Speed of light may not be fixed, scientists suggest; Ephemeral vacuum particles induce speed-of-light fluctuations

Mar. 25, 2013 ? Two forthcoming European Physical Journal D papers challenge established wisdom about the nature of vacuum. In one paper, Marcel Urban from the University of Paris-Sud, located in Orsay, France and his colleagues identified a quantum level mechanism for interpreting vacuum as being filled with pairs of virtual particles with fluctuating energy values. As a result, the inherent characteristics of vacuum, like the speed of light, may not be a constant after all, but fluctuate.

Meanwhile, in another study, Gerd Leuchs and Luis L. S?nchez-Soto, from the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Light in Erlangen, Germany, suggest that physical constants, such as the speed of light and the so-called impedance of free space, are indications of the total number of elementary particles in nature.

Vacuum is one of the most intriguing concepts in physics. When observed at the quantum level, vacuum is not empty. It is filled with continuously appearing and disappearing particle pairs such as electron-positron or quark-antiquark pairs. These ephemeral particles are real particles, but their lifetimes are extremely short. In their study, Urban and colleagues established, for the first time, a detailed quantum mechanism that would explain the magnetisation and polarisation of the vacuum, referred to as vacuum permeability and permittivity, and the finite speed of light. This finding is relevant because it suggests the existence of a limited number of ephemeral particles per unit volume in a vacuum.

As a result, there is a theoretical possibility that the speed of light is not fixed, as conventional physics has assumed. But it could fluctuate at a level independent of the energy of each light quantum, or photon, and greater than fluctuations induced by quantum level gravity. The speed of light would be dependent on variations in the vacuum properties of space or time. The fluctuations of the photon propagation time are estimated to be on the order of 50 attoseconds per square meter of crossed vacuum, which might be testable with the help of new ultra-fast lasers.Leuchs and Sanchez-Soto, on the other hand, modelled virtual charged particle pairs as electric dipoles responsible for the polarisation of the vacuum.

They found that a specific property of vacuum called the impedance, which is crucial to determining the speed of light, depends only on the sum of the square of the electric charges of particles but not on their masses. If their idea is correct, the value of the speed of light combined with the value of vacuum impedance gives an indication of the total number of charged elementary particles existing in nature. Experimental results support this hypothesis.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Springer.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal References:

1. Marcel Urban, Fran?ois Couchot, Xavier Sarazin, Arache Djannati-Atai. The quantum vacuum as the origin of the speed of light. The European Physical Journal D, 2013; 67 (3) DOI: 10.1140/epjd/e2013-30578-7
2. Gerd Leuchs, Luis L. S?nchez-Soto. A sum rule for charged elementary particles. The European Physical Journal D, 2013; 67 (3) DOI: 10.1140/epjd/e2013-30577-8

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/electricity/~3/OKTioXXFUZ8/130325111154.htm

long beach state beasley trailblazers michael beasley jermaine jones hbo luck unc asheville

PC Gamers Get Some Love, Violence in Games, and the Future of ...

Page 1 of 5

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

As usual, it's been a controversial week here on QJ. In case you haven't been following us lately, we've had a whole lot of chat about the PS4, the emergence of some great content for PCs, as well as the ever-raging debate on violence in games. I'll tell you everything you need to know about every one of these topics while offering up a unique spin of my own. Welcome to Confessions of a Gamer!

?

?

NVIDIA VP Has Harsh Words for the PS4

?

?

With NVIDIA now stamping its foot squarely in the growing PC market, the company has become a whole lot more vocal on their views about current generation gaming consoles. As you can possibly imagine, they haven't been quite so kind. In fact, the hardware maker's VP of content and development claims that overall the PS4 is "low-end" when you compare it to PCs and "mid-range in the GPU department. He also said that in general, PCs will continue to offer users more power and flexibility by giving you the option to upgrade should you choose to do so.

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

These arguments (while true in some senses) are mostly the exact same views of PC fanboys across the globe which makes them less impressive to me. First of all, it's a stretch to call the PS4 a low-end machine. What budget computer do you know that has 8GB of GDDR RAM and a competitive graphics card? Had they stuck with 4 gigs he might have had a point. Not to mention that in more cases than not the increased power of a PC hasn't done too much more than what we see on a console. Games like the new BioShock certainly play better, but those titles with huge improvements are few and far between. From what I have seen, a lot of PC folks simply prefer the platform because they like keyboard and mouse controls. In general, consoles are getting similar performance because of a unified SDK and hardware spec. I won't deny the fact that PCs will probably always be supreme in a raw power sense, but for the majority of people the difference you get simply isn't worth the mouthing off.

?

