Where the Wild Things Are

Book cover, Wikipedia (fair use)

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Maurice Sendak, author of the children's book Where the Wild Things Are, was an illustrator first, then decided to write as well as illustrate his books. In the mid-1950s he started this book. According to Wikipedia,

The story was supposed to be that of a child who, after a tantrum, is punished in his room and decides to escape to the place that gives the book its title, the "land of wild horses". Shortly before starting the illustrations, Sendak realized he did not know how to draw horses and, at the suggestion of his editor, changed the wild horses to the more ambiguous "Wild Things", a term inspired by the Yiddish expression "vilde chaya" ("wild animals"), used to indicate boisterous children.

He replaced the horses with caricatures of his aunts and uncles, caricatures that he had originally drawn in his youth as an escape from their chaotic weekly visits, on Sunday afternoons, to his family's Brooklyn home. Sendak, as a child, had observed his relatives as being "all crazy – crazy faces and wild eyes", with blood-stained eyes and "big and yellow" teeth, who pinched his cheeks until they were red. These relatives, like Sendak's parents, were poor Jewish immigrants from Poland, whose remaining family in Europe were killed during the Holocaust while Sendak was in his early teens. As a child, however, he saw them only as "grotesques".

According to Sendak

at first the book was banned in libraries and received negative reviews. It took about two years for librarians and teachers to realize that children were flocking to the book, checking it out over and over again, and for critics to relax their views. Since then, it has received high critical acclaim (Wikipedia).

And that's how one classic was born.

-- Marge

Science: 4 new elements found

Periodic Table with new elements, 2016, Science Alert

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News coming across the virtual wire is Four new elements confirmed. The numbers given them are 113, 115, 117, and 118; and they complete the 7th row of the periodic table. According to Gizmag these elements do not exist in nature, but were "confirmed to have been created for the first time."

My question is: are the real atoms with 113, 115, 117, and 118 protons lurking somewhere in nature, to be discovered sometime in the future, or are we making things up as we go along. Quoting the Gizmag article:

Element 113, for example, was created by using a linear accelerator to bombard a thin layer of bismuth with zinc ions travelling at about ten percent of the speed of light in hope that, in rare instances, the bismuth and zinc atoms would fuse to form a element. The resulting super-heavy atom of 113 would then decay and turn into other unstable radioactive isotopes, which would decay nearly as fast.

The result was that the scientists who created the new element had to spend years tracing back the event through a labyrinth of isotopic breakdowns to prove that they descended from the new element. Then, the JWP of the IUPAC had to review the literature to make sure no mistakes were made.

Fundamental as chemistry is to science, it has a kind of mystical aura to it. Russian chemistry professor Dmitri Mendeleev pieced together the periodic table in 1869 "to correct the properties of some already discovered elements and also to predict the properties of eight elements yet to be discovered." In Mendeleev's time 60 elements were known. Later in the Wikipedia article about Mendeleev, there's this:

As he attempted to classify the elements according to their chemical properties, he noticed patterns that led him to postulate his periodic table; he claimed to have envisioned the complete arrangement of the elements in a dream.

Another possible case of a chemist dreaming a solution (pun alert!) is August Kekule who suggested the structure of the benzene ring. His dream of a snake biting its tail has become famous; it was notably cited by Carl G. Jung in support of his ideas on alchemy. However, according to a piece in the New York Times, the story may not be true.

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Currrent atomic model, Newcastle School, SCIENCE-esl

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Other elements have been added in modern times. Here's a summary of the current periodic table's contents:

A total of 94 elements occur naturally; the remaining 20 elements, from americium to copernicium, and flerovium and livermorium, occur only when synthesised in laboratories. Of the 94 elements that occur naturally, 84 are primordial. The other 10 naturally occurring elements occur only in decay chains of primordial elements. No element heavier than einsteinium (element 99) has ever been observed in macroscopic quantities in its pure form, nor has astatine (element 85); francium (element 87) has been only photographed in the form of light emitted from microscopic quantities (300,000 atoms).

For more information on the new elements, check out Four elements have just earned a permanent spot in the periodic table at Science Alert.


