Thermal Upsilon(1s) and chi_b1 suppression in sqrt(s_NN)=2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC

I compute the thermal suppression of the Upsilon(1s) and chi_b1 states in sqrt(s_NN)=2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions. Using the suppression of each of these states I estimate the total R_AA for the Upsilon(1s) state as a function of centrality, rapidity, and transverse momentum. I find less suppression of the chi_b1 state than would be traditionally assumed; however, my final results for the total Upsilon(1s) suppression are in good agreement with recent preliminary CMS data.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; v4: published versio

The origin of pointing: Evidence for the touch hypothesis

Pointing gestures play a foundational role in human language, but up to now, we have not known where these gestures come from. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that pointing originates in touch. We found, first, that when pointing at a target, children and adults oriented their fingers not as though trying to create an “}arrow{” that picks out the target but instead as though they were aiming to touch it; second, that when pointing at a target at an angle, participants rotated their wrists to match that angle as they would if they were trying to touch the target; and last, that young children interpret pointing gestures as if they were attempts to touch things, not as arrows. These results provide the first substantial evidence that pointing originates in touch

Silver and Gold: The Markers of Goodness, Greed and Vanity in Chaucer\u27s Travelers

In this presentation, I will argue that in the “General Prologue” to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chaucer refers to silver and gold in three different ways in and analyze how these methods reflect on the travelers as well as reflect Chaucer’s own musings on morality and wealth: through description of their attire or looks, through reference to the literal exchange, and through metaphor. All three types of references allow for both negative, like the Pardoner and Miller, and positive, like the Parson, evaluations of the specific traveler’s character, and through this Chaucer reminds the reader that wealth is not inherently good or evil, but it is in how one uses it that is worthy of judgement. The inclusion of characters from the three estates of English society, allows class also comes into play with the way the commoners, clergy, and even the courtly elite regard wealth, and how we can analyze their greed or lack thereof. Ironically, it is in the members of the church, save for the Parson, that present this abuse of wealth most strongly. The Pardoner, in contrast, provides the most poignant evaluation of wealth and the church, through his acknowledgement of his failings, and can be seen as an interjection of Chaucer’s opinion in a serious, critical way. The significance of gold and silver do not change or challenge the common interpretations of the characters within the story, but rather support and lend more specificity to the theme of avarice and greed that we as readers see throughout the Prologue in the description of Chaucer’s travelers

LDEF materials data bases

The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) and the accompanying experiments were composed of and contained a wide variety of materials representing the largest collection of materials flown in low Earth orbit (LEO) and retrieved for ground based analysis to date. The results and implications of the mechanical, thermal, optical, and electrical data from these materials are the foundation on which future LEO space missions will be built. The LDEF Materials Special Investigation Group (MSIG) has been charged with establishing and developing data bases to document these materials and their performance to assure not only that the data are archived for future generations but also that the data are available to the spacecraft user community in an easily accessed, user-friendly form. This paper discusses the format and content of the three data bases developed or being developed to accomplish this task. The hardware and software requirements for each of these three data bases are discussed along with current availability of the data bases. This paper also serves as a user's guide to the MAPTIS LDEF Materials Data Base

The preliminary Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) materials data base

A preliminary Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) Materials Data Base was developed by the LDEF Materials Special Investigation Group (MSIG). The LDEF Materials Data Base is envisioned to eventually contain the wide variety and vast quantity of materials data generated for LDEF. The data is searchable by optical, thermal, and mechanical properties, exposure parameters (such as atomic oxygen flux), and author(s) or principal investigator(s). The LDEF Materials Data Base was incorporated into the Materials and Processes Technical Information System (MAPTIS). MAPTIS is a collection of materials data which was computerized and is available to engineers, designers, and researchers in the aerospace community involved in the design and development of spacecraft and related hardware. This paper describes the LDEF Materials Data Base and includes step-by-step example searches using the data base. Information on how to become an authorized user of the system is included