Chi è convinto che la notte di San Lorenzo sia ancora troppo lontana per poter avere l’occasione di ammirare il cielo in attesa di una pioggia di stelle cadenti si dovrà ricredere. Se a molti lo spettacolo delle Quadrantidi della notte tra il 3 e il 4 gennaio è infatti sfuggito per problemi di visibilità (il picco dell’evento era troppo vicino all’alba per poter essere bene osservato) il 2012 riserva però altre occasioni per ammirare stelle e pianeti. Eccone alcuni di quelli proposti da Scientific American, che potremmo osservare anche in Italia (condizioni meteorologiche permettendo).

Si comincia alla fine di febbraio, con Mercurio, il più interno dei pianeti del sistema solare (e per questo in genere poco visibile, nascosto com’è dalla luce del Sole). A partire dal mese prossimo il pianeta comincerà ad allontanarsi dalla nostra stella, raggiungendo il punto più distante il 5 marzo. Durante questo periodo, e immediatamente dopo, Mercurio apparirà quindi insolitamente splendente e potremo ammirarlo dopo il tramonto in direzione ovest. Negli stessi giorni anche Marte sarà ben visibile, perché entrerà in opposizione (rispetto al Sole, con la Terra nel mezzo) il 3 marzo.

Mercurio e Marte saranno anche protagonisti di una parata di pianeti nei primissimi giorni di marzo: insieme a Venere, Giove, e Saturno sarà infatti possibile osservarli nel corso di un’unica notte (sebbene non in contemporanea). In particolare, pazientando dal tramonto fino alle 22 sarà possibile scorgere a ovest prima Mercurio, Venere e Giove, poi, a est, Marte e infine Saturno.

Marzo 2012 sarà decisamente un mese interessante per gli astrofili. Il 13 infatti Venere e Giove faranno brillare in modo particolare la volta celeste. Rispettivamente il terzo e il quarto oggetto celeste più luminoso del cielo (dopo il Sole e la Luna), Venere e Giove saranno infatti particolarmente vicini, accoppiati, visibili in direzione ovest nelle prime ore della sera, poco dopo il tramonto.

Segnaliamo poi il transito di Venere sul Sole, ovvero il momento in cui il pianeta si piazzerà tra la Terra e il Sole, in parte oscurandolo. Sebbene l’evento – più raro del passaggio della cometa di Halley, tanto che accadrà di nuovo solo nel 2117 e che raggiungerà il suo culmine il 5 giugno prossimo - non si vedrà sopra il cielo italiano, avremo comunque l’opportunità di non lasciarcelo sfuggire, come spiega Luciano Nicastro dell’ Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna (Inaf-Iasf): “L’Inaf, come partner del progetto europeo Gloria trasmetterà in diretta via web da tre diversi località, in Giappone, Australia e Norvegia il transito di Venere sul Sole durante la sua intera durata”. Offrendo così anche a noi lo spettacolo di vedere Venere come un piccolo disco scuro sulla nostra stella, con un diametro di circa 1/32 quello del Sole.

Ma anche le Perseidi, le stelle cadenti di agosto, quest’anno potrebbero riservare uno spettacolo sorprendente. A differenza del 2011, infatti, le condizioni per osservarle saranno decisamente ottimali: cielo buio, con la Luna che entrerà nell’ultimo quarto il 9 agosto per poi diventare luna nuova il 17. Per chi non si vuole perdere un’ eclissi di Sole, infine, l’appuntamento è a novembre. In Australia, però.

Fonte: wired.it

Nimeni nu stie exact la ce foloseste aceasta proprietate a scorionilor, însa specialistii au câteva teorii. Ei cred ca fluorescenta i-ar putea ajuta în ritualul de împerechere sau ar putea fi un rest al protectiei solare pe care o aveau înainte sa evolueze si sa devina nocturni. Oricare ar fi explicatia, se pare ca ei au aceasta proprietate de foarte multa vreme. Acest lucru este indicat de cercetarile facute pe o fosila ce dateaza de acum 430 de milioane de ani.

În studii anterioare, s-a demonstrat ca scorpionii nu mai disting spatiul liber de adapost, atunci când ochii le sunt acoperiti si pigmentii florescenti sunt decolorati. Un alt studiu a demonstrat ca, atunci când coada este expusa la lumina verde (aceeasi culoare ca fluorescenta), nervii din acea regiune se activeaza.

Acum, cercetatorul Douglas Gaffin de la Universitatea din Oklahoma a studiat comportamentul a mai bine de 100 de scorpioni expusi la ultraviolete, lumina verde si lungimi de unda mai mari, pe care ochii lor nu le pot vedea. Astfel, s-a constat ca scorpionii, chiar si atunci când au ochii acoperiti, se misca sub lumina ultravioleta la fel ca atunci când au ochii descoperiti.

"Poate ca ei colecteaza lumina ultravioleta, poate lumina stelelor, iar pigmentii o fac verde si sistemul lor nervos o percepe ca atare", a declarat Griffin. Dar aceasta e doar o ipoteza, mecanismul procesului nu este cunoscut.

Pentru a continua cercetarea, specialistii au de gând sa acopere scorionii cu o crema de protecte solara. Singura problema este ca substantele din crema îi omoara pe scorpioni în doar câteva zile, iar cercetatorii sunt nevoiti sa gaseasca o metoda prin care sa faca acest experiment.

Sursa: wired - Sursa foto: Furryscaly/Flickr - via descopera.ro

Viermii de matase modificati genetic produc fire dure, continând proteine din matasea de paianjen. Aceste fire sunt mai elastice decât cele obisnuite, fiind totodata extensibile, având numeroase aplicatii medicale.

Încercarile precedente de a introduce proteine din matasea de paianjen în firele produse de viermi de matase nu au dat rezultate. Acum, gratie unei noi tehnici concepute de Dr. Donald Jarvis, de la Universitatea din Wyoming, viermii de matase transgenici au produs fire cel putin la fel de dure ca matasea de paianjen.

"Matasea de paianjen prezinta un potential imens, fiind un biomaterial cu numeroase aplicatii. Cresterea în captivitate a paianjenilor nu este posibila, astfel ca trebuie gasita o alta cale pentru a produce matase de paianjen. Firele de matase pot fi folosite pentru suturi, pentru conceperea de ligamente artificiale, tendoane, microcapsule si pentru multe alte aplicatii medicale. Viermii de matase sunt principala sursa de matase folosita pentru suturi, dar matasea de paianjen prezinta proprietati superioare, fiind ideala pentru procedurile care necesita suturi mai fine, precum operatiile chirurgicale oftalmologice, neurologice sau cosmetice. Rezultatele obtinute de echipa noastra arata ca viermii de matase pot fi modificati genetic pentru a produce fire compozite de matase ce contin proteine din matasea de paianjen, rezultând astfel o matase cu proprietati mecanice mult îmbunatatite", a explicat Dr. Jarvis.

Sursa: Daily Mail - via descopera.ro

Protein misfolding is considered to be the cause of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and also Huntington's disease. In a multistep process, proteins misfold and accumulate into large extra- or intracellular plaques. Researchers assume that small misfolded protein aggregates that are precursors of mature plaques are toxic for nerve cells and are the reason why they are eventually destroyed.

Dye from the Canary Islands

The dye orcein is isolated from lichens that grow on the Canary Islands, among other places. Lichens have been used for centuries to color fabrics and food. Eight years ago Professor Wanker screened hundreds of natural compounds to find potential candidate drug molecules for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Among those substances he found orcein, a compound made up of about 14 small molecules. As these molecules might have different biological effects, the researchers in Berlin began to search for pure chemicals with similar properties. They identified the substance O4, a blue dye, which is structurally very similar to one of the 14 molecules. Moreover, they showed that O4 stimulates the formation of large, non-toxic protein plaques from small toxic protein assemblies.

New Mechanism

A few years ago Professor Wanker and his colleagues discovered that EGCG (Epigallocatechin-3-gallate), a natural chemical compound found in green tea, renders toxic protein assemblies non-toxic. With orcein and O4 the researchers have now found another mechanism to eliminate small toxic protein aggregates. However, instead of remodeling protein plaques, the dyes reduce the abundance of small, toxic precursor protein assemblies by accelerating the formation of large plaques, as the researchers could now show in their laboratory.

