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Charter Schools: An Alternative Option in American Schooling
Charter schools are educational institutions in the United States funded through taxation but operated privately under a charter or contract with a public entity, providing alternative public education options to families. Charter schools are subject to fewer rules and regulations and have greater autonomy than traditional public schools over operations, curriculum, and instruction, although have greater stakes in school accountability.
  • 3.5K
  • 17 Mar 2023
Topic Review
The Ancestral Tapestry of an American Technologist
In the annals of 21st-century technological innovation, few figures have ascended with the velocity and influence of Samuel Harris Gibstine Altman. As the chief executive officer of OpenAI, he stands at the vanguard of the artificial intelligence revolution, a public intellectual and entrepreneur shaping a future of unprecedented computational power. His name is synonymous with Silicon Valley's relentless forward momentum, with ventures like the startup accelerator Y Combinator and the ambitious Worldcoin project marking a career defined by a profound belief in technology's capacity to reshape human civilization. Altman's public persona is that of a visionary, a strategist whose thinking operates on a global and, at times, existential scale, concerned with the advent of artificial general intelligence and its potential to "benefit all of humanity". Yet, to fully comprehend the architect of this future, one must look to the past—not to the sun-drenched campuses of Stanford or the bustling incubators of Mountain View, but to the quieter, historically rich landscape of the American Midwest. Born in Chicago but raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Sam Altman is a product of a specific time, place, and heritage that is as foundational to his story as any line of code or venture capital deal. His full name, Samuel Harris Gibstine Altman, is more than an identifier; it is a genealogical key, unlocking a multi-generational narrative of migration, professional ambition, and community integration deeply embedded within the American Jewish experience. This report posits that a comprehensive understanding of Sam Altman requires an exploration of this ancestral heritage. His family's story is a microcosm of a larger historical saga: the journey of Ashkenazi Jews from Europe to the United States, and their subsequent establishment of vibrant, successful communities in the heart of the nation. By tracing both his paternal (Altman) and maternal (Gibstine) lineages, and situating them within the specific socio-historical context of the St. Louis Jewish community, a more nuanced portrait emerges. It is a story that reveals an environment grounded in the pursuit of professional excellence, the value of elite education, a sense of civic responsibility, and the quiet but powerful momentum of generational progress. This report will weave together genealogical records, biographical details, and broad historical analysis to construct a holistic profile, arguing that the values and environment forged by this deep-rooted Midwestern history provide a crucial framework for interpreting the man who is now building the world of tomorrow.
  • 3.5K
  • 09 Sep 2025
Topic Review
Polymers Modifications through Ultraviolet Absorbers Addition
The photooxidative degradation process of plastics caused by ultraviolet irradiation leads to bond breaking, crosslinking, the elimination of volatiles, formation of free radicals, and decreases in weight and molecular weight. Photodegradation deteriorates both the mechanical and physical properties of plastics and affects their predicted life use, in particular for applications in harsh environments. Plastics have many benefits, while on the other hand, they have numerous disadvantages, such as photodegradation and photooxidation in harsh environments and the release of toxic substances due to the leaching of some components, which have a negative effect on living organisms. Therefore, attention is paid to the design and use of safe, plastic, ultraviolet stabilizers that do not pose a danger to the environment if released. Plastic ultraviolet photostabilizers act as efficient light screeners (absorbers or pigments), excited-state deactivators (quenchers), hydroperoxide decomposers, and radical scavengers. Ultraviolet absorbers are cheap to produce, can be used in low concentrations, mix well with polymers to produce a homogenous matrix, and do not alter the color of polymers.
  • 3.5K
  • 10 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Available Sampling Methods for Plastic Waste
Given the rapid development of plastics recycling in recent years, the need for guidelines for sampling and material characterization is steadily emerging. However, there still exists a considerable scarcity of methods that enable proper material data acquisition. It was found that neither the literature nor the standards provide a comprehensive practice that considers the distinctive characteristics of plastic waste and applies it to different situations along the value chain. Two variants of the proposed plan were evaluated based on the flake size distribution and the apparent density of four different pretreated polyolefin (PO) waste materials. Combining stratified random sampling with composite sampling yields a good sampling technique for rigid PO waste. Moreover, the analysis of a composite sample adequately conveys the true material properties of a sublot or lot.
