How to Get Rid of a Pimple

For those that came for the instant download on how to get rid of a pimple please go to the download page at get rid of those Damn Pimples!

Everybody else please read the article below.

Let's get straight to the point. How to get rid of a pimple in two easy steps. The first step is to grab the pimple between your thumb and index finger and squeeze it until it pops. The second step is to thoroughly cleanse the broken pimple with soap and water.

Now I wouldn't recommend the above method as it tends to aggravate the pimple and the skin around the pimple. I would recommend combating acne on a daily basis.

If you are looking to stay pimple free there are a few other things you should do. Wash your face with a mild soap and warm water 2 or 3 times a day. Don't over wash your face as this will only dry out and irritate your skin any pimples you may have. If you are a woman and wear make-up use non-oil based make-up.

Oily hair can aggravate pimples so try to keep your hair out of your face. The same goes with your hands. Your hands contract lots of bacteria on a daily basis. Wash your hands regularly.

There are also a number of over the counter products that can be used to combat pimples. You can find them in the local drug store. If you choose this method you may have to try a few different products to see what works for you.

If you have a bad case of acne you may want to consult with a dermatologist or find an acne solution that is has more substance than the procedures above.

What ever method you choose find the method that works best for you and stick with it. It's your face, it's your pimple and it's your life.

A Room with a View of Mars

The launch in mid-July of the first inflatable space habitat marked another milestone in the commercialization of space, and a step closer to the dream of a space hotel to be realized next decade. This article will review the origins and development of the first space habitat, as well as plans for the first inflatable space hotel (some more space articles).

Since the start of the Apollo space program and the first moon landing in the 1960's, man has been intrigued by the possibility of space tourism where a room in space could be booked as conveniently and cheaply as one on Earth. But this scenario may no longer be purely science fiction. Approaching half a century since Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, reached orbit, man is beginning to commercialize the final frontier. Amateur astronauts have taken part in official missions on several occasions since the mid 1980's. Since the first space tourist, American multimillionaire Dennis Tito, paid in excess of $20 million for the opportunity to undergo extensive training and spend a week on the multi-billion dollar International Space Station (ISS) in 2001, three others like him - South African Mark Shuttleworth, American Gregory Olsen, and the first woman space tourist, Iranian-born American Anousheh Ansari - have followed.

Until recently, the only way to reach orbit was either the space shuttle or the Soyuz space capsule. In 2004, Scaled Composites launched the first non-government-sponsored manned spacecraft, SpaceShipOne. Though the vehicle attained only sub-orbital flight, it opened the door to a new generation of privately-funded spaceflights. Virgin Galactic is planning to launch SpaceShipTwo, capable of carrying passengers into sub-orbital altitude in late 2008, followed by a larger version capable of real orbital reach a few years later.

Scoring a parking spot for your private spaceplane in orbit is a different story. The ISS, which is still unfinished (mainly due to the Columbia disaster), is not a space hotel and, although occasional tourists have boarded the Russian part of the station, it is first and foremost a scientific laboratory that will not be used to accommodate a large number of space tourists. Seeking to launch a genuine space hotel, hotelier Robert T. Bigelow created the space tourism company, Bigelow Aerospace, in 1999. Following seven years of development, Bigelow Aerospace launched its first inflatable space structure, Genesis I, on July 12th, 2006 using a Dnepr LV missile (a converted Russian SS-18 Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile) from the Yasny Launch Base in Russia. Measuring 4.4 m (~14 ft.) in length and 1.6 m (~5 ft.) in diameter when compressed, the spacecraft successfully reached a 483 km (300 mi.) orbit, then extended its solar panels, and inflated in fifteen minutes, expanding its width to a full 2.54 m (~8 ft.) in diameter. The Genesis I prototype habitat will be followed in a few months by Genesis II, a more sophisticated habitat that will carry more cameras (18 as opposed to Gensis I's 13). The next stage will be the larger Galaxy-class of habitats with a volume of 23 cubic meters, double that of the Genesis-class. The final ambitious step will take place in about six years with the launch of the huge 330 cubic meter Nautilus habitat, approaching the ISS's 425 cubic meters of usable volume. Launching this enormous 25 ton structure into orbit is a daunting task and Bigelow Aerospace plans to use a larger booster such as the SpaceX's planned Falcon 9S rocket to launch it into Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

TransHab test at NASA (Credit: NASA) The birth of Bigelow Aerospace and its inflatable space hotel concept in 1999 was intimately connected to the conceptualization and development of a space habitat for the planed future manned Mars Mission. The so-called TransHab project was initiated around 1997 by a NASA team headed by William Schneider, a prominent NASA engineer. The 600 cubic meters required for the habitat would be too heavy and large to be lifted into orbit. Thus, Schneider and his team of engineers devised a light, inflatable module that could be loaded onto a rocket or the space shuttle, squeezed to about a third of its normal size, and inflated to its full size once in orbit. The TransHab concept was also suggested as a possible living quarters module for the ISS and, though finally cancelled by Congress in 2000, it became the basis of the Genesis-class space module.

