magnificent

Describes motivation process for creativity with emphasis on intrinsic motivation by Corey K Katir

On May 11, the phenomenal astrophotographer Thierry Legault took another amazing picture of the Sun (See Related Posts below for more of Thierry’s work that’s been featured here at the BA blog). Setting up his equipment in the south of France, he captured this truly magnificent shot of our nearest star… and when you finish picking your jaw off the floor, stick around, because your amazement isn’t done yet:

[Click to hugely ensolarnate.]

I know, right? That HUGE sunspot cluster is Active Region 1476, which has been blorting out some small flares, but nothing major. That’s a bit surprising, given how big and active the magnetic field is in those spots. Still, the cluster has grown to something like 200,000 km (120,000 miles) stem to stern, and that one big spot is 100,000 or so km (60,000 miles) across. Mind you, the Earth is about 13,000 km (8000 miles) across, so keep that in mind when you’re looking at it.

But there’s more to see! Including the reason Thierry took this picture in the first place…

See the …

You know why astronomy is cool? Because of things like this:

Galaxy clusters are collections of galaxies held together by their own gravity. We see clusters all over the place, and they’re among the largest structures in the Universe. We can find them at large distances, which means we see them as they (and the Universe) were young — it takes light a long time to travel across the cosmos. Astronomers went looking to find extremely distant clusters of galaxies, and found one at a staggering distance: 12.7 billion light years away!

Here’s an image showing the central part of the cluster:

[Click to bigbangenate.]

Each of those circled red dots is a young galaxy, so distant that the light has been on its way here for more than 90% of the current age of the Universe! And they’re almost lost among all those other stars and galaxies in the image (though their intense red color helpsa| as to why they’re red, read on).

Finding this cluster was a magnificent achievement. The astronomers used the massive 8.2 meter Subaru telescope to look at large swaths of the sky. They …

Today is Earth Day, and you’ll probably see a lot of blog posts telling you how to save our planet, how we’re doomed, how to lower your carbon footprint, how this, how that.

So instead of adding to all that, I’ll simply link you to the Planet Earth site, where James Drake — who created the phenomenal “What’s it feel like to fly over planet Earth” video — has put up amazingly high-res and lovely pictures of our home world, taken by the Russian weather satellite Electro-L. He also has high-res animations of the Earth, like this one showing the northern hemisphere:

The colors are more-or-less true, with the addition of an infrared layer colored orange in the images and video; that is generally vegetation you’re seeing in that color. Since Electro-L is a geostationary satellite, its orbital period is 24 hours, and it appears to hover over one spot on the planet. So to its view, the Earth doesn’t appear to rotate. Instead, the Sun looks like it spins around the Earth once per day, and in fact you can see its reflection in the water.

It’s a magnificent view, as befits our wonderful …

“My body, my choice.” We hear that slogan constantly, but what the hell do those four words mean? Many of us have one or two political issues surrounding our bodies that get us fired up.A Many of you reading this right now probably have some hot-button issue on your mind. Maybe it’sA abortion, orA recreational drug usage, orA marriage [...]

I love Pixar. Who doesn’t? The stories are magnificently crafted, the characters are rich, hilarious, and unique, and the images are lovingly rendered.A Without fail, John Ratzenberger’s iconic voice makes a cameo in some boisterous character. Even if you haven’t seen every film they’ve made (I refuse to watchA Cars or its preposterous sequel), there is a [...]

IN THE spring of 1887 a Lebanese villager named Mohammed Sherif discovered a well near Sidon that led to two underground chambers. These turned out to be a royal tomb containing 18 magnificent marble sarcophagi dating back to the fifth century BC. The Ottoman sultan, Abdul Hamid II, ordered the sarcophagi exhumed, placed on rails and carried down to the Mediterranean coast, where they were sent by ship to Istanbul. The largest sarcophagus was believed to contain the remains of Alexander the Great. The coffin is not Turkish and Sidon is now in Lebanon, but the sarcophagus is regarded as Istanbulas grandest treasure, as important to the archaeology museum there as the aMona Lisaa is to the Louvre.The mildly Islamist government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, led by the Justice and Development (AK) party, likes to think of itself as the heir of the Ottoman sultans. The Turkish authorities have recently launched a wave of cultural expansionism, building new museums, repairing Ottoman remains, licensing fresh archaeological excavations and spending more on the arts. A grand museum in the capital, Ankara, is due to open in…

A ripe and good scholar

Bring Up the Bodies. By Hilary Mantel. Henry Holt; 410 pages; $28. Fourth Estate; APS20. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.ukHILARY MANTELaS Man Booker prize-winning novel, aWolf Halla, was a momentous work about the court of Henry VIII, as seen through the lens of Thomas Cromwell. A blacksmithas boy, Cromwell claws his way up to become Henryas ruthless fixer and one of historyas great villains. The book captured the upheavals of the Tudor period and was a critical and popular hit that rescued historical fiction from its bodice-ripper reputation.aBring Up the Bodiesa, Ms Mantelas sequel, takes up where aWolf Halla left off, and it is an outstandingly good read. The year is 1535 and Henry is in middle age, aa massive man, bull-necked, his hair receding, face fleshing outa. His acarriage, his person, are magnificent; his…

Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning is drafting an emergency rule change one week after the death of 2-year-old Jazmin Green, according to WSB-TV. My question, as an Atlanta plaintiff’s personal injury trial lawyer, is this: Why does a child always have to die first before our Georgia Agencies do their job? The job they were created to do in the first place? How many Georgia children have to die before Georgia Agencies like Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) or Georgia Department of Family and Children Services (DFACS) do what they are supposed to do, i.e, protect Georgia children?

The death of Jazmin Green was a horrible realization that these State Agencies are woefully inadequate and give “protection” of Georgia children lip service. Little Jazmin simply should not have died if DECAL had not been asleep at the switch. Yet DECAL knew of potentially death-causing deviations of the required standards by this day care center, Marlo’s Magnificent Day Care, as evidenced by DECAL’s own inspection reports, and did nothing. A civil wrongful death suit can be brought against Marlo’s, as it should be, for the wrongful death of Jazmin. But no such civil suit can be brought at DECAL due to sovereign immunity. We know, however, that a civil jury would do the proper thing to DECAL to get its attention and tell DECAL what it is doing regarding the safety of our children is not working. A jury made up of mothers and fathers would let DECAL know what it did wrong here, but, unfortunately, that won’t happen. The parents of Jazmin need justice. Her heart has now been sealed for thy courts above. The Courts here in Georgia need to render justice for those Jazmin left behind.

As an experienced Atlanta, Georgia trial lawyer, Iave successfully argued numerous day care personal injury and wrongful death cases over my years of practice. Nothing is more heartbreaking and frustrating than a preventable death, especially if the victim happens to be a child. So when I first learned of the recent news that a 2 year-old girl died under the noses of local day care employees, my heart sank.

The victim was left unattended for nearly two hours in a van, where temperatures quickly soared to a sweltering 140 degrees. Confined by the straps of her car seat with no means of escape, the child was left to suffer a lengthy, horrific end to such an abbreviated life. Police arrested Marlo Maria Fallings, the administrator of Marloas Magnificent Early Learning Center near Jonesboro, Georgia and her staff member, Quantabia Shantell Hopkins, on Tuesday, June 21. They are both being charged with involuntary manslaughter, cruelty to children and reckless conduct. They have already been released on $35,000 bond. These charges certainly fit the crime, however, more action needs to be taken in order to send a message to day care centers throughout the state that negligent conduct is a serious offense and will not be tolerated.

There may have been warning signs about the Clayton County Day Care Center. In March, Bright from the Start, the State agency that regulates day care centers, cited the center for not documenting a field trip and the children who were transported, according to the report. The report itself says the regulation was only “partially met” but, really, it was totally unmet. The report states:

“Finding 591-1-1-.36 (6)(d) requires that at the completion of every trip, a check must be made to assure that no child remains on the vehicle. The center staff did not initial or document the field trip form for children transported on October 26, 2010. POI (Plan of Improvement) The center will instruct staff regarding this safety measure. Correction Deadline – 03/01/2011″

So, this day care center didn’t document any child getting on OR off the day care van and it obviously didn’t remedy the situation by the March 1, 2011 deadline. Where was the follow up by the Georgia Department of Human Resources? This is egregious. In Tennessee, the Tenneesee Department of Human Resources this summer issued new reminders and warnings to day care centers about not leaving children behind in day care vans. aWe know child-care providers share our concern about the need for increased vigilance during the hot summer months to ensure children are not left in vehicles,a DHS Commissioner Raquel Hatter said. As part of this increased vigilance, the Tennessee DHS licensing staff will be making extra visits to monitor child-care agencies. Where were the reminders from the Georgia DHS?

The next step toward justice, of course, should be civil action. Georgia law requires day cares such as the one in this case to check all vehicles after trips ato assure that no child remains in the vehicle.a Obviously, Ms. Fallings and her staff failed to abide by this simple statute and, therefore, should be held accountable.

Iam tired of hearing about preventable deaths such as this one that result from pure negligence. Last year alone, 49 children in the United States reportedly died from heat exhaustion while locked inside a vehicle. On a local note, Mondayas wrongful death was the second in metro Atlanta in less than a month involving a child trapped inside a vehicle. On May 25th, a five month-old girl died in a similar manner after being locked in an automobile for five hours outside a Kennesaw, Georgia day care center. These incidents are both preventable and unacceptable, and the responsible entities should be punished to the fullest extent of the law both civilly and criminally. My heart goes out to the parents of this little child.

Sources:
2 Accused of Day Care Death out of Jail

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