Technology

"Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds, At which the universal host up sent A shout that tore hell's concave, and beyond Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night."

"Iron yields to certain degrees of beatings or repeated pressure; its impenetrable molecules, purified by man and made homogeneous, disintegrate; and, without being in fusion, the metal no longer has the same virtue of resistance. Marshals, locksmiths, tool makers, all the workers who constantly work this metal then express the state of it by a word of their technology: "The iron is retty!" they say, appropriating this expression exclusively devoted to hemp, the disorganization of which is obtained by retting. Well, the human soul, or if you will the threefold energy of body, heart, and spirit, is in an iron-like situation, as a result of certain repeated shocks. It is thus with men like hemp and iron — they are retty."

"[M]etals remained the alchemists' chief concern... they seemed in their own way alive, whereas the calces (s) from which they were manufactured crumbled to dust and looked like cinders. Theory at once suggested a natural analogy. The metal was formed from the calx by the incorporation of or spirit; and this theory of metal-formation long remained in favour, being revived around 1700 as the 'phlogiston' theory. The central problem about metals was to identify the volitile constituents which combined with the calces to form the finished metal. For a long time, the status of quicksilver was ambiguous... resembling much more the volatile reagents which corrode metallic surfaces: mercury, in fact, forms an amalgam with other metals, and is even capable of dissolving gold... So the Alchemy of Avicenna classed mercury as a 'spirit' rather than a 'body'..."

"One worker on one of the supports... either manually or with a trowel distributes the mortar over the chicken wire... Simultaneously, another worker from within the room... holds the mortar which is applied from the outside with a metal float or trowel in order that the mortar does not fall. Once this operation is completed, the required finish is applied both from the outside and the inside."

"A neutral salt, which is composed of an acid and alkali, does not possess the acrimony of either of its constituent parts. It can easily be separated from water, has little or no effect upon metals, is incapable of being joined to inflammable bodies, and of corroding and dissolving animals and vegetables; so that the attraction both of the acid and alkali for these several substances, seems to be suspended till they are again separated from one another."

"The metals are all essentially identical; they differ only in form. Now, the form brings out accidental causes, which the experimenter must try to discover and remove, as far as possible. Accidental causes impede the regular union of sulphur and mercury; for every metal is a combination of sulphur and mercury. A diseased womb may give birth to a weakly, leprous child, although the seed was good; the same is true of the metals which are generated in the bowels of the earth, which is a womb for them; any cause whatever, or local trouble, may produce an imperfect metal. When pure sulphur comes in contact with pure mercury, after more or less time, and by the permanent action of nature, gold is produced."

"Nothing can vex the Devil more Than the name of him whom we adore. Therefore doth it delight me best To stand in the choir among the rest, With the great organ trumpeting Through its metallic tubes, and sing: Et verbum caro factum est! [And the Word was made flesh!] These words the devil cannot endure, For he knoweth their meaning well! Him they trouble and repel, Us they comfort and allure, And happy it were, if our delight Were as great as his affright!"

"He then enters upon some general observations on the relations of the "bases" of potash and soda to other bodies."

"Some of the alchemists had discovered that a metal gained, not lost, weight by . This was known as far back as the sixteenth century. It had been pointed out by Cardan and by Libavius. Sulzbach showed that such was the case with mercury. Boyle proved it in the case of tin, and Rey in that of lead. Moreover, as knowledge increased it became certain that Stahl's original conception of the principle of combustion as a ponderable substance he imagined, with Becher, that it was of the nature of an earth was not tenable. The later phlogistians were disposed to regard it as probably identical with . But even hydrogen has weight, and facts seemed to require that phlogiston, if it existed at all, should be devoid of weight."

"It may be converted into vapour at a temperature approaching a red-heat, and may be distilled unchanged; it is a perfect conductor of electricity and an excellent conductor of heat. Its most marked difference from the common run of metals was its extraordinarily low specific gravity."

"He begins by again drawing attention to the various surmises which had been made respecting the true nature of potassium and sodium. Although these substances had been isolated, and in the hands of chemists for upwards of two years, their properties were so extraordinary when compared with those of the metals in general, that many philosophers hesitated to consider them as true metals."

"The "basis" of soda is described as a white opaque substance of the lustre and general appearance of silver. It is soft and malleable, and is a good conductor of heat and electricity. Its specific gravity was found by flotation in a mixture of oil of sassafras and naphtha... It was found to fuse at about 180° F. (the real melting point of sodium is 197.5°). Its action on a number of substances—oxygen, , water, etc.—is then described, and its general behaviour contrasted with that of the "basis" of potash."