  • 3.5K
  • 31 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Eurabia
Eurabia is a political neologism, a portmanteau of Europe and Arabia, used to describe a far-right anti-Muslim conspiracy theory, involving globalist entities allegedly led by French and Arab powers, to Islamise and Arabise Europe, thereby weakening its existing culture and undermining a previous alignment with the United States and Israel. The term was first used in the 1970s as the title of a newsletter and the concept itself developed by Bat Ye'or (pen name of Gisèle Littman) in the early 2000s and is described in her 2005 book titled Eurabia: The Euro‐Arab Axis. Benjamin Lee of the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats at the University of Lancaster describes her work as arguing that Europe "has surrendered to Islam and is in a state of submission (described as dhimmitude) in which Europe is forced to deny its own culture, stand silently by in the face of Muslim atrocities, accept Muslim immigration, and pay tribute through various types of economic assistance." According to the theory, the blame rests with a range of groups including communists, fascists, the media, universities, mosques and Islamic cultural centres, European bureaucrats, and the Euro-Arab Dialogue. The term has gained some public interest and has been used and discussed across a wide range of the political spectrum, including right-wing activists, self-described "conservatives" and counter-jihad and other anti-Islamism activists. Bat Ye'or's "mother conspiracy theory" has been used for further subtheories. The narrative grew important in expressing anti-Islamist sentiments and was used by movements like Stop Islamisation of Europe. It gained renewed interest after the September 11 attacks and the use of the term by 2011 Norway attacker, Anders Behring Breivik. Ye'or's thesis has come under criticism by scholars, which intensified after Breivik's crime. The conspiracy has been described as having resemblance to the anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Eurabia is also discussed in classical anti-Europeanism, a strong influence in the culture of the United States and in the notion of American exceptionalism, which sometimes sees Europe on the decline or as a rising rival power, or, as is the case here, both.
  • 3.5K
  • 16 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Duckweed
Duckweed is the smallest and fastest-growing aquatic plant, and has advantages including simple processing and the ability to grow high biomass in smaller areas.
  • 3.5K
  • 20 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Geothermal Heat Pump
A geothermal heat pump (GHP) or ground source heat pump (GSHP) is a type of heat pump used to heat and/or cool a building by exchanging heat with ground, often through a vapor-compression refrigeration cycle. It uses the earth all the time, without any intermittency, as a heat source (in the winter) or a heat sink (in the summer). This design takes advantage of the moderate temperatures in the ground to boost efficiency and reduce the operational costs of heating and cooling systems, and may be combined with solar heating to form a geosolar system with even greater efficiency. They are also known by other names, including geoexchange, earth-coupled, earth energy systems. The engineering and scientific communities prefer the terms "geoexchange" or "ground source heat pumps" to avoid confusion with traditional geothermal power, which uses a high-temperature heat source to generate electricity. Ground source heat pumps harvest heat absorbed at the Earth's surface from solar energy. The temperature in the ground below 6 metres (20 ft) is roughly equal to the local mean annual air temperature (MAAT). Depending on latitude, the temperature beneath the upper 6 metres (20 ft) of Earth's surface maintains a nearly constant temperature reflecting the mean average annual air temperature (in many areas, between 10 and 16 °C/50 and 60 °F), if the temperature is undisturbed by the presence of a heat pump. Like a refrigerator or air conditioner, these systems use a heat pump to force the transfer of heat from the ground. Heat pumps can transfer heat from a cool space to a warm space, against the natural direction of flow, or they can enhance the natural flow of heat from a warm area to a cool one. The core of the heat pump is a loop of refrigerant pumped through a vapor-compression refrigeration cycle that moves heat. Air source heat pumps are typically more efficient at heating than pure electric heaters, even when extracting heat from cold winter air, although efficiencies begin dropping significantly as outside air temperatures drop below 5 °C (41 °F). A ground source heat pump exchanges heat with the ground. This is much more energy-efficient because underground temperatures are more stable than air temperatures throughout the year. Seasonal variations drop off with depth and disappear below 7 metres (23 ft) to 12 metres (39 ft) due to thermal inertia. Like a cave, the shallow ground temperature is warmer than the air above during the winter and cooler than the air in the summer. A ground source heat pump extracts ground heat in the winter (for heating) and transfers heat back into the ground in the summer (for cooling). Some systems are designed to operate in one mode only, heating or cooling, depending on climate. Geothermal pump systems reach fairly high coefficient of performance (CoP), 3 to 6, on the coldest of winter nights, compared to 1.75–2.5 for air-source heat pumps on cool days. Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) are among the most energy-efficient technologies for providing HVAC and water heating. Setup costs are higher than for conventional systems, but the difference is usually returned in energy savings in 3 to 10 years. Geothermal heat pump systems are reasonably warranted by manufacturers, and their working life is estimated at 25 years for inside components and 50+ years for the ground loop. As of 2004, there are over one million units installed worldwide providing 12 GW of thermal capacity, with an annual growth rate of 10%.