-- Marge

DIY: turtle play

"Turtle draw" by Valiant Technology Ltd, Wikipedia

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According to the Wikipedia article on Turtle (robot), we've been playing with Turtles since the late 1940s. The Valiant Turtle "was sold from 1983 to 2011. It was controlled by infrared." In checking to see if a Turtle robot using the Logo programming language is still available, I came across c2.com's message: 

You can still buy the Valiant Turtle (http://www.valiant-technology.com/usa/turtle1.htm) although the price is steep. There is also Roamer (http://www.valiant-technology.com/usa/roamer1.htm) [same URL as Valiant Turtle] which can be controlled by a computer, and with a pen attachment can draw pictures on paper on the floor, but doesn't seem to be able to pick up or put down the pen.

I've been looking for a cheap (under $100) tethered turtle for a while now. LegoMindstorms (about $200) can do the trick, but it is major overkill if all you are trying to do is draw pictures on butcher paper in LogoLanguage.

While checking out the site, c2, I came across this intriguing piece of information in a paper titled A Laboratory For Teaching Object-Oriented Thinking:

The most difficult problem in teaching object-oriented programming is getting the learner to give up the global knowledge of control that is possible with procedural programs, and rely on the local knowledge of objects to accomplish their tasks. Novice designs are littered with regressions to global thinking: gratuitous global variables, unnecessary pointers, and inappropriate reliance on the implementation of other objects. 

Because learning about objects requires such a shift in overall approach, teaching objects reduces to teaching the design of objects. We focus on design whether we are teaching basic concepts to novices or the subtleties of a complicated design to experienced object programmers.

O.K., now I'm distracted. For an overview of what object-oriented programming (OOP) is, check out the link to Wikipedia's article. Here's a C++ snippet from the Code Project:

class Human {
   private:
      std::string nameC;
   public:
      Human(const std::string & name) : nameC(name) { }
   };

According to neONBRAND, with OOP it's easier to maintain and modify existing code; ease of development and portability are better; and efficiency is improved.

Returning to the turtle and robotics, Wikipedia has a Robotics Portal that looks like fun to explore.

-- Marge

Psych: romance and choice

Breathless Books, Assent Publishing

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It's likely you don't choose a romantic partner the same way you choose a car. True? Me, I go out into the world and whoever clicks, clicks. Most of the time I go home alone. Aaron Ben-Zeév, Ph.D., writing in Psychology Today says:

We have 3 common approaches, but 2 are fatally flawed.

His article also says:

One important aspect of choosing a romantic partner is the weight we give to bad (negative) and good (positive) qualities. Although we tend to focus more on the partner's bad qualities at the stage of choosing a partner, it seems that in the long run, positive qualities become more important and eventually outweigh the negatives.

Social psychology has an idea that relationships are based on rational choice and cost-benefit analyses. To quote Wikipedia:

If one partner's costs begin to outweigh his or her benefits, that person may leave the relationship, especially if there are good alternatives available.

For more on the Social Exchange Theory, take a look at these articles at Boundless and Psych-it.

This theory may be true near the end of the relationship, but (seems to me) at the beginning the choice is relatively irrational.  It happens that how and what we decide to buy has been the topic of intense study by those selling for some time now. Just google "Studying people’s buying habits." There's more about buying decisions at Buying decision process and Rational choice theory on Wikipedia. And, when we choose someone, aren't we really "buying" what they have to offer?

Again, I personally think romantic choices are irrational, because that's how I make them (then rue the day). There's an interesting article about irrational choices from Daniel McFadden's paper "The New Science of Pleasure," published by the Atlantic. In his paper he says:

...The popular psychological theory of "hyperbolic discounting" says people don't properly evaluate rewards over time. The theory seeks to explain why many groups -- nappers, procrastinators, Congress -- take rewards now and pain later, over and over again. But neurology suggests that it hardly makes sense to speak of "the brain," in the singular, because it's two very different parts of the brain that process choices for now and later. The choice to delay gratification is mostly processed in the frontal system. But studies show that the choice to do something immediately gratifying is processed in a different system, the limbic system, which is more viscerally connected to our behavior, our "reward pathways," and our feelings of pain and pleasure.

How do you choose?

