A Gravitational Redshift Determination of the Mean Mass of White Dwarfs. DA Stars

We measure apparent velocities (v_app) of the Halpha and Hbeta Balmer line cores for 449 non-binary thin disk normal DA white dwarfs (WDs) using optical spectra taken for the ESO SN Ia Progenitor surveY (SPY; Napiwotzki et al. 2001). Assuming these WDs are nearby and co-moving, we correct our velocities to the Local Standard of Rest so that the remaining stellar motions are random. By averaging over the sample, we are left with the mean gravitational redshift, : we find = = 32.57 +/- 1.17 km/s. Using the mass-radius relation from evolutionary models, this translates to a mean mass of 0.647 +0.013 -0.014 Msun. We interpret this as the mean mass for all DAs. Our results are in agreement with previous gravitational redshift studies but are significantly higher than all previous spectroscopic determinations except the recent findings of Tremblay & Bergeron (2009). Since the gravitational redshift method is independent of surface gravity from atmosphere models, we investigate the mean mass of DAs with spectroscopic Teff both above and below 12000 K; fits to line profiles give a rapid increase in the mean mass with decreasing Teff. Our results are consistent with no significant change in mean mass: ^hot = 0.640 +/- 0.014 Msun and ^cool = 0.686 +0.035 -0.039 Msun.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 14 pages, 12 figure

Blockchain & Secured Transactions Proceedings of the 2021 Spring Conference: The Impact of Blockchain on the Practice of Law: Presentation 4

Secured transactions are governed by Uniform Commercial Code Article 9. UCC Article 9 governs any extension of credit secured by personalty. If you think about it, this statute governs a massive swath of market activity: secured credit facilities, margin trading of securities, asset securitizations, and purchase money transactions for goods, I could name more. But it\u27s a statute that\u27s very wide ranging. Given this expansive scope, blockchain-based transaction platforms have numerous implications for lawyers who deal with secured transactions. In my brief time here, I\u27m going to identify just two of them

Blockchain Emergencies & Open-Source Software Governance: Is Rough Consensus a Suicide Pact?, Blockchain Emergencies & Open-Source Software Governance: Is Rough Consensus a Suicide Pact?

I am concerned with, How is Bitcoin run? Who gets to make decisions about Bitcoin? How is Ethereum run? Who gets to make decisions about Ethereum? I am concerned with the governance of these protocols at the base level. Why does this matter? It matters because these protocols at the base are supporting the whole DeFi structure. All the complexities and different complex financial products that are being built there, they sit on top of these infrastructural base level protocols. I think we need to be aware of how these things work and the systemic risks that they can pose if we\u27re not really pressing on assumptions and practices in those areas. I will talk about what the normal protocol governance looks like in some of these systems, keeping in mind that each is slightly different. I\u27ll talk about how their governance might differ in emergencies in the systems, and then I will post some open questions that I think we need to come up with answers to so that the systems we\u27re building atop of the base level are reliable if we\u27re putting big financial systems on top of that

Follies

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/little_theatre_2007_programs/1000/thumbnail.jp

Montana Kaimin, December 8, 1995

Student newspaper of the University of Montana, Missoula.https://scholarworks.umt.edu/studentnewspaper/9927/thumbnail.jp

Interview with Seth Bradstreet by Mike Hastings

Biographical NoteSeth H. Bradstreet, Jr. was born on February 26, 1933, in Albion, Maine, to Seth H. Bradstreet and Ethel G. (Nelson) Bradstreet, who were farmers; he was one of twelve siblings. He attended the University of Maine, and after graduation he taught at Corinna Union Academy from 1954-1955. In 1955, he and his wife purchased a farm and went into potato farming. In 1962 he ran as a Democrat for the Maine state legislature and served two terms. He served on the Agriculture Committee when Mitchell was chair of the Maine Democratic Party, and he was state director of the Farmers Home Administration for eleven-and-a-half years during the Carter and Clinton administrations. SummaryInterview includes discussions of: family background, childhood and education; high school basketball; Maine dairy farming; Albion, Maine community; teaching; Newport, Maine; potato farming and the industry; Sam Rayburn visit to Maine; Maine state legislative race (1962); legislative service; George Mitchell as chair of the Maine Democratic Party; Mitchell family; Raynor “Razor” Crossman; 1974 Maine gubernatorial campaign; Stewart Smith; Maine Potato Council; Farmers Home Administration; 1982 U.S. Senate campaign; fund raising for Mitchell; FHA case when Mitchell was U.S. attorney; Eddie and Barbara Atkins and Florida homes; Middle East story; “new suit” story; Mitchell’s sense of humor; Egypt trip and potato farming; Gayle Cory; and Mitchell’s reputation