Goblins, Greed, and Goodness: The Symbolic and Narrative Degradation of Goblins within The Hobbit

Throughout The Hobbit, J.R.R Tolkien establishes a variety of races that range on a diverse scale of good and evil. Within this spectrum, Goblins are portrayed as being the most evil in comparison to every other race on Middle Earth. Tolkien utilizes a variety of literary devices -from a repeated symbolic association with fire to their physical intolerance to environmental elements such as sunlight- to establish the complete disconnection between the Goblins and the natural world. This detachment allows their race as an entirety to become the embodiment of evil, which functions as a plot device throughout the narrative. Goblins play a vital role within The Hobbit, as their race is ultimately degraded to being a mere symbol for evil. This serves as a reference for the goodness of other races. Additionally, the initial portrayal of the Goblins in The Hobbit is significant because throughout Tolkien’s legendarium, “orcs are, in both quality and literal reference, interchangeable with “goblins” in folklore and Victorian fairy-telling” (Tyellas 5). The Hobbit’s illustration of the Goblin race acts as the most fundamentally primitive representation of a race that is later referenced as Orcs throughout The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. Therefore, the Goblins play a unique and noteworthy role within the narrative of The Hobbit; the race itself is dehumanized into a representation of evil, which serves as a standard for defining goodness within the entire racial context of Middle Earth. This is a major source of Tolkien’s plot development throughout the novel. Additionally, there is a significant contrast between Tolkien’s literary depiction and Peter Jackson’s modern day cinematic portrayal of the Goblins in the film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The evolution seen in the film is reflective of modern society’s discomfort with using race to classify the inherent qualities of an entire group of people

Ames facility for simulating planetary probe heating environments

Progress is reported on the development of a giant-planet pilot facility which simulates the conditions expected at the peak heating point for a shallow entry into the atmosphere of Saturn, Jupiter, and Uranus

Spectrum of generalized Hodge-Laplace operators on flat tori and round spheres

We consider generalized Hodge-Laplace operators $\alpha d \delta + \beta \delta d$ for $\alpha, \beta > 0$ on $p$-forms on compact Riemannian manifolds. In the case of flat tori and round spheres of different radii, we explicitly calculate the spectrum of these operators. Furthermore, we investigate under which circumstances they are isospectral.Comment: 20 page

Functional agrobiodievrsity - a novel approach to optimize pest control in fruit production

Functional agrobiodiversity was implemented in organic apple orchards in Denmark, by perennial flower strips. Two techniques were tested with the purpose of enhancing natural enemies and reducing damage of the rosy apple aphid

A Lichnerowicz estimate for the spectral gap of the sub-Laplacian

For a second order operator on a compact manifold satisfying the strong H\"ormander condition, we give a bound for the spectral gap analogous to the Lichnerowicz estimate for the Laplacian of a Riemannian manifold. We consider a wide class of such operators which includes horizontal lifts of the Laplacian on Riemannian submersions with minimal leaves.Comment: 13 pages. To appear in Proceedings of the AM

Drug Hepatotoxicity: Environmental Factors

Drug-induced liver injury presents as various forms of acute and chronic liver disease. There is wide geographic variation in the most commonly implicated agents. Smoking can induce cytochrome P450 enzymes but this does not necessarily translate into clinically relevant drug-induced liver injury. Excessive alcohol consumption is a clear risk factor for intrinsic hepatotoxicity from acetaminophen and may predispose to injury from antituberculosis medications. Understanding of the role of infection, proinflammatory states, disorders of coagulation, and the hepatic clock in predisposing patients to drug-induced liver injury is evolving. More study focusing specifically on environmental risk factors predisposing patients to drug-induced liver injury is needed

The U.S. Science and Technology Workforce

[Excerpt] In the 21st century, global competition and rapid advances in science and technology will challenge the scientific and technical proficiency of the U.S. workforce. Policymakers often discuss policy actions that could enhance the nation’s science and technology (S&T) workforce— deemed by some as essential to both meet U.S. workforce demands as well as to generate the new ideas that lead to improved and new industries that create jobs. The America COMPETES Act (P.L. 110-69) addresses concerns regarding the S&T workforce and STEM education, and the 111th Congress is debating funding for the programs authorized within it. Policymaker discussions tend to focus on three issues: demographic trends and the future S&T talent pool, the current S&T workforce and changing workforce needs, and the influence of foreign S&T students and workers on the U.S. S&T workforce. Many perspectives exist, however, on the supply and demand of scientists and engineers. Some question the fundamental premise that any action is necessary at all regarding U.S. competitiveness. They question whether or not the S&T workforce and STEM education are problems at all. The first issue of demographic trends and the future S&T talent pool revolves around whether the quality of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education received by all Americans at the pre-college level is of sufficient quality that workers are available to satisfy current and future workforce needs. In response, some policymakers propose taking actions to increase the number of Americans interested in the S&T workforce. These policies are motivated by demographic trends that indicate the pool of future workers will be far more diverse than the current STEM workforce. Proposed policies would take actions to enhance the quality of STEM education these Americans receive so they are able to consider S&T careers, and to recruit them into the S&T workforce. The second issue regarding the current S&T workforce and changing workforce needs tend to focus on whether or not the number of Americans pursuing post-secondary STEM degrees is sufficient to meet future workforce needs compared to students in countries considered to be U.S. competitors. The goal of proposed policies responding to this concern to reinvigorate and retrain Americans currently trained in science and engineering who voluntarily or involuntarily are no longer part of the current STEM workforce. The third issue focuses on whether or not the presence of foreign S&T students and workers is necessary to meet the nation’s workforce needs and attract the best and brightest to bring their ideas to the United States, or if the presence of such individuals adversely affects the U.S. S&T students and workers. Policy discussions focus on immigration policy, primarily increasing the ability of foreign STEM students currently in U.S. universities to more easily obtain permanent admission, and increasing the number of temporary worker visas available so more talent from abroad can be recruited to the United States. The challenge facing policymakers when making decisions regarding the S&T workforce is that science, engineering, and economic conditions are constantly changing, both in terms of workforce needs as well as the skills the STEM workforce needs to be marketable relative to demand