"This is a new mechanism," Professor Wanker explained. "Up to now it has been considered to be very difficult to stop the formation of small toxic protein assemblies. If our hypothesis is correct that the small aggregates, which are precursors of plaques, indeed cause neuronal death, with O4 we would have a new mechanism to attack the disease."

The synthetic dye methylene blue is currently being tested in clinical trials. This dye also seems to stimulate the formation of large plaques in a way similar to O4. Other therapeutic approaches tested in clinical trials which aim at eliminating small precursor aggregates have so far not led to a significant improvement of disease symptoms.

However, it still remains to be seen whether the blue dye O4 can also be effective against small amounts of misfolded proteins in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and whether the accelerated formation of larger plaques can indeed reduce the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in humans. Further studies will be necessary to address the question whether the accelerated formation of large plaques can be a therapeutic approach. "We hope that our findings will stimulate research activities in this direction, especially in drug discovery," Professor Wanker said.

Source: Medical Xpress

C'è chi non si arrende di fronte alle difficoltà che paiono insormontabili. E poi ci sono persone come Louis Braille, che lottano per tutta la vita contro i propri limiti. Nato nel 1809 a Coupvray – a circa 40 chilometri da Parigi – il giovane Braille aveva perso la vista all'età di 3 anni, ma questo non gli impedì di inventare il famoso alfabeto tattile che oggi permette a milioni di ciechi di leggere e scrivere in completa libertà.

La strada che portò il giovane Braille a vincere il proprio handicap non fu affatto facile. Soprattutto se si pensa che, all'inizio del XIX secolo, le condizioni di vita dei non vedenti erano piuttosto precarie. Si può dire che tutta la buona (e la cattiva) sorte di Braille ebbe origine dalla sua famiglia. Il padre, Simon-René, era un artigiano molto abile dedito alla lavorazione del cuoio, tanto che i proventi della bottega di famiglia erano più che sufficienti a garantire al giovane Braille un'educazione dignitosa alla pari di quella del fratello e delle due sorelle maggiori.

D'altra parte, il brutto incidente che rese cieco Braille avvenne proprio nel laboratorio artigianale del padre. Il bambino, che amava giocare con gli attrezzi del mestiere, stava cercando di forare una banda di cuoio con un punteruolo. Braille era molto curioso, e come tutti i bambini fissava da vicino l'oggetto che teneva tra le mani nel tentativo di vincere la resistenza del materiale e bucarlo. Purtroppo, quando l'utensile riuscì a passare la banda, si conficcò direttamente nell'occhio di Braille, causando una gravissima ferita.

La medicina dell'epoca non fu in grado di arrestare l'infezione scaturita in seguito all'incidente, e nel giro di poco tempo il piccolo Braille perse l'uso di entrambi gli occhi. Per fortuna, l'amore e i grandi sacrifici della famiglia aiutarono il bambino a convivere con il suo deficit e a frequentare le scuole del paese. E Braille dimostrava un'intraprendenza e un'intelligenza fuori dal comune, che arrivarono a sorprendere i pregiudizi di tutti i maestri di Coupvray.

Il grande salto avvenne nel 1819, quando il giovane Braille si trasferì a Parigi per frequentare il primo istituto al mondo per ragazzi non vedenti, l' Institution Royale des Jeunes Aveugles. Grazie all'intervento del marchese di Orvilliers, il ragazzo ottenne una borsa di studio che gli permise di studiare presso l'istituto parigino fondato da Valentin Haüy, filantropo e uomo politico che aveva dedicato parte della propria vita ai ciechi, realizzando libri leggibili anche da chi non poteva vedere.

Il suo sistema – su cui si basava l’istituto di Parigi – ispirò molto il giovane Braille che, tuttavia, ne riconosceva tutti i limiti: Il metodo Haüy consisteva infatti nello stampare in rilievo le lettere dell'alfabeto in modo che si potessero leggerle sfiorandone il contorno.

Si trattava di una soluzione assai approssimativa, visto che la lettura dei testi richiedeva molto tempo e la fabbricazione stessa dei volumi comportava l'impiego di tecniche abbastanza complicate. Inoltre, il metodo Haüy non permetteva ai ciechi di scrivere, limitando molto la loro capacità di comunicazione.

Così la curiosità e l'inventiva spinsero Braille a progettare un metodo di lettura e scrittura alternativo. Si dice che l’ispirazione arrivò nel 1821, quando il giovane venne a conoscenza di un interessante alfabeto ideato da Charles_Barbier, un capitano d'artiglieria dell'esercito francese. Il metodo militare rappresentava le lettere dell'alfabeto con punti e linee impressi in rilievo su un foglio: si trattava di un vero e proprio codice pensato per scrivere messaggi tattili che potessero essere letti dai soldati anche in assenza completa di luce. Tuttavia, il night writing di Barbier era ancora troppo complesso per essere impiegato in modo fluido.

Braille prese spunto dal codice militare e nel 1824 – all'età di soli 15 anni – realizzò la versione definitiva del suo alfabeto. In pratica, aveva rimosso le linee usate da Barbier e dimezzato il numero di punti necessari a formare le lettere (da 12 a 6) organizzandoli in due colonne verticali. Ogni lettera dell'alfabeto comune era sostituita da una combinazione variabile (da 1 fino a 5) di punti in rilievo percepibili con la semplice pressione di un polpastrello. Per giunta, l'alfabeto braille poteva essere scritto servendosi di una tavoletta forata e di un punteruolo, lo stesso strumento che aveva accecato Braille da bambino.

Eppure, l'alfabeto braille non venne accettato facilmente dal corpo accademico francese, neppure dopo che, nel 1833, Louis Braille divenne professore a pieno titolo dell'istituto fondato da Haüy. Nei lunghi anni di studio, l'inventore del nuovo alfabeto aveva affinato anche un grande orecchio musicale, che lo avevano reso un ottimo maestro di organo e violoncello. Ecco perché, nel 1829, Braille adattò il suo alfabeto per riprodurre la notazione musicale e permettere a chiunque non potesse vedere di leggere con facilità gli spartiti classici.

Le precarie condizioni di salute – era afflitto da una malattia respiratoria – costrinsero Braille a lasciare la scuola di Parigi nel 1849 per ritirarsi nella casa di famiglia. La sua morte prematura – nel 1852 – convinse il direttivo dell'istituto parigino a rendere il giusto onore al grande lavoro di Braille, adottandone l'alfabeto come strumento didattico ufficiale. Successivamente, il braille si diffuse in tutto il mondo fino a essere ufficializzato in modo universale nel 1832.

Con l'avvento delle moderne tecnologie, l'alfabeto braille è stato implementato anche sui personal computer, dove le persone cieche possono scrivere e leggere testi grazie a display meccanici e software di conversione testuale (anche in mp3) come RoboBraille.

Fonte: wired.it

În fotografie: Dione, cel de-al patrulea satelit, ca marime, al lui Saturn, alaturi de Titan, cea mai mare dintre lunile planetei. În fundal se vad inelele lui Saturn, constituite din particule de gheata, praf si resturi de roca.

"Pozele" au fost reconstituite din mai multe imagini, fotografiate de camera de luat vederi de la bordul lui Cassini, cu filtre rosii, albastre si verzi, de la distanta de cca. 2 milioane de kilometri departare de Titan si cca. 3 milioane km de Dione.

Titan, cel mai mare satelit saturnian (5150 km diametru), alaturi de "planeta-mama".

Satelitul Tethys (1.062 km diametru) si "fratele" sau mult mai mare, Titan.

Iluzie de perspectiva: Dione apare aici mai mare decât Titan, desi, în realitate, este mult mai mica (1.123 km diametru). Se afla, însa, mult mai aproape de aparatul de fotografiat.

Sursa: The Register - Sursa foto: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI - via Descopera.ro

The h9e peptide formed two novel hydrogels in Ca2+ solution and acidic pH conditions—h9e Ca2+ hydrogel and h9e acidic hydrogel. The shear-thinning, rapid-strength-recovering h9e Ca2+ hydrogel proved to have potential for drug delivery and tissue-engineering applications and was tested on mice as an injectable adjuvant for H1N1 swine influenza virus killed vaccine. The study showed it was biologically safe, improved immune response on killed H1N1 virus antigen by approximately 70%, and induced a similar H1N1-specific IgG1 antibody response compared with an oil-based commercial adjuvant.