TransHab in NASA's test facility (Credit: NASA) One of the most important design features of the TransHab is its multi-layer (nearly two dozen), foot-thick, inflatable shell made of various extremely high-strength, lightweight fibers with numerous protective features. The outer layers of the shell break up space debris and micro-meteorites that may hit the shell with speeds of up to 7 km/s (about seven-times that of a speeding bullet) and shield multiple inner "bladders", which contain the module's air, preventing it from escaping. The shell also insulates against the extreme temperatures of outer space, ranging between 121 oC (250 oF) in the sun, to -128 oC (-200 oF) in the shade.

TransHab's MMOD structure (Credit: NASA) The exterior part of the shell, called the Micro-Meteoroid/Orbital Debris (MMOD) impact shield, is composed of alternating layers of Nextel, a material commonly used as insulation, and several thick layers of foam, similar to that used for chair cushions. A particle that impacts the Nextel and foam layers shatters, losing progressively more energy as it continues to penetrate. Far inside the shell is embedded a layer of bullet-proof, lightweight Kevlar that holds the module's shape once inflated and surrounds three air-tight bladders made of Combitherm, a material commonly used in the food-packing industry. The innermost layer, forming the inside wall of the module, is Nomex cloth, which is fireproof and also protects the bladders from scratches from the inside

Though public interest in Bigelow's space hotel concept is vast, space tourism will remain a costly affair for the near future, out of reach of most people. Thus, Bigelow is building on a number of other lucrative space initiatives; chief among them will be selling space on its future habitats to countries that are unable to afford their own manned space programs (see more articles). Currently underway is the "Fly Your Stuff" program, an opportunity for paying costumers to send items (smaller than a golf ball) including pictures onboard the Genesis II. For less than $300, an engagement ring can be lofted into orbit where it will be filmed by one of the many cameras installed on the habitat, and returned along with a keepsake video. Perhaps, following a lengthy engagement, the honeymoon could be booked there as well.

Robotics competition blends math, science and sportsmanship

Take a boxful of metal parts, electronics and a computer and build a robot capable of picking up an inner tube and hanging it on a metal rack — without human control.

Sound easy?

That’s the challenge high school students in Helena and across Montana will rise to over the next six weeks. A Capital High School team, which includes one member from Helena High, began tackling the problem Saturday morning, along with students from Fort Benton, C.M. Russell, Simms, Butte, Bozeman, Darby and Billings West high schools.

Around the globe, 130,000 students took up the task as part of a competition, called For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, or FIRST.

Students and adults alike said the program is a fun, creative activity which blends math and science with good sportsmanship and teamwork. In the decade since its creation, FIRST has convinced some students to pursue career paths in engineering and technology, and taught all contestants valuable skills, Capital High physics and biology teacher John Miller said.

“Kids learn … how to solve a problem with a limited budget and limited time, working with others,” he said.
“It’s engineering, science and math, but it’s very creative,” said Donna Minton, the deputy director at Montana State University’s Space Grant Consortium. She’s also FIRST’s assistant regional director. “There’s not a right answer.”

Each team has until Feb. 19 to take their supplies and build a robot, which will then be used in round-robin tournaments this spring. Capital High’s squad will compete in Denver in late March.

Students, college-age mentors, teachers and parents gathered in the auditorium Saturday to catch their first glimpse of the challenge via a NASA telecast. At the competitions various teams will form three-member alliances, which then go head-to-head with other groups. Each team will compete multiple times, with different partners.

For the first 15 seconds, the robots must autonomously place plastic blue and red inner tubes on a large, three-level metal rack, using only information gleaned from sensors and their programming. Then students take the controls and guide more tubes onto the rack, which has eight limbs on each level, for the next two minutes.

The teams also can block their opponents’ robots with their own, and use black inner tubes to break up their opponents’ rows and columns. The objective is to score points by placing as many inner tubes as possible in succession around the circular rack. Think tic-tac-toe without the diagonals.