-- Marge

Cities lost to the sea

Cities captured by the waves and drawn to a watery death captivate the imagination. Where once people bustled about their daily tasks, reclined at their leisure, and gathered to share the daily news, now fishes feed and sand sifts over their remains.

There are a number of cities that have been claimed by the sea; one is Heracleion, also known as Thonis, near what was once Alexandria.

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Statue of a pharaoh (©Franck Goddio/Hilti Foundation, photo: Christoph Gerigk), Collective Evolution

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Seventeenth-century Port Royal, a city of pirates, was known as the "wickedest city on earth." It was featured as a "location within Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean film series, though much of the location work for Port Royal was actually done on the island of Saint Vincent, not in Jamaica. (Wikipedia)"

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Port Royal, Jamaica, Earth Porm

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Four more cities are listed by Earth Porm: The Pyramids of Yonaguni-Jima, Japan; Dwarka, Gulf of Cambay, India; Lion City of Quiandao Lake, China; and Cleopatra’s Palace, Alexandria, Egypt.

Andrew Handley has an article about lesser known mysterious underwater cities. The image below shows pottery found at Mulifanua, a tiny village perched on the northernmost tip of Upolu in the Samoan archipelago. This pottery dates back to about 800 B.C.

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Andrew Handley, Mulifanua Bay, Listverse

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-- Marge

Science: the flux we live in

Magnetar SGR 1745-525, NASA-Chandra

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On May 16th NASA issued a press release reporting that a magnetar near a supermassive black hole delivers surprises. The black hole is the one at the center of the Milky Way; the surprise is that

the amount of X-rays from SGR 1745-2900 is dropping more slowly than other previously observed magnetars, and its surface is hotter than expected.

My interest was piqued. On researching the literature about Magnetars, I found this

1979 discovery
On March 5, 1979, a few months after the successful dropping of satellites into the atmosphere of Venus, the two Soviet spacecraft that were then drifting through the Solar System were hit by a blast of gamma radiation at approximately 10:51 EST. This contact raised the radiation readings on both the probes from a normal 100 counts per second to over 200,000 counts a second, in only a fraction of a millisecond.

This burst of gamma rays quickly continued to spread. Eleven seconds later, Helios 2, a NASA probe, which was in orbit around the Sun, was saturated by the blast of radiation. It soon hit Venus, and the Pioneer Venus Orbiter's detectors were overcome by the wave. Seconds later, Earth received the wave of radiation, where the powerful output of gamma rays inundated the detectors of three U.S. Department of Defense Vela satellites, the Soviet Prognoz 7 satellite, and the Einstein Observatory. Just before the wave exited the Solar System, the blast also hit the International Sun-Earth Explorer. This extremely powerful blast of gamma radiation constituted the strongest wave of extra-solar gamma rays ever detected; it was over 100 times more intense than any known previous extra-solar burst. Because gamma rays travel at the speed of light and the time of the pulse was recorded by several distant spacecraft as well as on Earth, the source of the gamma radiation could be calculated to an accuracy of about 2 arcseconds. The direction of the source corresponded with the remnants of a star that had gone supernova around 3000 B.C.E. It was in the Large Magellanic Cloud and the source was named SGR 0525-66, the event itself was named GRB 790305b, the first observed SGR megaflare.

From another section of the Wikipedia article we learn that "magnetars are around 20 kilometres (12 mi) in diameter and have a greater mass than the Sun." Despite this minute size in comparison to other celestial bodies, the burst of radiation raised the radiation reading from the normal 100 count per second to over 200,000 counts per second in a timeframe of milliseconds when detected by the Soviet probes. None of the radiation is reported to have been detected within Earth's atmosphere.

This is a tale of only one magnetar event. "As of November 2013, 21 magnetars are known, with five more candidates awaiting confirmation." reports Wikipedia.

What I wonder is how is life on Earth would be affected if such radiation penetrated Earth's atmosphere. The wave passed through the solar system at the speed of light, too fast for our bodies to detect and react. But the brain works with electricity, which is in the same realm as solar and other radiation. This EPA page gives a good summary of types of radiation.

