Friday 12.2.210 day 121Bumming around SorianoaWe put the car in for a service today as we have done so many km and have a lot more to go before we sell it. We did our jobs sent some post and got some food from the local shops. It showed all day today so it was a good day to stay at home. It is our last day in our resort today so we hope it stops showing before we have to drive out tomorrow as we a
Monthly Archives: February 2010
Thermal springs
Thursday 11.2.210 day 120Thermal springsWe went to the Thermal springs today the water was so hot and felt so good it smells a bit due to the sulphur but it was very relaxing. Unfortunately there were some ignorant Italian men there who decide that they would divert all the water from our spring to threes so that we could not have any and they got all the water. As this was on public and everyone
Carnivals Heavy Duty Partying in Panama
http://www.ArcoProperties.comThinking about travelling to Panama on Carnivals like the Scouts youd better be prepared consider this1. Take clothing you dont care about. If you dont have it youll be able to probably dress up with 5 clothing in Panama Salsipuedes or Central Avenue at Casco Viejo. 5 for both shirt and pants 1.99 on a pair of really cheap ndestroy flip flops. 2. Get your o
I didnt come to Thailand to milk a cow
Making use of the free internet while i can as heading into deepist darkest Thailand soon.Went to a real thai market which will give me nightmares for a while will try to download a video clip of a bucket of toads ready to be boiled Ive had pork knuckle soup and deep fired chicken knee so far im literally dreaming about a simple spag bol. Finally got the hang of riding a Tuk Tuk.....hold on
Day 2 photos
More photos...
Rockingham Bunbury
5210 Fri we decided to do some sightseeing at Rockingham we booked the car in for a Gas Service next Tuesday then we headed out to see Peron point Mangle Bay Shoalwater Bay. It was nice with lots of secluded beaches places you could snorkel swim fish take the dogs. We will go back there one day take a picnic lunch. The Naval Base is out in the bay with a big bridge over to the is
5 days 6 countries and 8 forms of transport
Allora this is my first blog entry from a foreign country. I'm in Genoa Italy from where tomorrow I'll be taking the ferry to Tunisia. The sun is shining but it's bitterly cold made worse by the strong winds. To get this far I have already visited six countries and used eight modes of transport.The journey to Milan gave me a fantastic insight into the life of lorry drivers. We left a day l
6 Entering Rajasthan
Day 5 Train JodhpurI woke up suddenly at 0200 to the sound of running screaming and panic. I sat up quickly to see 3 men running down the carriage screaming. I was in that state of mind where yoursquove been wrenched out of sleep due to the evolutionary instinct of the possibility of danger after the 3 men had run through to the next carriage I concentrated hard on my hearing to see if th
Mehr Perth
Zu allererst unser traumatisches Erlebnis der letzten Woche haben wir noch gar nicht erwhnt der Schock sa wahrscheinlich noch zu tief. Wir saen zu dritt frhlich singend im Auto und sind auf einen Kreisverkehr zu gefahren. Auf einmal KABOOM rast ein weies Auto gerade ber den Kreisel knapp an einem Baum vorbei in eine Mauerhellip Bordsteinkanten Schilder Pflanzen alles k
Welcome to AlKhafji Saudi Arabia
Written February 1 2010 Published February 12 2004I arrived at the Kuwait City airport shortly after midnight on Monday February 1 after leaving Minneapolis on Friday evening. The process for getting a transit visa to be driven from Kuwait to Saudi Arabia is much more timeintensive than arriving in Bahrain. However the client nicely made arrangements for the visa to be waiting upon arrival
"ACDC introducing Eunuch"
12th May rsquo09Itrsquos the little things that make us laugh in life. Yesterday I witnessed a spherical chap order a Diet Coke with a LARGE bag of chips. Continuing in a comical vein I thought Irsquod include a brief behindthescenes anecdote from my private life a predicament that simply brightened my day. Let me introduce my pal Eunuch once grappling with asexuality but now showing
Cockroach Control Noida Cockroach Control India Cockroach Control
Cockroaches are the most abundant pets causing destruction too many large tangible assets and to an extent perishable commodities. Only if the perishable commodities are kept away from the cockroach then will they stop harming human health. They are also called as water bugs cloton bugs or palmetto bugs which are ruining fabrics book bindings and food. They have an oily liquid which has filthy
Pro-War in Iraq Veteran John Kriesel to run for Congress in Minnesota
A "Sarah Palin-ite" Republican
Iraq War Veteran Sgt. John Kriesel (photo to the left) is announcing for an open seat in Congress.