In the waning seconds of the contest, teams can score bonus points by getting their robots off the floor — either by driving onto another or being lifted by a teammate’s machine.

The extracurricular robotics programs at schools across the state may have limited time as well, because a three-year, $300,000 NASA grant runs out after this year’s round of contests, and an effort by former U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., to secure Montana schools $1 million is now uncertain.

Proponents like Miller and Minton hope state legislators can fill the gap.

“Statewide support would really make a difference,” Minton said.

They invited first lady Nancy Schweitzer to Saturday’s kickoff. She said she supports the program and would like to see it expanded to more and younger children, who can use Lego robot kits to learn the basics. Schweitzer was unsure whether state legislators would consider funding it this session.

Miller also said he hopes corporations in Montana will expand support for the program. Each team, he said, needs a minimum of $10,000 each year to compete.

Capital High senior Josh Kuhn, who’s in his third year of FIRST and heads the school’s science and robotics club, said he hopes legislators will remember the budding engineers and computer programmers at Montana high schools.

“It’s … awesome,” he said of FIRST. “It’s that great of an experience.”

While engineering, mechanics and computer technology may be at the core of the competition, sportsmanship and cooperation are at the heart. Kuhn regularly e-mails kids across the country he’s met at the contests and participates in online forums, where students strategize. He said teams trade tips and work together.

“The great thing about the competition is that it’s a really friendly community,” Kuhn said.

Minton said the contest’s highest award takes sportsmanship into account. At the national championship last April, she saw the blue team give the red squad a part needed to fix a robot before the final match. The red team won.

“These kids are really, really high-character and they do great things,” she said.

Miller said FIRST is an excellent way for kids to make connections with peers, and with the CEOs of major technology and engineering firms. Two years ago, one of his students sat down for a chat with a NASA space shuttle engineer.

Students said the activity is decidedly less than “geeky,” because it can involve welding and machining. Miller said team members who may never have used a power drill get a hands-on experience.

Robots attract all kinds, the kids said.

“It transcends cliques,” Billings West student Stephen Asay said.

He joined because he “thought it’d be pretty cool, a good learning experience.”

Capital senior PJ Kolnik said his wrestling coach was surprised to hear he’d be spending his Saturday thinking robotics, but it was a no-brainer for him.

“I’ve always been a real sucker for designing and building things,” he said.

Educators prepare for new requirements in math and science

Ohio Core puts tougher minimum standards into effect for high school graduation in 2014.

When Susan Bodary brings Ohio Core to Dayton on Jan. 17, she is prepared to face the area's educators who have questions and criticisms about the plan.

Their chief concerns: How will they get more math and science teachers? Who should pay for it, and how? And, why are we doing this?

Bodary will be the executive director for a newly established joint educational group tasked with following through on Ohio Core's requirements locally.

Called the P-16 Education Consortium, the group will examine every level of education from high school to college to figure out how students can meet the new graduation standards.

Wright State University, University of Dayton, Sinclair Community College and the Montgomery County Educational Service Center are helping to pay for it. Bodary will mostly operate out of the UD and the service center.

In December, legislators passed Ohio Core, which changed the minimum requirements for a high school diploma, with the goal of better preparing Ohio's students for college — particularly in science and math, an area targeted by economists as essential to the country's job growth.

Before they graduate in 2014, today's fifth-graders will have to complete the following when they hit high school:

• Four units of math, including Algebra II.

• Three units of science, including physical science, biology and one-year advanced science.

Bodary's main goal, she said, is to tighten up the pipeline, so that students' individual learning needs are addressed from one grade to the next.

"We have not done a good job of helping kids make transitions from one level to the next," Bodary said via telephone Friday from her statehouse office, where for the last year she spearheaded the crafting of Ohio Core for outgoing Gov. Bob Taft.

The result is a great divide and disconnect between high school graduation and higher education, she said.

While a system is in place for holding K-12 institutions accountable, nothing exists for college, she said.

The Ohio Board of Regents, working with the Department of Education and economic development groups, will later this month release a set of standards for what it means to be "college ready," and consequently, job-ready.

"Part of the problem is no one has said where the bar is. We currently measure preparedness to the 10th grade. If Ohio Core demands that students be 'college ready,' we need to define what that is," she said.

The bottom line, she said, is that educators from preschool through college need to better connect the system.

But Bodary hasn't figured out how that needs to happen.

The P-16 consortium is still in its infancy, but her first step will be talking to every school district in the Miami Valley to address their needs.

"We will look at how best to position schools," from identifying their teacher needs and other program support, she said. "We'll help schools figure out how to get there."