To assess these rationally designed peptide hydrogels, the researchers used electrospray ionization followed by analysis of the resulting ions in an LTQ-Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometer at EMSL. The mass spectrometry experiments were conducted to identify possible precursors of the peptide assembly and nanofiber crossing, as well as the binding mode of calcium to the peptides.

Source: Medical Xpress

Il 28 dicembre, mentre noi spazzolavamo gli avanzi del panettone, il vicepresidente iraniano Mohamed Reza Rahimi annunciava di essere pronto a chiudere lo stretto di Hormuz, da cui transita il 40% di tutto il petrolio venduto al mondo (“ più facile di bere un bicchier d’acqua”, sono state le sue esatte parole). Noi ci preparavamo a stappare lo spumante, e intanto Barack Obama ufficializzava nuove sanzioni contro le istituzioni finanziarie che intrattengono rapporti con la banca centrale iraniana. Infine, nelle ultime ore, la Marina iraniana ha portato a termine la fase finale dei dieci giorni di esercitazioni militari, culminate con il test di nuovi missili antiaereo e antinave, alcuni dei quali sarebbero in grado di sfuggire all’occhio dei radar statunitensi. Quest’ultima esercitazione, in cui veniva simulato il blocco dello stretto di Hormuz al traffico militare e civile, è stata intesa come una sorta di rappresaglia contro sanzioni statunitensi, che tra le altre cose hanno avuto il drammatico effetto di far crollare il valore del rial, moneta ufficiale iraniana.

Fra gli esperti di geopolitica quasi tutti sono pronti a scommettere che quella di Teheran sia solo un’ esposizione muscolare che nasconde una sostanziale incapacità di sostenere un nuovo conflitto nel Golfo Persico (al punto che, dal Ministero degli Esteri Iraniano, è trapelata l’indiscrezione secondo cui l’ayatollah non avrebbe intenzione di bloccare lo stretto di Hormuz, mossa che darebbe sicuramente il via a un conflitto). Eppure, da qualche tempo lo sviluppo militare e scientifico del paese “ cerniera tra mondo arabo e asiatico” è sotto l’occhio dei riflettori. Vediamo perché.

Fino a 15 anni fa, l’Iran aveva una produzione scientifica in linea con quella di paesi come l’Iraq e il Kuwait, con circa 700 paper pubblicati ogni anno. Oggi, mentre Iraq e Kuwait faticano a spostare l’assicella di qualche tacca più in alto, la Repubblica Islamica dell’Iran sforna articoli scientifici a ritmo serrato, arrivando a toccare quota 13mila paper all’anno e posizionandosi come il  paese con la più rapida crescita scentifica dell’ultimo decennio.

Com’è facile prevedere, i traguardi più noti (anche perché più pubblicizzati), sono quelli raggiunti in campo bellico e, soprattutto, nucleare.

Lo scorso novembre la International Atomic Energy Agency (Iaea) ha pubblicato un rapporto in cui illustra dati che suggeriscono che dal 1998 al 2003 l’Iran abbia lavorato alla costruzione di armi atomiche.

L’agenzia ha anche fornito dati che rivelano un programma di arricchimento dell’uranio al 20% (non sufficiente a produrre bombe, ma comunque contrario a quanto richiesto dalle Nazioni Unite), ma non è riuscita a raccogliere notizie certe sull’intenzione del governo iraniano di produrre armi nucleari. Gli unici possibili indizi si riscontrano in alcuni programmi di ricerca che potrebbero essere complementari alla produzione di armamenti nucleari (come un sistema che permette alle bombe di esplodere a mezz’aria). Insomma, la stessa Iaea  evidenzia che se anche c’è stata una corsa agli armamenti iraniana, dal 2003 è stata enormemente rallentata e la produzione nucleare è ancora a un stato rudimentale.

Un discorso diverso vale invece per i progressi compiuti nell’ambito della fisica nucleare. Attualmente l’Iran è il settimo produttore di esafluoruro di uranio e giusto ieri ha annunciato di aver prodotto la prima barra di combustibile interamente iraniana. Inoltre, partire dallo scorso febbraio è il sesto paese al mondo a disporre di un dispositivo nucleare IR-IECF.

Sul fronte dello sviluppo bellico, dal 1988 (fine della guerra con l’Iraq) ad oggi, il paese dell’ayatollah Khamenei si è concentrato nello sviluppo del comparto missilistico. I missili della discordia, che nelle ultime ore hanno debuttato nei pressi dello stretto di Hormuz, sono un missile superficie-mare (Qadar) e uno superficie-superficie (Nour), che hanno un raggio d’azione a lunga gittata (200 km) e una certa capacità di sfuggire al rintracciamento radar. Ma a far paura alle nazioni nemiche dell’Iran (e Israele, in particolare) sono i missili superficie-aria come il Mehrab, ma soprattutto, i missili balistici a lunga gittata come il Shahab-3. Quest’ultimo ha un raggio d’azione che può toccare i 2mila km e colpire qualsiasi paese del Medio Oriente. Si tratta di missili estremamente potenti, capaci di trasportare testate chimiche e nucleari. Le varie agenzie di intelligence non sono riuscite a stimare con esattezza il peso di questi missili balistici all’interno dell’arsenale iraniano: c’è chi sostiene che la Marina Iraniana non abbia più di una ventina di missili, chi è pronto a giurare di contarne più di 300, chi ancora arriva a scommettere anche sulla presenza di Shahab 4 o modelli superiori, la cui gittata si spinge invece sopra i 6mila km.

Ma dal momento che stiamo parlando dello sviluppo scientifico iraniano e non del suo arsenale di guerra, sarebbe ingiusto non riconoscere alla nazione mediorientale i traguardi raggiunti negli ultimi anni in svariati ambiti. Innanzitutto, l’Iran ricopre un ruolo significativo in campo chirurgico, sono infatti iraniani gli esperti che hanno sviluppato un nuovo trattamento neurochirurgico, che ha permesso alla politica americana Gabrielle Giffords di riprendersi dopo aver ricevuto una pallottola in testa.

In ambito biotecnologico gli scienziati iraniani si sono distinti per la progettazione dei primi impianti bio-oculari e nella produzione di anticorpi monoclonali terapeutici. Non solo, la Repubblica Islamica dell’Iran ha raggiunto notevoli traguardi anche in campo robotico, nella produzione di microscopi a effetto tunnel e nella produzione di supercomputer. Gli enti di ricerca iraniani hanno collaborato a Lhc e alla produzione dell’acceleratore di particelle giordano Sesame, inoltre, entro il 2017 l’Iran programma di spedire il suo primo astronauta in orbita.

Tuttavia, nonostante la variegata estensione del progresso scientifico iraniano, la nazione guidata da Mahmud Ahmadinejad conquista le prime pagine per motivi molto meno lusinghieri. Anche oggi, la situazione non accenna a raffreddarsi. Dopo aver concluso la pioggia di missili nella simulazione di ieri, infatti, in queste ore il Comandante in Capo delle Forze Armate iraniane, Ataollah Salehi, ha caldamente invitato gli Stati Uniti a tenere la propria portaerei, che attualmente naviga nel Golfo dell’Oman, lontana dal Golfo Persico, e di non farselo ripetere due volte.

Fonte: wired.it

La storia di Facebook arriva oggi a una svolta: la vita da  private company si conclude qui, con il suo ingresso in borsa. Come si vocifera da tempo, Mark Zuckerberg dovrebbe presenterare oggi la documentazione per quotarsi sul mercato azionario e fare della sua creatura una società per azioni.

L'offerta iniziale?

5 miliardi di dollari, secondo le ultime indiscrezioni. Un bel cambiamento, proprio a 8 anni dalla sua creazione e dopo gli ultimi problemi con la privacy, come racconta il numero di febbraio di Wired Italia, in edicola. 

Sull'entità della Ipo, (Offerta pubblica iniziale), circolavano voci già da tempo e lo scorso novembre si ventilava l'ipotesi che il social network riuscisse a raccogliere addirittura 10 miliardi di dollari, una cifra raggiunta solo 18 altre volte da altrettante società pronte a sbarcare a Wall Street. Oggi, invece, i rumors parlano di un gruzzoletto più esiguo, ridotto della metà: solo 5 miliardi. Secondo l' International Financing Review Zuckerberg punterebbe a una soluzione meno d'assalto e più prudente, volta a sondare il terreno per valutare l'opportunità, in futuro, di aumentare la quota. Nell'operazione, ipotizza l'agenzia Reuters, potrebbero essere coinvolti colossi dell'economia Usa come Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs e Morgan Stanley, con quest'ultima in pole position. Al momento non ci sono dichiarazioni ufficiali da parte di Facebook. A ogni modo, se tutto andrà come deve andare, Facebook apparirà in borsa a maggio, come preventivato.

