FLYING CADET MESS HALL, FOR 250 MEN, ELEVATIONS, SECTION, & ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

FLYING CADET MESS HALL, FOR 250 MEN, ELEVATIONS, SECTION, & DETAILS. Sheet No. 2 of 6, dated March 30, 1942. U.S. Engineer Office, San Francisco, California - Hamilton Field, Airmen's Open Mess, First cul-de-sac on F Street, Novato, Marin County, CA

Open Mess Management Career Ladder AFS 742X0 and CEM Code 74200.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-12-01

I. OPEN MESS MANAGERS (SPC049, N=187) 11. FOOD / BEVERAGE OPERATIONS ASSISTANI MANAGERS ’LUSTER (GRP076, N=92) a. Bar and Operations Managers (GKP085...said they will or probably will reenlist. 1I. FOOD / BEVERAGE OPERATIONS ASSISTANT MANAGERS CLUSTER (GRP076).- This cluster of 9-2 reslpo nrts-(23...operation of open mess food and beverage functions. The majority of these airmen identify themselves as Assistant Managers of open mess facilities and are

View looks northeast (44°) across concrete foundation for Second Street ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

View looks northeast (44°) across concrete foundation for Second Street Mess Hall. See HAER photo CA-170-Q-3 for view of Mess Hall building - Edwards Air Force Base, North Base, Second Street Mess Hall T-10, Second Street, Boron, Kern County, CA

A Systems Biology Approach to Understanding the Mechanisms of Action of an Alternative Anticancer Compound in Comparison to Cisplatin

PubMed Central

Wright, Elise P.; Padula, Matthew P.; Higgins, Vincent J.; Aldrich-Wright, Janice R.; Coorssen, Jens R.

2014-01-01

Many clinically available anticancer compounds are designed to target DNA. This commonality of action often yields overlapping cellular response mechanisms and can thus detract from drug efficacy. New compounds are required to overcome resistance mechanisms that effectively neutralise compounds like cisplatin and those with similar chemical structures. Studies have shown that 56MESS is a novel compound which, unlike cisplatin, does not covalently bind to DNA, but is more toxic to many cell lines and active against cisplatin-resistant cells. Furthermore, a transcriptional study of 56MESS in yeast has implicated iron and copper metabolism as well as the general yeast stress response following challenge with 56MESS. Beyond this, the cytotoxicity of 56MESS remains largely uncharacterised. Here, yeast was used as a model system to facilitate a systems-level comparison between 56MESS and cisplatin. Preliminary experiments indicated that higher concentrations than seen in similar studies be used. Although a DNA interaction with 56MESS had been theorized, this work indicated that an effect on protein synthesis/ degradation was also implicated in the mechanism(s) of action of this novel anticancer compound. In contrast to cisplatin, the different mechanisms of action that are indicated for 56MESS suggest that this compound could overcome cisplatin resistance either as a stand-alone treatment or a synergistic component of therapeutics. PMID:28250393

[Clinical significance of MESS scoring system in the treatment of fractures of lower limb combined with vascular injuries].

PubMed

Zhou, Fei-Ya; Guo, Xiao-Shan; Gao, Wei-Yang; Chen, Xing-Long; Li, Zhi-Jie; Jiang, Liang-Fu

2010-06-01

To study the clinical significance of MESS scoring system in the treatment of fractures of lower limb combined with vascular injuries, and to evaluate its reliance. From March 2006 to March 2008, 28 patients with fractures of lower limb combined with vascular injuries were graded by MESS scoring system. There were 17 patients were male and 11 patients were female, ranging in age from 23 to 53 years, averaged 38 years. Seventeen patients had fractures at the superior segment of tibia and fibia, 7 patients had fractures at the inferior segment of femur, and other 4 patients had dislocation of knee joint. Among the patients, 18 patients had MESS scores more than 7.0 point, in which 13 patients were treated with one-stage amputation, 5 patients were treated with two-stage amputation; the other 10 patients had the MESS scores less than 7.0 point, and were treated with open reduction and internal fixation, in which 8 patients were treated with transplantation of great saphenous vein to repair blood vessles, and 2 patients were treated with vascular end to end anastomosis. Among the patients, including 18 patients whose MESS scores more than 7.0 point were treated with one-stage or two-stage amputation, and 10 patients whose MESS scores less than 7.0 point were treated with limb salvage operations, all the limbs survived. During the follow-up period (ranged from 0.5 to 1 year, the movement and sensory function of the limbs recovered well. MESS is a simple and reliable tool to determine the proper strategy for the patients suffering from vascular injuries with fractures.

The Purpose of Mess in Action Research: Building Rigour though a Messy Turn

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, Tina

2009-01-01

Mess and rigour might appear to be strange bedfellows. This paper argues that the purpose of mess is to facilitate a turn towards new constructions of knowing that lead to transformation in practice (an action turn). Engaging in action research--research that can disturb both individual and communally held notions of knowledge for practice--will…

The Math Essential Skills Screener--Upper Elementary Version (MESS-U): Studies of Reliability and Validity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erford, Bradley T.; Biddison, Amanda R.

2006-01-01

The Math Essential Skills Screener--Upper Elementary Version (MESS-U) is part of a series of screening tests designed to help identify students ages 9-11 who are at risk for mathematics failure. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, item analysis, decision efficiency, convergent validity and factorial validity of the MESS-U were studied…

A rabbit model of cerebral microembolic signals for translational research: preclinical validation for aspirin and clopidogrel.

PubMed

Zhou, X; Kurowski, S; Wu, W; Desai, K; Chu, L; Gutstein, D E; Seiffert, D; Wang, X

2016-09-01

Essentials Microembolic signal (MES) is an independent predictor of stroke risk in patients. A rabbit model of cerebral microembolic signals was established. Therapeutic efficacy was demonstrated for aspirin and clopidogrel on microembolic signals. Potential translational value of this preclinical model of MES was demonstrated. Objectives Cerebral microembolic signals (MESs) detected by transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound constitute an independent predictor of stroke risk and prognosis. The aim of this study was to develop a novel preclinical model of MESs to facilitate translational research. Methods A clinical TCD ultrasound machine was used to detect MESs in the cerebral circulation of New Zealand White rabbits. Technical feasibility was assessed for the measurement of MESs in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) by TCD. FeCl3 -induced carotid arterial thrombosis was optimized for the generation of endogenous microemboli. Ascending doses of two antithrombotic agents (aspirin and clopidogrel) were evaluated individually and in combination for their effects on both arterial thrombosis and MESs in a 30% FeCl3 -induced carotid arterial thrombosis model, along with ex vivo functional assays. Results Dose-dependent FeCl3 -induced arterial thrombosis studies showed that 30% FeCl3 resulted in the most consistent and reproducible MESs in the MCA (3.3 ± 0.7 MESs h(-1) ). Ascending-dose studies showed that the effective doses for 50% inhibition (ED50 ) of thrombus formation, based on integrated blood flow and thrombus weight, respectively, were 3.1 mg kg(-1) and 4.2 mg kg(-1) orally for aspirin, and 0.3 mg kg(-1) and 0.28 mg kg(-1) orally for clopidogrel. The ED50 values for MES incidence were 12.7 mg kg(-1) orally for aspirin, and 0.25 mg kg(-1) orally for clopidogrel. Dual treatment with aspirin (5 mg kg(-1) ) and clopidogel (0.3 mg kg(-1) ) resulted in significant reductions in cerebral MESs (P < 0.05) as compared with monotherapy with either agent. Conclusions Our study demonstrated the successful establishment of the MES model in rabbits, and it may provide translational value for MESs and ischemic stroke research. © 2016 International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

The unending deposit insurance mess.

PubMed

Kane, E J

1989-10-27

The thrift institution deposit insurance mess is rooted in defects in political and bureaucratic accountability. Under existing incentives, covering up evidence of poor regulatory performance and relaxing binding capital requirements are rational governmental responses to widespread industry insolvency. Similarly, aggressive industry risk taking is a rational response by thrift managers to regulatory forbearances. Far from acknowledging these incentive defects, the Bush plan for cleaning up the mess adopts theories that spotlight other causes: specifically, poor thrift management and the deregulation of thrift institution activities and of deposit interest rates. To end the mess, politicians and regulators must jettison these comfortable theories and surrender discretion that permits them to finesse the need to budget for governmental financial commitments.

Thromboembolic Risks of the Procedural Process in Second-Generation Cryoballoon Ablation Procedures: Analysis From Real-Time Transcranial Doppler Monitoring.

PubMed

Miyazaki, Shinsuke; Watanabe, Tomonori; Kajiyama, Takatsugu; Iwasawa, Jin; Ichijo, Sadamitsu; Nakamura, Hiroaki; Taniguchi, Hiroshi; Hirao, Kenzo; Iesaka, Yoshito

2017-12-01

Atrial fibrillation ablation is associated with substantial risks of silent cerebral events (SCEs) or silent cerebral lesions. We investigated which procedural processes during cryoballoon procedures carried a risk. Forty paroxysmal atrial fibrillation patients underwent pulmonary vein isolation using second-generation cryoballoons with single 28-mm balloon 3-minute freeze techniques. Microembolic signals (MESs) were monitored by transcranial Doppler throughout all procedures. Brain magnetic resonance imaging was obtained pre- and post-procedure in 34 patients (85.0%). Of 158 pulmonary veins, 152 (96.2%) were isolated using cryoablation, and 6 required touch-up radiofrequency ablation. A mean of 5.0±1.2 cryoballoon applications was applied, and the left atrial dwell time was 76.7±22.4 minutes. The total MES counts/procedures were 522 (426-626). Left atrial access and Flexcath sheath insertion generated 25 (11-44) and 34 (24-53) MESs. Using radiofrequency ablation for transseptal access increased the MES count during transseptal punctures. During cryoapplications, MES counts were greatest during first applications (117 [81-157]), especially after balloon stretch/deflations (43 [21-81]). Pre- and post-pulmonary vein potential mapping with Lasso catheters generated 57 (21-88) and 61 (36-88) MESs. Reinsertion of once withdrawn cryoballoons and subsequent applications produced 205 (156-310) MESs. Touch-up ablation generated 32 (19-62) MESs, whereas electric cardioversion generated no MESs. SCEs and silent cerebral lesions were detected in 11 (32.3%) and 4 (11.7%) patients, respectively. The patients with SCEs were older than those without; however, there were no significant factors associated with SCEs. A significant number of MESs and SCE/silent cerebral lesion occurrences were observed during second-generation cryoballoon ablation procedures. MESs were recorded during a variety of steps throughout the procedure; however, the majority occurred during phases with a high probability of gaseous emboli. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

Credit USAF, 7 September 1945. Original housed in the Muroc ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

Credit USAF, 7 September 1945. Original housed in the Muroc Flight Test Base, Unit History, 1 September 1942 - 30 June 1945. Alfred F. Simpson Historical Research Agency. United States Air Force. Maxwell AFB, Alabama. View of the mess hall, looking to the north. Sign over door reads "MFTB Muroc Flight Test Base Base Mess." - Edwards Air Force Base, North Base, Base Mess Hall T-27, Third Street, Boron, Kern County, CA

Reliability of the mangled extremity severity score in combat-related upper and lower extremity injuries.

PubMed

Ege, Tolga; Unlu, Aytekin; Tas, Huseyin; Bek, Dogan; Turkan, Selim; Cetinkaya, Aytac

2015-01-01

Decision of limb salvage or amputation is generally aided with several trauma scoring systems such as the mangled extremity severity score (MESS). However, the reliability of the injury scores in the settling of open fractures due to explosives and missiles is challenging. Mortality and morbidity of the extremity trauma due to firearms are generally associated with time delay in revascularization, injury mechanism, anatomy of the injured site, associated injuries, age and the environmental circumstance. The purpose of the retrospective study was to evaluate the extent of extremity injuries due to ballistic missiles and to detect the reliability of mangled extremity severity score (MESS) in both upper and lower extremities. Between 2004 and 2014, 139 Gustillo Anderson Type III open fractures of both the upper and lower extremities were enrolled in the study. Data for patient age, fire arm type, transporting time from the field to the hospital (and the method), injury severity scores, MESS scores, fracture types, amputation levels, bone fixation methods and postoperative infections and complications retrieved from the two level-2 trauma center's data base. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the MESS were calculated to detect the ability in deciding amputation in the mangled limb. Amputation was performed in 39 extremities and limb salvage attempted in 100 extremities. The mean followup time was 14.6 months (range 6-32 months). In the amputated group, the mean MESS scores for upper and lower extremity were 8.8 (range 6-11) and 9.24 (range 6-11), respectively. In the limb salvage group, the mean MESS scores for upper and lower extremities were 5.29 (range 4-7) and 5.19 (range 3-8), respectively. Sensitivity of MESS in upper and lower extremities were calculated as 80% and 79.4% and positive predictive values detected as 55.55% and 83.3%, respectively. Specificity of MESS score for upper and lower extremities was 84% and 86.6%; negative predictive values were calculated as 95.45% and 90.2%, respectively. MESS is not predictive in combat related extremity injuries especially if between a score of 6-8. Limb ischemia and presence or absence of shock can be used in initial decision-making for amputation.

Reliability of the mangled extremity severity score in combat-related upper and lower extremity injuries

PubMed Central

Ege, Tolga; Unlu, Aytekin; Tas, Huseyin; Bek, Dogan; Turkan, Selim; Cetinkaya, Aytac

2015-01-01

Background: Decision of limb salvage or amputation is generally aided with several trauma scoring systems such as the mangled extremity severity score (MESS). However, the reliability of the injury scores in the settling of open fractures due to explosives and missiles is challenging. Mortality and morbidity of the extremity trauma due to firearms are generally associated with time delay in revascularization, injury mechanism, anatomy of the injured site, associated injuries, age and the environmental circumstance. The purpose of the retrospective study was to evaluate the extent of extremity injuries due to ballistic missiles and to detect the reliability of mangled extremity severity score (MESS) in both upper and lower extremities. Materials and Methods: Between 2004 and 2014, 139 Gustillo Anderson Type III open fractures of both the upper and lower extremities were enrolled in the study. Data for patient age, fire arm type, transporting time from the field to the hospital (and the method), injury severity scores, MESS scores, fracture types, amputation levels, bone fixation methods and postoperative infections and complications retrieved from the two level-2 trauma center's data base. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the MESS were calculated to detect the ability in deciding amputation in the mangled limb. Results: Amputation was performed in 39 extremities and limb salvage attempted in 100 extremities. The mean followup time was 14.6 months (range 6–32 months). In the amputated group, the mean MESS scores for upper and lower extremity were 8.8 (range 6–11) and 9.24 (range 6–11), respectively. In the limb salvage group, the mean MESS scores for upper and lower extremities were 5.29 (range 4–7) and 5.19 (range 3–8), respectively. Sensitivity of MESS in upper and lower extremities were calculated as 80% and 79.4% and positive predictive values detected as 55.55% and 83.3%, respectively. Specificity of MESS score for upper and lower extremities was 84% and 86.6%; negative predictive values were calculated as 95.45% and 90.2%, respectively. Conclusion: MESS is not predictive in combat related extremity injuries especially if between a score of 6–8. Limb ischemia and presence or absence of shock can be used in initial decision-making for amputation. PMID:26806974

Mess Management for Gifted Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Awkerman, Gary; Teller, Paul

1979-01-01

Mess Management is considered here as collective problem solving. Describes an example of a program for gifted elementary students emphasizing problem solving skills. A sample strategy is included. (MA)

Microbiome involved in microbial electrochemical systems (MESs): A review.

PubMed

Saratale, Rijuta Ganesh; Saratale, Ganesh Dattatraya; Pugazhendhi, Arivalagan; Zhen, Guangyin; Kumar, Gopalakrishnan; Kadier, Abudukeremu; Sivagurunathan, Periyasamy

2017-06-01

Microbial electrochemical systems (MESs) are an attracting technology for the disposal of wastewater treatment and simultaneous energy production. In MESs, at the anode microorganisms through the catalytic activity generates electrons that can be converted into electricity or other valuable chemical compounds. Microorganisms those having ability to donate and accept electrons to and from anode and cathode electrodes, respectively are recognized as 'exoelectrogens'. In the MESs, it renders an important function for its performance. In the present mini-review, we have discussed the role of microbiome including pure culture, enriched culture and mixed culture in different BESs application. The effects of operational and biological factors on microbiome development have been discussed. Further discussion about the molecular techniques for the evaluation of microbial community analysis is addressed. In addition different electrochemical techniques for extracellular electron transfer (EET) mechanism of electroactive biofilms have been discussed. This review highlights the importance of microbiome in the development of MESs, effective operational factors for exo-electrogens activities as well their key challenges and future technological aspects are also briefly discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

46 CFR 310.60 - Training on subsidized vessels.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... passenger quarters) and shall mess with the licensed officers. The steamship company employers shall also... in first-class passenger quarters) and shall mess with the licensed officers. (Secs. 204(b) and 1301...

46 CFR 310.60 - Training on subsidized vessels.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... passenger quarters) and shall mess with the licensed officers. The steamship company employers shall also... in first-class passenger quarters) and shall mess with the licensed officers. (Secs. 204(b) and 1301...

46 CFR 310.60 - Training on subsidized vessels.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... passenger quarters) and shall mess with the licensed officers. The steamship company employers shall also... in first-class passenger quarters) and shall mess with the licensed officers. (Secs. 204(b) and 1301...

87. AFT CREWS' MESS DECK STARBOARD LOOKING TO PORT ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

87. AFT CREWS' MESS DECK - STARBOARD LOOKING TO PORT SHOWING COFFEE MAKER, ICE CREAM FREEZER, TABLES AND SCUTTLEBUTTS. - U.S.S. HORNET, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Sinclair Inlet, Bremerton, Kitsap County, WA

A meaningful MESS (Medical Education Scholarship Support).

PubMed

Whicker, Shari A; Engle, Deborah L; Chudgar, Saumil; DeMeo, Stephen; Bean, Sarah M; Narayan, Aditee P; Grochowski, Colleen O'Connor; Nagler, Alisa

2016-01-01

Graduate medical education faculty bear the responsibility of demonstrating active research and scholarship; however, faculty who choose education-focused careers may face unique obstacles related to the lack of promotion tracks, funding, career options, and research opportunities. Our objective was to address education research and scholarship barriers by providing a collaborative peer-mentoring environment and improve the production of research and scholarly outputs. We describe a Medical Education Scholarship Support (MESS) group created in 2013. MESS is an interprofessional, multidisciplinary peer-mentoring education research community that now spans multiple institutions. This group meets monthly to address education research and scholarship challenges. Through this process, we develop new knowledge, research, and scholarly products, in addition to meaningful collaborations. MESS originated with eight founding members, all of whom still actively participate. MESS has proven to be a sustainable unfunded local community of practice, encouraging faculty to pursue health professions education (HPE) careers and fostering scholarship. We have met our original objectives that involved maintaining 100% participant retention; developing increased knowledge in at least seven content areas; and contributing to the development of 13 peer-reviewed publications, eight professional presentations, one Masters of Education project, and one educational curriculum. The number of individuals engaged in HPE research continues to rise. The MESS model could be adapted for use at other institutions, thereby reducing barriers HPE researchers face, providing an effective framework for trainees interested in education-focused careers, and having a broader impact on the education research landscape.

THE MULTI-WAVELENGTH EXTREME STARBURST SAMPLE OF LUMINOUS GALAXIES. I. SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Laag, Edward; Croft, Steve; Canalizo, Gabriela

2010-12-15

This paper introduces the Multi-wavelength Extreme Starburst Sample (MESS), a new catalog of 138 star-forming galaxies (0.1 < z < 0.3) optically selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey using emission line strength diagnostics to have a high absolute star formation rate (SFR; minimum 11 M{sub sun} yr{sup -1} with median SFR {approx} 61 M{sub sun} yr{sup -1} based on a Kroupa initial mass function). The MESS was designed to complement samples of nearby star-forming galaxies such as the luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) and ultraviolet luminous galaxies (UVLGs). Observations using the Multi-band Imaging Photometer (24, 70, and 160 {mu}m channels)more » on the Spitzer Space Telescope indicate that the MESS galaxies have IR luminosities similar to those of LIRGs, with an estimated median L{sub TIR} {approx} 3 x 10{sup 11} L{sub sun}. The selection criteria for the MESS objects suggest they may be less obscured than typical far-IR-selected galaxies with similar estimated SFRs. Twenty out of 70 of the MESS objects detected in the Galaxy Evolution Explorer FUV band also appear to be UVLGs. We estimate the SFRs based directly on luminosities to determine the agreement for these methods in the MESS. We compare these estimates to the emission line strength technique, since the effective measurement of dust attenuation plays a central role in these methods. We apply an image stacking technique to the Very Large Array FIRST survey radio data to retrieve 1.4 GHz luminosity information for 3/4 of the sample covered by FIRST including sources too faint, and at too high a redshift, to be detected in FIRST. We also discuss the relationship between the MESS objects and samples selected through alternative criteria. Morphologies will be the subject of a forthcoming paper.« less

2. EXTERIOR ELEVATIONAL VIEW OF THE WEST FACADE OF THE ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

2. EXTERIOR ELEVATIONAL VIEW OF THE WEST FACADE OF THE MESS HALL, BUILDING 220, LOOKING NORTH-NORTHEAST. - Mill Valley Air Force Station, Mess Hall, East Ridgecrest Boulevard, Mount Tamalpais, Mill Valley, Marin County, CA

19. Crew's mess, deck house, forward. From left to right, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

19. Crew's mess, deck house, forward. From left to right, volunteers Larry Boucher and Maggie Lindley, deckhand Bruce Vanvick, and volunteer Harry Morgan. - Steam Tug HERCULES, Hyde Street Pier, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA

1. OBLIQUE VIEW OF THE COMPLEX OF BUILDINGS INCLUDING THE ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

1. OBLIQUE VIEW OF THE COMPLEX OF BUILDINGS INCLUDING THE MESS HALL BUILDING 220 IN THE FOREGROUND, LOOKING NORTH-NORTHEAST. - Mill Valley Air Force Station, Mess Hall, East Ridgecrest Boulevard, Mount Tamalpais, Mill Valley, Marin County, CA

4. Photocopy of a 1943 architectural drawing titled: 'Patients & ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

4. Photocopy of a 1943 architectural drawing titled: 'Patients & Detachment Mess, MESS-Z-H. Elevations & Sections.' 1-13-43 - Madigan Hospital, Patients' & Medical Detachments, Bounded by Wilson & McKinley Avenues & Garfield & Lincoln Streets, Tacoma, Pierce County, WA

5. Photocopy of a 1943 architectural drawing titled: 'Patients & ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

5. Photocopy of a 1943 architectural drawing titled: 'Patients & Detachment Mess, MESS-Z-H. Floor Plan, Part A.' 1-13-43 - Madigan Hospital, Patients' & Medical Detachments, Bounded by Wilson & McKinley Avenues & Garfield & Lincoln Streets, Tacoma, Pierce County, WA

6. Photocopy of a 1943 architectural drawing titled: 'Patients & ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

6. Photocopy of a 1943 architectural drawing titled: 'Patients & Detachment Mess, MESS-Z-H. Floor Plan, Part B.' 1-13-43 - Madigan Hospital, Patients' & Medical Detachments, Bounded by Wilson & McKinley Avenues & Garfield & Lincoln Streets, Tacoma, Pierce County, WA

The Technologies of EXPER SIM.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hedberg, John G.

EXPER SIM has been translated into two basic software systems: the Michigan Experimental Simulation Supervisor (MESS) and Louisville Experiment Simulation Supervisor (LESS). MESS and LESS have been programed to facilitate student interaction with the computer for research purposes. The programs contain models for several statistical analyses, and…

View port to starboard of compartment B127, warrant officers mess ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

View port to starboard of compartment B-127, warrant officers mess room. Note sideboard, table and paneling. Port holes to engine room skylight area are on left of photograph. (086) - USS Olympia, Penn's Landing, 211 South Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA

Modification of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale in Central China.

PubMed

Zhang, Jin Nong; Peng, Bo; Zhao, Ting Ting; Xiang, Min; Fu, Wei; Peng, Yi

2011-12-01

The well-known excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) assessment, Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), is not consistently qualified for patients with diverse living habits. This study is aimed to build a modified ESS (mESS) and then to verify its feasibility in the assessment of EDS for patients with suspected sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in central China. A Ten-item Sleepiness Questionnaire (10-ISQ) was built by adding two backup items to the original ESS. Then the 10-ISQ was administered to 122 patients in central China with suspected SDB [among them, 119 cases met the minimal diagnostic criteria for obstructive sleep apnea by sleep study, e.g., apnea and hypopnea index (AHI) ≥ 5 h(-1)] and 117 healthy central Chinese volunteers without SDB. Multivariate exploratory techniques were used for item validation. The unreliable item in the original ESS was replaced by the eligible backup item, thus a modified ESS (mESS) was built, and then verified. Item 8 proved to be the only unreliable item in central Chinese patients, with the least factor loading on the main factor and the lowest item-total correlation both in the 10-ISQ and in the original ESS, deletion of it would increase the Cronbach's alpha (from 0.86 to 0.87 in the 10-ISQ; from 0.83 to 0.85 in the original ESS). The mESS was subsequently built by replacing item 8 in the original ESS with item 10 in the 10-ISQ. Verification with patients' responses revealed that the mESS was a single-factor questionnaire with good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86). The sum score of the mESS not only correlated with AHI (P < 0.01) but was also able to discriminate the severity of obstructive apnea (P < 0.01). Nasal CPAP treatment for severe OSA reduced the score significantly (P < 0.001). The performance of the mESS was poor in evaluating normal subjects. The mESS improves the validity of ESS for our patients. Therefore, it is justified to use it instead of the original one in assessment of EDS for patients with SDB in central China.

Space environment and lunar surface processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Comstock, G. M.

1979-01-01

The development of a general rock/soil model capable of simulating in a self consistent manner the mechanical and exposure history of an assemblage of solid and loose material from submicron to planetary size scales, applicable to lunar and other space exposed planetary surfaces is discussed. The model was incorporated into a computer code called MESS.2 (model for the evolution of space exposed surfaces). MESS.2, which represents a considerable increase in sophistication and scope over previous soil and rock surface models, is described. The capabilities of previous models for near surface soil and rock surfaces are compared with the rock/soil model, MESS.2.

Extremophiles for microbial-electrochemistry applications: A critical review.

PubMed

Shrestha, Namita; Chilkoor, Govinda; Vemuri, Bhuvan; Rathinam, Navanietha; Sani, Rajesh K; Gadhamshetty, Venkataramana

2018-05-01

Extremophiles, notably archaea and bacteria, offer a good platform for treating industrial waste streams that were previously perceived as hostile to the model organisms in microbial electrochemical systems (MESs). Here we present a critical overview of the fundamental and applied biology aspects of halophiles and thermophiles in MESs. The current study suggests that extremophiles enable the MES operations under a seemingly harsh conditions imposed by the physical (pressure, radiation, and temperature) and geochemical extremes (oxygen levels, pH, and salinity). We highlight a need to identify the underpinning mechanisms that define the exceptional electrocatalytic performance of extremophiles in MESs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

2. Historic American Buildings Survey E. W. Russell, Photographer, April ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

2. Historic American Buildings Survey E. W. Russell, Photographer, April 2, 1935 OLD MESS HALL AND BARRACKS E. SIDE OF BOTH BLDGS. N. END OF MESS HALL - Mount Vernon Arsenal, Old Barracks Building, Old Saint Stephens Road (County Road 96), Mount Vernon, Mobile County, AL

1. Historic American Buildings Survey E. W. Russell, Photographer, April ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

1. Historic American Buildings Survey E. W. Russell, Photographer, April 2, 1935 N. AND W. SIDE OF BLDG. USED AS MESS HALL E. OF BARRACK BLDG. - Mount Vernon Arsenal, Old Mess Hall, Old Saint Stephens Road (County Road 96), Mount Vernon, Mobile County, AL

Dehydroepiandrosterone Derivatives as Potent Antiandrogens with Marginal Agonist Activity

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-07-01

press. Other Presentations/Abstracts 1. Gordetsky J, Subik K, Choy B, Varghese M, Messing E, Miyamoto H, Yeh S: Analysis of tocopherol -associated...Abstract published in Arch Pathol Lab Med 135(9): 1128, 2011. 7 4. Gordetsky J, Varghese M, Messing E, Miyamoto H, Yeh S: Analysis of tocopherol - associated

Awesome Mess or Good Compromise? Spelling, Linguistics, and Middle Schoolers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyer, Jim

2008-01-01

The stereotypical view of English spelling as an awesome mess is no longer widely held by linguists. That view assumes that spelling should represent pronunciation directly and simply. Instead, spelling is currently understood as representing a more abstract level of language as well as reflecting etymology. Examples from a middle school spelling…

The Coast Artillery Journal. Volume 85, Number 6, November-December 1942

DTIC Science & Technology

1942-12-01

knowledge of this subject, all phases of mess management are con- sidered, including nutrition , menus, kitchen manage- ment, mess accounting for both...Newspaper accounts state much storm damage was done on the Yucatan peninsula. This may have been the starting place for the many coconuts that were found in

Think before You Cut

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pettifor, Ann

2010-01-01

With the main political parties set on reducing public spending, one might be forgiven for supposing that "savage" cuts are the only way forward. However, the author believes there are alternatives, and that is why public education about the financial system is so important. Today, UK is trying to clear up a mess--a mess made by the…

Evaluation of Mangled Extremity Severity Score (MESS) as a predictor of lower limb amputation in children with trauma.

