http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8382348.stm

The death throes of the biggest star known to science have been observed by Europe's new space telescope, Herschel.

The observatory, launched in May, has subjected VY Canis Majoris, to a detailed spectroscopic analysis.
Its end days see it spew vast quantities of gas and dust into interstellar space, including elements such as carbon, oxygen and nitrogen - the raw materials that will go into the production of future planets, and, who knows, perhaps life elsewhere in the galaxy.

The observatory is tuned to see the Universe in the far-infrared.

Its 3.5m diameter mirror is the largest ever flown in space.

Herschel can probe clouds of gas and dust to see stars being born.

It will investigate how galaxies have evolved through time.

The mission will end when its helium refrigerant boils off.

The Herschel observatory was sent into orbit on 14 May on an Ariane rocket. It has been positioned far from Earth to give it an unobstructed view of deep space. The observatory works at longer wavelengths - in the far-infrared and sub-millimetre range.
However, its third instrument is currently down after experiencing a fault.
Engineers are expected to upload the software next month needed to reactivate the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HiFi).
The data on Comet Garradd shows up a strong water signal as is expected from an object composed of ice and dust.

"Everything we have done so far, we've done extremely well," said Dr Göran Pilbratt, Herschel's project scientist.
"We have not been able to do everything we wanted because of HiFi, of course; but what we have released today and put on the [Esa website] for instance, you can judge for yourself. I think it is very impressive."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incitement

Etymology: Middle French inciter, from Latin incitare, from in- + citare to put in motion — more at cite

Date: 15th century

: to move to action : stir up : spur on : urge on

synonyms incite, instigate, abet, foment mean to spur to action. incite stresses a stirring up and urging on, and may or may not imply initiating <inciting a riot>. instigate definitely implies responsibility for initiating another's action and often connotes underhandedness or evil intention <instigated a conspiracy>. abet implies both assisting and encouraging abetting the enemy>. foment implies persistence in goading <fomenting rebellion>.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-social_behaviour
asocial –  1.not social  2.not sociable  3.antisocial
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loner

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosocial_behavior

1931 London Underground map

Double-headed serpent, 15th-16th century from Mexico: This serpent embodies how the Aztec empire flourished and the story of their destruction.
Photograph: The Trustees of the British Museum

Chinese Zhou ritual bowl, c. 1100-1000 BC, possibly from the Henan province, China: This bowl made to feed the ancestors documents one of the major transformations in China.

Photograph: The Trustees of the British Museum

A row of leather shoes that would have been worn by the crew  of The Mary Rose ship

Johannesburg, South Africa, 3 November 2009: Delegates in traditional Ndebele dress at the launch of the Institute of African Royalty. The lobby group aims to increase the influence of the continent's traditional leaders

None the less, when we look at the practice of psychiatry today, we find that, in the case of the most severe mental illnesses at least, the outcomes obtained are little, if at all, better than those obtained at the end of the 19th century. Astonishingly, cross-cultural comparisons show that patients in the developing world do rather better than those in the industrialised nations, and have a greater chance of recovering from their difficulties.

The discovery that many people live relatively happy lives despite their psychotic experiences raises the possibility that some patients may do best without any treatment.
November 2003. From a lecture by Richard Bentall, professor of experimental clinical psychology at Manchester University.
thisemperor has shared a video with you on December 14 2008
Most if not all galaxies, including our own Milky Way, are believed to have massive black holes at their cores.
It was unclear whether black holes came first, helping create galaxies by pulling matter towards them, or whether they arose in already formed galaxies.
"It looks like the black holes came first," said Dr Chris Carilli, from the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Socorro, New Mexico, who took part in the study.
"The evidence is piling up."
Forskarna kartlade släktbanden mellan drygt 76.000 personer med antingen schizofreni eller bipolär "sjukdom". De kom fram till att "sjukdomarna" har samma genetiska rötter. (from The Lancet)
Astronomers are increasingly listening into stars and other space sounds, according to Dr Tim O'Brien, of Manchester University's Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics.
"It's interesting in itself," he said. "It's also scientifically useful."
"All you are really doing when you're collecting stuff from space is that you've got to get that information into your brain so you can think about it," he explained in his podcast. http://www.jodcast.net/
HD49933 was one of the stars observed using the Corot telescope












Am I building a Telescope?

