Why the Most Active Seismic Zone East of the Rockies Gets Ignored | 80beats

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quake

The magnitude 5.8 quake that struck central Virginia on Tuesday was felt from Florida to Maine to Missouri. “This is probably the most widely felt quake in American history, even though it was less than a 6.0,” says Michael Blanpied, a USGS seismologist DISCOVER contacted after the event. The reason for this intensity is that the East Coast, like the controversial New Madrid Seismic Zone in the central U.S., is located amidst old faults and cold rocks in the middle of the North American tectonic plate, and seismic waves travel disturbingly far in such stiff, cold rock.

We would do well to take a hint from Tuesday’s expansive shake-up. It’s lucky that it struck in rural America. But a similar tremblor in the crowded cities of the central U.S. above the New Madrid zone is a matter of when, not if. And the region is woefully unprepared to mitigate the damage, as Amy Barth explores in a piece from an upcoming issue of DISCOVER:

The disastrous winter of 1811–12 is the stuff of legend in the Midwest. In the span of a few months, three major earthquakes rocked ...


Ann Coulter Nostalgia: Behold, For *I* Am The Giant Flatulent Raccoon | The Loom

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It’s been a while since we’ve treated to the spectacle of Ann Coulter lecturing about evolution, but she’s at it again. She’s just written an op-ed in the wake of Rick Perry’s recent statement that Texas teaches evolution and creationism [his word] because evolution is “just a theory out there.”

Coulter takes this opportunity to remind us that she dedicated a third of her 2006 book Godless to demolishing evolutionary biology. Apparently the scientists who have published over 59,000 papers on the topic of evolution since she published her book didn’t get the memo.

To rectify that situation, Coulter now informs us that “it is a mathematical impossibility, for example, that all 30 to 40 parts of the cell’s flagellum — forget the 200 parts of the cilium! — could all arise at once by random mutation.”

Of course, nobody is saying they evolved all at once by random mutation. Nobody except for Ann Coulter. To see what scientists are actually saying, you can start by reading this review that presents a detailed hypothesis about the incremental evolution of the flagellum and the cilium, based on actual experiments. In a ...


An Earthquake Of Another Sort Rocks My House. | The Intersection

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This is a guest post by Jamie L. Vernon, Ph.D., a research scientist, policy analyst and science communications strategist, who encourages the scientific community to get engaged in the policy-making process

I woke up this morning to an unexpected jolt, and I don’t mean another earthquake shake.  Nope, this was a little more invigorating. It seems PZ Myers didn’t like my post about Richard Dawkins and he has decided to turn me into a pinata.  I rather enjoyed his piece. He makes some interesting and entertaining points (some well-founded, some…not so much). I don’t mind taking some heat for my opinions. We all know it’s part of being a blogger, right?

I’ve always been amazed by the mob that he unleashes on unsuspecting religious fanatics.  They are quite effective at taking down their prey.  I wish I had been given more notice, I would have at least done my hair and makeup before the party.  I sincerely welcome all the new commenters to The Intersection.  I hope Chris doesn’t mind that I’m wrecking his house while he’s away.

If you don’t know Mr. Myers, he’s an atheist blogger who takes a zero tolerance stance against religion.  Personally, I think he’s an entertaining character, sort of like Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity…Ed Schulz, even.  To me, what he does is entertainment, not science communication, but that’s another story.  It’s a story I’ll try to come back to later. Today, I have to do some science and I really don’t have time for a cage match with the Pharyngulites. But, don’t worry folks, I’m here and I’m listening. If you get unruly, though, I’ll have to put you in time out.

What?! It works for my 2 year old.

If we all step back and take a deep breath, we might be able to have a conversation. We might actually learn something from one another.  After all, we speak the same language.  Yelling is not a more effective way to make your point. After I do some work, perhaps I’ll have some time to share my thoughts and I’ll listen to yours, Mr. Myers and Pharyngulites. Even with our differences, I know we’re on the same team.

In the meantime, take a look at this video, and I think you’ll get my point:

Follow Jamie Vernon on Twitter, Google+ or read his occasional blog posts at “American SciCo.”