If magnetar and similar radiation events affect our brains, how? Mentally? Emotionally? An image that comes to mind is the event following contact with the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey: an ape's discovery of using a tool. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we should walk around wearing tin-foil helmets, but I am asking if historical and social events are sometimes triggered by the celestial flux we live in.

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Discovery, 2001: A Space Odyssey

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-- Marge

DIY: add flowers to that salad

Eating Dandelions, Indiana Public Media

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In this era of trying to control one's weight, salads are a primary feature of many meals. As with anything done too regularly, they can become tiresome.  One thing I do for variety is add bits of different types of greens to the customary lettuce, such as kale, beet greens, spinach, and even a small amount of fresh lemon balm (it's an herb, so has a stronger flavor).  Something I've wanted to try, but haven't, is adding flowers.

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Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), Texas A&M University

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While a number of flowers are edible, some are definitely not edible or should only be eaten in small amounts. This is from the Wikipedia article linked above:

Some flowers are safe to eat only in small amounts. Apple flowers (Malus spp.) contain cyanide precursors and Johnny jump-ups (Viola tricolor) contain saponins. Borage (Borago officinalis) and daylily (Hemerocallis spp.) flowers are diuretics and sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum) can have blood-thinning effects. The flowers of linden trees (Tilia spp.) are reportedly safe in small amounts but heavy consumption can cause heart damage. Marigolds (Tagetes spp.) can be harmful in large amounts, and only certain species have an appealing flavor.

Toxic flowers are easily mistaken for edible varieties, and safe and unsafe species may share a common name. Various non-toxic plants can cause severe allergies in some people. Flowers commonly carry traces of pesticides and harbor organisms such as insects. Flowers cultivated as ornamental plants for garden use are not intended for use as food.

Note that some non-toxic plants can cause severe allergies, so exercise caution and know your dinner guests. It's interesting to note that among the toxic plants listed at Wikipedia are kidney beans, lemons, wild potatoes, and rhubarb.

Apparently, "Edible flowers are the new rage in haute cuisine." There's some good info on what flowers and herbs can be used in this article from What's Cooking America. Especially helpful are the descriptions of what flavor to expect. I've heard often that dandelions are very beneficial.

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Edible Flowers, What's Cooking America

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If the idea of using flowers for cooking appeals to you, here's a recipe for "Spring Bouquet Popsicles." They're pretty, but do they taste good?

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Flower Popsicles, Marla Meridith Photography

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-- Marge

Is it lust, love, natural selection, or just spring?

Jacques-Louis David, "The Love of Helen and Paris," Wikipedia

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An old saw now, Tennyson's assertion in "Locksley Hall" that

In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love

may be scientifically true. In the New York Times this article by Natalie Angier "Seasons Sway Human Birth Rates" says

In the new study, the scientists scrutinized birth records of 166 countries, representing tens of millions of births. Studying the United States and Europe and the other countries of the temperate zone in the Northern Hemisphere the researchers found there are two annual conception peaks, which continue today but were especially notable before the era of extensive industrialization.

One statistical spike occurs around the spring equinox, in March, resulting in a spate of births in late December or early January. The second arrives in autumn, around October or November, leading to a slight glut of babies arriving in mid-summer.

A member of the study team, Dr. Roenneberg, adds that "The effects of climate and day length are becoming less effective in the modern world, because we're always indoors, and the lighting and temperature are controlled." You can find a summary of the article at SAGE journals.

This study, and others, raise the question: are we in control of our own passions or controlled by factors outside ourselves? Personally, I would say that few control his/her passions. What we desire just is and you either go with it or run in the opposite direction. Just my opinion.

But if you find you can't stop thinking of a special one, it's probably time to ask yourself--is it lust or love? Dr. Judith Orloff gives some practical advice in "Tips to Identify the Difference Between Love and Lust."

If it is lust, why this particular person? And why am I so confused? Dr. Helen E. Fisher, writing at Dana Foundation, asserts "Brains Do It: Lust, Attraction, and Attachment."

If all this is just too cerebral for you, blame your fatal attraction on Darwin's theory of natural selection. This interesting discussion is taking place at a thread under Reddit's explain like I'm five: If being attractive is an important aspect of sexual attraction, why hasn't natural selection turned us all into super models?.