Fonte: Wired.it

Proiectul cercetatorilor consta în crearea de holograme cu ajutorul laserelor si al sistemelor microelectromecanice (MEMS).

"Vizualizarea holografica poate oferi privitorilor o experimentare naturala a imaginilor de tip 3D, fara efectele secundare negative ale vizualizarilor tridimensionale clasice, concretizate de regula în dureri de cap, obosirea oculara si privire împaienjenita", declara purtatorii de cuvânt ai companiei Imec.

Sistemul la scala nano prezentat de acestia, functioneaza cu ajutorul unor cip-uri speciale. Când fluxul razei laser atinge cip-ul, se creaza o imagine tridimensionala. Pe baza principiilor sale inovatoare în acest domeniu de activitate, compania Imec lucreaza la crearea unui display holografic cu o difractie de 60 de grade a unghiului, alaturi de o experienta vizuala de tip high-definition.

Pe de alta parte, cercetatorii din cadrul MIT, declara ca în decursul acestui an vor renunta la televiziunea de tip holografic, în favoarea unui nou sistem capabil sa redea 15 cadre pe secunda. Tot în decursul anului 2011, compania Defense Advanced Research Project Agency a definitivat un proiect la care lucra de cinci ani, intitulat Urban Photonic Sandtable Display, care poate crea în timp real o holograma tridimensionala, color, de 360 de grade.

Sursa: Physorg - via Descopera.ro

Una pausa di 60 giorni. Per chiarire i possibili benefici derivanti dalla ricerca, illustrare le procedure di sicurezza adottate e per discutere dei comportamenti - scientifici e regolatori - da adottare in un caso come questo. Quello, cioè, del supervirus H5N1, la variante del patogeno dell’aviaria potenzialmente in grado di uccidere milioni di persone grazie a poche mutazioni che lo rendono superinfettivo, perché capace anche di trasmettersi per via aerea. Una scoperta scientifica tale da chiamare in causa, poco più di un mese fa, il National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity statunitense, per decidere se tenere o meno nascosti i risultati del team di Ron Fouchier dell’ Erasmus Medical Center (Paesi Bassi) e di Yoshihiro Kawaoka dell’ University of Wisconsin. 

Quando è arrivata la notizia del ceppo di H5N1 superinfettivo, la comunità scientifica (e non) ha cominciato a interpellarsi sulla convenienza e la necessità di pubblicare o meno i dati inerenti la ricerca (anche Wired.it lo aveva chiesto ai suoi lettori): da una parte i ricercatori sostengono che il traguardo raggiunto potrebbe aiutare lo sviluppo di vaccini e a prevenire possibili infezioni, d’altra parte è indubbio anche il rischio che una ricerca del genere porta con sè.

Infatti, senza considerare i pericoli derivanti da una possibile fuga dei virus dai laboratori, rendere disponibili i dati attraverso le pubblicazioni scientifiche universalmente accessibili significa renderli alla portata di tutti. Anche di potenziali terroristi che potrebbero utilizzarli per scopi tutt’altro che nobili. Così, come riporta Nature News, dopo la revisione dei paper scientifici (affinché questi contenessero i risultati ma non i dettagli della ricerca, così che i dati sensibili potessero essere in qualche modo al riparo) è arrivata la decisione di una pausa di 60 giorni.

Due mesi di sospensione dalle attività di ricerca sui ceppi mutanti, annunciata in contemporanea su Science e Nature, con cui i due gruppi di ricercatori artefici della scoperta sperano di calmare le acque, attenuando le paure della comunità scientifica riguardo i potenziali rischi derivanti dai loro studi. “Riconosciamo il bisogno di spiegare chiaramente i benefici di questa importante ricerca e le misure prese per minimizzare i rischi”, scrivono nel documento condiviso in cui annunciano la moratoria, “e proponiamo di farlo in un forum internazionale in cui la comunità scientifica discuta insieme e abbia modo di dibattere sul problema”.

Ma non tutti avrebbero accettato di buon grado la moratoria. Come riporta Wired.com, secondo Michael Osterholm dell’ University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, la pausa di 60 giorni non può essere sufficiente a prendere delle misure per gestire situazioni del genere. Insomma, serve più tempo. Mentre per Richard Ebright, della Rutgers University (New Jersey), lo stop non ha alcun significato. Non sarebbe nulla di più che una procedura di public relation. 

Fonte: Wired.it

The findings, published in the Nov. 4 edition of the peer-reviewed Journal of Biological Chemistry, may be beneficial for individuals with limited sources of endogenous stem cells.

The gene known as ∆Np63α is highly synthesized in regenerating cells of various tissues. The UCLA researchers found that introducing ∆Np63α into skin keratinocytes makes them lose their skin-cell characteristics and de-differentiate to resemble mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), undifferentiated cells that can self-renew and differentiate to yield specialized cells of various tissue types.

MSCs may serve as an internal repair system by replenishing cells needed for tissue regeneration and homeostasis and are currently being investigated for a number of regenerative therapeutics.

The conversion of keratinocytes into mesenchymal-like cells involves a process known as epithelial-mesenchymal transition. This is the first study to show that the gene ∆Np63α triggers this process in human skin keratinocytes and that the transformed cells acquire multipotent stem cell characteristics.

Since the skin cells transformed by ∆Np63α are induced to acquire the mesenchymal and stem cell characteristics, the research team named them "induced mesenchymal stem cells," or iMSCs. Specifically, the researchers demonstrated that iMSCs can be triggered to form bone-like tissues or become fat tissues in a laboratory setting.

Dr. Mo K. Kang, the Jack A. Weichman Chair of Endodontics at the UCLA School of Dentistry and a member of the research team, said the finding had great significance for human health.

"Since iMSCs may be obtained by taking a small punch-biopsy of skin tissues from patients, these cells are an easily accessible, patient-specific source of stem cells, which can be used for regenerative purposes," Kang said.

Stem cell-based therapies are currently being developed to treat degenerative conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, neuronal disorders and liver diseases. Many of these diseases are strongly associated with aging. Endogeneous MSCs found in various tissues, such as bone marrow, fat tissues and, in certain cases, dental tissues such as dental pulp, lose their regenerative potential during the aging process.

"It is possible that iMSCs retain their stem-cell characteristics even when derived from aged patients," Kang said. "In such cases, this new approach may be useful, especially for geriatric patients or individuals with limited therapeutic value of their endogenous stem cells."

"The UCLA School of Dentistry is very proud to be at the forefront of this research inquiry, which may facilitate future advances in regenerative dentistry and medicine," said Dr. No-Hee Park, dean of the UCLA School of Dentistry and one of the study's co-authors. "While the focus of this study was on the use of adult stem cells to regenerate dental tissue, including dental pulp and periodontal ligament, these findings could lead to further development of a variety of cell-based therapies."

Source: PhysOrg - via ZeitNews

1) La velocità dei neutrini
Tunnel Gelmini a parte, il grande esperimento Opera ha insinuato un grande dubbio nella comunità scientifica. Dopo le prove di settembre 2011, i fisici di tutto il mondo si chiedono se i neutrini lanciati dal Cern di Ginevra ai laboratori del Gran Sasso abbiano veramente superato la velocità della luce, mettendo in crisi la teoria della relatività speciale di Einstein. Visto che gli scienziati non sono mai molto inclini a gridare al miracolo, nel 2012 verranno condotti due nuovi esperimenti mirati a valutare la veridicità dei dati raccolti da Opera. Si chiamano Minos (Usa) e T2k (Giappone).

2) Caccia aperta al bosone
Le frontiere della fisica restano tra le sfide da affrontare per tutto il 2012. Lo scorso 13 dicembre gli scienziati del Cern di Ginevra (di nuovo) hanno annunciato che l'esperimento del Large Hadron Collider (Lhc) ha prodotto i primi risultati utili a individuare il fantomatico bosone di Higgs. Quest'anno, i supercomputer analizzeranno l'immensa molte di dati prodotti da Lhc alla ricerca di un segnale che identifichi in modo chiaro il profilo chiave del bosone, sempre che esista. In caso contrario, saremo certi che occorrerà pensare a una nuova fisica.

