Filed under: A.P.O.D., Apollo program, Art, Astronomy, Buzz Aldrin, Cassini, Constellation program, Enceladus, Government, Io, ISS, Jupiter, Mars, MetaFilter, movies, NASA, Neil Armstrong, New Horizons, Saturn, Science, Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Space, Titan
Do you like APOD? Dig great shots of space? Love to poke around the various and sundry sites where NASA has images?
Then boy, are you in luck:
NASA AND INTERNET ARCHIVE LAUNCH CENTRALIZED RESOURCE FOR IMAGES
WASHINGTON — NASA and Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library based in San Francisco, made available the most comprehensive compilation ever of NASA’s vast collection of photographs, historic film and video Thursday. Located at www.nasaimages.org, the Internet site combines for the first time 21 major NASA imagery collections into a single, searchable online resource. A link to the Web site will appear on the www.nasa.gov home page.
The Web site launch is the first step in a five-year partnership that will add millions of images and thousands of hours of video and audio content, with enhanced search and viewing capabilities, and new user features on a continuing basis. Over time, integration of www.nasaimages.org with www.nasa.gov will become more seamless and comprehensive.
“This partnership with Internet Archive enables NASA to provide the American public with access to its vast collection of imagery from one searchable source, unlocking a new treasure trove of discoveries for students, historians, enthusiasts and researchers,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale. “This new resource also will enable the agency to digitize and preserve historical content now not available on the Internet for future generations.”
How many images are we talking about? Over 100,000 at present. Completely searchable. The homepage is broken down into several categories (Universe, Solar System, Earth, Astronauts) and contains an interactive timeline of the space program going back 50 years. Each search generates a page of thumbnail images – Titan calls up almost 1,500 – leading to photos, animations, audio files, and artist’s renderings.
Wow. Just wow.
Damn, and I have work I need to get done this afternoon . . .
Jim Downey
(Via MeFi.)
Currently, there are two fundamental problems with solar power:
1. Manufacturing. Photovoltaics are difficult and expensive to manufacture, with exacting quality standards. Minor imperfections can ruin the electrical circuit of a cell or even a whole panel of cells.
2. Efficiency. To get maximum efficiency from solar panels, they should be mounted so as to be optimally oriented towards the sun. Ideally, they would track the sun across the sky during the course of the day, and account for seasonal variation in the sun’s path. Such tracking mechanisms are expensive to build and maintain.
Well, researchers at MIT seem to have come up with a simple way of addressing both problems.
MIT opens new ‘window’ on solar energy
Cost effective devices expected on market soon
Imagine windows that not only provide a clear view and illuminate rooms, but also use sunlight to efficiently help power the building they are part of. MIT engineers report a new approach to harnessing the sun’s energy that could allow just that.
The work, to be reported in the July 11 issue of Science, involves the creation of a novel “solar concentrator.” “Light is collected over a large area [like a window] and gathered, or concentrated, at the edges,” explains Marc A. Baldo, leader of the work and the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Career Development Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering.
As a result, rather than covering a roof with expensive solar cells (the semiconductor devices that transform sunlight into electricity), the cells only need to be around the edges of a flat glass panel. In addition, the focused light increases the electrical power obtained from each solar cell “by a factor of over 40,” Baldo says.
(Video here.)
What they have done is to solve a basic problem with using a flat pane of glass to concentrate light around the edges of the pane, thanks to research done on lasers and LEDs. The difficulty with this approach in the past was that light energy would be ‘lost’ in passing through the glass, making such a system inefficient. But Baldo and his fellow researchers discovered that a simple application of dye or paint – they literally used orange automotive paint – on the surface of the glass did the trick. The light is absorbed by the color on the surface, then re-emitted within the pane at a particular wavelength which passes easily through the glass matrix to the edges of the pane.
This innovation is exciting for several reasons. First off, it is fairly cheap to apply such a dye to the surface of the glass, and it really doesn’t matter if there are imperfections – they’ll just disrupt the light absorption at that point, not interfere with the functioning of the photovoltaic cells. Secondly, it eliminates the need for elaborate tracking systems – any light which hits the glass is concentrated at the edges of the pane. So all you need to do is rim the edges of the glass with photovoltaic cells, and you maximize your energy gain.
A side benefit will be that the application of this technology to large buildings will generate electricity while at the same time reducing the heat load from solar radiation through windows. Say you make your windows such that they allow 25% of the light striking them to enter the building, the rest being captured for electricity generation (this can be done by controlling the amount of dye on the surface of the glass – such as is done today with tinted windows). That 25% is still plenty sufficient to help with natural illumination, but means that you won’t need to run air conditioning systems nearly as much to offset the heat load. (I just picked 25% at random – I think that the actual amount needed for illumination would be less – architects and engineers would be be able to factor this into any building’s design specs).
