Tomorrow Night at Observatory : "Exquisite Bodies: or the Curious and Grotesque History of the Anatomical Model" with the Wellcome's Kate Forde

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Tomorrow night at Observatory, join Kate Forde--curator at the amazing Wellcome Collection in London--to learn about the rise and fall of the popular anatomical museum in 19th century Europe as detailed in The Wellcome’s recent ‘Exquisite Bodies’ exhibition. Long-time readers might recall this blog's extensive coverage of the exhibit, for which I served as curatorial adviser and designer. Images above all depict artifacts included in the exhibition.

You can find out more about the show here, here and here and see a preview of the lecture here.

Full details below; this is going to be a truly stellar event; hope to see you there!

Exquisite Bodies: or the Curious and Grotesque History of the Anatomical Model
An illustrated lecture by Wellcome Collection Curator Kate Forde
Date: Thursday, August 26
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $5
Presented by Morbid Anatomy

Tonight, Kate Forde of London’s Wellcome Collection will deliver an illustrated lecture detailing the rise and fall of the popular anatomical museum in 19th century Europe as detailed in The Wellcome’s recent ‘Exquisite Bodies’ exhibition.

The ‘Exquisite Bodies’ exhibition, which was curated with the assistance of Morbid Anatomy’s Joanna Ebenstein, was inspired by the craze for anatomy museums and their artifacts–particularly wax anatomical models–in 19th century Europe. In London, Paris, Brussels and Barcelona displays of wax models became popular with visitors seeking an unusual afternoon’s entertainment. The public were invited to learn about the body’s internal structure, its reproductive system and its vulnerability to disease–especially the sexually transmitted kind–through displays that combined serious science with more than a touch of prurience and horror.

At a time when scandal surrounded the practice of dissection, the medical establishment gave these collections of human surrogates a cautious welcome; yet only a few decades later they fell into disrepute, some even facing prosecution for obscenity. This talk will trace the trajectory of these museums in a highly illustrated lecture featuring many of the historical artifacts featured in the show.

To find out more about the exhibition ‘Exquisite Bodies,’ click here and here.

Kate Forde is Curator of Temporary Exhibitions at the Wellcome Collection, London. She is interested in the role of museums in the shaping of cultural memory and in the display of fine art within science-based institutions. Her current research is taking her from the great dust-heaps of Victorian London to Staten Island’s landfill Fresh Kills for an exhibition with the working title ‘Dirt’. You can see a preview of tonight's lecture by clicking here.

You can find out more about this presentation here; As mentioned above, you can find out more about the exhibition here, here and here and see a preview of the lecture here. You can get directions to Observatory--which is next door to the Morbid Anatomy Library (more on that here)--by clicking here. You can find out more about Obs
ervatory here, join our mailing list by clicking here, and join us on Facebook by clicking here.

H Frame Hydraulic Press

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i have a used h frame hydraulic press 100 tons with electric motor and two foot padles. i'm looking for electrical and hydraulic drawings so i can repair it i have no document can you please help me

Special Point of Inquiry: PZ Myers, Jennifer Michael Hecht, Yours Truly | The Intersection

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We’ve just put up an in-studio (so to speak) edition of Point of Inquiry, which is a reprise of the “New Atheist/accommodationist” debate that took place Friday in Los Angeles at the 30th anniversary Council for Secular Humanism Conference. Here’s the show description:

Recently at the 30th anniversary conference of the Council for Secular Humanism in Los Angeles, leading science blogger PZ Myers and Point of Inquiry host Chris Mooney appeared together on a panel to discuss the questions, “How should secular humanists respond to science and religion? If we champion science, must we oppose faith? How best to approach flashpoints like evolution education?”

It’s a subject about which they are known to… er, differ.

The moderator was Jennifer Michael Hecht, the author of Doubt: A History. The next day, the three reprised their public debate for a special episode of Point of Inquiry, with Hecht sitting in as a guest host in Mooney’s stead.

This is the unedited cut of their three way conversation.

PZ Myers is a biologist at the University of Minnesota-Morris who, in addition to his duties as a teacher of biology and especially of development and evolution, likes to spend his spare time poking at the follies of creationists, Christians, crystal-gazers, Muslims, right-wing politicians, apologists for religion, and anyone who doesn’t appreciate how much the beauty of reality exceeds that of ignorant myth.

Jennifer Michael Hecht is the author of award-winning books of philosophy, history, and poetry, including: Doubt: A History (HarperCollins, 2003); The End of the Soul: Scientific Modernity, Atheism and Anthropology (Columbia University Press, 2003); and The Happiness Myth, (HarperCollins in 2007). Her work appears in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, and The New Yorker. Hecht earned her Ph.D. in History from Columbia University in 1995 and now teaches in the graduate writing program of The New School University.

Again, you can listen to the show here.

Why do I get the feeling this one will be popular?


SS316 – Prevention of Pitting

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Please advise

1) what material coating should be done over the Stainless Steel (SS)-316 equipments (switchboards, external portion of reactors etc) to avoid rust coloured pitting marks formed over these materials...

2) We have a Rotomac Vaccuum Drier (RVD) made of SS-316, that moves hot wate

Induction Lighting

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Would like opinions of and experiences with Induction lighting. Specifically high bay industrial units. Longevity of service, lumens maintenance over the life span of the lamp, etc. All advice and comments are greatly appreciated

NASA Thruster Test Aids Future Robotic Lander’s Ability to Land Safely

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NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., collaborated with NASA's White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, N.M., and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, Calif., to successfully complete a series of thruster tests at the White Sands test facility. The test will aid in maneuvering and landing the next generation of robotic lunar landers that could be used to explore the moon's surface and other airless celestial bodies.