From KARE News 11, Minneapolis, Feb. 10:
Sgt. John Kriesel says he'll run as a Republican for the House of Representatives District 57 seat, representing Cottage Grove, St. Paul Park and South St. Paul.
It's the seat now held by Karla Bigham who announced she won't seek re-election this fall.
Sgt. Kriesel lost both his legs in a blast near Fallujah, Iraq on December 2, 2006. The same blast that killed two of his best friends. His injuries resulted in 25 surgeries over the course of just two months.
He is unabashadely a supporter of the War on Terror.
From USIraq.Procon.com
"Congress was right to vote to fight terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. I reenlisted after 9/11 because I don't want my sons to see what I saw. I want them to be free and safe. I know what I lost, I also know that if we pull out now, everything I have given in sacrifice will mean nothing. They attacked us and they will again. They won't stop in Iraq."
Kriesel is affiliated with the Pro-War on Terrorism, libertarian-oriented group Freedom Watch. He obtained some celebrity over a year ago, in national ads run by Freedom Watch. From Tikun-Olam blog:
In one Freedom’s Watch ad, Sgt. John Kriesel, a National Guardsman from Stillwater, Minn., who lost his legs in a bomb attack near Falluja, pleads with Congress and the American people not to “surrender” in Iraq. As the screen shows a still photograph of the second hijacked plane bearing down on the burning World Trade Center, Sergeant Kriesel adds, “They attacked us, and they will again. They won’t stop in Iraq.”
(H/t Jim Hoft)
COLORADO: Battle lines drawn in legislative Seat Belt law fight, Democrat Nanny-Staters vs. Republicans, Libertarians
CO Libertarian: Christine Smith: "Not the government's role to protect individuals from themselves"
The Colorado State Senate is considering a Democrat-backed bill to increase the penalty for non-seat belt law usage from a $10 fine to $75.
From the Denver Post, "Buckle up, or else" Feb. 9:
Drivers who don’t buckle up could face traffic stops and higher fines under a bill that gets its first hearing this afternoon.
Traffic cops can ticket drivers for not wearing seat belts now, but only if they’re stopped for other offenses.
Fines would also jump $10 to $75 for violations under Senate Bill 110, sponsored by Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora.
Republican legislators are lining up against the bill. Continuing:
And Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, (photo) said the mantra from her rural constituents is “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”
“They’re probably the ones who choose not to wear seat belts, and they don’t want me as their state senator telling them to do that,” Spence said. “I don’t try to impose rules and regulations on them that they don’t want. I respect their opinion.”
Naturally, the Libertarian Party of Colorado is siding with the Republicans. From Christine Smith, Libertarian Party of Colorado blog:
I am getting sick of this. If the issue is that “everyone pays” because tax money is going to subsidize hospitals/emergency rooms, then that is the problem and not people making choices for themselves that are dangerous. Driving unbuckled may be dangerous, but it is only dangerous for the person not wearing their seat belt. It is not the governments role to protect a person from themselves.
More info on citizens against seat belt laws at National Motorists Assoc.
Libertarian-leaning GOPer Frank Guinta, comfortable lead over incumbent Dem for Congress
Consistent with other recent polling data out of New Hampshire a Univ. of New Hampshire survey shows Manchester's Republican Mayor Frank Guinta with a comfortable lead over incumbent Democrat Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter.
From UNH:
Guinta Shea-Porter Other DK (N)
1ST CONGRESSIONAL DIST.
Frank Guinta 43%
Carol Shea-Porter 33%
Other 2%
Undecided 22%
Guinta is best-known as a hardline budget balancer and anti-tax crusader. He also has a reputation as a bit of an eccentric, and is known to pal around with NH Libertarians and libertarian Republicans.
The Public School Monopoly
A video by Izzy Santa, of the Cato Institute.
Documentary Film Review: Barefoot to Timbuktu: Ernst Aebi — Come Hell or High Water
An appealing documentary about a larger-than-life adventurer, artist, entrepreneur, and social activist in a settlement in the middle of the Sahara.