-- Marge

DIY: just say no to a dysfunctional Christmas

Jen from Sales: "That guy in Engineering gave me this bracelet for Christmas... I think it's expensive!"

Lisa, also in Sales: "Give it back; it's a trap."

Jen: "What's not to love about an engineer?"

Gift-giving at the office can be tricky, but sometimes the gift is clearly attached to some intent not in the spirit of Christmas.

Christmas is hands-down my favorite holiday, but it comes with a lot of baggage, much of it added by people who want to celebrate it their own way or who are just being their clueless selves. I'm not going to get into current Christmas controversy, but do offer some viewpoints on aspects of the season that can be problematic.

Personal safety and practical self defense.

Holiday shopping.

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And perhaps most of all, family dysfunction.

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If your family is problematic (and whose isn't?), here's some help: "Rules of Engagement: Dealing With Your Family During the Holidays." And this is an interesting piece about "How Self Love and Boundaries Mix."

Finally, if you've just heard your mother/stepmother/mother-in-law (father/stepfather/father-in-law) use the same phrase for the 23rd time, remember: things could be a lot worse.

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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. The Lede.blogs.nytimes

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-- Marge

Science: the black hole conundrum

A high resolution mid-infrared picture taken of the center of our Milky Way galaxy reveals details about dust swirling into the black hole that dominates the region. - Image Credit: Dr. Mark Morris (UCLA) Keck II, Mirlen instrument, keckobservatory.org

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A number of different astronomers have stated that each galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center. Or at the least, most galaxies, ours included. How can this be? Modern culture would have us believe black holes suck in all surrounding matter once it crosses the event horizon. A page about black holes at NASA Chats - Ask an expert says:

Black holes are really just the evolutionary end points of massive stars. 

Even more intriguing, but somehow reassuring, too.  The end of life may generate a new beginning. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness keeps coming to mind. An article at Cosmotography--A Singular Place--explores the relationship between a black hole and its surrounding galaxy.

Some interesting work observing the black hole called Sagittarius A*, at the center of our galaxy, the Milky Way, is being done. A relatively new device for observation is NASA's NuSTAR (video posted by Teknociencia).

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Sgr A* is a research topic for astronomer James Lyke at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. Recently he's captured some good information about the black hole, using several complementary technologies. Note in the video below, posted by the Science Channel, what it takes in terms of manpower and mechanical positioning to capture such information.

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You can track current news about Keck Observatory at this dedicated site.

-- Marge

Science: Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works

Compact fusion reactor, photo by Eric Schulzinger for Lockheed Martin, Aviation Week

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The scientific community's reception of Lockheed Martin's announcement that they're "restarting the atomic age" has been cool, mostly because of the lack of supporting evidence.

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(What a lot of shiny stainless steel flanges!)

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Lockheed Martin plans to restart the atomic age with a compact fusion reactor, about which they say:

Building on more than 60 years of fusion research, the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works approach to compact fusion is a high beta concept. This concept uses a high fraction of the magnetic field pressure, or all of its potential, so we can make our devices 10 times smaller than previous concepts. That means we can replace a device that must be housed in a large building with one that can fit on the back of a truck.

Meanwhile, according to an article published in response to this announcement, Physics Today, (published by the American Institute of Physics, aka AIP):

So what are the technical facts? Within the abundant skepticism seen in the media coverage, a big component is the complaint that not enough facts have been made public. A Guardian article reports that despite all of the publicity, “experts point to the lack of details or results.” It ends by observing that Lockheed has “come up with an idea and they want someone to give them some money so they can develop it”—and by adding that although investment in fusion “is exciting and potentially world-changing,” the “real breakthroughs occur when experiments actually take place.”

The AIP article mentions that Aviation Week and Space Technology was granted 'special access' to the project.  The Aviation Week article, "Skunk Works Reveals Compact Fusion Reactor Details," closes thus:

Preliminary simulations and experimental results “have been very promising and positive,” McGuire [project leader] says. “The latest is a magnetized ion confinement experiment, and preliminary measurements show the behavior looks like it is working correctly. We are starting with the plasma confinement, and that’s where we are putting most of our effort. One of the reasons we are becoming more vocal with our project is that we are building up our team as we start to tackle the other big problems. We need help and we want other people involved. It’s a global enterprise, and we are happy to be leaders in it.” 

Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works presented on the high beta fusion reactor in 2013 at a Google Solve for X forum. For some background information, take a look at Popular Mechanics' "Why Don't We Have Fusion Power?"


-- Marge

DIY: Synth

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To be up front, music is not my forte (pun intended). And synth, aka synthesizer, is a complex topic with a number of different approaches. The approach I'm taking today is using your computer to synthesize digital music, not necessarily for performing it. To see some of the options for music synthesis, take a look at Wikipedia's Comparison of audio synthesis environments.

My original idea was to find a way to generate music for use as background in videos and games.  I may have bitten off more than I can chew. But I did finally find what I was looking for--Wikipedia calls it a software Digital Audio Workstation.

The reason for producing music locally, that is on my computer, is the difficulty in knowing what can be used legally from the music sites found online, such as SoundCloud, Jamendo, and ccMixter. There are more such sites listed at Hongkiat. While these sites offer music with specified fair use rights, sometimes it's unclear whether a specific piece is open for use or not. For more info on fair use, here's a link to the FAQ at Creative Commons.

Using the right term--software DAW--for the task at hand, I found this article, "The 19 best DAW software apps in the world today." If you have a Mac, Apple's GarageBand would fill the bill; Apple says it's built into every Mac. Mutools' MuLab looks good. The others are well worth checking out as well.

I downloaded and installed a demo of Renoise, which is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux and in 32- and 64-bit versions. The full version is EUR 65, USD 89.

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screenshot of Renoise desktop, Renoise

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The application  is impressive, to say the least, and well-documented. There are a number of sample songs and tutorials. And it appears that I'll be able to open and play with files generated in other file formats. Think mixing. Exploring this app will take some time.

Also found today was Tonematrix, an Audiotool online.

Which brings us back to the original question--what to do about using pre-recorded music from music sites online? The results are still out, but now I have more options.

-- Marge
   

Science: combing the universe for planets

David A Aguilar (CfA), hypothetical world with 2 moons, UniverseToday

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That's right, literally combing with an astro-comb to find planets outside our solar system. Currently scientists are just looking for Venus to test the technology and make sure it works (Gizmag: Astronomers use astro-comb to seek Earth-like exoplanets).

The Walsworth Group reports:

We have developed a new technique using laser frequency combs to improve the accuracy and stability of wavelength calibration of astrophysical spectrographs by up to two orders of magnitude. This "astro-comb" will provide a key advance in the resolution of changes in astrophysical Doppler shifts and redshifts, and thus may allow the discovery of Earth-like planets and new measurements of astrophysical dynamics relevant to cosmology.

Both of the leading techniques to find exoplanets rely on the planet's very small effect on its star. The radial velocity technique measures the star's "wobble" (and hence Doppler shift) due to the planet's gravitational pull as it circles; while the transit technique measures the dimming of a star's light as a planet passes in front of it. With current technology, both of these techniques can identify relatively large planets that have a noticeable effect on their star. Detection of the very small Doppler shifts (<10 cm/s) induced by smaller, rocky planets, like Earth and Mars, will require improved wavelength calibration that can only be provided by astro-combs.

For Physics.org's report on the topic, take a look at this article.

Another group, Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), has published images of their setup and reports on the TNG+Harps-N system.

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astro-comb laser setup, TNG

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-- Marge

So what's so special about a blue LED?

Steve Woodward, Child studying by solar light, ABC.net.au

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One of this year's Nobel prizes was awarded to the Japanese inventors of the blue light-emitting diode (LED). NobelPrize.org explains that

by using blue LEDs, white light can be created in a new way. With the advent of LED lamps we now have more long-lasting and more efficient alternatives to older light sources.

Popular Science asked the same question I did--"Why A Blue LED Is Worth A Nobel Prize"--and went on to say:

LEDs are basically semiconductors that have been built so they emit light when they're activated. Different chemicals give different LEDs their colors. Engineers made the first LEDs in the 1950s and 60s. Early iterations included laser-emitting devices that worked only when bathed in liquid nitrogen. At the time, scientists developed LEDs that emitted everything from infrared light to green light… but they couldn't quite get to blue. That required chemicals, including carefully-created crystals, that they weren't yet able to make in the lab.

