photo courtesy of NASA.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Liftoff
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Mashable Media Badge
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
NPR Tweeted
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Official Launch M&Ms
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Elmo Reports Launch
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Media Getting Signals
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
@SethGreen Tweeted
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Tweetup Participants
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Tweetup Participants
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Tweetup Badge
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Tweetup Participants
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Tweetup Participants
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Tweetup Participants
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
@schierholz Handed Out M&Ms
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
@schierholz Tweeted
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
@schierholz's Badge
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.
Shuttle Atlantis
Shuttle Atlantis moves into the Vehicle Assembly Building.
Photo courtesy of NASA.Atlantis Sunrise
The sun rises over the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Photo courtesy of NASA.Atlantis Sunset
Sunset over Launch Pad 39A before the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module (MPLM) is delivered.
Photo courtesy of NASA.Atlantis Sunrise
Another sun rises over the Shuttle Atlantis.
Photo courtesy of NASA.The Crew Celebrates
The STS-135 crew wave American flags in honor of Independence Day. From left: Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim.
Photo courtesy of NASA.The Crew Heads for Final Launch Preparation
The STS-135 team departs for the Astronaut Crew Quarters in Kennedy's Operations and Checkout Building.
Photo courtesy of NASA.Firing Room 4
In Firing Room 4, NASA team members prepare for launch.
Photo courtesy of NASA.Launch Pad
Atlantis was "hard down" at its seaside launch pad by 3:29 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 1.
Photo courtesy of NASA.Atlantis Flag
The Atlantis flag flutters below the American flag.
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.Launch Pad
A view of the launch pad from across the water.
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.Media Gathers
News crews prepare their equipment at tents near the launch pad.
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.Media Tents
Two-tier media tents provide better views of the Atlantis.
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.Launch Clock
Ryan Matzner, lead strategist at Fueled, a mobile app development firm, stands in front of the countdown-to-launch clock.
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.Media Tripods
Media stakes out their turf with tripods aimed at the shuttle launch.
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.Tweetup
Media and spectators alike participate in the lunch Tweetup.
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.En Route
The van will lead the procession of astronauts to the shuttle.
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.En Route
The astronauts en route to the launch pad.
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.En Route
Precious cargo on the way to the launch pad.
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.Vehicle Assembly Building
An impressive spectacle in itself, the Vehicle Assembly Building has been used to assemble NASA vehicles since 1968. It is the largest single-story building in the world.
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.Vehicle Assembly Building
A view of the vehicle assembly building.
Photo courtesy of Ryan Matzner.BONUS: Amazing Photographs From Endeavour’s Last Voyage
NASA recently released these breathtaking images from the last voyage of Endeavour following its return from space last month. Until October 2010, it was believed that the Endeavour mission would be the last space shuttle flight — now Atlantis is set to take that honor.
Endeavour's final voyage
Endeavour's final voyage
Endeavour's final voyage
Endeavour's final voyage
Endeavour's final voyage
Endeavour's final voyage
Endeavour's final voyage
Endeavour's final voyage
Endeavour's final voyage
Endeavour's final voyage
Endeavour's final voyage
Endeavour's final voyage
More About: flight, NASA, space, space shuttle, Space Shuttle Atlantis, video
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Where there’s smoke…
30
Jun
It turns out the Los Alamos fires are world news, even making it to the front page of the BBC online (right next to the Duke and Duchess visiting Canada). Who knew? I guess everyone’s really worried that my theory of quantum gravity, which is of course sitting in my desk drawer at work, might go up in flames. My office is just below and to the left of the green glass building in this photo:
Or perhaps the world is genuinely concerned that a lab of historic significance might burn? Or maybe, and I’m going out on a limb here, everyone’s worried that the lab’s nuclear material might catch fire? A quick sanity check is in order. Most of the seriously radioactive material is in “hardened†bunkers at the lab. These are built to repel terrorist attacks and the like. They are surrounded by large buffer zones, and it would be difficult for a forest fire to get close, much less around/over the bunker, since there’s nothing flammable nearby. And, needless to say, massive slurry drops from the air would also discourage the fire from even thinking about approaching. And even if the fire did somehow surround the structure, my understanding is that the facility would survive virtually unscathed. So this material is probably safe.
In addition to the stores of radioactive material, however, there is also waste consisting of items such as gloves and the like with trace amounts of radioactive contamination (much of it left over from the cold war). This stuff is stored in 55-gallon barrels in “Area G“, which is only ~10 km from the lab boundary (which presently constitutes the edge of the fire). The barrels are being systematically transported to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Southern New Mexico. However, there are still thousands of barrels left on lab property, and this stuff isn’t housed in the same bomb-proof bunkers as the high-level radioactive material. So if the fire were to get to this material, and somehow compromise one of the barrels (which are supposed to be fire proof), it could conceivably incinerate some of the contents and generate radioactive smoke. Although highly unlikely and not an unmitigated disaster, this is nonetheless something to be avoided if at all possible. The barrels are stored on pavement surrounded by a large area which has been completely denuded of vegetation (partially because of the previous fire, and partly because of lessons learned from the previous fire). There is very little to burn in the immediate surroundings, and the fire would have to jump some canyons to get to the barrels. And, again, the potential intervention of helicopters and airplane drops of fire retardant material make it even less likely that anything could go amiss. So the general feeling is that Area G is also safe. Over the last few days the lab has been doing a remarkable job of keeping everyone apprised as to what’s happening (e.g., twitter, flicker, website; also see links in my previous post [and comments])
But, perhaps most importantly, it seems like fire fighters have gotten the upper hand over the last day or two, and the area around the laboratory and town seems to be relatively secure. Extensive fire breaks have been built, with back burns helping to clear out potential underbrush and ensure an appropriate buffer. And, in the latest positive development, this evening we had some fairly spectacular thunderstorms and rain. One side effect is that the smoke has completely dissipated, and from my living room (in Santa Fe) we now have a clear view across the Rio Grande valley to the Jemez mountains above Los Alamos. After two weeks of hearing about the fires, and seeing the smoke, now for the first time we can actually see the flames themselves. This came as quite a shock. It is a scary but strangely beautiful sight (from ~30 miles away).
ProPublica Launches Online Tool To Compare Public Schools
30
Jun
Non-profit investigative newsroom ProPublica has released an interactive tool that makes it easy for people to compare schools to others in their district, state or the U.S.
To create the tool, the newsroom analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, which tracks Advanced Placement, gifted and talented programs, and advanced math and science classes.
It also used data from the National Center for Education Statistics to determine the percentage of students in each school who receive free or reduced-price lunches — an indicator used to estimate poverty in schools.
“While we found some relationship between the proportion of minority students at schools and access to programs,†explains an article about the project’s methodology. “We found the strongest relationship with the percent of students getting free- reduced-price lunches.â€
In some states, an increase in the percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunches actually coincided with a drop in the percentage of students taking AP courses. Many states in which this was not the case had instated programs that provide evening access to high-level courses.
You can use ProPublica’s interactive tool to see how your city’s schools (provided they have more than 3,000 students) stack up against others in its district and state, or against schools nearby with low and high poverty levels.
Each school’s profile shows its percentage of inexperienced teachers, number of AP courses offered, percentage of students who get free or reduced-price lunch, percentage of students who take advanced math and percentage of students who take at least one AP course.
More About: education, propublica, schools
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