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Graphene, a material formed of a mesh of hexagonal carbon atoms, has, according to ExtremeTech author Ryan Whitwam, “many fantastic properties that could change the course of human civilization. It’s chemically stable, highly conductive, and incredibly strong.” In a recent New Yorker article, John Colapinto stated graphene “may be the most remarkable substance ever discovered.” One thing graphene is not, however, is magnetic. Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have developed a way to induce magnetism in graphene while preserving its electronic properties. The research team did this by bringing a single sheet of graphene into close proximity to...

As state legislatures throughout America struggle with requirements to balance their state budgets, let us pause to remember that one-quarter of the budget is dictated by Lyndon Baines Johnson, whose damage to state budgets lives on 42 years after his death. As president, LBJ pushed for Medicaid -- free health insurance for poor people. This was a boon to the medical industry, particularly hospitals, doctors, sellers of wheelchairs, and nursing homes. But Medicaid comes at the expense of schools, highways, prisons and others state services because it requires states to pony up some of the money in this federally mandated...

The agenda is a simple one, while President Obama called climate change a greater threat to America than ISIS, the unending supply of accidents continues to keep the assumed peril in the news Lulling Americans into believing that government can provide a safety net for everything from stocking a pantry and providing healthcare, to preventing administrative offices from “shutting-down,” boosting the stock market and de-stressing the environment through regulating virtually every activity, results in an opposite effect… It destabilizes the economy. As President Obama declared climate change to be the ultimate threat to national security, incidents stemming from the oil...

Looking for downloadable, EASY to use portfolio tracker. Nothing fancy, just auto-updating table for stock and investment values.

An annual poll sponsored by National Journal and Allstate Insurance finds Americans losing faith in Washington to solve problems, while believing that state and local governments are better equipped to address important issues. This attitude cuts across gender, education, socioeconomics, and even different regions of the country. Even a plurality of Democrats favor state and local solutions to problems. [SNIP] Some smart Republican presidential candidate is going to tap into this motherlode and ride it to the White House. If they don't, they will have missed a golden opportunity. This is conservative philosophy writ large across barriers of age, gender,...

The three most recent U.S. economic bubbles are Nasdaq dotcom (1995-2001 and peaked March 2000 [Beware the ides of March.]), housing (2001-2005), and Fed-O-Mania (2009 - ?).

Feel like you have less personal space at work? You're not alone. The amount of office space per worker is dwindling as companies look to save some money, real estate experts say. By 2017, North American offices will average 151 square feet per worker, according to real estate data provider CoreNet Global. That's down from 176 square feet in 2012 and 225 square feet in 2010. Blame a prolonged economic recession as the main reason companies are reducing office space. A stumbling, unstable recovery didn't help either, leaving bosses anxious to save money in literally every corner. But there's also...

Laura Bosworth wants to 3D print breast nipples on demand. The CEO of the Texas startup TeVido Biodevices is betting on a future in which survivors of breast cancer who have undergone mastectomies will be able to order up new breasts printed from their own living cells. “Everyone,” she says, “knows a woman who has had breast cancer.” Right now their options are limited. Reconstructed nipples using state-of-the-art plastic surgery techniques, she says, “tend to flatten and fade and don’t last very long.” A living nipple built from the patient’s own fat cells, and reconstructed to the precise specification of...

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas told the Iowa Ag Conference that it was time to “push back” on “anti-science zealotry” concerning GMOs or genetically modified organisms, according to a Saturday story in the Washington Times. GMOs are crops that have been modified to have desirable traits, such as resistance to pests or to contain certain helpful vitamins and nutrients that they otherwise would not have. Oddly enough, Bill Nye, the former “science guy” and former GMO opponent has come around to Cruz’s point of view. Nye, who is not a scientist but played one once on Children’s television, has joined in...

You do not see many Broomhandle Mauser carbines.  Very few were made originally, and even later, non-factory modifications of Broomhandles and reproductions were not made in huge quantities.  I like to go to local gun shows at Yuma, but my schedule and the shows seldom seem to match these days.  This Saturday, I went and saw this Mauser at one of the tables.  It looked in very nice shape, and the owner was gracious enough to allow me to take pictures of it.    When I got back to my computer, I did a little research on the carbines.  Unfortunately...

