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July 23, 2006
"Don't be small, Albert. Remember: you are a genius. So, so what if you masturbated this morning? This does not mean you are a bad scientist."
Some researchers at Cornell have devised a new light-scattering technique for rendering blond and brown hair in 3D computer graphics.
The problem is that light traveling through a mass of blond hair is not only reflected off the surfaces of the hairs, but passes through the hairs and emerges in a diffused form, from there to be reflected and transmitted some more.
The only method that can render this perfectly is "path-tracing," in which the computer works backward from each pixel of the image, calculating the path of each ray of light back to the original light source. Since this require hours of calculations, computer artists resort to approximations.
"People do something reasonable for one bounce and then assume it reflects diffusely," Marschner explained. In other words, he said, they assume that hair is opaque. "In light-colored hair it's important to keep track of the hair-to-hair scattering," he said.
Marschner and Moon's algorithm begins by tracing rays from the light source into the hair, using some approximations of the scattering and producing a map of where photons of light can be found throughout the volume of hair. Then it traces a ray from each pixel of the image to a point in the hair and looks at the map to decide how much light should be available there.
The result, in a test rendering of a swatch of blond hair, appears almost identical to a rendering by the laborious path-tracing method. Path tracing for the test required 60 hours of computation, while the new method took only 2.5 hours, the researchers report.
The Gusher: how high oil prices and the falling dollar interact
So, what we see above is that Americans continue to import more oil, at higher prices. Let's do a little basic micro economics here. If you raise prices and your customer buys more of your product, are you going to raise prices again?
Yeah, me too.
And this is part of why Bernanke's got a problem. Too much of all that money in the system is getting flushed into commodity speculation. It's dead easy money.
Bernanke needs to get people to stop buying so much oil. It's a weakness, a bull market that any idiot can exploit, and it's now becoming self-reinforcing as all bull markets (and bubbles) do at certain stages. The more money that is chasing a fixed number of barrels, the higher they get bid.
What is further clear from these charts is that Bernanke isn't tightening fast enough. He needs to stop pumping the gas pedal and slam on the brakes. The reason is that inflation is beginning to really hurt in the US, it's even getting to the point where so called core inflation (the inflation that measures, as Ritholz notes, what your life would be like if you didn't eat, have to pay a mortgage or property taxes, walked everywhere and didn't need to cool or heat your house) is beginning to show real inflation. Other measures of inflation have been overheated for some time now.
So the choice, as I noted before, remains the same. Slam on the braks and have a nasty recession - or ease the brakes on, have a nasty inflationary bout, and then have a nasty recession.
Scenario two will be chosen, because scenario one would lead to a Republican wipeout in November 2006.
Neuroscientists at Yale and Oxford have isolated the predecessor neurons that develop into the cerebral cortex in utero. Unfortunately, this interesting scientific observation will be exploited for political gain by the so-called "pro-life" crowd, no doubt. via
The findings published in Nature Neuroscience show that the first neurons, or "predecessors," as the researchers called them, are in place 31 days after fertilization. This is much earlier than previously thought and well before development of arms, legs or eyes.
Co-author Pasko Rakic, chair of the Department of Neurobiology and director of the Kavli Institute of Neuroscience at Yale, said the use of highly specific cell markers led the team to the surprising discovery of new types of neurons in the prospective cerebral cortex.
"We hypothesize that these predecessor neurons may be a transient population involved in determining the number of functional radial units including the human specific regions of the cerebral cortex mediating higher cognitive functions," Rakic said.
Until recently it was thought that cortical neurons were generated locally, but this research team describes a distinctive, widespread population of neurons situated beneath the surface of the human embryonic forebrain even before complete closure of the neural tube.
Predecessor cells, unlike mature nerve cells, do not have synaptic connection with other neurons. They do have long processes, or "tails," with one stretching out in front of the cell body and the other trailing behind. Analysis of the skeleton of these cells suggests that they migrate upwards in the surface of the developing brain and enter the future cortex.
As Billmon cogently explains, a regional conflict in the Middle East could easily lead to Iran cutting off the supply lines to coalition forces in Iraq, effectively losing an army. Mogadishu writ large. Academically, I've always felt that one of the dangers of invading Iraq was that it exposed and overextended the US military when it could be put to better uses, but it's only during this new crisis with Lebanon that the interrelatedness of all ME conflicts has really come to the fore for me. via
If the supply lines back to Kuwait were to be cut -- or even seriously interdicted -- the U.S. military presence in Iraq would quickly become untenable. I'm not even sure the Army could scrounge enough gas to keep the tanks and Humvees moving, given that Iraq already suffers from a severe refining capacity shortage and must import most of its gasoline from Kuwait.
In other words, in the event of a real world war -- as opposed to the kind that pundits pontificate about on Fox News -- Centcom would either have to "pacify" the transportation routes through southern Iraq quickly and ruthlessly (which might not be possible, given the troops available and the possibility some Iraqi units might turn on their putative allies) or try to evacuate some or most U.S. forces from Iraq, either by air or ground.
We're talking, on other words, about a potential debacle -- the worst U.S. military defeat since Pearl Harbor. Not because the Iranians are brilliant strategists or tough fighters (although they may be; we really don't know) but because the Iraq occupation has left the U.S. Army dangerously overextended, given its massive supply requirements.
Newly-released personal writings reveal what us Upright Citizens Brigade fans have known for years: Einstein was a horn-dog. Now, if only there's something in there about him traveling back in time to talk to Jesus, play cards with Jesus, shove Jesus! via
In 1919, Einstein divorced Mileva and married Elsa, but within four years he was in love with Bette Neumann, his secretary who was also the young niece of one of his friends. Many more liaisons followed.
The letters reveal that a beautiful Berlin socialite named Ethel Michanowski followed him to Oxford, only to discover that he was involved with a third woman.
According to excerpts of letters made available to reporters, Einstein discussed his extra-marital affairs openly with his family.
``It is true that M. followed me and her chasing after me is getting out of control," wrote Einstein to his stepdaughter in May 1931 of Michanowski's infatuation. ``I will tell her that she should vanish immediately. . . . Out of all the dames, I am in fact attached only to Mrs L. who is absolutely harmless and decent, and even with this there is no danger to the divine world order."
``I don't care what people are saying about me, but for mother and Mrs M. it is better that not every Tom, Dick and Harry gossip about it," he wrote.
``Mrs L." was Margarete Lenbach, another wealthy woman who used to send a chauffeur-driven car to collect Einstein for their late-night trysts.
But Einstein valued Michanowski's discretion, as he wrote to his second wife Elsa in 1931.
``Mrs. M. definitely acted according to the best Christian-Jewish ethics: 1) one should do what one enjoys and what won't harm anyone else; and 2) one should refrain from doing things one does not take delight in and which annoy another person. Because of 1) she came with me, and because of 2) she didn't tell you a word. Isn't that irreproachable?"
Posted by Jon Rubin at July 23, 2006 10:25 PM
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