3) Il futuro del Pianeta
Quest'anno a Rio de Janeiro si terrà l' Earth Summit 2012, una nuova occasione per fare il punto sul futuro dell'ecosistema Terra. Tra il 20 e il 22 giugno, centinaia di delegati dei governi e migliaia tra attivisti e rappresentanti di realtà locali si riuniranno in Brasile per il quarto grande meeting patrocinato dalle Nazioni Unite. A 20 anni di distanza dal primo meeting di Rio (1992), le delegazioni globali torneranno intorno al tavolo delle trattative per delineare le strategie verdi del nuovo millennio. In particolare, i due temi principali dell'Earth Summit verteranno su green economy e sviluppo sostenibile.

4) Quanto sono intelligenti i computer?
Cento anni fa, nel 1912, nasceva Alan Turing, il matematico inglese padre dell'informatica e dell'intelligenza artificiale. Nell'arco di un secolo, i computer hanno fatto passi da gigante, ma nessuno scienziato è mai riuscito a sviluppare nuovi test per valutare la capacità intellettiva delle macchine. Tuttora, per mettere alla prova il QI dei computer viene utilizzato il famoso test di Turing: si tratta di uno scambio di chat al buio in cui un essere umano deve capire se l'interlocutore con cui comunica attraverso la tastiera è un computer o un suo simile. In futuro, gli scienziati potrebbero sviluppare dei test di gran lunga più affidabili, con lo scopo di valutare in modo universale quanto una macchina sia intelligente rispetto agli standard umani.

5) Nati per vincere
Alle olimpiadi di Londra 2012 saranno atleti sempre più preparati – nel fisico e nella mente – a raggiungere la vetta del podio. Sembra che per arrivare al primo posto non basti un fisico scattante, ma anche un allenamento psicologico da veri campioni. Come spiega New Scientist, la scienza sportiva ha elaborato nuove forme di preparazione atletica: la nazionale inglese si avvale dell'aiuto di uno psicologo che guida gli atleti durante l'ultimo anno di preparazione, mentre la squadra israeliana punta su un lungo e intenso percorso di 4 anni. Nel frattempo, gli scienziati si stanno focalizzando sulla mappatura del genoma comune ai grandi campioni di tutte le discipline.

6) La campagna elettorale si fa su Twitter
Nel 2012 si torna a votare per eleggere il prossimo presidente degli Stati Uniti, e state pur certi che Obama e il suo oppositore repubblicano (quando si scoprirà chi è) punteranno tutto sui social network. La nuova campagna elettorale avrà tra i suoi punti di forza Twitter, Facebook e tutti i social network utili per trasmettere messaggi personalizzati diretti agli elettori. E le informazioni dedotte dagli account social degli americani saranno indispensabili per pianificare strategie di comunicazione sempre più efficaci. Insomma, se qualcuno ha messo “ mi piace” sul profilo di Obama, può star certo che i democratici gli ricorderanno più di una volta che Barack è in corsa per le prossime elezioni.

7) L'impero di Facebook
Anno d'oro per Mark Zuckerberg: nel 2012 è attesa la quotazione in borsa di Facebook. Si parla di un lancio di 100 miliardi di dollari, ma le stime potrebbero essere anche troppo ottimiste. In pratica, è come se il social network incassasse circa 125 dollari per ognuno degli 800 milioni di profili iscritti. Se Fb dovesse veramente entrare a Wall Street con un portafoglio così ricco, sarebbe uno dei più grandi casi di e-business fondato sulla vendita di informazioni pubblicitarie mai visto prima. A volte ci scordiamo quasi del fatto che l'iscrizione a Facebook non è affatto gratuita: in cambio di un account si regaliano i dati personali.

8) Una nuova mappa del cervello umano
Finora gli scienziati si sono limitati a studiare il cervello da una prospettiva molto limitata: sappiamo bene quali aree si accendono e si spengono in seguito a un danno cerebrale, ma non sappiamo come funzionano le connessioni tra le diverse zone del cervello. In un certo senso, è un po' come aspettare che una macchina si schianti contro un muro per sapere cosa c'è dentro il cofano. Nel 2012, le lacune degli scienziati verranno colmate dallo Human Connectome Project promosso dall'Università di Oxford. Il progetto sta mappando le connessioni all'interno di 1.200 cervelli umani e utilizzerà i risultati per ottenere un modello dettagliato di come le aree cerebrali comunicano tra di loro entro la fine dell'anno.

Fonte: wired.it

Major General Smedley D. Butler

USMC, Retired

CHAPTER ONE

WAR IS A RACKET

WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.

A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.

In the World War [I] a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows.

How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle?

Out of war nations acquire additional territory, if they are victorious. They just take it. This newly acquired territory promptly is exploited by the few – the selfsame few who wrung dollars out of blood in the war. The general public shoulders the bill.

And what is this bill?

This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations.

For a great many years, as a soldier, I had a suspicion that war was a racket; not until I retired to civil life did I fully realize it. Now that I see the international war clouds gathering, as they are today, I must face it and speak out.

Again they are choosing sides. France and Russia met and agreed to stand side by side. Italy and Austria hurried to make a similar agreement. Poland and Germany cast sheep's eyes at each other, forgetting for the nonce [one unique occasion], their dispute over the Polish Corridor.

The assassination of King Alexander of Jugoslavia [Yugoslavia] complicated matters. Jugoslavia and Hungary, long bitter enemies, were almost at each other's throats. Italy was ready to jump in. But France was waiting. So was Czechoslovakia. All of them are looking ahead to war. Not the people – not those who fight and pay and die – only those who foment wars and remain safely at home to profit.

There are 40,000,000 men under arms in the world today, and our statesmen and diplomats have the temerity to say that war is not in the making.

Hell's bells! Are these 40,000,000 men being trained to be dancers?

Not in Italy, to be sure. Premier Mussolini knows what they are being trained for. He, at least, is frank enough to speak out. Only the other day, Il Duce in "International Conciliation," the publication of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said:

"And above all, Fascism, the more it considers and observes the future and the development of humanity quite apart from political considerations of the moment, believes neither in the possibility nor the utility of perpetual peace... War alone brings up to its highest tension all human energy and puts the stamp of nobility upon the people who have the courage to meet it."

Undoubtedly Mussolini means exactly what he says. His well-trained army, his great fleet of planes, and even his navy are ready for war – anxious for it, apparently. His recent stand at the side of Hungary in the latter's dispute with Jugoslavia showed that. And the hurried mobilization of his troops on the Austrian border after the assassination of Dollfuss showed it too. There are others in Europe too whose sabre rattling presages war, sooner or later.

Herr Hitler, with his rearming Germany and his constant demands for more and more arms, is an equal if not greater menace to peace. France only recently increased the term of military service for its youth from a year to eighteen months.

Yes, all over, nations are camping in their arms. The mad dogs of Europe are on the loose. In the Orient the maneuvering is more adroit. Back in 1904, when Russia and Japan fought, we kicked out our old friends the Russians and backed Japan. Then our very generous international bankers were financing Japan. Now the trend is to poison us against the Japanese. What does the "open door" policy to China mean to us? Our trade with China is about $90,000,000 a year. Or the Philippine Islands? We have spent about $600,000,000 in the Philippines in thirty-five years and we (our bankers and industrialists and speculators) have private investments there of less than $200,000,000.

Then, to save that China trade of about $90,000,000, or to protect these private investments of less than $200,000,000 in the Philippines, we would be all stirred up to hate Japan and go to war – a war that might well cost us tens of billions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of lives of Americans, and many more hundreds of thousands of physically maimed and mentally unbalanced men.

Of course, for this loss, there would be a compensating profit – fortunes would be made. Millions and billions of dollars would be piled up. By a few. Munitions makers. Bankers. Ship builders. Manufacturers. Meat packers. Speculators. They would fare well.

Yes, they are getting ready for another war. Why shouldn't they? It pays high dividends.

But what does it profit the men who are killed? What does it profit their mothers and sisters, their wives and their sweethearts? What does it profit their children?

What does it profit anyone except the very few to whom war means huge profits?

Yes, and what does it profit the nation?

