Curiouser and Curiouser

The Curiosity rover takes a "selfie"

When you're a resident of Mars, anniversaries work a bit differently.

For our cosmic next-door neighbor, a Martian year -- one complete orbit around the sun -- takes 687 days. So it's an all-more-impressive milestone to hear from NASA that the latest Mars rover, Curiosity, celebrated the end of its first Martian year just this past June.

Curiosity joins the ranks of such other NASA robot rovers as Sojourner, Spirit, and Opportunity; their missions are to boldly go where we humans just can't (at least not yet).

So in celebration of Curiosity's first Martian anniversary, let's take a look at one of our closest planetary neighbors:

-- How far is it from Earth to Mars?  It's tricky. Mars has an elliptical orbit, which means it is closer or farther away from Earth depending on the time of year. The distance varies from 39 million to about 240 million miles.

-- Mars is roughly double the size of our moon ... and half the size of Earth. (As measured by each sphere's radius.)

-- Though a Martian year is nearly twice the length of a year on Earth, a Martian day is much closer to a day on Earth: about 1.03 Earth days (or about forty minutes longer).

-- Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos (named after the sons of an Italian god of war).

-- There's no oxygen on the surface of Mars, but there is also, essentially, no air at all. With only a scant bit of atmosphere on the planet, most gases simply float into outer space.

A Curiosity photo of the Martian landscape

-- There's plenty of water on Mars, which is one reason scientists think the planet may have once harbored life. It is, however, frozen into the ice caps at the northern and southern ends of the planet. The ice does occasionally melt during the "summer" seasons.

-- The first satellite to capture a picture of the surface of Mars was Mariner 4. In 1965, Mariner 4 captured 22 photographs from just over 6,000 miles away, revealing a crater-covered landscape.

-- Olympus Mons, the biggest volcano ever discovered in our solar system, is nearly the size of Texas. Its primary crater is 40 miles across.

-- There have been four American rovers sent to Mars (Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity), and all four were successfully landed and communicated back to Earth (although Sojourner lasted a scant two months).

-- The USA isn't the only country to get spacecraft to Mars. Russia was the first country to get a manmade craft to Mars, landing two rovers (Mars 2 and Mars 3) in 1971. The probes sent back 60 pictures of the surface, taken while orbiting the planet. A British rover known as Beagle 2 was also launched in 2003, though it was lost upon landing on Christmas Day.

An earlier picture from the Opportunity rover

For More:

-- Happy Anniversary! On Mars, Curiosity Rover Has Done a Lot in a Long Year - from CNN.com. Check out this overview of Curiosity's accomplishments in its first Martian year.

-- Mars Rovers [video] - from National Geographic. Some mini-documentary videos looking into the difficulties of landing on and navigating the Martian terrain.

-- How Big is Space? - from the BBC. An interactive (and rather scaled-down) look at how far our nearest neighbors truly are.

-- How Far is it to Mars - Another interactive look at the distance from Earth to Mars.

-- Mars on NPR - Articles on the science and discovery of the Red Planet.

-- NASA's Mars Page


News from the Red Planet:

-- Mystery Light on Mars Spotted by Curiosity - from Discovery News.

-- NASA Rover on Mars Sees Mercury Cross the Sun's Face - from Space.com.

-- Software Bug Found on Mars Curiosity Rover - from the Telegraph. A surprising development (though it's yet to prove a threat to the mission).

-- China Bound for Mars in 2020 - Curiosity may gain a new friend, as China moves ahead with plans to expand their own space program with a rover to Mars.

From the Catalog:

Non-fiction:

-- Mars by Linda T. Elkins-Tanton

-- The Smithsonian Book of Mars by Joseph M. Boyce

-- Managing Martians by Donna Shirley, with Danelle Morton

-- Ultimate Mars Challenge [DVD] - PBS documentary on Curiosity

-- Mars Rising [DVD] - documentary on the challenges of a manned mission to Mars


Fiction:

-- The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

-- War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

-- A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

-- Mars, Inc.: The Billionaire's Club by Ben Bova

-- Red Planet Blues by Robert J. Sawyer



-- Post by Ms. B

Staff Recommendation #30: The Martian by Andy Weir

"Maybe there'll be a day of national mourning for me, and my Wikipedia page will say, 'Mark Watney is the only human being to have died on Mars.' And it will be right, probably. 'Cause I'll surely die here. Just not on Sol 6 when everyone else thinks I did."

As any of our regular readers know, I am a fan of science fiction. But that usually means television. I'm always searching for a great sci-fi read, but I'm very choosey. I like my science fiction to be a bit more science based and I like it be in relation to Earth. The Martian by Andy Weir meets my criteria on both counts.

Set in the near future, The Martian opens with us meeting astronaut Mark Watney six days after being left for dead on Mars. Watney is the engineer and botanist on NASA's second manned mission to Mars. During an escape attempt during a dust storm, Watney gets knocked down from flying debris and assumed dead by his crew mates who must continue on with out him or they will never make it back to the ship.