http://soi.stanford.edu/results/sounds.html
frostade "svarvade" glaspelare på verandan av förfallet grått timmerhus i skog (dröm)
diam.11,7x6 cm
B R11/6 Clearview  round glass block
http://www.sevesglassblock.com/pedonabili.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/nov/18/mental-health-psychiatric-patients-rights
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/PNG

"I think like a genius," he once wrote, "I write like a distinguished author, and I speak like a child."
V. Nabokov

“Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” — what an ungainly title for a movie. What does it mean? What kind of sense does it make? You might ask the same questions of the film itself, directed by Werner Herzog and related, by some equally puzzling movie-business genealogy, to another “Bad Lieutenant,” Abel Ferrara’s 1992 tour of New York law-enforcement hell. Neither remake nor sequel, this “Bad Lieutenant” is its own special fever-swamp of a movie, an anarchist film noir that seems, at times, almost as unhinged as its protagonist. Fueled by Nicolas Cage’s performance — which requires adjectives as yet uncoined, typed with both the caps-lock key and the italics button engaged — Mr. Herzog’s film is a pulpy, glorious mess. — A. O. Scott, The New York Times

Full New York Times Review »

och ser du – det där vackra vill jag ha kvar
P M P

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1282252/
http://www.lakartidningen.se/engine.php?articleId=8349

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-R

A survey of stars known to possess planets shows the vast majority to be severely depleted in lithium.
Scientists think events early in the star's formation may be responsible for producing the lithium phenomenon. 
Researchers who have studied meteorites with compositions unchanged since the beginning of the Solar System say the element's presence in our star ought to be 140 times greater than is observed.
Another approach is to monitor a star for extended periods in the hope a planet will pass across its face. This transit reveals the planet's presence by making the star's light dim ever so slightly. 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8354522.stm

[Mass] · Calendar · Daytime: Terce · Sext · None
Click here to go to the main Universalis site · General Calendar · (Wrong day? Click here)

Mass Readings

First reading

Wisdom 7:22-8:1 ©

Within Wisdom is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, active, incisive, unsullied, lucid, invulnerable, benevolent, sharp, irresistible, beneficent, loving to man, steadfast, dependable, unperturbed, almighty, all-surveying, penetrating all intelligent, pure and most subtle spirits; for Wisdom is quicker to move than any motion; she is so pure, she pervades and permeates all things. She is a breath of the power of God, pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; hence nothing impure can find a way into her. She is a reflection of the eternal light, untarnished mirror of God’s active power, image of his goodness. Although alone, she can do all; herself unchanging, she makes all things new. In each generation she passes into holy souls, she makes them friends of God and prophets; for God loves only the man who lives with Wisdom. She is indeed more splendid than the sun, she outshines all the constellations; compared with light, she takes first place, for light must yield to night, but over Wisdom evil can never triumph. She deploys her strength from one end of the earth to the other, ordering all things for good.

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 118:89-91,130,135,175

Gospel

Luke 17:20-25 ©

Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was to come, Jesus gave them this answer, ‘The coming of the kingdom of God does not admit of observation and there will be no one to say, “Look here! Look there!” For, you must know, the kingdom of God is among you.’   He said to the disciples, ‘A time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man and will not see it. They will say to you, “Look there!” or, “Look here!” Make no move; do not set off in pursuit; for as the lightning flashing from one part of heaven lights up the other, so will be the Son of Man when his day comes. But first he must suffer grievously and be rejected by this generation.’

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melancholia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphoria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics   Marcus Pembrey and colleagues also observed that the paternal (but not maternal) grandsons of Swedish boys who were exposed during preadolescence to famine in the 19th century were less likely to die of cardiovascular disease; if food was plentiful then diabetes mortality in the grandchildren increased, suggesting that this was a transgenerational epigenetic inheritance.^[40] The opposite effect was observed for females -- the paternal (but not maternal) granddaughters of women who experienced famine while in the womb (and their eggs were being formed) lived shorter lives on average.^[41]

^{http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/ghostgenes.shtml} 

"See the way she grabs the book out of the other woman's hands? That's manic. Hear how fast she talks when she is repeating a rhyme in the book? That is manic."
"Ok great. There is no hurry.. no need for a manic panic.. I can rhyme on a dime while manic at the time it's oh so sublime. It's nearing medication time."
Quotes from chats at sza.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_crawler
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A4rbre