My avatar comes from a really old comic book. Chuckle #1 [1945] https://box01.comicbookplus.com/viewer/72/721d0ac14c7e64fc5b9c5096258556a9/6.jpg

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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: March 4th, 2025

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  • https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/gjfq-k9dv

    Abstract

    When a photon traverses a cloud of atoms without scattering, how much time does it spend as an atomic excitation? To address this question, we used the cross-Kerr effect to weakly probe the degree of atomic excitation caused by a transmitted resonant “signal” photon by measuring the phase shift induced on a (separate, off-resonant) “probe” beam, postselected on cases when the signal photon is transmitted. The time integral of this observed phase shift, properly normalized and averaged over many runs in which the photon is detected after transmission, is the excitation time of interest, in a weak-valued sense. We measured mean atomic excitation times ranging from (−0.82±0.31)⁢𝜏0 for the most narrow band pulse to (0.54±0.28)⁢𝜏0 for the most broadband signal pulse, where 𝜏0 is the non-post-selected excitation time, given by the scattering probability multiplied by the atomic lifetime 𝜏sp . Across a range of pulse durations and optical depths, our results are consistent with the recent theoretical prediction that the weak value of the atomic excitation time caused by a transmitted photon equals the group delay experienced by the light. Our experimental results show that negative times are not limited to describing the shift in the peak of a reshaped wave packet (as resulting from group delay), but they also provide the appropriate description of the weak-valued time the photon spends as an atomic excitation.

    Atomic excitation refers to the process where an electron in an atom absorbs energy and moves to a higher energy level or orbit.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_state






  • Erik Satie wrote seven Gnossiennes. The first is in F minor, and Satie probably composed it in 1890. It was published with two other Gnossiennes in a Paris magazine in 1893. Like his three Gymnopedies of 1888, Satie seems to have created a new genre of piano piece with a title alluding to antiquity. According to the 1865 Larousse dictionary, a Gnossienne was a ritual labyrinth dance created by Theseus when he defeated the Minotaur. But Satie’s involvement in a gnostic religious group (led by Joséphin Péladan who is pictured in the thumbnail), during the time of composition, probably influenced his use of the mysterious title.

    Satie’s Gnossiennes are composed without barlines, and have a gently rocking accompaniment in the left hand, with an ‘exotic’ melody floating above it in the right hand. All the Gnossiennes use modes to create intriguing and mysterious melodic lines. The extraordinary simplicity of the musical texture and syntax belies the prodigious originality of the resulting music. Written before Brahms had composed his late intermezzi, these are fabulously experimental pieces in which the form consists of haunting melodic fragments which circle around without any specific direction or goal. In their circularity and stasis they seem to lay down a challenge to German 19th century dominance: music does not have to be developmental; neither does it have to be goal-directed or hierarchical. It can simply float along and be an evocative mystery. Needless to say, Satie’s music had a huge influence on leading composers of the twentieth century including Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, Poulenc and, later on, the American pioneer John Cage.

    From this Youtube video, which plays Erik Satie: Gnossienne 1. There are links to the others.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y42P0G-kGY


  • Lee Iacocca once said, “No matter what you’ve done for yourself or for humanity, if you can’t look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished?”

    Chewie gets to spend time with a family that’s never seen on screen in any of the other movies. He’s done a lot for humanity, but what about his family?

    And as Michael J. Fox once said, “Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.”

    Forget that Mojo Nixon said, “Michael J. Fox has no Elvis in him.”













  • ‘Symbolism of a cut watermelon’

    Germany’s domestic intelligence agency names “relevant actors” in the “secular pro-Palestinian extremism” world, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

    It then goes on to a section on “symbols and identifying marks”, which includes the slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and the “symbolism of a cut watermelon”.

    “The watermelon, alluding to the colours of the Palestinian flag, is a symbol of solidarity with Palestine. Here, the outline of the entire state of Israel is depicted in the colours of the Palestinian flag (as a sliced watermelon), thereby denying Israel’s right to exist,” the BfV says.

    hmmm…

    German Haribo candy 'Wasser Melonen'

    I’m not sure this one checks out 100%…






  • https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/11/2266

    Abstract When infecting humans, Andes orthohantavirus (ANDV) may cause a severe disease called hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS). Following non-specific symptoms, the infection may progress to a syndrome of hemorrhagic fever combined with hyper-acute cardiopulmonary failure. The case fatality rate ranges between 25–40%, depending on the outbreak. In this study, we present the follow-up of a male patient who recovered from HCPS six years ago. We demonstrate that the ANDV genome persists within the reproductive tract for at least 71 months. Genome sequence analysis early and late after infection reveals a low number of mutations (two single nucleotide variants and one deletion), suggesting limited replication activity. We can exclude the integration of the viral genome into the host genome, since the treatment of the specimen with RNAse led to a loss of signal. We demonstrate a long-lasting, strong neutralizing antibody response using pseudovirions expressing the ANDV glycoprotein. Taken together, our results show that ANDV has the potential for sexual transmission.

    Keywords: Andes virus; persistence; semen; neutralizing antibodies

    TLDR: The ANDV genome persists within the reproductive tract for at least 71 months. ANDV has the potential for sexual transmission.