Watney figures he most likely will be the first man to die on Mars. Everyone thinks he's dead, he has no way to communicate with Earth and even if they did know he was alive, his provisions wouldn't last long enough for a rescue mission to reach him.

But Mark Watney is resourceful, optimistic and determined to live as long as he can.

Told mostly from Watney's point of view through his journal entries, we also get to witness NASA's reaction to this disaster. Through these personal observations we get a chance to see Watney's determination and humor while he tries to survive on Mars.

This is a hard sci-fi book that should appeal to readers who like Michael Crichton as well as Stuart Woods. This is the author's first published novel and he made a determined effort to make everything that happens to Mark Watney as plausible as possible. The suspense and tension of Watney's survival is very compelling. And with his wit and humor you can't help but like and admire Mark Watney.


-- Click here to request The Martian

Click here to see the book trailer for The Martian by Andy Weir

--Post by Tracy

Pi in the Sky

Pi -- symbolized π -- is a mathematical concept. Take any perfect circle, measure the circle's diameter (the distance of a straight line through the middle of circle) and the circumference (the distance around the circle). Then divide the circumference by the diameter.

The answer you'll get -- roughly 3.14 -- is the answer you'll always get. Pi is an unchanging constant, true of every (perfect) circle regardless of the circle's size. Pi is also, interestingly enough, an infinite number: while we generally round off at 3.14, the actual number of pi is 3.14159265358979323 ... and so on.

March 14, being 3/14, is National Pi Day. So we've rounded up some resources about pi (the number) and pie (the rather tastier treat). Be sure to celebrate this day as you best see fit.

(We like key lime ourselves.)


PI: 

Read about pi (from the Catalog):

Non-fiction:

-- Pi: A Biography of the World's Most Mysterious Number by Alfred S. Posamentier and Ingmar Lehmann.

-- The Joy of Pi by David Blatner.

-- Pi-Unleashed by Jörg Arndt and Christoph Haenel.


Fiction:

-- Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool - This YA read features Early Auden, an unusual kid who is reading through the number pi like it's the best story he's ever heard.

-- Life of Pi by Yann Martel - Tired of his full name, "Piscine Molitor Patel," the book's hero soon comes to style himself "Pi" ... in tribute to the irrational number.

-- Contact by Carl Sagan - This sci-fi novel uses pi as a story-altering plot device.

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Read about pi (from the web):

-- Pi Day - The holiday's website.

-- A Brief History of Pi - from the San Francisco Exploratorium.

-- 100,000 Digits of Pi - Courtesy of the University of Illinois.

-- The Pi-Search Page - What to see where your birth date shows up in the infinite numbers of pi?  Use this search engine to look through the first 200 million digits!

-- Pi Land - Some fun with pi.

News about pi (from the web):

-- Friday is Pi Day - It's an official national holiday!  A look at some of the nation's celebrations of Pi Day. (USA Today)

-- Calculating Pi for Pi Day - An Associate Professor of Physics calculates pi using everyday objects. (Wired.com)

-- Pi Day: An Infinite Number of Ways to Celebrate - A collection of features celebrating Pi Day. (NPR)

-- See a Man Recite 1,010 Digits of Pi. From memory. (Washington Post)

American Pie Council: Check out the official website of the American Pie Council, who is celebrating Pi Day. Be sure not to miss their fantastic activity packet!

PIE:

Read about pie (from the Catalog):

-- Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie by Ken Haedrich

-- The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

-- Pies and Tarts: How to Make More Than 50 Scrumptious Pies and Tarts by Carla Bardi

-- Martha Stewart's New Pies and Tarts: 150 Recipes For Old-Fashioned and Modern Favorites from the editors of Martha Stewart Living

-- Simply-- Gluten-Free Desserts: 150 Delicious Recipes for Cupcakes, Cookies, Pies, and More Old and New Favorites by Carol Kicinski

-- Crazy About Pies: Irresistible Pies For Every Sweet Occasion by Krystina Castella

Read about pie (from the web):

-- How to Make a Pie From Start to Finish - from TheKitchn.com.

-- Pie-Making 101: How I Overcame My Fear Of Crumbling Crust - from NPR.org.

-- Perfect Pie Recipes and Tips - from Epicurious.com.

-- How to Make a Pie Crust, Step by Step - from AllRecipes.com.

-- The Pie Academy - from the author of Pie (see link above).

-- Pie Making Tips - from The American Pie Council

Watch videos about making pies:

-- How to Make Apple Pie - from AllRecipes.com

-- Apple Pie Recipe and Video - from JoyOfBaking.com

-- Joyce Maynard's Homemade Apple Pie - from Curious.com



-- Post by Ms. B and Tracy

The Bee's Knees

I like bees. That's not to say I don't occasionally get a bit nervous when I see one around (stings hurt, after all). But, all things considered, I'm still a fan -- and I'm hardly alone.

