How to make a stick and other recipes for unnatural disaster

“It is incumbent upon him [Don Quixote] to fulfill the promise of the books. It is his task to recreate the epic, though by a reverse process: the epic recounted (or claimed to recount) real exploits, offering them to our memory; Don Quixote on the other hand, must endow with reality the signs-without-content of the narrative. His adventures will be a deciphering of the world: a diligent search over the entire surface of the earth for the forms that will prove that what the books say is true. Each exploit must be a proof: it consists, not in a real triumph – which is why victory is not really important – but in an attempt to transform reality into a sign. Don Quixote reads the world in order to prove his books. And the only proofs he gives himself are the glittering reflection of resemblances.” Michel Foucault, (on Don Quixote) The Order of Thing

The magnetic field of Mars estimated from the data of plasma measurements by Soviet artificial satellites of Mars

The dimensions of the obstacle forming the shock wave of Mars are estimated by use of electron trap data from Mars 2, 3, and 5. The mean altitude of the obstacle at the subsolar point can be convincingly explained if the obstacle is the magnetosphere of Mars. On the assumption that Mars has its own dipole magnetic field, the magnetic moment of Mars is estimated, Mm approximately equal to 2 x 10 to the twenty second power gs x cubic cu

Simulation of Coherent Diffraction Radiation Generation by Pico-Second Electron Bunches in an Open Resonator

In this report we present new approach for calculation of processes of diffraction radiation generation, storage and decay in an open resonator based on generalized surface current method. The radiation characteristics calculated using the developed approach were compared with those calculated using Gaussian-Laguerre modes method. The comparison shows reasonable coincidence of the results that allows to use developed method for investigation of more complicated resonators

A within-statement baseline comparison for detecting lies

To make veracity judgements in individual cases, practitioners may rely on baselining. That is, they may evaluate a statement relative to a baseline statement that is known to be truthful. We investigated whether a within-statement verbal baseline comparison could enhance discriminatory accuracy. Participants (n = 148) read an alibi statement of a mock suspect and provided a veracity judgement regarding a critical two-hour period within the alibi statement. This critical element was either deceptive or truthful and was embedded into an otherwise truthful story. Half of the participants received additional instructions to use the surrounding truthful elements of the statement as a baseline. Instructing participants to make a within-statement baseline comparison did not improve the accuracy of credibility assessments