Putting the eye in Irene | Bad Astronomy

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Over the past few days, hurricane Irene has grown as it approaches the United States. The NASA/NOAA Earth-observing GOES 13 satellite has been keeping an eye on the storm, and images it has taken have been put together into this dramatic video showing Irene from August 23 at 10:40 UTC to 48 hours later… just a few hours ago as I write this:

Pay attention about 20 seconds into the video (August 23 at about 20:00 according to the clock at the top of the video). You can see the eye wall region burst into existence, and a few seconds later the eye itself suddenly appears. Also, a surge of white clouds appears to the right of the eye and wraps around the hurricane. That’s where warm air has risen strongly, overshooting the cloud tops, and producing intense rainfall (5 cm/hour according to TRMM!). Overshooting tops, as they’re called, happen frequently in tropical storms as they intensify. For what it’s worth, something like that happens in stars as well as hot plasma rises rapidly from under the surface, though astronomers tend to call it "convective overshoot".

Irene is currently a strong Category 3 hurricane (with ...


Scientific American interviews me about evolution in the city (and more to come) | The Loom

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Steve Mirsky, host of the excellent Science Talk, a podcast at Scientific American, talked to me the other day about all sorts of things. Part one of our talk is now online. We talk about my recent story about evolution in New York City. (Scientific American has a special issue dedicated to cities this month.) Listen to the podcast here.

Steve will be posting the second part of the talk soon.


Ostriches sleep like platypuses (and look wide awake when they do) | Not Exactly Rocket Science

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How does an ostrich sleep? Almost imperceptibly, it seems. Even though an ostrich might be sound asleep, it can look wide awake or, at most, a little drowsy. John Lesku from the Max Planck Institute of Ornithology discovered this by fitting six ostrichers with “Neurologgers”, electrode-laden helmets that measures their temperature, brain activity, eye movements and neck muscle contractions.

The video above shows three of the birds cycling through two different types of sleep. The first is called ‘slow wave sleep’ or SWS, where the ostriches’ brain waves are slow and strong. Even though this is typically known as deep sleep, the birds look alert. They stay still, but their eyes are open and their necks upright. Nonetheless, the readings from the Neurologgers clearly showed that they were asleep.

In the second phase, known as ‘rapid eye movement’ or REM sleep, the ostriches’ brain waves are fast and weaker. Now, the birds shut their eyes, which move rapidly behind closed eyelids. They necks also start to droop and sway, righting themselves with awkward jerks like people falling asleep at a talk. Biologists have previously interpreted this as a sign of a tired ostrich. That’s partly right, although the animal ...

More Sour Grapes From Mike Griffin

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Former NASA boss Mike Griffin says no new rocket until a new president

"Panelists were less positive on when NASA will get the green light to build the rocket. Views ranged from "we're getting closer" to "it's a brutal time for budgets and it's not going to get any easier" to a flat prediction that it won't come until the Obama administration goes. That assessment came from former NASA administrator Mike Griffin, a steady critic of the White House that replaced him as NASA chief and killed the rocket program Griffin was leading. Called Constellation, that program included two bigger rockets, one after the other, ending with a heavy-lift rocket like Congress still wants."

Space Quarterly Magazine First Issue Content

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Space Quarterly MagazineSpace Quarterly Magazine Volume 1, Number 1 Content, SpaceRef

The first issue of Space Quarterly is scheduled to be released on September 1. Here is what will be in the first ever issue:

U.S. Edition

  • - Editorial
  • - An Interview with Jeff Greason CEO of XCOR Aerospace
  • - The Philosophy of Lunar Commercialization and Economic Development
  • - SpaceX - Vision vs the Market
  • - CCDev2 Update - Program Status
  • - CCDev2 Update - Boeing CST-100 Crew Capsule Progressing Swiftly
  • - CCDev2 Update - CCDev2 Provides Rare Insight into Blue Origin Development
  • - CCDev2 Update - SpaceX Dragon Rider
  • - CCDev2 Update - Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser - What's Old is New Again
  • - SpacePort America: Built it and they will Come?
  • - The Future of On-Orbit Satellite Servicing
  • - Japan's Space Program After the Disaster
  • - Africa and Space
  • - The First Soyuz Launch from Kourou, French Guiana
  • - Social Media Tweetups Proving Popular
  • - Upcoming Events