There's no denying humanity's fascination with bees. In ancient Greece, bees were considered liaisons of the gods. The ancient Egyptians kept hives afloat and collected nectar from up and down the Nile River. Beekeeping has been going on for millennia, as has the use of honey as a staple of the dinner table. We've built up urban legends around bees. And it just so happens that my favorite fictional detective is well-known by his fans to have eventually retired and taken up a new profession: beekeeping.

Bees have become of increasing interest to us all with reports of growing problems for hives across the nation -- and the world. So as we go into National Honey Month, what better time to learn more about Apis mellifera (the Western honey bee) and our other friendly neighborhood bees?

- Robbing the Bees: A Biography of Honey, the Sweet Liquid Gold That Seduced the World by Holley Bishop.

Bishop's book is not just a biography of honey, but a biography of bees. This book takes a close look at the role bees have paid in our culture and history, and the long obsession humans have had with honey -- our only sweetener for centuries.

- A Book of Bees: And How to Keep Them by Sue Hubbell

It's part beekeeping handbook, part memoir. A beekeeper for fifteen years, the author keeps three hundred hives of bees scattered across farms in the Ozark Mountains of southern Missouri. (She pays local farmers a gallon of honey a year in "rent" for the property her hives are on.) Dividing the book up into the four seasons of beekeeping ("The Beekeeper's Autumn," "The Beekeeper's Winter"), Hubbell shares her beekeeping experiences in a storytelling style that is as interesting as it is engaging.

- The Beekeeper's Bible: Bees, Honey, Recipes and Other Home Uses

The ultimate bee handbook. This "bible" includes the history of the ancient art of beekeeping, a primer on how to embark on one's own beekeeping hobby, and ideas for the dozens of uses for honey and beeswax. Learn how to keep bees, make candles and skin care products, and try your hand at over 100 recipes featuring honey as a star ingredient. It's a perfect starting point for anyone looking to try their hand at beekeeping -- or just a great read for anyone interested in bees.


- The Beekeeper's Lament: How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America by Hannah Nordhaus

CCD, or Colony Collapse Disorder, has resulted in beekeepers checking their hives only to find the entire colony dead. Enter John Miller -- a commercial beekeeper who began a trek across the country to try and help heal the hives. Miller went on a mission to deliver hundreds of thousands of bees to affected beekeepers, helping to both restore their livelihood as well as to restore the natural pollinators that our farming industry needs to survive. Here's his story -- and the story of our nation's beekeeping industry.

- Tales from the Hive [DVD]

Broadcast as a segment on PBS's Nova, this documentary used unique camera lenses to capture what life is like inside the hive. The result is an in-depth look at the lives of bees and their colonies. 

- Robotic Bees [Online video]

RoboBees?  One engineer at Harvard's Microrobotics Lab thinks that robotic bees may be the future. The eventual goal (they are projecting a decade-long refinement) is to have these robotic bees work together, much like a real colony. Future duties may include search-and-rescue and environmental monitoring, in addition to assisting in the pollination of crops.

One of Harvard's Microrobotics Lab's "RoboBees"

- Honeybee Collapse [MPL Hot Topic]

Our Hot Topics compile the top articles, op/eds, and reference materials about what's currently, well, buzzing in the media!  One of our latest Topics focuses on the Honeybee Collapse, showcasing news articles, scientific resources, organization websites, and some suggested readings from our Collection, all providing more information on the epidemic bee disappearance.

- Behind the Bee’s Knees: The Origins of Nine Bee-Inspired Sayings [TIME article]

Nowadays, we say something is "the bee's knees" when it's stylish, noteworthy, or simply flat-out cool. But in the late 18th century, it was actually a derogatory term, referring to something that was weak or insignificant -- like the teeny joint in a bumblebee's leg. Look here to find out the stories behind some of our most-used bee metaphors.

- 20 Unusual Uses for Honey [Huffington Post article]

Lip balm. Moisturizer. Hors d'oeuvres. An energy boost. An antiseptic. Honey has more uses than just something to spread on toast. Check out some suggestions here!

- Wild for Bees [website]

This online resource from Burt's Bees includes an app to help you start your own "bee garden" (planting flowers that will attract pollinators), a "No Fear of Stings" brochure (with tips on how to "bee-watch" without anxiety), recipes for healthy meals made with honey and other bee-assisted ingredients, and a quirky video series in which actress Isabella Rossellini demonstrates the lives and duties of the average bee.

-- Post by Ms. B 

Tesla > Edison

It's been said that art is not made in a vacuum. The same is true in the fields of science and engineering, and in just about every other major invention, discovery, and design in human history. Most advances are made, after all, by building on ideas and inspirations of past discoveries.

What this means is that the people we often credit as the "inventors" and "creators" of history's most famous gadgets, scientific breakthroughs, and even artwork may not be the only people behind their creations. As often as not, there's more to the story as to who invented what -- and sometimes, the credit may be going to the wrong person entirely.