  • 3.5K
  • 11 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Oral Bioavailability of Ellagic Acid
Ellagic acid, a polyphenolic compound present in fruit and berries, has recently been the object of extensive research for its antioxidant activity, which might be useful for the prevention and treatment of cancer, cardiovascular pathologies, and neurodegenerative disorders. Its protective role justifies numerous attempts to include it in functional food preparations and in dietary supplements, and not only to limit the unpleasant collateral effects of chemotherapy. However, ellagic acid use as a chemopreventive agent has been debated because of its poor bioavailability associated with low solubility, limited permeability, first pass effect, and interindividual variability in gut microbial transformations. To overcome these drawbacks, various strategies for oral administration including solid dispersions, micro and nanoparticles, inclusion complexes, self-emulsifying systems, and polymorphs were proposed. Here, we listed an updated description of pursued micro and nanotechnological approaches focusing on the fabrication processes and the features of the obtained products, as well as on the positive results yielded by in vitro and in vivo studies in comparison to the raw material. The micro and nanosized formulations here described might be exploited for pharmaceutical delivery of this active, as well as for the production of nutritional supplements or for the enrichment of novel foods.
  • 3.5K
  • 28 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Natural Gas Processing
Natural gas processing plants, or fractionators, are used to purify the raw natural gas extracted from underground gas fields and brought up to the surface by gas wells. The processed natural gas, used as fuel by residential, commercial and industial consumers, is almost pure methane and is very much different from the raw natural gas.
  • 3.5K
  • 28 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Plant Growth Promoting Microorganisms
Plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) have been the target of intensive research studies toward their efficient use in the field as biofertilizers, biocontrol, and bioremediation agents among numerous other applications. Recent trends in the field of PGPB research led to the development of versatile multifaceted PGPB that can be used in different field conditions such as biocontrol of plant pathogens in metal contaminated soils.
  • 3.5K
  • 02 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Recycling and Reuse of Mine Tailings
Mining is an important industry, accounting for 6.9% of global GDP. However, global development promotes accelerated demand, resulting in the accumulation of hazardous waste in land, sea, and air environments. It reached 7 billion tonnes of mine tailings generated yearly worldwide, and 19 billion solid tailings will be accumulated by 2025.
  • 3.5K
  • 02 Sep 2022
Topic Review
FAO Country Profiles
The FAO Country Profiles are a multilingual web portal which repackages the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) information archive on its global activities in agriculture and food security in a single area and catalogues it exclusively by country and thematic areas. The organization aims to offer decision-makers, researchers and project formulators around the world a fast and reliable way to access country-specific information on national food security situations without the need to search individual databases and systems. It aids FAO's database by providing a simple interface containing interactive maps and charts.
  • 3.5K
  • 09 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Yahoo Sports
Yahoo Sports is a sports news website launched by Yahoo! on December 8, 1997. It receives a majority of its information from STATS, Inc. It employs numerous writers, and has team pages for teams in almost every North American major sport. Before the launch of Yahoo Sports, certain elements of the site were known as Yahoo! Scoreboard. From 2011 to 2016, the Yahoo Sports brand had also been used for a U.S. sports radio network. That network is now known as SportsMap.
