Click here to view the embedded video.
There’s a Spirit update, still no Marian update.
Update on the update: Well, I managed to do this post quite a while earlier and hit the wrong button, I managed to find it. Whew…
I have reason to believe Marian is computerless, but trying very hard not to be.
I need everybody to send her good vibes – we need to change her computer karma. Ready? Send. . . . . . .
It’s August. Is hurricane season heating up?
A low pressure disturbance out over the open Atlantic–in what’s called the hurricane “main development region”–is now being given an 80 percent chance of becoming a named tropical cyclone by the National Hurricane Center.
If so, this would be the first “Cape Verde-type” storm of the year–so called because it developed near the Cape Verde islands. Cape Verde type storms show up once the season really gets going, and are frequently the most intense and powerful.
Here’s an image of 91L, which everyone will be watching closely:
As I hoped, Marlene Zuk, a biologist at UC Riverside, has chimed in with her own thoughts on Friday’s post on the meaning(lessness) of sexual displays. Check it out!
If you’ll be in the Atlanta area on September 2 — the night before Dragon*Con — then I strongly urge you to attend the Second Annual Atlanta Skeptics Star Party. This is a charity event to raise money for the American Cancer Society Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, in memory and honor of our friend Jeff Medkeff, an astronomer who died of liver cancer two years ago. Jeff was a good man, naming asteroids after noted skeptics, and did a lot of work to promote critical thinking.
Last year’s event was fantastic: there was a full house of people listening to short talks by Pamela Gay and me, and then migrating outside to view the heavens. This year, the speakers include Fraser Cain (from the newly remodeled Universe Today), Pamela once again, and musician George Hrab (who made a typically over-the-top cool promo for it).
I won’t be there this year — months of travel for my TV show have made me long to be home for more than a week at a time — but I hope some BABloggees will be able to attend. And don’t forget: Surly Amy and I have teamed up to raise money for the event as well. It’s a great night, a fun time, and a way to help us all kick cancer’s butt.
I knew that Yao Ming’s parents are very tall. Though his father, at 6′7, arguably contributed less than his mother, at 6′3, which is farther above the female mean in standard deviation units. But check this out from Superfusion: How China and America Became One Economy and Why the World’s Prosperity Depends on It:
Yao had essentially been bred. Both his parents played basketball. His 6′2 [different height from Wikipedia -Razib] mother, Fang Fengdi, perhaps the tallest woman in China, had been married to an even taller man. She had served as a Red Guard during the height of the Cultural Revolution and had been an ardent Maoist. She enthusiastically participated in the glorious plan of the local government to use her and her husband to produce a sports superstar. The Shanghai authorities who encouraged the match had gone back several generations to ensure that size was embedded in the bloodline. The result was Yao, a baby behemoth who just kept getting bigger.
What’s the chance of Yao? Let’s start with his mother being 6′3, his father being 6′7. Let’s assume that the genetic potentiality of Chinese women leaves a median height of 5′2, and men at 5′8. I suspect I’m low-balling this because there’s likely a fair amount of variability within China, with northerners being taller. Additionally, if Yao’s mother lived through the Cultural Revolution I’m wondering if she and her husband are even at their full height assuming normal nutrition. But let’s go with that. With 2 inches per standard deviation, ~85% heritability, you’d expect any of their children to be 6 standard deviations above the population norm in height (sex corrected). For a male that’s 6′8 (using the 5′8 figure as the median). Yao’s taller than that. In fact, at 7′6, he’s 5 standard deviations above the expected value. A freak if you will.
I think that that indicates that I’m being too conservative about the genetic potential of Yao’s parents, the full median height of the source population from which they derive assuming modern nutrition, and the heritability constraining to Yao’s family. In other words, I assume that the Chinese officials knew that neither of Yao’s parents were quite total freaks within their lineages, which indicates that there’ll be less regression back to the mean because their height is less likely attributable to non-replicable environmental variables. Though Yao is still freakishly tall in relation to both his parents, so I don’t think he was inevitable. Though of course the odds of someone of Yao’s height being born to his particular set of parents was orders of magnitude higher than for two random Chinese.
