spotting one

In one of my previous roles i worked as a general manager for a financial services company - you know investments and insurance. I reported to the board and at that time the market was suffering, so we were often below expectations. Tough - what to do? Well, what you do is put the best spin on it as possible - "yes we didn't get there, and this is what we are doing about it..." If you have a few quarters like that you get quite imaginative in composing spin, you have to. The point of that background is to say that when you have spun to save your life (however illusory when viewed from now) you recognise spin from others easily. The Prime Minister is spinning

Stuff

there is optimism China's economy will remain strong and that will buffer New Zealand from the latest round of turmoil on global financial markets.

This turmoil is major indeed. And this is the financial system but the effects of peak oil with a loss of cheap energy coming, and climate change is obvious. For me, my critical analysis says that it is actually happening, we have reached a place in our time on this planet of critical juncture and our world is undergoing unheaval. Key's option of spinning is a cop out - the only one to 'save' us is us and that means not selling our land and resources to any bidder with the money. That means saying no to the exploiters who are mining and prospecting for oil and gas in our rohe. And it also means supporting community and unity, equality and empowerment. It is time for the past to lead us to the future. 


On a lighter note :)

Watch for the effects of major sunspot activity 

Universe Today

A highly active region on the Sun threatens to deliver powerful geomagnetic storms over the week ahead. Highly energetic solar eruptions are likely heading in our direction to give Earth’s magnetic field a significant glancing blow! Over the past few days the new sunspot AR1302 has been incredibly active, hurling massive X-class solar flares into space and it will soon face Earth.

jeepers another Carrington Event would stuff up the money go round, wouldn't it.

neutrino on my mind

It hard to get your head around neutrinos and this apparent faster than light discovery. Should be lots of people investigating this which will sort it sooner rather than later.

Universe Today

An international team of scientists at the Gran Sasso research facility outside of Rome announced today that they have clocked neutrinos traveling faster than the speed of light.

For me I enjoy these upsets - but this one, if proved, will change most of what we know and the implications are staggering.


I've written a haiku for the occasion

we align, a slant

unaffected you’re through me

Oh heart of no-mass.

The more we know, the more we learn.

star bright moon night

I am celebrating tonight - the summer solstice and a lunar eclipse. Here in Mohua the clouds are lifting and I believe the view will be awesome. Perfect for me and a mate to drum, and drink and chat. Catching up with friends and sharing experiences - that is so important and at this time of year we have the perfect excuse, if we need one, and i don't. :)

entanglement

Entanglement is interesting. Within quantum physics, entanglement is where, "two particles are inextricably linked so that measuring a property of one instantly reveals information about the other, no matter how far apart the two particles are." Many experiments have confrimed this and as science demands repeatable experiments to confirm theory it also wants to test the theory by trying to prove it wrong. One of the implausable explanations offered is that somehow the monitoring machines influence the results - so what do you do? Put the machines far enough away that the results are known before any light (or communication using light speed as it's fastest proxy) can reach the measuring device. This experiment has been completed and the results have confirmed that the machines are not involved. The experimenters explain it, from Sciencenews,

"The Austrian team used laboratories on the Canary Islands, off the northwest coast of Africa. One station, on the island of La Palma, had both a source of entangled photons and, about 1 kilometer away, a photon detector hooked up to a random number generator that told the instrument what kind of polarization to look for. A second photon detector, also hooked up to a random number generator, was located on the island of Tenerife, 144 kilometers away from the source on La Palma.

This setup prevented any conspiracy between the photon emitter and either of the detectors. Even the 1-kilometer distance was far enough to guarantee that a signal traveling at light speed between the photon emitter and the detector would arrive too late to affect the experiment’s outcome.

Pairs of entangled photons always had correlated polarizations at both detectors."

This process of experimentally testing an unlikely hypothesis to tick it off, close the loophole and tighten the theory is an laudable aspect of science.

As you may imagine there are many pathways to go with a post like this. I could, for instance, talk about maori knowledge systems and how they also have been developed by testing and discarding against theory. Or I could talk about this concept of entanglement and how this concept fits in with a connective universe but as Brian Greene says in "The fabric of the universe" "While I like the sentiment, such gushy talk is loose and overstated." and I do have a tendancy to go that way. I thought about using entanglement as a metaphor for the maori party but I've got a bit of maori party fatigue. So I'll just let the post stand as an example of the mysteries of this world we all inhabit.

you know

There are many discussions around the ether which show the inability of some to see that the unseen forces in our world exist in science as well as indigenous beliefs. At the quantum level traditional science breaks down and the rules that seem to govern us don't work. Unseen forces act on even more unseen forces, in fact it is pretty well all unseen forces. To delve into this area requires a belief in unseen forces that exert influence sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly, sometimes in proximity and sometimes over vast differences. Are those unseen forces really any different than indigenous unseen forces? Maybe it is the personification aspect which makes it hard to handle, my point is that there are more similarities than differences between science and indigenous knowledge than people would like to acknowledge or even accept.



Taniwha Scales

whales respected

Are the science and māori worldview compatible? I think they can be, notwithstanding definitions of what science actually is, compared to what people think it is, and defining a/the māori worldview. I'll just stick to massive generalisations - the major difference is the inclusion of a spiritual element in māori knowledge systems, including science.


Decisions about what to do with the whales that died in a recent stranding offers an example of the different worldviews. Scientists want to dissect the dead whales to help determine why they stranded and try to stop it happening and this is laudable. But how many whales have already been dissected and are we actually any closer to understanding these strandings? If pollution was found to be the direct cause does that mean that will stop people polluting? Or if something else, like a virus is found, will pollution reduce then?

I am not saying that there is no value in knowing causes but there is likely to be multiple causes from systemic breakdowns across and within the whole ecosystem. Thinking of the whales as a part of an ecosystem is holistic, and it can offer insights because you come from an angle of connection rather than difference.

The māori worldview is holistic and places importance on not violating the whale by dissection. Under many circumstances the māori view would be discarded out of hand and the dissection proceeded with. But we are making progress, because that didn't happen here...


From NZH

"Kaumatua Alan Hetaraka said scientists could take DNA samples, "but we don't want [the whales] to be chopped up. It doesn't fit with our culture".

The former marine biologist said his scientist head told him to let the experts take their samples, but his cultural heart told him to bury them intact."

Good on you Alan, it is good to have someone who understands both worlds considering these issues. Although the dissections won't be available, the DNA is, and understanding why these mammals strand can still be worked on. I think this was a good decision and it shows the value of the legislation that requires the intent of the treaty, and thus the māori worldview, to be considered.

Footnote - further information on the maori worldview and this situation.

From NZH

"Ngati Kahu kaumatua Alan Hetaraka said last week's mass stranding on the Karikari Peninsula was just a few hundred metres from a subdivision which the iwi was due to fight in the High Court in less than two weeks' time.

"It's ironic that these things turn up at that spot. You could say it's nature doing what nature does. But to us it's a sign ... It's a sign that they've come to support us."

The court battle centres on a former campground behind the dunes, where an American millionaire is creating eight sections. The 7km-long beach is so far untouched by development.

Mr Hetaraka said the developer wanted to build houses on a slight rise where burial caves were. The caves were used for the children of Ngati Kahu ancestor Kahukura; ordinary people were buried in the dunes.

The firm behind the subdivision is Auckland-based MBR Developments, while Carrington Farms is owned by American Paul Kelly, who owns the adjacent golf course, hotel and vineyard"

I tautoko the fight to stop this development. And it puts the decision around the dissection into perspective. Utu - reciprocity - the whales have supported the iwi, the iwi return the favour.

big lights tonight

Ahhh - the sunspot cycle starting up. The sunspot cycle is around 11 years - from high to high. The souther you are, the better the view - wish i was deep south but top of the south is going to be great.

From Stuff

"Massive sun flares which have sent a wave of solar supercharged gas toward Earth are expected to reach New Zealand later today, NASA warns.

The first visual effects could be on display tonight with a display of Aurora Australis or Southern Polar lights."

Get ready for a light show - it will drag you away from the TV, it will drag you away from your light interiors, you will gravitate towards the dark, the night. And within the night many things become manifest. An opportune time to think.

The things we see

Astronauts took this photo of an eruption on June 12. The plume appears to be a combination of brown ash and white steam. The vigorously rising plume gives the steam a bubble-like appearance; the surrounding atmosphere has been shoved up by the shock wave of the eruption. Credit: NASA/ISS/Earth Observatory

Amazing photo