Of course, it could well mean that windows in our near-term future show up as being orange. Maybe I’ll need to drop such descriptions into Communion of Dreams next time I do some editing . . .
Jim Downey
(Via MeFi.)
Filed under: Art, Astronomy, Bad Astronomy, MetaFilter, movies, NASA, Phil Plait, Science, Society, Space
I love it! Via Phil Plait and MeFi, a lovely piece of artwork of the video variety: Magnetic Movie. From their site:
The secret lives of invisible magnetic fields are revealed as chaotic ever-changing geometries . All action takes place around NASA’s Space Sciences Laboratories, UC Berkeley, to recordings of space scientists describing their discoveries . Actual VLF audio recordings control the evolution of the fields as they delve into our inaudible surroundings, revealing recurrent ‘whistlers’ produced by fleeting electrons . Are we observing a series of scientific experiments, the universe in flux, or a documentary of a fictional world?
* * *
In Magnetic Movie, Semiconductor have taken the magnificent scientific visualisations of the sun and solar winds conducted at the Space Sciences Laboratory and Semiconducted them. Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt of Semiconductor were artists-in-residence at SSL. Combining their in-house lab culture experience with formidable artistic instincts in sound, animation and programming, they have created a magnetic magnum opus in nuce, a tour de force of a massive invisible force brought down to human scale, and a “very most beautiful thing.”
OK, first thing – this is art. Not science. Get that straight. Don’t get hung up on the idea that this is some kind of literal visualization of magnetic force lines as they actually exist. Just enjoy it for what it is – an artistic interpretation of some scientific ideas; a way for those of us who are not scientists to appreciate somewhat better what beauty there is in the universe around us.
Sorry if I sound a bit defensive on this – but read the comments at the BA Blog and at MeFi, and you’ll see that many people just don’t ‘get’ artistic approaches to understanding science. I ran into this problem with my Paint the Moon project (though many scientists, including Phil Plait, “got” what I was trying to accomplish and enjoyed it for what it was).
Anyway, it is a delightful movie – the representation of magnetic force lines and their behaviour is loosely tied to the sound track of actual scientists discussing how such force lines effect the surface of the sun, our auroras, and more. As with any work of sophisticated art, it takes a couple of viewings and some consideration to appreciate fully what the artists have done (or were trying to do). But hey, it’s a Friday, so watch it a couple of times and enjoy.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Humor, MetaFilter, movies, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Uncategorized, YouTube
Watch the whole thing:
Heh!
Jim Downey
(Via MeFi).
Filed under: Civil Rights, Government, MetaFilter, Predictions, Privacy, Society, Terrorism, Travel, Writing stuff
Have you ever been a tourist, and taken pictures of your trip? Have an interest in architecture or large engineering projects? Perhaps like to draw or paint plein air? Or maybe you’re a writer wanting to make notes about a particular location you want to use in a book or story?
Welcome to the Terror List:
Terror watch uses local eyes
Hundreds of police, firefighters, paramedics and even utility workers have been trained and recently dispatched as “Terrorism Liaison Officers” in Colorado and a handful of other states to hunt for “suspicious activity” — and are reporting their findings into secret government databases.It’s a tactic intended to feed better data into terrorism early-warning systems and uncover intelligence that could help fight anti-U.S. forces. But the vague nature of the TLOs’ mission, and their focus on reporting both legal and illegal activity, has generated objections from privacy advocates and civil libertarians.
* * *
Here are examples of specific behaviors that terrorism liaison officers deployed in Colorado and a handful of other states are told to watch for and report.
• Engages in suspected pre-operational surveillance (uses binoculars or cameras, takes measurements, draws diagrams, etc.)
• Appears to engage in counter-surveillance efforts (doubles back, changes appearance, drives evasively, etc.)
• Engages security personnel in questions focusing on sensitive subjects (security information, hours of operation, shift changes, what security cameras film, etc.)
• Takes pictures or video footage (with no apparent aesthetic value, for example, camera angles, security equipment, security personnel, traffic lights, building entrances, etc.)
• Draws diagrams or takes notes (building plans, location of security cameras or security personnel, security shift changes, notes of weak security points, etc.)
Depending on how someone wanted to perceive it, either my wife or I have done every single thing on that list on our vacations in this country and abroad. Yeah, even the ‘counter-surveillance efforts’ – in trying to find a given location in unfamiliar territory, we’ve often taken wrong turns or had to double back to a missed road. I’ll talk to watchmen or cops, because they usually know the most about a particular location. My wife is an architect, so is interested in structures. I like big engineering projects. We use binoculars. I’ll often make notes about places I think might fit in good with a story idea.
If I’m not already, I’ll probably wind up on someone’s terror watch list. Not because I am the slightest bit of a threat. Not because I am doing anything in the least bit illegal. Because of stupid, pointless paranoia.