?

Original Article

?

?

Speaking of PC, let's discuss a new KickStarter project that had a lot of you talking over the past week. My thoughts await on the next page!

?

?

Source: http://www.qj.net/ps4/news/pc-gamers-get-some-love-violence-in-games-and-the-future-of-the-industry-here-are-my-confessions.html

linsanity the alamo anencephaly tesla model x lou gehrig toby mac blue ivy carter photos

Taliban threat forces Pakistan's Musharraf to cancel welcome rally

Kamran Jebreili / AP

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf talks to a journalist in his office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, before leaving for Karachi on Sunday.

By Waj S. Khan, Producer, NBC News

KARACHI, Pakistan - Pakistan's ex-president Pervez Musharraf who returned home Sunday after four years in self-exile, was forced to cancel a welcome rally after a video allegedly showing Taliban suicide bombers preparing to target the former leader was released.?

"The threat by the Taliban to General Musharraf's life is real, very real. There are increasing chances every hour that something could happen," said retired Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi, his former military spokesperson and now a member of Musharraf's political party, the All Pakistan Muslim League.

Musharraf had been expected to address supporters in Karachi, where he arrived from Dubai.

A video allegedly showing a squad of Pakistani Taliban suicide bombers being trained to target Musharraf was released on Saturday. Like threats in the past, they reiterated that they would kill Musharraf, who is blamed by Islamist militants for supporting the American "war on terror" in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

After landing in Karachi today afternoon, Musharraf was expected to briefly address a crowd, and will then be moved to an undisclosed location.

Photos:?Victims of Pakistan bomb attack mourned

His lawyer and party leader, Ahmad Raza Qasuri, said the former president will have a busy few days "dealing with the legal mess of three very serious cases that have been waiting for him."

On Friday his legal team won him no-arrest bail for three different cases ? one that charges him as a conspirator of the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007, the killing of Akbar Bugti, a separatist politician, in 2006, and for forcibly detaining several judges in 2007 who wouldn't anoint his military rule.

The bail, according to Qasuri, was going to ensure that Musharraf was not arrested on arrival. The country's interior ministry had warned that Musharraf would be arrested as soon as he set foot in Pakistan.

According to the lawyer, Qasuri, Musharraf will have to travel to "unsavory?and unsafe places like Quetta [in Balochistan] to face the courts, which shows that he understands the risks of returning back here."

Related:

Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani teen shot by Taliban, back at school -- in UK

Pakistan captures suspect in death of journalist Daniel Pearl, officials say

Tough neighborhood: Can Waziristan militancy be dismantled, and society built?

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653387/s/29ebe096/l/0Lworldnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C240C174371160Etaliban0Ethreat0Eforces0Epakistans0Emusharraf0Eto0Ecancel0Ewelcome0Erally0Dlite/story01.htm

miracle andy whitfield kennedy demi moore roy oswalt kevin martin 2012 senior bowl

Tax proposal could help small business, economy - The Spokesman ...

A notable piece of small-business news on Capitol Hill this year isn?t about a bill ? it?s about a tax proposal that could lift some of the uncertainty owners have been complaining?about.

Under a proposal announced last week by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., a popular tax deduction for equipment purchases would become permanent and be set at $250,000, aside from annual adjustments for inflation. Known as the Section 179 deduction, it?s scheduled to drop to $25,000 next year after having been at $500,000 from 2010 through?2013.

If the??

You have viewed 20 free articles or blogs allowed within a 30-day period. FREE registration is now required for uninterrupted access.

Registration Required

• log in to your Spokesman.com account for unlimited viewing and commenting access.
• Don't have a Spokesman.com account? Create a Spokesman.com profile and register for FREE access.

• S-R Media, The Spokesman-Review and Spokesman.com are happy to assist you. Contact Customer Service by email or call 800-338-8801

A notable piece of small-business news on Capitol Hill this year isn?t about a bill ? it?s about a tax proposal that could lift some of the uncertainty owners have been complaining?about.

Under a proposal announced last week by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., a popular tax deduction for equipment purchases would become permanent and be set at $250,000, aside from annual adjustments for inflation. Known as the Section 179 deduction, it?s scheduled to drop to $25,000 next year after having been at $500,000 from 2010 through?2013.

If the proposal becomes law, it could give owners some predictability ? something they?ve been clamoring for given the large list of other uncertainties they?ve been sacked with such as health care, minimum wage and the economy. The deduction has fluctuated in recent years and has made it difficult for small businesses to?plan.

Not knowing what the deduction will be forces business owners to play a sort of roulette ? do they buy a drill press or an SUV before the end of the year and take advantage of the current deduction, or wait to see what the new year?brings?