From Walt Disney to Thomas Edison, the stories of our most famous inventors' and creators' breakthroughs usually have a more complex history to them than we realize. As often as not, they relied on the help of people who have been less well-remembered in popular history. 

So to celebrate Thomas Edison's birthday this upcoming February 11, let's take a look at some of those inventors and discoverers who are in need of a little more of the limelight:

-- Rosalind Franklin, the discoverer of DNA 

You might remember the names "Watson and Crick" from high school biology class. James Watson and Francis Crick (along with Maurice Wilkins) are remembered as being the discoverers of one of the biggest biological finds of all time. In April 1953, they identified the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid -- DNA.

But Watson and Crick would have never made the discovery that forever altered our understanding of biology without not only the help, but the groundwork, of chemist Rosalind Franklin. Franklin, who had a particular skill with photography, took an X-ray diffraction photograph of a DNA molecule. The photo was the first to show DNA's basic structure, which, with its double-helix shape, was the necessary clue for scientists to understand how it replicated.

Watson and Crick built up on Franklin's work -- without her permission or, unfortunately, even her knowledge. Franklin died in 1956 at the age of 37, making her ineligible to share in the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine awarded to Watson, Crick, and Wilkins.

-- Ub Iwerks, an inventor of Mickey Mouse

Walt Disney -- the animator, voice actor, director, producer, and the creator and founder of Walt Disney Studios. Famous for his work in animated films, short cartoons, and live-action features, it is already understood that such creations are not manufactured by one man alone. Disney obviously oversaw hundreds of writers, artists, animators, designers, special-effects experts, and actors who all contributed to the creations of Walt Disney Studios, and without whom the company's films and animation would never have been possible. It's just a little surprising to discover that Disney's most famous creation -- Mickey Mouse -- wasn't created solely by Disney himself.

The honor also goes to Ub Iwerks, an animator from Kansas City. Iwerks and Disney first met in 1919, both of them employees at a Kansas City commercial art house. The two men left a year later, hoping to start their own independent organization, but the venture ultimately fell through.

Traveling to Los Angeles, Disney established a successful studio, eventually inviting his friend Iwerks to join him. In 1927, design began on a new animated character. Taking some inspiration from a previous series the duo had done, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Disney and Iwerks created the most famous and recognizable animated character of all time: Mickey Mouse.

The first Mickey Mouse cartoons were animated, not by Disney, but solely by Iwerks. Iwerks went at record-breaking speed while working on the first Mickey cartoons, producing 700 drawings a day (compared to the 80-100 drawings a modern animator might produce in a week). 

No one really knows for sure how much of Mickey's design was done by Disney, and how much by Iwerks. But what is certain is that it was, at minimum, a joint effort. Without Iwerks's artistic style and abilities, the character might have never reached the popularity he's enjoyed for over eighty years.

-- Octave Chanute, the designer of the Wright Brothers' plane

Designs of theoretical "flying machines" have been in existence since at least the time of Leonardo da Vinci. But without civil engineer Octave Chanute's improved glider designs, Orville and Wilbur Wright would probably never have made their historic flight.

Born in Paris, France, Chanute's family immigrated to America when he was six. He attended private schools in New York City, but received no formal training in the field of engineering. Nonetheless, he found employment with the Hudson River Railroad, and eventually went on to be the chief engineer of the Chicago & Alton Railroad. He was the planner and superintendent of several major bridges and and railroads, but should be best remembered for his work in aerial navigation.

Otto and Gustav Lilienthal had begun groundbreaking gliding experiments in Germany in 1867. Chanute studied the Lilienthals' experiments carefully, improving on the designs by studying sparrows in flight. He eventually designed a biplane which weighed a mere 23 pounds, capable of carrying up to 178 pounds at 23 miles an hour.

The Wright brothers' first glider was based largely on Chanute's biplane model. Chanute visited the Wrights' camp in 1901 (two years before their historic flight), and was warmly supportive of their efforts. The Wright brothers, for their part, didn't fail to credit Chanute for the role he'd played in their success.

-- Nikola Tesla, inventor of ... well, you name it 

If the Internet has a "patron saint," it may very well be Nikola Tesla. This Croatian-American inventor and electrical engineer was the first scientist to perfect the use of alternating–current electricity. He acquired over 100 patents over the course of his life for his inventions -- including one for the Tesla coil, a vibrating air-core transformer, capable of producing high-frequency and high-magnitude currents. 

After achieving wireless communication via radio waves over 25 miles, he turned his attention to the idea that radio waves could carry electrical energy (which would involve transmitting electricity without wires). After working with high-frequency currents, he developed several generating machines, forerunners to those that would eventually be used in radio communication. 

While partnering with Westinghouse, Tesla designed the world's first hydroelectric generating plant. Westinghouse also used Tesla's alternating current system when providing electricity to the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, making it the first world's fair to use electricity.

