The ethical implications of the military\u27s product placement and brand integration in popular entertainment

The military relies heavily on advertising. National defense is itself a product that is marketed to the American taxpayer who not only funds the Pentagon but fights its battles. Recruiting is crucial to maintaining the all-volunteer force created in 1973 when the draft was abolished. While plenty of individuals readily sign up others need more encouragement. As of 2014, 1,412,674 people served on active duty in the U.S. military (http://www.bls.gov/ooh/military/military-careers.htm 2014), and while this number may appear impressive it reflects only a tiny part of the population. This paper will examine in depth how the U.S. military uses product placement and product integration in popular entertainment to recruit soldiers. The paper describes the symbiotic relationship between Hollywood and the Pentagon under which the military provides funding and military equipment for military films that encourage young people to volunteer for services and portray the military in a positive light. The paper also examines the ethical issues raised by the use of taxpayer dollars to fund favorable media representations often targeted at audiences far too young to make a rational decision about joining the military. The paper concludes by showing that the military’s propaganda efforts in Hollywood are an important part of the militarization of society that makes foreign military entanglements attractive to the American people

General Relativistic Radiative Transfer

We present a general method to calculate radiative transfer including scattering in the continuum as well as in lines in spherically symmetric systems that are influenced by the effects of general relativity (GR). We utilize a comoving wavelength ansatz that allows to resolve spectral lines throughout the atmosphere. The used numerical solution is an operator splitting (OS) technique that uses a characteristic formal solution. The bending of photon paths and the wavelength shifts due to the effects of GR are fully taken into account, as is the treatment of image generation in a curved spacetime. We describe the algorithm we use and demonstrate the effects of GR on the radiative transport of a two level atom line in a neutron star like atmosphere for various combinations of continuous and line scattering coefficients. In addition, we present grey continuum models and discuss the effects of different scattering albedos on the emergent spectra and the determination of effective temperatures and radii of neutron star atmospheres

Effect of Treadmill Surface Stiffness on the Running Economy Benefits of a Highly-Cushioned Racing Shoe: A Pilot Study

Running economy (RE) is defined as the oxygen consumption (VO2) at a given running speed. The Nike Vaporfly line of racing shoes, which includes more compliant and resilient midsole foam and a carbon-fiber plate, have been shown to improve RE during treadmill testing. Previous research suggests that RE in general is worse on treadmills with stiffer running platforms. However, it is unclear if the magnitude of the RE benefits provided by these new shoes relative to a control shoe differ based on treadmill stiffness. Given that some treadmill platforms allow more flex or compliance, this may be an important consideration when comparing the effects of new footwear. Placing shims under the spans of a treadmill can increase surface stiffness and allow for such comparisons. PURPOSE: Determine the RE benefits of the Nike Vaporfly NEXT% 2 (VFN2) racing shoe relative to a mass-matched control (CTRL) shoe, under shimmed (SHIM) and non-shimmed (NON) treadmill conditions. METHODS: Four male runners (23 ± 8 years, 176 ± 4 cm, 61.8 ± 8.6 kg) completed 8 x 5-minute trials at 12 km·hr-1 on a level, motorized treadmill (Cardiac Science TM 55) with a 5-minute rest between trials. Both the VNF2 and CTRL shoe were tested twice under both the SHIM and NON treadmill conditions. The Asics Hyper Speed was used as the CTRL shoe given its traditional midsole foam and absence of a carbon-fiber plate. Approximately 16 g was added to VFN2 to mass-match the CTRL shoe. For the SHIM trials, an adjustable screw jack was elevated under both sides of the treadmill spans near the location of foot strike. VO2 was measured continuously throughout each trial and averages from the final 2-minutes for each of the two trials for a given shoe-treadmill condition were determined. RESULTS: VFN2 improved RE to a similar extent relative to CTRL for NON (1.2 ± 0.7%; p = 0.041) and for SHIM (1.1 ± 0.43%; p = 0.013) treadmill conditions. The average difference (NON minus SHIM) in the % energy savings conferred by the VFN2 was only 0.08 ± 0.29%. VO2 (ml·kg-1·min-1) is provided for each subject based on shoe-treadmill condition with % reductions in VO2 for VFN2 relative to CTRL displayed for each treadmill condition. Subject A: CTRL-NON 36.68, VFN2-NON 36.16; 1.41%; CTRL-SHIM 37.02, VFN2-SHIM 36.50; 1.40%. Subject B: CTRL-NON 37.98, VFN2-NON 37.22; 2.02%; CTRL-SHIM 37.45, VFN2-SHIM 36.88; 1.53%. Subject C: CTRL-NON 37.26, VFN2-NON 36.90; 0.98%; CTRL-SHIM 37.86, VFN2-SHIM 37.49; 0.98%. Subject D: CTRL-NON 38.41, VFN2-NON 38.26; 0.39%; CTRL-SHIM 38.43, VFN2-SHIM 38.21; 0.57%. Independent of shoe condition, SHIM resulted in worse RE for subject A and C, improved RE for subject B, and left RE unchanged for subject D. CONCLUSION: Shimming the span of the Cardiac Science TM 55 treadmill to increase surface stiffness may negatively impact RE overall for some individuals. However, this does not appear to impact the benefits provided by the VFN2 relative to a CTRL shoe at the 12 km·hr-1 speed tested in this pilot study

