galvanized

Score another point for Science. Researchers and smithies from the University of Minnesota, according to Popular Science, have developed an alloy (Ni45Co5Mn40Sn10, Nickel, Cobalt, Manganese and Tin) that has both magnetic and ferroelectric properties—maybe something like a piezoelectric element in a cigarette lighter but do see the excellent primer and video of the magnet in action in the magazine—which has the ability to convert heat directly into electricity. When warmed, the alloy oscillates between physical phases actually turning it from something nonconductive into something highly magnetized. Personally, I can recall being a bit disappointed to learn how nuclear reactors work—that they are glorious cathedrals of steam, that the nuclear energy source is just a means of heating up water to turn a turbine, the same for the massive solar collectors in the Spanish desert or solar panels that provide hot water. These things are certainly accomplishments but the bother does not result—at least to my mind, in something as keen and imaginative as producing electricity directly through what is generally a by-product. There are plenty of heat sources that could be contenders, from the recently reviled and outlawed incandescent light bulb, to the heat from automotive exhaust and combustion—hybrid cars could capture the heat generated when running off of gasoline to recharge an empty battery—smoke-stacks, factories and cooling towers could recycle the heat and put it in the supply as well

quadragesimal

Today is the feast of Corpus Christi, which is rather a unique holiday, as it does not mark a specific event but rather a thanksgiving for the sacrament of communion. In Germany, recognized as a national holiday, it is called Fronleichnam--which does not mean "happy corpse," like the German words sound but rather it comes from Middle German vrône lîcham--des Herren Leib (The Lord's body)--and that sounds to me reflective of the origins of the holiday with a nunnery in Belgium that rallied the Pope to add this singular feast to the liturgical calendar. Fronleichnam, with the village streets paved with petals and a last sunny day off after a long and quick succession of them, also makes me think of Robert Schumann's "Happy Farmer" (Der Fröhlicher Landmann) which is probably most recognizable as the leitmotif from the opening scenes of the Wizard of Oz on Aunt Em's farm--a little jaunty but relaxed and diligent, like the churches using their best monstrance (Monstranz) and silver on this day.

Also, not being a day meant to commemorate a specific event, the holiday does not roll with the cycle of forty (like the forty days of Noah's Flood, the forty days of Lent corresponding to Jesus' time in the wilderness, the Ascension forty days after Resurrection, forty days of mourning, etc). Corpus Christi is fifty days after Easter. No one is quite sure why the number forty is a recurring value or a seemingly significant digit--perhaps, some theorize, it represents a generation (in years), the term of human pregnancy (in weeks), or the apparent motion of Venus in the skies, transcribing a pentagram and returning to its original position after that same generation.

zeugma

As the spectre of default and more financial straits loom for Greece, Germany has undertaken some demanding roles (EN/DE), though commensurate with their overall economic influence, to rescue Greece and the European common currency.  

Of course, it is the Greeks who too have a vested interest in getting their portfolio in order and ensuring future livelihoods, and this begs the question whether they really want to be yoked with the liabilities (zeugma = yoke) of being a dues-paying member of the European Union. Argentina defaulted a decade ago and recovered quickly and now thrive: Argentina uncoupled their currency from the US dollar but maybe that is not quite the same as a country quitting the euro. Greek bureaucracy was probably no more bloated or corrupt than anyone else's, but they did a poor job of collecting taxes. It does not seem things ought to be this gloomy, making hoi polloi take to the streets in protest--although what deal the government accepts should be closely watched and the people make sure it is in their favour. Germany is also relying on the kindness of angel investors (Privatgläubiger, private believers) to buy and hold Greek bonds on a voluntary basis, knowing the risk but potentially realizing big profits once stability has returned. Individual pensioners can apparently also take a gamble with their retirement funds, if they choose.

Involving private investment is necessary and smart move on the part of Germany--however, the tables could still turn on everyone. Another avenue to pursue, I think, might lie in rallying and educating the general public. A lot of solidarity emerged for Egypt and the Arab Spring, and although the Greeks are not suffering like their compatriots in the Middle East and North Africa, there is potential for injustice and for the crisis to spread. Surely there could be an educational campaign on the part of EU governments to show consumers what choices they can make to help Greece--or Ireland or Portugal or Spain or Italy. I don't know if one can buy a Greek-made automobile as easily as going to a Greek restaurant, but there's surely something useful that could be done and presented as an option--even berthing ones money in a Greek credit harbor overnight might make a difference. Whether skeptical of the euro and the EU or not, everyone too has a vested interest in helping keep one's neighbours and partners afloat and thriving.