Canadian Edition

  • - Editorial
  • - Thinking Big: Canada's RADARSAT Constellation
  • - CASSIOPE - A New Canadian Science and Communications Satellite
  • - Chris Hadfield - Preparing to Command the International Space Station
  • - Canadian Briefs - Moving Beyond the Shuttle
  • - An Interview with Jeff Greason CEO of XCOR Aerospace
  • - The Philosophy of Lunar Commercialization and Economic Development
  • - SpaceX - Vision vs the Market
  • - CCDev2 Update - Program Status
  • - CCDev2 Update - Boeing CST-100 Crew Capsule Progressing Swiftly
  • - CCDev2 Update - CCDev2 Provides Rare Insight into Blue Origin Development
  • - CCDev2 Update - SpaceX Dragon Rider
  • - CCDev2 Update - Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser - What's Old is New Again
  • - The Future of On-Orbit Satellite Servicing
  • - Social Media Tweetups Proving Popular
  • - Upcoming Events

Subscribe now and save, limited time offer.

Irene Is Now A Large Planetary Feature

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Photo: Hurricane Irene Seen in a Planetary Context From Orbit

"NASA / NOAA GOES-13 satellite image showing earth on August 26, 2011 at 14:45 UTC (10:45 a.m. EDT). Hurricane Irene can been seen on the U.S. East Coast. Irene Almost 1/3 the Size of East Coast. Irene has become a major hurricane, and NASA satellite data shows its diameter is now about 510 miles -- roughly 1/3 the length of the U.S. Atlantic coastline. Hurricane watches are in effect for much of the East Coast."

Taking Space Technology To The Third World

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Nigerian-built Satellite Acquires First Image Just Days After Launch

"NigeriaSat-X was built by engineers from Nigeria's National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) under the supervision of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL). The new generation of Nigerian scientists and engineers trained up under the NigeriaSat-X project will continue to support Nigeria's space programme, ensuring its continued success and sustainability. In total, 26 Nigerian engineers were located at SSTL's facilities in Guildford for 18 months throughout the design and test phases."

DOT Secretary LaHood’s Thoughts on Spaceports

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FAA Spaceport grants will strengthen America's commercial space industry

"If you're like me, you probably watched the final landing of the Space Shuttle Atlantis last month with a strong sense of nostalgia for an astounding era in American space travel.  The good news is that the Federal Aviation Administration has been working hard to usher in a new era for U.S. space transportation. Today, I'm excited to announce that the FAA is awarding grants to projects at three spaceports.  With matching support, these projects will develop and expand our nation's commercial space transportation infrastructure.  These grants will go a long way toward meeting President Obama's National Space Policy and its greater emphasis on using the commercial space industry to meet our current and future space transportation needs."

Bolden Talks Aeronautics

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Remarks for Adminstrator Bolden - National Academy of Sciences Aeronautics and Technology Rountable

"It's very important that we help bring about the next generation of aircraft and air traffic control systems. Aviation is a huge sector of the economy, not only in terms of jobs, but also in transporting goods and people. It consistently contributes in a positive way to the nation's balance of trade and is a symbol of our technical capability. In 2010, aerospace manufacturing provided a U.S. trade surplus of $43.6 billion. In this time of continuing economic challenges, the aeronautics industry provides the kinds of jobs that Americans are proud to have -- a report from 2009 identified nearly one million air transportation and domestic manufacturing jobs and this is integral to our entire way of life."

Photos: ISS Flyover of Irene: "This is a Huge Scary Storm"

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Photos from Today's Space Station Flyover Of Hurricane Irene

This afternoon, starting at approximately 3:45 pm EDT, the International Space Station flew over Hurricane Irene. The flyover lasted approximately 6 minutes. At one point a member of the crew reacted to the sheer size of this storm by saying "We are used to travelling long distances - but this storm stretches from Cuba to Carolinas -- this is a huge scary storm". The flyover was shown live on NASA TV. Below are screen grabs made during the flyover taken from different cameras aboard the ISS.