Man, I can’t wait for Friday to get here so we can celebrate living in the land of the free.
Jim Downey
(Via MeFi. Cross posted to UTI.)
Filed under: Flu, General Musings, Health, MetaFilter, Pandemic, Plague, Predictions, Science, Science Fiction, Society, Survival, tech, Violence, Writing stuff
. . . about human nature is summed up very nicely in one little comment I came across on MeFi, in a discussion about news of some potential life-extending medical breakthroughs. Here it is:
people dying isn’t a bad thing
(boggle)
Yes. Yes it is. If you don’t think so, you’re welcome to accept it with equanimity. I, on the other hand, would club little old ladies to be first in line for some biotech that would prolong a healthy lifespan.
[Mild spoilers ahead.]
Part of the crucial history of Communion of Dreams revolves around what people would do when they think they have been denied life-saving treatment during a pandemic. When I was thinking this through, I had to stop and wonder just how cynical I was going to be – there are, after all, plenty of instances of people making sacrifices to save others during a crisis. But I decided that given the timing of the pandemic (in our near future), and given how I was going to ‘set up’ that history, the likely response would be much uglier.
Sometimes I hate being right.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Failure, General Musings, Government, Health, MetaFilter, Society
I’m fighting some kind of summer bug, and ache all over. So I’m a little grumpy. That may explain why I think that this is the stupidest thing I’ve read all week:
OCEANSIDE, Calif. – On a Monday morning last month, highway patrol officers visited 20 classrooms at El Camino High School to announce some horrible news: Several students had been killed in car wrecks over the weekend.
Classmates wept. Some became hysterical.
A few hours and many tears later, though, the pain turned to fury when the teenagers learned that it was all a hoax — a scared-straight exercise designed by school officials to dramatize the consequences of drinking and driving.
What an incredibly bone-headed stunt for the school administrators and HP officers to pull. Toying with the emotions of high school kids. Teaching them that they cannot trust those who are supposed to be trustworthy. Demonstrating that it is OK to lie & cheat if your ‘intentions are good’ and you have the authority to get away with it.
Dipshits.
Here’s what the school guidance counselor said:
“They were traumatized, but we wanted them to be traumatized,” said guidance counselor Lori Tauber, who helped organize the shocking exercise and got dozens of students to participate. “That’s how they get the message.”
You bet, Lori. Traumatizing people is always good strategy to get them to believe you. That’s why it is completely defensible to call in bomb threats to schools and rattle the administrators and police over whatever cause you believe in, right?
Dipshits.
Jim Downey
Via MeFi. Cross posted to UTI.
Filed under: Art, BoingBoing, Bruce Schneier, Civil Rights, CNET, Constitution, Cory Doctorow, Emergency, Government, MetaFilter, Preparedness, Privacy, Science Fiction, Society, Survival, Terrorism, Travel
Because who doesn’t enjoy a quickie now and then?
Both MeFi and Schneier report on the Subivor:
Whether it is a train fire, a highrise building fire or worse. People should have more protection than a necktie, their shirt or paper towel to cover their mouth, nose and eyes. As you know an emergency can happen at anytime and in anyplace, leaving one vulnerable. Don’t be a sitting duck. The Subivor® Subway Emergency Kit can aid you in seeing and breathing while exiting . This all-in-one compact, portable and easy to use subway emergency kit contains some items never seen before in a kit.
Well, unless you make your own, of course.
* * *
Via BoingBoing, this news:
Your papers please: TSA bans ID-less flight
In a major change of policy, the Transportation Security Administration has announced that passengers refusing to show ID will no longer be able to fly. The policy change, announced on Thursday afternoon, will go into force on June 21, and will only affect passengers who refuse to produce ID. Passengers who claim to have lost or forgotten their proof of identity will still be able to fly.
Because no terrorist would *ever* lie to the TSA and claim that they had lost or forgotten their ID.
*sigh*
More security theater. Forcing people to submit to showing ID has nothing to do with airline security, and everything to do with just forcing them to submit to the government’s authoritah.
* * *
And speaking of your civil rights:
Split Panel Affirms Warrantless Use of GPS Device
The warrantless use of a global positioning device on a vehicle by police does not violate a driver’s right to privacy under either the U.S. Constitution or the New York state Constitution, an upstate appeals panel decided last week.
* * *
As to the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the panel found that nothing prevents the use of technology, such as the satellite-aided positioning devices, to “surveil that which is already public.”
“Inasmuch as constant visual surveillance by police officers of defendant’s vehicle in plain view would have revealed the same information [as the GPS device] and been just as intrusive, and no warrant would have been necessary to do so, the use of the GPS device did not infringe on any reasonable expectation of privacy and did not violate defendant’s Fourth Amendment protections,” Justice Robert S. Rose wrote for the majority.