Rapper Snoop Dogg is part of new UnloadYour401K campaign aimed at getting hard-working Americans to call their financial advisers and get rid of any and all investments in gun companies. Snoop Dogg appears in a video for the campaign in which he says, “I’ve been affected by gun violence over the years, just through the deaths of friend and family members, and associates.” In another portion he appears again, this time holding a white sign with “#ImUnloading” emblazoned upon it. He says, “I’m unloading for my love ones that I lost.” Singer/Songwriter Jhene Aiko also appears in the #ImUnloading video....

You HAVE to laugh! Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker speaks during the Iowa Agriculture Summit, Saturday, March 7, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. Photo by Mark Peterson/Redux for MSNBCArtwork tops their story: Walker calls Clinton’s email controversy an ‘outrage’

Last week I grabbed a cup of coffee and had a chat with Democratic National Committee member Jason Rae, one of a spate of Democrats vying to succeed Mike Tate as Chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. I met with Jason at his request, but rather than sit and interview him, he wanted to pick my brain about the DPW Chair race and the state of the Democratic Party here in Wisconsin. As I shared my thoughts on the DPW Chair race, I started by noting the many, many criticisms of the poor messaging efforts on the part of...

Just as the commemoration of Bloody Sunday in Alabama gets underway, yet another young unarmed African-American male (Tony Robinson, 19) is gunned down in Madison, Wisconsin by a police officer and we are left to wonder how much has really changed? Have we come a long ways simply because the President of the United States looks like us? Or have we arrived in the promised land spoken of by Martin Luther King Jr. simply because we can visit the upscale side of town, drive nice cars, live in nice houses, vote, write books and make six figures? But the reality...

Elio Motors today announced it has unveiled its new 0.9 liter, 3-cylinder engine prototype, completing one of the company's most important stages of development. With a goal of up to 84 MPG and a projected top speed of more than 100 MPH, the enclosed, three-wheeled Elio requires an engine with a unique blend of power and efficiency that simply doesn't exist on the market today. Elio Motors, which plans to sell the vehicle for $6,800 when it launches in the first half of 2016, turned to world-class engine developer IAV to create a new technology that would meet the company's...

I don’t know what’s scarier about this story — that a woman lost her membership at Planet Fitness because she complained about a transgender woman in her locker room or the fitness club’s “no judgment zone” policy. It’s incidents like this that convince me that in the near future, public spaces will be forced by government to build “mens’” rooms, “ladies’” rooms,” and a “choose your sex” room. And the demand for that will not come from transgender people but from straights, who will refuse to put up with the farce that someone can literally “decide” their own sex. The...

IÂ’ll be honest, when it comes to coding IÂ’m just about the last person anyone would consider asking advice from. DonÂ’t get me wrong, I find what programmers do to be both extremely interesting, and (of course) integral to our continued push for innovation in a digitized world, but studying the developers at my day job is like monitoring a team of archaeologists making sense out of hieroglyphics. There are countless people who feel the same way, which is unfortunate since development is a potentially rewarding career path, and one thatÂ’s constantly expanding. One of the stumbling blocks, as mentioned...

I have a client I'll call Linda Loaded. When making coffee, she is so frugal that she puts less coffee into the coffeemaker than she should and compensates by, when the coffee is ready, squeezing the filter with the hot grounds in her hand to get the concentrated coffee into her cup, incurring a bit of pain. To save a few pennies. She is worth $10 million dollars. Not surprisingly, I asked her why she does it. LL: Being not wasteful is core to who I am, why I'm worth $10 million, and why I'm able to live a life...

Liberty Farm, Virginia: A determined American is fighting for her farming rights and indirectly ours against a well-funded environmental Goliath Virginia, like many other states, offers land preservation tax credits of $100 million a year. Land preservation tax credits are tied to conservation easements which are binding agreements between a land preservation trust (usually a NGO) and a farmer who receives tax breaks in exchange for “legally restricting future development of their property” for a number of years or in perpetuity, as specified in the contract. Martha Boneta, who was instrumental in passing the two bills now dubbed Boneta Bill-1...

Des Moines—Only weeks after taking this key state in the presidential race by surprise, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker returns to Iowa Saturday to defend his front-runner status at a major Republican event focused on 2016 and agricutural issues.The GOP governor and a line-up of other major White House contenders—including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush—will take the stage at the Iowa Ag Summit on Saturday at the state fairgrounds here.A key point to watch will be whether Walker, an early favorite among conservatives for 2016, will stick to his past opposition to government intervention to aid the ethanol industry or moderate...