SHRINKING PROTON

How big is a proton? The most accurate measurement yet suggests it's smaller than we thought. This could be due to an error – or it might just hint at totally new particle physics.

"The new experiment presents a puzzle with no obvious candidate for an explanation," says Peter Mohr of the international Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA), which calculates values for fundamental constants in physics, who was not involved in the new work.

Like most quantum objects, a proton is fuzzy around the edges. Its size is defined by the extent of its positive charge rather than a crisp physical boundary. This charge radius cannot be measured directly but can be inferred from the hydrogen atom, which consists of a proton and an electron.

The electron can sit in a variety of energy "shells", each with a different distribution in space. One shell's distribution requires the electron to dive in and out of the proton, and another sits entirely outside the proton. The energies of both of these shells can be combined to deduce the proton's radius, using a theory known as quantum electrodynamics (QED).

Remembering 9-11

Remembering 9-11
For The Police and Firemen did not think of themselves,
Not one person said, "It's every man for himself."
For to those trapped inside each man was a brother,
On their wounded shoulders they carried each other.

paster suspends book burning to make pasta

ATLANTA, GA - Jonathan Klein, president of CNN lashed out at Pastor Terry Jones's decision to suspend the burning of Korans in Florida tomorrow. instead the paster will cook pasta for his flock!
This is an outrage! Our viewers depend on us to bring them controversial news full of bother. Our shareholders demand value from their investments. Pastor Terry has single-handedly pulled the carpet from out from under us. With past media disasters such as Hurricane Earl and the premature end of the Iraq war, we rely on controversial stories about trouble to buoy our channel. If real controversies can't be found, we will still find them or make them up!!. The idea that someone can change their mind just because of a moral epiphany is outrageous. This action will not stand maybe his pasta cooking will cause a major wildfire!!!", said Mr. Klein before stepping into former Vice-President Al Gore's four-engine Gulfstream jet.
Mr. Gore and Mr. Jones are planning on speaking at a Global-Warming conference in Gainesville, Georgia - 45 miles from from Atlanta.

Hilarious Fashion Arithmetic! | The Frisky

Hilarious Fashion Arithmetic! | The Frisky

"Iran Pakistan propose flag burning championship!"

Mad mullars today decided to hold an islamic world flag burning championship in response to U S pastors plan to burn the good ol peace promoting?? Koran, well known Mustaf Bin Had expressed his utter disbelief that a bloke in a cristian...Off with the oohcck!! spit western decadent vicars head (put 20 grand on the 2-30 at Newmarket) so called house o god should wana burn the koran hmmm koran is that a jewish name? Muslim communities around the world taking time off from stoning women to death expressed outrage an exception to a few copies of the peace promoting Koran being burned in public by a madcap Florida Pastor.
Muslim communities for years have burned effigies of US Presidents and British Prime Ministers, every time they get a bee in their collective bonnets.
Bargain bin copies of Islamic jihad five knuckle shuffle booklets were hastily being printed for impoverished Rihad princes camped in Mayfair drinking champers an waiting for their grand a night more decadent the better hookers, wanting to join in the burning of national flags.cheaper to purchase, and thus to burn, than flags - which usually work out at about fifteen quid a pop.
"It just doesn't make sound economic sense," a merchant banker from Ealing told us. "In financial terms, the Muslim protesters would actually be quids in burning copies of the Koran than they would be burning flags and effigies of political leaders." peaces of burning embers be upon ya,s

record spell for interest rates

it the longest spell rates have been at the historic low since the Bank was given responsibility for setting monetary policy in 1997.

Policymakers also continued with the Bank's £200bn quantitative easing (QE) programme amid uncertainty over the path of the UK's recovery.

The previous record during the MPC's time was when the rate was on hold at 4% for 15 months, between November 2001 and February 2003.

Committee members are torn between the pressures of stubbornly high inflation and the threat of a double-dip recession.

Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation was 3.1% in July and warnings suggest cost pressures will worsen, with food prices expected to increase over the coming months.

Experts at Barclays Capital believe CPI edged up again in August, to 3.2%, which could leave the MPC facing a further dilemma.

In one sudden leap, social networks have been transformed from trivial pop-culture fad to a grass-roots communication medium worthy of being stifled by government.

Al Jazeera is reporting that Iranian authorities have begun filtering out Internet traffic for Twitter and Facebook, along with jamming Farsi-language radio newscasts by the BBC and The Voice of America.

Meanwhile, Twitter says it will delay a planned Monday night upgrade to avoid cutting daytime service to Iranians who have been using it to coordinate protests against the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Tweets from the streets of Tehran have been important to Al Garman, an Iranian expatriate living in Bellevue, Wash., who has been glued to his Blackberry, according to this story in the Seattle Times. "Many of the tweets are ahead of the news organizations. The stories in the news organizations come after the tweets," Garman tells the Times.

Iran's government has not commented on the restrictions, instead accusing the international media of exaggerating the reports of violence against protesters, and conspiring to destabilize the government.

Update: It actually was the U.S. State Department that asked Twitter to postpone its scheduled maintenance so its services could be available to protestors and activists on the ground in Tehran, according to this Washington Times story. That move worked in concert with a contribution from San Francisco technologist Austin Heap, who posted these instructions for how to use proxy servers to bypass government Twitter filters.

Also, tech savvy protestors can just as easily reach Twitter using proxy tools readily supplied for free at proxy.org, notes Chris King, director of product marketing at Palo Alto Networks, a network security firm.

"It's a bit of a cat and mouse game," says King. "The government will discover and close these proxies. But the sophisticated activists will just move to the next one. They can get through any blocks put up by the government."