Ferrofluids and Other Weird Science Stuff that will Creep you Out

What do you get when you suspend nanoparticles of iron compounds in a colloidal solution of water, oil and a surfactant? Did you guess Zima? The real answer is ferrofluids, though you should be proud if you just knew what "surfactant" was. A ferrofluid is a liquid that reacts to magnetic fields in trippy ways that make you think that science is both magical and potentially evil. They have multiple real world applications, many which are pretty badass.

link: 7 Man-Made Substances that Laugh in the Face of Physics | Cracked.com

Iranian Women: "You Can't Take the Consciousness Away"

Barbara Crossette writes:

The pervasive presence of women in street protests, and the influential political role played by Zahra Rahnavard, a political scientist and the wife of Mir Hossein Moussavi, the leading opposition candidate, have been cast into even sharper focus by the death of Agha-Soltan, though she appears to have been a mere observer to the upheaval.

In suburban Washington, Mahnaz Afkhami notices the strong presence of women and is not surprised. In no small sense, these women are the heirs of Iran's first feminist generation of the 1960s and 1970s, in which she was a leader. It was an era when Iranian women got the right to vote, were admitted to universities and professional schools and enjoyed the most liberal system of family law in the region. It was also the era of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a reviled figure who died in wandering exile in 1980 after being overthrown by the Islamic Revolution now under assault.

"Once there is a level of consciousness in the civic body, civic organizations and people, you can push back some of it, but you can't take the consciousness away from people," Afkhami said in a conversation on Monday, recalling the active role of women in public life three decades ago. "Women had gained a little of organizing skills and a little of consciousness that just wouldn't get pushed back."

Afkhami was Iran's first minister of women's affairs, but because she was appointed by the Shah, her pleas to Western feminists to stand by the women of Iran after the Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in 1979 were largely rejected. She had been permanently tarred by the blanket condemnation of the Pahlavi era, a situation that still incenses her. It hit close to home. Among those who had climbed on the Khomeini bandwagon were leftist progressives, including her sister and brother-in-law, Marxists who joined the Islamic Revolution in the hope of a role in post-Shah Iran. Her brother-in-law was killed by the Khomeini regime.

"How could you possibly not pay attention to the kind of movement that had been going on, close your eyes to it, and then look to Ayatollah Khomeini for guidance for women, or to his government, or theocracy?" she said of the wide range of Western progressives who applauded the overthrow of the Shah at any cost. "How could you as intelligent political entities think that would be the salvation for Iranian women"

link: Icons of the New Iran

Iranian Women: More On Their Determination and Courage

(CNN) -- A young Iranian woman named Neda is gunned down in one of the most iconic images of the last week. Another walks down the street, defiantly showing off her hair and body in a revealing dress. And still another woman says she's not scared of paramilitary forces -- no matter how many times she gets beaten.

"When they want to hit me, I say hit. I have been hit so many times and this time it doesn't matter. I just want to help my brothers and sisters," says the 19-year-old woman whose identity is being withheld by CNN for her safety.

Amid the clashes and chaos, there has been a recurring scene on the streets of Tehran: Women, in their scarves and traditional clothing, at the heart of the struggle. Some are seen collecting rocks for ammunition against security forces, while video showed one woman trying to protect a fallen pro-government militiaman wounded in the government crackdown. At Shiraz University, riot police clubbed women dressed in black robes. "Don't beat them, you bastards," one man yells.

When security forces come to attack, the 19-year-old woman protester says she looks them in the eye and asks: "Why do you kill your brother? Why do you hit your mother, your sisters?"

link: Iranian women stand up in defiance, flout rules - CNN.com

SC Governor Absconditus: They Got Ports, They Got Hurricanes, They Got Prisons, They Could Have Riots! O Gov. Come Back, They Need You!

Knotts also seemed to have concerns about the Appalachian story. He pointed out that Sanford took a vehicle from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division with him, and said that it's almost certain the vehicle would be armed. So if Sanford was hiking, did he leave the vehicle untended? "Was it sitting there in the parking lot with weapons in it?" Knotts asked. "I'm sure he didn't unload the vehicle."

In addition, it was reported yesterday that Sanford's cell phone location had been late last week traced to Atlanta, which would not seem to be on any logical route from Columbia, South Carolina to the Appalachian Trail.

Wherever Sanford is, Knotts said that, rather than leaving authority in the hands of his unelected staff, the governor should have delegated power to the state's lieutenant governor, Andre Bauer. "We got ports down here, we got hurricane season started up, we got prisons that could have riots," he said. "We got all sorts of situations that could need a governor."

link: SC Lawmaker: Sanford "Not A Person That Would Be Happy With Security" | TPMMuckraker

The Photography of Bill Brandt

traveling with the ghost: Bill Brandt 02

Chinese Bloggers Watch Iran

There is an engaged, relatively mainstream population that is thinking seriously about what Iran’s experience says about China. Several bloggers, for instance, are using the unrest in Iran as a way to benchmark China’s movement toward democracy. Wu Jiaxiang, an intellectual and former researcher in the General Office of the Communist Party Central Committee wrote the other day:

For over ten years, Iran’s presidential elections have had turnout exceeding seventy percent, so much so that the closing hours had to be delayed until midnight. What does that show? It means that indifference towards democracy comes from the lack of democracy. There is no excuse for non-democracy.

Mao Anlin, another blogger, goes one step further:

Even Iran, such a religious country, has had so many years of elections. Candidates can squabble, the results can be questioned, the legislature can talk, and Khamenei can keep right on working. We [in China] insist on appointing every single candidate in advance, even for the chief of Macau. This is more than a little lagging behind Iran.

link: China on Iran (Not the Party Line): Letter from China: Online Only: The New Yorker

From Iran

everywhere is road blocks and fires and sometime u hear guns shooting - #Iranelection 1 minute ago from web

It is just like living under martial law - u cannot go anywhere without being stoped or beaten by militia - #Iranelection 2 minutes ago from web

the city is full of Baseej and Revolutionary Guards and plain closthes militia carrying baton and tear gas - #Iranelection 3 minutes ago from web

We have just returned and outside the city sky is full of the sounds of 'Allah Akbar' from ppls on balconys - #Iranelection 4 minutes ago from web

link: persiankiwi (persiankiwi) on Twitter

Tattoo Girl's Confession: Methinks She Doth But Narrowly Know Her Father

Kimberly Vlaeminck, 18, made headlines when she claimed last week to have woken up from a tattoo session with 56 stars on her face. She said she had asked for just three small ones. Turns out though, Vlaeminck was lying. From the Sydney Morning Herald: "I asked for 56 stars and initially adored them. But when my father saw them, he was furious. So I said I fell asleep and that the tattooist had made a mistake," Ms Vlaeminck told Dutch TV.

link: Girl who claimed her face was tattooed while sleeping comes clean - Boing Boing