There are ramifications for the broader economy that go beyond the boost from spending on equipment. If small-business owners have a better idea of how much money they might save on their taxes, they might feel more secure and then expand and hire. Small businesses account for more than 99 percent of U.S. companies, and they employ about half the country?s workforce, or about 60 million?people.

One of the greatest sources of uncertainty about the deduction is the fact that Congress has been erratic in setting the amount of the deduction and sometimes has made changes retroactively. In January, Congress gave final approval to a bill that boosted the 2013 deduction to $500,000 from a planned $25,000 ? but many owners had already made purchases in 2012 expecting a smaller deduction in the coming?year.

?People were making decisions they normally wouldn?t be making at the end of last year,? says Brian Burt, an attorney with the law firm Snell & Wilmer in Phoenix. His clients include small businesses in the manufacturing, financial services and software?industries.

?That uncertainty makes for bad decision making,? Burt says. One of his clients, a consumer products manufacturer, bought new machines at the end of the year to increase its capacity. Another manufacturing client invested in new?software.

The deduction, named after a section of the federal tax law, allows small businesses to deduct up front the costs of equipment such as vehicles, manufacturing machines, furniture and computers. The deduction is important and popular because it allows small businesses to get a tax savings on the entire cost of equipment in the year it was purchased. Without it, they would have to depreciate the costs over a period of years which varies according to the type of equipment. Companies that get a refund get a boost in their cash flow from their tax?savings.

?The Section 179 proposal is pretty big because it affects everybody,? says John Arensmeyer, the CEO of Small Business Majority, a group that lobbies on behalf of small?businesses.

The deduction was created as part of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 ? a law passed to help the country emerge from the 1980 recession. In 1982, the year it took effect, the deduction was $5,000. Congress increased it through the years until it reached $125,000 in 2007. It doubled to $250,000 in 2008-09 because of the Great Recession, and subsequently rose to?$500,000.

How much a small business saves in taxes from the deduction depends on how much they spend on equipment, and on the company?s or owner?s tax rate. In many small companies, including sole proprietorships, partnerships and some corporations, owners pay business taxes on their individual?returns.

Camp, the Ways and Means chairman, released what he called a bipartisan discussion draft of proposals to reform tax rules that affect small businesses. The draft, which Camp said was being circulated so the public can offer feedback, is intended to be part of an overhaul of the entire tax system. Other suggestions in the draft included a doubling of the deduction for startup costs and later tax return filing deadlines for small?corporations.

The NSBA likes the idea of a permanent Section 179 deduction, although McCracken says his group would like to see a higher?amount.

Small businesses shouldn?t be subject to a limit on deducting equipment purchases, says Karen Kerrigan, CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. Under current law, when a company reaches the limit, it must use depreciation to deduct amounts over $500,000, a process that takes?years.

Given the fighting in Congress over taxes ? most recently, the year-end battle over tax rates for the wealthiest people ? and the current focus on cutting the budget deficit, it?s hard to predict how the Section 179 proposal will fare. Camp has said that tax cuts must be offset by tax increases elsewhere. Lower taxes for small businesses would likely mean higher taxes for someone else ? which could make it a tough sell in the current climate in?Congress.

But Kerrigan thinks the proposal has a good chance of becoming law because it has bipartisan support in Congress, and because it appeals to small?businesses.

?It?s something that small business can look to and say, ?This can make a difference for my firm,??? she?says.

Source: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/mar/24/tax-proposal-could-help-small-business-economy/

usher James Holmes Minka Kelly sex tape Colorado shooting Colorado shooting victims aurora Angie Everhart

Samsung Galaxy S3 hidden features that have the wow factor

Despite a new model being released soon the Samsung Galaxy S3 remains a premium smartphone that still has a lot to offer those that already own one. There are a few features that can be hidden if you don?t know where to look but some of them certainly bring the wow factor to the average user, and after spending a few months with the device I have decided to share some of my favourites.

Some of these features were added in the last Android Jelly Bean update that includes the Premium Suite options, and like many of the already available neat features these can have little tricks to get the most out of them.

If you have never owned a smartphone before Samsung has included an Easy mode that provides a more simple to use interface until you get into the swing of things, and this can be activated by going to settings and selecting home screen mode and then checking the Easy mode.

If there is something on your screen you would like to capture a simple sliding of the side of your hand across the screen, and the handset will then capture the image and save it to your Clipboard. Another clever feature that was highlighted at the handsets launch is the Smart Stay option, which will basically keep the display awake as long as you are looking at it.

This can be activated by going to the main settings and selecting display and scrolling down and checking the Smart Stay option, you will then see a small icon on the top right hand side of the display showing the option is active.