The Robotic Lunar Lander Development Project at the Marshall Center performed a series of hot-fire tests on two high thrust-to-weight thrusters – a 100-pound-class for lunar descent and a 5-pound-class for attitude control. The team used a lunar mission profile during the test of the miniaturized thrusters to assess the capability of these thruster technologies for possible use on future NASA spacecraft.

The test program fully accomplished its objectives, including evaluation of combustion stability, engine efficiency, and the ability of the thruster to perform the mission profile and a long-duration, steady-state burn at full power. The test results will allow the Robotic Lander Project to move forward with robotic lander designs using advanced propulsion technology.

The test articles are part of the Divert Attitude Control System, or DACS, developed by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency of the Department of Defense. The control system provides two kinds of propulsion -- one for control and the other for maneuvering. The Attitude Control System thrusters provide roll, pitch and yaw control. These small thruster types were chosen to meet the golf-cart-size lander's requirement for light-weight, compact propulsion components to aid in reducing overall spacecraft mass and mission cost by leveraging an existing government resource.

"The Missile Defense Agency heritage thrusters were originally used for short-duration flights and had not been qualified for space missions, so our engineers tested them to assess their capability for long-duration burns and to evaluate their performance and combustion behavior," said Monica Hammond, lander propulsion task manager for the Robotic Lunar Lander Development Project at the Marshall Center. "The thrusters are a first step in reducing propulsion technology risks for a lander mission. The results will be instrumental in developing future plans associated with the lander's propulsion system design."

During tests of the 100-pound thruster, the Divert Attitude Control System thruster fired under vacuum conditions to simulate operation in a space environment. The tests mimicked the lander mission profile and operation scenarios. The test included several trajectory correction maneuvers during the cruise phase; nutation control burns to maintain spacecraft orientation; thruster vector correction during the solid motor braking burn; and a terminal descent burn on approach to the lunar surface.

The objective for the five -pound-class thruster test was similar to the 100-pound thruster test with an additional emphasis on the thruster heating assessment due to the long-duration mission profile and operation with MMH/MON-25 -- monomethylhydrazine (MMH) fuel and a nitrogen tetroxide (75 percent)/nitrogen oxide (25 percent) (MON-25) oxidizer.

A standard propellant system for spacecraft is the MMH/MON-3 propellant system -- containing 3 percent nitric oxide. An alternate propellant system, MMH/MON-25, contains 25 percent nitric oxide. With its chemical composition, it has a much lower freezing point than MON-3, making it an attractive alternative for spacecraft with its thermal benefits and resulting savings in heater power. Because the MMH/MON-25 propellant system has never been used in space, these tests allowed engineers to benchmark the test against the MMH/MON-3 propellant system.

"The lower freezing point could save considerable heater power for the spacecraft and increase thermal margin for the entire propulsion system," said Huu Trinh, lead propulsion engineer for the Robotic Lunar Lander Development Project at the Marshall Center. "These tests showed stable combustion in all scenarios and favorable temperature results."

The Robotic Lunar Lander Development Project is a partnership between the Marshall Center and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory located in Laurel, Md.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/lunarquest/news/thrust_test.html

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Inverters

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Do they make inverters for single phase motors?

I can not find one anywhere. We are trying to reduce the power consumption on pump motors.

I am told that you can use a 3 phase controller on a single phase motor?

Any help is welcome.

Farang

ILLINOIS: Mark Kirk clearly won the debate

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Only responsible choice for Senate

By Jeff Wartman

Mark Kirk and Alexi Giannoulias finished their national televised debate on Meet the Press Sunday morning. The differences were startling, and only one conclusion can be made: Mark Kirk is the only responsible choice for the United States Senate. Let’s recap:

The candidates were each asked to name two issues where they disagree with their own party’s platform. Mark Kirk, being an independent voice for citizens, rightfully named supporting stem cell research and SCHIP, the children’s healthcare program. Alexi Giannoulias was completely unable to name a single issue where he disagrees with the Democrat platform – instead incompetently naming TARP, which was a Republican program. If Alexi is so ignorant and uninformed of simple policy, he is not qualified to be a United States Senator.

Even more amusing was the roundtable after the debate. Joe Klein, a Time columnist who often writes favorably towards Democrats — actually laughed and expressed shock that Alexi Giannoulias actually used the line “I did not know the extent of their criminal activity” when attempting to explain why, as Chief Loan Officer at Broadway Bank, he repeatedly gave loans to convicted felons and known mobsters — basically acknowledging that he knew they were criminals, he just didn’t know the extent of your criminal activities. Klein’s shock that a politician would actually make that statement says a lot about Alexi Giannoulias and the extent of his financial dealings with mobsters and felons.

The debate can be easily summed up: Mark Kirk gave real solutions for economic growth and creating jobs – creating tax incentives for hiring and ensuring a healthy business climate via ensuring availability of capital for small businesses, while Alexi Giannoulias repeated tired talking points.

Mark Kirk is the exact type of Republican we need in the Senate — fiscally responsible and socially moderate.

The conclusion is easy: Mark Kirk is the only responsible choice for U.S. Senate.

Jeff Wartman is a former Executive Comm. member of the Libertarian Party of Illinois. He's now an RLCer, and an active member of the Chicago Young Republicans. He's also a huge Chicago teams sports enthusiast.

JeffWartman.com

Do LED's Save Money?

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While playing around with led's, Im starting to think if they are really saving much more money .Take a "energy efficient Fluorescent light bulb" replacement of a 65 watt inc. bulb. The fluorescent is only drawing 250ma IV.115 vac. So now i just bought a 20 watt led and that draws 1400 to 1800 ma.IV