  • 3.5K
  • 08 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Pocket-Sized Computer
Pocket-sized computer describes the post-programmable calculator / pre-smartphone pocket-sized portable-office hardware devices that included the earlier DOS-based palmtops and subsequent Windows-CE handhelds, as well as a few other terms, primarily covering the 1980s through 2007. Sometimes called Pocket-sized computing devices, they were a series of internally different devices, and included Handheld ("Pocket-sized handheld computing device"), and the earlier-introduced Palmtop ("Pocket-sized palmtop computing device") and "pocket-sized palmtop computer." The New York Times used the term "palmtop/handheld." The media called "the first computer that fits in your palm and weighs less than a pound" and its early day competitors a palmtop. Although the word "handheld" was used before Microsoft's 1996 introduction of Windows CE, a lawsuit by Palm, Inc pushed Microsoft's use of the new term Handheld PC. By 2007, the iPhone began to replace prior portable office devices, and by a decade later there were indications that "SmartGlasses" might be their replacement.
  • 3.5K
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Micronutrients
Minerals and trace elements are micronutrients that are essential to the human body but present only in traceable amounts. Nonetheless, they exhibit well-defined biochemical functions. Deficiencies in these micronutrients are related to widespread human health problems such as diabetes, insulin resistance, improper immune function, bone health and brain development. The levels of trace elements may vary considerably among different populations, contingent on the composition of the diet and location. Local differences in selenium, zinc, copper, iron, chromium and iodine in the diet can affect physiological functions leading to malnourishment. Inadequate supply of a number of minerals and trace elements including iodine, selenium, zinc, calcium, chromium, cobalt, iron, boron and magnesium and in a few cases, excess of essential trace elements may lead to imbalances in glucose homeostasis and insulin resistance. Changes in these micronutrient levels in the serum and urine of subjects may signal towards metabolic changes, oxidative stress and other disease-related complications. Adequate supplement of the micronutrients may eliminate or protect against certain diseases such as heart disease.
  • 3.5K
  • 05 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Biofilm and Pathogen Inhibition in Cooling Towers Using Natural Chemistry
Industrial comfort cooling and process cooling typically employ water evaporative cooling towers (CTs) to dissipate reject heat.  This warm water, enriched with nutrient materials scrubbed from the air or in source water, provides a nurturing environment for a wide variety of neutrophilic microorganisms, some of which are human pathogens.  For example, cases of Legionella pneumophila infection have been traced to CT Systems that have become pubic hazards in recent years.  Typically, one or more toxic microbicides are applied to control the problem.  This article highlights two case studies that utilize ultra-softened (<0.3 mg/L total hardness), highly-concentrated chemical components, naturally present in almost all makeup water sources used by CT Systems, that can generate high-pH, high-TDS cooling water.  At sufficient concentrations, these two natural parameters are hostile to microorganisms, including protozoa and slime-forming (biofilm) bacteria that harbor pathogens.  Field testing for Adenosine Tri-Phosphate (ATP), reported in Relative Light Units (RLU), provides a quick, sensitive method to detect all water-borne microbiological activity present in CT Systems and verifies the effectiveness of the anti-microbial program by quantifiable data, reported as ATP-RLU.
  • 3.5K
  • 28 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Animal Jam
Animal Jam is an online virtual world developed by WildWorks. It was originally launched in 2010, in collaboration with the National Geographic Society. With about 160 million registered players, Animal Jam is one of the many fastest-growing online children's properties in the world. In Animal Jam, players discover and learn various facts about zoology using the game's numerous features, including mini-games, adventures, parties, and social interactions. Due to its growing popularity, Animal Jam has spawned different types of merchandise, including figurine toys, children's books, and a subscription box. Although Animal Jam is primarily played online, the Animal Jam universe has been expanded to incorporate mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and iOS devices. The most popular Animal Jam mobile app is Play Wild which is a 3D version of the Animal Jam world. WildWorks has also developed other apps that are based on the Animal Jam game including Tunnel Town, AJ Jump, and Dash Tag.