The Internet is rife with stories of the "epic battle" between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, with Tesla championing the use of alternating current, and Edison determined to stick with direct current electricity as the technology went forward. (Tesla spent some time working at the Edison research laboratory in New York City.) Today, Tesla's alternating current is used to power businesses and homes; Edison's direct current is present in batteries.

How much credit for Edison's discoveries and inventions should go to Tesla's inspiration remains a topic of debate. What is certain is that Tesla's inventions had a lasting effect on the use of electricity to this day. Be sure to think of him the next time you flip on a light switch!

(Click here to hear "Dueling Banjos" played by Tesla coils!)

(Be sure to click on the comic to read it in full-size!)

"Hark, a Vagrant" comic strip copyright (c)2006-2012 Kate Beaton 

-- Post by Ms. B

The Stars in Our Future

Isaac Asimov

You'd be hard-pressed to find a sci-fi fan that doesn't know, and appreciate, Isaac Asimov. One of the most popular and prolific authors of the genre, Asimov sold his first story at the age of 18. He went on to write literally hundreds of books on a variety of subjects, and is remembered as one of the giants of modern science fiction.

As sci-fi fans, we at "New @ MPL" won't miss the chance to honor this sci-fi behemoth on the 93rd anniversary of his probably-birthday. (Asimov, born in Russia, was uncertain about the actual date of his birthday -- due to lack of records at the time, among other things. But January 2nd was when he celebrated, so that's good enough for us!) Read on to find out more about five things we wouldn't have if not for Mr. Asimov:


1. A full non-fiction section

Libraries like ours use the Dewey Decimal Classification system to organize our non-fiction titles. It lets us organize the books by subject, while also giving every book a number to make it easier to track down on the shelf. 

The urban legend runs that Asimov is the only author to have a book in each of the ten main categories of the Dewey Decimal system: general reference, philosophy, religion, social sciences, language, science, technology, arts and recreation, literature, and history/geography. Now, while that's not quite accurate (none of his books get shelved in the philosophy section), Asimov has written at least a few books that show up in each of the other sections. He wrote over 500 books in his lifetime -- fiction and non-fiction, preschoolers' early readers and college textbooks, science fiction and mysteries, ancient history and modern, Shakespeare and Gilbert and Sullivan. Whatever you're interested in, there's a decent chance that Asimov may have written a book about it!

2. Data

Asimov is probably best remembered for his Foundation series and his Robot series, the latter of which featured such inventions as the Three Laws of Robotics. (More on those in a bit.)

The portrayal of robots in Asimov's stories had a huge, profound impact on the entire science fiction genre -- and, for that matter, the real-world scientific study of robotics. (Asimov himself coined the word "robotics!") One of pop culture's most famous robot characters was inspired heavily by Asimov's stories: Data, the android from the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. With his positronic brain -- and his desire to be human -- Data calls to mind such Asimov creations as Andrew from The Positronic Man.



3. Sci-fi as we know it

Science fiction has always had the capacity to serve as commentary on real-world events. H.G. Wells, for instance, is said to have used his book The War of the Worlds to comment on British imperialism during the Victorian era.

But by Asimov's time, most science fiction was of the "space opera" variety -- sprawling, epic stories about swashbuckling romance and action-filled adventures. Nothing wrong with such stories, of course, but critics complained that it made the genre empty.

Asimov, by contrast, wanted his stories to enlighten as well as entertain. He's responsible for such genre tropes as robotics and the idea of a "galactic empire" -- but, perhaps more importantly, he's also credited with bringing political and social commentary into modern-day sci-fi story conventions. Nowadays, you'd be hard-pressed to find a science fiction story that doesn't have a cautionary tale or a reference to modern-day culture and events woven somewhere into its pages (or on the movie screen).



4. Safer science

Asimov wasn't just a science fiction author. He was also a scientist in his own right, and during the 1950s, he worked as a biochemist. While he published far more popular books and novels than academic papers, his work for one scientific journal in particular stands out. Asimov made the point that the breakdown of carbon-14 in human genes (a breakdown which can be caused by exposure to radiation) invariably produced mutations. When the Nobel-prize-winning chemist Linus Pauling campaigned for the end of atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons (a campaign that was ultimately successful), it was with Asimov's persuasive paper in the forefront of his mind.

Which brings us to Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. Within the world Asimov's Robots series, all robots were designed and programmed to obey three primary laws:

1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where those orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence, except where such protection would conflict with the First or Second Law.

The Three Laws allowed for Asimov's robot characters to be sympathetic rather than terror-producing -- here were robots who, by their very design, were destined to protect and help human beings. (The fact that there are loopholes to be found in even the best of laws is, however, precisely what made his stories so fun!)  Some modern-day robotics researchers have mentioned Asimov's stories influencing their own ideas and theories, and some have even attempted to use the Three Laws as a model for their own robotic creations.