Take our own case. Until 1898 we didn't own a bit of territory outside the mainland of North America. At that time our national debt was a little more than $1,000,000,000. Then we became "internationally minded." We forgot, or shunted aside, the advice of the Father of our country. We forgot George Washington's warning about "entangling alliances." We went to war. We acquired outside territory. At the end of the World War period, as a direct result of our fiddling in international affairs, our national debt had jumped to over $25,000,000,000. Our total favorable trade balance during the twenty-five-year period was about $24,000,000,000. Therefore, on a purely bookkeeping basis, we ran a little behind year for year, and that foreign trade might well have been ours without the wars.

It would have been far cheaper (not to say safer) for the average American who pays the bills to stay out of foreign entanglements. For a very few this racket, like bootlegging and other underworld rackets, brings fancy profits, but the cost of operations is always transferred to the people – who do not profit.

CHAPTER TWO

WHO MAKES THE PROFITS?

The World War, rather our brief participation in it, has cost the United States some $52,000,000,000. Figure it out. That means $400 to every American man, woman, and child. And we haven't paid the debt yet. We are paying it, our children will pay it, and our children's children probably still will be paying the cost of that war.

The normal profits of a business concern in the United States are six, eight, ten, and sometimes twelve percent. But war-time profits – ah! that is another matter – twenty, sixty, one hundred, three hundred, and even eighteen hundred per cent – the sky is the limit. All that traffic will bear. Uncle Sam has the money. Let's get it.

Of course, it isn't put that crudely in war time. It is dressed into speeches about patriotism, love of country, and "we must all put our shoulders to the wheel," but the profits jump and leap and skyrocket – and are safely pocketed. Let's just take a few examples:

Take our friends the du Ponts, the powder people – didn't one of them testify before a Senate committee recently that their powder won the war? Or saved the world for democracy? Or something? How did they do in the war? They were a patriotic corporation. Well, the average earnings of the du Ponts for the period 1910 to 1914 were $6,000,000 a year. It wasn't much, but the du Ponts managed to get along on it. Now let's look at their average yearly profit during the war years, 1914 to 1918. Fifty-eight million dollars a year profit we find! Nearly ten times that of normal times, and the profits of normal times were pretty good. An increase in profits of more than 950 per cent.

Take one of our little steel companies that patriotically shunted aside the making of rails and girders and bridges to manufacture war materials. Well, their 1910-1914 yearly earnings averaged $6,000,000. Then came the war. And, like loyal citizens, Bethlehem Steel promptly turned to munitions making. Did their profits jump – or did they let Uncle Sam in for a bargain? Well, their 1914-1918 average was $49,000,000 a year!

Or, let's take United States Steel. The normal earnings during the five-year period prior to the war were $105,000,000 a year. Not bad. Then along came the war and up went the profits. The average yearly profit for the period 1914-1918 was $240,000,000. Not bad.

There you have some of the steel and powder earnings. Let's look at something else. A little copper, perhaps. That always does well in war times.

Anaconda, for instance. Average yearly earnings during the pre-war years 1910-1914 of $10,000,000. During the war years 1914-1918 profits leaped to $34,000,000 per year.

Or Utah Copper. Average of $5,000,000 per year during the 1910-1914 period. Jumped to an average of $21,000,000 yearly profits for the war period.

Let's group these five, with three smaller companies. The total yearly average profits of the pre-war period 1910-1914 were $137,480,000. Then along came the war. The average yearly profits for this group skyrocketed to $408,300,000.

A little increase in profits of approximately 200 per cent.

Does war pay? It paid them. But they aren't the only ones. There are still others. Let's take leather.

For the three-year period before the war the total profits of Central Leather Company were $3,500,000. That was approximately $1,167,000 a year. Well, in 1916 Central Leather returned a profit of $15,000,000, a small increase of 1,100 per cent. That's all. The General Chemical Company averaged a profit for the three years before the war of a little over $800,000 a year. Came the war, and the profits jumped to $12,000,000. a leap of 1,400 per cent.

International Nickel Company – and you can't have a war without nickel – showed an increase in profits from a mere average of $4,000,000 a year to $73,000,000 yearly. Not bad? An increase of more than 1,700 per cent.

American Sugar Refining Company averaged $2,000,000 a year for the three years before the war. In 1916 a profit of $6,000,000 was recorded.

Listen to Senate Document No. 259. The Sixty-Fifth Congress, reporting on corporate earnings and government revenues. Considering the profits of 122 meat packers, 153 cotton manufacturers, 299 garment makers, 49 steel plants, and 340 coal producers during the war. Profits under 25 per cent were exceptional. For instance the coal companies made between 100 per cent and 7,856 per cent on their capital stock during the war. The Chicago packers doubled and tripled their earnings.

And let us not forget the bankers who financed the great war. If anyone had the cream of the profits it was the bankers. Being partnerships rather than incorporated organizations, they do not have to report to stockholders. And their profits were as secret as they were immense. How the bankers made their millions and their billions I do not know, because those little secrets never become public – even before a Senate investigatory body.

But here's how some of the other patriotic industrialists and speculators chiseled their way into war profits.

Take the shoe people. They like war. It brings business with abnormal profits. They made huge profits on sales abroad to our allies. Perhaps, like the munitions manufacturers and armament makers, they also sold to the enemy. For a dollar is a dollar whether it comes from Germany or from France. But they did well by Uncle Sam too. For instance, they sold Uncle Sam 35,000,000 pairs of hobnailed service shoes. There were 4,000,000 soldiers. Eight pairs, and more, to a soldier. My regiment during the war had only one pair to a soldier. Some of these shoes probably are still in existence. They were good shoes. But when the war was over Uncle Sam has a matter of 25,000,000 pairs left over. Bought – and paid for. Profits recorded and pocketed.

There was still lots of leather left. So the leather people sold your Uncle Sam hundreds of thousands of McClellan saddles for the cavalry. But there wasn't any American cavalry overseas! Somebody had to get rid of this leather, however. Somebody had to make a profit in it – so we had a lot of McClellan saddles. And we probably have those yet.

Also somebody had a lot of mosquito netting. They sold your Uncle Sam 20,000,000 mosquito nets for the use of the soldiers overseas. I suppose the boys were expected to put it over them as they tried to sleep in muddy trenches – one hand scratching cooties on their backs and the other making passes at scurrying rats. Well, not one of these mosquito nets ever got to France!

Anyhow, these thoughtful manufacturers wanted to make sure that no soldier would be without his mosquito net, so 40,000,000 additional yards of mosquito netting were sold to Uncle Sam.

There were pretty good profits in mosquito netting in those days, even if there were no mosquitoes in France. I suppose, if the war had lasted just a little longer, the enterprising mosquito netting manufacturers would have sold your Uncle Sam a couple of consignments of mosquitoes to plant in France so that more mosquito netting would be in order.

Airplane and engine manufacturers felt they, too, should get their just profits out of this war. Why not? Everybody else was getting theirs. So $1,000,000,000 – count them if you live long enough – was spent by Uncle Sam in building airplane engines that never left the ground! Not one plane, or motor, out of the billion dollars worth ordered, ever got into a battle in France. Just the same the manufacturers made their little profit of 30, 100, or perhaps 300 per cent.

Undershirts for soldiers cost 14˘[cents] to make and uncle Sam paid 30˘ to 40˘ each for them – a nice little profit for the undershirt manufacturer. And the stocking manufacturer and the uniform manufacturers and the cap manufacturers and the steel helmet manufacturers – all got theirs.

Why, when the war was over some 4,000,000 sets of equipment – knapsacks and the things that go to fill them – crammed warehouses on this side. Now they are being scrapped because the regulations have changed the contents. But the manufacturers collected their wartime profits on them – and they will do it all over again the next time.

There were lots of brilliant ideas for profit making during the war.

One very versatile patriot sold Uncle Sam twelve dozen 48-inch wrenches. Oh, they were very nice wrenches. The only trouble was that there was only one nut ever made that was large enough for these wrenches. That is the one that holds the turbines at Niagara Falls. Well, after Uncle Sam had bought them and the manufacturer had pocketed the profit, the wrenches were put on freight cars and shunted all around the United States in an effort to find a use for them. When the Armistice was signed it was indeed a sad blow to the wrench manufacturer. He was just about to make some nuts to fit the wrenches. Then he planned to sell these, too, to your Uncle Sam.