  • 3.5K
  • 24 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Foodborne Viruses
The human norovirus (HuNoV), human rotavirus (HRV), hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis E virus (HEV), human astrovirus (HAstV), Aichi virus (AiV), sapovirus (SaV), human adenovirus (HAdV) and enterovirus (EV) are important foodborne viruses. The majority of the foodborne viruses have a low infection dose, are stable and can survive and persist in foods for a long time without loss of infectivity. Foodborne viruses are usually transmitted to human by consumption of contaminated food, person-to-person contact or drinking contaminated water.
  • 3.5K
  • 03 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Wild Animal Suffering
Wild animal suffering is the suffering experienced by nonhuman animals living outside of direct human control, due to harms such as disease, injury, parasitism, starvation and malnutrition, dehydration, weather conditions, natural disasters, and killings by other animals, as well as psychological stress. Some estimates indicate that the vast majority of individual animals in existence live in the wild. A vast amount of natural suffering has been described as an unavoidable consequence of Darwinian evolution and the pervasiveness of reproductive strategies which favor producing large numbers of offspring, with a low amount of parental care and of which only a small number survive to adulthood, the rest dying in painful ways, has led some to argue that suffering dominates happiness in nature. The topic has historically been discussed in the context of the philosophy of religion as an instance of the problem of evil. More recently, starting in the 19th-century, a number of writers have considered the suspected scope of the problem from a secular standpoint as a general moral issue, one that humans might be able to take actions toward preventing. There is considerable disagreement around this latter point as many believe that human interventions in nature, for this reason, should not take place because of practicality, valuing ecological preservation over the well-being and interests of individual animals, considering any obligation to reduce wild animal suffering implied by animal rights to be absurd, or viewing nature as an idyllic place where happiness is widespread. Some have argued that such interventions would be an example of human hubris, or playing God and use examples of how human interventions, for other reasons, have unintentionally caused harm. Others, including animal rights writers, have defended variants of a laissez-faire position, which argues that humans should not harm wild animals, but that humans should not intervene to reduce natural harms that they experience. Advocates of such interventions argue that animal rights and welfare positions imply an obligation to help animals suffering in the wild due to natural processes. Some have asserted that refusing to help animals in situations where humans would consider it wrong not to help humans is an example of speciesism. Others argue that humans intervene in nature constantly—sometimes in very substantial ways—for their own interests and to further environmentalist goals. Human responsibility for enhancing existing natural harms has also been cited as a reason for intervention. Some advocates argue that humans already successfully help animals in the wild, such as vaccinating and healing injured and sick animals, rescuing animals in fires and other natural disasters, feeding hungry animals, providing thirsty animals with water, and caring for orphaned animals. nThey also assert that although wide-scale interventions may not be possible with our current level of understanding, they could become feasible in the future with improved knowledge and technologies. For these reasons, they claim it is important to raise awareness about the issue of wild animal suffering, spread the idea that humans should help animals suffering in these situations and encourage research into effective measures which can be taken in the future to reduce the suffering of these individuals, without causing greater harms.
  • 3.5K
  • 29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Beer Brewed from Sorghum
Beer is a complex beverage system despite being made up of only four ingredients: yeast, water, hops, and malted grain. Typically, malted barley is used as the primary grain source for brewing, however alternative grains/pseudo-grains like sorghum are gaining popularity. However, the use of sorghum in beer manufacturing does have its issues, which are largely due to its low amylolytic activity (which is insufficient for complete saccharification), high gelatinization temperature, and low free amino content. Sorghum malt has a higher concentration of alpha-amylase and a lower concentration of beta-amylase compared to malted barley. Due to the reduced enzymatic activity of sorghum this deficiency can lead to insufficient production of fermentable sugars, high dextrin content, and increased viscosity. Due to sorghum’s higher gelatinization temperature, the hydrolysis of sugars into fermentable sugars is only partially completed. Thus, resulting in fewer fermentable sugars for the yeast to metabolize for the production of ethanol, and volatile and semi-volatile compounds.
  • 3.5K
  • 17 Aug 2021
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