Month: November 2014

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Magnetic fields emerging from below the surface of the sun influence the solar wind—a stream of particles that blows continuously from the sun’s atmosphere through the solar system. Researchers at NASA and its university partners are using high-fidelity computer simulations to learn how these magnetic fields emerge, heat the sun’s outer atmosphere and produce sunspots and flares.This visualization shows magnetic field loops in a portion of the sun, with colors representing magnetic field strength from weak (blue) to strong (red). The simulation was run on the Pleiades supercomputer at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing facility at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

The knowledge gained through simulation results like this one help researchers better understand the sun, its variations, and its interactions with Earth and the solar system.

Image Credit: Robert Stein, Michigan State University; Timothy Sandstrom, NASA/Ames

> Related: NASA showcased more than 35 of the agency’s exciting computational achievements at SC14, the international supercomputing conference, Nov. 16-21, 2014, in New Orleans. via NASA http://www.nasa.gov/ames/magnetic-field-loops-on-the-sun

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When J and I took our trip to the UP not too long ago, we had breakfast at this great little place called Sweetwater Cafe in Marquette, MI. When we asked for hot sauce, we were presented with a bottle of Ray’s Polish Fire. It was kind of amazing.  It has a really nice spiciness to it, but more importantly, it has this really delicious umami characteristic to it that goes well pretty much with everything.

We’ve almost polished off our first bottle and I decided to order some online.  You can too.

Ray’s Polish Fire from Mostly Midwest on Vimeo.

Ideas come from the Earth. They come from every human experience that you’ve either witnessed or have heard about, translated into your brain in your own sense of dialogue, in your own language form. Ideas are born from what is smelled, heard, seen, experienced, felt, emotionalized. Ideas are probably in the air, like little tiny items of ozone. That’s the easiest thing on earth, is to come up with an idea. The second thing is, the hardest thing on earth is to put it down.

–Rod Serling, Creator of The Twilight Zone

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The Exeter Book, an anthology of Anglo-Saxon poetry from the 10th century, contains three riddles that seem shockingly risqué until you see the answers:

I’m a strange creature, for I satisfy women,
a service to the neighbors! No one suffers
at my hands except for my slayer.
I grow very tall, erect in a bed,
I’m hairy underneath. From time to time
a good-looking girl, the doughty daughter
of some churl dares to hold me,
grips my russet skin, robs me of my head
and puts me in the pantry. At once that girl
with plaited hair who has confined me
remembers our meeting. Her eye moistens.

(An onion.)

A strange thing hangs by a man’s thigh,
hidden by a garment. It has a hole
in its head. It is stiff and strong
and its firm bearing reaps a reward.
When the man hitches his clothing high
above his knee, he wants the head
of that hanging thing to poke the old hole
(of fitting length) it has often filled before.

(A key.)

A young man made for the corner where he knew
she was standing; this strapping youth
had come some way — with his own hands
he whipped up her dress, and under her girdle
(as she stood there) thrust something stiff,
worked his will; they both shook.
This fellow quickened: one moment he was
forceful, a first-rate servant, so strenuous
that the next he was knocked up, quite
blown by his exertion. Beneath the girdle
a thing began to grow that upstanding men
often think of, tenderly, and acquire.

(A churn.)

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The Easy Way to Calculate How Much You'll Need to Save for Retirement

Figuring out how much you’ll need to save to comfortably live in your older years can be a tricky—and daunting process. Getting the finite details is one thing, but coming up with an estimate to work towards isn’t. Here’s some super-quick math you can do to figure it out.

Over at US News Money, Scott Holsopple explains that the first thing you should do is to take the amount of money you’re making today—your current annual salary, pre-tax (since a lot of people forget they’ll have to pay taxes after retirement too!)—and multiply it by 20.

This assumes you’ll spend roughly 20 years in retirement, which may or may not be what you’re aiming for, but it’s a good estimate. If you have a particularly long life expectency, you might want to bump that number up a bit. If you’re young and you think your earning potential hasn’t capped out yet, use the salary you think you’ll have at 35 or so for this calculation. Once you’re finished, you’ll have your target nest egg.

You’re not done yet though. How much you should actually aim for now depends on what kind of lifestyle you want to life when you’re older. Now you need to factor in the "replacement ratio" for the lifestyle you’d like. Here’s what Holsopple says:

Simple lifestyle versus current; little-to-no-travel; inexpensive hobbies: 80%

Moderate lifestyle versus current; upgrades to home and car expected; some travel and hobbies planned, but nothing lavish: 90%

Maintain your current lifestyle: 100%

Improved lifestyle versus current; increased travel and hobbies: 110%

If you expect to have remaining debt upon entering retirement, add 5 percent to 10 percent to your replacement ratio depending on the amounts you still owe.

Once you know your replacement ratio, use this calculation:

(current income x replacement ratio) x 20 = your retirement savings goal

For example, if you currently earn $100,000 annually and determined your replacement ratio to be 90 percent:

($100,000 x 0.90) x 20 = $1,800,000

Again, this assumes you’ll spend 20 years in retirement, so adjust accordingly if necessary.

It may sound tricky, but it’s easy to do, and gives you an idea what you should aim to save towards, starting now. The sooner you start, the easier it’ll be. Of course, if you plan to work into your retirement years, or work until you just can’t anymore, that’s fine—but it shouldn’t stop you from saving in case you simply can’t, or something happens to force you to live off of your savings.

There’s obviously more to planning for retirement than this, but it’s a good estimate. Hit the link below to read more, and take the next steps after these.

How to Make a "Fit" Retirement Plan | US News Money

Photo by discpicture (Shutterstock).

from Lifehacker http://lifehacker.com/the-easy-way-to-calculate-how-much-youll-need-to-save-1539111110
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