Book Review: Hidden in Plain Sight Offers Easy to Understand Physics

Physics isn’t the most popular book topic people gravitate towards when looking for a subject worthy of reading. Hidden in Plain Sight by Andrew Thomas provides a broad overview of modern physics. Even though the topics can be quite complex to lay readers this book has simplified the principles so that seemingly complex topics are covered parsimoniously.

Two theories have dominated physics for more than a century. General relativity and quantum mechanics have allowed scientists to explore the universe with satellites and has led to new momentum in the space race. The two theories have not been well connected in literature.

General relativity explains how objects relate to each other in space as well as the influence of gravitational forces on the movement of those objects. Quantum mechanics helped scientists develop the laser, computers, and other high processing products. It is possible to argue that general relativity is about big things while quantum mechanics looks at little things.

Quantum mechanics tells us how particles behave and how they influence each other on a miniscule scale. The problem is that in physics all particles and objects are relatively the same and should be following similar rules. Whether one is looking through a microscope or a telescope the same principles should be at work based upon the type of elements involved.

In Quantum mechanics everything in the universe is connected to everything else. They may seem like they are separate but that is not the case. Two particles may work together in unison in a system that develops its own unique attributes. Some objects may have distance between the elements but can still influence each other in a more complex arrangement.

As knowledge and research develops people become aware of how elements work together to create the whole. The book will work through concepts such as unification, universe, space, time,quantum reality, observation, rationale and what we can’t see. It provides an overview of the link between relativity and quantum mechanics by leading readers through present knowledge. 

Thomas, A. (2012) Hidden in Plain Sight: The simple link between relativity and quantum mechanics. [Kindle Edition].

Poll Shows Investors are Optimistic in 2014-Can We Find a Place for Their Money?

A Morgan Stanley poll of high net worth individuals found that 88% of investors are optimistic about their future economic prospects. High net worth individuals are people 25-75 with at least 100K in investable assets. A third of these individuals have at least a million dollars of investment assets and can significantly impact national economic growth if they believe that investing today will earn them higher rates of return in the short, medium, and long-term future.  

Investors are expecting a positive investment environment over the next year. Eighty-eight (88%) believe their worth will rise, 84% believe their investment portfolios will stay the same or improve, and 70% envision a better investment climate. This optimism pushes the belief that investment prospects are growing and a few gold nuggets provide for higher growth sectors.

Positive impressions are persisting despite some looming problems in the governance and the geo-political issues of our times. A total of 90% of those polled are somewhat concerned about prospects of the nation, 87% about government budgets, 82% about international conflict, 81% about trade deficits, and 75% about terrorism. America has a stable but adjustable system that can attract investors if they believe policy makers are trying to solve problems and create win-win situations. 

Starting to make small adjustments in government spending to ensure that money is being wisely spent in a manner that raises the functionality of the nation; economic and human. The very way in which government representatives handle international conflict to reduce risks or the development of stronger treaty management to fosters hub growth can be an important topic of discussion.

This year technology is seen as a hot market by 72% of investors who feel it has high growth potential. New products are being developed at a sufficient pace to make investment returns higher than other markets. Other areas of positive investment include bio-tech (67%), energy (66%), pharmaceuticals (61%) and communications (54%).

The U.S. is considered the best place to invest money by 52% of investors followed by China (41%), India (39%), Japan (38%) and Brazil (34%).  National investment positions are a vote of confidence in the entire environment that includes everything from infrastructure to political stability. Those who prefer one nation over another due so based upon risk assessment and their personal affiliations with that culture. 

High optimism are rare opportunities to boost improving growth by putting together investment pathways through better open data management. Economic growth is heavily influenced by human psychologies (Dhaoui, et. al., 2013). Encouraging investors to find locations where their personal investment optimism match with local clusters that need investment capital can make a difference in national growth. 

Approximately 2.5 trillion dollars are held by institutional investors in the U.S. (Voorhes & Humphrey’s, 2013). Factoring in sustainable and responsible principles among the decision-making matrices institutional and capitalist investors use can better ensure this money is making it to areas that have the widest sociological and economic impact. When investors and labor both reap the benefits societal stability increases and motivation rises.

American growth relies on many factors that are too numerous to mention within a short article. It is possible to say that improved investment optimism, stronger political decision making, and stronger information on investment “hot spots” within local clusters and hubs can ensure that optimism doesn’t go to waste. Optimism can beget more optimism with paths open to more opportunities.

As Robert Trout the WWII news broadcaster known as the “Iron Man of Radio” stated with eloquence, “A successful society is characterized by a rising living standard for its population, increasing investment in factories [i.e. hubs and clusters] and basic infrastructure, and the generation of additional surplus, which is invested in generating new discoveries in science and technology.”

The Report: http://www.morganstanley.com/about/press/articles/e1f23a70-90cd-4948-bc41-ba663837dd8f.html

Dhaoui, A. et. al. (2013). The impact of investor psychology on stock markets: evidence from France. Journal of Academic Research in Economics, 5 (1). 