A Comment on "A note on polarized light from Magnetars: QED effects and axion-like particles" by L.M. Capparelli, L. Maiani and A.D. Polosa

The recent detection of a large polarization degree in the optical emission of an isolated neutron star led to the suggestion that this has been the first evidence of vacuum polarization in a strong magnetic field, an effect predicted by quantum electrodynamics but never observed before. This claim was challanged in a paper by Capparelli, Maiani & Polosa (2017), according to whom a much higher polarization degree would be necessary to positively identify vacuum polarization. Here we show that their conclusions are biased by several inadequate assumptions and have no impact on the original claim.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Evidence for precession of the isolated neutron star RX J0720.4-3125

The XMM-Newton spectra of the isolated neutron star RX J0720.4-3125 obtained over 4.5 years can be described by sinusoidal variations in the inferred blackbody temperature, the size of the emitting area and the depth of the absorption line with a period of 7.1 +/- 0.5 years, which we suggest to be the precession period of the neutron star. Precession of a neutron star with two hot spots of different temperature and size, probably not located exactly in antipodal positions, may account for the variations in the X-ray spectra, changes in the pulsed fraction, shape of the light curve and the phase-lag between soft and hard energy bands observed from RX J0720.4-3125. An independent sinusoidal fit to published and new pulse timing residuals from a coherent analysis covering ~12 years yields a consistent period of 7.7 +/- 0.6 years supporting the precession model.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Letters, 5 pages, 5 figure

VLT/FORS2 observations of the optical counterpart of the isolated neutron star RBS 1774

X-ray observations performed with ROSAT led to the discovery of a group (seven to date) of X-ray dim and radio-silent middle-aged isolated neutron stars (a.k.a. XDINSs), which are characterised by pure blackbody spectra (kT~40-100 eV), long X-ray pulsations (P=3-12 s), and appear to be endowed with relatively high magnetic fields, (B~10d13-14 G). RBS 1774 is one of the few XDINSs with a candidate optical counterpart, which we discovered with the VLT. We performed deep observations of RBS 1774 in the R band with the VLT to disentangle a non-thermal power-law spectrum from a Rayleigh-Jeans, whose contributions are expected to be very much different in the red part of the spectrum. We did not detect the RBS 1774 candidate counterpart down to a 3 sigma limiting magnitude of R~27. The constraint on its colour, (B-R)<0.6, rules out that it is a background object, positionally coincident with the X-ray source. Our R-band upper limit is consistent with the extrapolation of the B-band flux (assuming a 3 sigma uncertainty) for a set of power-laws F_nu ~nu^alpha with spectral indeces alpha<0.07. If the optical spectrum of RBS 1774 were non-thermal, its power-law slope would be very much unlike those of all isolated neutron stars with non-thermal optical emission, suggesting that it is most likely thermal. For instance, a Rayleigh-Jeans with temperature T_O = 11 eV, for an optically emitting radius r_O=15 km and a source distance d=150 pc, would be consistent with the optical measurements. The implied low distance is compatible with the 0.04 X-ray pulsed fraction if either the star spin axis is nearly aligned with the magnetic axis or with the line of sight, or it is slightly misaligned with respect to both the magnetic axis and the line of sight by 5-10 degreesComment: 8 pages, 8 postscript figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Evidence of vacuum birefringence from the polarisation of the optical emission from an Isolated Neutron Star