One of the most popular recent additions to the Galaxy S3 is the Multi-Window option that allows two applications to be run at the same time on the display, and sometimes the little tab for this option on the left of the display disappears, but to quickly open the option while on the home screen a short press down on the back button will open this up.

The camera can be quickly accessed by tapping the screen and holding down while rotating the device, and to set this up go to settings and select Lock screen and Lock screen options and making sure Camera quick access is switched on.

Google Now can be accessed quickly by simply holding down the menu button while accepting and ending calls can be made easier by setting the home button to receive them or the power key for ending calls. This can be achieved by heading to the main settings and selecting Accessibility before choosing Call answering/ending and activating the options.

The neat Direct call feature allows users to simply call the contact that is currently displayed on the screen by putting the handset up to their ear, and to enable this option select the Motion option from settings and enabling Direct call.

Many of us will have been hit with unexpected data charges if we unwittingly go over our allowances, but the Galaxy S3 has a clever data monitor that tracks your use with the option for the user to set a limit for a warning and a cut off, and this can be found via settings and Data usage.

Applications running in the background can seriously affect you battery life and if you don?t have one of the numerous apps that are available to address this issue you can still find out what is running on the device by holding down the home button. This will bring you a list of currently running apps and to go to it tap on the app or swipe to the right to kill it.

There are obviously many more neat features that haven?t been covered this time, and if you have any better tricks and shortcuts for the Samsung Galaxy S3 let us know via the comments section below.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and via our apps: Android and iPad.

Source: http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/2013/03/24/samsung-galaxy-s3-hidden-features-that-have-the-wow-factor/

meniscus the colony ncaa final four 2012 uk vs louisville university of kansas buckeye west side story

How Democrats Could Finally Win the 'Obamacare' Debate

Democrats were ambushed in the 2010 elections by the ferocious backlash to ?Obamacare.? There will be no excuse if they are unprepared for what could be a repeat assault on the campaign trail in 2014. But there are few signs so far of an all-out long-term effort to celebrate or at least sell this landmark law.

On third anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, Democrats were greeted by new polling showing that its most popular provisions ? such as a tax break for small business and help for seniors to pay for prescriptions -- remain its least recognized. The best known aspect? The unpopular requirement that most people buy insurance or pay a fine.

Republicans marked the run-up to the Saturday anniversary by appearing to settle in for a sustained battle to the midterms. They tried, as usual, to repeal the law on Capitol Hill. They launched a LivingUnderObamacare.com website (?Higher Premiums. Sky-Rocketing Taxes. Reduced Care. This Is Life Under ObamaCare.?) and a round of attack emails.

Some of the GOP tactics are amusing, such as a Buzzfeed parody from the National Republican Congressional Committee entitled ?13 animals that are really bummed about Obamacare.? But others could be dangerous to Democrats if there is no counter-messaging.? For instance, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made a short video showcasing what he called the first regulations under the law ? ?20,000 pages, seven feet tall, and they?re just getting started.? He alleged that none of the law?s promises are panning out ? perhaps slightly premature since most of ?Obamacare? won?t take effect until 2014 and measuring its impact will take years.

Now it is true that over the past week, the Department of Health and Human Services sent a series of? ?Affordable Care Act at 3? emails extolling the law. But they were bland good-government releases designed to publicize new benefits and explain how to enroll when health insurance marketplaces come online in October. It?s also true that Organizing for Action, the new group that arose out of President Obama?s campaign organization, held a series of ?birthday parties? around the country (speaking to the converted, much?) and plans to focus this fall on helping people sign up for health insurance.

And yes, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi talked up the law on Capitol Hill. ?What I love about it, and most people don't realize, it's about wellness, it's about prevention, it's about quality of care, it's about a big difference in the lives of the American people,? she said. A positive message, yet it was buried in an email headlined ?Transcript of Pelosi Press Conference Today.? And it was lonely. In contrast with the GOP, Democratic Party emails all week were about every subject but the health law. Obama issued a short statement, but on the exact anniversary of signing the Affordable Care Act three years ago, he devoted his video address to gun violence.

The political case for "Obamacare" is going to have to be made by advocacy groups, party committees and politicians themselves. And it will have to be made non-stop via every viral and high-profile means available, at an intensity level that matches the few short hours devoted to the health law at the Democratic convention last summer. ?They haven?t grappled with fact that this is going to be a continual fight. You cannot rest,? says Andrea Camp, a strategist who has advised groups that support the act. ?You keep talking about it. It has to be top of mind, and that?s how you drive up the favorables on this.?