PubMed

Behdad, Saba; Rafiei, Mohammad Hadi; Taheri, Hadi; Behdad, Samin; Mohammadzadeh, Mahdi; Kiani, Gelare; Hosseinpour, Mehrdad

2012-12-01

Management of the severely injured lower limb in children remains a challenge despite advances in surgical techniques. Models that predict the risk of lower limb trauma patients are designed to provide an estimation of the probability of limb salvage. In this study, we validate Mangled Extremity Syndrome Index (Mangled Extremity Severity Score [MESS]) by measurement of its discrimination in children. From September 2009 to 2010, we collected the hospital records of all children who presented with lower extremity long bone open fractures. The inclusion criteria were I grade, II B, III C open fractures, severe injury to three of four organ systems, and severe injury to two of four organ systems with minor injury to two of four systems that require surgical interventions. Severity of limb injury was measured using MESS. Patients were followed up for 1 year. The discrimination of MESS model in differentiating of outcome in patients was assessed by calculating the area under the receiver operator characteristic plot. We evaluated 200 children referred consecutively to our center. The mean MESS in the amputation group was 7.5 ± 1.59 versus 6.4 ± 2.02 in the limb salvage group (p = 0.04). Amputation rate was 7.5% (n = 15). Percentages of skeletal/soft-tissue injury was different between groups (p = 0.0001). Children in the amputation group showed more tissue injury compared with limb salvage group. The best clinical discriminator power was calculated as MESS ≥ 6.5 (sensitivity = 73%, specificity = 54%). We assumed that patients with a high risk of amputation can be identified early, and specific measures can be implemented immediately by using MESS with threshold of 6.5. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Allied Forces. 1st Airborne Task Force. Field Order Number 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1944-08-05

will install and operate radio set SCR- 284 in a directed net. KfCS Div Arty station when installed. Initially 460th F.A. Bn will control. principal...oilly will be used. Food will be consumed from original containers and mess kits’will not be used until prop er mess gear washing facilities are

Virtuous Mess and Wicked Clarity: Struggle in Higher Education Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McArthur, Jan

2012-01-01

This article considers the value of clarity--of theory, method and purposes--in educational research. It draws upon the work of early critical theorist, Theodor Adorno, and particularly his notion of negative dialectics and his challenge to the traditional dichotomy of theory and practice. Using the notions of virtuous mess and wicked clarity, I…

Test Mess 2: Are We Doing Better a Year Later?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldberg, Mark

2005-01-01

In January 2004 the author published an article in the Kappan titled "The Test Mess." In it, he examined how the state and federal accountability and tests were going. It was clear at that time that tests and accountability were not going to disappear--or even diminish--as the central mechanisms of the national effort to improve…

Credit BG. View looks south southwest (202°) across remains of ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

Credit BG. View looks south southwest (202°) across remains of concrete pad foundation for the mess hall. North Base Road (3rd Street) passes nearby. Building 4318 is in the distance at the extreme left of view - Edwards Air Force Base, North Base, Base Mess Hall T-27, Third Street, Boron, Kern County, CA

A Perfect Mess: The Unlikely Ascendancy of American Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Labaree, David F.

2017-01-01

Read the news about America's colleges and universities--rising student debt, affirmative action debates, and conflicts between faculty and administrators--and it's clear that higher education in this country is a total mess. But as David F. Labaree reminds us in this book, it's always been that way. And that's exactly why it has become the most…

CLICK: Arts Education and Critical Social Dialogue within Global Youth Work Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aubrey, Meg

2015-01-01

This article discusses CLICK, a collaborative theatre project between the Mess Up The Mess Theatre Company in Wales, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the Australian Theatre for Young People, and Inspired Productions in New Zealand. This case study demonstrates the value of using arts education to bring together young people from multiple…

MeSS: A novel prognostic scale specific for pediatric well-differentiated thyroid cancer: a population-based, SEER outcomes study.

PubMed

Shayota, Brian J; Pawar, Shonali C; Chamberlain, Ronald S

2013-09-01

High-risk prognostic factors for adults with well-differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) have been well established, but the same is not true for pediatric patients. This study sought to determine whether validated adult prognostic systems are applicable to pediatric patients and to develop a novel prognostic scale that may better reflect outcomes in pediatric subgroups. We queried 62,007 cases of WDTC from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database (1973-2009) to identify 895 patients <20 years of age with WDTC. Data abstracted included age, gender, race, histology type, primary tumor size, cancer stage, and mortality. Odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals were set and data were analyzed with SAS version 9.2. Among 895 pediatric WDTC patients, the overall cause-specific mortality was 0.8%. The presence of distant metastasis was associated with the worst prognosis (P = .0045) followed by larger primary tumor size (P = .0135) and male gender (P = .0162). When classified into low-, moderate-, and high-risk categories according to the distant metastasis (Me), larger primary tumor size (S), and male sex (S) (MeSS) algorithm, mortality rates were 0%, 2.7%, and 23%, respectively. Commonly used prognostic indices for WDTC in adults do not reliably predict poor outcomes among pediatric patients. Rather, a system based on MeSS is more applicable to pediatric patients. Patients who exhibit a high MeSS score have a significantly worse overall survival than those who do not express any MeSS characteristics. Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Another Fine Mess Assessment's Gotten Us Into: Inheriting the Gooey, Slimy, Delicious Mess of Qualitative Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stewart, Marjorie

2010-01-01

The questions that needed to be asked about our students' writing emerged during the process of discussing the first batch of portfolios. Again, this echoes Broad's experience. He writes, "From the standpoint of qualitative methods, this late blooming is a good thing because it means this research question could not have inappropriately…

65. Photocopy of General Arrangement, Crew's Mess & Berthing Space, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

65. Photocopy of General Arrangement, Crew's Mess & Berthing Space, Wash Room, Galley & Galley Stores. Basalt Rock Co. Inc., Shipbuilding Division, Napa, California. Coast Guard Headquarters Drawing No.540-WAGL-3306-1, dated January 1943. Original drawing property of the U.S. Coast Guard. - U.S. Coast Guard Cutter WHITE HEATH, USGS Integrated Support Command Boston, 427 Commercial Street, Boston, Suffolk County, MA

Shipboard Facilities Maintenance and Manpower Utilization: Problem and Approach

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-11-01

sweeping, butting, polishing, lacquering, stenciling, vacuuming and shampooing , garbage disposal and trash removal, and all manner of sanitary and...spaces, passageways, heads and showers, crew lounge, mess decks, exterior deck and ship sides, and all office spaces; and limited facilities...maintenance in all passageways, heads , mess decks, office spaces, and berthing areas. They will also per- form sanitization and exterior deck and

Systemic Engagement: Universities as Partners in Systemic Approaches to Community Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNall, Miles A.; Barnes-Najor, Jessica V.; Brown, Robert E.; Doberneck, Diane M.; Fitzgerald, Hiram E.

2015-01-01

The most pressing social problems facing humanity in the 21st century are what systems theorist Russell Ackoff referred to as "messes"--complex dynamic systems of problems that interact and reinforce each other over time. In this article, the authors argue that the lack of progress in managing messes is in part due to the predominance of…

Meeting the Dual Goals of Content Knowledge and English Language Learning: A Study of the CCUEI Curriculum Materials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Xiaodan; Trube, Barbara; Yi, Chunlan

2011-01-01

This article reports a study on the China-Canada-United States English Immersion (CCUEI) Moral Education and Social Studies (MESS) curriculum materials for elementary classes (Grades 3-6) with the aim of learning how the curriculum addressed the dual goals of MESS content and English language learning. An analysis comparing the CCUEI third grade…

Product Assurance. Operational Quality Assurance. Wideband Radio Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-05-20

necessary to insure that the required on site tests are completed. (9) Planning in-country transportation requirements for personnel and equipment and...responsible for tte equipment. 2-5 CCP 162-1 (13) Arranging for billeting, messing, and transportation for test personnel prior to their arrival in...availability of transportation , quarters, messing and related information will be provided the detachmentI( headquartets by electrical transmission after

Physiological and Medical Considerations of the US Army Physical Readiness Training Program

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-05-28

25-27) of Army mess practices and energy expenditure in recruit training indicate sufficient caloric intake. During physically exhausting periods of...four or five repetitions. *Nutrition (dietqry *Present mess pructices indicate requirements) should match sufficient caloric intake and energy...increases the flexibility and metabolism of the joints and cartilage affected by the specific exercises. (d) Stimulation of low- caloric consuming

6. Photocopy of drawing. (This drawing is an 8' x ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

6. Photocopy of drawing. (This drawing is an 8' x 10' enlargement from a 4' x 5' negative; 1942 drawing titled 'Mobilization Buildings, Hospital Mess, Types HM-336-A, B, C, D, E, F, & G, Electrical,' Plan 800-3136, located at Directorate of Engineering and Housing, Fort McPherson.) - Fort McPherson, World War II Station Hospital, Mess Hall, Anderson Way & Howe Street, Atlanta, Fulton County, GA

5. Photocopy of drawing. (This drawing is an 8' x ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

5. Photocopy of drawing. (This drawing is an 8' x 10' enlargement from a 4' x 5' negative; 1942 drawing titled 'Mobilization Buildings, Hospital Mess, Types HM-336-A, B, C, D, E, F, & G, Elevations, Sections, Etc.,' Plan 800-3132, located at Directorate of Engineering and Housing, Fort McPherson.) - Fort McPherson, World War II Station Hospital, Mess Hall, Anderson Way & Howe Street, Atlanta, Fulton County, GA

Quench dynamics of topological maximally entangled states.

PubMed

Chung, Ming-Chiang; Jhu, Yi-Hao; Chen, Pochung; Mou, Chung-Yu

2013-07-17

We investigate the quench dynamics of the one-particle entanglement spectra (OPES) for systems with topologically nontrivial phases. By using dimerized chains as an example, it is demonstrated that the evolution of OPES for the quenched bipartite systems is governed by an effective Hamiltonian which is characterized by a pseudospin in a time-dependent pseudomagnetic field S(k,t). The existence and evolution of the topological maximally entangled states (tMESs) are determined by the winding number of S(k,t) in the k-space. In particular, the tMESs survive only if nontrivial Berry phases are induced by the winding of S(k,t). In the infinite-time limit the equilibrium OPES can be determined by an effective time-independent pseudomagnetic field Seff(k). Furthermore, when tMESs are unstable, they are destroyed by quasiparticles within a characteristic timescale in proportion to the system size.

Method for generating maximally entangled states of multiple three-level atoms in cavity QED

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jin Guangsheng; Li Shushen; Feng Songlin

2004-03-01

We propose a scheme to generate maximally entangled states (MESs) of multiple three-level atoms in microwave cavity QED based on the resonant atom-cavity interaction. In the scheme, multiple three-level atoms initially in their ground states are sequently sent through two suitably prepared cavities. After a process of appropriate atom-cavity interaction, a subsequent measurement on the second cavity field projects the atoms onto the MESs. The practical feasibility of this method is also discussed.

17. LOOKING FROM DECK ABOVE MESS UP AT DECK ABOVE ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

17. LOOKING FROM DECK ABOVE MESS UP AT DECK ABOVE CO'S STATEROOM. RECTANGULAR WINDOWS IS AT REAR OF PILOT HOUSE. TO RIGHT OF WINDOW IS TOP OF STAIRS TO STARBOARD WING OF FLYBRIDGE. AT EXTREME RIGHT IS ENGINE CONTROLS AND IN BACKGROUND IS COMPASS WITH COVER OVER IT. RIGHT EDGE OF THIS IMAGE IS SAME AS IMAGE 14, JUST OBSTRUCTED IN IMAGE 14 BY LIFE PRESERVER AND SEAT. - U.S. Coast Guard Cutter WHITE LUPINE, U.S. Coast Guard Station Rockland, east end of Tillson Avenue, Rockland, Knox County, ME

Observations of starburst galaxies: Science and supporting technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laag, Edward Aric

In chapter 1 we report on the development of wavefront reconstruction and control algorithms for multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) and the results of testing them in the laboratory under conditions that simulate an 8 meter class telescope. The UCO/Lick Observatory Laboratory for Adaptive Optics Multi-Conjugate testbed allows us to test wide field of view adaptive optics systems as they might be instantiated in the near future on giant telescopes. In particular, we have been investigating the performance of MCAO using five laser beacons for wavefront sensing and a minimum variance algorithm for control of two conjugate deformable mirrors. We have demonstrated improved Strehl ratio and enlarged field of view performance when compared to conventional AO techniques. We have demonstrated improved MCAO performance with the implementation of a routine that minimizes the generalized isoplanatism when turbulent layers do not correspond to deformable mirror conjugate altitudes. Finally, we have demonstrated suitability of the system for closed-loop operation when configured to feed back conditional mean estimates of wavefront residuals rather than the directly measured residuals. This technique has recently been referred to as the "pseudo-open-loop" control law in the literature. Chapter 2 introduces the Multi-wavelength Extreme Starburst Sample (MESS), a new catalog of 138 star-forming galaxies (0.1 < z < 0.3) optically selected from the SDSS using emission line strength diagnostics to have SFR ≥ 50 M⊙ yr-1 based on a Kroupa IMF. The MESS was designed to complement samples of nearby star forming galaxies such as the luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs), and ultraviolet luminous galaxies (UVLGs). Observations using the multiband imaging photometer (MIPS; 24, 70, and 160mum channels) on the Spitzer Space Telescope indicate the MESS galaxies have IR luminosities similar to those of LIRGs, with an estimated median LTIR ˜ 3 x 1011 L⊙ . The selection criteria for the MESS suggests they may be less obscured than typical far-IR selected galaxies with similar estimated SFRs. We estimate the SFRs based directly on luminosities to determine the agreement for these methods in the MESS.

6. Photocopy of drawing. (This drawing is an 8' x ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

6. Photocopy of drawing. (This drawing is an 8' x 10' enlargement from a 4' x 5' negative; 1942 drawing titled 'Mess Halls; Types M-B-T, M-C-T, M-D-T, M-E-T, M-G-T, M-H-T, M-I-T, M-K-T, M-L-T, M-M-T & M-N-T; Electrical,' Plan No. T.O. 700-6601, located at Directorate of Engineering and Housing, Fort McPherson.) - Fort McPherson, World War II Station Hospital, G. U. Treatment Unit Mess Hall, Thorne & Hood Avenues, Atlanta, Fulton County, GA

Indoor dust fall and its composition in two public areas of a city in India

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Raza, S.H.; Nirmala, B.; Murthy, M.S.R.

1990-01-01

The paper reports the estimates of dust fall and its chemical composition in certain indoor areas of Hyderabad - Secunderabad Railway Station and a big domestic mess. The quantity of dust fall; percentage of living matter in aerosols; and the pH, SO{sub 4}, Cl, Fe, Co, Zn, Mn, and Cu contents of dust were analyzed. The deposition of airborne dust particles was 102 to 180 mg/m{sup 2} {times} d in the railway station, while in the mess it was 52 to 97 mg/m{sup 2} {times} d.

Laboratory evaluation of the 3-bowl system used for washing-up eating utensils in the field.

PubMed

Hargreaves, Joanna S

2006-01-01

A 3-bowl system is used for washing-up eating utensils on many expeditions when running water is not available. The utensils are washed in the first bowl until they are visibly clean, rinsed in the second bowl, and disinfected in the third bowl. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of this system in reducing bacterial loads on contaminated utensils and to compare it with alternative washing-up methods. Different washing-up systems were tested with a simulated dish washing of 5 contaminated mess tins followed by 5 uncontaminated mess tins. Porridge was used to simulate food residue and was mixed with Escherichia coli to produce bacterial contamination. Reduction of bacterial load on the mess tins was measured, as were subjective observations regarding the various systems. Bacterial load on contaminated tins is reduced when the 3-bowl system is used. Uncontaminated tins become contaminated in bowl 1, but this is then reduced in subsequent bowls. Disinfectant use, especially bleach, produced a marked reduction in bacterial load on contaminated and uncontaminated tins when used in bowl 2. Detergent is needed to remove grease, and a final rinse removes the smell of disinfectant. Overall, the most effective washing-up system in the laboratory was removal of most food residue with detergent in bowl 1, finish washing with bleach until visibly clean in bowl 2, and a final rinse in drinkable water in bowl 3. This system has advantages over the established 3-bowl system by getting mess tins clean more easily, killing potentially harmful bacteria, and removing the smell and taste of disinfectant.

Use of Ganga Hospital Open Injury Severity Scoring for determination of salvage versus amputation in open type IIIB injuries of lower limbs in children-An analysis of 52 type IIIB open fractures.

PubMed

Venkatadass, K; Grandhi, Tarani Sai Prasanth; Rajasekaran, S

2017-11-01

Open injuries in children are rare compared to adults. In children with major open injuries, there is no specific scoring system to guide when to amputate or salvage the limb. The use of available adult scoring systems may lead to errors in management. The role of Ganga Hospital Open Injury Severity Scoring (GHOISS) for open injuries in adults is well established and its applicability for pediatric open injuries has not been studied. This study was done to analyse the usefulness of GHOISS in pediatric open injuries and to compare it with MESS(Mangled Extremity Severity Score). All children (0-18 years) who were admitted with Open type IIIB injuries of lower limbs between January 2008 and March 2015 were included. MESS and GHOISS were calculated for all the patients. There were 50 children with 52 type IIIB Open injuries of which 39 had open tibial fractures and 13 had open femur fractures. Out of 52 type IIIB open injuries, 48 were salvaged and 4 were amputated. A MESS score of 7 and above had sensitivity of 25% for amputation while GHOISS of 17 and above was found to be more accurate for determining amputation with sensitivity of 75% and specificity of 93.75%. GHOISS is a reliable predictor of injury severity in type IIIB open fractures in children and can be used as a guide for decision-making. The use of MESS score in children has a lower predictive value compared to GHOISS in deciding amputation versus salvage. A GHOISS of 17 or more has the highest sensitivity and specificity to predict amputation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sweet Spot Supersymmetry and Composite Messengers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ibe, Masahiro; Kitano, Ryuichiro

2007-10-30

Sweet spot supersymmetry is a phenomenologically and cosmologically perfect framework to realize a supersymmetric world at short distance. We discuss a class of dynamical models of supersymmetry breaking and its mediation whose low-energy effective description falls into this framework. Hadron fields in the dynamical models play a role of the messengers of the supersymmetry breaking. As is always true in the models of the sweet spot supersymmetry, the messenger scale is predicted to be 10{sup 5} GeV {approx}< M{sub mess} {approx}< 10{sup 10} GeV. Various values of the effective number of messenger fields N{sub mess} are possible depending on themore » choice of the gauge group.« less

1984 Survey of National Guard and Reserve Members: Description and Findings.

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-12-01

number used them at least a few times at commissaries and clubs/open messes. Other uses (medical treat- ment, package stores, family support/ child care...ID~OO- CD~J’ :3 C~m L.A *- 4O 4 0 L 0 CQM N C\\j , U LO Ui Un- r-~L U,-~ L orn rMe m C U,) C~ CY L4 U, koC - ’-z- C\\j Q,~- C𔃾 L. a)0 > V3 1’n -m > >1 L...percent or more did not use iden- tification for medical treatment, the package store, the club or open mess, or for family support, child care, or

Effect of Adenotonsillectomy on Parent-Reported Sleepiness in Children with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

PubMed

Paruthi, Shalini; Buchanan, Paula; Weng, Jia; Chervin, Ronald D; Mitchell, Ronald B; Dore-Stites, Dawn; Sadhwani, Anjali; Katz, Eliot S; Bent, John; Rosen, Carol L; Redline, Susan; Marcus, Carole L

2016-11-01

To describe parental reports of sleepiness and sleep duration in children with polysomnography (PSG)-confirmed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) randomized to early adenotonsillectomy (eAT) or watchful waiting with supportive care (WWSC) in the ChildHood Adenotonsillectomy Trial (CHAT). We hypothesized children with OSA would have a larger improvement in sleepiness 6 mo following eAT compared to WWSC. Parents of children aged 5.0-9.9 y completed the Epworth Sleepiness Scale modified for children (mESS) and the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire-Sleepiness Subscale (PSQ-SS). PSG was performed at baseline and at 7-mo endpoint. Children underwent early adenotonsillectomy or WWSC. The mESS and PSQ-SS classified 24% and 53% of the sample as excessively sleepy, respectively. At baseline, mean mESS score was 7.4 ± 5.0 (SD) and mean PSQ-SS score was 0.44 ± 0.30. Sleepiness scores were higher in African American children; children with shorter sleep duration; older children; and overweight children. At endpoint, mean mESS score decreased by 2.0 ± 4.2 in the eAT group versus 0.3 ± 4.0 in the WWSC group (P < 0.0001); mean PSQ-SS score decreased 0.29 ± 0.40 in eAT versus 0.08 ± 0.40 in the WWSC group (P < 0.0001). Despite higher baseline sleepiness, African American children experienced similar improvement with adenotonsillectomy than other children. Improvement in sleepiness was weakly associated with improved apnea-hypopnea index or oxygen desaturation indices, but not with change in other polysomnographic measures. Sleepiness assessed by parent report was prevalent; improved more after eAT than after WWSC; and was not strongly predicted by sleep disturbances identified by PSG. Childhood Adenotonsillectomy Study for Children with OSA (CHAT). ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier #NCT00560859. © 2016 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

Electricity generation from defective tomatoes.

PubMed

Shrestha, Namita; Fogg, Alex; Wilder, Joseph; Franco, Daniel; Komisar, Simeon; Gadhamshetty, Venkataramana

2016-12-01

The United States faces a significant burden in treating 0.61billionkg of defective tomatoes (culls) every year. We present a proof-of-concept for generating electricity from culled tomatoes in microbial-electrochemical systems (MESs). This study delineates impedance behavior of the culled tomatoes in MESs and compares its impedance spectra with that of soluble substrates (dextrose, acetate, and wastewater). A series of AC and DC diagnostic tests have revealed the superior performance of the culled tomatoes compared to the pure substrates. Cyclic voltammetry results have indicated the active role of indigenous, diffusible redox-active pigments in the culled tomatoes on overall electricity production. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results have elucidated the role of peel and seed on the oxidation behavior of the culled tomatoes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of Adenotonsillectomy on Parent-Reported Sleepiness in Children with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

PubMed Central

Paruthi, Shalini; Buchanan, Paula; Weng, Jia; Chervin, Ronald D.; Mitchell, Ronald B.; Dore-Stites, Dawn; Sadhwani, Anjali; Katz, Eliot S.; Bent, John; Rosen, Carol L.; Redline, Susan; Marcus, Carole L.

2016-01-01

Study Objectives: To describe parental reports of sleepiness and sleep duration in children with polysomnography (PSG)-confirmed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) randomized to early adenotonsillectomy (eAT) or watchful waiting with supportive care (WWSC) in the ChildHood Adenotonsillectomy Trial (CHAT). We hypothesized children with OSA would have a larger improvement in sleepiness 6 mo following eAT compared to WWSC. Methods: Parents of children aged 5.0–9.9 y completed the Epworth Sleepiness Scale modified for children (mESS) and the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire-Sleepiness Subscale (PSQ-SS). PSG was performed at baseline and at 7-mo endpoint. Children underwent early adenotonsillectomy or WWSC. Results: The mESS and PSQ-SS classified 24% and 53% of the sample as excessively sleepy, respectively. At baseline, mean mESS score was 7.4 ± 5.0 (SD) and mean PSQ-SS score was 0.44 ± 0.30. Sleepiness scores were higher in African American children; children with shorter sleep duration; older children; and overweight children. At endpoint, mean mESS score decreased by 2.0 ± 4.2 in the eAT group versus 0.3 ± 4.0 in the WWSC group (P < 0.0001); mean PSQ-SS score decreased 0.29 ± 0.40 in eAT versus 0.08 ± 0.40 in the WWSC group (P < 0.0001). Despite higher baseline sleepiness, African American children experienced similar improvement with adenotonsillectomy than other children. Improvement in sleepiness was weakly associated with improved apnea-hypopnea index or oxygen desaturation indices, but not with change in other polysomnographic measures. Conclusions: Sleepiness assessed by parent report was prevalent; improved more after eAT than after WWSC; and was not strongly predicted by sleep disturbances identified by PSG. Clinical Trial Registration: Childhood Adenotonsillectomy Study for Children with OSA (CHAT). ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier #NCT00560859. Citation: Paruthi S, Buchanan P, Weng J, Chervin RD, Mitchell RB, Dore-Stites D, Sadhwani A, Katz ES, Bent J, Rosen CL, Redline S, Marcus CL. Effect of adenotonsillectomy on parent-reported sleepiness in children with obstructive sleep apnea. SLEEP 2016;39(11):2005–2012. PMID:27568804

PQRS Mess.

PubMed

Sorrel, Amy Lynn

2016-03-01

One-quarter of physicians who participate in the Physician Quality Reporting System and the value modifier program risked payment cuts stemming from difficulties the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had with collecting and analyzing 2014 quality data.

2. MISSILE ASSEMBLY BUILDING, RIGHT SIDE, LOOKING NORTH. NIKE ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

2. MISSILE ASSEMBLY BUILDING, RIGHT SIDE, LOOKING NORTH. - NIKE Missile Base C-84, Missile Test & Assembly Building, North of Launch Area Entrance Drive & east of Mess Hall, Barrington, Cook County, IL

8. PHOTOCOPY, HEATING DRAWING FOR ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. NIKE Missile ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

8. PHOTOCOPY, HEATING DRAWING FOR ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. - NIKE Missile Base SL-40, Administration Building, East central portion of base, southeast of Mess Hall, northeast of HIPAR Equipment Building, Hecker, Monroe County, IL

1. ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, RIGHT SIDE, LOOKING SOUTH. NIKE Missile ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

1. ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, RIGHT SIDE, LOOKING SOUTH. - NIKE Missile Base SL-40, Administration Building, East central portion of base, southeast of Mess Hall, northeast of HIPAR Equipment Building, Hecker, Monroe County, IL

7. PHOTOCOPY, ELEVATION DRAWING OF ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. NIKE Missile ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

7. PHOTOCOPY, ELEVATION DRAWING OF ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. - NIKE Missile Base SL-40, Administration Building, East central portion of base, southeast of Mess Hall, northeast of HIPAR Equipment Building, Hecker, Monroe County, IL

2. ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, REAR SIDE, LOOKING EAST. NIKE Missile ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

2. ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, REAR SIDE, LOOKING EAST. - NIKE Missile Base SL-40, Administration Building, East central portion of base, southeast of Mess Hall, northeast of HIPAR Equipment Building, Hecker, Monroe County, IL

3. ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, LEFT SIDE, LOOKING NORTH. NIKE Missile ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

3. ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, LEFT SIDE, LOOKING NORTH. - NIKE Missile Base SL-40, Administration Building, East central portion of base, southeast of Mess Hall, northeast of HIPAR Equipment Building, Hecker, Monroe County, IL

27 CFR 31.46 - Sales by agencies and instrumentalities of the United States.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... United States, including post exchanges, ship's stores, ship's service stores, and commissaries, or any canteen, club, mess, or similar organization operated under regulations of any such agency or...

27 CFR 31.46 - Sales by agencies and instrumentalities of the United States.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... United States, including post exchanges, ship's stores, ship's service stores, and commissaries, or any canteen, club, mess, or similar organization operated under regulations of any such agency or...

27 CFR 31.46 - Sales by agencies and instrumentalities of the United States.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... United States, including post exchanges, ship's stores, ship's service stores, and commissaries, or any canteen, club, mess, or similar organization operated under regulations of any such agency or...

27 CFR 31.46 - Sales by agencies and instrumentalities of the United States.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... United States, including post exchanges, ship's stores, ship's service stores, and commissaries, or any canteen, club, mess, or similar organization operated under regulations of any such agency or...

Stages of Toilet Training: Different Skills, Different Schedules

MedlinePlus

... germs, the potential for mess, the attached cultural stigma, and so on. On the contrary, toddlers and ... in an overemotional way. Instead, calmly ask your child why he is behaving in this way, firmly ...

What Is a Coma?

MedlinePlus

... of medicine or other drugs a stroke chemical imbalances (in the body from other illnesses) When one of these things happens, it can mess up how the brain's cells work. This can hurt the parts of the brain ...

