RainDropUp's New Writeups

E2 Quest: 21st Century Science (idea)

2008-03-01T23:17:55Z

My Fellow Noders:

An analysis of the history of science shows that change is exponential, contrary to the common sense "intuitive linear" view.
So we won't experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century — it will be more like 20,000 years of progress at this rate.¹

The new millennium has ushered in many developments in familiar areas of science. While it seems like little can be truly "new" anymore, scientists in recent years have shown us that there is much more to discover about our world and about ourselves.

What we're looking for in this Quest:

writeups on the subject of any science, e.g., physics, psychology, mathematics since 2000

thoughtful factual writeups that are well cited where applicable regarding science in the new millenium

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Plane of immanence (idea)

2008-02-02T05:05:24Z

The plane of immanence is a concept put forth in the writings of French philosopher Gilles Deleuze. It was originally put forth in a book written with his collaborator, Félix Guattari, called What is Philosophy? written in 1994, and is further explained in his final article written just before his death called Immanence: A life...." In order to best understand it, it is important to understand the nature of the concept of immanence. "Immanence" as a concept in philosophy is derived from the Latin "in manere" which means "to remain within" and is considered to mean that the divine is present within all things, or that the universe is a self-contained system. Immanence is often held in contrast to transcendence, which indicates a form of a divinity that is removed, above, or beyond all things. Concepts involving immanence posit that there are no external causes to anything that happens in…

Mythopoesis (idea)

2008-01-24T04:35:34Z

Mythopoesis, from the Greek poiein (για να κανει) and mythos (μυθος), means the process of legend-making or myth creation within the literature and art of a culture.
Mythopoesis can be differentiated from mythology in that mythopoesis refers to legends and realms brought to life in creative works, rather than solely as a result of history or religion.

Blessed are the legend-makers with their rhyme
of things not found within recorded time.
It is not they that have forgot the Night,
or bid us flee to organized delight,
in lotus-isles of economic bliss
forswearing souls to gain a Circe-kiss
(and counterfeit at that, machine-produced,
bogus seduction of the twice-seduced).
Such isles they saw afar, and ones more fair,
and those that hear them yet may yet…

PetSmart (place)

2008-01-07T02:24:41Z

PetSmart, Inc., is a chain of pet stores in the United States and Canada that operates 1,000 individual stores as of January 2008. PetSmart builds its business, stocks its products, and develops its services for a specialized demographic referred to by the company as the pet parent. Pet parents are owners who treat their pets as members of their families, and research by the pet industry has shown that the average dog owner can spend approximately $15,000 on their dog throughout the course of the dog's life. 75% of industry profitability is generated by this segment of pet enthusiasts, and PetSmart has grown over the years to offer the full range of pet health products, premium pet food, grooming services, specialized training classes, exotic pet departments, and many also contain a fully functioning veterinary hospital and pharmacy.

Pacific Coast Distributing, PETsMART, and the Warehouse

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Israel Bissell (person)

2008-01-04T02:18:29Z

The Midnight Ride of Israel Bissell

Listen, my children to an epistle
About the midnight ride of Israel Bissell.
No shred of memory seems to survive
That Israel Bissell was ever alive.

Israel Bissell was one of several American colonists, including William Dawes and the much better known Paul Revere to be sent out on horseback from Watertown, Massachusetts on April 19,1775 to spread the word that the American Revolutionary War had begun in battle at Lexington, Massachussetts. They were instructed to inform patriots throughout the countryside from Massachusetts through Connecticut about the fight and have colonists take up arms to aid in the battle. Dawes and Revere were both captured after having ridden less than twenty miles, but Bissell continued riding at breakneck pace to Worcester,…

DNA (thing)

2007-12-02T03:15:04Z

DNA is short for deoxyribonucelic acid and is usually referred to as a "blueprint" for the creation of biological structures found in living organisms. Most DNA is found in the nucleus of cells within an organism, although some DNA is stored in the mitrochondria, also. DNA contains inherited information which is coded into it by using combinations of four different chemical bases which are: adenine (A), guanine (G), thymine (T), and cytosine (C). These chemical bases are attached to a phosphate-deoxyribose "backbone," and the bases form weak hydrogen bonds with each other in A—T G—C pairs, creating two interlocked strands that are often referred to as a "double-helix" or a "ladder."

A------T C--------G G--------C A----…