NCBI ROFL: Mapping the goooooooaaaaaalllll! center of the brain. | Discoblog

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goalLocalisation of regions of intense pleasure response evoked by soccer goals.

“Localisation of regions of intense pleasure responses will lead to a better understanding of the reward mechanisms in the brain. Here we present a novel fMRI video paradigm designed to evoke high levels of pleasure in a specific test group and to distinguish regions of pleasure from anticipation. It exploits the intense commitment of soccer supporters and thus captures the intense euphoric feeling experienced when a soccer goal is scored. Nine healthy male subjects were imaged. Statistically significant activation clusters were determined for four contrasts: (i) goals vs. open play; (ii) missed chances vs. open play; (iii) goals vs. missed chances; and (iv) goals and missed chances vs. open play. Superior temporal, inferior frontal and amygdala were activated by all contrasts. Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was activated in contrasts (i) and (iii), suggesting that the ACC is involved in processing pleasure. The putamen was activated in contrasts (i), (ii) and (iv) implicating involvement of this region in the anticipation of pleasure. This paradigm activates brain regions known to be involved in pleasure-processing networks. The structure of the paradigm allows the separation of anticipation from the pleasure stimulus and provides a paradigm devoid of decision-making.”

intense_pleasure_soccer_goals

Thanks to Valerie for today’s ROFL!

Photo: flickr/NaturalBlu

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Launch Musings

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In October of 2008, I thought one of the top-of-the-list items on my bucket list was about to get crossed off: I was going to see a Space Shuttle launch!  The crew of STS-125 was preparing to leave “the surly bonds of Earth,” and their vehicle was kept company on her launch pad by their rescue vehicle – count ‘em up, that’s TWO space shuttles on Pads 39A and B.  Never before done, and the sight was just magnificent.  It was a no-brainer to attempt to see the launch.  Though I wasn’t one for spontaneous purchases or decisions, two friends convinced me to click on “Purchase” on that website, and it was a done deal.

Unfortunately, between the Thursday when I bought the plane ticket, and the following Monday when I came into the office, the launch had been delayed…not by days or weeks, but months.

I was left with that item on the bucket list, now bolded, italicized, and underlined.

Eight months later, in June 2009, the crew of STS-127 was about to embark on their mission to the International Space Station (ISS), and everything looked good for launch…I mean, everything.  So good, in fact, that three friends and I decided to make the drive out to Florida.  We had exactly 15.5 hours to make a 16-hour trip.

#MissionFLby4 was born (some of you may recall the documentation of our adventures on Twitter & Facebook – we’re still apologizing for the barrage of posts in that 24-hour period!).

By the time we got through Baton Rouge, we were down an hour we didn’t have due to traffic, but onward we went.  Somewhere between Baton Rouge and the Mississippi border, we realized we forgot about the CST to EST conversion.

Whoops. Another hour we didn’t have.  #MissionFLby4 was now #MissionFLby4EST.

Just outside of Tallahassee, I got a text from a friend who was working in MCC, saying that he had heard about some issues.  After a few interchanges, he gave up that he was only kidding around; I called him a jerk, and we pressed onward.

At 12:18 a.m., about 45 minutes later, with Tallahassee behind us, I got a call from another friend set to work console for the launch.

“Hey, where are you?” he asked.  I told him.

“I’m not really sure how to tell you this, but…we’re not launching,” he informed me.

Momentary silence was followed by, “Are you serious?  You can’t be serious.  Spaceflightnow.com just had an update 18 minutes ago that said tanking is going well!  Hold on, I’ll call you back.”

I quickly visited Spaceflight Now again.  Last update, 12 a.m.: tanking proceeding nominally.  I called my friend back – “Seriously?  Spaceflightnow.com still says we’re good!”  He asked if I really didn’t believe him.

“Nope, not really!” was my answer.

“Well, I don’t really know what to tell you.  I was supposed to be on-console, and they just told me not to come in.”

Right in the middle of his explanation, I received a text message from another friend: “Scrubbed.”

Disheartened, we exited the freeway, U-turned, and headed back west.

In May, when I left Houston to go to the Cape for the last of our STS-132 training sessions, I had high hopes to see my first launch.  I had a good feeling, but I didn’t want to jinx it.  And on May 14th, when just before coming out of the 9-minute hold, we heard of “a loose bolt,” I froze.

“Foiled again?!” I thought.