Still another had the brilliant idea that colonels shouldn't ride in automobiles, nor should they even ride on horseback. One has probably seen a picture of Andy Jackson riding in a buckboard. Well, some 6,000 buckboards were sold to Uncle Sam for the use of colonels! Not one of them was used. But the buckboard manufacturer got his war profit.

The shipbuilders felt they should come in on some of it, too. They built a lot of ships that made a lot of profit. More than $3,000,000,000 worth. Some of the ships were all right. But $635,000,000 worth of them were made of wood and wouldn't float! The seams opened up – and they sank. We paid for them, though. And somebody pocketed the profits.

It has been estimated by statisticians and economists and researchers that the war cost your Uncle Sam $52,000,000,000. Of this sum, $39,000,000,000 was expended in the actual war itself. This expenditure yielded $16,000,000,000 in profits. That is how the 21,000 billionaires and millionaires got that way. This $16,000,000,000 profits is not to be sneezed at. It is quite a tidy sum. And it went to a very few.

The Senate (Nye) committee probe of the munitions industry and its wartime profits, despite its sensational disclosures, hardly has scratched the surface.

Even so, it has had some effect. The State Department has been studying "for some time" methods of keeping out of war. The War Department suddenly decides it has a wonderful plan to spring. The Administration names a committee – with the War and Navy Departments ably represented under the chairmanship of a Wall Street speculator – to limit profits in war time. To what extent isn't suggested. Hmmm. Possibly the profits of 300 and 600 and 1,600 per cent of those who turned blood into gold in the World War would be limited to some smaller figure.

Apparently, however, the plan does not call for any limitation of losses – that is, the losses of those who fight the war. As far as I have been able to ascertain there is nothing in the scheme to limit a soldier to the loss of but one eye, or one arm, or to limit his wounds to one or two or three. Or to limit the loss of life.

There is nothing in this scheme, apparently, that says not more than 12 per cent of a regiment shall be wounded in battle, or that not more than 7 per cent in a division shall be killed.

Of course, the committee cannot be bothered with such trifling matters.

CHAPTER THREE

WHO PAYS THE BILLS?

Who provides the profits – these nice little profits of 20, 100, 300, 1,500 and 1,800 per cent? We all pay them – in taxation. We paid the bankers their profits when we bought Liberty Bonds at $100.00 and sold them back at $84 or $86 to the bankers. These bankers collected $100 plus. It was a simple manipulation. The bankers control the security marts. It was easy for them to depress the price of these bonds. Then all of us – the people – got frightened and sold the bonds at $84 or $86. The bankers bought them. Then these same bankers stimulated a boom and government bonds went to par – and above. Then the bankers collected their profits.

But the soldier pays the biggest part of the bill.

If you don't believe this, visit the American cemeteries on the battlefields abroad. Or visit any of the veteran's hospitals in the United States. On a tour of the country, in the midst of which I am at the time of this writing, I have visited eighteen government hospitals for veterans. In them are a total of about 50,000 destroyed men – men who were the pick of the nation eighteen years ago. The very able chief surgeon at the government hospital; at Milwaukee, where there are 3,800 of the living dead, told me that mortality among veterans is three times as great as among those who stayed at home.

Boys with a normal viewpoint were taken out of the fields and offices and factories and classrooms and put into the ranks. There they were remolded; they were made over; they were made to "about face"; to regard murder as the order of the day. They were put shoulder to shoulder and, through mass psychology, they were entirely changed. We used them for a couple of years and trained them to think nothing at all of killing or of being killed.

Then, suddenly, we discharged them and told them to make another "about face" ! This time they had to do their own readjustment, sans [without] mass psychology, sans officers' aid and advice and sans nation-wide propaganda. We didn't need them any more. So we scattered them about without any "three-minute" or "Liberty Loan" speeches or parades. Many, too many, of these fine young boys are eventually destroyed, mentally, because they could not make that final "about face" alone.

In the government hospital in Marion, Indiana, 1,800 of these boys are in pens! Five hundred of them in a barracks with steel bars and wires all around outside the buildings and on the porches. These already have been mentally destroyed. These boys don't even look like human beings. Oh, the looks on their faces! Physically, they are in good shape; mentally, they are gone.

There are thousands and thousands of these cases, and more and more are coming in all the time. The tremendous excitement of the war, the sudden cutting off of that excitement – the young boys couldn't stand it.

That's a part of the bill. So much for the dead – they have paid their part of the war profits. So much for the mentally and physically wounded – they are paying now their share of the war profits. But the others paid, too – they paid with heartbreaks when they tore themselves away from their firesides and their families to don the uniform of Uncle Sam – on which a profit had been made. They paid another part in the training camps where they were regimented and drilled while others took their jobs and their places in the lives of their communities. The paid for it in the trenches where they shot and were shot; where they were hungry for days at a time; where they slept in the mud and the cold and in the rain – with the moans and shrieks of the dying for a horrible lullaby.

But don't forget – the soldier paid part of the dollars and cents bill too.

Up to and including the Spanish-American War, we had a prize system, and soldiers and sailors fought for money. During the Civil War they were paid bonuses, in many instances, before they went into service. The government, or states, paid as high as $1,200 for an enlistment. In the Spanish-American War they gave prize money. When we captured any vessels, the soldiers all got their share – at least, they were supposed to. Then it was found that we could reduce the cost of wars by taking all the prize money and keeping it, but conscripting [drafting] the soldier anyway. Then soldiers couldn't bargain for their labor, Everyone else could bargain, but the soldier couldn't.

Napoleon once said,

"All men are enamored of decorations...they positively hunger for them."

So by developing the Napoleonic system – the medal business – the government learned it could get soldiers for less money, because the boys liked to be decorated. Until the Civil War there were no medals. Then the Congressional Medal of Honor was handed out. It made enlistments easier. After the Civil War no new medals were issued until the Spanish-American War.

In the World War, we used propaganda to make the boys accept conscription. They were made to feel ashamed if they didn't join the army.

So vicious was this war propaganda that even God was brought into it. With few exceptions our clergymen joined in the clamor to kill, kill, kill. To kill the Germans. God is on our side...it is His will that the Germans be killed.

And in Germany, the good pastors called upon the Germans to kill the allies...to please the same God. That was a part of the general propaganda, built up to make people war conscious and murder conscious.

Beautiful ideals were painted for our boys who were sent out to die. This was the "war to end all wars." This was the "war to make the world safe for democracy." No one mentioned to them, as they marched away, that their going and their dying would mean huge war profits. No one told these American soldiers that they might be shot down by bullets made by their own brothers here. No one told them that the ships on which they were going to cross might be torpedoed by submarines built with United States patents. They were just told it was to be a "glorious adventure."

Thus, having stuffed patriotism down their throats, it was decided to make them help pay for the war, too. So, we gave them the large salary of $30 a month.

All they had to do for this munificent sum was to leave their dear ones behind, give up their jobs, lie in swampy trenches, eat canned willy (when they could get it) and kill and kill and kill...and be killed.

But wait!

Half of that wage (just a little more than a riveter in a shipyard or a laborer in a munitions factory safe at home made in a day) was promptly taken from him to support his dependents, so that they would not become a charge upon his community. Then we made him pay what amounted to accident insurance – something the employer pays for in an enlightened state – and that cost him $6 a month. He had less than $9 a month left.

Then, the most crowning insolence of all – he was virtually blackjacked into paying for his own ammunition, clothing, and food by being made to buy Liberty Bonds. Most soldiers got no money at all on pay days.

We made them buy Liberty Bonds at $100 and then we bought them back – when they came back from the war and couldn't find work – at $84 and $86. And the soldiers bought about $2,000,000,000 worth of these bonds!

Yes, the soldier pays the greater part of the bill. His family pays too. They pay it in the same heart-break that he does. As he suffers, they suffer. At nights, as he lay in the trenches and watched shrapnel burst about him, they lay home in their beds and tossed sleeplessly – his father, his mother, his wife, his sisters, his brothers, his sons, and his daughters.

When he returned home minus an eye, or minus a leg or with his mind broken, they suffered too – as much as and even sometimes more than he. Yes, and they, too, contributed their dollars to the profits of the munitions makers and bankers and shipbuilders and the manufacturers and the speculators made. They, too, bought Liberty Bonds and contributed to the profit of the bankers after the Armistice in the hocus-pocus of manipulated Liberty Bond prices.

And even now the families of the wounded men and of the mentally broken and those who never were able to readjust themselves are still suffering and still paying.