Once they did figure it out, however, the results were remarkable. A modern white LED lightblub converts more than 50 percent of the electricity it uses into light. Compare that to the 4 percent conversion rate for incandescent bulbs, and you have one efficient bulb. Besides saving money and electricity for all users, white LEDs' efficiency makes them appealing for getting lighting to folks living in regions without electricity supply. A solar installation can charge an LED lamp to last a long time, allowing kids to do homework at night and small businesses to continue working after dark.

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LEDs! 

PiccoloNamek on Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

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This NPR blog, Goats and Soda, calls LED lights a 'transformative technology' in the developing world, replacing kerosene with solar power. Lighting Global supports a burgeoning market for off-grid lighting.

Problem solved...mostly.

But what about the times and places when and where the sun doesn't shine so much? Researchers are working on it: "Artificial Photosynthesis: Saving Solar Energy for a Rainy Day." If you're interested in the topic of photovoltaics, you can sign up at The Optical Society (OSA) to get current and reliable information.

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Artificial photosynthesis graphic, OSA

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-- Marge

Science: A warp bubble drive for interstellar travel

USS Enterprise at warp (Paramount Pictures/CBS Studios), Universe Today

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To travel beyond our solar system and flyby the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri (4.3 light years distant), is a journey estimated to take 40 years one way, depending on the mode of propulsion used. That's a road trip with possibly no return. Wikipedia's article on interstellar travel is truly an eye-opener.

It's known that we cannot travel faster than light in spacetime, as explained on NASA's Status of "Warp Drive" page. After a reference to special relativity, the NASA author says:

One of the consequences of this Special Relativity is the light speed barrier [compared to the sound barrier earlier in the article]. Here’s another way to look at it. To move faster, you add energy. But when you get going near the speed of light, the amount of energy you need to go faster balloons to infinity! To move a mass at the speed of light would take infinite energy. It appears that there is a distinct barrier here.

Note that this barrier is an effect of being in the spacetime matrix. But what if we consider altering the matrix itself? Then we are looking at ideas like the warp bubble drive (Alcubierre drive) and wormhole transportation.

Since first coming across the idea of warp bubble drive, I've been intrigued by it.  Here's a diagram that might help.

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Warp drive bubble (NASA), Gizmag

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According to an article in Gizmag, "Warp drive looks more promising than ever in recent NASA studies:"

The warp drive broke away from being a wholly fictional concept in 1994, when physicist Miguel Alcubierre suggested that faster-than-light (FTL) travel was possible if you remained still on a flat piece of spacetime inside a warp bubble that was made to move at superluminal velocity. Rather like a magic carpet. The main idea here is that, although no material objects can travel faster than light, there is no known upper speed to the ability of spacetime itself to expand and contract. The only real hint we have is that the minimum velocity of spacetime expansion during the period of cosmological inflation was about 30 million billion times the speed of light.

In describing how the warp bubble would work, author Brian Dodson says:

The warp effect uses gravitational effects to compress the spacetime in front of a spacecraft, then expand the spacetime behind it. The bit of spacetime within the warp bubble is flat, so that the spacecraft would float at zero-g along the wave of compressed and expanded spacetime. The net effect is rather like surfing, where you are nearly stationary with respect to the wave, but are traveling with the speed of the wave. Whereas many of the theoretical studies consider a warp bubble moving at ten times the speed of light, there is no known limit to the potential speed.

All is not rosy with this shiny new idea, though. Universe Today warns:

Planning a little space travel to see some friends on Kepler 22b? Thinking of trying out your newly-installed FTL3000 Alcubierre Warp Drive to get you there in no time? Better not make it a surprise visit — your arrival may end up disintegrating anyone there when you show up.

In closing Wikipedia's article on the Alcubierre Warp Drive includes a snapshot of the math.

-- Marge

DIY: Citizen science games

After stumbling across Eyewire--a game that maps the brain--the other day, I began wondering how many science projects there are for ordinary folks to help with. Answer is--a lot. Wikipedia lists many citizen science projects. (Wikipedia itself invites people to help; check this page for information on Wikipedians.) LearningScience also has a list of projects that invite you to help scientists do real science.