5. Cool names

When you have a positive impact on so many fans, writers, scientists, and researchers, they're bound to return the favor. Asimov has had a number of scientific curiosities named after him, including an asteroid, a planetary crater on Mars, a New York City school -- and, my personal favorite, what is probably the most advanced "humanoid robot" yet invented: ASIMO.

Standing for "Advanced Step In Innovative Mobility," ASIMO is designed to reach for things, pick things up, find its way along floors and sidewalks, and climb stairs. Standing just over four feet tall, it took Honda engineers over two decades to develop ASIMO's advanced capabilities and features. In addition to being able to move so precisely, ASIMO can also understand and respond to simplistic voice commands, stop stationary and moving obstacles in its environment, and even recognize faces in a small group of individuals.

An extra birthday treat:

Read Asimov's favorite of his stories,

"The Last Question"

-- Post by Ms. B

[GUEST POST] There and Back Again: A Scientific Journey Through Space and Time

This week, "New @ MPL" is proud to showcase the writings of local teens and young adults from MPL's very own Teen Writing Group. (Our Teen Writing Group meets every Monday afternoon at the Library.)

Today, enjoy this entry from Bruce Howard, who takes us on a tour of very ancient history:

The "nearby" Andromeda Galaxy -- located  2.5 million light-years away

It is almost quintessentially human to ponder matters of history and to perceive the passing of time.  In my early twenties, it’s sometimes easy to feel like you’ve been around a while.  I’ve been through 16 years of schooling (with about seven more to go before I’m done).  I’ve also witnessed several world-, nation-, and life-changing moments in history.

However, I did not just suddenly appear out of nowhere, a newborn baby in a foreign universe.  The rules of physics might have a few problems with that scenario.  I’ve been alive for less than .0000002% of the time the universe has been around, and inevitably, that which came before me factors into who I am.

Obviously, I directly owe my existence to the fact that my parents met.  If that were the only factor, though, this wouldn’t be much of a story.  Stepping a bit further back, I can trace my ancestors to World War II, World War I, the Civil War, and even the American Revolution.  War is quite obviously a dangerous thing, so it might seem a bit odd to note that had my ancestors not been in these conflicts, I might not be here.  Consider this: a young soldier heading off to war would have to put starting a family on hold for the duration of his service.  If not for that setback, perhaps that soldier would never have had a child when they had your mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, and/or other ancestor.  One might even say that every little thing that has happened since the rise of humanity has, in some way or another, affected today’s world.  There is that famous quip about how going back in time and killing a single animal could drastically change the present.  But I don’t want to stop this tour of history at the rise of humanity.

There are approximately 13 billion years of universal existence.  So let’s start a bit further back than the mere dent in time that is human existence.  Shortly after the universe was created some 13 billion years ago, in what is called the Big Bang, the universe had expanded a bit, enough that the universe was able to cool some and allow particles to combine.  Thus, the first atoms were formed.  These were mostly hydrogen, with only small amounts of a few other elements (like lithium) forming.  If only these very light atoms had formed in the Big Bang, one might wonder how it is that the atoms we’re made of formed.

Drawing an atom

As the universe continued to expand, gravity did its thing, pulling the hydrogen and trace elements together.  Eventually, these elements had formed clumps.  Then, in time, these clumps had condensed enough to reach the conditions necessary for nuclear fusion.  These giant balls of mostly hydrogen gas had become the universe’s first stars.  Stellar nuclear fusion is the process by which stars continually produce their energy.  A few nuclear processes steadily convert hydrogen atoms into helium atoms, giving off other things as well.  Among these are light, along with somewhat elusive particles called neutrinos that have been the focus of intense study recently.  Indeed, this has been the focus of my research experiences.  The process of converting the maximum amount of hydrogen to helium takes varying amounts of time.  However, after this process is complete, the star will then convert helium to heavier atoms, and then those atoms to heavier atoms still.  This process will continue on until the star runs out of fusion material.  If the star has enough material, it will continue undergoing fusion until reaching iron.  Due to nuclear properties, it stops being energetically preferable to fuse elements heavier than iron.  This concludes the fusion process.  Big stars, those several times the size of our sun, will supernova after ending its fusion process.  The supernovae produce incredible energies, allowing elements heavier than iron to form.  In the process, the star’s material is ejected into the vast … space … of space.

So, after these early stars went supernova, their heavier elements (among them oxygen, carbon, iron, and others necessary for life) mixed in with other hydrogen nuclei.  By approximately five billion years ago, some of the mix that had been made by prior stars had collapsed to form the Sun and its satellites.  Contained on Earth were carbon, oxygen, iron, and the other elements necessary to produce life as we know it.  Fast forward upwards of five billion orbits of the Sun, and here we are, inhabiting the Earth today.  We are literally made of star atoms.