CHAPTER FOUR

HOW TO SMASH THIS RACKET!

WELL, it's a racket, all right.

A few profit – and the many pay. But there is a way to stop it. You can't end it by disarmament conferences. You can't eliminate it by peace parleys at Geneva. Well-meaning but impractical groups can't wipe it out by resolutions. It can be smashed effectively only by taking the profit out of war.

The only way to smash this racket is to conscript capital and industry and labor before the nations manhood can be conscripted. One month before the Government can conscript the young men of the nation – it must conscript capital and industry and labor. Let the officers and the directors and the high-powered executives of our armament factories and our munitions makers and our shipbuilders and our airplane builders and the manufacturers of all the other things that provide profit in war time as well as the bankers and the speculators, be conscripted – to get $30 a month, the same wage as the lads in the trenches get.

Let the workers in these plants get the same wages – all the workers, all presidents, all executives, all directors, all managers, all bankers –

yes, and all generals and all admirals and all officers and all politicians and all government office holders – everyone in the nation be restricted to a total monthly income not to exceed that paid to the soldier in the trenches!

Let all these kings and tycoons and masters of business and all those workers in industry and all our senators and governors and majors pay half of their monthly $30 wage to their families and pay war risk insurance and buy Liberty Bonds.

Why shouldn't they?

They aren't running any risk of being killed or of having their bodies mangled or their minds shattered. They aren't sleeping in muddy trenches. They aren't hungry. The soldiers are!

Give capital and industry and labor thirty days to think it over and you will find, by that time, there will be no war. That will smash the war racket – that and nothing else.

Maybe I am a little too optimistic. Capital still has some say. So capital won't permit the taking of the profit out of war until the people – those who do the suffering and still pay the price – make up their minds that those they elect to office shall do their bidding, and not that of the profiteers.

Another step necessary in this fight to smash the war racket is the limited plebiscite to determine whether a war should be declared. A plebiscite not of all the voters but merely of those who would be called upon to do the fighting and dying. There wouldn't be very much sense in having a 76-year-old president of a munitions factory or the flat-footed head of an international banking firm or the cross-eyed manager of a uniform manufacturing plant – all of whom see visions of tremendous profits in the event of war – voting on whether the nation should go to war or not. They never would be called upon to shoulder arms – to sleep in a trench and to be shot. Only those who would be called upon to risk their lives for their country should have the privilege of voting to determine whether the nation should go to war.

There is ample precedent for restricting the voting to those affected. Many of our states have restrictions on those permitted to vote. In most, it is necessary to be able to read and write before you may vote. In some, you must own property. It would be a simple matter each year for the men coming of military age to register in their communities as they did in the draft during the World War and be examined physically. Those who could pass and who would therefore be called upon to bear arms in the event of war would be eligible to vote in a limited plebiscite. They should be the ones to have the power to decide – and not a Congress few of whose members are within the age limit and fewer still of whom are in physical condition to bear arms. Only those who must suffer should have the right to vote.

A third step in this business of smashing the war racket is to make certain that our military forces are truly forces for defense only.

At each session of Congress the question of further naval appropriations comes up. The swivel-chair admirals of Washington (and there are always a lot of them) are very adroit lobbyists. And they are smart. They don't shout that "We need a lot of battleships to war on this nation or that nation." Oh no. First of all, they let it be known that America is menaced by a great naval power. Almost any day, these admirals will tell you, the great fleet of this supposed enemy will strike suddenly and annihilate 125,000,000 people. Just like that. Then they begin to cry for a larger navy. For what? To fight the enemy? Oh my, no. Oh, no. For defense purposes only.

Then, incidentally, they announce maneuvers in the Pacific. For defense. Uh, huh.

The Pacific is a great big ocean. We have a tremendous coastline on the Pacific. Will the maneuvers be off the coast, two or three hundred miles? Oh, no. The maneuvers will be two thousand, yes, perhaps even thirty-five hundred miles, off the coast.

The Japanese, a proud people, of course will be pleased beyond expression to see the united States fleet so close to Nippon's shores. Even as pleased as would be the residents of California were they to dimly discern through the morning mist, the Japanese fleet playing at war games off Los Angeles.

The ships of our navy, it can be seen, should be specifically limited, by law, to within 200 miles of our coastline. Had that been the law in 1898 the Maine would never have gone to Havana Harbor. She never would have been blown up. There would have been no war with Spain with its attendant loss of life. Two hundred miles is ample, in the opinion of experts, for defense purposes. Our nation cannot start an offensive war if its ships can't go further than 200 miles from the coastline. Planes might be permitted to go as far as 500 miles from the coast for purposes of reconnaissance. And the army should never leave the territorial limits of our nation.

To summarize: Three steps must be taken to smash the war racket.

We must take the profit out of war.

We must permit the youth of the land who would bear arms to decide whether or not there should be war.

We must limit our military forces to home defense purposes.

CHAPTER FIVE

TO HELL WITH WAR!

I am not a fool as to believe that war is a thing of the past. I know the people do not want war, but there is no use in saying we cannot be pushed into another war.

Looking back, Woodrow Wilson was re-elected president in 1916 on a platform that he had "kept us out of war" and on the implied promise that he would "keep us out of war." Yet, five months later he asked Congress to declare war on Germany.

In that five-month interval the people had not been asked whether they had changed their minds. The 4,000,000 young men who put on uniforms and marched or sailed away were not asked whether they wanted to go forth to suffer and die.

Then what caused our government to change its mind so suddenly?

Money.

An allied commission, it may be recalled, came over shortly before the war declaration and called on the President. The President summoned a group of advisers. The head of the commission spoke. Stripped of its diplomatic language, this is what he told the President and his group:

"There is no use kidding ourselves any longer. The cause of the allies is lost. We now owe you (American bankers, American munitions makers, American manufacturers, American speculators, American exporters) five or six billion dollars.

If we lose (and without the help of the United States we must lose) we, England, France and Italy, cannot pay back this money...and Germany won't.

So..."

Had secrecy been outlawed as far as war negotiations were concerned, and had the press been invited to be present at that conference, or had radio been available to broadcast the proceedings, America never would have entered the World War. But this conference, like all war discussions, was shrouded in utmost secrecy. When our boys were sent off to war they were told it was a "war to make the world safe for democracy" and a "war to end all wars."

Well, eighteen years after, the world has less of democracy than it had then. Besides, what business is it of ours whether Russia or Germany or England or France or Italy or Austria live under democracies or monarchies? Whether they are Fascists or Communists? Our problem is to preserve our own democracy.

And very little, if anything, has been accomplished to assure us that the World War was really the war to end all wars.

Yes, we have had disarmament conferences and limitations of arms conferences. They don't mean a thing. One has just failed; the results of another have been nullified. We send our professional soldiers and our sailors and our politicians and our diplomats to these conferences. And what happens?

The professional soldiers and sailors don't want to disarm. No admiral wants to be without a ship. No general wants to be without a command. Both mean men without jobs. They are not for disarmament. They cannot be for limitations of arms. And at all these conferences, lurking in the background but all-powerful, just the same, are the sinister agents of those who profit by war. They see to it that these conferences do not disarm or seriously limit armaments.

The chief aim of any power at any of these conferences has not been to achieve disarmament to prevent war but rather to get more armament for itself and less for any potential foe.

There is only one way to disarm with any semblance of practicability. That is for all nations to get together and scrap every ship, every gun, every rifle, every tank, every war plane. Even this, if it were possible, would not be enough.

The next war, according to experts, will be fought not with battleships, not by artillery, not with rifles and not with machine guns. It will be fought with deadly chemicals and gases.

Secretly each nation is studying and perfecting newer and ghastlier means of annihilating its foes wholesale. Yes, ships will continue to be built, for the shipbuilders must make their profits. And guns still will be manufactured and powder and rifles will be made, for the munitions makers must make their huge profits. And the soldiers, of course, must wear uniforms, for the manufacturer must make their war profits too.

But victory or defeat will be determined by the skill and ingenuity of our scientists.

If we put them to work making poison gas and more and more fiendish mechanical and explosive instruments of destruction, they will have no time for the constructive job of building greater prosperity for all peoples. By putting them to this useful job, we can all make more money out of peace than we can out of war – even the munitions makers.

So...I say,

TO HELL WITH WAR!

Source: http://lexrex.com