9. PHOTOCOPY, FOUNDATION AND FLOORING PLANS FOR ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

9. PHOTOCOPY, FOUNDATION AND FLOORING PLANS FOR ADMINISTRATION BUILDING. - NIKE Missile Base SL-40, Administration Building, East central portion of base, southeast of Mess Hall, northeast of HIPAR Equipment Building, Hecker, Monroe County, IL

5. ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, RIGHT AND LEFT SIDES, LOOKING NORTHEAST. ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

5. ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, RIGHT AND LEFT SIDES, LOOKING NORTHEAST. - NIKE Missile Base SL-40, Administration Building, East central portion of base, southeast of Mess Hall, northeast of HIPAR Equipment Building, Hecker, Monroe County, IL

6. ADMINISTRATION BUILDING WITH FLAG POLE, LOOKING SOUTH. NIKE ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

6. ADMINISTRATION BUILDING WITH FLAG POLE, LOOKING SOUTH. - NIKE Missile Base SL-40, Administration Building, East central portion of base, southeast of Mess Hall, northeast of HIPAR Equipment Building, Hecker, Monroe County, IL

4. ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, FRONT AND RIGHT SIDES, LOOKING SOUTHWEST. ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

4. ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, FRONT AND RIGHT SIDES, LOOKING SOUTHWEST. - NIKE Missile Base SL-40, Administration Building, East central portion of base, southeast of Mess Hall, northeast of HIPAR Equipment Building, Hecker, Monroe County, IL

1. PAINT AND OIL STORAGE SHED, FRONT, LOOKING SOUTHWEST. ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

1. PAINT AND OIL STORAGE SHED, FRONT, LOOKING SOUTHWEST. - NIKE Missile Base SL-40, Paint & Oil Storage Shed, North end of base, northwest of Mess Hall & south of Basketball Court, Hecker, Monroe County, IL

7. VIEW NORTH, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, COTTAGE 'L', COTTAGE ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

7. VIEW NORTH, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, COTTAGE 'L', COTTAGE 'M', COTTAGE 'N', ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, MESS HALL - Ohio Soldiers' & Sailors' Home, U.S. Route 250 at DeWitt Avenue, Sandusky, Erie County, OH

6. VIEW NORTHEAST, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, COTTAGE 'L', COTTAGE ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

6. VIEW NORTHEAST, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, COTTAGE 'L', COTTAGE 'M', COTTAGE 'N', ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, MESS HALL - Ohio Soldiers' & Sailors' Home, U.S. Route 250 at DeWitt Avenue, Sandusky, Erie County, OH

13. Interior view of food storage area looking towards hallway; ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

13. Interior view of food storage area looking towards hallway; southeast corner of building on lower floor; view to north. - Ellsworth Air Force Base, Mess & Administration Building, 1561 Ellsworth Street, Blackhawk, Meade County, SD

17. Interior view of vestibule separating locker rooms, changing rooms ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

17. Interior view of vestibule separating locker rooms, changing rooms and restroom beyond; southwest corner of unoccupied portion; view to northwest. - Ellsworth Air Force Base, Mess & Administration Building, 2279 Risner Drive, Blackhawk, Meade County, SD

1. VIEW OF NORTHEAST (GABLE END) AND SOUTHEAST WALLS FROM ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

1. VIEW OF NORTHEAST (GABLE END) AND SOUTHEAST WALLS FROM HOOD AVENUE, FACING NORTHWEST. - Fort McPherson, World War II Station Hospital, G. U. Treatment Unit Mess Hall, Thorne & Hood Avenues, Atlanta, Fulton County, GA

1. VIEW OF WEST (GABLE END) AND SOUTH SIDES, FROM ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

1. VIEW OF WEST (GABLE END) AND SOUTH SIDES, FROM WEST END OF ANDERSON WAY FACING NORTHEAST. - Fort McPherson, World War II Station Hospital, Mess Hall, Anderson Way & Howe Street, Atlanta, Fulton County, GA

71. CHIEF PETTY OFFICERS' LOUNGE AFT LOOKING FORWARD PORT ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

71. CHIEF PETTY OFFICERS' LOUNGE - AFT LOOKING FORWARD PORT TO STARBOARD SHOWING COFFEE MESS, ICE CREAM COOLER, ICE MACHINE AND SCUTTLEBUTT. - U.S.S. HORNET, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Sinclair Inlet, Bremerton, Kitsap County, WA

Is a matrix exponential specification suitable for the modeling of spatial correlation structures?

PubMed Central

Strauß, Magdalena E.; Mezzetti, Maura; Leorato, Samantha

2018-01-01

This paper investigates the adequacy of the matrix exponential spatial specifications (MESS) as an alternative to the widely used spatial autoregressive models (SAR). To provide as complete a picture as possible, we extend the analysis to all the main spatial models governed by matrix exponentials comparing them with their spatial autoregressive counterparts. We propose a new implementation of Bayesian parameter estimation for the MESS model with vague prior distributions, which is shown to be precise and computationally efficient. Our implementations also account for spatially lagged regressors. We further allow for location-specific heterogeneity, which we model by including spatial splines. We conclude by comparing the performances of the different model specifications in applications to a real data set and by running simulations. Both the applications and the simulations suggest that the spatial splines are a flexible and efficient way to account for spatial heterogeneities governed by unknown mechanisms. PMID:29492375

CME, Physicians, and Pavlov: Can We Change What Happens When Industry Rings the Bell?

PubMed Central

Lichter, Paul R.

2008-01-01

Purpose To show how physicians’ conditioned response to “keeping up” has helped industry’s opportunistic funding of continuing medical education (CME) and to propose ways to counter the conditioned response to the benefit of patients and the public. Methods Review of the literature and commentary on it. Results The pharmaceutical and device industries (hereafter referred to as industry) have a long history of bribing physicians to prescribe and use their products. Increasing pressure from Congress and the public has been brought to bear on industry gifting. This pressure, coinciding with increasing financial problems for the providers of CME, provided industry with reason and opportunity to expand its role in the financing of CME. Industry’s incentive to make its CME funding appear to be an arm’s-length transaction has spawned medical education service supplier (MESS) companies. Industry makes “unrestricted grants” to the MESS, and the MESS puts on the CME program. Helped by these CME programs, industry is able to subtly “buy” physicians one at a time, so that under the cover of “education” they and their academic institutions and medical organizations lose sight of being CME pawns in industry’s sole objective: profit. Conclusions Despite a vast literature showing how physician integrity is easy prey to industry, the medical profession continues to allow industry to have a detrimental influence on the practice of medicine and on physician respectability. It will take resolute action to change the medical profession’s conditioned response to industry’s CME bell and its negative effect on patients and the public. PMID:19277219

Developing inexpensive crash countermeasures for Louisiana local roads : request for proposals

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-09-17

The intelligent transportation system (ITS) includes detectors that capture data from Floridas transportation network and computer hardware and software that process these data. Data processed in real-time can, for example, be used to develop mess...

15. Interior view of unoccupied controlled computer room looking at ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

15. Interior view of unoccupied controlled computer room looking at exit door and office; northwest corner of unoccupied portion; view to south. - Ellsworth Air Force Base, Mess & Administration Building, 2279 Risner Drive, Blackhawk, Meade County, SD

2. PAINT AND OIL STORAGE SHED, FRONT AND RIGHT SIDES, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

2. PAINT AND OIL STORAGE SHED, FRONT AND RIGHT SIDES, LOOKING SOUTH. - NIKE Missile Base SL-40, Paint & Oil Storage Shed, North end of base, northwest of Mess Hall & south of Basketball Court, Hecker, Monroe County, IL

32 CFR 538.2 - Use of military payment certificates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... Force sales and services installations and activities. (2) Theaters and other entertainment facilities operated by Department of Defense. (3) Officers' and enlisted personnel messes and clubs, including..., services, and facilities to members of the United States Armed Forces. ...

Computer as Material: Messing about with Time.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Franz, George; Papert, Seymour

1988-01-01

The computer, still a novel device in classrooms, may be incorporated as another learning tool. One method to accomplish this gave students the opportunity to build a clock using materials such as sand, water, or a computer. Additional projects are suggested. (JL)

Who messed up my lake?

EPA Science Inventory

Initial results from a lake-wide agent based simulation releasing virtual drifters from multiple tributaries over time. We examine the use of agent based modeling to break down the sources contributing to the composition of nearshore waters. Knowing that flow is highly biased in ...

Creativity, Curiosity, Exploded Chickens.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seal, David O.

1995-01-01

A discussion of creativity and curiosity, particularly in the context of college instruction, examines two psychological models of creativity, the cognitive approach of Howard Gardner and one aligned with depth psychology (James Hillman). Commonalities are noted: preference for mess over management and for boundaries transgressed rather than…

14. Interior view of vestibule separating rehabilitation space, testing room, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

14. Interior view of vestibule separating rehabilitation space, testing room, and corridor to workout room looking into corridor; near center of occupied portion; view to southeast. - Ellsworth Air Force Base, Mess & Administration Building, 2279 Risner Drive, Blackhawk, Meade County, SD

32 CFR 154.17 - Special access programs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

.... (4) Presidential mess attendants and medical personnel. (5) Other individuals filling administrative... units, and military bands who perform at Presidential functions and facilities. (B) Employees of... PRP, reinvestigation is not required so long as the individual remains in the PRP. (D) A medical...

Lovelace simplifies, saves big with single-source imaging equipment service contract.

PubMed

1997-11-01

Lovelace Health System traded in its disorganized mess of service contracts for imaging and cardiology equipment for one umbrella contract--and is now saving more than $200,000 a year as a result. Find out how to achieve similar savings.

77 FR 24657 - Local Lodging Expenses

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-25

...) (contributions to firemen's mess required as a condition of employment are deductible business expenses). However... in the Federal Register. Drafting Information The principal author of these regulations is R. Matthew Kelley of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Income Tax and Accounting). However, other personnel...

Alaska's Logging Camp School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Millward, Robert E.

1999-01-01

A visit to Ketchikan, Alaska, reveals a floating, one-teacher logging-camp school that uses multiage grouping and interdisciplinary teaching. There are 10 students. The school gym and playground, bunkhouse, fuel tanks, mess hall, and students' homes bob up and down and are often moved to other sites. (MLH)

6. Interior view of main entrance vestibule looking towards lobby; ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

6. Interior view of main entrance vestibule looking towards lobby; showing wall mounted information stations and drinking fountain; near southeast corner of building on main floor; view to north. - Ellsworth Air Force Base, Mess & Administration Building, 1561 Ellsworth Street, Blackhawk, Meade County, SD

Boats, Boats Everywhere

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McIntosh, Phyllis

2013-01-01

Boats are the subject of this feature article, which explores such topics as the age of steamboats, commercial boats, recreational boats, boating vocabulary, and the Mississippi River in American literature. "There is nothing--absolutely nothing--half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats," one animal character famously…

Messing with Your Mind.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Pat; Doherty, Paul

1998-01-01

Research has demonstrated that memory is prone to distortion and is occasionally untrustworthy. Explores the reasons for false memories and explains that memories are vulnerable to postevent information, which can be integrated into memories. False memories can also come from leading questions, word associations, and unconscious editing by the…

Writing from "Artifacts."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Robert

1987-01-01

Describes a teacher's presentation in the classroom of the drafts, notes, outlines, and other artifacts from his own papers. Recommends that teachers show their students evidence of their own struggle with the writing process in order to encourage them and convince them that all writers hesitatingly begin with a mess. (JG)

Assessing the Mess: Challenges to Assemblage Theory and Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beighton, Chris

2013-01-01

This article examines the Deleuzian concept of "assemblage" in educational research in the context of Teacher Education (TE) for the "continuing education" or "Lifelong Learning" sector. Drawing on Deleuze's creative approach to analysis, it draws a portrait of practice which identifies problems and successes in…

Study to compare the performance of two designs to prevent river bend erosion in Arctic environments.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-09-01

Messing with Mother Nature takes knowledge and work, and she is hard to outfox, especially when it comes to redirecting rivers. To : protect infrastructure, however, sometimes river flow must be altered. This study focuses on two erosion-control proj...

32 CFR Appendix C to Part 247 - Mailing of DoD Newspapers, Magazines, CE Guides, and Installation Maps; Sales and Distribution of...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

.... Government Agencies, Members of Congress, libraries, hospitals, schools, and depositories. f. Mailing of an... by the commander, such as the foyers of open messes or exchanges. They will be placed only in stands...

32. PILOT HOUSE, LOOKING TOWARDS PORT, TABLE TO LEFT IS ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

32. PILOT HOUSE, LOOKING TOWARDS PORT, TABLE TO LEFT IS WHERE CHARTS ARE PLOTTED AT BACKGROUND LEFT IS TOP OF STAIRS DOWN TO MESS DECK. - U.S. Coast Guard Cutter WHITE HEATH, USGS Integrated Support Command Boston, 427 Commercial Street, Boston, Suffolk County, MA

46 CFR 108.197 - Construction of accommodation spaces.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 46 Shipping 4 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Construction of accommodation spaces. 108.197 Section... UNITS DESIGN AND EQUIPMENT Construction and Arrangement Accommodation Spaces § 108.197 Construction of accommodation spaces. (a) Each sleeping, mess, recreational, or hospital space that is adjacent to or...

46 CFR 108.197 - Construction of accommodation spaces.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 46 Shipping 4 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Construction of accommodation spaces. 108.197 Section... UNITS DESIGN AND EQUIPMENT Construction and Arrangement Accommodation Spaces § 108.197 Construction of accommodation spaces. (a) Each sleeping, mess, recreational, or hospital space that is adjacent to or...

46 CFR 108.197 - Construction of accommodation spaces.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 46 Shipping 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Construction of accommodation spaces. 108.197 Section... UNITS DESIGN AND EQUIPMENT Construction and Arrangement Accommodation Spaces § 108.197 Construction of accommodation spaces. (a) Each sleeping, mess, recreational, or hospital space that is adjacent to or...

46 CFR 108.197 - Construction of accommodation spaces.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 46 Shipping 4 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Construction of accommodation spaces. 108.197 Section... UNITS DESIGN AND EQUIPMENT Construction and Arrangement Accommodation Spaces § 108.197 Construction of accommodation spaces. (a) Each sleeping, mess, recreational, or hospital space that is adjacent to or...

46 CFR 108.197 - Construction of accommodation spaces.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Construction of accommodation spaces. 108.197 Section... UNITS DESIGN AND EQUIPMENT Construction and Arrangement Accommodation Spaces § 108.197 Construction of accommodation spaces. (a) Each sleeping, mess, recreational, or hospital space that is adjacent to or...

Meanings and Mess in Collaborative Participatory Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davies, Eleri

2015-01-01

Participatory research can be seen as providing affordances for "listening" to student voices. This study contributes to the debate around its affordances in ameliorating democratic processes in schools. Students in a northern city secondary school in England used multimodal methods to research questions based on "where do students…

32 CFR 169.2 - Applicability and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... by or reimbursed from appropriated funds, such as libraries, open messes, and other morale, welfare.... (g) Does not provide authority to enter into contracts. (h) Does not apply to the conduct of research and development, except for severable in-house CAs that support research and development, such as...

Seeding the Cloud

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schaffhauser, Dian

2013-01-01

For any institution looking to shift enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to the cloud, big savings can be achieved--but only if the school has properly prepped "before" negotiations begin. These three steps can help: (1) Mop up the mess first; (2) Understand the true costs for services; and (3) Calculate the cost of transition.

Great cleanup skims the surface

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dillingham, S.

1990-09-03

Appalled by the pollution of the Great Lakes, the United States embarked on a multibillion-dollar cleanup. Twenty years later the nation's largest freshwater source is teeming with life, but problems caused by man and nature remain. Amid the finger-pointing, states in the region and Congress are continuing to clean up the mess.

The High-Stakes Test Mess

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldberg, Mark F.

2004-01-01

Tests are a natural part of education, from the quizzes, essays, and classroom tests that teachers have traditionally administered to the high-stakes tests that states use to make decisions about graduation, promotion, and school funding and governance. In this article, the author stresses the need to learn the unintended consequences of…

Transformational Events

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Denning, Peter J.; Hiles, John E.

2006-01-01

Transformational Events is a new pedagogic pattern that explains how innovations (and other transformations) happened. The pattern is three temporal stages: an interval of increasingly unsatisfactory ad hoc solutions to a persistent problem (the "mess"), an offer of an invention or of a new way of thinking, and a period of widespread adoption and…

Here's Another Nice Mess: Using Video in Reflective Dialogue Research Method

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hepplewhite, K.

2014-01-01

This account discusses "reflective dialogues", a process utilising video to re-examine in-action decision-making with theatre practitioners who operate in community contexts. The reflexive discussions combine with observation, text and digital documentation to offer a sometimes "messy" (from Schön 1987) dynamic to the research…

Productive Mess: First-Year Composition Takes the University's Agonism Online

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rivers, Nathaniel A.; Santos, Marc C.; Weber, Ryan P.

2009-01-01

This webtext describes a pilot course that united four first-year composition courses around shared readings and online discussion addressing the physical and virtual university. The goal of the pilot was to foster previously impossible student interactions by exploring how discrete discussion roles shaped interaction and reputations among…

How to Build MCNP 6.2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bull, Jeffrey S.

This presentation describes how to build MCNP 6.2. MCNP®* 6.2 can be compiled on Macs, PCs, and most Linux systems. It can also be built for parallel execution using both OpenMP and Messing Passing Interface (MPI) methods. MCNP6 requires Fortran, C, and C++ compilers to build the code.

8. Interior view of former food service and storage area ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

8. Interior view of former food service and storage area looking towards hall way; showing closed and open doorways to walk-in storage; near southwest corner of building on main floor; view to southwest. - Ellsworth Air Force Base, Mess & Administration Building, 1561 Ellsworth Street, Blackhawk, Meade County, SD

Messing about with Metaphor: Multimodal Aspects to Children's Creative Meaning Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Roberta

2012-01-01

Children's classroom talk and the connections between talk and text are current concerns for teachers. A deeper understanding of what child communication entails can ensure greater pedagogic support for the processes involved in text production. This article reports on a research project using multimodal discourse analysis to investigate…

10. VIEW TOWARD PORT BOW IN THE FOC'S'LE OF THE ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

10. VIEW TOWARD PORT BOW IN THE FOC'S'LE OF THE EVELINA M. GOULART. OBJECT IN THE FOREGROUND IS A FOLDING MESS TABLE LOCATED BETWEEN THE TIERS OF BUNKS. - Auxiliary Fishing Schooner "Evelina M. Goulart", Essex Shipbuilding Museum, 66 Main Street, Essex, Essex County, MA

Eating and Reading in the Library.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trelease, Jim; Krashen, Stephen

1996-01-01

This article, citing the example of large bookselling chains who offer cafes in their stores, advocates the provision of food and drink in school libraries as well. High-quality food, made available by vending machine, would increase levels of wellness, energy, and teachability. Protests involving mess, lack of money, and difficulties with parents…

Firsthand Nature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gostev, Moses; Weiss, Francesca Michaelides

2007-01-01

It's no secret that many school programs don't give children enough opportunity to explore the natural world--i.e., to "mess about" and to have firsthand experience with nature and animals. Not so at the Muscota New School in New York City! This innovative public elementary school actively promotes inquiry-based learning and encourages…

An Analysis of Outsourcing of Installation Services Under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76.

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-12-01

agreement, on a reimbursable basis. This includes franchise funds, revolving funds and working capital funds. Management Plan.—The Management Plan...Operation of cafeterias, mess halls, kitchens, bakeries , dairies, and commissaries • Vending machines • Ice and water HEALTH SERVICES • Surgical

Irresistible

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curio, Michele

2005-01-01

One of Michele Curio's favorite art lessons is creating a resist using oil pastels under black tempera paint. The process produces dramatic and creative results with a high success rate even for the most art-challenged students. The artworks have a sophisticated, painterly quality that is achieved with more control and less mess than direct…

The Birth of "Frankenstein"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howard, Jennifer

2008-01-01

Nobody shouts "It's alive!" in the novel that gave birth to Frankenstein's monster. "Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus," does not feature mad scientists messing around with beakers in laboratories, nor does it deliver any bug-eyed assistants named Igor. Hollywood has given people those stock images, but the story of the monster and his maker…

Fund the Child: Tackling Inequity & Antiquity in School Finance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas B. Fordham Foundation & Institute, 2006

2006-01-01

Education funding today is a mess, and a solution is needed that addresses its biggest problems: most disadvantaged students do not receive the funding they need; red tape and overhead waste time and money; and new types of education options, like charter schools, are starved for dollars. Unfortunately, until now, so-called solutions have…

The Dukakis Strategy for Excellence in Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dukakis, Michael

1988-01-01

Noting that the Reagan Administration has slashed education aid 16 percent and that the next President will inherit a fiscal mess, Dukakis plans to become the nation's number-one advocate for educational opportunity, good teaching, and adult literacy. He sets forth numerous plans, including a national teachers corps, a college opportunity fund,…

Interview: Raymond Fairchild.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Long, Britt

1995-01-01

Born in 1939 and raised in southwestern North Carolina, banjoist Raymond Fairchild discusses music, religion, the mountain life of his youth, education, racism, and politics from the unique perspective of one who "never did go to school enough to mess up none of my work." His firm belief in a self-made, self-educated person is reflected…

Duke's Devil of a Mess

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Asquith, Christina

2007-01-01

Last spring, at the height of the frenzy over accusations that three Duke University men's lacrosse players had gang raped a Black exotic dancer during a party, faculty from Duke's African and African American studies department chose to take a stand. With emotions running high, the faculty took out a full-page advertisement in student newspaper,…

Teacher's Counselor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Noon, Elizabeth F.

1977-01-01

Norma Kuder's teaching career was in jeopardy. Her personal life had been a mess for a long time, and it affected her teaching. Her principal believed that Norma didn't belong in teaching, and he warned her that her contract might not be renewed. Discusses how intelligent action by the school counselor, the principal, and fellow teachers saved a…

How to Mess with PISA: Learning from Japanese "Kokugo" Curriculum Experts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Takayama, Keita

2018-01-01

To remove cultural bias is critical for the legitimacy of Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) as an internationally reliable academic assessment. Since its inception, PISA has made extensive effort to address this issue by putting in place a range of methodological and procedural measures to ensure its test fairness. This study…

Cleaning up That Mess: A Framework for Classifying Educational Apps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cherner, Todd; Dix , Judy; Lee, Corey

2014-01-01

As tablet technologies continue to evolve, the emergence of educational applications (apps) is impacting the work of teacher educators. Beyond online lists of best apps for education and recommendations from colleagues, teacher educators have few resources available to support their teaching of how to select educational apps. In response, this…

Systems Perspectives on External Quality Assurance: Implications for Micro-States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Houston, Don; Maniku, Ahmed Ali

2005-01-01

Quality assurance in higher education is a mess: the "problem" of quality is embedded in complex sets of interacting issues that are of concern to many and varied stakeholders. Developing higher education systems that have responded to issues of quality through a "best practice" model of external quality assurance has produced…

Making a Mess of Academic Work: Experience, Purpose and Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malcolm, Janice; Zukas, Miriam

2009-01-01

Within the policy discourse of academic work, teaching, research and administration are seen as discrete elements of practice. We explore the assumptions evident in this "official story" and contrast it with the messy experience of academic work, drawing upon empirical studies and conceptualisations from our own research and from recent…

A bloody mess: dendritic cells use hemophagocytosis to regulate viral inflammation.

PubMed

Miller, Elizabeth; Bhardwaj, Nina

2013-09-19

Previous studies have highlighted the immune-dampening effects of apoptotic cell uptake by phagocytes. Ohyagi et al. (2013) expose a unique mechanism of immune regulation during viral infection, which is mediated through phagocytosis of apoptotic red cells by dendritic cells. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

What Colleges Can Learn from Recessions Past

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Breneman, David W.

2008-01-01

The present financial and credit crisis is unprecedented in recent history, resembling in many ways the onset of the Depression of the 1930s more than subsequent recessions. Presumably, one has learned something about managing such events and will not permit the current economic mess to deteriorate to Depression levels. In this article, the author…

Means-Tested Higher Education? The English University Bursary Mess

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitton, Lavinia

2007-01-01

The UK government wishes to increase participation in higher education to 50%, with a key target group being students from 'non-traditional' backgrounds. At the same time, top-up fees have been introduced. Following the fierce parliamentary debates which threatened to derail the passage of the Higher Education Bill 2004, an amendment was…

Mastering Marking Madness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Brooke

2009-01-01

Teachers are smart people, so why does marking reduce them to stressed and soulless messes? Because in their hearts they know that students do not learn from it, and that drives them nuts. Researchers like Lorna Earl and Dylan Wiliam have looked closely at marking systems and have proven what teachers already know deep down: marking student work…

Putting the Focus on Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schaffhauser, Dian

2011-01-01

From the excesses of Wall Street to the whole mortgage mess, the issue of accountability has become part of a heated national conversation. It is a debate to which higher education is certainly no stranger. But now, with tuition rates at private and public schools rising precipitously--and state budgets shriveling--the cries for increased…

Success Factors Impacting Latina/o Persistence in Higher Education Leading to STEM Opportunities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peralta, Claudia; Caspary, Melissa; Boothe, Diane

2013-01-01

This study investigates how Latina/Latino youth resist, conform to, and persist in schooling, and explores their preparation for an education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. Using Latino Critical Race Theory as a framework, evidence of the "sticky mess" of racial inequalities (Espinoza and Harris in"…

Caring for the Little Ones: Creative Activities for Infants and Toddlers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Karen

1997-01-01

Main section argues that developing aptitudes for creativity in infants and toddlers is an important goal. Suggests the foundations of creativity begin with feeling valued, learning to combine things, exploring space and direction (gross motor development), fine motor development, making things happen, making a mess, and exposure to variety.…

Electronic Waste is a Mess: Awareness and Proenvironmental Behavior among University Students in Ghana

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edumadze, John K. E.; Tenkorang, Eric Y.; Armah, Frederick A.; Luginaah, Isaac; Edumadze, Gladys E.

2013-01-01

E-waste contains hazardous chemicals and materials that threaten the environment and human health, when improperly disposed. This study examined levels of awareness of e-waste disposal among university students in Ghana, and their proenvironmental decision-making using two outcome variables: "knowledge on environmental impact and policy…

Inquiring about Water Quality

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dacko, Margaret; Higdon, Robbie

2004-01-01

Teachers can use inquiry to make sure that student learning is hands-on and minds-on. There are many levels of inquiry and teachers can even include some of their favorite cookbook labs after modifying them. Inquiry does not always mean lots of time, money, materials, and mess. One of the most important things that inquiry does require of…

Spoon-Feeding: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Mess

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Holly

2008-01-01

The author, a programme leader for a Post Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCLTHE), hears a complaint from her colleagues that undergraduate students require "spoon-feeding". Accepting structuralism's argument that language does things, not just describe them, the author examines "spoon-feeding" in more depth.…

Messing about, Political Indulgence, or Making Progress?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Ron

2017-01-01

The article, as an opinion piece, considers the experience of Government policy change with reference to the further education sector in England. An Institute for Government report, "All change: Why Britain is so prone to policy reinvention, and what can be done about it" focused on further education as one of its case examples. Those of…

Messing with Mendel.

PubMed

Birchler, James A

2012-10-16

Paramutation, a phenomenon of epigenetic switching that violates Mendel's Law of Segregation, was first discovered in maize and later observed in other plants. In a recent report in Nature, de Vanssay and colleagues (2012) describe in Drosophila an operationally analogous phenomenon to paramutation that is mediated by piwi-interacting RNAs. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On Messes, Systems Thinking, and Evaluation: A Response to Patton

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Robin Lin

2016-01-01

To help evaluation professionals better understand what an authentic attempt at Developmental Evaluation (DE) ought to look like and when it is appropriate to use, Michael Patton's provocative essay (this issue) offers evaluators eight sensitizing concepts to call on as guides. Patton states these concepts succinctly define DE and persuasively…

7. Photocopy of War Department drawing (original located at Fort ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

7. Photocopy of War Department drawing (original located at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin). QUARTERS & MESS, OFFICERS, TYPE OQM-40 (40 OFFICERS), TWO STORY BUILDINGS, PLAN NUMBER 790-1257 - Fort McCoy, Building No. T-655, 100' Northwest of Intersection of East Twelfth Avenue & East "O" Street, Sparta, Monroe County, WI

4. PHOTOGRAPHIC COPY OF ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION DRAWING, DATED MAY 13, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

4. PHOTOGRAPHIC COPY OF ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION DRAWING, DATED MAY 13, 1919, DETACHMENT BARRACK WITHOUT MESS, WAR DEPARTMENT, CONSTRUCTION DIVISION, PLAN # 353, COPY ON FILE IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT OFFICE, FORT BLISS - Fort Bliss, 7th Cavalry Buildings, U.S. Army Air Defence Artillery Center & Fort Bliss, El Paso, El Paso County, TX

"The Hurricane Messed a Lot of Us Up"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maxwell, Lesli A.

2008-01-01

Across New Orleans' still-emerging patchwork of regular public schools and charter schools, the emotional, social, and academic damage that the August 2005 hurricane inflicted on the city's children plays out daily, in disruptions to instruction, in schoolyard fights, and in classrooms half-empty because of chronic absenteeism. Over a three-month…

11. PHOTOGRAPHIC COPY OF ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH, DATED APRIL 29, 1926, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

11. PHOTOGRAPHIC COPY OF ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH, DATED APRIL 29, 1926, 7TH CAVALRY CANTONMENT MESS HALL, NATIONAL ARCHIVES PHOTOGRAPH, RECORD GROUP 92, GEOGRAPHIC FILE, 1922-1935, No. 600-1, FORT BLISS - Fort Bliss, 7th Cavalry Buildings, U.S. Army Air Defence Artillery Center & Fort Bliss, El Paso, El Paso County, TX

Not Solving Problems, Managing Messes: Competent Systems in Early Childhood Education and Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Urban, Mathias

2014-01-01

EU 2020, the current strategic framework of the European Union (European Commission, 2010) sets ambitious policy goals based on a rather bleak analysis of a complex crisis scenario the Union finds itself in. A key role is given to early childhood education and care to achieve these goals, and "'highest benefits" are predicted for…

"Organizing the Mess in My Mind": EFL Teachers' Perceptions and Knowledge of English Orthography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kahn-Horwitz, Janina

2015-01-01

English foreign language (EFL) literacy achievement is a major challenge for EFL pupils in Israel. To better understand this challenge, this study used a quantitative approach to examine differences between experienced and preservice EFL teachers' content knowledge of the English orthography and the impact of a semester course on this knowledge. A…

STS-46 aft flight deck payload station 'Marsha's workstation' aboard OV-104

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

STS-46 payload station nicknamed 'Marsha's (Ivins) workstation' on the aft flight deck of Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104, is cluttered with food, cameras, camera gear, cassettes, flight text material, and other paraphernalia. This area is just behind the commanders station. Fellow crewmembers nicknamed the station and good-naturedly kidded Ivins about the mess.