Of the projects listed at LearningScience I selected the following, which are presented as games. Note that the tutorials are important.

At Nova Labs you can find a number of labs/projects: RNA, cloud, sun, and energy. Below is a screenshot from the RNA Lab. This is a point-and-click game with lovely effects, especially sound.

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Design biomolecules, RNA Lab, NOVA

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Foldit is a portal for protein folding. When you play you're predicting how a protein will fold; this is important because--

This structure specifies the function of the protein. For example, a protein that breaks down glucose so the cell can use the energy stored in the sugar will have a shape that recognizes the glucose and binds to it (like a lock and key) and chemically reactive amino acids that will react with the glucose and break it down to release the energy.

Also, knowing how a protein folds helps in the design of new proteins to to combat disease-related proteins and cure diseases like HIV, cancer, and Alzheimer's.  Currently Foldit is in beta and you must download a client. Since I haven't tested it, I don't know if you must log into the portal to play the game or what gameplay is like.

Phylo is a puzzle game of matching colors that contributes to genetic disease research. You can simply start playing when you load the site, but must sign up to get credit for your progress.

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Genetic Disease Research, Phylo

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A hard one is Eyewire, a game to map the brain. The path of a neuron can trick the eye and the player has to work 3-dimensionally. There's a leader board and a chat window with ongoing comments, requests for help, and conversations.

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Map the brain, Eyewire

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If you're tired of gaming, how about some big game. You can sign up for a wildlife conservation holiday at nonprofit Biosphere Expeditions, a gateway for a variety of expeditions and projects.  One example of a 2-week expedition is tiger volunteering in Sumatra, Indonesia.

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Sumatran Tiger, Biosphere Expeditions

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-- Marge

Making a movie with CGI

Take for example Guardians of the Galaxy, which cost $170 million to make.  Watching the credits, I was amazed and mystified to see how many people and groups of people worked on the production.  Why so many?

To get an idea of what the process for producing a movie with CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery), take at look at DreamWorks Animation's slide show describing the production process.  In the introduction DreamWorks talks about making How to Train Your Dragon:

He, and his world, were created by a team of artists using a delicate marriage between creativity and technology. Every detail, every leaf, tree, blade of grass, rock and cloud; every shadow and shaft of light; every thread of clothing and lock of hair (or fur), was imagined and brought to life by our creative teams over the four years or so that it takes to complete an animated film. So, how did we do it?

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Hiccup and Toothless, DreamWorks Animation

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CGI processes listed at DreamWorks site for producing digital imagery and animation are modeling, rigging, layout, character animation, surfacing, effects (like fire and explosion), and lighting.  Of course there are other important functions like scripting and sound, but today the topic is imagery.

At Animation World Network (AWN) producers Catherine Winder and Zahra Dowlatabadi give an interview on the 3D production process.  They call it the "production process pipeline."  Here's a quote:

It is important to keep in mind that unlike traditional 2D animation, which follows a fully established path, CGI production is still in the midst of defining and standardizing its processes. Depending on the style of the CGI show -- for example, cutout animation versus 3D -- the software used and the actual production process is different. The following is a basic outline of the production steps involved in setting up a 3D CGI project. 

1.Design 2.Modeling 3.Rigging 4.Surfaces (texture and color) 5.Staging/workbook 6.Animation 7.Lighting 8.Effects 9.Rendering 10.Composite 11.Touchup 12.Final film/video output

AWN also features the article, "Stephane Ceretti Talks ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’." Ceretti was the overall VFX supervisor for that film.

The Credits site gives a lot of information about the characters.

Referring again to the Wikipedia article on Guardians of the Galaxy, fourteen visual effects studios are listed as contributors to the film.  One of the teams is Method Studios.  Here's a video that shows CGI breakdowns for several of the films they worked on, published on YouTube by The CGBros.

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To get a better idea of what breakdowns are, check out this collection of them at The Film Stage.

Needless to say (perhaps), I really really liked Guardians of the Galaxy.

-- Marge