Thankfully, it wasn’t.  At 2:20 p.m. EST, I bore witness to one of the most breathtaking sights of human passion, dedication, intelligence, perseverance, and sheer genius ever.  Seriously, if you haven’t seen a space shuttle launch, do yourself a favor and get out to Florida.  You won’t regret it.  And if you do, I’ll buy you dinner.

This week was a bit of a disappointment for many of us. Five launch attempts; five stark reminders that spaceflight is difficult, risky, and anything but routine.  Though many of us were hoping to see Discovery embark on her very last mission, it takes but a moment’s thought to realize that we must be safe in our endeavors, first and foremost. With crews’ lives literally at stake, every minute detail must be examined, every issue addressed.

Over the last few days, as we waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited some, I couldn’t help but think about all of the hard work going into supporting each one of those launch attempts.  I watched in awe as my coworkers in Houston and all of the support personnel in Florida, stuck in their own personal version of Groundhog Day, prepared to give Discovery the sendoff she deserves.  It was yet more evidence of the dedication and passion of the teams who work to support the US human spaceflight program each and every day.

As these thoughts whirled through my head, I was reminded again of why I love being a part of this agency.  It’s the intangibles we possess – the people, the collective intelligence, the shared passion and pride – that contribute to the success of our missions.  We are an agency of motivated, passionate, dedicated, and inspired individuals who are driven each day to contribute to fulfill humanity’s quest for the unknown, to satisfy the innate desire to achieve the impossible.

As Discovery lights up the night sky later this month, Endeavor embarks on her journey in February, and perhaps Atlantis on her true final voyage in June, I am confident that the nation will see evidence of the pride and passion we take in our work.  Though our future is uncertain, our forward path unclear, I am hopeful that our united belief in the values of space exploration will see us through the successful completion of the Space Shuttle program, the continuation of the Space Station program, and onward to whatever new endeavors we embark upon as a nation.

Webb, The Giant Money Sponge

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Telescope Is Behind Schedule and Over Budget, Panel Says, NY Times

"The report raised fear that other projects would be hurt. "This is NASA's Hurricane Katrina," said Alan P. Boss, who leads the subcommittee that advises NASA's astrophysics program. The telescope, he said, "will leave nothing but devastation in the astrophysics division budget."

James Webb Telescope Project Project Reviewed and Reorganized In Wake of Massive Cost Overruns, Popsci

"JWST already consumes almost half of NASA's Astrophysics Division budget, according to Boss, who was not involved in the report but chairs a different NASA committee on astronomy. Infusing it with even more cash could hurt remaining astronomy programs, such as the Wide-Field Infrared Space Telescope (WFIRST), a project that earned top priority in the Astro2010 astronomy decadal survey. If Webb fails, astronomy could be set back a generation."

Latest $1.5B in JWST Cost Overruns Imperils Other High-priority Projects, Space News

"Alan Stern, a former associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said the cost growth could ravage the agency's $1.1 billion annual astrophysics budget, 40 percent of which is already consumed by JWST development. "Are we going to turn off all the many existing astrophysics satellites and kill the support to analyze the data from them and stop building anything else, just so JWST can continue to overrun?" Stern said. "That's the question that the astrophysics community has to ask of itself, and that NASA should be asking."

Hubble's over-budget successor may be delayed for years, New Scientist

"I doubt we're going to find $200 million [per year]," NASA Associate Administrator Chris Scolese told reporters on Wednesday. "We're in a time of fiscal [conservatism] where we have to make every dollar count." New management It is not yet clear whether NASA will try to funnel money from other projects to JWST to make the 2015 launch date or whether the mission will get delayed even further."

Keith's note: Let's see: JWST needs $400 - $500 in the next two budgets. That money is not there. NASA already does not have the money for the Congressionally mandated STS-135 mission (a similar amount). Between ongoing CRs and expected budgeteering by the new Republican-led Congress NASA certainly does not stand to get more money. Indeed it will probably get less money. So ... where does the money come from, Chris? Do you and Ed Weiler continue to erode the remainder of NASA's astrophysics program or do you go after other things in SMD's budget? Get in line - MSL already has its sights on that money. Do you therefore go outside of SMD to fix JWST? Good luck with that.

Congressional Hearing on NASA Next Week

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"Transition and Implementation: The Nasa Authorization Act of 2010
Nov 18 2010 10:00 AM
Russell Senate Office Building - 253

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation announces the following full committee hearing titled Transition and Implementation: The Nasa Authorization Act of 2010."

Shh! Bolden Will Be Available To The Media Next Week (Update)

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NASA administrator to receive honorary Air University degree

"NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden will receive the third honorary degree conferred by Air University, in recognition of his contributions in education, government, public service and community affairs, here 9 a.m., Monday. ... The ceremony is open for media coverage."