"Mercury doesn't contribute its valence electrons readily to the [electron] soup. The thinner soup can't bind the mercury atoms together very strongly. Mercury atoms easily slip past and away from each other. Heat easily overcomes the weak binding between mercury atoms, and mercury boils and melts at lower temperatures than any other metal. Because the valence electron soup is thinner for mercury, its electrical and thermal conductivity are poor."

"It seemed probable that the large activity of some of these minerals, compared with and , was due to the presence of small quantities of some very active substance, which was different from the known bodies thorium and uranium. This supposition was completely verified by the work of M. and Mme Curie, who were able to separate from pitchblende by purely chemical methods two active bodies, one of which in the pure state is over a million times more active than the metal uranium. This important discovery was due entirely to the property of radio-activity possessed by the new bodies. The only guide in their separation was the activity of the products obtained. ...The activity of the specimens thus served as a basis of rough qualitative and quantitative analysis, analogous in some respects to the indication of the spectroscope."

"Theophrastus, the successor of Aristotle, ...says, in the beginning of his book on fossils, 'stones are produced from earth, metals from water.' ...Theophrastus is perhaps the best observer among the ancients, whose works are in our possession, and [his] theories... cannot be considered as an unfavourable specimen of the theoretical physics of the age."

"The whole work was done under conditions of great mental excitement. His cousin ,.. his assistant, relates that when he [Humphrey Davy] saw the minute globules of the quicksilver-like metal burst through the crust of potash and take fire, his joy knew no bounds; he actually danced about the room in ecstasy, and it was some time before he was sufficiently composed to continue his experiments. The rapidity with which he accumulated results after this first feeling of delirious delight had passed was extraordinary."

"Few would defend a small view of Alchemy as "Mother of Chemistry", and confuse its true goal with those external metal arts. Alchemy is an erotic science, involved in buried aspects of reality, aimed at purifying and transforming all being and matter. Not to suggest that material operations are ever abandoned. The adept holds to both the mystical and physical work."

"Not at all, actually based on our history we understand the importance of protecting anybody from hate speech and discrimination, this is not tolerated in our society, the freedom from discrimination due to sexual orientation of a person is guaranteed in our constitution and the rule of law is there to enforce that.""

"It is Rwanda that will be testing the claim, these people are coming to Rwanda to be relocated and re-integrated in Rwandan society."

""Rwanda stands ready to receive as many as possible under this partnership, we have the capacity to receive in the tens of thousands but for the moment it will be on a gradual basis."

""Under this partnership, we are getting substantial investment that will benefit all migrants and all refugees in Rwanda, which means that all those vulnerabilities will be addressed under this investment partnership that we have with the UK,"

"The UK's responsibility to take some refugees from Rwanda was "only for these very isolated and extreme cases""

"The government will help people return to their country of origin, or another where they have a right to reside, if they choose, she said, adding: “We do not want to create statelessness or a revolving door of migrants.”"

"Rwanda is “not a prison state” and repeated assurances that authorities will not be able to stop migrants leaving the country if they wish – giving rise to questions over whether some may try to make their way back to the UK again."

"We are ready to accommodate as many (migrants) as the UK is willing to send.”"

"Parents need awareness to know the benefits of technology and support their children. Technology is based on two things; skills and equipment. But it was good to see parents working hard to support their children through the technology learning journey. It was not easy, but during Covid-19 people learnt a lot,”"

"Girls should be passionate about what they study as passion drives them to thrive in the field. I assure them that hard work pays and nothing comes without trying. It is important to be confident, have a persistent spirit, and collaborate with others."

"Change is not easy, and some resisted. However, after it became a rule, every lecturer adjusted and universities have changed to use a model platform. Covid-19 became like an accelerator,”"

"They were deployed and linked with Village and Sector Executive Secretaries to give basic technology skills to the community. The key knowledge they have to disseminate includes the use of the internet, Irembo platform and access to learning content."

"Hari n’a) bavuga ngo telefone zirarangaza najye kwandika ariko ukwiye kubaza icyo bize ukanareba ko aribyo arimo kureba, nsomera ibyo uri kureba, ukamusobanuza ibyo aribyo ukanabaza umuyobozi w’ishuri niba ibyo arimo kureba ariyo bigiraho."

"Parents and students who have access to smartphones should visit digital ambassadors for basic training. They are available across the villages or can be accessed at their service centers across the country."

"EDTECH PARTNERS ADDRESS TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES KT Press (April 27, 2021)"

"All through my childhood, I wasn’t your typical girl as I was so into gadgets, electronics and anything to do with technology. I knew I wanted to pursue and develop my love for technology through education."

"ICT is very crucial in today’s world and solves a lot of day to day problems thus making life easier such as mobile money and mobile banking that Rwanda has also taken on."