Bolden’s Evolvable SLS

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Senators Disagree On SLS Approach, Aviation Week

"On June 14, Administrator Charles Bolden selected and sent to the White House for confirmation his final choice for the SLS reference design. He essentially kept the January plan, but with a new wrinkle--a competition for a liquid-fueled strap-on that would make the SLS "evolvable" to meet the congressional requirement of an at least 130-metric-ton (286,600-lb.) lifting capability. One likely competitor for the five-segment solid would be a booster powered by a kerosene-fueled engine to be developed by Aerojet in Sacramento, Calif., and manufactured by Teledyne Brown Engineering in Huntsville, Ala. Plans already call for SLS development to be managed at Marshall Space Flight Center near Huntsville, which has experienced deep contractor layoffs with the end of the shuttle and follow-on Constellation programs. Aerojet and Teledyne Brown said in announcing their new kerosene-engine joint venture on June 3 that it could create as many as 1,400 new jobs in Alabama and California."

Blue Origin Test Flight On Wednesday Never Happened

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Keith's 24 Aug note: According to a FAA NOTAM (Notice To Airmen): "FDC 1/3552 ZAB TX.. TEMPORARY FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS VAN HORN, TX. EFFECTIVE 1108241200 UTC UNTIL 1108241700 UTC. PURSUANT TO 14 CFR SECTION 91.143 TEMPORARY FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT DUE TO ROCKET LAUNCH ACTIVITY WITHIN A 17 NM RADIUS OF 312706N/1044546W OR THE SALT FLAT /SFL/ VORTAC 125 DEGREE RADIAL AT 24.3 NAUTICAL MILES SFC TO 18000 MSL. BLUE ORIGIN LLC, TELEPHONE 253-347-2821, IS IN CHARGE OF THE OPERATION. ALBUQUERQUE /ZAB/ ARTCC, 505-856-4500, IS THE FAA COORDINATION FACILITY."

Keith's 25 Aug update: Well, nothing was apparently launched - and if you go to the FAA NOTAM webpage the request from Blue Origin has mysteriously disappeared.

NASA Says It Cannot Advertise – and Then Buys Advertisements

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NASA GSFC Solicitation: Know Your Earth Message Displays

"NASA/GSFC has a requirement for messaging displays to posted in Chicago during the months of November and December, in support of the Know Your Earth 2.0, Chicago (KYE II) project. These include city wallscapes, shopping mall kiosk displays, rail transit posters, and airport dioramas. NASA/GSFC intends to purchase the items from Clear Channel Outdoor pursuant to FAR 13.106, for the acquisition of supplies or services determined to be reasonably available from only one source. The KYE II project is a joint venture between NASA's Earth-Observing missions and Clear Channel Outdoor. Each NASA Earth-Observing Mission involved has written the KYE project into their Education/Public Outreach Implementation Plans."

Keith's note: I have lost count how many times people at NASA have told me that they cannot self-promote, advertise, lobby, or otherwise try to use standard marketing tools to inform the public of the things that they do. They always cite dire Congressional prohibitions against such activities. Then they go off and totally violate these prohibitions with advertising procurements such as this one. I am not certain that they actually know what it is they are allowed or not allowed to do and just throw this answer out when they do not want to do something.

- Is NASA Advertising Allowed or Prohibited?, earlier post
- Got Space?, earlier post

NASA OIG Review of NASA’s Selection of Display Locations for the Space Shuttle Orbiters

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NASA OIG Review of NASA's Selection of Display Locations for the Space Shuttle Orbiters

"The Administrator's decision, while greeted with excitement at the chosen locations, was not well received in some quarters, particularly by members of Congress and others who supported Space Center Houston in Houston, Texas, and the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (Air Force Museum) in Dayton, Ohio. Members of these groups raised concerns that in making its selections NASA failed to follow the law or allowed politics to dictate the result. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) review examined these complaints and a variety of other issues related to placement of the Orbiters."