Are TGFs Hazardous to Air Travelers?
Instruments scanning outer space for cataclysmic explosions called gamma-ray bursts are detecting intense flashes of gamma-ray energy right here in the friendly skies of Earth. These terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, or TGFs, blast through thunderstorms close to the altitude where commercial airliners fly.
In fact, they could be too close for comfort.
In a recent study,* scientists estimated that airline passengers could be exposed to 400 chest X-rays worth of radiation by being near the origin of a single millisecond blast. Joe Dwyer of the Florida Institute of Technology took part in that research, which used observations from NASA's Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, or RHESSI, to estimate the danger TGFs pose.
"We believe the risk of encountering a TGF in an airplane is very small," says Dwyer. "I wouldn't hesitate to take a flight. Pilots already avoid thunderstorms because of turbulence, hail, and lightning, and we may just have to add TGFs to the list of reasons to steer clear of those storms."
But, he stresses, "it's worth looking into."
Right: Lightning might not be the only reason to avoid thunderstorms. TGFs sometimes come blasting out of these clouds, too. Image credit: NOAA.
NASA's Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Telescope will help evaluate the hazards.
"GBM provides the best TGF data we have so far," says Dwyer. "It gets better measurements of their spectra than any previous instrument, giving us a more accurate idea of just how energetic they are."
Although TGFs are quite brief (1-2 milliseconds), they appear to be the most energetic events on Earth. They belch destructive gamma-rays packing over ten million times the energy of visible light photons – enough punch to penetrate several inches of lead.
"It's amazing," says Jerry Fishman, a co-investigator for the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor. "They come blasting right through the whole Fermi spacecraft and light up all of our detectors. Very few cosmic gamma-ray bursts manage to do this!"
The origin of TGFs is still a mystery, but researchers know this much: TGFs are associated with thunderstorms and lightning. "We think the electric field in a thunderstorm may get so strong that the storm itself turns into a gamma-ray factory," says Dwyer. "But we don't know exactly how or why or where inside the storm this happens."
So no one yet knows how often, if ever, planes end up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Above: A cartoon sketch of electric and magnetic fields in a thunderstorm and some of the phenomena they produce. TGFs may be just one aspect of thunderstorm activity in addition to elves, sprites, blue jets and ordinary lightning. Credit: Stanford University. [more]
It's possible that lightning bolts trigger TGFs. Or maybe TGFs trigger lightning bolts. Researchers aren't sure which comes first. GBM's excellent timing accuracy – to within 2 microseconds – will help solve this riddle.
"For some of the TGFs, we've pinpointed the associated lightning," says Dwyer. "This information along with the spectrum should help us figure out how deep in the atmosphere a TGF source is and how many gamma-rays it's emitting. Then we can determine the altitude and location they're coming from in the thunderstorm."
Fishman offers some good news: "If TGFs originate near the tops of thunderstorms and propagate upward from there, airline passengers would be safe."
By looking closely at a TGF's life cycle, that is, how quickly it turns on and off, GBM may also help researchers calculate how large and concentrated the gamma-ray source is. If the gamma-rays are emitted over a large region, the radiation dose would be diluted and much less harmful.
"But if the source is compact and the gamma-rays originate close to an aircraft, then that could be a problem," says Fishman.
Right: The radiation dose from an ordinary lightning leader vs. the dose from a TGF. Both phenomena are associated with electron beams. Tighter, more compact beams deliver a greater effective dose. Details of this model may be found in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research (Atmospheres). Look for "Estimation of the fluence of high-energy electron bursts produced by thunderclouds and the resulting radiation doses received in aircraft" by J. Dwyer et al. (in press).
"Of course the smaller the source the lower the odds of a plane ending up close to it," adds Dwyer.
GBM wasn't designed to look for TGFs, but GBM co-investigator Michael Briggs has greatly enhanced its sensitivity to them by writing new software.
"TGFs have really been an afterthought for missions so far," says Dwyer. RHESSI, for example, points at the sun, but the RHESSI team figured out a way to measure TGFs by detecting gamma-rays coming in through the satellite's backside. "All these instruments have been pointing across the universe, while right over our heads these monsters are going off!"