Isolated Neutron Stars are some of the most exciting stellar objects known to astronomers: they have the most extreme magnetic fields, with values up to $10^{15}$ G, and, with the exception of stellar-mass black holes, they are the most dense stars, with densities of $\approx 10^{14}$ g cm$^{-3}$. As such, they are perfect laboratories to test theories of electromagnetism and nuclear physics under conditions of magnetic field and density unattainable on Earth. In particular, the interaction of radiation with strong magnetic fields is the cause of the {\em vacuum birefringence}, an effect predicted by quantum electrodynamics in 1936 but that lacked an observational evidence until now. Here, we show how the study of the polarisation of the optical radiation from the surface of an isolated neutron star yielded such an observational evidence, opening exciting perspectives for similar studies at other wavelengths.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, Contributed to the 13th Patras Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs, Thessaloniki, May 15 to 19, 201

Accurate X-ray position and multiwavelength observations of the isolated neutron star RBS 1774

We report on X-ray, optical, infrared and radio observations of the X-ray dim isolated neutron star (XDINS) 1RXS J214303.7+065419 (also known as RBS 1774). The X-ray observation was performed with the High Resolution Camera on board of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, allowing us to derive the most accurate position for this source (alpha = 21h43m3.38s, delta= +6deg54'17".53; 90% uncertainty of 0."6). Furthermore, we confirmed with a higher spatial accuracy the point-like nature of this X-ray source. Optical and infrared observations were taken in B, V, r', i', J, H and Ks filters using the Keck, VLT, Blanco and Magellan telescopes, while radio observations were obtained from the ATNF Parkes single dish at 2.9GHz and 708MHz. No plausible optical and/or infrared counterpart for RBS 1774 was detected within the refined sub-arsecond Chandra X-ray error circle. Present upper limits to the optical and infrared magnitudes are r'>25.7 and J>22.6 (5 sigma confidence level). Radio observations did not show evidence for radio pulsations down to a luminosity at 1.4 GHz of L < 0.02 mJy kpc^2, the deepest limit up to date for any XDINS, and lower than what expected for the majority of radio pulsars. We can hence conclude that, if RBS 1774 is active as radio pulsar, its non detection is more probably due to a geometrical bias rather than to a luminosity bias. Furthermore, no convincing evidence for RRAT-like radio bursts have been found. Our results on RBS 1774 are discussed and compared with the known properties of other thermally emitting neutron stars and of the radio pulsar population.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication on MNRA

Discovery of 59ms Pulsations from 1RXS J141256.0+792204 (Calvera)

We report on a multi-wavelength study of the compact object candidate 1RXS J141256.0+792204 (Calvera). Calvera was observed in the X-rays with XMM/EPIC twice for a total exposure time of ~50 ks. The source spectrum is thermal and well reproduced by a two component model composed of either two hydrogen atmosphere models, or two blackbodies (kT_1~ 55/150 eV, kT_2~ 80/250 eV, respectively, as measured at infinity). Evidence was found for an absorption feature at ~0.65 keV; no power-law high-energy tail is statistically required. Using pn and MOS data we discovered pulsations in the X-ray emission at a period P=59.2 ms. The detection is highly significant (> 11 sigma), and unambiguously confirms the neutron star nature of Calvera. The pulse profile is nearly sinusoidal, with a pulsed fraction of ~18%. We looked for the timing signature of Calvera in the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) database and found a significant (~5 sigma) pulsed signal at a period coincident with the X-ray value. The gamma-ray timing analysis yielded a tight upper limit on the period derivative, dP/dt < 5E-18 s/s (dE_rot/dt <1E33 erg/s, B<5E10 G for magneto- dipolar spin-down). Radio searches at 1.36 GHz with the 100-m Effelsberg radio telescope yielded negative results, with a deep upper limit on the pulsed flux of 0.05 mJy. Diffuse, soft (< 1 keV) X-ray emission about 13' west of the Calvera position is present both in our pointed observations and in archive ROSAT all-sky survey images, but is unlikely associated with the X-ray pulsar. Its spectrum is compatible with an old supernova remnant (SNR); no evidence for diffuse emission in the radio and optical bands was found. The most likely interpretations are that Calvera is either a central compact object escaped from a SNR or a mildly recycled pulsar; in both cases the source would be the first ever member of the class detected at gamma-ray energies.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures and 4 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Vacuum Breakdown near a Black Hole Charged by Hypercritical Accretion

We consider a black hole accreting spherically from the surrounding medium. If accretion produces a luminosity close to the Eddington limit the hole acquires a net charge so that electrons and ions can fall with the same velocity. The condition for the electrostatic field to be large enough to break the vacuum near the hole horizon translates into an upper limit for the hole mass, $M\sim 6.6\times 10^{20} {\rm g}.$ The astrophysical conditions under which this phaenomenon can take place are rather extreme, but in principle they could be met by a mini black hole residing at the center of a star.Comment: 6 pages, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa