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Ricinus Communis: A Climate Resilient Commercial Crop for Sustainable Environment
by Rana Pratap Singh Kuldeep BauddhDue to the diverse properties of Ricinus communis (castor), this book provides a comprehensive account of castor as a ‘climate resilient and value-added crop.’ It explores the morphological variations, various cultivation techniques, genotypic differences, suitable soil types, and the crop’s yield. The book also discusses the phytoremediation efficiency of castor, focusing on its role in restoring degraded lands, abandoned mining sites, and lands contaminated by heavy metals. The application of suitable plants for the restoration of degraded lands is an efficient method due to its ecological and economic viability. Castor is a hardy angiosperm with multiple benefits. It serves the dual purpose of being an excellent phytoremediator and a source of bioenergy. Additionally, castor has proven effective in treating several human diseases. The castor plant's ability to thrive in stressed soils makes it particularly suitable for the phytoremediation of polluted lands in various climatic conditions. Given its wide range of industrial uses, castor has gained significant attention for further exploration of its biology, cultivation techniques, and genotypic variations. This book is of interest to teachers, researchers, botanists, capacity builders, and policymakers. It also serves as good reading material for undergraduate and master students of botany, ecology, and environmental sciences. National and international agricultural scientists, ecologists, and policymakers will also find it a valuable resource
Riddles in Your Teacup: Fun With Everyday Scientific Puzzles
by Partha GhoseNatural phenomena and ordinary, everyday things often contain surprises and puzzles when we attempt to understand them in terms of basic physical principles. Trying to explain what we see around us can even help us to understand physical principles more fully. Written by two well-known popularizers of science, Riddles in Your Teacup, Second Edition focuses on many puzzles, both simple and advanced, that relate to these phenomena. Revised and enlarged, this fascinating second edition contains challenging questions about everyday scientific mysteries. It presents an amusing and entertaining collection of puzzles and solutions, including some riddles that have continued to defy explanation.
Ride It! Patch It!: An Acorn Book (Racing Ace)
by Larry Dane BrimnerAce enters a mountain bike race in this fast-paced, STEM-themed early reader!Pick a book. Grow a Reader!This series is part of Scholastic's early reader line, Acorn, aimed at children who are learning to read. With easy-to-read text, a short-story format, plenty of humor, and full-color artwork on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and fluency. Acorn books plant a love of reading and help readers grow!Ace polishes up her mountain bike and prepares for the big bike race! She oils the chain and tests the brakes. Then the race begins! But Ace's bike chain comes off the sprocket and then she needs to patch a tire! Will she be able to fix her bike in time and find her way to the finish line?With Larry Dane Brimner's simple text and Kaylani Juanita's full-color artwork on every page, this fast-paced, action-packed book is perfect for new readers!
Rider of the Pale Horse: A Memoir of Los Alamos and Beyond
by McAllister HullA scientist's recollection of his life as a junior member of the Manhattan Project, Rider of the Pale Horse recounts McAllister Hull's involvement in various nuclear-related enterprises during and after World War II. Fresh from a summer job working with explosives in the chemistry department of an ordnance plant, Hull was drafted in 1943, after his freshman year in college. Unlike other accounts written by scientists and historians of that era, Hull's narrative offers a realistic picture of the dangerous and messy job that GIs and civilian powder men were asked to do. Life in the workshops where bomb components were constructed was very different from life in the offices where they were designed. Hull's description of his postwar work supporting the Bikini Atoll tests in the Pacific and the early concerns about the effects of a hydrogen bomb explosion illuminate the Dark Age of nuclear weaponry. John Hull's handsome illustrations show technicians and scientists at work and bring the story to life. Rider of the Pale Horse adds valuably to the total record of the most important technological development of the twentieth century.--Richard Rhodes, author of The Making of the Atom Bomb Hull gives a bottom-up view as seen by a foot-soldier. His account of the grubby details of the project is illuminated by his later view of its historical repercussions and bears new witness to a turning-point of history.--Freeman Dyson, author of Disturbing the Universe
Riding Rockets
by Rebecca BoyleWhat does it take to fuel a rocket to space? Rocket scientists use hydrogen and liquid oxygen, but could anti-matter engines and black-hole drives fuel our spacecraft of the future?
Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut
by Mike MullaneOn February 1, 1978, the first group of space shuttle astronauts, twenty-nine men and six women, were introduced to the world. Among them would be history makers, including the first American woman and the first African American in space. This assembly of astronauts would carry NASA through the most tumultuous years of the space shuttle program. Four would die on Challenger. USAF Colonel Mike Mullane was a member of this astronaut class, and Riding Rockets is his story -- told with a candor never before seen in an astronaut's memoir. Mullane strips the heroic veneer from the astronaut corps and paints them as they are -- human. His tales of arrested development among military flyboys working with feminist pioneers and post-doc scientists are sometimes bawdy, often hilarious, and always entertaining. Mullane vividly portrays every aspect of the astronaut experience -- from telling a female technician which urine-collection condom size is a fit; to walking along a Florida beach in a last, tearful goodbye with a spouse; to a wild, intoxicating, terrifying ride into space; to hearing "Taps" played over a friend's grave. Mullane is brutally honest in his criticism of a NASA leadership whose bungling would precipitate the Challenger disaster. Riding Rockets is a story of life in all its fateful uncertainty, of the impact of a family tragedy on a nine-year-old boy, of the revelatory effect of a machine called Sputnik, and of the life-steering powers of lust, love, and marriage. It is a story of the human experience that will resonate long after the call of "Wheel stop."
Riding the First Balloons
by David L. BristowJoseph Montgolfier and his brother Étienne developed the first balloon. But its first riders were a sheep, a rooster, and a duck!
Riding the Waves: A Life in Sound, Science, and Industry (The\mit Press Ser.)
by Leo BeranekThe life and work of Renaissance man Leo Beranek: scientist, professor, engineer, busisess leader, inventor, entrepreneur, musician, television executive, philanthropist, and author.Leo Beranek, an Iowa farm boy who became a Renaissance man—scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, musician, television executive, philanthropist, and author—has lived life in constant motion. His seventy-year career, through the most tumultuous and transformative years of the last century, has always been propelled by the sheer exhilaration of trying something new. In Riding The Waves, Leo Beranek tells his story. Beranek's life changed direction on a summer day in 1935 when he stopped to help a motorist with a flat tire. The driver just happened to be a former Harvard professor of engineering, who guided the young Beranek toward a full scholarship at Harvard's graduate school of engineering. Beranek went on to be one of the world's leading experts on acoustics. He became Director of Harvard's Electro-Acoustic Laboratory, where he invented the Hush-A-Phone—a telephone accessory that began the chain of regulatory challenges and lawsuits that led ultimately to the breakup of the Bell Telephone monopoly in the 1980s. Beranek moved to MIT to be a professor and Technical Director of its Acoustics Laboratory, then left academia to found the acoustical consulting firm Bolt, Beranek and Newman. Known for his work in noise control and concert acoustics, Beranek devised the world's largest muffler to quiet jet noise and served as acoustical consultant for concert halls around the world (including the Tanglewood Music Shed, the storied summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra). As president of BBN, he assembled the software group that invented both the ARPANET, the forerunner of the Internet, and e-mail. In the 1970s, Beranek risked his life savings to secure the license to operate a television station; he turned Channel 5 in Boston into one of the country's best, then sold it to Metromedia in 1982 for the highest price ever paid up to that time for a broadcast station. “One central lesson I've learned is the value of risk-taking and of moving on when risks turn into busts or odds look better elsewhere,” Beranek writes. Riding The Waves is a testament to the boldness, diligence, and intelligence behind Beranek's lifetime of extraordinary achievement. Leo Beranek is a pioneer in acoustical research, known for his work in noise control and the acoustics of concert halls, and the author of twelve books on these topics. The many awards he has received include the Presidential National Medal of Science, presented in 2003.
Riemannian Optimization and Its Applications (SpringerBriefs in Electrical and Computer Engineering)
by Hiroyuki SatoThis brief describes the basics of Riemannian optimization—optimization on Riemannian manifolds—introduces algorithms for Riemannian optimization problems, discusses the theoretical properties of these algorithms, and suggests possible applications of Riemannian optimization to problems in other fields.To provide the reader with a smooth introduction to Riemannian optimization, brief reviews of mathematical optimization in Euclidean spaces and Riemannian geometry are included. Riemannian optimization is then introduced by merging these concepts. In particular, the Euclidean and Riemannian conjugate gradient methods are discussed in detail. A brief review of recent developments in Riemannian optimization is also provided. Riemannian optimization methods are applicable to many problems in various fields. This brief discusses some important applications including the eigenvalue and singular value decompositions in numerical linear algebra, optimal model reduction in control engineering, and canonical correlation analysis in statistics.
Rift Valley Fever Virus: Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology #2824)
by Pierre-Yves LozachThis volume looks at the latest techniques used in the study of Rift Valley Fever Virus (RVFV). The chapters in this book cover topics such as molecular biology, biochemistry, and cell biology approaches that enable the mechanistic study of virus-host interactions; vector competence, detection, and diagnosis; virus inactivation for biosafety purposes; virus and protein production for structural studies; high-throughput screening based on CRISPR-Cas9 technology; single-molecule RNA imaging; and physiological infection models, animal models, and immunology. Written in the high successful Methods in Molecular Biology format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Cutting-edge and comprehensive, Rift Valley Fever Virus: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource for both novice and experts researchers who want to learn more about the important and developing field of RVFV.
Right Brain Psychotherapy (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology #0)
by Allan N. SchoreThe latest groundbreaking, interdisciplinary work from one of our most eloquent and significant writers about emotion and the brain. An exploration into the adaptive functions of the emotional right brain, which describes not only affect and affect regulation within minds and brains, but also the communication and interactive regulation of affects between minds and brains. This book offers evidence that emotional interactions reflect right-brain-to-right-brain affective communication. Essential reading for those trying to understand one-person psychology as well as two-person psychology relationships, whether clinical or otherwise.
Right Hand, Left Hand: A Special Issue Of Laterality (Special Issues Of Laterality Ser.)
by Chris McManusWinner of the Aventis Science Book Prize. 'A scientific detective story, a brilliant cross between Edgar Allan Poe and Gray's anatomy' J G Ballard, New Stateman Books of the Year'Fascinating' New Scientist'Wonderful' Nature- What is the connection between Paul McCartney, Leonardo Da Vinci and Babe Ruth?- Why are parrots and peacocks left-footed?- Do left-handers behave differently from right-handers?- Why are most people right-handed?- Why are all muppets left-handed?- Why is the heart on the left-hand side of the body?- Why is each side of the human brain so different?RIGHT HAND, LEFT HAND uses sources as diverse as the paintings of Rembrandt and the sculpture of Michelangelo, the behaviour of Canadian cichlid fish and the story of early cartography. Modern cognitive science, the history of the Wimbledon tennis championship and the biographies of great musicians are also used to explain the vast repertoire of 'left-right' symbolism that permeates our everyday lives.
Right Hand, Left Hand: The multiple award-winning true life scientific detective story
by Chris McManusWinner of the Aventis Science Book Prize. 'A scientific detective story, a brilliant cross between Edgar Allan Poe and Gray's anatomy' J G Ballard, New Stateman Books of the Year'Fascinating' New Scientist'Wonderful' Nature- What is the connection between Paul McCartney, Leonardo Da Vinci and Babe Ruth?- Why are parrots and peacocks left-footed?- Do left-handers behave differently from right-handers?- Why are most people right-handed?- Why are all muppets left-handed?- Why is the heart on the left-hand side of the body?- Why is each side of the human brain so different?RIGHT HAND, LEFT HAND uses sources as diverse as the paintings of Rembrandt and the sculpture of Michelangelo, the behaviour of Canadian cichlid fish and the story of early cartography. Modern cognitive science, the history of the Wimbledon tennis championship and the biographies of great musicians are also used to explain the vast repertoire of 'left-right' symbolism that permeates our everyday lives.
Right Hemisphere Language Comprehension: Perspectives From Cognitive Neuroscience
by Mark Beeman Christine ChiarelloThe statement, "The Right Hemisphere (RH) processes language"--while not exactly revolutionary--still provokes vigorous debate. It often elicits the argument that anything the RH does with language is not linguistic but "paralinguistic." The resistance to the notion of RH language processing persists despite the fact that even the earliest observers of Left Hemisphere (LH) language specialization posited some role for the RH in language processing, and evidence attesting to various RH language processes has steadily accrued for more than 30 years. In this volume, chapters pertain to a wide, but by no means, exhaustive set of language comprehension processes for which RH contributions have been demonstrated. The sections are organized around these processes, beginning with initial decoding of written or spoken input, proceeding through semantic processing of single words and sentences, up to comprehension of more complex discourse, as well as problem solving. The chapters assembled here should begin to melt this resistance to evidence of RH language processing. This volume's main goal is to compile evidence about RH language function from a scattered literature. The editorial commentaries concluding each section highlight the relevance of these phenomena for psycholinguistic and neuropsychological theory, and discuss similarities and apparent discrepancies in the findings reported in individual chapters. In the final chapter, common themes that emerge from the enterprise of studying RH language and future challenge for the field are reviewed. Although all chapters focus only on "typical" laterality of right handed people, this work provides a representative sample of the current state of the art in RH language research. Important features include: * a wide range of coverage from speech perception and reading through complex discourse comprehension and problem-solving; * research presented from both empirical and theoretical perspectives; and * commentaries and conclusions integrating findings and theories across sub-domains, and speculating on future directions of the field.
Right Whales (WorldLife Library)
by Phil ClaphamNo species better illustrates the damage done by humans to the great whales than the right whale. Considered by whalers the 'right' whale to kill, this slow, plankton-feeding giant was first hunted in European waters at least a thousand years ago. Huge numbers were slaughtered worldwide until the whaling finally stopped. This unique portrait contains a text packed with facts and field experiences, alongside rare photographs of the whales. It reveals their natural history, discusses their conservation, and informs us that time is running short to help them. Despite over seven decades of protection, most right whale populations are still showing little signs of recovery, and today they are amongst the most endangered of all mammals.
Righting America at the Creation Museum (Medicine, Science, and Religion in Historical Context)
by Susan L. Trollinger William Vance Trollinger Jr.What does the popularity of the Creation Museum tell us about the appeal of the Christian right?On May 28, 2007, the Creation Museum opened in Petersburg, Kentucky. Aimed at scientifically demonstrating that the universe was created less than ten thousand years ago by a Judeo-Christian god, the museum is hugely popular, attracting millions of visitors over the past eight years. Surrounded by themed topiary gardens and a petting zoo with camel rides, the site conjures up images of a religious Disneyland. Inside, visitors are met by dinosaurs at every turn and by a replica of the Garden of Eden that features the Tree of Life, the serpent, and Adam and Eve.In Righting America at the Creation Museum, Susan L. Trollinger and William Vance Trollinger, Jr., take readers on a fascinating tour of the museum. The Trollingers vividly describe and analyze its vast array of exhibits, placards, dioramas, and videos, from the Culture in Crisis Room, where videos depict sinful characters watching pornography or considering abortion, to the Natural Selection Room, where placards argue that natural selection doesn’t lead to evolution. The book also traces the rise of creationism and the history of fundamentalism in America.This compelling book reveals that the Creation Museum is a remarkably complex phenomenon, at once a "natural history" museum at odds with contemporary science, an extended brief for the Bible as the literally true and errorless word of God, and a powerful and unflinching argument on behalf of the Christian right.
Rights and Liberties In The Biotech Age: Why We Need a Genetic Bill of Rights
by Sheldon Krimsky Peter Shorett"Rights and Liberties in the Biotech Age" is the first book reaching broadly into biotechnology that imbeds the issues into a rights framework for the social management of technology. The contributors to the volume comprise prominent university scientists, civil rights lawyers, and public interest activists who bring their perspectives to issues where science and civil liberties meet head on. This book explores the impact of new genetic technologies on how people define their 'personhood' and their basic civil liberties. It questions the thesis of 'scientism' where 'rights' must adapt and conform to technological changes. Instead, the authors explore the expansion of human rights in the face of new biomedical and bio-agricultural advances so that 'rights' and not 'technologies' are at the forefront of discussion.
Rights for Intelligent Robots?: A Philosophical Inquiry into Machine Moral Status
by Kęstutis MosakasIn recent years, the question of human moral duties toward robots has gained momentum in scholarly research due to great advancements in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. Although the current machines fall short of the level of sophistication and human likeness portrayed in science fiction (e.g., the Westworld series or the movie Blade Runner 2049), they are increasingly assuming roles in our society in various important areas, including manufacturing, healthcare, education, customer service, entertainment, and many others. This book makes a meaningful contribution to the ongoing philosophical discourse surrounding the moral treatment of robots. By providing a rigorous and systematic examination of key moral concepts (e.g., moral rights, moral status, moral considerability, and moral value) within the context of robotics and exploring other closely related issues (e.g., the moral implications of artificial consciousness and the associated epistemic challenges), this book offers fresh insights into the necessary and sufficient conditions for machine moral status and rights.
Rights for Robots: Artificial Intelligence, Animal and Environmental Law
by Joshua C. GellersBringing a unique perspective to the burgeoning ethical and legal issues surrounding the presence of artificial intelligence in our daily lives, the book uses theory and practice on animal rights and the rights of nature to assess the status of robots. Through extensive philosophical and legal analyses, the book explores how rights can be applied to nonhuman entities. This task is completed by developing a framework useful for determining the kinds of personhood for which a nonhuman entity might be eligible, and a critical environmental ethic that extends moral and legal consideration to nonhumans. The framework and ethic are then applied to two hypothetical situations involving real-world technology—animal-like robot companions and humanoid sex robots. Additionally, the book approaches the subject from multiple perspectives, providing a comparative study of legal cases on animal rights and the rights of nature from around the world and insights from structured interviews with leading experts in the field of robotics. Ending with a call to rethink the concept of rights in the Anthropocene, suggestions for further research are made. An essential read for scholars and students interested in robot, animal and environmental law, as well as those interested in technology more generally, the book is a ground-breaking study of an increasingly relevant topic, as robots become ubiquitous in modern society.
Rigor Mortis: How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope, and Wastes Billions
by Richard HarrisAn award-winning science journalist pulls the alarm on the dysfunction plaguing scientific research--with lethal consequences for us allAmerican taxpayers spend $30 billion annually funding biomedical research. By some estimates, half of the results from these studies can't be replicated elsewhere-the science is simply wrong. Often, research institutes and academia emphasize publishing results over getting the right answers, incentivizing poor experimental design, improper methods, and sloppy statistics. Bad science doesn't just hold back medical progress, it can sign the equivalent of a death sentence. How are those with breast cancer helped when the cell on which 900 papers are based turns out not to be a breast cancer cell at all? How effective could a new treatment for ALS be when it failed to cure even the mice it was initially tested on? In Rigor Mortis, award-winning science journalist Richard F. Harris reveals these urgent issues with vivid anecdotes, personal stories, and interviews with the nation's top biomedical researchers. We need to fix our dysfunctional biomedical system-now.
Rigorous Time Slicing Approach to Feynman Path Integrals
by Daisuke FujiwaraThis book proves that Feynman's original definition of the path integral actually converges to the fundamental solution of the Schr#65533;dinger equation at least in the short term if the potential is differentiable sufficiently many times and its derivatives of order equal to or higher than two are bounded. The semi-classical asymptotic formula up to the second term of the fundamental solution is also proved by a method different from that of Birkhoff. A bound of the remainder term is also proved. The Feynman path integral is a method of quantization using the Lagrangian function, whereas Schr#65533;dinger's quantization uses the Hamiltonian function. These two methods are believed to be equivalent. But equivalence is not fully proved mathematically, because, compared with Schr#65533;dinger's method, there is still much to be done concerning rigorous mathematical treatment of Feynman's method. Feynman himself defined a path integral as the limit of a sequence of integrals over finite-dimensional spaces which is obtained by dividing the time interval into small pieces. This method is called the time slicing approximation method or the time slicing method. This book consists of two parts. Part I is the main part. The time slicing method is performed step by step in detail in Part I. The time interval is divided into small pieces. Corresponding to each division a finite-dimensional integral is constructed following Feynman's famous paper. This finite-dimensional integral is not absolutely convergent. Owing to the assumption of the potential, it is an oscillatory integral. The oscillatory integral techniques developed in the theory of partial differential equations are applied to it. It turns out that the finite-dimensional integral gives a finite definite value. The stationary phase method is applied to it. Basic properties of oscillatory integrals and the stationary phase method are explained in the book in detail. Those finite-dimensional integrals form a sequence of approximation of the Feynman path integral when the division goes finer and finer. A careful discussion is required to prove the convergence of the approximate sequence as the length of each of the small subintervals tends to 0. For that purpose the book uses the stationary phase method of oscillatory integrals over a space of large dimension, of which the detailed proof is given in Part II of the book. By virtue of this method, the approximate sequence converges to the limit. This proves that the Feynman path integral converges. It turns out that the convergence occurs in a very strong topology. The fact that the limit is the fundamental solution of the Schr#65533;dinger equation is proved also by the stationary phase method. The semi-classical asymptotic formula naturally follows from the above discussion. A prerequisite for readers of this book is standard knowledge of functional analysis. Mathematical techniques required here are explained and proved from scratch in Part II, which occupies a large part of the book, because they are considerably different from techniques usually used in treating the Schr#65533;dinger equation.
Ring Resonator Systems to Perform Optical Communication Enhancement Using Soliton
by Iraj Sadegh Amiri Abdolkarim AfroozehThe title explain new technique of secured and high capacity optical communication signals generation by using the micro and nano ring resonators. The pulses are known as soliton pulses which are more secured due to having the properties of chaotic and dark soliton signals with ultra short bandwidth. They have high capacity due to the fact that ring resonators are able to generate pulses in the form of solitons in multiples and train form. These pulses generated by ring resonators are suitable in optical communication due to use the compact and integrated rings system, easy to control, flexibility, less loss, application in long distance communication and many other advantages. Using these pulses overcome the problems such as losses during the propagation, long distances, error detection, using many repeaters or amplifiers, undetectable received signals, pulse broadening, overlapping and so on. This book show how to generate soliton pulses using ring resonators in the micro and nano range which can be used in optical communication to improve the transmission technique and quality of received signals in networks such as WiFi and wireless communication.
Ring! Ring!
by Gill GuileThis board book will captivate and amuse. The repetitive "Ring! Ring!" and simple storyline will encourage basic reading skills.
Riot Control Agents: Issues in Toxicology, Safety & Health
by Eugene J. Olajos Woodhall StopfordThe proliferation and sophistication of riot control chemicals mean that all parties need to understand the responsible use and effects of such compounds. This book provides practical information on the history, chemistry, and biology of riot control agents and discusses their biological actions, risk assessment issues, and recent technical develop
Riparian Areas of the Southwestern United States: Hydrology, Ecology, and Management
by Peter F. Ffolliott Malchus B. Baker Leonard F. DeBano Daniel G. NearyThe demand for water resulting from massive population and economic growth in the southwestern U.S. overwhelmed traditional uses of riparian areas. As a consequence, many of these uniquely-structured ecosystems have been altered or destroyed. Within recent years people have become increasingly aware of the many uses and benefits of riparian zones a