The closest star to Earth -- our Sun

So, clearly, both human history and cosmological history play quite prominently in determining how it is that a person came to be here and now.  The cosmic story doesn’t end with us, though.  What about the future of the universe?  Our sun has about five billion years of hydrogen-burning left.  Once it starts to fuse helium, it will swell, making Earth uninhabitable.  If we can find a way to inhabit another planet or another system by then, the story of humanity can continue with that of the cosmos.  Who knows when the end of the universe will be?  A lot of that depends on certain parameters like dark energy -- which, notably, was only discovered 14 years ago.

I feel that it is a very neat thing that we can trace our lineage to the stars.  As you can see from this musical YouTube video below of several talks put together, I’m not the only one.  However, while it is easy to get caught up feeling small when thinking of the universe as it is, there are some important things to remember.  We may not have a long life span in terms of the life of the universe, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do beautiful things with it.  What we do in our lives can affect both the world itself and the generations to follow.  These effects can, in turn, affect the generations to follow them.  Who knows?  One day, those effects might even be carried to other planets or other star systems.  It’s the human perspective that guides our lives, not the cosmic perspective, from which we appear to be mere mayflies.  And remember, you’re all stars in my book.

-- Post by volunteer Bruce Howard

(For more on the history of space and time, check out MPL's cosmology collection.)

[GUEST POST] The Space Shuttle: Thirty Years of Space Exploration

This week, "New @ MPL" is proud to showcase the writings of local teens from MPL's very own Teen Writing Group. (Our Teen Writing Group meets every Monday afternoon at the Library.)

Today, enjoy this entry from Allen H., sharing some of his in-depth knowledge about the history of the Space Shuttle, and its role in our space program:

One-hundred thirty-five missions.  One-hundred thirty-three successes, two failures.  These are just a small number of the many statistics that the five space shuttle orbiters -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour -- have played a part in.

First launched in 1981, the space shuttle was the first reusable spacecraft.  Prior to this launch, however, there were approach and landing tests.  A sixth shuttle, a prototype called Enterprise, flew these tests.  It was carried on the back of a modified Boeing 747 and jettisoned off the back to test the landing feature of the space shuttle.  At an altitude of 300 feet, the shuttle would lower its landing gears and gently touchdown on a runway.  There were a number of runways the shuttle could land at: Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility, Edwards Air Force Base, and White Sands Space Harbor, just to name a few.

During the thirty-year campaign, the shuttle has seen many great accomplishments.  One of the most notable was the deployment, and subsequent repair of, the Hubble Space Telescope.  After the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, it was discovered that the main mirror was ground to the wrong specifications, making the pictures blurry.  NASA was faced with two options: leave the telescope in its state, or send a space shuttle to repair it.

The Hubble telescope in orbit

Finally clearing a shuttle mission to fix it, NASA put together an elite crew, who had all been to space.  They conducted multiple spacewalks and even did back-to-back spacewalks.  After the repairs, Hubble started to fulfill its promise of peering into the past and uncovering the origins on the universe.  This mission proved that NASA could use the space shuttle to its full potential.

After the initial repair, Hubble has been serviced several times -- the most recent, and final, in 2009, when Space Shuttle Atlantis flew the STS-125 mission.

After the success of the repairs, NASA got involved in an international project: the International Space Station.  Partnering with the Russian Space Agency, European Space Agency, and countless others, construction was started on the space station.  The orbiting outpost was constructed on opposite sides of the world and then put together for the first time in space.  Crews are rotated by Russian Soyuz, and, at times, the space shuttle.  The space shuttle also carried most of the heavy cargo to the station, being the only space vehicle that could lift enormous payloads.  Having been completed in 2011, the space shuttle was retired at the conclusion of the last flight.

A spacewalk outside the International Space Station

Success was not met without failure, however.  During the thirty-year career, two space shuttle missions ended in tragedy.  On January 28th, 1985, space shuttle Challenger broke up 73 seconds after liftoff.  The accident resulted in the death of all seven astronauts, including the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe.  Space shuttle Discovery would fly the return-to-flight mission in 1988.

The second failure happened on February 1st, 2003.  Space shuttle Columbia was returning from a science mission.  Sixteen minutes before landing, the space shuttle broke apart, killing all seven astronauts.  The subsequent investigation showed that a piece of foam struck the orbiter during the ascent that made a hole in the underside of the shuttle.  This caused it to lose the thermal protection and break apart during the high temperatures of reentry.  Space shuttle Discovery again flew the return-to-flight mission in 2005.

Even with these failures, NASA continued to move forward.  Eileen Collins said it best: “We want to explore. We're curious people ... We believe in what we're doing. Now it's time to go.”  NASA has made major security improvements, including requiring the shuttle to perform heat shield inspections (which include flipping 360 degrees on flights to the Space Station), as well has having a secondary method of returning the astronauts from space.  After these requirements, NASA has not experienced any major problems with a spacecraft.