Keith's note: Of course this media release went out from Maxwell AFB, not NASA PAO (they almost never mention these Bolden speaking events in advance) and it was issued the evening before a Federal holiday and a long weekend for many regarding an even first thing next Monday morning. That said, I wonder if the White House knows that Bolden will be made available to the mainstream media?

Two More Media-Free Speaking Appearances for Bolden, earlier post

Keith's update: "From: This Just In - MSFC
Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 3:30 PM
To: MSFC-DL-The Marshall Team
Subject: NASA Administrator Charles Bolden to hold all-hands at Marshall Center Tuesday, Nov. 16

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will hold an all-hands with Marshall employees at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16, at Activities Building 4316. All Marshall team members are invited to attend. The all-hands will be available on Marshall TV and Desktop TV. Transportation will be provided. A bus schedule will be posted on Inside Marshall as soon as it becomes available."

NASA OIG: Launch Services Training

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Final Memorandum Assessing Launch Services Program's Interim Response Team Training Requirements

"While the mishap plans we reviewed appropriately identified roles and responsibilities for managing contingency actions, NASA has not established training requirements for Interim Response Team members. In addition, we found that training requirements for Interim Response Team members in the Launch Services Program's mishap plan were inconsistent with mishap plans developed by Kennedy Space Center, the Science Mission Directorate, and the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. We also determined that none of the 16 safety and mission assurance personnel assigned as Kennedy Interim Response Team members during the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter/Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LRO/LCROSS) launch missions had completed all of the required training included in the mission-specific mishap plans, and only 3 of the 16 had completed the "Introduction to Mishap Investigations" training course required by the Kennedy Mishap Plan."

NASA OIG on Security Management Act

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Annual Report Federal Information Security Management Act: Fiscal Year 2010 Report from the Office of Inspector General

"Although our audit work identifies challenges to and weaknesses in NASA's information technology (IT) security program, we believe that the Agency is steadily working to improve its overall IT security posture. Our report to OMB cited that NASA established a program for certification and accreditation, security configuration management, incident response and reporting, security training, Plans of Actions and Milestones, remote access, account and identity management, continuous monitoring, business continuity/disaster recovery, and overseeing systems operated by contractors. However, we found that internal controls for these areas needed improvements."

Webb Telescope: Too Big To Cancel?

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NASA's new space telescope costs shoot the moon, AP

"We were missing a certain fraction of what was going on," NASA associate administrator Chris Scolese said in a late Wednesday afternoon teleconference. ... The fault "lies with us, no question about it," Scolese said. ... The Webb telescope is already late. When first announced more than a dozen years ago, it was supposed to launch in 2007. That was eventually delayed until 2014. The new report, issued at the request of the Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., says the earliest launch date now would be September 2015. Scolese said technically the telescope was not confirmed as a project until 2008 -- even though many millions of dollars had been spent on it and NASA had been promoting it since 1998. In 2008, NASA said it would cost $5 billion and that's the number to use for how overbudget it is, Scolese said. But previous numbers that NASA provided said it would cost $3.5 billion."

More Cost Overruns and Delays for Webb

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James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Independent Comprehensive Review Panel (ICRP) Final Report

"The earliest launch date possible--and hence the minimum cost to complete--is September 2015 and would require an additional ~$250 million above the current FY 2011 President's Budget profile in both 2011 and 2012. In addition, the critical management change noted above, along with the restructuring of the JWST Project office, supplemented by additional changes outlined in the report, must go "hand-in-hand" with additional funding.

In the time available, it was not possible to do an independent estimate of the cost-to-complete. As such, the Panel approached the question from several different points of view as described later in this report, leading to a judgment that the total LCC will be in the range of $6.2 billion to $6.8 billion."

Letter from Independent Comprehensive Review Panel to Charles Bolden regarding The James Webb Space Telescope

"In summary, the Panel concluded that the JWST Project is in very good technical shape. There is no reason to question the technical integrity of the design or of the team's ability to deliver a quality product to orbit. The problems causing cost growth and schedule delays have been associated with budgeting and program management, not technical performance."

NASA Administrator Bolden Statement On The Webb Telescope

"I appreciate the work done by the James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) Independent Comprehensive Review Panel (ICRP), and want to thank Sen. Barbara Mikulski for initiating this review. The ICRP report makes clear that, while JWST technical performance has been consistent with the project plan, the cost performance and coordination have been lacking, and I agree with these findings."