"Now the whole field of TGFs is on fire," says Fishman. "People are jumping on the bandwagon to try to figure them out."
View my blog's last three great articles....
- NASA and Texas Instruments Use Human Spaceflight t...
- NASA Announces Winners of George M. Low Award for ...
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NASA and Texas Instruments Use Human Spaceflight to Bring Math and Science Topics into High School Classrooms
NASA and Texas Instruments are using the theme of human space exploration to develop digital libraries of math and science problems for high school students. The goal is to bring real-world topics in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, into classrooms to spark students' excitement and interest in these critical career fields.
The collaboration will produce two digital libraries. One, called Exploring Space Through Math: Applications in High School Mathematics, will provide problems based on NASA data that are set in the context of space exploration. The project material will cover almost the entire high school math curriculum, with applications in Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, and Pre-Calculus.
The other digital library, named Science at Work: Exploring Space with NASA-AP, will contain questions for Advanced Placement classes. This program seeks to develop and test problems in calculus, statistics, physics, chemistry and biology.
"As students solve real problems NASA faces in space exploration, they will practice during high school and college the skills necessary to pursue a career in a STEM field," said Charles Lloyd, NASA's lead for the effort and program manager for Human Research Program Education and Outreach at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "NASA and Texas Instruments are passionate about motivating the next generation's interest in science and math subjects and equipping these students to take us farther into space and improve our lives here on Earth."
The libraries of questions will use NASA applications and data while incorporating Texas Instruments' math learning technology. Each problem includes student and teacher editions to help the teacher link content to higher concepts.
"Our goal is to make STEM subjects more fun and interactive," said Werner Garciano, director of Professional Development for Texas Instruments' Education Technology. "Working with NASA is a great opportunity to bring exciting, real-world math experiences into the classroom. Our collaboration will expand the digital content and professional development that Texas Instruments provides teachers, and will help engage students more deeply in math. Together, we believe these activities will break through to students who have never considered a STEM career path."
Both projects will be available in the fall of 2010 on NASA's Web site. With this program, NASA continues its investment in engaging and retaining students in STEM disciplines critical to the agency's future engineering, scientific, and technical missions. For more information about NASA's education programs, visit:
For more information about NASA's Human Research Program Education and Outreach, visit:
http://humanresearch.jsc.nasa.gov/education.asp
The digital libraries also will be available through Texas Instruments' Teachers Teaching with Technology workshops and online at the Texas Instruments' Activities Exchange at:
http://education.ti.com/educationportal/activityexchange/activity_list.do?cid=us
View my blog's last three great articles....
- NASA Announces Winners of George M. Low Award for ...
- NASA Sets Media Credentials Deadlines for Next Spa...
- Congratulating the Team
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NASA Announces Winners of George M. Low Award for Quality and Performance
NASA presented its highest honor for quality and performance, the George M. Low Award, to two companies that share a commitment to teamwork, safety, customer service, technical and managerial excellence.
The Low award demonstrates the agency's commitment to promote excellence and continual improvement by challenging NASA's contractor community to be a global benchmark of quality management practices. The 2009 awards were presented Wednesday, Feb. 10, at NASA's seventh annual Project Management Challenge in Galveston, Texas, to:
- United Space Alliance, or USA, of Houston. USA provides ground operations, vehicle processing and logistics at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.; delivers specialty engineering and technical services at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.; and designs and plans missions, trains astronauts, develops and verifies software, and executes mission operations at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. USA received the award in the large business service category.
- Applied Geo Technologies, or AGT, of Choctaw, Miss. Tribally owned AGT is a small, disadvantaged provider of aerospace and defense services. It provides scientific, laboratory and geographic analysis services; maintains measurement standards; and calibrates and repairs instrumentation at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Miss. AGT received the award in the small business service category.
The award was established in 1985 as NASA's Excellence Award for Quality and Productivity. It was renamed in 1990 in memory of George M. Low, an outstanding leader during his 27-year tenure at the agency. Low was NASA's deputy administrator from 1969 to1976 and a leader in the early development of space programs.
For more information about the George M. Low Award, visit:
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codeq/gml
View my blog's last three great articles....
- NASA Sets Media Credentials Deadlines for Next Spa...
- Congratulating the Team
- Spitzer Goes to the Olympics
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