Wall-e?

I'm sure all of you out there in Cyberspace have either seen or heard of the movie Wall-e, or even for those of us that are products of the 90's, Zenon.  The idea of both these movies is an inhabitable earth.  In which case, we must evacuate and live in space.  So as part of our human curiosity to seek planets with life like ours, we have been searching for planets that could support life.  But I also believe this search is for something that looks like a 'back-up plan.'  If, in the case that we do ruin this very hospitable planet of our's, where will we live?  NASA has sent several rovers and probes up to Mars already.  There is a stationary lander as well as two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.  There was a big buzz several years ago that there was life on Mars!  A photo was leaked from NASA showing part of a white object that looked very similar to a rabbit.  Turns out all this hulla-balloo was simply part of the landing bubble that incased the rover blowing in the wind.  But in any event, over the years Mars has seemed like the most promising of all the planets to support human life (eventually).  Scientists have debated that one of Jupiter's moons, Europa, could in fact also support life!  The idea is that Europa is actually a large ocean covered in an icy shell.  But, it has never been verified of what lies beneath the icy shell, until now!

On November 16th, NASA held a press conference detailing their latest findings about the moon Europa.  Scientists have no provided evidence of a body of liquid water on Europa, approximately equal in size to North America's Great Lakes.  The photo of this can be see here.  Based on their findings, this suggests that Europa could support life in a habitat similar to our's here on Earth.  Many of what we know about Jupiter and its moons, came from the spacecraft Galileo that NASA scientists sent to Jupiter in 1989 via the space shuttle Atlantis.  The photos taken by Galileo initially helped scientists conclude that Europa's icy shell concealed a global salt water ocean below.  (This ocean contains more water than all of Earth's oceans combined.)  The only problem is the icy shell is estimated at tens of miles thick, according to NASA scientists.   formerly, scientist's best inferences were that Europa's thick shell contained one large ocean, which would be bad for inhabiting.  However, these recent discoveries have shown that it may more likely be composed of large shallow lakes, that make inhabiting Europa a much greater possibility.
So, bottom line, if Mars turns out to be unsupportive of life, our next option is one of Jupiter's moons, Europa.

Jan Czochralski

Who?? Pronounced Yan Cho-ral-skee, we owe a lot to Dr. Jan Czochralski.  Czochralski is considered the father of modern crystal growth methods.  The Czochralski method is a way of creating crystals from semiconductors, metals, salts, and synthetic gemstones.  Czochralski discovered this method in 1916 on accident.  He was writing with his pen, and rather than dipping the tip into his ink, he accidentally dipped it into a crucible of hot melted tin rather than his ink.  When he removed the pen, he noted that the pen held a thread of solidified metal at the end.  After some careful research and many experiments, Czochralski was able to perfect this method and it is used in modern day crystal growing plants.  One such company that uses this is Northrop Grumman.  They grow synthetic crystals for use in laser optics.  Czochralski's method of dipping a seed into a crucible and the eventual production of a crystal.  These crystals vary in size and substance based on the application.  You may wonder what on earth does "synthetic crystals for use in laser optics" mean?  Well, basically, anything we need that requires light magnification and lasers, probably has a crystal in it.  Dentists use these crystals in their lasers, the military uses crystals to magnify the lasers they use on defense weapons (hence Northrop Grumman is using this process), these crystals are used in CAT and PET scans to amplify laser light.  And very simply, if you have ever been to Walt Disney World and see the wonderful laser light show they put on, crystals grown with the Czochralski method, are used in that show.  I was amazed how something so simple, and something we never really give much thought to, is used so often in our daily lives! If not for lasers and synthetic crystal growth, our world would be significantly different!  (One of these such Northrup Grumman crystal growth plants is here in Charlotte, North Carolina)

From Sci Fi to Child's Play

I'm sure that when we were kids, we all watched Star Wars at some point and tried to use "the force" to move an object with our mind.  "If I focus enough on the cookie, maybe it'll come over here!"  But, we all know that unfortunately, mind control levitation powers are not the everyday occurrence.
Mattel has found a way to make all of our childhood levitation hopes and dreams come true!  The game MindFlex uses EEG technology that has been around in hospitals for decades.  The game includes a headset that fits tightly around your head and a clip for each earlobe.  These allow the game to read the activity of your brain and relays the information.  The goal of the game is to move the small blue ball around the obstacle course.  You move a fan located in the boardset around the game with a dial.  The power of the fan is controlled by your brain though.  The more you concentrate, the faster the fan moves, and the higher the ball goes!  Loose concentration or calm your brain, and the fan dies a little, decreasing the height of the ball.
I was definitely skeptical about the game when I first saw it.  "What? I can make that little ball move with just my brain, you're kidding me, right?"  I really wanted to know more information about it.  And it turns out the woman I was then employed by at a tutoring agency, uses it for cognitive therapy.  The game forces one to focus and control brainwaves in order to succeed.  It is great for therapy in children with ADD and ADHD because they must focus if they want to win.  When used in small amounts, this is a wonderful therapy!  This, coupled with a few other focusing games, shows improvement in one session! I was truly amazed.
Not only did I see this is the proffessional setting as therapy, I also saw it in my home.  My younger brother certainly had to have this when he heard about it.  I decided to try it out myself.  And, while it takes some practice to master, it is really a very neat toy.  Mattel mentions using it at parties or with a group of friends.  When, in actuality, that would all probably be too distracting to get the ball into the air!
This is an example of science fiction in engineering as well.  This mind control theory was first seen in science fiction and Hollywood.  Eventually an engineer decided they could actually do that! Over time, it became part of the adjacent possible and became a workable object.  Now, it is used in a child's toy.  We can all have mind control powers!  MindFlex has now been on the market for almost two years, and has enjoyed a great range of success.  I'm sure when we head home for Thanksgiving we'll certainly see commercials for it with Christmas quickly approaching.  For a child, and even some adults, mind control is extremely enticing, even if it is in the form of a small game.  I definitely encourage you to try MindFlex for yourself, it is a genuinely interesting experience.  You may see it work in a video, but the first time you actually get it in the air yourself, you'll be surprised and all the skepticism will go away.  Happy feasting over the Holiday to all!