Muddled genetic terms miss and mess the message.

PubMed

Vihinen, Mauno

2015-08-01

A critical aspect of science is the clear communication of complicated matters. However, language is often ambiguous, and the message can get lost in the telling. In particular, genetic terms can have different meanings for different people. Here, I discuss this problem and suggest remedies to clarify the message. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Update: Guidelines for Effective Facilitation of Creative Problem Solving. Part 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Firestien, Roger L.; Treffinger, Donald J.

1989-01-01

In this second article of a series, the first three stages of the CPS (Creative Problem Solving) process are described and several facilitation techniques that can be used in each stage are discussed. The three stages discussed (Mess-Finding, Data-Finding, and Problem-Finding) each involve a creative thought and a critical thought phase. (JDD)

Field evaluation of a mechanical fly catcher in the control of houseflies.

PubMed

Tilak, R; Dutta Gupta, K K

2007-01-01

'Fly Catcher', an innovative herbal based mechanical trap was evaluated for its efficacy in reducing fly nuisance in and around messes operating in a large teaching establishment and the adjacent garbage dumps. It is recommended that the 'Fly Catcher' may be used as an adjunct to other routinely followed anti fly measures.

The Neglected Genius of American Christianity As a Way Out of the School Mess.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gatto, John Taylor

1997-01-01

Modern compulsory schooling ignores the spiritual component of human existence, to the detriment of individual and society. In American Protestant spirituality, everyone counts; a good life's requisites are spelled out: work as salvation, pain as path to self-knowledge, duty, compassion, acceptance of loss, preparation for death. But no teacher…

Ethics Meets Freddy Krueger

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Jeffrey R.

2007-01-01

The head of Arizona State University's film-production program, F. Miguel Valenti, doesn't believe in showing movie clips in his classes, arguing that every scene should be viewed in its full context. So to make a point about why he thinks "Friday the 13th" has destroyed the horror genre, he recently showed the whole bloody mess of a…

1. On right is the 'Times Square' portion of Building ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

1. On right is the 'Times Square' portion of Building No. 9950, including skylights. On left is Building No. 9940, Patients Recreation. View is from roof of Ramp No. 4 adjacent to Building No. 9980, Mess Hall. - Madigan Hospital, Post Office & Post Exchange, Bounded by Wilson & McKinley Avenues & Garfield & Lincoln Streets, Tacoma, Pierce County, WA

Mining the Middle School Mind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vawter, David

2010-01-01

Middle school students are walking dichotomies. They can talk about world peace and then hit the kid next to them. They can recycle to ease global warming only to leave the cafeteria a mess. Why? Well, scientifically, it is because their brains do not work. When people look at middle school students, they can plainly see evidence of physical…

Messing with Mother Nature Can Be Hazardous to Your Health. Assessment of Environmental Health Impacts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Americans for Indian Opportunity, Inc., Albuquerque, NM.

Environmental health impacts of development on Indian communities, and the roles of government agencies responsible for environmental protection and individual safety are being assessed by Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO) during a two-year project. Although the more than 250 Indian tribes within the U.S. have federal guarantees for…

Fractured Memories, Mended Lives: The Schooling Experiences of Latinas/os in Rural Areas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peralta, Claudia

2013-01-01

This study explored how Mexican immigrant and first-generation Mexican youth resist, conform to, and persist in schooling. Using Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) as a framework, evidence of the "sticky mess" of racial inequalities (Espinoza & Harris, 1997) was shown to impact the lives of all participants. However, the strength…

5. PHOTOGRAPHIC COPY OF ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION DRAWING, DATED JUNE 14, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

5. PHOTOGRAPHIC COPY OF ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION DRAWING, DATED JUNE 14, 1919, 7TH CAVALRY CANTONMENT MESS BUILDING, WAR DEPARTMENT, CONSTRUCTION DIVISION, PLAN No. 316A, COPY ON FILE IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT OFFICE, FORT BLISS - Fort Bliss, 7th Cavalry Buildings, U.S. Army Air Defence Artillery Center & Fort Bliss, El Paso, El Paso County, TX

Another Extraction! Try This One Instead of Dried Peas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sultana, Khalida; van Rooy, Wilhelmina

2009-01-01

Extracting DNA from fruit and vegetables provides students with hands-on opportunities to engage with a visualisation of genetic material that can later be supported by ICT and practical model making. Here is a quick, cheap and easy way to extract DNA from strawberries that avoids the mess involved in other DNA extractions, such as from dried…

13 Reasons Colleges Are in This Mess

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chronicle of Higher Education, 2009

2009-01-01

In some ways, higher education has been a victim of the recession--but not a defenseless victim. Smart moves clearly helped some colleges and universities avoid the worst of the downturn. Mistakes have left many others in the lurch. The downward spiral has brought layoffs, budget cuts, and anxiety to many campuses. With the cuts have come protests…

Digital Youth with Disabilities. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alper, Meryl

2014-01-01

Most research on media use by young people with disabilities focuses on the therapeutic and rehabilitative uses of technology; less attention has been paid to their day-to-day encounters with media and technology--the mundane, sometimes pleasurable and sometimes frustrating experiences of "hanging out, messing around, and geeking out."…

Oil Spill Cleanup

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kauble, Christena Ann

2011-01-01

Several classroom activities using a model of a seashore and an oil spill demonstrate the basic properties of oil spills in oceans. Students brainstorm about how to best clean up the mess. They work in teams, and after agreeing on how they will proceed, their method is tested by measuring the amount of oil removed and by rating the cleanliness of…

Military Testing Association 1981: Some Manpower Presentations.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-03-01

van If UM of toome Jelv4kmw IM). lksm eM .mmae ys estam mm ers liheme. ’ Smm am f mess me) w ro mi ma. Table 5 Composition of National Youth Population...the profile sample. Testing was generally conducted in groups of five to ten per- sons. More than 400 test sites, including hotels , community centers

Can We Live With the Mess We're Making? Patchwork Will Not Fill Growing Gap

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haggard, Joel

1975-01-01

Presently, the United States is behind projected progress in total solid waste systems that no longer include merely waste disposal, but require efforts at waste source reduction as well. Recycling is not always the answer to the problem and all aspects should be researched before the best system is chosen. (MA)

Selected Literature According to Subject Field. Measurement and Control Techniques in Nuclear Reactors. Bibliographuc Compilation; AUSGEWAHLTES SCHRIFTTUM NACH SACHGEBIETEN. MESS- UND REGELTECHNIK AN KERNREAKTOREN. BIBLIOGRAPHISCHE ZUSAMMENSTELLUNG

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gessmann, D., comp

1963-11-01

One hundred and eighty-one references on measurement and control techniques in nuclear reactors are presented. The period covered is Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1962. The references are arranged by subject and report number and author indexes are included. (M.C.G.)

"I Cannot Mess This up Anymore": The Experiences of Undergraduates Who Withdraw and Start Again Elsewhere

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Withey, Lisa; Fox, Claire L.; Hartley, James

2014-01-01

This research sought to explore undergraduates' experiences of non-completion and re-uptake, with a particular focus on coping strategies. Five undergraduate students who had left the university system and then re-entered it took part in semi-structured interviews about their feelings and experiences in this context, and these were then analysed…

2002 Industry Studies: News Media

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-01-01

News Media responsibility introductory critique: Mustering the moxie to master the media mess: some introductory comments in the quest for media...accountable for their actions.2 Bad news reporting, on the other hand, can leave the people uninformed by failing to report important news , or by... the most alarming weaknesses of the news media have been systemic, and they have seriously underestimated or ignored America’s

Proteopedia: A Collaborative, Virtual 3D Web-Resource for Protein and Biomolecule Structure and Function

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hodis, Eran; Prilusky, Jaime, Sussman, Joel L.

2010-01-01

Protein structures are hard to represent on paper. They are large, complex, and three-dimensional (3D)--four-dimensional if conformational changes count! Unlike most of their substrates, which can easily be drawn out in full chemical formula, drawing every atom in a protein would usually be a mess. Simplifications like showing only the surface of…

Is There a Correlation between Cheating in Undergraduate Institutions and the Mess on Wall Street? ... Are We Addicted to Cheating?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crawford, Constance J.; Stellenwerf, Anita L.

2009-01-01

A recent survey of undergraduate business students indicated that an overwhelming majority, over 75%, of the participants admitted to cheating. When graduate school majors were surveyed, research indicates that the biggest cheaters, 56% overall, were business majors. Are students behaving in response to societal rewards of corporate malfeasance…

Member’s Perception of Service Quality At the Nellis Air Force Base Officers Open Mess

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-05-01

35 Consumer Behavior ............................... 36 Perceptions ...................................... 37 Value...110 Table 13. Problem Resolution: Overall Service Quality .... 111 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Faith Popcorn’s Ten Changes in Consumer Behavior .......................................... 16...military club has the same characteristics as their civilian counterparts in regards to consumer behavior , needs, and expectations; S3: The miliary

Georgia on Our Minds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skophammer, Karen

2011-01-01

Oil pastels offer many advantages. They come in a large range of hues, intensities and values, and they lend themselves to blending and shading in a unique way that no other art medium offers. They can be worked and reworked from day to day by the students without the large mess and cleanup time that oil paints require. An artist whose works are a…

Learning from YouTube [Video Book

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Juhasz, Alexandra

2011-01-01

YouTube is a mess. YouTube is for amateurs. YouTube dissolves the real. YouTube is host to inconceivable combos. YouTube is best for corporate-made community. YouTube is badly baked. These are a few of the things Media Studies professor Alexandra Juhasz (and her class) learned about YouTube when she set out to investigate what actually happens…

46 CFR 113.25-30 - General emergency alarm systems for barges of 300 or more gross tons with sleeping accommodations...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... location of contact makers must be determined by the design, service, and operation of the barge. Note: Contact makers in the primary work area, quarters area, galley and mess area, machinery spaces, and the navigating bridge or control area should be considered. (b) If a distribution panel cannot be above the...

Bacc to the Future: Why We Urgently Need a More Coherent and Exciting Framework for Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benn, Melissa

2015-01-01

Our current curriculum and qualifications framework is a "fragmented mess" according to many of those who teach in, and lead, our schools. How can we change it with minimal disruption, particularly after four years of often destructive meddling from above? A number of individuals and groups at school level have been working to develop a…

72. PRISONER OF WAR AREA 'A,' BUILDINGS 7613, 7614, 7614, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

72. PRISONER OF WAR AREA 'A,' BUILDINGS 7613, 7614, 7614, 7616, AND 7617, BARRACKS, AND BUILDING 7619, KITCHEN AND MESS HALL. (In the background, Building 7608, Guard Tower No. 4, is in front of Buildings 7502, 7503, and 7504, C.C.C. Storage Buildings). Fort McCoy photograph #B-37, undated. - Fort McCoy, Sparta, Monroe County, WI

"It Just Messes Your Mind": U.S. International Students' Perspectives of and Experiences with Academic Text Sourcing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Isbell, Janet Kesterson; Chaudhuri, Jayati; Schaeffer, Deborah L.

2018-01-01

This critical case study explored how six international students enrolled in two U.S. universities perceived and understood the concept of plagiarism. Through our participants' stories, we challenged a system that insists on international students' conformity, without adequate knowledge or training, to a U.S. or Western system of text borrowing…

The Sound of Higher Education: Sensuous Epistemologies and the Mess of Knowing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phipps, Alison

2007-01-01

The soundscape of higher education is changing. The changes reflect an age of managerialism and an age of uncertainty. These changes call on us to give up on some of the ways we have understood knowledge in the past and prompt us to find news ways of recognizing and understanding the complexities facing higher education research. This paper…

Evaluation of the Mangled Extremity Severity Score in Combat-Related Type III Tibia Fracture

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

Return to duty rates of amputee soldiers in the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. J Trauma. 2010; 68:1476–1479. 5. Johansen K, Daines M, Howey T...severity score (MESS) in combat related type III tibia fracture. J Orthop Trauma. 2013. 4. Johansen K, Daines M, Howey T, et al. Objective criteria

Necessary condition for local distinguishability of maximally entangled states: Beyond orthogonality preservation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singal, Tanmay; Rahaman, Ramij; Ghosh, Sibasish; Kar, Guruprasad

2017-10-01

The (im)possibility of local distinguishability of orthogonal multipartite quantum states still remains an intriguing question. Beyond C3⊗C3 , the problem remains unsolved even for maximally entangled states (MESs). So far, the only known condition for the local distinguishability of states is the well-known orthogonality preservation (OP). Using an upper bound on the locally accessible information for bipartite states, we derive a very simple necessary condition for any set of pairwise orthogonal MESs in Cd⊗Cd to be perfectly locally distinguishable. It is seen that particularly when the number of pairwise orthogonal MES states in Cd⊗Cd is equal to d , then this necessary condition, along with the OP condition, imposes more constraints (for said states to be perfectly locally distinguishable) than the OP condition does. When testing this condition for the local distinguishability of all sets of four generalized Bell states in C4⊗C4 , we find that it is not only necessary but also sufficient to determine their local distinguishability. This demonstrates that the aforementioned upper bound may play a significant role in the general scenario of local distinguishability of bipartite states.

How to survive the medical misinformation mess.

PubMed

Ioannidis, John P A; Stuart, Michael E; Brownlee, Shannon; Strite, Sheri A

2017-11-01

Most physicians and other healthcare professionals are unaware of the pervasiveness of poor quality clinical evidence that contributes considerably to overuse, underuse, avoidable adverse events, missed opportunities for right care and wasted healthcare resources. The Medical Misinformation Mess comprises four key problems. First, much published medical research is not reliable or is of uncertain reliability, offers no benefit to patients, or is not useful to decision makers. Second, most healthcare professionals are not aware of this problem. Third, they also lack the skills necessary to evaluate the reliability and usefulness of medical evidence. Finally, patients and families frequently lack relevant, accurate medical evidence and skilled guidance at the time of medical decision-making. Increasing the reliability of available, published evidence may not be an imminently reachable goal. Therefore, efforts should focus on making healthcare professionals, more sensitive to the limitations of the evidence, training them to do critical appraisal, and enhancing their communication skills so that they can effectively summarize and discuss medical evidence with patients to improve decision-making. Similar efforts may need to target also patients, journalists, policy makers, the lay public and other healthcare stakeholders. © 2017 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation.

Grandma's Wicker Sewing Basket: Untangling the Narrative Threads in Silko's "Ceremony"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beidler, Peter G.; Nelson, Robert M.

2004-01-01

Leslie Marmon Silko's "Ceremony" is a novel about a young man who returns to the Laguna Reservation in 1948, after horrifying experiences on the Pacific front in World War II. He comes home in a psychological mess after being released from a prisoner of war camp. An attempt is made to enable teachers to help first-time readers untangle the various…

3. Photo copy of photograph, (original in Forest Service Office, ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

3. Photo copy of photograph, (original in Forest Service Office, Elkins, WV, photo #292222), photographer unknown, ca. 1935. VIEW EAST, CCC CAMP PARSONS, FOREST SERVICE TRUCK STORAGE ON LEFT, WATER TANK (DEMOLISHED), MESS HALL (DEMOLISHED). (see also historic photograph WV-237-20, WV-237-35) - Parsons Nursery, Civilian Conservation Corps Garage, South side of U.S. Route 219, Parsons, Tucker County, WV

A Decision-Based Methodology for Object Oriented-Design

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-12-16

willing to take the time to meet together weekly for mutual encouragement and prayer . Their friendship, uncompromising standards, and lifestyle were...assume the validity of the object-oriented and software engineering principles involved, and define and proto- type a generic, language independent...mean- ingful labels for variables, abstraction requires the ability to define new types that relieve the programmer from having to know or mess with

The Middle School Mess: If You Love Bungee Jumping, You're the Middle School Type

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyer, Peter

2011-01-01

Suspended "between childhood and the adult world, pre-teens have been called the toughest to teach." Indeed, one can't touch middle school without hearing about "raging hormones." By all accounts, middle schools are a weak link in the chain of public education. Is it the churn of ill-conceived attempts at reform that's causing all the problems? Is…

"Mix-Ups, Messes, Confinements, and Double-Dealings:" Transgendered Performances in Three Novels by Louise Erdrich

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Iovannone, J. James

2009-01-01

Louise Erdrich's early poem "The Strange People" portrays a dynamic understanding of gender echoed in many of her later fictive works. Narrated by a speaker who is half antelope, half woman, the poem details the relationship between a masculine hunter and his feminine prey. The poem suggests that gender is experienced as a wound, a site of…

Our Housing Mess...And What Can Be Done About It.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blake, Peter

The housing crisis in the United States is primarily urban. Unlike areas of urban blight, rural alums are not slums of despair by any means. "Slums of despair" is a term used in a recent study of urban life to describe those areas in some of our inner cities whose inhabitants feel they are utterly trapped--that they stand little chance of…

8. VIEW FORWARD IN CREW'S QUARTERS (FOC'S'LE) SHOWING DOUBLE TIER ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

8. VIEW FORWARD IN CREW'S QUARTERS (FOC'S'LE) SHOWING DOUBLE TIER OF BUNKS IN THE EVELINA M. GOULART. KINGPOST IS AT CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPH WITH FORE PEAK IN BACKGROUND. A FOLDING MESS TABLE IS AT LOWER LEFT OF PHOTOGRAPH. NOTE BENCH SEAT BELOW LOWEST TIER OF BUNKS. - Auxiliary Fishing Schooner "Evelina M. Goulart", Essex Shipbuilding Museum, 66 Main Street, Essex, Essex County, MA

Evaluation of a commercially available ELISA kit for quantifying imidacloprid residues in Erthrina sandwicensis leaves for management of the Erythrina gall wasp, Quadrastichus erythrinae Kim.

Treesearch

Joseph Fischer; Brian Strom; Sheri Smith

2009-01-01

The erythrina gall wasp (EGW), Quadrastichus erythrinae Kim 2004, was first detected in Hawaii in 2005 and has been infesting and killing Erythrina trees throughout the island chain since. It is believed EGW originated from Africa (Messing et al. 2009). Its host range appears to be limited to Erythrina; its...

47 CFR 25.287 - Requirements pertaining to operation of mobile stations in the NVNG, 1.5/1.6 GHz, 1.6/2.4 GHz...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... capabilities to ensure compliance with Footnote 5.353A in 47 CFR 2.106 and the priority and real-time... capabilities to ensure compliance with Footnotes 5.353A and the priority and real-time preemption requirements... respect to FSS stations operating with other systems. (1) LES transmissions to MESs must have a priority...

Hinchingbrooke staff deserve an apology.

PubMed

Scott, Graham

2015-01-20

Imagine being a nurse at Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Cambridgeshire. Those who have been there for a while will have endured year after year of mismanagement as one regime after another failed to run the trust effectively. First the finances were allowed to get into an unholy mess, so the organisation was handed to private firm Circle to sort out. Last week, Circle decided to walk away, leaving the NHS to start again.

The Past, Present and Future of Army Dietetics

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-03-17

THIS PAGE ("olin Data En ~tered) REPOT DCUMNTATON ~dEREAD INSTRUCTIONSREPOT DCUMNTATON AGEBEFORE COMPLETING FORM I. REPORT NUMBER 2. GOVT ACCESSION No...JAN , 1473 EoTlomorI bOV GSIS OSOLETE UNCLASSIFIED SECURITY CLASSIFICATIOpt OF THIS PAsE (W?? en 0ate Entered) UNCLASSIFIED SECURITY CLASSIFICATION...began to perform the following duties: *instruction of patients with diabetes in measuring and weighing food *supervision of mess personnel assigned to

Department of the Defense Agency Financial Report for Fiscal Year 2009

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-11-16

healthcare was provided for 9.3 million eligible beneficiaries in 59 inpatient medical facilities, more than 800 medical and dental clinics, as well as...The Department is working with the Reserves and National Guard to address challenges in force readiness, particularly in the area of dental ...mess facilities. There are over 80 airports, 59 inpatient facilities (hospitals), 378 medical clinics, and 285 dental clinics. These structures are in

Training the Afghan National Army

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-19

make the individuals who composed the HQs, staff officers, signalers, cooks, clerks, mess waiters , and menials, themselves mobile.”11 This meant making...the Managing Director of the Afghan Center for Socio-Economic Opinion Research, stated that next to friends and family, radio is the most important...domestic security forces to the point that they can effectively 99 Anne Gearan and Matthew Lee, “Pentagon Chiefs: Afghans Can manage by 2014,” Associated

"Making a Mess in the Mud": The Discovery of Toddlers' Special Needs by Child Scientists in the 1930s in the Netherlands

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bakker, Nelleke

2012-01-01

In this article, the author discusses plans that were launched at three consecutive conferences on care for toddlers between 1929 and 1938 in the Netherlands. These plans and their realisation are evaluated in terms of what was seen as the missing link in the supply of institutional care for young children. The author identifies the professional…

Boots on the Ground: A Lesson Relearned?

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

counterinsurgency will give the reader a feeling for the mess that the new Colombian President, Alvaro Uribe , inherited in 2002. The Colombian insurgency traces...was Colombia’s strategy in the first place. When President Alvaro Uribe took office in 2002 with the mandate to restore security “Colombia was the...COIN strategy originally developed by President Pastrana’s government and later modified by his successor, President Uribe , in conjunction with the

Opinion Survey -- Revision and Validation

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-04-01

the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. 24. Gays shouldn’t be given special protection against discrimination because...special protection against discrimination because homosexuality is a decision to violate the laws of God and nature. 25. The savings and loan mess is...about taxing the rich. They’ve never been interested in helping the poor. 24. Gays shouldn’t be given special protection against discrimination

Limited energy study. Thermal storage at Central Chilled Water Plant, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1996-05-31

The Scope of Work called for the study of the economic feasibility of providing a cold thermal storage system at the central chiller plant serving the Fort Leonard Wood 600 Area in order to reduce electrical demand charges. In the Entry Interview, Mr. Doug Cage requested that the analysis include the potential for expansion of such a system to serve the 700 and 800 Areas as well. It was agreed that this would be done if the analysis indicated that a cold thermal storage system would be economically feasible for Area 600. The 600 Area study area is comprised ofmore » two different build types, mess halls and barracks. The mess halls are all essentially identical with the exception that site orientation varies by building. The same is true for the barracks buildings. A baseline case was calculated under the basis that the future chilled water plant for the area under analysis would be served by a centrifugal chiller. This was done because there is no existing baseline condition against which thermal storage systems may be compared. The existing chiller serves Area 600 plus a portion of Area 700. In addition, its age is such that it is reasonable to expect that it will be replaced in the near future.« less

Need low-cost networking? Consider DeviceNet

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moss, W.H.

1996-11-01

The drive to reduce production costs and optimize system performance in manufacturing facilities causes many end users to invest in network solutions. Because of distinct differences between the way tasks are performed and the way data are handled for various applications, it is clear than more than one network will be needed in most facilities. What is not clear is which network is most appropriate for a given application. The information layer is the link between automation and information environments via management information systems (MISs) and manufacturing execution systems (MESs) and manufacturing execution systems (MESs). Here the market has chosenmore » a de facto standard in Ethernet, primarily transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) and secondarily manufacturing messaging system (MMS). There is no single standard at the device layer. However, the DeviceNet communication standard has made strides to reach this goal. This protocol eliminates expensive hardwiring and provides improved communication between devices and important device-level diagnostics not easily accessible or available through hardwired I/O interfaces. DeviceNet is a low-cost communications link connecting industrial devices to a network. Many original equipment manufacturers and end users have chosen the DeviceNet platform for several reasons, but most frequently because of four key features: interchangeability; low cost; advanced diagnostics; insert devices under power.« less

Operation Desert Shield Lessons Learned

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-01-01

MRE, T and B rations) issued in Army Mess Halls. (2) Peelable fruits, i.e., oranges and bananas , apples, and pears after being peeled and washed...every day, they cannot get a good seal on their protective masks and are likely to become casualties in the event of a chemical attack. LESSON...liquid mustard agent is imminent. (2) Find clean areas to get relief from wearing rubber gloves and boots before softening of the hands and feet

Center for the Integration of Optical Computing

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-10-15

medium-high-speed two- beam coupling that could be used in systems as an all- optical interconnect. The basis of our studies was the fact that operating at...to investigate near-band edge photorefractivity for optical interconnects, at least when used at small beam ratio or in phase conjugate resonators. I...field pattern a mess. Their poor beam quality makes laser diode arrays ill suited for many applications, such as launching intense light into single

Assessing the Treatment of Airborne Tactical High Energy Lasers in Combat Simulations

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-03-01

Raymond A . Physics for Scientists and Engineers (4th edition). Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing, 1996. Sirak, Michael. “Industry Vies...supported, my efforts on a single page, several individuals are noteworthy. I’d like to thank Dr. Hill for getting me into this mess. The promise of a ...research topic with some application in an area of personal interest was a welcome departure from otherwise mundane, academic choices. I’d also

Look down from the Sky: Is It a Bird? Is It Superman? No, It's a Plane

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chick, Helen

2016-01-01

The plane problem is a real-world problem, presented without any suggestion as to how it might be solved. It arose unexpectedly as the author was messing around on the internet, not thinking about maths at all. She did not encounter the problem in a maths lesson, nor as homework in the middle of a unit on a particular topic, and so she had no…

Can a Focus on Preventable Events Help Untangle the Quality Measurement Mess?

PubMed

Miller, Michael

2016-01-01

The success of a shift from paying for volume to paying for value depends on our ability to measure quality. Unfortunately, current approaches to measuring quality and linking quality to payment have frustrated providers and failed to provide essential information to patients. Shifting to a focus on preventable events could go a long way toward clarifying and simplifying quality measurement, but successful adoption of that approach requires overcoming several substantive and political challenges.

Credit USAF, ca. 1943. Original housed in the Muroc Flight ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

Credit USAF, ca. 1943. Original housed in the Muroc Flight Test Base, Unit History, 1 September 1942 - 30 June 1945. Alfred F. Simpson Historical Research Agency. United States Air Force. Maxwell AFB, Alabama. Historic view looking north across southwest end of swimming pool as army personnel work on finishing the pool bottom. View looks towards Mess Hall (T-10) on Second Street - Edwards Air Force Base, North Base, Swimming Pool, Second Street, Boron, Kern County, CA

Youth Development from the Trenches: A Practitioner Examines the Research, His Experience, and Discovers a Powerful New Youth Development Strategy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Rick

2012-01-01

"You can mess all you want with instruction, curriculum, policy, and program strategies, and while all that is important, it doesn't substitute for the basics. We need adults who care about us as people and believe in us when no one else does, even when we don't seem to care about ourselves." Why do some children excel and some struggle? Why are…

An Examination of the MH-60S Common Cockpit from a Design Methodology and Acquisitions Standpoint

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-01

estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington headquarters Services...LCD monitors and a host of keypads and other more “computer interface” oriented input devices. To the author, the potential of this transition was...year during fiscal years 1998–2003 but had shifted these monies to other priorities [21]. This mess quickly drew in the Marine Corps again, this

Learning and Memory Enhancement by Neuropeptides

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-06-30

learning in an autoshaping task, in which rats learn to touch a lever to obtain food t!-k During the past year we have completed an initial dose...response study of effects of TMT’ý autoshaping and a paper has been accepted for publication (C.A. Cohen, R.B. Messing and S.B. Sparber, Psvchooharmacologv...from specific cognitive effects of the compound. In particular, TMT does not impair performance of easy versions of the autoshaping task with

Sustainable remediation: electrochemically assisted microbial dechlorination of tetrachloroethene-contaminated groundwater.

PubMed

Patil, Sayali S; Adetutu, Eric M; Rochow, Jacqueline; Mitchell, James G; Ball, Andrew S

2014-01-01

Microbial electric systems (MESs) hold significant promise for the sustainable remediation of chlorinated solvents such as tetrachlorethene (perchloroethylene, PCE). Although the bio-electrochemical potential of some specific bacterial species such as Dehalcoccoides and Geobacteraceae have been exploited, this ability in other undefined microorganisms has not been extensively assessed. Hence, the focus of this study was to investigate indigenous and potentially bio-electrochemically active microorganisms in PCE-contaminated groundwater. Lab-scale MESs were fed with acetate and carbon electrode/PCE as electron donors and acceptors, respectively, under biostimulation (BS) and BS-bioaugmentation (BS-BA) regimes. Molecular analysis of the indigenous groundwater community identified mainly Spirochaetes, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and γ and δ-Proteobacteria. Environmental scanning electron photomicrographs of the anode surfaces showed extensive indigenous microbial colonization under both regimes. This colonization and BS resulted in 100% dechlorination in both treatments with complete dechlorination occurring 4 weeks earlier in BS-BA samples and up to 11.5 μA of current being generated. The indigenous non-Dehalococcoides community was found to contribute significantly to electron transfer with ∼61% of the current generated due to their activities. This study therefore shows the potential of the indigenous non-Dehalococcoides bacterial community in bio-electrochemically reducing PCE that could prove to be a cost-effective and sustainable bioremediation practice. © 2013 The Authors. Microbial Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for Applied Microbiology.