NASA fails to calm Houston anger over lost shuttle, AP

"Local officials and Congressmen insist the decision was politically motivated and accuse President Barack Obama's administration of excluding the Texas city because of the state's Republican leanings. They pointed to an initial finding in 2009 that determined Houston should get a shuttle. They accused NASA administrator Charles Bolden of deliberately changing the criteria to focus on areas that would attract international tourists rather than those with ties to the program so that he could exclude Houston. "It's clear to me this was rigged from the beginning and it was pretty clear Houston would not receive the Orbiter," GOP Congressman Kevin Brady told The Associated Press."

Progress Failure Prompts Call To Increase Commercial Space Spending

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Rohrabacher Reacts to Russian Soyuz Launch Failure; Calls for Emergency Funding of Commercial Crew Systems

"I am calling on General Bolden, the NASA Administrator, to propose an emergency transfer of funding from unobligated balances in other programs, including the Space Launch System, to NASA's commercial crew initiative. Funding should be used to speed up the efforts of the four current industry partners to develop their systems and potentially expand the recent awards to include the best applicants for launch vehicle development. NASA could potentially transfer several hundred million dollars from this long term development concept, since the SLS project has not even started, to the more urgently needed systems that can launch astronauts to ISS, reliably and affordably. This transfer will boost the development of American controlled technology and greatly reduce our dependence on the Russians."

Sen. Hutchison & Staff Need To Learn to Read

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Sen. Hutchison: Failure of Russian Resupply Mission Underscores Need to Sustain America's Leadership in Space

"The Assessment conducted by Booz Allen Hamilton makes clear that the cost projections provided by NASA for review are reasonable point estimates for budget planning in the near-term 3-5 year budget horizon. In other words, there is no cost-estimate-related basis for continuing to delay the commitment to proceed with the SLS development plans that were required by the Congress to have been delivered in the Section 309 Report that was due on January 10th. While some have highlighted that the assessment characterizes some of the cost estimates provided by NASA as "optimistic", the report findings underscore that the lack of such a vehicle "architecture" decision, and commitment to proceed with program development, is the primary reason that some of the materials provided to Booz Allen Hamilton for review were incomplete."

Keith's note: Either Sen. Hutchison and her staff have problems with the English language or they are deliberately parsing/misrepresenting what the cost report (one with no actual costs included) actually said with regard to NASA's SLS cost estimates. Such deliberate and blatant misrepresentations are deceptive and not in the public interest. In addition, she openly admits that NASA did not provide everything that Booz Allen Hamilton needed, but that's apparently OK with her so long as they gave her enough words like "reasonable" etc. to selectively quote to push her political position. This is crappy policy making in action.

Report to NASA: Independent Cost Assessment of the Space Launch System - Executive Summary

"None of the estimates reviewed by the ICA Team support establishment of long-term budgets or detailed baselines consistent with NPR 7120.5 requirements. They are, however, reasonable AoA estimates appropriate for supporting trade studies and comparative analyses. All three Program estimates assume large, unsubstantiated, future cost efficiencies leading to the impression that they are optimistic. A scenario-based risk assessment, which excludes cost estimating uncertainty and unknown-unknown risks (historically major sources of cost and schedule growth), reveals all three Programs' reserves are insufficient."

Jobs: There Is Some Light At The End of the Tunnel

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Stennis Space Center Gears For Takeoff, WDSU

"A major move at the Stennis Space Center is paving the way for jobs and expansion on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Officials said NASA and Stennis are officially taking over the 1.6 million square feet former Mississippi Army ammunition plant, which will become available for new government and commercial ventures that support the NASA mission. "Appropriate investment in the rocket testing infrastructure here at Stennis becomes more important than ever," Sen. Thad Cochran said."

Huntsville-based Teledyne Brown Engineering gets $383M defense contract, Huntsville Times

"After its announcement about plans for outer space with Aerojet, Teledyne Brown is branching out to "marine space." The Huntsville-based company has been awarded a contract valued at $383 million for a replacement craft to transport Special Operations Forces on their missions. The work is projected to add about 50 jobs here. The contract from the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is to design, develop, test, manufacture and sustain the Shallow Water Combat Submersible (SWCS)."