World

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich Delivers Floor Speech On Bipartisan Proposal To Keep Guns From Terrorists

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U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich
 
U.S. SENATE News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) spoke Tuesday on the Senate floor to urge support for the bipartisan Terrorist Firearms Prevention Act, legislation to prevent individuals who are on the No Fly List from purchasing firearms.
 
The legislation, led by U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), was introduced today and also is cosponsored by Senators Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Angus
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World Futures: Lying, Cheating And Stealing Part Five

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By ANDY ANDEWS
Los Alamos World Futures Institute

In part one of this series, I referenced the Cadet Honor Code of the United States Military Academy. While I graduated in 1964, I returned 12 years later (1976) to become a member of the faculty. Shortly before I arrived, a major cheating scandal occurred in the spring of 1976 resulting in 151 cadets being separated.

The scandal was about cadets cheating on a “take home” exam in electrical engineering. When I arrived I had a job to do and did not have time (in my judgment) to devote to observing the events that were wrapping up. The system could take care Read More

AGU: New Model Suggests Moon Formed Inside Vaporized Earth

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This sequence shows the early Moon emerging as Earth’s synestia shrinks. They are based on a NASA artistic rendering of a protoplanetary disk, which is being used to represent a synestia. Courtesy Sarah Stewart
 
By ANDY FELL
Communications Manager at UC Davis
 
A new explanation for the Moon’s origin has it forming inside the Earth when our planet was a seething, spinning cloud of vaporized rock, called a synestia. The new model led by researchers at the University of California, Davis and Harvard University resolves several problems in lunar formation and has been accepted
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Venice Baroque Orchestra In Los Alamos March 9

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The Venice Baroque Orchestra. Courtesy/LACA

LACA News:

The Venice Baroque Orchestra, one of the world’s great period instrument ensembles, will appear in Los Alamos at 7 p.m. Friday, March 9 in the Crossroads Bible Church at 97 East Road.

Presented by the Los Alamos Concert Association, the ensemble will bring with them recorder virtuoso Anna Fusek.

LACA’s usual venue, the Duane Smith Auditorium is undergoing renovation and will not be available for this performance. Concert attendees are encouraged to carpool and arrive early as parking in the Crossroads Bible Church parking lot and surrounding Read More

World Futures: Lying, Cheating And Stealing: Part 4

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By ANDY ANDREWS
World Futures Institute

Stealing is a word with many meanings yet we will all attest that we know what it means. Or do we?

In the opening article of this series I made reference to receiving a dozen ball point pens from the bank and asked if taking one from the bank’s customer work station was stealing. What if you read an article on the Internet on how to cook a special dessert and then post “your” recipe on Facebook without crediting the source?

What if while shopping at the grocery store you eat a grape in the produce department to “taste” it and never pay for it? What if, as a store clerk, Read More

United Church Of Los Alamos Mexico Mission Auction In March

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Members of the United Church of Los Alamos and Unitarian Church will travel to Mexico during spring break to build homes for the poor. Courtesy/UCLA
 
UCLA News:
 
The United Church of Los Alamos is seeking donations for its Mexico Mission community auction in March.
 
Adults from the United Church and the Unitarian Church will build homes during spring break for the poor.
 
Items can be brought to 2525 Canyon Road.
 
Requests may be made for pick up of large items. For information, call 505.662.2971.
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LANL Researchers Discover Novel Exciton Interactions In Carbon Nanotubes

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Stephen Doorn, of Los Alamos National Laboratory, working on an instrument used for spectroscopic characterization of carbon nanotubes. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

  • In the study, a collaborative research team showed that Raman spectroscopy (a form of light scattering) can provide more extensive characterization of intertube excitons.

Nanotechnology researchers studying small bundles of carbon nanotubes have discovered an optical signature showing excitons bound to a single nanotube are accompanied by excitons tunneling across closely interacting nanotubes. That quantum tunneling Read More

Udall, Heinrich Say White House Reliance On Interim Security Clearances Troubling

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U.S. SENATE News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― Following testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee that revealed significant discrepancies in the White House’s account of how long former Staff Secretary Rob Porter was permitted access to classified information without a full security clearance, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich joined a group of senators in writing to FBI Director Christopher Wray to raise concerns regarding the Trump administration’s “troubling reliance on the use of interim security clearances and whether there has been any mishandling of classified
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World Futures: Lying, Cheating And Stealing: Part 3

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By ANDY ANDREWS
Los Alamos World Futures Institute

Cheating refers to gaining an unfair advantage in a competitive situation. Generally it refers to an individual, keeping in mind that a company is usually viewed as an individual entity.

Cheating is an act consciously taken to gain the unfair advantage. Wikipedia, defines three classes of cheating:

  • academic;
  • sports, video and gambling; and
  • business.

Accordingly, one can conclude that the government(s) does not cheat. Or does it?

Starting with academic cheating, if more than 50 percent of high school students do it, should we be concerned? Read More