Are Ohio's graduating seniors ready for college?

41 percent of Ohio's recent college graduates enrolling in Ohio's public colleges or universities in fall 2003 took at least one remedial math or English course during their first year of college.

Of the students enrolled in remedial courses in 2003 as freshmen ...

15 percent took a complete college-prep curriculum in high school (4 years of math and English, 3 years science).

35 percent took a minimum college-prep curriculum in high school (3 years of math, 4 years English, 3 years science).

53 percent took less than the minimum college-prep curriculum.


Source: Ohio Board of Regents, "Making the Transition from High School to College in Ohio 2005," December 2005

Life On The Moon

The Moon is the closet celestial object to the Earth, it orbits the Earth as the Earth itself orbits the Sun. The Moon is the brightest object in the night sky but produces no light of its own; it instead, reflects the sunlight thus making it appear bright. The Moon goes through phases in which we see different amounts of its sunlit side over the course of a month, which is roughly how long the Moon takes to orbit the Earth.

The Moon itself is a dusty, barren and lifeless world containing no atmosphere or liquid water. It has a solid inner core, a rocky mantle and a crust of granite-like rock. No-one is certain where the Moon actually came from. It may be that the Moon formed alongside the Earth, or it may have formed elsewhere and was then captured by the Earth's gravitational pull. The most common theory is that in the early times of the solar system when the Earth was forming, a Mars-sized bodied collided with the Earth at high speed causing molten material to splash off into space, this material would eventually form the Moon.

The gravity of the Moon pulls on the earth and stretches it into a slight oval shape; this hardly affects the landmasses but causes the oceans to bulge at either side of the planet, producing tides along the world's coastlines.

In 1961, the USA set up the Apollo programme, which aimed to send astronauts to the Moon by the end of the decade. The Saturn V, a powerful rocket, was designed and built. The early Apollo missions tried it out on various parts of the intended journey. Starting with Apollo 11 in 1969, six missions landed on the Moon. Twelve astronauts explored and photographed its surface, and brought back 388kg of rock and soil back to Earth for study.


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Weather Instruments for Fun and Safety

The interest in weather instruments for the home has increased dramatically in the last several years because of shifting weather patterns and new discoveries in meteorology. Everyone from young kids to retirees has found that keeping track of various aspects of the changing weather can be both educational and fun. It can also help people ensure their own safety during a weather emergency.

There are a variety of weather instruments you can get for home use. Prices range anywhere from ten to hundreds of dollars, depending on the quality, materials and type of weather instruments you get. Some of the most popular weather instruments include:

o Barometers - these track the change in the barometric pressure in the atmosphere. Changes in this pressure reveal whether a change in the weather is coming; a drop in barometric pressure signals a low pressure front moving in.


o Thermometers - Easily the most popular of all home weather instruments, thermometers measure the temperature of the immediately surrounding air. You can get ones that measure both indoor and outdoor temperatures.


o Rain Gauges - These range from simple cylinders to complex mechanical models, but all do the same thing - measure the actual rainfall in inches during a particular time period. This is often one of the first weather instruments (after the thermometer) that children are introduced to, and they love keeping track of the rainfall in their own yard.


o Weather Stations - Weather stations are battery or electric controlled stations that track several different weather measurements you would usually need several different weather instruments for. A typical desk-top weather station might track the phases of the moon, the temperature, barometric pressure, humidity and provide forecasts for the next twenty-four hours based on the changing conditions of each reading.


o Tide Clocks - Track the timing of the ingoing and outgoing tides in coastal areas. While most weather instruments are of use everywhere, this is one that is primarily of value to mariners, surfers and other ocean coast dwellers.


Keeping Safe - the Importance of Weather Radios

One of the weather instruments that few people are familiar with, but everyone should have, is weather radios. These radios are specifically designed to pick up low frequency radio signals that are broadcast from various stations across the country providing twenty-four hour weather updates and emergency bulletins. Weather radios typically have both visual and auditory warning signals whenever there is a weather emergency in your area. These may be sirens, flashing lights, alert tones or recorded warning messages to alert you to turn up the weather radio.

The weather updates and radio broadcasts are of constantly updated information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Many weather radios can be programmed using "SAME," meaning Specific Area Message Encoding. This restricts broadcasts that are received to information pertinent to your local area.

Weather instruments are useful for any number of reasons, from knowing how much you need to water your garden (rain gauges) to knowing how to dress for the day. But weather instruments are also simply a fun and educational way to learn more about the atmosphere and the world around us. And finally, with weather instruments such as weather radios, we can rest easy knowing we will be warned of a weather emergency as quickly as possible.