Décision d'amputation dans la prise en charge initiale d'une luxation ouverte grave de la cheville à propos d'un cas observé à l'Hôpital Laquintinie de Douala suite à un accident par moto-taxi

PubMed Central

Tsatedem, Faustin Atemkeng; Tsiagadigui, Jean Gustave; Ndando, Richard Polle; Arabo, Mohamadou Saidou; Bayiha, Alphonse; Kenfack, Bruno

2012-01-01

La décision d'amputation pour traumatisme grave de membre n'est pas toujours facile à prendre. Les auteurs rapportent le cas d'un traumatisme ouvert de la cheville gauche avec luxation tibiotalienne complète, référé pour amputation. Il s'agit d'une passagère d'une moto-taxi percutée par une voiture. A l'admission, le pouls tibial postérieur était présent et le score dit MESS (Mangled Extremity Severity Score) côté à 5, ce qui a permis et d'éviter l'amputation. Après débridement et réduction, une broche transplantaire a permis d'immobiliser la cheville et de faire les pansements. L'amputation a été évitée. La cicatrisation dirigée de la peau a été suivie par la kinésithérapie. La mobilité de la cheville autorise une marche avec cannes au quatrième mois post-opératoire. Les auteurs recommandent l'utilisation du MESS dans la décision d'amputation après traumatisme grave de membre. PMID:23396997

Simple and Flexible Self-Reproducing Structures in Asynchronous Cellular Automata and Their Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Xin; Lee, Jia; Yang, Rui-Long; Zhu, Qing-Sheng

2013-03-01

Self-reproduction on asynchronous cellular automata (ACAs) has attracted wide attention due to the evident artifacts induced by synchronous updating. Asynchronous updating, which allows cells to undergo transitions independently at random times, might be more compatible with the natural processes occurring at micro-scale, but the dark side of the coin is the increment in the complexity of an ACA in order to accomplish stable self-reproduction. This paper proposes a novel model of self-timed cellular automata (STCAs), a special type of ACAs, where unsheathed loops are able to duplicate themselves reliably in parallel. The removal of sheath cannot only allow various loops with more flexible and compact structures to replicate themselves, but also reduce the number of cell states of the STCA as compared to the previous model adopting sheathed loops [Y. Takada, T. Isokawa, F. Peper and N. Matsui, Physica D227, 26 (2007)]. The lack of sheath, on the other hand, often tends to cause much more complicated interactions among loops, when all of them struggle independently to stretch out their constructing arms at the same time. In particular, such intense collisions may even cause the emergence of a mess of twisted constructing arms in the cellular space. By using a simple and natural method, our self-reproducing loops (SRLs) are able to retract their arms successively, thereby disentangling from the mess successfully.

Fractionation of iron isotopes during leaching of natural particles by acidic and circumneutral leaches and development of an optimal leach for marine particulate iron isotopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Revels, Brandi N.; Zhang, Ruifeng; Adkins, Jess F.; John, Seth G.

2015-10-01

Iron (Fe) is an essential nutrient for life on land and in the oceans. Iron stable isotope ratios (δ56Fe) can be used to study the biogeochemical cycling of Fe between particulate and dissolved phases in terrestrial and marine environments. We have investigated the dissolution of Fe from natural particles both to understand the mechanisms of Fe dissolution, and to choose a leach appropriate for extracting labile Fe phases of marine particles. With a goal of finding leaches which would be appropriate for studying dissolved-particle interactions in an oxic water column, three particle types were chosen including oxic seafloor sediments (MESS-3), terrestrial dust (Arizona Test Dust - A2 Fine), and ocean sediment trap material from the Cariaco basin. Four leaches were tested, including three acidic leaches similar to leaches previously applied to marine particles and sediments (25% acetic acid, 0.01 N HCl, and 0.5 N HCl) and a pH 8 oxalate-EDTA leach meant to mimic the dissolution of particles by organic complexation, as occurs in natural seawater. Each leach was applied for three different times (10 min, 2 h, 24 h) at three different temperatures (25 °C, 60 °C, 90 °C). MESS-3 was also leached under various redox conditions (0.02 M hydroxylamine hydrochloride or 0.02 M hydrogen peroxide). For all three sample types tested, we find a consistent relationship between the amount of Fe leached and leachate δ56Fe for all of the acidic leaches, and a different relationship between the amount of Fe leached and leachate δ56Fe for the oxalate-EDTA leach, suggesting that Fe was released through proton-promoted dissolution for all acidic leaches and by ligand-promoted dissolution for the oxalate-EDTA leach. Fe isotope fractionations of up to 2‰ were observed during acidic leaching of MESS-3 and Cariaco sediment trap material, but not for Arizona Test Dust, suggesting that sample composition influences fractionation, perhaps because Fe isotopes are greatly fractionated during leaching of silicates and clays but only minimally fractionated during dissolution of Fe oxyhydroxides. Two different analytical models were developed to explain the relationship between amount of Fe leached and δ56Fe, one of which assumes mixing between two Fe phases with different δ56Fe and different dissolution rates, and the other of which assumes dissolution of a single phase with a kinetic isotope effect. We apply both models to fit results from the acidic leaches of MESS-3 and find that the fit for both models is very similar, suggesting that isotope data will never be sufficient to distinguish between these two processes for natural materials. Next, we utilize our data to choose an optimal leach for application to marine particles. The oxalate-EDTA leach is well-suited to this purpose because it does not greatly fractionate Fe isotopes for a diversity of particle types over a wide variety of leaching conditions, and because it approximates the conditions by which particulate Fe dissolves in the oceans. We recommend a 2 h leach at 90 °C with 0.1 M oxalate and 0.05 M EDTA at pH 8 to measure labile ;ligand-leachable; particulate δ56Fe on natural marine materials with a range of compositions.

A Bloody Mess!

PubMed

Brodsky, Michael C; Biousse, Valérie

A 15-year-old girl presented with a unilateral sixth nerve palsy and papilledema after a severe headache. Magnetic resonance imaging showed thrombosis of the superior sagittal sinus and proximal right transverse sinus that were attributed to oral contraceptive use after a coagulation workup was negative. Systemic anticoagulation caused a hemorrhagic papillopathy in both eyes, raising the question as to whether anticoagulation should be discontinued. Diagnostic and management issues regarding cerebral venous sinus thrombosis with secondary intracranial hypertension are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hidden dangers: Environmental consequences of preparing for war

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Birks, J.W.; Ehrlich, A.H.

1990-01-01

This compilation of chapters by some of the world's foremost non-governmental experts, focuses on the military's nuclear mess. Hidden Dangers suggests that in the end, events, not politics, changed operations' in the nuclear complex. After Chernobyl, safety became the pressing issue. Although the continuing stream of revelations of safety and environmental violations within the US nuclear weapons complex may make the 1990 book seem out of date, it remains an indispensable primer for those concerned with the social and environmental consequences of nuclear weapons production.

Don't mess with H/sub 2/S

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1987-09-01

The American Petroleum Institute issued a report on ''Recommended Practices for Safe Drilling of Wells Containing Hydrogen Sulfide.'' The study (RP49) updates a first edition published in September 1974. It provides a solid overview of preventive steps that should be taken to safeguard crew and equipment when drilling through H/sub 2/S zones. Discussions cover personnel training, protective equipment, wellsite layout, rig and well equipment, general rig operations and contingency planning and emergency procedures. This article summarizes the report.

Evaluation of installed solar systems at Navy, Army, and Air Force Bases. Final report, October 1984-September 1985

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Durlak, E.R.

1986-05-01

This report presents a summary of the results of site-evaluation inspection conducted at Navy, Army, and Air Force base. The solar systems evaluated included space heating, space cooling, and domestic hot water system. The systems range in size from small two-collector systems to large arrays installed on barracks, mess halls, office buildings, etc. These operational results are presented so that future designs will benefit from the lesson learned in this study.

Numerical simulation for solution of space-time fractional telegraphs equations with local fractional derivatives via HAFSTM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandey, Rishi Kumar; Mishra, Hradyesh Kumar

2017-11-01

In this paper, the semi-analytic numerical technique for the solution of time-space fractional telegraph equation is applied. This numerical technique is based on coupling of the homotopy analysis method and sumudu transform. It shows the clear advantage with mess methods like finite difference method and also with polynomial methods similar to perturbation and Adomian decomposition methods. It is easily transform the complex fractional order derivatives in simple time domain and interpret the results in same meaning.

USN Manpower Determination Decision Making: A Case Study Using Imprint Pro to Validate the LCS Core Crew Manning Solution

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-01

available time consists of 56 hours of sleep (8 hours per 24 hour period), 14 hours for eating (messing), and 17 hours of free time (which includes 3 hours...experiences changes to their sleeping, eating , and working habits that then changes their body temperature peak times, respiratory rate, and hormone...training, personal hygiene, sleeping, and eating . The unplanned events are represented by the yellow tags in Figure 11 and represent emergencies that

Radio Wave Propagation: A Handbook of Practical Techniques for Computing Basic Transmission Loss and Field Strength

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-09-01

MARK A. WEISSBEGU KALLE R. XONTSON Project Msnaqer, IUTRZ Assistant Director Contractor Operations Approved by CRARLES L. FLYNN, 001, us A. M. MESSE...34 BSTJ, 1946. 2-4priis, H.T., "Introduction to Radio and Antennas," IEEE Spectrum, April, 1971 . RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION: A HANDBOOK OF PRACTICAL...Propagation Tests, TR-0177-71.01, Gautney & Jones Communications, Inc., Falls Church, VA, June 1971 . 3 -7 Comparison of Predicted VLF/LF Signal

Moats and Drawbridges: An Isolation Primitive for Reconfigurable Hardware Based Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-05-01

these systems, and after being run through an optimizing CAD tool the resulting circuit is a single entangled mess of gates and wires. To prevent the...translates MATLAB [48] algorithms into HDL, logic synthesis translates this HDL into a netlist, a synthesis tool uses a place-and-route algorithm to...Core Soft Core µ Soft P Core µP Core Hard Soft Algorithms MATLAB gcc ExecutableC Code HDL C Code Bitstream Place and Route NetlistLogic Synthesis EDK µP

The Man Who Would Be King

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-12-01

into the mess until I touched two boxes. I felt the blades of something that felt like a small airplane. A drone. And another and another. “Twelve of... running down the valley, chasing five men dressed in black robes.39 The five men looked white—as white as you or me. We scrambled to load the horses... run the clinic. Both mala-wrais enthusiastically agreed and the bari man said he would move into our house. “When the meeting ended, I walked with

Empirical Evaluation of a Model of Team Collaboration Using Selected Transcripts from September 11, 2001

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-01

close coordination between the FAA and NORAD is required in order to maintain safety of the U.S. airspace. In order to interpret how the FAA and...386 Sergeant Bianchi: Hi, Sergeant Lucas calling from Lotus . MISC MISC MISC 387 Sergeant Bianchi: Yeah. MISC MISC MISC 388 Sergeant Lucas...TIE These guys have been sitting here and messing with this stuff. TIE US TIE You need some kind of food . TIE MISC MISC Sir

11. VIEW FROM JUST AFT OF THE KING POST IN ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

11. VIEW FROM JUST AFT OF THE KING POST IN THE FOC'S'LE OF THE EVELINA M. GOULART. FIRE EXTINGUISHER IS MOUNTED ON STUB OF FOREMAST. OBJECT AT LOWER LEFT IS A FOLDING MESS TABLE. LADDER LEADS TO DECK. CABINET AT RIGHT CENTER HOUSED SINK FOR CLEAN-UP AND COOKING. A SMALL CHINA SINK AT RIGHT CENTER SERVED FOR PERSONAL CLEAN-UP AND SHAVING. - Auxiliary Fishing Schooner "Evelina M. Goulart", Essex Shipbuilding Museum, 66 Main Street, Essex, Essex County, MA

Creating a Systems Engineering Distance Learning Experience

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-01

4077th? Comment on two other students’ responses. Dear Mom, Last month, Major Burns and Lt were complaining about the powered eggs and powdered...area homes. I ordered 500 yds. of copper wire and traded it to Cho. He is now delivering eggs and vegetable to the mess nearly every day. None of the...and a full support staff. He called this meatball surgery. Yet he sacrificed the man’s leg, and he saved two others from death. He told Hawkeye that

The All-Volunteer Force: An Analysis of Youth Participation, Attrition, and Reenlistment,

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-05-01

reenlistees is not large enough at this time to conduct a separate analysis. How- ever, reenlistment intentions were asked and we identify a number of factors...752 per month. Thus, the Government imputes to his salary $240 per month for the privilege of eating in the mess hall and sleeping in the barracks...terms of military service. The same factors which cause them to leave the armed forces may affect their ability to get and keep decent employment in the

Space Industrialization. Volume 2: Opportunities, Markets and Programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

The nature of space industrialization and the reasons for its promotion are examined. Increases in space industry activities to be anticipated from 1980 to 2010 are assessed. A variety of future scenarios against which space industrialization could evolve were developed and the various industrial opportunities that might constitute that evolution were defined. The needs and markets of industry activities were quantitatively and qualitatively assessed and messed. The various hardware requirements vs. time (space industry programs) as space industrialization evolves are derived and analyzed.

Analyzing Future Complex National Security Challenges within the Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental, and Multinational Environment. Proteus Futures Academic Workshop Held in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania on 22-24 August 2006

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-08-01

AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release; distribution unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT 15. SUBJECT TERMS 16. SECURITY...threats, or financial insecurities. Yankee Going Home: The world of 2020 looks like a confused mess! Little is clear except that the world has... statements from Proteus: Insights from 2020 are highly releant when thinking about the current strategic picture in the context of Power: “When Power

Policy Specification for Non-Local Fault Tolerance in Large Distributed Information Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-05-01

submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Philip E. Varner Approved: John C. Knight (Advisor) Anita K. Jones...Applied Science May 2003 Abstract The services provided by critical infrastructure systems are essential to the operation of modern society. These systems...Pagels for putting up with me while I was working on this. Thanks to my advisor John Knight for getting me into this mess. Thanks to Jonathan Hill for

The Australian Managed Entry Scheme: Are We Getting it Right?

PubMed

Tuffaha, Haitham W; Scuffham, Paul A

2018-05-01

In 2010, the Australian Government introduced the managed entry scheme (MES) to improve patient access to subsidised drugs on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and enhance the quality of evidence provided to decision makers. The aim of this paper was to critically review the Australian MES experience. We performed a comprehensive review of publicly available Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee online documents from January 2010 to July 2017. Relevant information on each MES agreement was systematically extracted, including its rationale, the conditions that guided its implementation and its policy outcomes. We identified 11 drugs where an MES was considered. Most of the identified drugs (75%) were antineoplastic agents and the main uncertainty was the overall survival benefit. More than half of the MES proposals were made by sponsors and most of the schemes were considered after previous rejected/deferred submissions for reimbursement. An MES was not established in 8 of 11 drugs (73%) despite the high evidence uncertainty. Nevertheless, six of these eight drugs were listed after the sponsors reduced their prices. Three MESs were established and implemented by Deeds of Agreement. The three cases were concluded and the required data were submitted within the agreed time frames. The need for feasibility and value of an MES should be carefully considered by stakeholders before embarking on such an agreement. It is essential to engage major stakeholders, including patient representatives, in this process. The conditions governing MESs should be clear, transparent and balanced to address the expectations of various stakeholders.

The VLTI/MIDI view on the inner mass loss of evolved stars from the Herschel MESS sample

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paladini, C.; Klotz, D.; Sacuto, S.; Lagadec, E.; Wittkowski, M.; Richichi, A.; Hron, J.; Jorissen, A.; Groenewegen, M. A. T.; Kerschbaum, F.; Verhoelst, T.; Rau, G.; Olofsson, H.; Zhao-Geisler, R.; Matter, A.

2017-04-01

Context. The mass-loss process from evolved stars is a key ingredient for our understanding of many fields of astrophysics, including stellar evolution and the chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium (ISM) via stellar yields. Nevertheless, many questions are still unsolved, one of which is the geometry of the mass-loss process. Aims: Taking advantage of the results from the Herschel Mass loss of Evolved StarS (MESS) programme, we initiated a coordinated effort to characterise the geometry of mass loss from evolved red giants at various spatial scales. Methods: For this purpose we used the MID-infrared interferometric Instrument (MIDI) to resolve the inner envelope of 14 asymptotic giant branch stars (AGBs) in the MESS sample. In this contribution we present an overview of the interferometric data collected within the frame of our Large Programme, and we also add archive data for completeness. We studied the geometry of the inner atmosphere by comparing the observations with predictions from different geometric models. Results: Asymmetries are detected for the following five stars: R Leo, RT Vir, π1Gruis, omi Ori, and R Crt. All the objects are O-rich or S-type, suggesting that asymmetries in the N band are more common among stars with such chemistry. We speculate that this fact is related to the characteristics of the dust grains. Except for one star, no interferometric variability is detected, I.e. the changes in size of the shells of non-mira stars correspond to changes of the visibility of less than 10%. The observed spectral variability confirms previous findings from the literature. The detection of dust in our sample follows the location of the AGBs in the IRAS colour-colour diagram: more dust is detected around oxygen-rich stars in region II and in the carbon stars in region VII. The SiC dust feature does not appear in the visibility spectrum of the U Ant and S Sct, which are two carbon stars with detached shells. This finding has implications for the theory of SiC dust formation. Based on observations collected at the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere under ESO programmes 073.D-0711, 076.D-0620, 077.D-0294, 078.D-0122, 080.D-0801, 081.D-0021, 083.D-0234, 086.D-0737, 086.D-899, 187.D-0924, 089.D-0562, 090.D-410, 091.C-0468, 091.D-0344.

Quick mixing of epoxy components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dunlap, D. E., Jr.

1981-01-01

Two materials are mixed quickly, thoroughly, and in precise proportion by disposable cartridge. Cartridge mixes components of fast-curing epoxy resins, with no mess, just before they are used. It could also be used in industry and home for caulking, sealing, and patching. Materials to be mixed are initially isolated by cylinder wall within cartridge. Cylinder has vanes, with holes in them, at one end and handle at opposite end. When handle is pulled, grooves on shaft rotate cylinder so that vanes rotate to extrude material A uniformly into material B.

How an Opportunistic Infection Can Mess with Your Brain and Take Your Breath Away: A Rare Case of Simultaneous Lung and Brain Abscess due to Streptococcus anginosus.

PubMed

Al-Saffar, Farah; Torres-Miranda, Daisy; Ibrahim, Saif; Shujaat, Adil

2015-01-01

Streptococcus anginosus (S. anginosus) is considered a friendly bug and is a one of many different bacteria that constitute the normal flora of the oral cavity. Nevertheless, it has been infrequently associated with more invasive infections, like lung abscess. It is extremely rare to have multisystemic involvement with S. anginosus group. We present a unique case of pulmonary and brain abscess due to S. anginosus in an immunocompetent patient.

Engineering sustainable development

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Prendergast, J.

1993-10-01

This article discusses sustainable development, a policy which attempts to balance environmental preservation and economic growth, and promises a way to provide a decent life for Earth's human inhabitants without destroying the global ecosystem. Sustainable development is an effort to use technology to help clean up the mess it helped make, and engineers will be central players in its success or failure. Key aspects include more efficient energy use through conservation measures and switching to renewable sources, waste minimization, much greater recycling and reuse of materials, more comprehensive economic/environmental assessments employing life-cycle analyses, and better management of resources.

Don't Mess with the NEST

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Larson, M

NEST stands for Nuclear Emergency Support Team. The NEST Mission Statement as first established: (1) Conduct, direct, coordinate search and recovery operations for nuclear material, weapons or devices; and (2) Assist in identification and deactivation of Improvised Nuclear Devices (INDs) and Radiological Dispersal Devices (RDDs). Then in 1980 a very sophisticated improvised explosive device was found at Harvey's Casino at Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The FBI and Bomb Squads were unprepared and it detonated. As a result the additional phrase 'and Sophisticated Improvised Explosive Devices (SIEDs)' was added to the Mission Statement.

United States Air Force Statistical Digest, Fiscal Year 1976 and Transition Quarter (TQ). 31st Edition

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-04-30

Disaster Preparedness.. • •••••• Nuclear Weapons Custodian Unalloted. Other. TOTAL 99,786 539 3,963 31,977 638 1,393 3,804 2,098 430 26 102...Politico Military Affairs. OrrenMess Management •• •• • • • Disaster Preparedness. • • • ••• Nuclear Weapons Custodian Unalloted Other TOTAL 99,262 535...FY 1976 (U) Tra,nsition ................. PART III - SAFETY (Continued) Military Personnel - Disabling Injury LOsses and Costs Resulting From USAF

International Conference on Electronic Properties of Two-Dimensional Systems (5th) Held at Oxford, England on 5-9 September 1983.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-01-01

0 .4 I. -" PREFACE -2k This Volume contains unrefereed manuscripts scheduled for presentation at the Fifth International Conference on Electronic...Stradling July 1983 i____ -__ - INTERNATIONAL DVISORY COMMITTEE T AndO Isu Uba G rda. hinich L Esaki. Yor ktown Heights H Fukeyama, Tokyo C C Grims, SellI Lab...vidth of the absorption line-shope Ie pp1..- n.trrpretstin ot (2.8) is that the interne excited state The mess-shItE and the line-width of the

Recommendations for Future Army Analysis Efforts. Volume 4. Key Questions and Recommendations for Future Analysis Efforts on Explaining the Army and Supporting the Soldier

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-04-14

McDonalds or Burger King for snack shops, Marriott for messing/billeting facilities, etc.? RECOMMENDED ELEMENTS OF ANALYSIS/TOPICAL AREAS: DATE RESULTS ITEM...e.g., a Burger King on post) now brings in about SI million per month to the family support coffers. It began in 1984 and has returned $21 million...Army, private sector franchises and family support. - The first or leading question is whether the family affects retention and, if so, what the Army

No communicable diseases this month: public health nursing at the Colorado River Relocation Center, 1942-1945.

PubMed

Coffin, Rebecca A

2014-01-01

In the name of public safety, the US government forcibly removed more than 110 000 Japanese Americans from their homes along the West Coast of the United States during World War II. Incarcerated in crude barracks located in remote locations, Japanese Americans were suddenly required to share laundry facilities, toilets, showers, and mess halls with hundreds of likewise incarcerated Japanese Americans. With conditions ripe for spreading communicable disease, public health nurses relied on health promotion techniques of the time to prevent epidemic outbreaks of diseases such as measles, polio, and tuberculosis.

Seeing the order in a mess: optical signature of periodicity in a cloud of plasmonic nanowires.

PubMed

Natarov, Denys M; Marciniak, Marian; Sauleau, Ronan; Nosich, Alexander I

2014-11-17

We consider the two-dimensional (2-D) problem of the H-polarized plane wave scattering by a linear chain of silver nanowires in a cloud of similar pseudo-randomly located wires, in the visible range. Numerical solution uses the field expansions in local coordinates and addition theorems for cylindrical functions and has a guaranteed convergence. The total scattering cross-sections and near- and far-zone field patterns are presented. The observed resonance effects are studied and compared with their counterparts in the scattering by the same linear chain of wires in free space.

Why do proteases mess up with antigen presentation by re-shuffling antigen sequences?

PubMed

Liepe, Juliane; Ovaa, Huib; Mishto, Michele

2018-04-30

The sequence of a large number of MHC-presented epitopes is not present as such in the original antigen because it has been re-shuffled by the proteasome or other proteases. Why do proteases throw a spanner in the works of our model of antigen tagging and immune recognition? We describe in this review what we know about the immunological relevance of post-translationally spliced epitopes and why proteases seem to have a second (dark) personality, which is keen to create new peptide bonds. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Symposium on Turbulence (12th) Held in Rolla, Missouri on 24-26 September 1990

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-11-01

over Zrag Reduc.,ng Surraces.’ 3:0pm S.-merments on :rre :ý!ec: ot ’Aean ’:ow ~jnsreao:- A. :3. Scnwarzvan Manen . R. Hoogstze".n. C. Stouthart. mess on...Laooratory. the Netnertancs: and M. van Lent. FoKker Aircrart S.V. 12= a3J. ’trge-=ddy Simulation of Turmuient Reac:ting P•umes. 11:20 a.n. ’A New...20 a&m. "Vortex Street in a Confined Slurry Flow." C. 0. Popiell andi Scalar Bisoet-ra.’ J. q. Heirinn, National Canter and 0. F. Van DOe Merwo

The Coast Artillery Journal. Volume 78, Number 5, September-October 1935

DTIC Science & Technology

1935-10-01

Scoring 345 By C’aptain Homer Case . The Tank Ju-Ju 349 BJ’ (’aptain .Tames A . McGuire. Some Facts About Bombardme󈧏t Aviation By Major Claire L. Chennault...north, endina the fifth yearlyJ ~. camp at Fort T a ~,lor. By MAJOR P. L. WALL, CA., N.G. classified." The guns used Case III firing for the first time...Frontispiece 322 Who Started Such a Mess? 330 By Lieut€>nantE. F. Adams Press Ce�Orshipin Wax Time- Part II 358 By Major Harry W. Caygill

Inertial Weldment of Rhenium and Inconel 718

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cavender, D. P.; Courtright, Z. S.; Hostetter, G.; Laiman, M.

2018-01-01

Inertia welding has been found to be a successful method for joining pure rhenium to Inconel 718, and with additional experimentation, this process may have great potential for rocket nozzle applications. Refractory metals are ideally suited to this application, where high temperatures and oxidizing environment survivability is required, but not all of the thruster must be made of these materials, only the areas that require them. A bolted joint between the two metals is not ideal, especially for small thrusters where the mess of a bolted join will come at a steep price. A welded joint would be preferred for flight thrusters.

Photographic copy of floor plans for Bachelor Officers' Quarters (Tl) ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

Photographic copy of floor plans for Bachelor Officers' Quarters (T-l) known as the "Desert Rat Hotel" in the early days of the Muroc Flight Test Base (North Base). The plans show the layout of quarters, lavatories, mess as well as, the cooling system installation. Contract W-509-Eng 2937, Military Construction; Muroc Bombing Range, Muroc Lake, Calif; Materiel Test Site, Officers Quarters, Evaporative Coolers, Sheet 5 of 11, May 1942. Reproduced from the holdings of the National Archives, Pacific Southwest Region - Edwards Air Force Base, North Base, Bachelor Officers' Quarters T-1, Second & C Streets, Boron, Kern County, CA

Ring Around the Black Hole

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wanjek, Christopher

2003-01-01

Regardless of size, black holes easily acquire accretion disks. Supermassive black holes can feast on the bountiful interstellar gas in galactic nuclei. Small black holes formed from collapsing stars often belong to binary systems in which a bulging companion star can spill some of its gas into the black hole s reach. In the chaotic mess of the accretion disk, atoms collide with one another. Swirling plasma reaches speeds upward of 10% that of light and glows brightly in many wavebands, particularly in X-rays. Gas gets blown back by a wind of radiation from the inner disk. New material enters the disks from different directions.

'RAT' Leaves a Fine Mess

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

This graph shows the light signatures, or spectra, of two sides of the rock dubbed 'Bounce,' located at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The spectra were taken by the miniature thermal emission spectrometer on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The left side of this rock is covered by fine dust created when the rover drilled into the rock with its rock abrasion tool. These 'fines' produce a layer of pyroxene dust that can be detected here in the top spectrum. The right side of the rock has fewer fines and was used to investigate the composition of this basaltic rock.

Intraplaque hemorrhage, fibrous cap status, and microembolic signals in symptomatic patients with mild to moderate carotid artery stenosis: the Plaque at RISK study.

PubMed

Truijman, Martine T B; de Rotte, Alexandra A J; Aaslid, Rune; van Dijk, Anouk C; Steinbuch, Jeire; Liem, Madieke I; Schreuder, Floris H B M; van der Steen, Anton F W; Daemen, Mat J A P; van Oostenbrugge, Robert J; Wildberger, Joachim E; Nederkoorn, Paul J; Hendrikse, Jeroen; van der Lugt, Aad; Kooi, Marianne Eline; Mess, Werner H

2014-11-01

In patients with mild to moderate symptomatic carotid artery stenosis, intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH) and a thin/ruptured fibrous cap (FC) as evaluated with MRI, and the presence of microembolic signals (MESs) as detected with transcranial Doppler, are associated with an increased risk of a (recurrent) stroke. The objective of the present study is to determine whether the prevalence of MES differs in patients with and without IPH and thin/ruptured FC, and patients with only a thin/ruptured FC without IPH. In this multicenter, diagnostic cohort study, patients with recent transient ischemic attack or minor stroke in the carotid territory and an ipsilateral mild to moderate carotid artery plaque were included. IPH and FC status were dichotomously scored. Analysis of transcranial Doppler data was done blinded for the MRI results. Differences between groups were analyzed with Fisher exact test. A total of 113 patients were included. Transcranial Doppler measurements were feasible in 105 patients (average recording time, 219 minutes). A total of 26 MESs were detected in 8 of 105 patients. In 44 of 105 plaques IPH was present. In 92 of 105 plaques FC status was assessable, 36 of these had a thin/ruptured FC. No significant difference in the prevalence of MES between patients with and without IPH (P=0.46) or with thick versus thin/ruptured FC (P=0.48) was found. In patients with a symptomatic mild to moderate carotid artery stenosis, IPH and FC status are not associated with MES. This suggests that MRI and transcranial Doppler provide different information on plaque vulnerability. http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01709045. © 2014 American Heart Association, Inc.

Phylogeny of Comatulidae (Echinodermata: Crinoidea: Comatulida): a new classification and an assessment of morphological characters for crinoid taxonomy.