The dissenter, Justice Leslie E. Stein, argued that global positioning system devices are considerably more intrusive than traditional surveillance methods.
“While the citizens of this state may not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in a public place at any particular moment, they do have a reasonable expectation that their every move will not be continuously and indefinitely monitored by a technical device without their knowledge, except where a warrant has been issued based on probable cause,” Stein wrote.
Gee, a ‘warrant‘, based on ‘probable cause’. What a concept.
* * *
And just so we don’t end on that depressing note, here’s a fun T-shirt site with a SF theme, thanks to Cory Doctorow. A bit pricey at $32, but there are some very nice designs.
Jim Downey
The last time I mentioned synesthesia was in connection with Kromofons, the effort by Dr. Lee Freedman to systematize a color context for the alphabet which would allow for people to “read” color blocks as easily as they read letters. As I said in that post:
This is part of the way I use synesthesia in Communion of Dreams: as a method by which the human brain can layer meaning and information in new ways, expanding the potential for understanding the world. It is noteworthy that many synesthetes will associate colors with a given word or even letter – it may be possible that Lee Freedman drew upon such an experience to create his color alphabet.
(An aside – I have experienced mild episodes of synesthesia upon several occasions. Sometimes these episodes have been induced by drugs, sometimes by intense concentration, sometimes of their own accord. I think that this is a latent ability everyone has, but not something which we usually access, because it is poorly understood by the general populace.)
And now someone has tried to come up with a way to test what he calls “Associative Musical Visual Intelligence“:
This is a completely new way to measure an often overlooked aspect of intelligence – I guarantee that you’ve never seen (or heard!) anything like it.What is AMVI? Associative Musical Visual Intelligence (or “amvi” for short) is a type of intelligence that’s difficult enough to define, let alone test. Many creative people can associate across sensory domains: they “hear” hints of shapes and can “taste” the essense of colors. At its most extreme this phenomenon is called synesthesia. However, I believe that creative people subconsciously employ elements of synesthesia every day when attempting to think of things in new ways. This is a logic test that attempts to measure one’s ability to correlate musical phrases with abstract shapes and symbols.
It’s an interesting idea – try and come up with a new ‘language’ for visually understanding music. And I give him a lot of credit for trying to do so, just as I gave credit to Dr. Freedman for attempting to overlay a color interpretation to letter forms. But for me the test was very frustrating – the simple visual system that Mandell has created just did not jibe with my sense of what was going on with the music. As someone on MeFi (where I found this) said in comments:
I got 95% and so, independently, did my girlfriend. We both got the exact same percentage distribution on the categories in the final score, leading me to believe that we both got exactly the same one wrong.
Which would be interesting, except, as naju points out, this test as NOTHING to do with synesthesia or the ability of visualize sound as shapes and colors or vice-versa.
It’s a very simple pattern recognition test where, once you figure out the intended pattern, it’s very easy. Vertical positioning correlates to change in pitch, color correlates to differences in timbre, shape distortion correlates to small-scale melodic change, and shape change correlates to large-scale melodic change. Add a couple other fairly obvious curveballs (shape complexity equated to rhythmic complexity once) and it’s not that hard. The one my gf and I both got wrong was probably unintentionally vague.
* * *
Real synesthetic visualization is much more personal, much more complex, and much harder to pin down. Yes, upward pitch movement does grossly correspond to upward spatial movement for a lot of people, but it’s hardly so straightforward as that, and the relations of color and shape to melody are much richer and stranger. This test is like a “spot the differences” cartoon in the Sunday comics advertising itself as a means of identifying latent Picassos.
Exactly. Oh, and when I took the test last night, I got something like 30%. The only ones I got right were when I gave up on trying to correlate my visualization of the music passages and simply tried to predict what the ‘correct’ answer was. Which is fine, since Mandell describes the test as one of logic.
Anyway, thought you might have some fun with it.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Art, Artificial Intelligence, Blade Runner, Expert systems, Humor, MetaFilter, movies, Paleo-Future, Philip K. Dick, Predictions, Ridley Scott, Science Fiction, Society, tech
Well, someone sure has been having some fun:
The company AI ROBOTICS was founded 2 years ago by Etienne Fresse and Yoichi Yamato, both robotics specialists working on developing cutting-edge technologies. During the last 3 years the two founders have dedicated all their time and energy to their project “robot woman LISA” which thanks to the support of numerous foreign investors will be presented to the public on June 11 2008. The company’s philosophy is to enhance the conditions of human life and to give as many people as possible access to new technologies. The company AI ROBOTICS is based in Kobe, Japan.
And to think that some people on MeFi (where I came across this) thought it was for real. Sheesh. But it does generate some discussion about what happens in the future when this reality does actually show up.
Hmm . . . seems that someone has considered this matter before . . .
Jim Downey
Communion Of Dreams 