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Is Pluto a Planet or Not?

Pluto was first referred to as Planet X by the astronomer Percival Lowell. He reasoned it existed because something was causing slight variations in the orbits of the planets Neptune and Uranus. He belived only another body large enough to exert a strong enough gravitational field could affect Neptune and Uranus' orbits.

Unfortunatly Percival Lowell died in 1916 without having proven the exisitence of Planet X. In 1930, astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered "Planet X" 3.7 billion miles from our sun. He did this by using an astronomical telescope to expose a series of photographic plates. The Plates clearly showed a small object had moved against the background of distant stars.

This discovery turned out to be the result of a happy accident. The calculations that predicted the existence of a planet beyond the orbit of Neptune later proved to be in error. The Voyager 2 spacecraft was able to measure the mass of the planet Neptune more accuratly. When this new data is used the variations in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune dissappear.

None the less the new planet was dubbed Pluto. Several names were suggested including Zeus, Cronus and Minerva. But in 1930 Pluto was officially labeled the ninth planet by the International Astronomical Union and named for the Roman god of the underworld.

The axis of Pluto's poles do not point "up" and "down" out of the plane of the solar system like planet Earth's. Instead the point more inward toward the Sun. Pluto is usually farther from the Sun than any of the other planets. But due to it's eccentric orbit, it is closer to the Sun than Neptune for 20 years out of its 249 year orbit. Pluto crossed inside Neptune's orbit on January 21, 1979 and made its closest approach to the Sun on September 5, 1989. It remained within the orbit of Neptune until February 11, 1999. This will not happen again until September 2226. Pluto's odd orbit has lead some to say it is a "trans-Neptunian interloper". Which means it is more like a Kuiper belt comet than a planet.

The composition of Pluto is unknown, but its density (about 2 gm/cm3) probably indicates it is a mixture of and 30% water ice and 70% rock. The bright areas of the surface appear to be covered with ices of nitrogen and smaller amounts of methane, ethane and carbon monoxide. The composition of the darker areas on Pluto's surface is not known.

Pluto does have an atmosphere which probably consists mostly of nitrogen with some carbon monoxide and methane. It is extremely thin with a surface pressure of only a few microbars. Pluto's atmosphere probably exist as a gas only when Pluto is near the Sun. For the rest of Pluto's long orbit the atmospheric gases are frozen solid. Near the Sun it is possible that some of the atmospheric gases escape into space. NASA mission planners hope to arrive at Pluto while the atmosphere is still in gas form.

In 1978 it was discovered that pluto has a moon. Officially named Charon after the mythological figure who ferried the dead across the River Acheron into the underworld. Charon was discovered by Jim Christy and may have been named in honor of his wife Charlene. Before the discovery of Charon it was believed Pluto was much larger since the images of the two were blurred together.

Pluto and Charon are unique in that they rotate synchronously with each other. Which means they both keep the same face toward one another. It has been suggested that Charon was formed by a giant impact against Pluto similar to the one that formed Earth's Moon. In 2005 a team using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered two tiny moons orbiting around both Pluto and Charon. They have been named Nix and Hydra. They are very small with diameters between 40 and 60 kilometers.

Recently there has been considerable debate about the classification of Pluto. It was classified as the a planet just after its discovery and remained so for 75 years. But on 2006 Aug 24 the International Astronomical Union decided to change the definition of a "planet". The new definition does not include Pluto. Instead Pluto is now classified as a "dwarf planet". Personally I don't agree with taking away Pluto's status as a planet. Maybe I am being superstitious, but as any sailor worth his salt will tell you it is generally considered bad luck to change the name of a ship once she was been christend.

As of the writing of this article Pluto has not yet been explored by a space probe. On January 19, 2006 NASA launched New Horizons which will be the first spacecraft to visit Pluto in July 2015. New Horizons is equiped with remote sensing devices that include imaging instruments, a radio science tool, a spectroscopic sensor and other experiments. The tiny moons Nix and Hydra may present a certain danger as their presence indicates the possibility of ring system similiar to the one around saturn, though much smaller. Any ring system poses the threat of micrometeorite damage to the New Horizons spacecraft as it flys past.

I hope very much that all goes well and the New Horizons spaceprobe sends back a wealth of information about "Planet X" or Pluto as it is known. Perhaps then we will be able to settle the debate as to whether Pluto is really a planet or not.


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