Amid the Republican onslaught, which may have peaked (troughed?) with Rep. Michele Bachmann?s insistence that the law ?literally kills? women, children and seniors, what is there for Democrats to say? A few things:

• They are proud of what they did. The bottom line here is that as a result of subsidies, Medicaid expansions and new insurance rules, coverage will become available to tens of millions of people who were too sick or strapped to get it under the current system.
• People are already receiving benefits and more will start soon. Repeating this message and using specifics to drive it home is key. Free preventive services like mammograms, the guarantee that insurance companies must sell you a policy and can?t kick you off, the requirement that young adults be allowed to stay on their parents? policies until they turn 26 ? these are in force or will be. It is up to Democrats and supporters of the law to make voters aware that these stem from ?Obamacare.?
• Republicans don?t have a replacement for the law. They continually propose repealing it (?to protect families, workers and seniors from its devastating consequences,? as House Speaker John Boehner put it Saturday in his third-anniversary observance),? and vote to do so. But it?s a pointless exercise since Democrats control the Senate and the White House. Beyond that, nobody loves the old system ? and that?s what we?d have if Republicans succeeded in their repeal drive, since they have no plan of their own.
• The law isn?t perfect and it can be improved. All Democrats should acknowledge the obvious: The Affordable Care Act is big and complex and will evolve for years to come, and they should make clear they are open to tweaks and fixes. If a tax or other provision proves unworkable or hugely unpopular, alternatives should be considered. If paperwork is too complex, it should be simplified. If federal standards make insurance plans too expensive, changes should be weighed. If states want flexibility, they should be encouraged. Some of these things are already happening, and Democrats would be wise to brag about them as evidence that they are pragmatists interested in a law that works well for people, states and businesses.

Obama is obviously the face of Obamacare and it?s not clear yet whether that?s a positive or negative. By mid-2014, we?ll all know a lot more about the possibly related issues of his job-approval trend and how the rollout of the new insurance marketplaces, the heart of the law, is going. But Democrats and interest groups and the president himself can?t afford to wait until they know which is winning, the horror stories or the heartwarming ones. They?ve got to uncurb their enthusiasm and keep it out front for months if they want the public to warm to this law and the people who made it happen.

Correction: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect title for Mitch McConnell. He is the Senate minority leader.

?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/democrats-could-finally-win-obamacare-debate-133806522--politics.html

lindsay lohan beyonce cyprus cyprus Bracketology Erin Go Bragh St Patrick

European Union chief to try for last-minute Cyprus deal

BRUSSELS (AP) ? A top European official will chair a high-level meeting on Cyprus on Sunday afternoon in a last-ditch effort to seal a deal before finance ministers decide whether the country gets a 10 billion euro bailout loan to save it from bankruptcy.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Finance Minister Michalis Sarris were flying to Brussels early Sunday. The day of talks could prove critical ? not only for the future of their small island nation, but for that of the 17-nation eurozone, as well.

Spokesman Preben Aamann could not confirm who would participate in the meeting, but said it would be led by European Council President Herman Van Rompuy. The Council is the gathering of 27 EU heads of state and government.

Cyprus said European Council President Jose Manuel Barroso would also participate in the meeting led by Van Rompuy. The Council is the EU's executive arm.

Following that session, Anastasiades will meet with Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, and Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, Christodoulides said.

Cyprus has been told it must raise 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion) in order to secure the loan from the IMF and other eurozone countries. The IMF, European Central Bank and European Commission will determine whether any plan put forward by Cyprus ? or negotiated in the Van Rompuy meeting ? meets that requirement.

The requirement is that Cyprus' debt, including any new bailout loan, be sustainable over the long run, considering the size of the country's economy.

To avoid bankruptcy or the collapse of its banking system, Cyprus needs significantly more than the 10 billion euros the international creditors are willing to lend it. For that reason, the country must somehow raise ? and not through borrowing ? the additional money.

The original plan, agreed to in marathon negotiations, called for a one-time "levy" on all bank depositors in Cypriot banks. The proposal ignited fierce anger among Cypriots and failed to garner a single vote in the Cypriot Parliament.

Any new proposal would have to be approved Sunday evening by the Eurogrop, the gathering of finance ministers from the 17 EU countries that use the euro currency.

If Cyprus or its banks were to collapse, officials fear that a lack of confidence could spread to other countries that use the euro, triggering higher borrowing costs or capital flight from those countries.

___

Don Melvin can be reached at https://twitter.com/Don_Melvin

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-chief-try-last-minute-cyprus-deal-090451223--finance.html

lone ranger aaron brooks dave matthews band solar flares 2012 whitney houston will toyota recall northern lights