Note: To do the back-of-the-envelope I just used the breeder’s equation. Probably so far above the norm there are more non-linearities at work so that deviations from the expected values are probably higher. I guess only the Chinese officials who did the genealogical inquiries will know….
Cape Canaveral reverberated with the effects of politics this week. One of the Republican candidates for Florida governor stumped around the area as space contractor giant United Space Alliance (USA) laid off another 900 employees.
This however did not dissuade Kennedy Space Center Director from predicting a bright future for the space center.
Republican Candidate for Florida Governor visits Kennedy Space Center
On July 30 Republican candidate for Florida Governor Bill McCollum capped off a day's worth of campaigning in Brevard County by being briefed by local leaders within the aerospace community. McCollum emphasized his support for expanding business opportunities along the Space Coast.
McCollum's visit included a tour of Kennedy Space Center's (KSC) Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) where the payloads that are sent to the International Space Station are prepared for flight. McCollum also spoke with Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana.
The discussion was organized by the Economic Development of Florida's Space Coast, an organization with the mandate to maintain the region's high-tech infrastructure. Around a dozen aerospace leaders detailed what they described as a plethora of opportunities to diversify the economic base in and around the KSC area. These leaders explained that it was possible to have KSC - not just be a leader in launch operations - but also in the areas of management and maintenance.
These leaders promoted efforts to assist the development of commercial space and want to attract both space and tech jobs to the region. Thousands of high-tech jobs will be lost when the space shuttle retires next year.
McCollum has expressed his strong support for the space industry and reiterated that he would work to keep space and tech-related job sin the area. McCollum stated that KSC has a bright future ahead of it even though the short-term outlook is less-than-promising. McCollum is squaring off against Rick Scott in the Republican primary.
NASA Hosts Community Leaders Breakfast
On July 29 at 9 a.m. EDT, NASA held its annual Kennedy Space Center Community Leaders Breakfast. This event took place in the Debus Conference Facility which is located at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. This event is held annually to give local leaders the opportunity to communicate their ideas to one another in a relaxed setting.
This year approximately two hundred community leaders, business executives, educators, and state and local government leaders attended. Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana attended and provided a general review of activities at the space center and to also provide a prediction as to what the future of KSC holds in store.
While speaking, Cabana acknowledged that the space center was facing difficult times in the near term but expressed his belief that NASA's spaceport still has a bright future.
USA Announces More Layoffs
United Space Alliance (USA) gave notices to approximately 900 space shuttle workers that they would be laid off come Oct. 1. USA handles much of the work that is done on the space shuttle fleet. The aerospace contractor stated that it has planned for some time to reduce the shuttle workforce as the shuttle era draws to a close.
It is estimated that some about 8,000 employees at Kennedy Space Center will lose their jobs when the shuttles are retired. USA has plans to cut some 15 percent of its personnel that work in Texas, Florida and Alabama.
Those employees who are laid off will receive assistance in transitioning into new careers. A number of job fairs, workshops and forums have been held to help these workers update their resumes, seek further education and find employment.
There currently are only two scheduled flights remaining in the shuttle program. If a third mission is not added the shuttle program will end in March of next year when shuttle Endeavour completes mission STS-134.
This Week in Cape History
July 29, 1985: Twenty-five years ago this week NASA launched space shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51F. Located in Challenger's payload bay was the Spacelab-2 payload. Spacelab-2 experiments covered a wide-range of scientific studies. These included; life sciences, plasma physics, astronomy, high-energy astrophysics, solar physics, atmospheric physics and technology research. The flight is more commonly known for the abort that took place when the number two space shuttle main engine (SSME) malfunctioned on the first launch attempt on July 12, 1985 at T-3 seconds. It is also known as the Coca-Cola versus Pepsi flight where the soft drink manufacturers offered up their products to the astronauts. However, due to low cabin pressure - both products were extremely fizzy.
NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 1 August 2010 (early edition)
"After losing one cooling system pump (of two), ISS is currently stable, although thermally on single string (no redundancy). Last night (at 7:48pm EDT) RPC1 (Remote Power Controller 1) in RPCM (RPC Module) S11A_D tripped open, powering off the Loop A ammonia pump of the S1 ETCS (External Thermal Control System), resulting in the loss of one half of the cooling to ISS. This required a number of powerdowns (i.e., turning off selected systems for thermal protection), including redundant power to four CQs (Crew Quarters), three in Node-2, one in Kibo JPM, with both fans in each CQ remaining functional but zero fault-tolerant (crew is still Go for CQ use). Due to loss of heater power, MBS (Mobile Base System), SSRMS (Space Station Remote Manipulator System), and SPDM (Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator) are currently zero fault-tolerant."
International Space Station in Stable Configuration After Loss of Cooling Loop
"The flight control and management teams today approved a preliminary plan to replace a planned spacewalk Thursday by Expedition 24 crewmembers Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson with at least two spacewalks to swap out the failed Pump Module that resides on the station's S1 truss. There are two spare Pump Modules on stowage platforms on the station's truss. The replacement module under consideration for replacement resides on External Stowage Platform 2, which is adjacent to the Quest airlock. The crew is being informed that replanning for alternate spacewalk activity is underway."
Keith's note: Of course, YouTube has the solution to this problem ...
Casey Rae-Hunter of The Contrarian offers his take on Christoper Nolan's Inception. Rae-Hunter, who has guest blogged on Sentient Developments, is surprised that many of the technorati have neglected such themes as neurosecurity and mindfulness in their reviews of the film. He writes:
To me, the idea of establishing a defense against neural invaders is interesting, especially in light of new discoveries in neuroplasticity and the battle to maintain computer network security.
Fascinating stuff, but I’m pretty sure our psyches are less in danger of being harmed by outside forces than our own mental habits.One of Nolan’s most original ideas is that the subconscious can be trained to act as a built-in police force during synaptic security breaches. The director seems to gravitate towards characters who exhibit tremendous martial/intellectual/transcendental discipline on the road to exceptionalism (Batman, The Prestige). This includes certain mental technologies.
Buddhism has for centuries been aware of the the mind’s plasticity. It teaches (among other things) that we can shape the function of our neural networks by observing our thoughts and establishing new patterns. In therapeutic psychology, this is called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) — a remarkably effective treatment for a host of mental afflictions. Borrowing from Buddhism, it prescribes mindfulness as a method for rooting out “bad code” and establishing a healthier psyche.
Remapping the mind requires a great deal of discipline, but it can be done. Brains are far less rigid than stone, and even stone can be shaped by water. In this view, our thoughts are similar to ripples on a swift-moving river. Like thoughts, these ripples spontaneously and constantly appear and disappear. By not fixating on the origin of the ripples, but rather accepting the simple fact of their existence, we can begin to see the river as a whole and even influence its flow.
Inception takes a more martial approach to mindfulness, but it does offer hints as to how we can keep our shit together in the midst of chaos. In the film, one of the characters experiences acute panic when he realizes the reality he thought was solid is in fact quite the opposite. (We experience similar feelings of disassociation when someone close to us dies, we lose our job, get divorced, etc.) The character is told to focus on his breath and remember his training. The particulars of instruction aren’t revealed, but I’m guessing it involves meditation and mindfulness.
Rae-Hunter is absolutely right; Inception is a treasure trove of food-for-thought. Nolan's film should keep thinkers and writers busy for years to come.
Speaking of neurosecurity, it may someday be possible to create firewalls for the 'jacked-in' mind: Fighting back against mindhacks.
The solar panels in the plant can supply around 620,000 units of electricity to 150 families for one year, and offset around 520 tonnes of carbon dioxide emission. According to The Hong Kong Electric Company, the solar panels also make up the largest solar energy system in Hong Kong
China knows about climate change and what a threat it represents. It’s one reason they are investing so much in solar and wind power. Other countries are taking action on climate change and renewable energy, more so than in the United States. The Department of Defense in the U.S. is well aware of the threat of climate change, and they have been preparing for it for years. But it’s another matter with politicians. In the U.S., politics and the mainstream media think there is still a debate that they need to have about the best way forward, and even about climate change science itself. This dangerous viewpoint is still a part of our popular culture, despite so much evidence that climate change is the main danger we face as a country and as humans. The DoD knows this, but they don’t communicate directly with the media or the public about it. They do write reports, though.
