New Earths Hidden In The Data?

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In the Hunt for Planets, Who Owns the Data?, NY Times

"On Tuesday, astronomers operating NASA's Kepler spacecraft will release a list of about 350 stars newly suspected of harboring planets, including five systems with multiple candidate planets. That data could dramatically swell the inventory of alien worlds, which now stands at 461, none of them habitable by the likes of us. ... But a lot of attention has been paid in astronomical circles over the past few months to what the Kepler team will not be saying. By agreement with NASA, the team is holding back data on its 400 brightest and best planet candidates, which the astronomers intend to observe themselves over abusy summer. ... The result has been a shift in the balance between the duty of a scientist to wring every last drop of truth and credibility out of the data he or she might have spent years gathering and the rights of the rest of us to know what our tax dollars have discovered."

Cool Cars: 1982 Excalibur Series IV

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Yesterday's blog entry contained a link to a story about Brooks Stevens by Richard Langworth. One of the Stevens' designs that Langworth mentioned was the Excalibur neoclassic, which recently popped up on Hemmings.com. This 1982 Excalibur Series IV just so happens to come from the same year of La

Introduction to Yoga – Twists

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There are many benefits to adding twists as part of a well-rounded yoga practice including relief of back pain and pressure, improved digestion, stretching and strengthening of the spine, and many others depending on the pose. If you have problems with your lower back or sacroiliac joints, do

Thoughts on How Digital Pathology Will Usher in New Era of Personalized Medicine

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Dr. Joseph Krueger over at his Instablog has some interesting comments concerning digital pathology and personalized medicine. 

He writes "This new technology, whole slide imaging, or digital pathology, is moving pathology closer towards an electronic science. Radiologists have worked exclusively from digital media for years, but pathology is just now moving in this direction. The entire tissue section on the glass slide is scanned in a high-throughput scanner, made by established digital pathology companies like Aperio, Bioimagene, Zeiss, and Hamamatsu, or newer entrants with even faster scanning technologies like Leica, Philips, and GE’s Omnyx subsidiary. The pathologist can now read and diagnose from a computer screen, eliminating the need to ship glass slides around during clinical trials. More importantly, the pathologist can run computer image analysis across the tissue section, generating quantitative information highly useful in the development of a companion diagnostics program. This methodology not only speeds up the pathological assessment process, reducing cost, it provides the means for a rapid and inexpensive companion diagnostic based on the “gold standard” assessment of pathology."

Who could disagree with that?  I think Dr. Krueger touches on one of the many values of digital pathology; the power of image analysis with a digital data set, a real advantage over analog review alone. 

The post provides interesting background and further discussion that is worth checking out:

Digital Pathology Will Usher in New Era of Personalized Medicine

NASA Layoff Update

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No NASA employees will lose jobs in Constellation cuts, space agency confirms, Huntsville Times

"NASA Headquarters in Washington confirmed today that no government employees here will lose their jobs in current cuts being made in the Constellation rocket program."

Space Policy Fight May Have No Winners, Aviation Week

"Bolden says "most of these reductions will be implemented via reductions in workforce" in the weeks ahead, "beginning immediately" and totaling an estimated "30-60% of the current population, or 2,500-5,000, for the balance of the year."

Job fairs, workshop planned for space shuttle workers, Florida Today

"Two upcoming job fairs and a workshop aim to assist aerospace professionals whose jobs could end with the shuttle program, and those already out of work."

Mr. Hayward Goes To Washington | The Intersection

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The Oil Drum has posted and linked (pdf) to the letter sent by the Energy and Commerce Committee to BP CEO Tony Hayward in preparation for his upcoming testimony regarding concerns over risky practices related to the oil spill. It begins:
Dear Mr. Hayward: We are looking forward to your testimony before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on Thursday, June 17, 2010, about the causes of the blowout ofthe Macondo well and the ongoing oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. As you prepare for this testimony, we want to share with you some of the results of the Committee's investigation and advise you of issues you should be prepared to address. The Committee's investigation is raising serious questions about the decisions made by BP in the days and hours before the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon. On April 15, five days before the explosion, BP's drilling engineer called Macondo a "nightmare well." In spite of the well's difficulties, BP appears to have made multiple decisions for economic reasons that increased the danger of a catastrophic well failure. In several instances, these decisions appear to violate industry guidelines and were made despite warnings from BP's own personnel and its contractors. In ...


Water Worlds

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Research Suggests Water Content Of Moon Interior Underestimated

"NASA-funded scientists estimate from recent research that the volume of water molecules locked inside minerals in the Moon's interior could exceed the amount of water in the Great Lakes here on Earth."

New CU-Boulder Study Indicates An Ancient Ocean May have Covered One-Third of Mars

"Collectively, these results support the existing theories regarding the extent and formation time of an ancient ocean on Mars and imply the surface conditions during the time probably allowed the occurrence of a global and active hydrosphere integrating valley networks, deltas and a vast ocean as major components of an Earth-like hydrologic cycle," Di Achille and Hynek wrote in Nature Geoscience."

Sen. Nelson Attempts To Formulate a Compromise

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Nelson maps a road forward on space without Constellation, Orlando Sentinel

"Although Nelson mentions Ares I and Orion's contracts and assets - the first-phase rocket and crew capsule, respectively, of Constellation -- he does not talk about the program at all. Gone too is any mention of a vigorous test flight program for which Nelson recently requested $726 million. Nelson's spokesman, Dan McLaughlin, said that upon reflection lawmakers decided that it was up to "NASA as to how to get started on HLV as soon as possible." Nelson's approach appears to be an attempt at compromise with critics of the president's plans who have attacked the proposals as a "road to nowhere" that cedes U.S. leadership in space."

Letter From Sen. Nelson to Sen. Mikulski Regarding FY 2011 NASA Budget

"Thank you for your letter of February 16, 2010, outlining your principles for drafting the fiscal year 2011 funding bill for NASA. I share fully your sentiment that our committees must work together to define the best path forward for America's space program. Over the last four months, I have been studying the President's budget request, as well as various alternative proposals, in determining how we can best move ahead to the next era of human space flight. I write today to share with you some of the key elements that have emerged from that review, including discussions with Chairman Rockefeller, Ranking Member Hutchison, Senator Vitter, and other members of our Committee, which will form the bipartisan foundation of a NASA authorization bill."