PubMed

Summers, Mindi M; Messing, Charles G; Rouse, Greg W

2014-11-01

Comatulidae Fleming, 1828 (previously, and incorrectly, Comasteridae A.H. Clark, 1908a), is a group of feather star crinoids currently divided into four accepted subfamilies, 21 genera and approximately 95 nominal species. Comatulidae is the most commonly-encountered and species-rich crinoid group on shallow tropical coral reefs, particularly in the Indo-western Pacific region (IWP). We conducted a molecular phylogenetic analysis of the group with concatenated data from up to seven genes for 43 nominal species spanning 17 genera and all subfamilies. Basal nodes returned low support, but maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony, and Bayesian analyses were largely congruent, permitting an evaluation of current taxonomy and analysis of morphological character transformations. Two of the four current subfamilies were paraphyletic, whereas 15 of the 17 included genera returned as monophyletic. We provide a new classification with two subfamilies, Comatulinae and Comatellinae n. subfamily Summers, Messing, & Rouse, the former containing five tribes. We revised membership of analyzed genera to make them all clades and erected Anneissia n. gen. Summers, Messing, & Rouse. Transformation analyses for morphological features generally used in feather star classification (e.g., ray branching patterns, articulations) and those specifically for Comatulidae (e.g., comb pinnule form, mouth placement) were labile with considerable homoplasy. These traditional characters, in combination, allow for generic diagnoses, but in most cases we did not recover apomorphies for subfamilies, tribes, and genera. New morphological characters that will be informative for crinoid taxonomy and identification are still needed. DNA sequence data currently provides the most reliable method of identification to the species-level for many taxa of Comatulidae. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Isidis Basin Ejecta

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-03-02

This scene is a jumbled mess. There are blocks and smears of many different rocks types that appear to have been dumped into a pile. That's probably about what happened, as ejecta from the Isidis impact basin to the east. This pile of old rocks is an island surrounded by younger lava flows from Syrtis Major. The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 27.4 centimeters (10.8 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 82 centimeters (32.2 inches) across are resolved.] North is up. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21553

Application of isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to the analysis of marine sediments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McLaren, J.W.; Beauchemin, D.; Berman, S.S.

1987-02-15

Isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been applied to the determination of 11 trace elements (Cr, Ni, Zn, Sr, Mo, Cd, Sn, Sb, Tl, Pb, and U) in the marine sediment reference materials MESS-1 and BCSS-1. Accuracy and, especially, precision are better than those that can be easily achieved by other ICP-MS calibration strategies, as long as isotopic equilibration is achieved and the isotopes used for the ratio measurement are free of isobaric interferences by molecular species. The measurement of the isotope ratios on unspiked samples provides a sensitive diagnostic of such interferences.

Cleaning up the mess: cell corpse clearance in Caenorhabditis elegans.

PubMed

Pinto, Sérgio Morgado; Hengartner, Michael Otmar

2012-12-01

Genetic and cell biology studies have led to the identification in Caenorhabditis elegans of a set of evolutionary conserved cellular mechanisms responsible for the clearance of apoptotic cells. Based on the phenotype of cell corpse clearance mutants, corpse clearance can be divided into three distinct, but linked steps: corpse recognition, corpse internalization, and corpse degradation. Work in recent years has led to a better understanding of the molecular pathways that mediate each of these steps. Here, we review recent developments in our understanding of in vivo cell corpse clearance in this simple but most elegant model organism. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A novel profit-allocation strategy for SDN enterprises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Wei; Hou, Ye; Tian, Longwei; Li, Yuan

2017-01-01

Aiming to solve the problem of profit allocation for supply and demand network (SDN) enterprises that ignores risk factors and generates low satisfaction, a novel profit-allocation model based on cooperative game theory and TOPSIS is proposed. This new model avoids the defect of the single-profit allocation model by introducing risk factors, compromise coefficients and high negotiation points. By measuring the Euclidean distance between the ideal solution vector and the negative ideal solution vector, every node's satisfaction problem for the SDN was resolved, and the mess phenomenon was avoided. Finally, the rationality and effectiveness of the proposed model was verified using a numerical example.

The green clean: The emerging field of phytoremediation takes root

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brown, K.S.

1995-10-01

A few plants can biologically accumulate toxic metals from surrounding soils, a situation that could revolutionize environmental cleanup. By breeding a planting metal-munchers like alpine pennycress, scientist plan to clease waste zones of toxic levels of zinc, nickel and lead. From soil loaded with metal to radionuclide-laden water, researcher hope phytoremediation will provide a cheap way to clean man-made messes at mining, nuclear, and industrial sites. This article describes developments in the area of phytoremediation, including sections on plants called hyperaccumulators, how phytoremediators function, problems transferring phytoremediators from hydroculture to soils and problems which might prevent use of phytoremediators.

Oil pollution: cleaning up the legal mess. [Liability for pollution

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maloof, D.L.

1976-10-01

The legal background of various laws and judicial decisions relative to oil-spill responsibility is reviewed. The positions of the maritime industry, the Federal Government, and coastal state governments are all presented. The Askew Decision and the Florida Oil Spill Prevention and Pollution Control Act of 1970 are discussed. The Federal law purported to be the solution to the problems incurred by the various state legislation acts was presented to both houses of Congress in July, 1975. Until this new act is passed, maritime trade is subject to various state regulations. The furor over liability for oil pollution as controlled bymore » the state regulations is discussed in detail. (BLM)« less

Organizational crisis management: the human factor.

PubMed

Lewis, Gerald

2005-01-01

While many professionals are quite competent when dealing with operational aspects of organizational continuity, often the "human factor" does not receive adequate attention. This article provides a brief overview of a soon to be published book by the same title. It provides a comprehensive understanding of the ubiquitous yet complex reactions of the workforce to a wide array of organizational disruptions. It goes beyond the short term intervention of debriefings to describe the more extensive pre and post incident strategies required to mitigate the impact of crises on the workforce. It is important to remember: "An organization can get its phone lines back up and have its computers backed up...but its workers may still be messed up."

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory`s Computer Security Short Subjects Videos: Hidden Password, The Incident, Dangerous Games and The Mess; Computer Security Awareness Guide

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

A video on computer security is described. Lonnie Moore, the Computer Security Manager, CSSM/CPPM at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Gale Warshawsky, the Coordinator for Computer Security Education and Awareness at LLNL, wanted to share topics such as computer ethics, software piracy, privacy issues, and protecting information in a format that would capture and hold an audience`s attention. Four Computer Security Short Subject videos were produced which ranged from 1--3 minutes each. These videos are very effective education and awareness tools that can be used to generate discussions about computer security concerns and good computing practices.

'A giant mess'--making sense of complexity in the accounts of people with fibromyalgia.

PubMed

Dennis, Nicola L; Larkin, Michael; Derbyshire, Stuart W G

2013-11-01

The diagnosis of fibromyalgia is based on self-report and indirect measures and thus is unavoidably influenced by patients' own understanding of their symptoms. In order to provide appropriate support for people with fibromyalgia, it is important to understand variation in patients' interpretations of their own symptoms. Twenty people with fibromyalgia participated in email interviews exploring their experiences, history and diagnosis. Respondents answered a series of questions in their own time. Rich accounts were elicited. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach linked two stages of analysis. In the first instance, an in-depth, inductive analysis was developed around a subset of eight transcripts, using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The outcomes of this work were then used to inform a template analysis, which was applied to the remaining 12 transcripts, in order to extend and check the credibility of the in-depth analysis. Participants described enduring the course of a 'giant mess' of unpleasant symptoms, some of which were understood to be symptoms of fibromyalgia and some the interactive or parallel effects of comorbid illness. The respondents also demonstrated their considerable efforts at imposing order and sense on complexity and multiplicity, in terms of the instability of their symptoms. They expressed ambivalence towards diagnosis, doctors and medication, and we noted that each of the above areas appeared to come together to create a context of relational uncertainty, which undermined the security of connections to family, friends, colleagues and the workplace. Three key issues were discussed. First, there was not one overall symptom (e.g., pain) driving the unpleasantness of fibromyalgia; second, participants spent excessive time and energy trying to manage forces outside their control; third, because there is no definitive 'fibromyalgia experience', each diagnosis is unique, and our participants often appeared to be struggling to understand the course of their illness. Issues of stigma and legitimacy need to be considered carefully by health professionals in the context of the complex and uncertain experience of patients. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Facing reality: The future of the US nuclear weapons complex

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1992-01-01

Facing Reality is a collaboration by 15 authors from environmental and grass-roots groups. The authors bluntly conclude that whether the inertia, habit, or material interest, the nuclear weapons establishment has proven itself incapable of genuine reform.' They therefore call for government agencies other than the Department of Energy to manage the tasks of decontamination and decommissioning. Just a partial list of what needs to be done to clean up the DOE's mess is daunting: closing, decommissioning, and decontaminating production facilities, dismantling thousands of nuclear warheads, safely storing dangerous radioactive materials, identifying alternative employment for weapons specialists, conducting meaningful health studiesmore » of workers and citizens exposed to radiation, and providng compensation for the victims of the nuclear buildup.« less

Children's behaviour problems: a NICE mess.

PubMed

Timimi, S

2014-09-01

The potential harms of medicalisation are well known. A good illustration comes from the medicalisation of children's behaviour problems. National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines on conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Conduct Disorder (CD) reflect how attempts to regulate medical practice in this area has spawned guidelines based more on wish fulfilment (that getting kids to behave themselves can be accomplished by simple technological interventions that exist independent of context) than scientific evidence. In this perspective piece, I explain why these NICE guidelines are more a reflection of cultural confusion about how to deal with children, than the outcome of sound scientific understanding in this area. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Optimization of the structural and control system for LSS with reduced-order model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Khot, N. S.

1989-01-01

The objective is the simultaneous design of the structural and control system for space structures. The minimum weight of the structure is the objective function, and the constraints are placed on the closed loop distribution of the frequencies and the damping parameters. The controls approach used is linear quadratic regulator with constant feedback. A reduced-order control system is used. The effect of uncontrolled modes is taken into consideration by the model error sensitivity suppression (MESS) technique which modified the weighting parameters for the control forces. For illustration, an ACOSS-FOUR structure is designed for a different number of controlled modes with specified values for the closed loop damping parameters and frequencies. The dynamic response of the optimum designs for an initial disturbance is compared.

Density and white light brightness in looplike coronal mass ejections - Temporal evolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steinolfson, R. S.; Hundhausen, A. J.

1988-01-01

Three ambient coronal models suitable for studies of time-dependent phenomena were used to investigate the propagation of coronal mass ejections initiated in each atmosphere by an identical energy source. These models included those of a static corona with a dipole magnetic field, developed by Dryer et al. (1979); a steady polytropic corona with an equatorial coronal streamer, developed by Steinolfson et al. (1982); and Steinolfson's (1988) model of heated corona with an equatorial coronal streamer. The results indicated that the first model does not adequately represent the general characteristics of observed looplike mass ejections, and the second model simulated only some of the observed features. Only the third model, which included a heating term and a streamer, was found to yield accurate simulation of the mess ejection observations.

Higgs boson decays to neutralinos in low-scale gauge mediation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mason, John D.; Poland, David; Morrissey, David E.

2009-12-01

We study the decays of a standard model-like minimal supersymmetric standard model Higgs boson to pairs of neutralinos, each of which subsequently decays promptly to a photon and a gravitino. Such decays can arise in supersymmetric scenarios where supersymmetry breaking is mediated to us by gauge interactions with a relatively light gauge messenger sector (M{sub mess} < or approx. 100 TeV). This process gives rise to a collider signal consisting of a pair of photons and missing energy. In the present work we investigate the bounds on this scenario within the minimal supersymmetric standard model from existing collider data. Wemore » also study the prospects for discovering the Higgs boson through this decay mode with upcoming data from the Tevatron and the LHC.« less

The weight of mass or the mess of weight

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gat, U.

1987-06-24

This paper explores the cause of confusion associated with the words mass and weight, and offers suggestions to correct the problem. It is recommended that in technical and scientific use, weight shall be restricted to mean force of gravity. Technical standards, ASTM and others, and terminology shall clearly reflect and define weight to be force of gravity. Weight should be avoided in technical context because of its imprecision. Legal, formal, and official language shall use weight to mean force only. Under no circumstances should the SI units of mass, the kilogram, or its derivatives, be associated with weight. The termmore » weight should be avoided in any language and wording that intends to convey a precise or important meaning. ASTM should revise all standards and terminology accordingly.« less

Determination of total mercury in environmental and biological samples by flow injection cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murphy, James; Jones, Phil; Hill, Steve J.

1996-12-01

A simple and accurate method has been developed for the determination of total mercury in environmental and biological samples. The method utilises an off-line microwave digestion stage followed by analysis using a flow injection system with detection by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry. The method has been validated using two certified reference materials (DORM-1 dogfish and MESS-2 estuarine sediment) and the results agreed well with the certified values. A detection limit of 0.2 ng g -1 Hg was obtained and no significant interference was observed. The method was finally applied to the determination of mercury in river sediments and canned tuna fish, and gave results in the range 0.1-3.0 mg kg -1.

The development of the cell cryopreservation protocol with controlled rate thawing.

PubMed

Gurina, Tatyana M; Pakhomov, Alexandr V; Polyakova, Anna L; Legach, Evgeniy I; Bozhok, Galyna A

2016-06-01

Thawing in the water bath is often considered as a standard procedure. The thermal history of samples thawed in this way is poorly controlled, but cryopreservation and banking of cell-based products require standardization, automation and safety of all the technological stages including thawing. The programmable freezers allow implementation of the controlled cooling as well as the controlled thawing. As the cell damage occurs during the phase transformation that takes place in the cryoprotectant medium in the process of freezing-thawing, the choice of warming rates within the temperature intervals of transformations is very important. The goal of the study was to investigate the influence of warming rates within the intervals of the phase transformations in the DMSO-based cryoprotectant medium on the cell recovery and to develop a cryopreservation protocol with controlled cooling and warming rates. The temperature intervals of phase transformations such as melting of the eutectic mixture of the cryoprotectant solution (MEMCS), melting of the eutectic salt solution (MESS), melting of the main ice mass (MMIM), recrystallization before MEMCS, recrystallization before MESS and recrystallization before MMIM were determined by thermo-mechanical analysis. The biological experiments were performed on the rat testicular interstitial cells (TIC). The highest levels of the cell recovery and metabolic activity after cryopreservation were obtained using the protocol with the high (20 °C/min) warming rate in the temperature intervals of crystallization of the eutectics as well as recrystallizations and the low (1 °C/min) warming rate in the temperature intervals of melting of the eutectics as well as MMIM. The total cell recovery was 65.3 ± 2.1 %, the recovery of the 3-beta-HSD-positive (Leydig) cells was 82.9 ± 1.8 %, the MTT staining was 32.5 ± 0.9 % versus 42.1 ± 1.7 %; 57.4 ± 2.1 % and 24.0 ± 1.1 % respectively, when compared to the thawing in the water bath.

Using Social Media to Communicate Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bohon, W.

2017-12-01

Social media (SM) is a popular and ubiquitous communication method and as such offers scientists an opportunity to directly interface with the public, improve public perception of science and scientists, and combat the growing tide of scientific misunderstanding and misinformation. It's become increasingly critical for scientists to use their voice and influence to communicate science and address misinformation. More than 60% of US adults get news from SM (1) but studies find that scientists infrequently post about science (2), missing a rich opportunity to combat scientific disinformation. While it may seem like a futile exercise to educate over SM, even passive exposure to new information can change public perceptions and behavior (3). Additionally, scientists, especially early career scientists, have social networks populated largely by non-scientists (2), allowing them an opportunity to speak to an audience that already trusts and values their scientific judgment. Importantly, these networks are often ideologically and politically diverse (4). However, science communication isn't as simple as a presentation of facts, and effective science communication via SM requires both SM competence and science communication proficiency. Thus, a discussion of best practices for both topics would benefit the scientific community. The range of potential topics for discussion is broad and could include scientific storytelling, empathetic communication, crafting a message, using SM to "humanize science", tips and tricks for broad SM information dissemination and how to run an effective SM campaign. (1) Gottfried J, Shearer E. New use across social media platforms: Pew Research Center; 2016. Available from: http://www.journalism.org/2016/05/26/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2016/. (2) McClain, Craig R., Practices and promises of Facebook for science outreach:Becoming a "Nerd of Trust". PLOS Biology 15(6). 2017; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2002020(3) Messing S, Westwood SJ. Selective exposure in the age of social media: Endorsements trump partisan source affiliation when selecting news online. Communication Research. 2014;41:1042-63. (4) Bakshy E, Messing S, Adamic L. Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook. Science. 2015;348:1130-2. pmid:25953820

Cockroach infestation on seagoing ships.

PubMed

Oldenburg, Marcus; Baur, Xaver

2008-01-01

Cockroaches are detected ashore worldwide. At present, little is known about cockroach infestation on ships. The authors' objective in this study was to assess the current prevalence of cockroach infestation on seagoing vessels. In August 2005, port officials investigated cockroach infestation on 59 ships in Hamburg's port via standardized procedures (ie, illuminating hiding places and using pyrethrum spray). About 3 minutes after illumination or chemical provocation, the inspectors counted the number of insects escaping from their hiding places. The examination revealed cockroach presence in the galley or mess room of 6 ships (10.2%). These ships were bigger than 10,000 gross register tons (GRT) and older than 7 years. Inspectors detected the cockroach species Blattella germanica on 5 ships and Blatta orientalis on 1 ship. The standardized use of pyrethrum spray more frequently detected cockroaches than did inspection or illumination of their hiding places.

A Bloody Mess: An Unusual Case of Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage Because of Warfarin Overdose.

PubMed

Heffler, Enrico; Campisi, Raffaele; Ferri, Sebastian; Crimi, Nunzio

2016-01-01

We herein present the case of a patient with frank hemoptysis and hematuria, dyspnea, and cough. The patient was known to be affected by Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and dilated cardiomyopathy with atrial fibrillation. For this latter condition, he was supposed to take 1.25 mg warfarin daily. Laboratory findings revealed very high levels of International Normalized Ratio (INR) (16), and the patient referred that he self-increased warfarin dose to 5 mg daily since 8 days before the onset of symptoms. Computed tomography scan revealed diffuse bilateral signs of alveolar hemorrhage with hydroaerial levels within emphysematous cysts. Wafarin was immediately stopped and changed with 220 mg dabigatran daily, and he was properly treated to restore a normal coagulation status. We concluded for a case of diffuse alveolar hemorrhage because of warfarin overdose.

Messing Up Texas?: A Re-Analysis of the Effects of Executions on Homicides.

PubMed

Brandt, Patrick T; Kovandzic, Tomislav V

2015-01-01

Executions in Texas from 1994-2005 do not deter homicides, contrary to the results of Land et al. (2009). We find that using different models--based on pre-tests for unit roots that correct for earlier model misspecifications--one cannot reject the null hypothesis that executions do not lead to a change in homicides in Texas over this period. Using additional control variables, we show that variables such as the number of prisoners in Texas may drive the main drop in homicides over this period. Such conclusions however are highly sensitive to model specification decisions, calling into question the assumptions about fixed parameters and constant structural relationships. This means that using dynamic regressions to account for policy changes that may affect homicides need to be done with significant care and attention.

Messing Up Texas?: A Re-Analysis of the Effects of Executions on Homicides

PubMed Central

Brandt, Patrick T.; Kovandzic, Tomislav V.

2015-01-01

Executions in Texas from 1994–2005 do not deter homicides, contrary to the results of Land et al. (2009). We find that using different models—based on pre-tests for unit roots that correct for earlier model misspecifications—one cannot reject the null hypothesis that executions do not lead to a change in homicides in Texas over this period. Using additional control variables, we show that variables such as the number of prisoners in Texas may drive the main drop in homicides over this period. Such conclusions however are highly sensitive to model specification decisions, calling into question the assumptions about fixed parameters and constant structural relationships. This means that using dynamic regressions to account for policy changes that may affect homicides need to be done with significant care and attention. PMID:26398193

An Ontology of Quality Initiatives and a Model for Decentralized, Collaborative Quality Management on the (Semantic) World Wide Web

PubMed Central

2001-01-01

This editorial provides a model of how quality initiatives concerned with health information on the World Wide Web may in the future interact with each other. This vision fits into the evolving "Semantic Web" architecture - ie, the prospective that the World Wide Web may evolve from a mess of unstructured, human-readable information sources into a global knowledge base with an additional layer providing richer and more meaningful relationships between resources. One first prerequisite for forming such a "Semantic Web" or "web of trust" among the players active in quality management of health information is that these initiatives make statements about themselves and about each other in a machine-processable language. I present a concrete model on how this collaboration could look, and provide some recommendations on what the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) and other policy makers in this framework could be. PMID:11772549

An ontology of quality initiatives and a model for decentralized, collaborative quality management on the (semantic) World-Wide-Web.

PubMed

Eysenbach, G

2001-01-01

This editorial provides a model of how quality initiatives concerned with health information on the World Wide Web may in the future interact with each other. This vision fits into the evolving "Semantic Web" architecture - ie, the prospective that the World Wide Web may evolve from a mess of unstructured, human-readable information sources into a global knowledge base with an additional layer providing richer and more meaningful relationships between resources. One first prerequisite for forming such a "Semantic Web" or "web of trust" among the players active in quality management of health information is that these initiatives make statements about themselves and about each other in a machine-processable language. I present a concrete model on how this collaboration could look, and provide some recommendations on what the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) and other policy makers in this framework could be.

NOAA national status and trends program eleventh round intercomparison exercise results for trace metals in marine sediments and biological tissues. National status and trends program for marine environmental quality: Technical memo

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Willie, S.

1997-12-01

A total of thirty-nine participants were included in the exercise, including OAA, USEPA, state, Australian, Canadian, Mexican and Argentinean laboratories. Two samples were sent by NRC to each participant, and contaminated marine sediment from Esquimalt harbor in British Columbia and a freeze-dried oyster tissue. Laboratories were also asked to analyze two certified reference materials (CRMs) MESS-2 and CRM 2976. The elements to be determined were Al, Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Ag, Cd, Sn, Hg and Pb for both matrices, plus Be, Si, Mn, Sb and Tl for the sediments. An accepted mean and confidence interval was calculatedmore » for each analyte in the two unknown samples, laboratory biases were identified and an overall rating of superior, good, fair or others were assigned to each laboratory.« less

Applying energy-conservation retrofits to standard army buildings: project design and initial energy data. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Westervelt, E.T.; Northrup, G.R.; Allen, E.O.

1988-07-01

This report describes the initial and continuing efforts in a project demonstrating the energy performance of theoretically-based retrofit packages on as-found, standard-design Army buildings. Four standard building designs are being investigated: a motor-vehicle repair shop, the Type 64 (L-shaped) barracks, an enlisted-personnel mess hall, and a two-company, rolling-pin-shaped barracks for enlisted personnel. The Army has over 840 of these particular buildings. The objective of the project is to test the energy and cost performance of the retrofit packages, which include such measures as installing wall or ceiling insulation, replacing and/or blocking windows, partitioning areas of differing temperature, modifying air-handling equipment,more » modifying boiler controls, replacing lights, etc. To this end, energy data has been gathered from retrofitted and identical but nonretrofitted buildings for a test/reference comparison.« less

Why is it Bad to Make a Mess? Preschoolers' Conceptions of Pragmatic Norms.

PubMed

Dahl, Audun; Kim, Lizbeth

2014-01-01

A common type of transgression in early childhood involves creating inconvenience, for instance by spilling, playing with breakable objects, or otherwise interfering with people's ongoing activities. Despite the prevalence of such pragmatic transgressions, little is known about children's conceptions of norms prohibiting these acts. The present study investigated whether 3-to 5-year-olds ( N = 58) see pragmatic norms as distinct from first-order moral (welfare and rights of others), prudential (welfare of agent), and social conventional norms. Children judged all four types of transgressions to be wrong. Justifications for pragmatic transgressions focused on inconvenience to the transgressor, inconvenience to others, or material disorder. Children rated pragmatic and conventional transgressions as less serious than moral and prudential transgressions. Latent Class Analysis provided further support for the conclusion that preschoolers see pragmatic norms as a category distinct from first-order moral, prudential, and social conventional norms.

Space environment and lunar surface processes, 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Comstock, G. M.

1982-01-01

The top few millimeters of a surface exposed to space represents a physically and chemically active zone with properties different from those of a surface in the environment of a planetary atmosphere. To meet the need or a quantitative synthesis of the various processes contributing to the evolution of surfaces of the Moon, Mercury, the asteroids, and similar bodies, (exposure to solar wind, solar flare particles, galactic cosmic rays, heating from solar radiation, and meteoroid bombardment), the MESS 2 computer program was developed. This program differs from earlier work in that the surface processes are broken down as a function of size scale and treated in three dimensions with good resolution on each scale. The results obtained apply to the development of soil near the surface and is based on lunar conditions. Parameters can be adjusted to describe asteroid regoliths and other space-related bodies.

Vicarious revenge and the death of Osama bin Laden.

PubMed

Gollwitzer, Mario; Skitka, Linda J; Wisneski, Daniel; Sjöström, Arne; Liberman, Peter; Nazir, Syed Javed; Bushman, Brad J

2014-05-01

Three hypotheses were derived from research on vicarious revenge and tested in the context of the assassination of Osama bin Laden in 2011. In line with the notion that revenge aims at delivering a message (the "message hypothesis"), Study 1 shows that Americans' vengeful desires in the aftermath of 9/11 predicted a sense of justice achieved after bin Laden's death, and that this effect was mediated by perceptions that his assassination sent a message to the perpetrators to not "mess" with the United States. In line with the "blood lust hypothesis," his assassination also sparked a desire to take further revenge and to continue the "war on terror." Finally, in line with the "intent hypothesis," Study 2 shows that Americans (but not Pakistanis or Germans) considered the fact that bin Laden was killed intentionally more satisfactory than the possibility of bin Laden being killed accidentally (e.g., in an airplane crash).

Washington's energy mess: after ten years of Federal meddling in the oil business, we're over a barrel

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sawyer, J.

1980-09-01

New regulations in response to a 1970 call for decontrolling the petroleum industry encouraged foreign production and imports while discouraging domestic exploration. The oil industry was strong enough to profit from government programs, but not enough to prevent pervasive interference in its operations and investments. The result has been supply disruptions and more dependence on foreign oil. The price control system operating during the 1970s had no provision for inflation and was biased toward refineries having access to domestic crude oil. This led to an entitlements program that modified competition further. A review of these and other programs, such asmore » the mandatory crude-oil buy/sell program, shows how they altered the relationships between suppliers and buyers. The 1980 Windfall Profit Tax continues a decade of favoring foreign production, reflecting public aversion to true decontrol, and a public addiction to Federal intervention. (DCK)« less

The history of ergot of rye (Claviceps purpurea) I: from antiquity to 1900.

PubMed

Lee, M R

2009-06-01

This article outlines the history of ergot of rye up to 1900. Ergot is a fungal disease that affects many grasses but is particularly damaging to rye. It occurs as the result of an infection by the parasitic organism Claviceps purpurea, which produces characteristic black spurs on the grass. When incorporated into grain, the ergot fungus can cause severe outbreaks of poisoning in humans called ergotism. There are two main clinical forms of toxicity, gangrenous and convulsive, where coma and death often supervene: the death rate for ergotism has been reported to be between 10 and 20 per cent in major outbreaks. Historical accounts note that ergot could accelerate labour, stop postpartum haemorrhage and inhibit lactation. At the end of the nineteenth century ergot was still regarded as a 'glorious chemical mess', but help would arrive in the early 1900s and the complex jigsaw would be solved.

Meat and masculinity in the Norwegian Armed Forces.

PubMed

Kildal, Charlotte Lilleby; Syse, Karen Lykke

2017-05-01

In 2013, the Norwegian Armed Forces decided to introduce a meat reduction scheme in its military mess halls, for both health reasons and environmental concerns. This article explores Norwegian soldiers' reactions to the introduction of Meat free Monday, and their attitudes towards reducing meat consumption. As of yet, Meat free Monday has not been implemented due to both structural and contextual challenges. We explore both the process and potential of the Norwegian military's Meat free Monday initiative to promote sustainable and climate friendly diets. We found significant barriers preventing the military from implementing Meat free Monday. The main reason behind the resistance to reduce meat consumption among Norwegian soldiers was meat's associations with protein, masculinity and comfort. Our results underline the importance of acknowledging the social and cultural role of food. The study is qualitative and uses focus group interviews as its main methodology. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Messing with Bacterial Quorum Sensing

PubMed Central

González, Juan E.; Keshavan, Neela D.

2006-01-01

Quorum sensing is widely recognized as an efficient mechanism to regulate expression of specific genes responsible for communal behavior in bacteria. Several bacterial phenotypes essential for the successful establishment of symbiotic, pathogenic, or commensal relationships with eukaryotic hosts, including motility, exopolysaccharide production, biofilm formation, and toxin production, are often regulated by quorum sensing. Interestingly, eukaryotes produce quorum-sensing-interfering (QSI) compounds that have a positive or negative influence on the bacterial signaling network. This eukaryotic interference could result in further fine-tuning of bacterial quorum sensing. Furthermore, recent work involving the synthesis of structural homologs to the various quorum-sensing signal molecules has resulted in the development of additional QSI compounds that could be used to control pathogenic bacteria. The creation of transgenic plants that express bacterial quorum-sensing genes is yet another strategy to interfere with bacterial behavior. Further investigation on the manipulation of quorum-sensing systems could provide us with powerful tools against harmful bacteria. PMID:17158701

Prosthetic design directives: Low-cost hands within reach.