Voorhes, M. & Humphreys, J. (2011). Recent trends in sustainable and responsible investing in the United States. Journal of Investing, 20 (3).

Call for Papers: The Conference on Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality in Asia (COSTA 2014)

The Conference on Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality in Asia (COSTA 2014) is an international, peer-reviewed conference. With the theme of Sustainable Tourism: Shaping the Future, the conference will examine and promote a critical understanding of sustainable tourism and hospitality.

Registered participants with an accepted abstract and/or refereed full paper will be published in the Proceedings (ISSN 2188-6903).

Web address: http://presdafoundation.org/sustainable-tourism-hospitality-conference/

The final deadline for submissions is Monday, October 6, 2014.

Integrating International Business Education For Higher Outcomes

College students collect lots of insightful morsels of knowledge that add to their understandings of their chosen field of study. Unfortunately, many graduates can’t conceptualize the wider context of information and this limits their ability to integrate new information for higher practical application. A study by Annavarjula, et. al. (2014) explores the beneficial practice of creating integrative curriculum blocks to enhance international business education learning. 

Integrative learning helps students to make connections between personal experiences and multiple pieces of information learned in the classroom to deeper embed concepts for practical use. When integrative learning is strong it can help students visualize, understand, and overcome difficult problems by using creativity across different spectrums. 

Integrative learning is important to international business students as the complexity of understanding world markets can bury even the brightest of minds. Having a mental framework for understanding how international business functions requires knowledge of accounting, treaties, marketing, management principles and many other fields synthesized into an idea of the whole. 

Integrative learning helps students make deeper and further reaching connections among the different business sectors to solve important business problems.  Integrating the self with this knowledge furthers the student’s preparation for successful employment in multi-national organizations.  

Problem solving through making connections between seemingly independent elements has its advantages in commerce (Kovalik & Olsen, 1994). Graduates with less integrated knowledge may be confused by how or why certain influences are impacting the business environment while the highly integrated graduates can understand the interrelated sources of those influences. 

The process in the study worked by having teaches stay with students longer in the program before new teachers were introduced. This is different than having teachers change with each course. Integrative blocks were used that included curriculum, business strategy simulation game, guest speakers, joint class lectures and coordination of faculty efforts. 

Learning integration of knowledge is something some students can do on their own while others need proper guidance to put the information together. Offering various perspectives on business issues and practicing through strategy simulation will help solidify the information. Bringing in outside speakers encourages a variety of perspectives on similar topics. 

The report doesn’t discuss online education but many of the principles found in ground-based university systems also apply to online classrooms. Guest videos, teach a cohort of students through multiple courses, properly sequencing courses, ensuring classrooms reflect multiple nationalities/cultures, and if/then game simulation are more easily managed in online courses.

Annavarjula, M. et. al. (2014). Use of integrative curriculum to enhance international business education. International Journal of Education Research, 9 (1). 

Kovalik, S, & Olsen, K. (1994). ITI: The model. Integrated thematic instruction (3rd Edition). Kent, Washington: Books for Educators.

Healthy Living: Stuffed Tomatoes to Complement Your Dish

You can eat right without losing the taste. Eating healthy sometimes requires adjusting our taste buds to food of higher nutritional value. Stuffed tomatoes is an excellent recipe that is full of nutrients that support your fitness goals, doesn’t require much time, and holds its natural tastes.

If you’re looking to make a simple side dish to complement your rice or sit in sizzle with your steak consider stuffed tomatoes. It is a low calorie option that doesn’t take much effort to prepare and complements a wide variety of pallets. This is a helpful recipe that improves on just about any dish you are planning to serve.  

It is beneficial to incorporate a healthy amount of tomato into your diet. Research has shown that the tomato protects against cardiovascular disease, ultraviolet light, osteoporosis, and cognitive dysfunction (Burton-Freeman & Reimers, 2011). It also acts like an antioxidant that removes harmful pollutants from the body. 

182 calories

Directions:

-Cut tops off of tomatoes and scoop out pulp.

-Use blender to chop olives, carrot, garlic clove, oregano and vegetable broth.

-Place pulp mix in frying pan and sauté with wine or vegetable broth. Cook a couple of minutes until tender. Let cool for a couple minutes.

-Mix in bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and basil.

-Stuff each tomato with the pulp mixture and replace tops.

-Put stuffed tomatoes in greased baking dish. Cook at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. 

Ingredients:

-         4 tomatoes

-         1 carrot

-         1 stick celery

-         1 onion

-         1 garlic clove or salt

-         Oregano

-         2 tsp olive oil

-         1 tbsp white win or vegetable broth

-         2/3 cup bread crumbs or healthier alternatives.

-         4table spoon parmesan cheese.

-         Basil 

Burton-freeman, B. & Reimers, K. (2011). Tomato consumption and health: emerging benefits. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 5 (2).