"Ababyeyi mu ishuri ni bo baba bafite ijambo kuko nibo baba bazanye abana babo kugira ngo barererwe muri iryo shuri, mukabaza muti ese kuki abana bacu batiga bakoresheje mudasobwa, kuki batari gukoresha ikoranabuhanga biga kandi tubizi neza ko bazanye ibikoresho."

"I felt so humbled that our President could actually find time to listen to our [the youth] ideas."

"A wide range of techniques has been proposed for increasing the planetary , ranging from painting surfaces white to placing mirrors in orbit between the Earth and the sun."

"This sense of taboo was based on a range of arguments against research on albedo modification that have been raised by the broader scientific community, including: 1. the so-called moral hazard issue, that is, the possibility that research on climate engineering could be perceived as an implicit legitimization, and thus reduce the motivation for mitigating anthropogenic emissions; 2. the concern that reducing temperatures by albedo modification could distract from other impacts of a fossil-fuel-based economy and the resulting CO2 emissions, such as ocean acidification; 3. the “slippery slope” concern that research into understanding the potential effectiveness could cascade toward the development and deployment of the techniques under investigation; and 4. contention about the perceived “techno-fix” approach to address environmental challenges, that is, the notion that technology-caused problems can simply be fixed with more and better technology."

"[G]iven the balance of results of model studies over the last decade... and the challenging directions that this implies both for future research and also for sociopolitical aspects, especially public perception and the development of good governance principles, we have to conclude that the overall verdict is still out. The responsibility still resides with the scientific community to conduct research and engage in the broader dialogue in a responsible way, so that whatever the outcome, historians will hopefully look back and conclude that it was indeed of value—and in that sense a moral imperative—to begin carefully investigating this topic... Perhaps this will already be clear by the time of the next special section like this one, which, following those in 1996 and 2006, should be due in 2026."

"Greenhouse warming of the Earth due to human activities is a possibility, moreover one for which mitigative/remedial actions of the types proposed here can be at once deliberate and effective. In contrast, Ice Age-severity cooling... that have occurred quasi-periodically many times during the last 1.2 million years, is a practical certainty. Moreover, a several-decade duration cold snap of Ice Age Maximum temperature-drop is known to have occurred in the Northern Hemisphere with essentially no warning during the last interglacial period, under precursor climatic conditions only slightly warmer than the present-day one."

"Oberth proposed to shade planets located close to the sun... with gigantic cosmic shields... Vice versa, the planets... further from the sun... would be warmed... with... gigantic cosmic mirrors."

"[H]is belief... a reduction in the cost of building large structures in outer space could be achieved by delivering the necessary materials from the moon... [H]e presupposed the existence of the necessary industrial plants on the moon, but the end result would be a thousand-fold reduction in the cost of building large structures in space."

"[T]he problem of possible changes in climate may be better solved by cooperative application of modern technologies rather than by international measures focused on prohibitions."

"[A] giant net (similar to a trawl) would be erected in outer space, constructed in a hexagonal mesh pattern. This net would be stretched out and a tension sufficient to rotate the entire net would be maintained by . The rotation would be begun by special rockets and... continue because it was in a vacuum. The diameter of each hexagon would be about 10 kilometers, and the entire mirror would have a circular disk shape with a diameter of about 100 to 200 kilometers. Within each hexagon, a round mirror approximately 10 kilometers in diameter, would be installed. ...[Each] single mirror would be capable of being [independently] tilted... initiated by... electric s."

"Such a mirror, he asserted, could not only light up the cities at night... but could also have a decisive influence on weather and climate."

"[T]he ice in the usable areas of the north polar seas could be melted... to navigate the northern coasts of Europe and Siberia year round. The warming of the Caspian Sea could... produce rain in arid regions of Central Asia. Directing... rays... where spring and autumn frosts are expected would allow... increase[d] fertility... Oberth claimed... it would open up... predicting the weather, but also... determining the weather."

"A conceptually simple method for offsetting the greenhouse radiation trapping effects would be to decrease the solar heating by the use of a space-based solar shield."

"Approximately 2% of the solar radiation reaching Earth must be blocked to offset the predicted greenhouse trapping in the next century."

"shields for planets such as Venus or Mars would... be large, complex structures requiring vast amounts of lunar or asteroidal material... and long-range transportation... One... stepping stone to understanding and mastering the technologies and processes... would be the construction of a shield to offset the greenhouse effect on... Earth. Such... would not require interplanetary capabilities."

"The time required for the removal of... [[w:Greenhouse gases|[greenhouse] gases]] from the atmosphere by natural processes is... uncertain: current estimates are several centuries. The uncertainties... [have] led to calls for... restrictions on the generation of greenhouse gases. ...The existence of a possible technical solution could... have a major short-term impact in influencing short term consumption restrictions, even if the solution could not be implemented until the next century."