PubMed

Jones, G K; Rosendo, A; Stopforth, R

2017-07-01

Although three million people around the world suffer from the lack of one or both upper limbs 80% of this number is located within developing countries. While prosthetic prices soar with technology 3D printing and low cost electronics present a sensible solution for those that cannot afford expensive prosthetics. The electronic and control design of a low-cost prosthetic hand, the Touch Hand II, is discussed. This paper shows that sensorless techniques can be used to reduce design complexities, costs, and provide easier access to the electronics. A closing and opening finite state machine (COFSM) was developed to handle the actuated digit joint control state and a supervisory switching control scheme, used for speed and grip strength control. Three torque and speed settings were created to be preset for specific grasps. The hand was able to replicate ten frequently used grasps and grip some common objects. Future work is necessary to enable a user to control it with myoelectric signals (MESs) and to solve operational problems related to electromagnetic interference (EMI).

Your Job Is Messing With Mine! The Impact of Mobile Device Use for Work During Family Time on the Spouse's Work Life.

PubMed

Carlson, Dawn S; Thompson, Merideth J; Crawford, Wayne S; Boswell, Wendy R; Whitten, Dwayne

2017-12-07

The use of mobile technology for work purposes during family time has been found to affect employees' work and family lives. Using a matched sample of 344 job incumbents and their spouses, we examined the role of mobile device (MD) use for work during family time in the job incumbent-spouse relationship and how this MD use crosses over to affect the spouse's work life. Integrating the work-home resources model with family systems theory, we found that as job incumbents engage in MD use for work during family time, work-to-family conflict increases, as does the combined experience of relationship tension between job incumbents and spouses. This tension serves as a crossover mechanism, which then contributes to spouses' experience of family-to-work conflict and, subsequently, family spills over to work outcomes for the spouse in the form of reduced job satisfaction and performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

THE FORMATION OF FILAMENTARY BUNDLES IN TURBULENT MOLECULAR CLOUDS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moeckel, Nickolas; Burkert, Andreas, E-mail: nickolas1@gmail.com, E-mail: burkert@usm.uni-muenchen.de

2015-07-01

The classical picture of a star-forming filament is a near-equilibrium structure with its collapse dependent on its gravitational criticality. Recent observations have complicated this picture, revealing filaments to be a mess of apparently interacting subfilaments with transsonic internal velocity dispersions and mildly supersonic intra-subfilament dispersions. How structures like this form is unresolved. Here, we study the velocity structure of filamentary regions in a simulation of a turbulent molecular cloud. We present two main findings. First, the observed complex velocity features in filaments arise naturally in self-gravitating hydrodynamic simulations of turbulent clouds without the need for magnetic or other effects. Second,more » a region that is filamentary only in projection and is in fact made of spatially distinct features can display these same velocity characteristics. The fact that these disjoint structures can masquerade as coherent filaments in both projection and velocity diagnostics highlights the need to continue developing sophisticated filamentary analysis techniques for star formation observations.« less

New drilling rigs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tubb, M.

1983-03-01

Petronas recently commissioned its first offshore jack-up drilling rig at Promet, Singapore. The $49 million jack-up Parameswara will undertake both exploration and development activities in Petronas Carigali's exploration block off the eastern coast of Malaysia. The block measures 19,800 sq. km. Initially, the rig will be located at the Duyong gas field. Based on Baker Marine Corporation's BMC 300 design, the 65 X 64 X 8 m rig is capable of working in water depths of up to 91.4 m and is able to drill to a depth of 7,600 m. It has three triangular open-lattice truss-type legs, each 131more » m long. Prominent features include four-tier living quarters which can house 90 men, three cranes of boom length 30.48 m each, a helideck, mess hall, galley, and recreation room. The rig is built to American Bureau of Shipping standards. This paper describes the transport, installation and ballast operations involved in situating the Petronas rig in the Duyong field.« less

An Unholy Mess: Why 'The Sanctity of Life Principle' Should Be Jettisoned.

PubMed

Jones, David Albert

2016-11-01

The aim of this article is to present an account of an important element of medical ethics and law which is widely cited but is often confused. This element is most frequently referred to as 'the principle of the sanctity of life', and it is often assumed that this language has a religious provenance. However, the phrase is neither rooted in the traditions it purports to represent nor is it used consistently in contemporary discourse. Understood as the name of an established 'principle' the 'sanctity of life' is virtually an invention of the late twentieth century. The language came to prominence as the label of a position that was being rejected: it is the name of a caricature. Hence there is no locus classicus for a definition of the terms and different authors freely apply the phrase to divergent and contradictory positions. Appeal to this 'principle' thus serves only to perpetuate confusion. This language is best jettisoned in favour of clearer and more traditional ethical concepts.

Environmental enforcement of federal agencies: A struggle for power under the New Federalism. Master's thesis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Surver, R.E.

1990-01-01

The challenge to Federalism presented by the new wave of environmental statutes is, while not unique in our history, a significant strain on state and federal relations. Behind this tension is the question of who should enforce these laws, especially when the violator is a Federal agency. Traditionally Federal agencies have been free to perform their diverse missions without restraint either from other Federal agencies or the states. This freedom has led to abuse in the arena of environmental compliance. Recent congressional hearings concerning amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act saw a congressional feeding frenzy over what wasmore » termed the abominable mess of federal facility environmental compliance. The obvious anger and frustration directed toward federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), by representatives of the states is a clear indicator of the extent of the problem and also a catalyst for an ill-conceived and dangerous legislative fix.« less

Computing the qg → qg cross section using the BCFW recursion and introduction to jet tomography in heavy ion collisions via MHV techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabemananajara, Tanjona R.; Horowitz, W. A.

2017-09-01

To make predictions for the particle physics processes, one has to compute the cross section of the specific process as this is what one can measure in a modern collider experiment such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Theoretically, it has been proven to be extremely difficult to compute scattering amplitudes using conventional methods of Feynman. Calculations with Feynman diagrams are realizations of a perturbative expansion and when doing calculations one has to set up all topologically different diagrams, for a given process up to a given order of coupling in the theory. This quickly makes the calculation of scattering amplitudes a hot mess. Fortunately, one can simplify calculations by considering the helicity amplitude for the Maximally Helicity Violating (MHV). This can be extended to the formalism of on-shell recursion, which is able to derive, in a much simpler way the expression of a high order scattering amplitude from lower orders.

From mess to mass: a methodology for calculating storm event pollutant loads with their uncertainties, from continuous raw data time series.

PubMed

Métadier, M; Bertrand-Krajewski, J-L

2011-01-01

With the increasing implementation of continuous monitoring of both discharge and water quality in sewer systems, large data bases are now available. In order to manage large amounts of data and calculate various variables and indicators of interest it is necessary to apply automated methods for data processing. This paper deals with the processing of short time step turbidity time series to estimate TSS (Total Suspended Solids) and COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) event loads in sewer systems during storm events and their associated uncertainties. The following steps are described: (i) sensor calibration, (ii) estimation of data uncertainties, (iii) correction of raw data, (iv) data pre-validation tests, (v) final validation, and (vi) calculation of TSS and COD event loads and estimation of their uncertainties. These steps have been implemented in an integrated software tool. Examples of results are given for a set of 33 storm events monitored in a stormwater separate sewer system.

Focus groups with working parents of school-aged children: what's needed to improve family meals?

PubMed

Fulkerson, Jayne A; Kubik, Martha Y; Rydell, Sarah; Boutelle, Kerri N; Garwick, Ann; Story, Mary; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne; Dudovitz, Bonnie

2011-01-01

To conduct focus groups to identify parents' perceptions of barriers to family meals and elucidate ideas to guide the development of interventions to overcome barriers. Focus groups were conducted with a convenience sample of 27 working parents in urban community settings. Parents reported enjoying the sharing/bonding at meals, but they reported limited time for meal preparation and frequent multi-tasking at mealtime. They wanted their children's help with meal preparation, but they were concerned about the time and "mess" involved. They were frustrated with the limited range of food items their children would eat. Preferred program ideas included feeding tips/recipes, meal planning/preparation, and changing food offerings. Findings indicate a need for creative programs and professional nutrition guidance to facilitate family engagement in planning and cooking quick, healthful meals; development of skill building; and increasing healthful food consumption. Copyright © 2011 Society for Nutrition Education. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Don't Mess with the NEST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larson, Michael

2012-03-01

This presentation will describe the history of the Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) and its evolution over the years. NEST was formed due to a number of nuclear extortion threats received in the early 1970s. From the beginning NEST developed an extensive exercise program to test and expand capabilities. The Nuclear Assessment Program (NAP) was developed, in part, to determine if NEST deployments were required. A major revamp of the NEST program occurred in 1994. Many other organizations work in conjunction with NEST in particular the FBI and DOD. Considerable research and development has been performed in the areas of Access, Search, Diagnostics, Device Assessment, and Disablement. Extensive searches of material appearing in the unclassified literature have been and are being performed to see what is being said about nuclear materials and devices. A comprehensive study of Improvised Nuclear Devices (IND) is ongoing to determine what a terrorist can and cannot do. NEST now consists of four phases with the latest additions of Phase III, Disposition and Phase IV, Nuclear Forensics. LLNL-ABS-521775

The history of ergot of rye (Claviceps purpurea) II: 1900-1940.

PubMed

Lee, M R

2009-12-01

Ergot, in 1900, was a 'chemical mess'. Henry Wellcome, the pharmaceutical manufacturer, invited Henry Hallett Dale, a physiologist, to join his research department and solve this problem. Dale, in turn, recruited an outstanding group of scientists, including George Barger, Arthur Ewins and Harold Dudley, who would make distinguished contributions not only to the chemistry of ergot but also to the identification of acetylcholine, histamine and tyramine and to studies on their physiological effects. Initially Barger and Dale isolated the compound ergotoxine, but this proved to be a false lead; it was later shown to be a mixture of three different ergot alkaloids. The major success of the Wellcome group was the discovery and isolation of ergometrine, which would prove to be life-saving in postpartum haemorrhage. In 1917 Arthur Stoll and his colleagues started work on ergot at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals in Basel. A series of important results emerged over the next 30 years, including the isolation of ergotamine in 1918, an effective treatment for migraine with aura.

Fukushima Nuclear Accident: Sticking to the facts, not to the political correctness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ohska, Tokio

2014-05-01

The Fukushima Nuclear Reactor disaster of 2011 is still a continuing disaster three years later, although some experts have proclaimed the 4 reactors being already under control. It is surely an incredibly difficult task to properly terminate nuclear accidents. However, I should point out that the process of termination plan has been marred by too much of politics and business messing up a scientific approach to do it in a rational way. This blame must to go to both pro-nuclear and anti-nuclear power people. It makes me feel sad to see people not respecting science in executing such a difficult task. I shall list up where things went wrong with the hope that this kind of action, as I do here, would trigger people to get back to science to straighten out the execution process. I will show a few examples of published papers presenting the opinion that it is inappropriate what the Japanese government considers to be safe.

Some recollections of Porton in World War 1. Commentary.

PubMed

Garner, J P

2003-06-01

Chemical weapons now regularly feature in news reports and the threat from them has become widely recognised by the public at large. Terrorist actions such as the Tokyo subway incident in 1995, coupled with the persistent use of agents such as sulphur mustard and Sarin by the Iraqi regime over the last 20 years in the Iran/Iraq war and against the Kurds of Northern Iraq, make it easy to think that chemical weapons are a new phenomenon. This paper reminds us that many chemical agents were developed during WWI; indeed the first use of a chemical agent was the release of chlorine gas--a choking agent--by the Germans over the battlefields of Ypres in 1915. Porton Down remains at the very heart of chemicals and biological weapons research, albeit in a purely defensive capacity; few of the old buildings remain and the idyllic lifestyle in the Officer's Mess at Idmiston Manor has long since disappeared. These recollections provide a fascinating insight into scientific research at the time of World War I.

Investigation of runoff generation from anthropogenic sources with dissolved xenobiotics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krein, A.; Pailler, J.; Guignard, C.; Iffly, J.; Pfister, L.; Hoffmann, L.

2009-04-01

In the experimental Mess basin (35 km2, Luxembourg) dissolved xenobiotics in surface water are used to study the influences of anthropogenic sources like separated sewer systems on runoff generation. Emerging contaminants like pharmaceuticals are of growing interest because of their use in large quantities in human and veterinary medicine. The amounts reaching surface waters depend on rainfall patterns, hydraulic conditions, consumption, metabolism, degradation, and disposal. The behaviour of endocrine disruptors including pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment is widely unknown. The twelve molecules analyzed belong to three families: the estrogens, the antibiotics (sulfonamides, tetracyclines), and the painkillers (ibuprofen, diclofenac). Xenobiotics can be used as potential environmental tracers for untreated sewerage. Our results show that the concentrations are highly variable during flood events. The highest concentrations are reached in the first flush period, mainly during the rising limb of the flood hydrographs. As a result of the kinematic wave effect the concentration peak occurs in some cases a few hours after the discharge maximum. In floodwater (eleven floods, 66 samples) the highest concentrations were measured for ibuprofen (g/l range), estrone, and diclofenac (all ng/l range). From the tetracycline group, essentially tetracycline itself is of relevance, while the sulfonamides are mainly represented by sulfamethoxazole (all in ng/l range). In the Mess River the pharmaceuticals fluxes during flood events proved to be influenced by hydrological conditions. Different pharmaceuticals showed their concentration peaks during different times of a flood event. An example is the estrone peak that - during summer flash floods - often occurred one to two hours prior to the largest concentrations of the painkillers. This suggests for more sources than the sole storm drainage through the spillway of the single sewage water treatment plant, different transport velocities for single compounds or the existence of substance separating buffer storage in the stream network. In conditions of low intensity rainfall events and a few days of antecedent dry weather, acute peaks of pollution are discharged in the receiving waters. The influence of housing areas, main roads and sewer systems are obvious. These are characterized by rapid source depletion. Precipitation events of very small intensity and amount make themselves visible often as single peak storm events, which result predominantly from the sealed surface of this area. More accurate assessment of pollutant loads entering urban receiving water bodies is needed for improving urban storm water management and meeting water quality regulations.

Sound of photosynthesis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Amato, I.

1989-01-01

The beauty of photosynthesis runs deep into its physicochemical details, many of which continue to elude scientific understanding. One of the big unsolved mysteries of photosynthesis is how the oxygen molecules are made, remarks David Mauzerall, a biophysicist at Rockefeller University in New York City. He and his colleagues, Ora Canaani and Shmuel Malkin, both biochemists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, are shining some light on this mystery. Using a technique called pulsed photoacoustic spectroscopy, the three researchers have eavesdropped on some of the intimate details of oxygen evolution. You can now hear the sound ofmore » oxygen coming out of the leaves, Mauzerall said in an interview. Mauzerall and co-workers reported their work last summer in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Did he say, hear oxygen. As its name implies, photoacoustic spectroscopy is a sound-from-light technique. It is especially suited for getting spectra from samples like leaves that mess up the incident badly that even scattering or reflection-based spectroscopic methods usually can't reveal too much about the plant's chemical personality.« less

Prediction of acoustic feature parameters using myoelectric signals.

PubMed

Lee, Ki-Seung

2010-07-01

It is well-known that a clear relationship exists between human voices and myoelectric signals (MESs) from the area of the speaker's mouth. In this study, we utilized this information to implement a speech synthesis scheme in which MES alone was used to predict the parameters characterizing the vocal-tract transfer function of specific speech signals. Several feature parameters derived from MES were investigated to find the optimal feature for maximization of the mutual information between the acoustic and the MES features. After the optimal feature was determined, an estimation rule for the acoustic parameters was proposed, based on a minimum mean square error (MMSE) criterion. In a preliminary study, 60 isolated words were used for both objective and subjective evaluations. The results showed that the average Euclidean distance between the original and predicted acoustic parameters was reduced by about 30% compared with the average Euclidean distance of the original parameters. The intelligibility of the synthesized speech signals using the predicted features was also evaluated. A word-level identification ratio of 65.5% and a syllable-level identification ratio of 73% were obtained through a listening test.

Analysis of energy conservation alternatives for standard Army building. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hittle, D.C.; O'Brien, R.E.; Percivall, G.S.

1983-03-01

This report describes energy conservation alternatives for five standard Army building designs. By surveying maps of major Army installations and using the Integrated Facilities System, the most popular designs were determined to be a two-company, rolling-pin-shaped barracks for enlisted personnel; a Type 64 barracks; a motor repair shop; a battalion headquarters and classroom building; and an enlisted personnel mess hall. The Building Loads Analysis and System Thermodynamics (BLAST) energy-analysis computer program was used to develop baseline energy consumption for each design based on the building descriptions and calibrated by comparison with the measured energy usage of similar buildings. Once themore » baseline was established, the BLAST program was used to study energy conservation alternatives (ECAs) which could be retrofit to the existing buildings. The ECAs included closing off air-handling units, adding storm windows, adding 2 in. (0.051 m) of exterior insulation to the walls, partially blocking the windows, adding roof insulation, putting up south overhangs, installing programmable thermostats, recovering heat from exhaust fans, installing temperature economizers, replacing lights, and installing partitions between areas of differing temperature.« less

"Out of All of this Mess, I Got a Blessing": Perceptions and Experiences of Reproduction and Motherhood in African American Women Living With HIV.

PubMed

Fletcher, Faith; Ingram, Lucy Annang; Kerr, Jelani; Buchberg, Meredith; Richter, Donna L; Sowell, Richard

2016-01-01

HIV disproportionately impacts African American women of childbearing age residing in the southern United States. Antiretroviral therapy has increased the quantity and quality of life for people living with HIV and produced viable and safe reproduction possibilities for women living with HIV. However, little is known about reproductive decision-making processes for African American women living with HIV. The overall goal of our study was to qualitatively explore perspectives related to reproduction and motherhood in HIV-infected African American women of childbearing capacity. HIV-infected African American women of childbearing capacity in South Carolina (N = 42) participated in in-depth interviews. Our respondents held positive views about pregnancy and motherhood, despite nonsupportive pregnancy messages from interpersonal influences, including health care providers. Study findings uncovered the need for programs and interventions to support women's reproductive autonomy and focus on reducing conception- and pregnancy-related transmission risks to infants and uninfected sexual partners. Copyright © 2016 Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

STS-106 crew spends time at SPACEHAB for CEIT

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

As part of Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) activities at SPACEHAB, members of the STS-106 crew check out a Maximum Envelope Support Structure (MESS) rack they will be using during their mission to the International Space Station. Seen here (with backs to camera, in uniform) are Mission Specialist Richard A. Mastracchio, Pilot Scott D. Altman, Boris V. Morukov, and Edward T. Lu (at right). Also taking part in the CEIT are Commander Terrence W. Wilcutt and Mission Specialists Yuri I. Malenchenko and Daniel C. Burbank. Malenchenko and Morukov represent the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. STS-106 is scheduled to launch Sept. 8, 2000, at 8:31 a.m. EDT from Launch Pad 39B on an 11-day mission. The seven-member crew will prepare the Space Station for its first resident crew and begin outfitting the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. They will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the Zvezda living quarters for the first long-duration crew, dubbed '''Expedition One,''' which is due to arrive at the Station in late fall.

NOAA National Status and Trends Program Twelfth Round Intercomparison Exercise Results for Trace Metals in Marine Sediments and Biological Tissues. National Status and Trends Program for marine environmental quality: Technical memo

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Willie, S.

1998-11-01

The report summarizes the results of the Twelfth Round Intercomparison for Trace Metals in Marine Sediments and Biological Tissues under the directive of the NOAA National Status and Trends Program. A total of forty-four participants were included in the exercise, including NOAA, USEPA, state, Austrailian, Canadian, Mexican and Argentinean laboratories. Two samples were sent by NRC to each participant, a marine sediment collected on the east coast of Canada and a freeze-dried mussel tissue. Laboratories were also asked to analyze two certified reference materials (CRMs) MESS-2 and CRM 2976. The elements to be determined were Al, Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu,more » Zn, As, Se, Ag, Cd, Sn, Hg, and Pb for both matrices, plus Be, Si, Mn, Sb, and Tl for the sediments. An accepted mean and confidence interval was calculated for each analyte in the two unknown samples, laboratory biases were identified and an overall rating of superior, good, fair or others were assigned to each laboratory.« less

KSC-00pp0952

NASA Image and Video Library

2000-07-19

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- As part of Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) activities at SPACEHAB, members of the STS-106 crew check out a Maximum Envelope Support Structure (MESS) rack they will be using during their mission to the International Space Station. Seen here (with backs to camera, in uniform) are Mission Specialist Richard A. Mastracchio, Pilot Scott D. Altman, Boris V. Morukov, and Edward T. Lu (at right). Also taking part in the CEIT are Commander Terrence W. Wilcutt and Mission Specialists Yuri I. Malenchenko and Daniel C. Burbank. Malenchenko and Morukov represent the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. STS-106 is scheduled to launch Sept. 8, 2000, at 8:31 a.m. EDT from Launch Pad 39B on an 11-day mission. The seven-member crew will prepare the Space Station for its first resident crew and begin outfitting the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. They will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the Zvezda living quarters for the first long-duration crew, dubbed “Expedition One,” which is due to arrive at the Station in late fall

KSC00pp0952

NASA Image and Video Library

2000-07-19

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- As part of Crew Equipment Interface Test (CEIT) activities at SPACEHAB, members of the STS-106 crew check out a Maximum Envelope Support Structure (MESS) rack they will be using during their mission to the International Space Station. Seen here (with backs to camera, in uniform) are Mission Specialist Richard A. Mastracchio, Pilot Scott D. Altman, Boris V. Morukov, and Edward T. Lu (at right). Also taking part in the CEIT are Commander Terrence W. Wilcutt and Mission Specialists Yuri I. Malenchenko and Daniel C. Burbank. Malenchenko and Morukov represent the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. STS-106 is scheduled to launch Sept. 8, 2000, at 8:31 a.m. EDT from Launch Pad 39B on an 11-day mission. The seven-member crew will prepare the Space Station for its first resident crew and begin outfitting the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module. They will perform support tasks on orbit, transfer supplies and prepare the Zvezda living quarters for the first long-duration crew, dubbed “Expedition One,” which is due to arrive at the Station in late fall

Applying energy-conservation retrofits to standard Army buildings: Data analysis and recommendations. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Westervelt, E.T.; Northup, G.R.; Lawrie, L.K.

1990-09-01

This report describes the data analysis and recommendations of a project demonstrating the energy performance of theoretically based retrofit packages on existing standard Army building at Fort Carson, CO. Four standard designs were investigated: a motor vehicle repair shop, the Type 64 (L-shaped) barracks, an enlisted personnel mess hall, and a two-company, rolling-pin-shaped barracks for enlisted personnel. The tested conservation measures included envelope and system modifications. Energy data were gathered and analyzed from 14 buildings. Based on measured savings and current costs of fuel and construction, none of the four original packages are life-cycle cost-effective at present, but two maymore » become effective in the near future. Of higher priority for energy and cost savings is the improvement of building operations, in particular heat production and distribution systems, which lack efficiency and control. Followup work at the L-shaped barracks yielded substantial savings, with a saving-to-investment ration of 5 to 1. Cost scenarios, energy models, and building were developed for the original retrofits to assess applicability elsewhere and in the future.« less

Success factors impacting Latina/o persistence in higher education leading to STEM opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peralta, Claudia; Caspary, Melissa; Boothe, Diane

2013-12-01

This study investigates how Latina/Latino youth resist, conform to, and persist in schooling, and explores their preparation for an education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. Using Latino Critical Race Theory as a framework, evidence of the "sticky mess" of racial inequalities (Espinoza and Harris in Calif Law Rev 10:499-559, 1997) and the concept of community cultural wealth (Yosso in Race Ethn Educ 8:69-91, 2005) will be used to understand how Latina/o students successfully persist in college. Quantitative and qualitative findings collected at two public universities in 2007-2012 show that Latina/o parents play a significant role in influencing their children's decision to attend college; family, friend and community support and hard work have also been instrumental in college success. This is evident through parents' encouragement to persist, expectations to do well and students serving as role models for siblings and peers. As policy makers in the educational arena emphasize STEM fields, there is a significant opportunity for Latino students to make valuable contributions.

Current HDTV overview in the United States, Japan, and Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cripps, Dale E.

1991-08-01

Vast resources are being spent on three continents, preparing for the commercialization of HDTV. The forces that together will launch this new industry are moving at dizzying speeds. This paper covers the highlights of events past and present and offers some predictions for the future. Difficult standards problems that keep brakes on the industry, and that will continue for some time to come. Standards committees have been set up around the world and are hard at work. It is a job with considerable technical and political challenges. By the time major plans and resources come together for commercialization of HDTV, one can trust that there will be adequately stable standards. But to observe the current status is to see a mess. High definition is not only consumer television. Because of its versatility, it is much more likely to find its way first into areas offering high returns such as medicine, education, printing, corporate communications, military and space, and even criminal control. HDTV is very likely to deliver movies and cultural events to theaters, and may also become the platform for a new generation of computers.

Observations of a Two Ribbon White Light Flare

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, J.; Mickey, D.; LaBonte, B.

2003-05-01

On July 15 2002, an X3 flare occured within AR10030 and it was accompanied with a white light flare (WLF). The Imaging Vector Magnetograph (IVM) at Mees Solar Observatory recorded the entire event including several hours of data before and after the flare. The IVM continuum images are taken at time cadence as high as 1 seconds per image. Such observations enabled us to resolve the WLF patches in time and space. We will present (1). the initial WLF patch fell on a small sunspot located at an area surrounded with single relatively weak magnetic polarity between proceeding and following sunspot groups; (2) the energy deposited during the WLF flare; (3) the light curves of the optical continuum, the UV continuum (TRACE/1600) and microwaves (1.2 - 18 GHz from Oven's Valley Solar Array). They demonstrate the same profiles during flare impulsive phase. The observations suggest that the origin of the WLF flare was caused by accelerated particles precipitate into lower atmosphere along magnetic field lines. This work is supported by NASA grant to Mess Solar Observatory and MURI program.

[Trattamento del disturbo da uso di alcol da un punto di vista psicologico].

PubMed

Coriale, Giovanna; Fiorentino, Daniela; De Rosa, Francesca; Solombrino, Simona; Scalese, Bruna; Ciccarelli, Rosaria; Attilia, Fabio; Vitali, Mario; Musetti, Alessia; Fiore, Marco; Ceccanti, Mauro

2018-01-01

RIASSUNTO. L'elaborazione del piano di trattamento rappresenta un momento molto delicato e complesso del processo terapeutico del disturbo da abuso di alcol (DUA). È la fase in cui le informazioni raccolte da un'équipe di professionisti (medici, psicologi e assistenti sociali) (modello bio-psico-sociale del DUA) vengono messe insieme per decidere il percorso terapeutico più adatto. Per quanto riguarda la parte psicologica, è di notevole importanza scegliere un trattamento clinico in grado di ridurre al minimo la mancata adesione al trattamento e, per i soggetti che rimangono in trattamento, di garantirne l'efficacia. Se da una parte, le tecniche psicoanalitiche e comportamentali hanno fornito le basi della terapia psicologica dell'alcolismo, dall'altra, gli approcci basati sull'evidenza scientifica sono stati elaborati a partire dai principi del colloquio motivazionale e della terapia cognitivo-comportamentale. In questo articolo viene fornita una panoramica dei trattamenti che sono risultati più efficaci nel trattare il DUA e delle modalità temporali più adeguate per monitorare l'efficacia del trattamento.

A report from the European Association for the Study of the Liver's 50th International Liver Congress (April 22-26 - Vienna, Austria).

PubMed

Rabasseda, X

2015-04-01

While Vienna's Prater park offers a varied selection of options, from theme parks to lush gardens and prairies to enjoy the sun, the nearby Messe Wien convention center was the focus of attention in April 2015 for all the scientists, researchers and clinicians interested in viral hepatitis, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma and a variety of other liver diseases. Treatments and potential new therapeutic strategies for these hepatopathies were discussed during the 50th International Liver Congress organized by the European Association for the Study of the Liver. Echoing epidemiological facts and a high social interest for hepatitis C virus infection, new findings with investigational and potential new therapies for the disease centered much of the attention at the conference. Nevertheless, new research was also reported related to potential improvements in how other liver diseases, particularly hepatitis B virus infection, hepatocellular carcinoma and a range of inflammatory and immune-mediated liver diseases, including rare hereditary diseases that should never be forgotten. Copyright 2015 Prous Science, S.A.U. or its licensors. All rights reserved.

Cresting the wave: proper motions of the Eastern Banded Structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deason, Alis J.; Belokurov, Vasily; Koposov, Sergey E.

2018-01-01

We study the kinematic properties of the Eastern Banded Structure (EBS) and Hydra I overdensity using exquisite proper motions derived from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Gaia source catalogue. Main sequence turn-off stars in the vicinity of the EBS are identified from SDSS photometry; we use the proper motions and, where applicable, spectroscopic measurements of these stars to probe the kinematics of this apparent stream. We find that the EBS and Hydra I share common kinematic and chemical properties with the nearby Monoceros Ring. In particular, the proper motions of the EBS, like Monoceros, are indicative of prograde rotation (Vϕ ∼ 180-220 km s-1), which is similar to the Galactic thick disc. The kinematic structure of stars in the vicinity of the EBS suggests that it is not a distinct stellar stream, but rather marks the 'edge' of the Monoceros Ring. The EBS and Hydra I are the latest substructures to be linked with Monoceros, leaving the Galactic anti-centre a mess of interlinked overdensities which likely share a unified, Galactic disc origin.

Deflectometry challenges interferometry: the competition gets tougher!

