Some notes on the Kruskal - Szekeres completion

The Kruskal - Szekeres (KS) completion of the Schwarzschild spacetime is open to Synge's methodological criticism that the KS procedure generates "good" coordinates from "bad". This is addressed here in two ways: First I generate the KS coordinates from Israel coordinates, which are also "good", and then I generate the KS coordinates directly from a streamlined integration of the Einstein equations.Comment: One typo correcte

Scalar Polynomial Singularities in Power-Law Spacetimes

Recently, Helliwell and Konkowski (\texttt{gr-qc/0701149}) have examined the quantum "healing" of some classical singularities in certain power-law spacetimes. Here I further examine classical properties of these spacetimes and show that some of them contain naked strong curvature singularities.Comment: 7 pages revtex4 two figures extended discussio

Generating Static Fluid Spheres by Conformal Transformations

We generate an explicit four-fold infinity of physically acceptable exact perfect fluid solutions of Einstein's equations by way of conformal transformations of physically unacceptable solutions (one way to view the use of isotropic coordinates). Special cases include the Schwarzschild interior solution and the Einstein static universe. The process we consider involves solving two equations of the Riccati type coupled by a single generating function rather than a specification of one of the two metric functions.Comment: 4 pages revtex4, two figures, Final form to appear in Phys. Rev.

The effect of radiation on the long term productivity of a plant based CELSS

Mutations occur at a higher rate in space than under terrestrial conditions, primarily due to an increase in radiation levels. These mutations may effect the productivity of plants found in a controlled ecological life support system (CELSS). Computer simulations of plants with different ploidies, modes of reproduction, lethality thresholds, viability thresholds and susceptibilities to radiation induced mutations were performed under space normal and solar flare conditions. These simulations identified plant characteristics that would enable plants to retain high productivities over time in a CELSS

Standardized Testing of Non-Standard Photovoltaic Pavement Surfaces

Emerging photovoltaic products have expanded the applications for the technologies into markets previously unconsidered for what was thought to be a delicate electronic product. One company leading this effort, Solar Roadways, Incorporated, is producing pavement replacing photovoltaic systems and proposing their use in everything from sidewalks to runways. Current pavement testing methods cannot be applied to these non-homogenous structures to identify if they can support the required loads. However, the standards called out specifically for pavements may be able to be translated to these products and their non-homogenous structures and non-standard materials to identify if they are able to perform similarly to standard pavements. This research modified existing test standards in several ways: rigid pavements standards for advanced loading, structural adhesive standards for shear loading, structure specific standards for moisture conditioning, and application specific standards for freeze/thaw cycling. These modifications are due to the fact that the materials in these emerging products do not have established tests to evaluate their performance in non-traditional applications. The future of electronics is dependent on product unique applications. This, in turn, requires finding methods of testing them based on application, extrapolation, or correlation to traditional material testing which enables faster product development and subsequent roll out

Training Teachers to Facilitate Inquiry

Within the broad context of the topic Pre-Service and In-Service Education, I have decided to focus my attention on one rather narrow aspect of the pre-service education of primary school teachers. The topic which I want to consider is one which I have called Training Teachers to Facilitate Inquiry The examples which I \u27 ll use are drawn primarily from the broad field of primary science education. However since the type of intellectual activity involved in inquiry is desired in all areas of the primary school curriculum, I trust that what I have to say will have application beyond the field of primary science

Teachers’ Perceptions on the Availability and Quality Of Computer Science and Technology in Schools

As our world becomes more technologically advanced and the availability of jobs in the Computer Science (CS) field increases, it is important that U.S. students are provided with a CS education and experience technology integration in their classrooms. My research examined the availability and quality of CS and technology in schools based on the perceptions of K-12 teachers in the Hartford area. Through analysis of online survey responses and follow-up interviews, I identified that teachers’ perceived the availability and quality of CS and technology in schools to be influenced by factors, such as funding disparities, teacher inexperience, and lack of administrative and technical support. Based on these findings, I argue that many teachers have a misconception about CS. I also argue that teachers’ perceptions are disconnected when comparing their current school to other schools. If we wish to have our students develop the essentials skill to be fully functioning members of our technologically advanced society, I recommend that K-12 teachers are provided with more administrative and technical support and better Professional Development training that involves the foundation of basic CS principles

The World Adrift in Emptiness : Crossing the Abyss of Transition in Four Tragedies by Wole Soyinka

1986 Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, Nigerian dramatist, poet, essayist and novelist, names the Yoruba god, Ogun, as his tragic muse for ritual theatre in The Fourth Stage, his early artistic manifesto. In this essay Soyinka maintains that in contrast to Dionysus, Nietzsche\u27s hero in The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music, Ogun balances within himself elements that could be described as Dionysian, Apollonian, and Promethean. Archetypally, Ogun thus constitutes a destructive-creative unity which overcomes the dyad of good-versus-evil of Europe\u27s Christian civilization. For this reason, Soyinka upholds Ogun not only as a natural patron of tragedy but, furthermore, as a native alternative to the West\u27s religions and ideologies. Still, in his later essays, Soyinka is careful to distance himself from the nativistic ideologues of so-called Négritude. Ogun for him does not retreat into a reactionary vision of the glories of an Africanist past but advances boldly into a future place within world culture, because Ogun, after all, is a universal archetype, even if particularized within his Yoruba context. But behind Soyinka\u27s mythopoetic Ogun lies a deeper substratum of Nietzschean philosophy. Soyinka identifies crossing the abyss of transition as the metaphor for transforming consciousness in his dramaturgy. To cross the abyss is to overcome weak nihilism with strong. This thesis examines The Strong Breed, The Road, Madmen and Specialists, and Death and the King\u27s Horseman in terms of this Ogunnian overcoming. The most important question to be asked, however, is whether Soyinka\u27s Nietzschean aufheben ( overcoming ) succeeds in crossing the abyss of nihilism in an ontology without transcendence