englischer garten or alpengeist

The revelation that Chinese designers and architects were covertly taking measurements of the exemplary Austrian village of Hallstatt to recreate it as a pure tourist attraction in Guangdong province, to the much to the chagrin of many surprised residents, has been circulating for a while. I thought it was just amusing at first, thinking of the earlier, imperfect Chinese copies of a German town, a typical English village from the Cotswolds and even a Disney-esque fun park that came out a bit scruffy looking--or all the sometimes tacky and bordering on cultural stereotype installations put up in Western theme parks, casinos and in restaurants. A whole village, faithfully reproduced or like Bizarro World, however, is a bit unsettling--especially the shells of churches. Maybe imitation is a finer form of flattery and this attention will be good for tourism on both sides of the world, but I think having one's homeland cloned is karmic retribution for entertaining the sale of its mountain peaks. Though such a locale would have been prime real estate for a mad scientist's secret lair or a diabolical organization's headquarters, I don't think the buyer of such vanity property would have had that.

Es ist eine erstaunliche Enthüllung, dass chinesischer Ingenieure haben die vollkommen österreichischen Hallstatt gemessen und analysiert zwecks das Dorf in Guangdong Provinz als Tourismusbetrieb wieder herzustellen. Das ist ältere News aber viele Bewohner sind erschüttert. Das kommt mir komisch vor--gegenüber die dort (früheren) chinesische Nachbauten von anderen europäischen Städten und sogar von Disney Land oder die Abendlands Version von Kulturbegriffe wie im Spielbanken, Erlebnisparks und Restaurants. Das Kopieren eines kompletten Dorfes--originalgetreu oder unvollkommen) ist jedoch mehr störend. Was bedeutet es nun, wenn gibt eine Nachgebildung von eine Kirche? Vielleicht wird diese Nachahmung für den Tourismus an beiden Seiten der Welt gut sein--aber denke ich, dass die Klonierung von Heimat ist Karmagesetz gegen den versuchte Verkauf des ihre Berggipfel ausgeben. Allerdings wäre an einem solchen Ort es optimal, bei geheime Hauptquartier für verrückter Wissenschaftler aufzubauen. Ich denke nicht, dass der schließliche Käufer--oder Österreich--zustimmen würde.

agent 99 or jumping to conclusions

I suppose that this piece of news is highly speculative, since otherwise the secret agents would not be doing a very good job of guarding their tricks of the trade, but I thought it was interesting to hear how seeding search-engine criteria (auto-complete, auto de fey, or whatever suggestions or recommendations are called) could be a method for passing coded messages among spies. It is sort of like those numbers stations on short-wave radio, whose poetic, sibylline utterances were never quite explained—nor totally went silent. I get annoyed sometimes the way search engines try to finish my sentences, although many times Computer knows already what I am going to ask. It would be opportune, I think, to tailor some obscure domain, like the affiliates of major internet players in Tuvalu or Nauru, and skew what those residents, from a marketing point of view, are looking for. Maybe also a translating-service could be coaxed in the same way. At least espionage may be able to exploit the more pedestrian or bizarre buzz on the internet.
Diese Nachrichten scheinen hoch spekulativ, aber ich fand es interessant dennoch: Spione hat andere Betriebs-geheimnesse, aber unter diesen gibt automatische Vervollständigung vielleicht als Verfahren zur Kommunikation. Ähnlich würden das auch die Zahlensender bei Kurzwellenfunknetzen. Die poetisches Prophezeiungen wurden auch nie erklärt, und noch da sind. Es stört mich ein bisschen wenn Suchmaschinen zu vollenden Sie meine Sätze versucht, aber manchmal Computer ist richtig. Das Ändern eines undurchsichtigen Suchdienstes konnte günstig sein: wie exotische Filialen mit exotischer Suchanfragen. Vielleicht konnte derselbe für Übersetzen-Dienstleistungen auch getan warden. Immerhin kann Spionage den normalen und fremden Verkehr im Internet ausnutzen.

voyage voyage

Just about a month out from our next grand adventure, I realize the that more and more planning is going into our vacations.  I do not know exactly how I feel about that, but I also realize that it is not the planning, hand-wringing and failure to keep to schedule that one remembers.  That's forgettable, though the trips are not, and maybe they all started out that way--at least.  I know we've been spontaneous and it is not as if planning accounts for every contingency and relieves one of the ability to be adaptable or shun surprise and discovery--quite the opposite, and I know it's just selective-memory to think of past holidays as seemless and random as traveling in the TARDIS or Count Duckula's castle.  There's a bit of day-dreaming to a plan as well, and that process together is what takes charge when one finally does hit the road.