Chang’e-2 Moon Photos

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China Reveals First Chang'e-2 Photos!, Luna-C/I

"China has released the first photos from it's recently-launched Chang'e-2 lunar orbiter! Released with some fanfare, the images get more or less straight to the point: they're of the Bay of Rainbows (Sinus Iridium), which China has slated to be the potential landing location of it's Chang'e-3 rover mission."

Robonauts at KSC

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Robots Invade Kennedy Space Center, Ken Kremer for SpaceRef

"Robots have invaded the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) as NASA prepares to launch Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-133 assembly mission to the International Space Station (ISS). But fear not, these robots are human made and friendly to earthlings - at least for now."

Two More Media-Free Speaking Appearances for Bolden

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Charles Bolden Jr. To Speak At Kappa Iota's Achievement Week Program

"The Kappa Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. in association with the Pearl Group, Inc. announced that Charles F. Bolden, Jr., administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), will be the featured speaker at Kappa Iota's annual Achievement Week Program. The program will be held on Dec. 2 at the Chattanooga Trade and Convention Center."

NASA official to speak at N.C. A&T's December commencement

"Maj. Gen. Charles Frank Bolden, Jr., 12th administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, will be the keynote speaker for N.C. A&T's December commencement. Commencement will be held Dec. 11, at the Greensboro Coliseum."

Keith's note: These are both rather "safe" events (a pattern Bolden has adopted) where media access can be controlled such that no one asks him a space-policy related question on the record - at least no snarky space reporters will get in to pepper Bolden with questions. This is, of course, being done per White House direction. Just to be on the safe side, Bolden will use his new personal transporter to beam into and out of the speaking venues.

Inaugural Commercial Human Spaceflight Technical Forum

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Special Aerospace Services Announces Inaugural Commercial Human Spaceflight Technical Forum

"The forum is being held in Boulder, Colorado, and will present a focused and concentrated technical agenda created for Commercial Human Spaceflight providers and NASA. Attendees will gain insight to techniques that will be required to successfully achieve the NASA human rating certification and FAA commercial spaceflight licensing. The forum will host recognized and sought-after subject matter experts, including N. Wayne Hale Jr., Jeffrey Ashby, Timothy Bulk and Dr. Alan Stern."

A "Public" Space Conference the "Public" Will Never See

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Space Studies Board 2010 Workshop: Sharing the Adventure with the Public

"The Space Studies Board's 2010 Workshop will explore both how these grand questions focus on the nation's space research program and how best to convey its value and excitement to the public. The workshop will bring together leading scientists and experts from the communications and social marketing sectors to share lessons learned and best practices. A summary of the workshop discussions will be released by the NRC."

Keith's note: I just love it when these meetings are set up to address the "public" and their perceptions of space exploration yet 99.999% of the "public" cannot attend. Its also unclear how the public can participate in the "audience". No one stops to think to webcast events like live such that the "public" can see what the experts think they are interested in. Why not let the "public" who cannot attend the event participate via the Internet? All it takes is a laptop with a webcam, an Internet connection, and a USTREAM or LIVESTREAM account. Oh well, the proceedings will quietly slip out in 6 months. As for the speakers - they are all certainly knowledgeable, but with one possible exception, not a single one of them is under 50 years old. What about the next generation?

Keith's update: Deputy Associate Administrator for Public Outreach Alan Ladwig has been doing a nice job of Twittering from the event - so there is some insight into what is going on - so make certain to follow Alan on Twitter.

NASA Chooses Cutting Edge Esri Tools

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NASA and Esri Agreement Supports GIS Initiatives

"The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently signed an enterprise license agreement (ELA) with Esri, making ArcGIS software tools available for unlimited use by authorized NASA employees and contractors. The agreement reflects NASA's extensive and growing use of Esri's ArcGIS software to bring geospatial intelligence to a wide variety of mission-critical efforts, from streamlining operations to enabling research and exploration."

2010 Create the Future Design Contest

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The 2010 Create the Future Design Contest, sponsored by COMSOL, Inc., PTC, and Tech Briefs Media Group (publishers of NASA Tech Briefs), recognized innovation in product design in six categories: Consumer Products, Machinery & Equipment, Medical, Safety & Security, Sustainable Technologies, and Transportation. On the following pages, you’ll meet the Grand Prize Winner, as well as the winners and Honorable Mentions in all six categories. Congratulations to this year’s winners, and thanks to the nearly 1,000 entrants who submitted their creative design ideas. To view the contest entries online, visit http://www.createthefuture2010.com.