In its 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) (PDF), released Monday, the Department of Defense says it’s critical to craft a “strategic approach to climate and energy.”
Other countries realize this too, but the U.S. is slow to admit things that may potentially affect the status quo economy in any way. (Our addiction to super capitalism is as bad as our addiction to fossil fuels).
The EPA has finally come out forcefully against giving climate change deniers the same credibility as people who recognize the science.
EPA Rejects 10 Petitions Charging Climate Science is Flawed
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today denied 10 petitions challenging its 2009 endangerment finding which said that climate change is real, is occurring due to emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities, and threatens human health and the environment.
EPA found no evidence to support the claims of the petitions which assert that a conspiracy invalidates the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the U.S. Global Change Research Program. On the contrary, EPA’s review of the petitions found that climate science is credible, compelling, and growing stronger.
“The endangerment finding is based on years of science from the U.S. and around the world. These petitions — based as they are on selectively edited, out-of-context data and a manufactured controversy — provide no evidence to undermine our determination. Excess greenhouse gases are a threat to our health and welfare,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.
“Defenders of the status quo will try to slow our efforts to get America running on clean energy. [...]
Under the newly signed agreement, Ecologia Soluzione Ambiente S.p.a. has committed itself to exclusively use the CFM Systems ceramic flat filter membrane technology from ItN Nanovation in the construction of its future wastewater treatment facilities.
Sophisticated molecular-size motors have evolved in nature, where they are used in virtually every important biological process. Some fascinating examples in nature are DNA and RNA polymerase, rotary motors such as ATP synthase, and flagella motors. In contrast, the development of synthetic nanomotors that mimic the function of these amazing natural systems and could be used in man-made nanodevices is in its infancy. Nevertheless, scientists are making good progress in achieving cargo transport by artificial nanomachines although often these advances are handicapped by several drawbacks. Researchers in Germany have now demonstrated the directed loading and transport of microobjects by high propulsion powered tubular microbots driven by a microbubble propulsion mechanism.
Alle Elektronen tragen ein magnetisches Moment, Spin genannt, das grundsaetzlich in zwei Richtungen zeigen kann. Setzt man geeignete Nano-Roehrchen aus Kohlenstoff einem hohen Magnetfeld aus, so lassen sie bei einem bestimmten Wert nur Elektronen mit einer Spinrichtung durchfliessen. Erhoeht man das Magnetfeld weiter, so werden nur Elektronen mit der anderen Spinrichtung durchgelassen.
Tiny particles of iron oxide could become tools for simultaneous tumor imaging and treatment, because of their magnetic properties and toxic effects against brain cancer cells. In mice, researchers have demonstrated how these particles can deliver antibodies to implanted brain tumors, while enhancing tumor visibility via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
A group of organizations in Singapore have launched the Industrial Consortium On Nanoimprint (ICON).
Hydrogen is considered the fuel of the future. Yet this lightest of the chemical elements can embrittle the metals used in vehicle engineering. The result: components suddenly malfunction and break. A new special laboratory is aiding researchers' search for hydrogen-compatible metals.
Aerotech's ANT130-5-V is a linear-motor-driven wedge-style vertical lift stage that provides the exceptional resolution, accuracy, and in-position stability required in nanopositioning applications, all while offering travel up to 5 mm.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a new way to regulate the uncontrolled growth of blood vessels, a major problem in a broad range of diseases and conditions.
The concentrations of toxic nitrogen oxide that are present in German cities regularly exceed the maximum permitted levels. That's now about to change, as innovative paving slabs that will help protect the environment are being introduced. Coated in titanium dioxide nanoparticles, they reduce the amount of nitrogen oxide in the air.
The third German-Japanese Micro/Nano Business Forum at the Exhibition Micromachine last Thursday in Tokyo attracted more than 300 Japanese industry representatives.
A new, integrated gas injection system on the ORION Plus Helium Ion Microscope delivers superior nanofabrication, deposition and etch.