In July of 2011, the space shuttle was retired from flight, with these words from Chris Ferguson at the final landing: “Mission complete, Houston. After serving the world for over 30 years, the space shuttle found its place in history. It's come to a final stop.”  The International Space Station is complete, the space shuttle retired; now it is time to move on.  Back to the moon, and then -- to Mars.

The space shuttle Endeavour

-- Post by teen volunteer Allen H.

(For more on the history of the space shuttle, check out Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years - detailing the astronauts' experiences in their own words.)

I Want To Believe!

Back in the fall of 1993, I was home on a Friday night (which, unfortunately, was not that uncommon for me). I'd just finished watching this new show that Fox was all excited about (The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.), when another new show started. I knew nothing about it but decided to check it out. It starts out with a teenage girl, in her nightgown, running through the woods of Oregon. She soon finds herself in a small ravine where a young man is standing over her. Suddenly, there is a bright light, the leaves start swirling around them, and then they are gone. The next morning, the young woman's body is found with puncture marks on her back. The police have seen this before. Fade to black and then an eery, but catchy, theme song starts. By the time that pilot episode of The X-Files was over, I was hooked. I had never seen a show like it. And while some shows have come close (i.e. Fringe), nothing will ever take the place of The X-Files as my favorite show.

While I was already very interested in science fiction, either in books or on screen, The X Files dealt with stories and ideas I hadn't really thought a lot about. The main theme of the show is whether there is a government conspiracy to cover up the fact that we are not alone. Special Agent Fox Mulder, played by David Duchovny, believes that his sister was abducted as a child and that the government knows what happened to her and where she is. Special Agent Dana Scully, played by Gillian Anderson, has been brought in by the FBI to keep an eye on Mulder. This leads to investigations of all things strange and unusual, including the search for Mulder's sister and the truth.

So, in honor of the birthdays of the two stars (Duchovny: August 7 and Anderson: August 9) and the recent landing of The Curiosity on Mars, I'm going to take a look at the idea of whether there is life on other planets and, if there is, if there is a government conspiracy to cover it up.

The Very Large Array (VLA), New Mexico

People have been wondering, probably since the beginning of time, whether there was life on other planets and if there were other universes. Of course, for thousands of years, people who asked these questions either didn't have the technology to find out or were considered heretics. By the early 20th century, humans finally were developing methods of communication that could reach beyond our world, not just to your neighbor across the street. Radio signals, and eventually television signals, began going out into the cosmos whether we wanted them to or not.

By the mid 20th century, formal attempts to reach other intelligent life began when Frank Drake began searching for signals using an 85 foot antennae at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, WV. Thus began the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). By the 1970s, the United States Government was supporting this search at a variety of facilities, including the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. From this location, the Arecibo Interstellar Message was sent on November 16, 1974. The message consisted of information about our planet, our people, and how the message was transmitted. Messages have also been sent on interstellar craft, starting with Pioneer 10 (1972), Pioneer 11 (1973) and Voyager 1 and 2 (both launched in 1977).

Major Jesse Marcel with pieces of a "weather balloon"

Of course, there are many that believe that we have already been visited by "little green men." The most well-known case is that of the alleged UFO crash near Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. In July of that year, debris was found on a farm where Mac Brazel worked. He reported his findings to the sheriff, who then contacted the local airbase. On July 8, the Roswell Army Air Field press officer issued a statement saying that they had recovered a "flying disk" in the dessert. The next day it was reported that  Commanding General Ramey had actually reported that a radar-tracking balloon was recovered, not a flying disc. The following day a photo op was given with Major Jesse Marcel posing with the pieces of what has become known as a "weather balloon".

This seemed to be the end of it for about 30 years, until Stanton Friedman, physicist and ufologist,  interviewed Jesse Marcel and found that Marcel believed that the military had covered up the recovery of an alien spacecraft. This story eventually was published in the National Enquirer in 1980. Eventually more witnesses started coming forward, with stories of debris being found at a variety of locations and that there had also been autopsies performed on alien beings. By the mid 1990s, the General Accounting Office conducted an inquiry into these reports. Their findings were that the debris was most likely part of a top secret project and the reports of alien bodies being found were just confused memories of air force personnel injured in training exercises.  These reports, of course, just increased the belief in a government cover up.

Warning Sign near Area 51, Nevada

Which leads us to another topic of government coverup -- Area 51. This is a government site in southern Nevada where many people believe some of the aliens recovered in Roswell were taken. There are also some who believe that the moon landing, in 1969, was actually filmed at Area 51. What drives people's suspicions is that Area 51 does not appear on any map, and what goes on there is very top secret. For some, that's more than enough to come up with conspiracy theories.

While I'm not always sure whether we are alone in the universe or not, the subject has fascinated me for years and probably will continue to do so until an alien race contacts us -- or I leave this earth for a better place! And it all started with a television show.


To read more about Area 51, click here -- and for more about Roswell, click here.

And to find out more about attempts to find life on other planets, click here.


-- Post by Tracy