Green, or rather White?

This blog posting is in Semi-response to a fellow classmate's blog, http://sawiggi2.blogspot.com/
In his blog, Stanton writes about Temperature Control and he is shocked by the amount of energy we use to cool things.  This reminded me of a research project I worked on during high school, "A Comparison of Rooftop Surfaces Using Albedo."
Essentially, in this project, I turned my childhood playhouse, into a research experiment.  You can see the picture below.  I put a green roof on one third of the roof, left one third as the existing tar roof, and painted the other third with standard white, outdoor paint.

Now you may be asking what on earth possessed me to do this?  So let's go through some background information:
One problem very evident in large cities today is something called the Urban Heat Island Effect.  This occurs when the cities are significantly cooler than their surrounding countrysides at night.  As much as 10-12 degrees Celsius!  Why? Well, the abundance of black surfaces in the city absorb great amounts of heat during the day and release it all at night.  

So, two of the most promising mitigation techniques are green roofs and white roofs.  The idea is to replace the low albedo (low reflectivity) surfaces with other surfaces that have high albedos and will reflect rather than absorb the majority of light.  In my experiment, I kept a constant measurement of the surface temperatures for 250 hours.  I had a temperature probe on each roof surface on both the East facing and West facing sides.
As for results, well, it turns out these are both very promising techniques!  The cold hard facts based on my temperature analysis say that the white roof maintains cooler temperatures and is the 'better' choice.  However, we cannot ever simply rely on the facts.  As modern-day scientists and engineers we have to critically analyze this data and decide what it actually means.  The white roof did indeed keep lower temperatures and had the smallest range of temperature values, which is ideal.  But over time, white roofs become dirty and this greatly decreases their albedo.  A green roof, depending on which type you choose to install, is little to no maintenance, ascetically pleasing, helps with water runoff, and greatly extends the life of your roof.

The greenroof I used is a wonderful creation, you can see the layers in the image to the right.  this green roof is incredibly easy to install and very low maintenance.  It was donated by Xeroflora and still remains looking great on my playhouse roof several months later!

Storming the Stores

We all know what happens here in the South when there is any threat of snow or ice- everyone makes a mad dash to the grocery stores to stock up on bread, non-perishable items and batteries.  Well, the latest inclimate weather here in North Carolina has proved no different, except the storm comes in the form of Hurricane Irene rather than the most recent winter 'blizzard.'

With hurricanes and other inclimate weather comes the threat of power outages, something that many in the path of Hurricane Irene have experienced.  So since we're on the mindset of being without power, let's talk about technology fasts- what are some things that would be extremely difficult to give up for a week?
Many may say Facebook, cell phones, computers, cars, or even their newest gaming system.  I would have to say electricity in general is the piece of technology I would have the hardest time giving up.  Initially, I may say computers, cell phone, or Facebook.  I always have my phone with me, I check email on my laptop 5 times a day and generally Facebook at least once a day.  However, last winter during mid-term exams, my AP English teacher made a wager with our class- No Facebook at all and no cell phone usage after 10 pm (unless to contact parents or to discuss schoolwork or work in general) for the two weeks leading up to exams and the week of exams.  It was a difficult task and I did not realize how 'addicted' to my technology I was.  But, it was not as difficult as I thought it would be.  And I noticed that I became much more productive during those two weeks because I did not have the distractions of Facebook and my cell phone as constant options.

Past the side story, I would have trouble giving up electricity in general because I use it so many times a day.  My alarm clock (or my phone) wakes me up in the morning.  I use the light in the bathroom and my room when getting ready for the day.  I blow dry and straighten my hair in the morning.  I use electricity to charge and power my laptop, as well as my cell phone.  The AC unit in my room and classrooms help save us all from the hot Southern summers.  The microwave and fridge in my room are such conveniences.  Just think of everything in our daily lives that relies on electricity!  It would be extremely difficult for me to go a week without electricity.  I remember the large snow storm we had about the winter of 2000.  My family was without power for just under a week and we lived too far in the country to have the roads plowed, so we were absolutely stuck.  While it was a grand time for me as a second grader to just hang out with the neighborhood kids and play board games my candle light, I am not sure that in today's day and age I could be content with that for a week.  Or that companies could stand to shut down in a region for a week.  There are so many things in our lives that rely on electricity, not just conveniences but key ways of communication as well.