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faber, Christian; Olesch, Evelyn; Krobot, Roman; Häusler, Gerd

2012-09-01

Deflectometric methods that are capable of providing full-field topography data for specular freeform surfaces have been around for more than a decade. They have proven successful in various fields of application, such as the measurement of progressive power eyeglasses, painted car body panels, or windshields. However, up to now deflectometry has not been considered as a viable competitor to interferometry, especially for the qualification of optical components. The reason is that, despite the unparalleled local sensitivity provided by deflectometric methods, the global height accuracy attainable with this measurement technique used to be limited to several microns over a field of 100 mm. Moreover, spurious reflections at the rear surface of transparent objects could easily mess up the measured signal completely. Due to new calibration and evaluation procedures, this situation has changed lately. We will give a comparative assessment of the strengths and - now partly revised - weaknesses of both measurement principles from the current perspective. By presenting recent developments and measurement examples from different applications, we will show that deflectometry is now heading to become a serious competitor to interferometry.

Investigation of the reasons for not using helmet among motorcyclists in Kerman, Iran.

PubMed

Maghsoudi, Aliasghar; Boostani, Dariush; Rafeiee, Manoochehr

2018-03-01

This study was carried out to investigate reasoning and interpretation of motorcyclists for not using helmet utilizing qualitative methodology of 'grounded theory'. The field of the study was Kerman, a cultural-historical city at the south-east of Iran. Participants were 21 young male motorcyclists. Two sampling strategies were used: maximum variation and snowball sampling. To collect data, in-depth, open-ended interviews were conducted. Data analysis yielded seven categories: fatalism; a barrier to social relationships; peer group pressure and negative labelling; messing up the appearance; disturbance in hearing and vision; barrier to normal breathing; and heaviness and superfluity of helmet. Based on the findings of the current study, it could be concluded that socio-cultural contexts, motorcyclists' worldview and partly helmet-related problems are of the main factors which affect motorcycling. Therefore, the studies, policy-makings, and intervening programmes to control injury and to promote safety among motorcyclists should be focused on socio-cultural barriers to helmet use in general and changing the motorcyclists' standpoints toward fatalism in particular. Helmet-related problems should be considered, too.

Thinking as a subversive activity: doing philosophy in the corporate university.

PubMed

Rolfe, Gary

2013-01-01

The academy is in a mess. The cultural theorist Bill Readings claimed that it is in ruins, while the political scientist Michael Oakeshott suggested that it has all but ceased to exist. At the very least, we might argue that the current financial squeeze has distorted the University into a shape that would be all but unrecognizable to Oakeshott and others writing in the 1950s and 1960s. I will begin this paper by tracing the development of the modern Enlightenment University over the past 200 years from its roots in late 18th century Berlin to its current predicament. I will then turn my attention to the introduction during the 1990s of nursing education into the University, and examine the particular difficulties and tensions encountered at the interface between a professional practice and an academic discipline. Finally, I will propose philosophy as a way of dwelling in the ruins of the Enlightenment University and of reconciling the corporate demands of the University with the obligations of the nursing profession. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

In-flight wind identification and soft landing control for autonomous unmanned powered parafoils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Shuzhen; Tan, Panlong; Sun, Qinglin; Wu, Wannan; Luo, Haowen; Chen, Zengqiang

2018-04-01

For autonomous unmanned powered parafoil, the ability to perform a final flare manoeuvre against the wind direction can allow a considerable reduction of horizontal and vertical velocities at impact, enabling a soft landing for a safe delivery of sensible loads; the lack of knowledge about the surface-layer winds will result in messing up terminal flare manoeuvre. Moreover, unknown or erroneous winds can also prevent the parafoil system from reaching the target area. To realize accurate trajectory tracking and terminal soft landing in the unknown wind environment, an efficient in-flight wind identification method merely using Global Positioning System (GPS) data and recursive least square method is proposed to online identify the variable wind information. Furthermore, a novel linear extended state observation filter is proposed to filter the groundspeed of the powered parafoil system calculated by the GPS information to provide a best estimation of the present wind during flight. Simulation experiments and real airdrop tests demonstrate the great ability of this method to in-flight identify the variable wind field, and it can benefit the powered parafoil system to fulfil accurate tracking control and a soft landing in the unknown wind field with high landing accuracy and strong wind-resistance ability.

Determination of trace heavy metals in soil and sediments by atomic spectrometry following preconcentration with Schiff bases on Amberlite XAD-4.

PubMed

Kara, Derya; Fisher, Andrew; Hill, Steve J

2009-06-15

A matrix separation and analyte preconcentration system using Amberlite XAD copolymer resins functionalized by Schiff base reactions coupled with atomic spectrometry has been developed. Three different functionalized Amberlite XAD resins were synthesized using 4-phenylthiosemicarbazide, 2,3-dihydroxybenzaldehyde and 2-thiophenecarboxaldehyde as reagents. These resins could be used to preconcentrate transition and other trace heavy metal analytes from nitric acid digests of soil and sediment samples. Analyte retention was shown to work well at pH 6.0. After treatment of the digests with sodium fluoride and buffering to pH 6, samples that contain extremely large concentrations of iron were analysed for trace analytes without the excess iron overloading the capacity of the resin. The analytes Cd, Co, Cu, Ni and Pb were preconcentrated from acid extracts of certified soil/sediment samples and then eluted with 0.1M HNO(3) directly to the detection system. Flame atomic absorption spectrometry was used as a means of detection during the studies. The efficiency of the chelating resin and the accuracy of the proposed method were evaluated by the analysis of soil (SO-2) and sediment (LGC 6157 and MESS-3) certified reference materials.

Management of vaginal atrophy: a real mess. Results from the AGATA study.

PubMed

Palma, Federica; Xholli, Anjeza; Cagnacci, Angelo

2017-09-01

To investigate the management of vaginal atrophy (VA) in a population-based study. A sub-study of a cross-sectional multicenter study on 913 postmenopausal women. Management of VA was investigated on the 274 women referring having received a previous diagnosis of VA. Women had received, no therapy (9.8%), systemic hormones (9.2%), intra-vaginal estrogens (44.5%) or local non-hormonal (36.5%) therapy. There was heterogeneity of treatments. Local therapies were given in cycles, and used for a length of time ranging from 1 to 12 months. At the time of the investigation 59.5% of these women were not on treatment, either because following the physician's indication (31.1%) or because spontaneously withdrawing from treatment (68.9%). Reasons for withdrawing from therapy were insufficient symptom relief (46.6%), messiness (24.3%), difficulty in application (7.8%) and vaginal discharge (1.9%). At the time of investigation only 2.9% of treated women did not suffer from VA. This study underlines the presence of a great confusion about the therapy used for VA, along with patients' dissatisfaction with actual treatments. The emerging evidence is that in real world VA remains untreated.

Eye trauma in Laurel and Hardy movies - another nice mess.

PubMed

Zegers, Lara DA; Zegers, Richard Hc

2016-11-01

One of the characteristics in Laurel and Hardy films is a lot of physical violence. The present study examines the occurrence of eye trauma in Laurel and Hardy movies and discusses the impact they could have been had if the films were set in reality. All 92 movies starring Laurel and Hardy as a pair in leading roles were watched together by the authors and were scored for any eye trauma. Eighty-eight eye traumas happened, of which 48% were directed at Hardy. The eye poke was the most frequently occurring eye trauma and the traumatic corneal abrasion was very likely the most frequently occurring injury. Among the most serious causes of eye trauma were the pin of a door handle, a stick, a champagne cork, a tree branch and tacks. Without a doubt, if their films had been reality, especially Hardy but also Laurel and several other people, would have suffered from serious eye injuries caused by the 88 eye traumas. The findings of the present study might reflect the personality, character and intellectual capacity of both Laurel and Hardy as 'Two Minds Without a Single Thought'. © The Author(s) 2016.

The prototype design of most powerful exoplanet tracker based on LAMOST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Kai; Zhu, Yongtian; Wang, Lei

2010-07-01

Chinese national science project-LAMOST successfully received its official blessing in June, 2009. Its aperture is about 4m, and its focal plane of 1.75m in diameter, corresponding to a 5° field of view, can accommodate as many as 4000 optical fibers, and feed 16 multi-object low-medium resolution spectrometers (LRS). In addition, a new technique called External Dispersed Interferometry (EDI) is successfully used to enhance the accuracy of radial velocity measurement by heterodyning an interference spectrum with absorption lines. For further enhancing the survey power of LAMOST, a major astronomical project, Multi-object Exoplanet Survey System (MESS) based on this advanced technique, is being developed by Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology (NIAOT) and National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC), and funded by Joint Fund of Astronomy, which is set up by National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (NSFC) and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). This system is composed of a multi-object fixed delay Michelson interferometer (FDMI) and a multi-object medium resolution spectrometer (R=5000). In this paper, a prototype design of FDMI is given, including optical system and mechanical structure.

Unsupervised universal steganalyzer for high-dimensional steganalytic features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, Xiaodan; Zhang, Tao

2016-11-01

The research in developing steganalytic features has been highly successful. These features are extremely powerful when applied to supervised binary classification problems. However, they are incompatible with unsupervised universal steganalysis because the unsupervised method cannot distinguish embedding distortion from varying levels of noises caused by cover variation. This study attempts to alleviate the problem by introducing similarity retrieval of image statistical properties (SRISP), with the specific aim of mitigating the effect of cover variation on the existing steganalytic features. First, cover images with some statistical properties similar to those of a given test image are searched from a retrieval cover database to establish an aided sample set. Then, unsupervised outlier detection is performed on a test set composed of the given test image and its aided sample set to determine the type (cover or stego) of the given test image. Our proposed framework, called SRISP-aided unsupervised outlier detection, requires no training. Thus, it does not suffer from model mismatch mess. Compared with prior unsupervised outlier detectors that do not consider SRISP, the proposed framework not only retains the universality but also exhibits superior performance when applied to high-dimensional steganalytic features.

'We didn't know anything, it was a mess!' Emergent structures and the effectiveness of a rescue operation multi-team system.

PubMed

Fleştea, Alina Maria; Fodor, Oana Cătălina; Curşeu, Petru Lucian; Miclea, Mircea

2017-01-01

Multi-team systems (MTS) are used to tackle unpredictable events and to respond effectively to fast-changing environmental contingencies. Their effectiveness is influenced by within as well as between team processes (i.e. communication, coordination) and emergent phenomena (i.e. situational awareness). The present case study explores the way in which the emergent structures and the involvement of bystanders intertwine with the dynamics of processes and emergent states both within and between the component teams. Our findings show that inefficient transition process and the ambiguous leadership generated poor coordination and hindered the development of emergent phenomena within the whole system. Emergent structures and bystanders substituted leadership functions and provided a pool of critical resources for the MTS. Their involvement fostered the emergence of situational awareness and facilitated contingency planning processes. However, bystander involvement impaired the emergence of cross-understandings and interfered with coordination processes between the component teams. Practitioner Summary: Based on a real emergency situation, the present research provides important theoretical and practical insights about the role of bystander involvement in the dynamics of multi-team systems composed to tackle complex tasks and respond to fast changing and unpredictable environmental contingencies.

Game theory model of traffic participants within amber time at signalized intersection.

PubMed

Qi, Weiwei; Wen, Huiying; Fu, Chuanyun; Song, Mo

2014-01-01

The traffic light scheme is composed of red, green, and amber lights, and it has been defined clearly for the traffic access of red and green lights; however, the definition of that for the amber light is indistinct, which leads to the appearance of uncertainty factors and serious traffic conflicts during the amber light. At present, the traffic administrations are faced with the decision of whether to forbid passing or not during the amber light in the cities of China. On one hand, it will go against the purpose of setting amber lights if forbidding passing; on the other hand, it may lead to a mess of traffic flow running if not. And meanwhile the drivers are faced with the decision of passing the intersection or stopping during the amber light as well. So the decision-making behavior of traffic administrations and drivers can be converted into a double game model. And through quantification of their earnings in different choice conditions, the optimum decision-making plan under specific conditions could be solved via the Nash equilibrium solution concept. Thus the results will provide a basis for the formulation of the traffic management strategy.

Game Theory Model of Traffic Participants within Amber Time at Signalized Intersection

PubMed Central

Qi, Weiwei; Wen, Huiying; Fu, Chuanyun; Song, Mo

2014-01-01

The traffic light scheme is composed of red, green, and amber lights, and it has been defined clearly for the traffic access of red and green lights; however, the definition of that for the amber light is indistinct, which leads to the appearance of uncertainty factors and serious traffic conflicts during the amber light. At present, the traffic administrations are faced with the decision of whether to forbid passing or not during the amber light in the cities of China. On one hand, it will go against the purpose of setting amber lights if forbidding passing; on the other hand, it may lead to a mess of traffic flow running if not. And meanwhile the drivers are faced with the decision of passing the intersection or stopping during the amber light as well. So the decision-making behavior of traffic administrations and drivers can be converted into a double game model. And through quantification of their earnings in different choice conditions, the optimum decision-making plan under specific conditions could be solved via the Nash equilibrium solution concept. Thus the results will provide a basis for the formulation of the traffic management strategy. PMID:25580108

Predictors of cerebral microembolization during phased radiofrequency ablation of atrial fibrillation: role of the ongoing rhythm and the site of energy delivery.

PubMed

Nagy-Balo, Edina; Kiss, Alexandra; Condie, Catherine; Stewart, Mark; Edes, Istvan; Csanadi, Zoltan

2014-11-01

Pulmonary vein isolation with phased radiofrequency current and use of a pulmonary vein ablation catheter (PVAC) has recently been associated with a high incidence of clinically silent brain infarcts on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, and a high microembolic signal (MES) count detected by transcranial Doppler. We investigated the potential effects of the ongoing rhythm and the target vein during energy delivery (ED) on MES generation during PVAC ablations. A total of 735 EDs during 48 PVAC ablations were analyzed. MES counts were recorded for each ED and time-stamped for correlation with the ongoing rhythm and the target vein for each ED. Significantly higher MES counts were observed during ablations of the left-sided as compared with the right-sided pulmonary veins (P = 0.0003). Similarly, higher MES counts were detected during EDs in atrial fibrillation as compared with sinus rhythm when the temperature was >56°C (P < 0.0001). The ongoing rhythm had no effect on the number of MESs at lower temperatures during ablation. Both the ongoing rhythm during ED and the site of ablation influence microembolus generation during PVAC ablation procedures. ©2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Predicting of soil erosion with regarding to rainfall erosivity and soil erodibility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suif, Zuliziana; Razak, Mohd Amirun Anis Ab; Ahmad, Nordila

2018-02-01

The soil along the hill and slope are wearing away due to erosion and it can take place due to occurrence of weak and heavy rainfall. The aim of this study is to predict the soil erosion degree in Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) area focused on two major factor which is soil erodibility and rainfall erosivity. Soil erodibility is the possibilities of soil to detach and carried away during rainfall and runoff. The "ROM" scale was used in this study to determine the degree of soil erodibility, namely low, moderate, high, and very high. As for rainfall erosivity, the erosive power caused by rainfall that cause soil loss. A daily rainfall data collected from January to April was analyzed by using ROSE index classification to identify the potential risk of soil erosion. The result shows that the soil erodibilty are moderate at MTD`s hill, high at behind of block Lestari and Landslide MTD hill, and critical at behind the mess cadet. While, the highest rainfall erosivity was recorded in March and April. Overall, this study would benefit the organization greatly in saving cost in landslide protection as relevant authorities can take early measures repairing the most affected area of soil erosion.

Technological substitution: the potential of plastic as primary packaging material in the US brewing industry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roeleveld, J.J.

1985-01-01

This dissertation develops a general model of technological substitution that could be of help to planners and decision makers in industry who are faced with the problems created by continual technological change. The model as presented differs from existing models in the theoretical literature because of its emphasis on analyzing current and potential technologies in an attempt to understand the underlying factors contributing to technological substitution. The general model and the cost model that is part of it belong to that step in the interactive planning cycle called the formulation of the mess. The methodology underlying the cost model ismore » a combination of life-cycle analysis (i.e., from raw materials in nature, through all intermediate products, to waste returned to the environment) and resoumetrics, which is an engineering approach to measuring all physical inputs required to produce a certain level of output. The models are illustrated with a specific field of interest: substitution of primary packaging technologies in the US brewing industry. The physical costs of packaging beer in different containers are compared. Strategic considerations for a brewery deciding to adopt plastic packaging technology are discussed. Attention is given to another potential fruitful application of the model in the field of technology transfer to developing countries.« less

Quality site seasonal report: Army Air Force Exchange Service Headquarters Building, SFBP 1343, August 1984 through May 1985

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pollock, E.O. Jr.

1987-10-15

The active solar Domestic Hot Water (DHW) system at the HQ Army-Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) Building was designed and constructed as part of the Solar in Federal Buildings Programs (SFBP). This retrofitted system is one of eight of the systems in the SFBP selected for quality monitoring. The purpose of this monitoring effort is to document the performance of quality state-of-the-art solar systems in large federal building applications. The six-story HQ AAFES Building houses a cafeteria, officer's mess and club and office space for 2400 employees. The siphon-return drainback system uses 1147 ft/sup 2/ of Aircraftsman flat-plate collectors tomore » collect solar energy which is used to preheat domestic hot water. Solar energy is stored in a 1329-gallon tank and transferred to the hot water load through a heat exchanger located in the 356-gallon DHW preheat tank. Auxiliary energy is supplied by two gas fired boilers which boost the temperature to 130/sup 0/F before it is distributed to the load. Highlights of the performance of the HQ AAFES Building solar system during the monitoring period from August 1984 through May 1985 are presented in this report.« less

Antimicrobial and Herbal Drug Resistance in Enteric Bacteria Isolated from Faecal Droppings of Common House Lizard/Gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus).

PubMed

Singh, Bhoj R; Singh, Vidya; Ebibeni, N; Singh, Raj K

2013-01-01

From 194 faecal dropping samples of common house geckos collected from offices (60), houses (88), integrated farm units (IFS,18) and hostels, guest houses, and dining rooms of different canteen/mess (HGM, 28), 326 bacterial isolates of enteric bacteria belonging to 17 genera and 34 species were detected. Escherichia coli were the most frequently (39) isolated followed by Citrobacter freundii (33), Klebsiella pneumonia (27), Salmonella indica (12), Enterobacter gergoviae (12), and Ent. agglomerans (11). Other important bacteria isolated from gecko droppings were Listonella damsela (2), Raoultella terrigena (3), S. salamae (2), S. houtenae (3), Edwardsiella tarda (4), Edwardsiella hoshinae (1), and Klebsiella oxytoca (2). Of the 223 isolates tested for antimicrobial drug sensitivity, 27 (12.1%) had multiple drug resistance (MDR). None of the salmonellae or edwardsiellae had MDR however, MDR strains were significantly more common among Escherichia spp. (P = 1.9 × 10(-5)) and isolates from IFS units (P = 3.58 × 10(-23)). The most effective herbal drug, Ageratum conyzoides extract, inhibited growth of only 27.8% of strains tested followed by ethanolic extract of Zanthoxylum rhetsa (13.9%), eucalyptus oil (5.4%), patchouli oil (5.4%), lemongrass oil (3.6%), and sandalwood oil (3.1%), and Artemisia vulgaris essential oil (3.1%).

Biokompatible Metalle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ha, Suk-Woo; Wintermantel, Erich

Metalle als Implantatwerkstoffe werden in der Medizin für zwei Hauptanwendungen eingesetzt: für Prothesen des totalen Gelenkersatzes wie beispielsweise Hüft-, Knie- und Schulterprothesen und für Fixationselemente zur Stabilisierung von Frakturen. Beispiele hierfür sind Osteosyntheseplatten, Marknägel, Schrauben, Drähte und Stents. Eine der ersten Anwendungen von Metallen im menschlichen Körper war die Fixation von Fragmenten eines gebrochenen Humerus (Oberarmknochen) mit einem Metalldraht durch zwei französische Physiker im Jahr 1775 [1]. Ausführliche Untersuchungen zur Verträglichkeit von Metallen im menschlichen Körper wurden bereits im frühen 19. Jahrhundert durchgeführt. Von den untersuchten Werkstoffen verursachten die edlen Metalle wie Gold, Silber und Platin aufgrund ihrer Korrosionsbeständigkeit und Körperverträglichkeit die geringsten Reizungen im menschlichen Körper. Die klinische Anwendung der Edelmetalle war jedoch wegen der geringen mechanischen Eigenschaften beschränkt. Andere Metalle wie Messing, Kupfer oder Eisen wiesen vergleichsweise höhere Festigkeitswerte auf, sie waren jedoch aufgrund der geringen Korrosionsbeständigkeit und Biokompatibilität nicht für den klinischen Einsatz geeignet. Ein weiteres Problem stellte die Gefahr der Infektion durch unsterile Instrumente und Implantate dar. Gegen Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts hielt die antiseptische Operationsmethode Einzug in die Kliniken, die z. B. erfolgreiche Operationen mit Silberdraht ermöglichte.

Getting back to the rough ground: deception and 'social living'.

PubMed

Reddy, Vasudevi

2007-04-29

At the heart of the social intelligence hypothesis is the central role of 'social living'. But living is messy and psychologists generally seek to avoid this mess in the interests of getting clean data and cleaner logical explanations. The study of deception as intelligent action is a good example of the dangers of such avoidance. We still do not have a full picture of the development of deceptive actions in human infants and toddlers or an explanation of why it emerges. This paper applies Byrne & Whiten's functional taxonomy of tactical deception to the social behaviour of human infants and toddlers using data from three previous studies. The data include a variety of acts, such as teasing, pretending, distracting and concealing, which are not typically considered in relation to human deception. This functional analysis shows the onset of non-verbal deceptive acts to be surprisingly early. Infants and toddlers seem to be able to communicate false information (about themselves, about shared meanings and about events) as early as true information. It is argued that the development of deception must be a fundamentally social and communicative process and that if we are to understand why deception emerges at all, the scientist needs to get 'back to the rough ground' as Wittgenstein called it and explore the messy social lives in which it develops.

Working session 1: Tubing degradation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kharshafdjian, G.; Turluer, G.

1997-02-01

A general introductory overview of the purpose of the group and the general subject area of SG tubing degradation was given by the facilitator. The purpose of the session was described as to {open_quotes}develop conclusions and proposals on regulatory and technical needs required to deal with the issues of SG tubing degradation.{close_quotes} Types, locations and characteristics of tubing degradation in steam generators were briefly reviewed. The well-known synergistic effects of materials, environment, and stress and strain/strain rate, subsequently referred to by the acronym {open_quotes}MESS{close_quotes} by some of the group members, were noted. The element of time (i.e., evolution of thesemore » variables with time) was emphasized. It was also suggested that the group might want to consider the related topics of inspection capabilities, operational variables, degradation remedies, and validity of test data, and some background information in these areas was provided. The presentation given by Peter Millet during the Plenary Session was reviewed; Specifically, the chemical aspects and the degradation from the secondary side of the steam generator were noted. The main issues discussed during the October 1995 EPRI meeting on secondary side corrosion were reported, and a listing of the potential SG tube degradations was provided and discussed.« less

Is youth smoking responsive to cigarette prices? Evidence from low- and middle-income countries.

PubMed

Kostova, Deliana; Ross, Hana; Blecher, Evan; Markowitz, Sara

2011-11-01

To estimate the price elasticity of cigarette demand among youth in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). The Global Youth Tobacco Survey was used to obtain data on the smoking behaviour of 315,353 adolescents from 17 LMIC. Two-part model of cigarette demand with country fixed effects. The first part estimates the impact of prices on smoking participation while the second part estimates the impact of prices on the number of cigarettes smoked among current smokers. Besides controlling for individual characteristics such as Age, Gender, Parental Smoking and availability of Pocket Money, the authors control for confounding environmental factors such as anti-smoking sentiment, the prevalence of cigarette advertising and anti-tobacco media messAges, and ease of purchasing cigarettes. All countries in this study are represented with at least two observations over time, which allows us to control for unobserved country characteristics and/or policies that may influence smoking patterns within countries. Cigarette price is an important determinant of smoking. The estimated price elasticity of smoking participation is -0.74, and the estimated price elasticity of conditional cigarette demand is approximately -1.37. The total price elasticity of cigarette demand is -2.11, implying that an increase in price of 10% would reduce youth cigarette consumption by 21.1% at the mean.

Food service programme for promoting healthy nutrition among medical cadets of Phramongkutklao College of Medicine: a preliminary study.

PubMed

Viravathana, Nantaporn

2005-11-01

To evaluate the patterns of food services and to determine the kinds and frequencies of food items served to the medical cadets. Menu records of the meals served to the medical cadets at a mess hall of Phramongkutklao College of Medicine were retrospectively reviewed, covering the period of one month of the academic year 2004. The menus were analysed using descriptive statistics. Sixty-five medical cadets participated in the food service programme by setting their own menus. The programme provided three main meals a day. In August, the studied month, it was found that some selected menus were not suitable. Only two types of foods of carbohydrate sources were used. The predominant one was milled rice (87 meals or 93.5%). At least 5 meals (5.4%) did not serve vegetables at all. As for fresh fruits, up to 16 days (51.6%) they were not served. The food service programme is a strength point for promoting healthy nutrition to medical cadets in this setting. Involvement of medical cadets by setting up their own menus can reflect very clearly undesirable eating habits. Thus, appropriate involvement of medical cadets can be a good means to help them acquire knowledge and skills in healthy nutrition practices.

Control of the dipole layer of polar organic molecules adsorbed on metal surfaces via different charge-transfer channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Meng-Kai; Nakayama, Yasuo; Zhuang, Ying-Jie; Su, Kai-Jun; Wang, Chin-Yung; Pi, Tun-Wen; Metz, Sebastian; Papadopoulos, Theodoros A.; Chiang, T.-C.; Ishii, Hisao; Tang, S.-J.

2017-02-01

Organic molecules with a permanent electric dipole moment have been widely used as a template for further growth of molecular layers in device structures. Key properties of the resulting organic films such as energy level alignment (ELA), work function, and injection/collection barrier are linked to the magnitude and direction of the dipole moment at the interface. Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we have systematically investigated the coverage-dependent work function and spectral line shapes of occupied molecular energy states (MESs) of chloroaluminium-phthalocyanine (ClAlPc) grown on Ag(111). We demonstrate that the dipole orientation of the first ClAlPc layer can be controlled by adjusting the deposition rate and postannealing conditions, and we find that the ELA at the interface differs by ˜0.4 eV between the Cl up and down configurations of the adsorbed ClAlPc molecules. These observations are rationalized by density functional theory (DFT) calculations based on a realistic model of the ClAlPc/Ag(111) interface, which reveal that the different orientations of the ClAlPc dipole layer lead to different charge-transfer channels between the adsorbed ClAlPc and Ag(111) substrate. Our findings provide a useful framework toward method development for ELA tuning.

The Vision of "Industrie 4.0" in the Making-a Case of Future Told, Tamed, and Traded.

PubMed

Pfeiffer, Sabine

2017-01-01

Since industrial trade fair Hannover Messe 2011, the term "Industrie 4.0" has ignited a vision of a new Industrial Revolution and has been inspiring a lively, ongoing debate among the German public about the future of work, and hence society, ever since. The discourse around this vision of the future eventually spread to other countries, with public awareness reaching a temporary peak in 2016 when the World Economic Forum's meeting in Davos was held with the motto "Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution." How is it possible for a vision originally established by three German engineers to unfold and bear fruit at a global level in such a short period of time? This article begins with a summary of the key ideas that are discussed under the label Industrie 4.0. The main purpose, based on an in-depth discourse analysis, is to debunk the myth about the origin of this powerful vision and to trace the narrative back to the global economic crisis in 2009 and thus to the real actors, central discourse patterns, and hidden intentions of this vision of a new Industrial Revolution. In conclusion, the discourse analysis reveals that this is not a case of visioneering but one of a future told, tamed, and traded.

The carbon harvest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosen, Julia

2018-02-01

In 2015, the Paris climate agreement established a goal of limiting global warming to "well below" 2°C. In the most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, researchers surveyed possible road maps for reaching that goal and found something unsettling: In most model scenarios, simply cutting emissions isn't enough. To limit warming, humanity also needs negative emissions technologies that, by the end of the century, would remove more carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere than humans emit. The technologies would buy time for society to rein in carbon emissions, but they also give policymakers an excuse to drag their feet on climate action in the hopes that future inventions will clean up the mess. One particular technology has quietly risen to prominence, thanks to global models. The idea is to cultivate fast-growing grasses and trees to suck CO2 out of the atmosphere and then burn them at power plants to generate energy. But instead of being released back into the atmosphere in the exhaust, the crops' carbon would be captured and pumped underground. The technique is known as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, or—among climate wonks—simply as BECCS. Although BECCS is relatively cheap and theoretically feasible, the sheer scale at which it operates in the models alarms many researchers.

Reliable Cellular Automata with Self-Organization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gács, Peter

2001-04-01

In a probabilistic cellular automaton in which all local transitions have positive probability, the problem of keeping a bit of information indefinitely is nontrivial, even in an infinite automaton. Still, there is a solution in 2 dimensions, and this solution can be used to construct a simple 3-dimensional discrete-time universal fault-tolerant cellular automaton. This technique does not help much to solve the following problems: remembering a bit of information in 1 dimension; computing in dimensions lower than 3; computing in any dimension with non-synchronized transitions. Our more complex technique organizes the cells in blocks that perform a reliable simulation of a second (generalized) cellular automaton. The cells of the latter automaton are also organized in blocks, simulating even more reliably a third automaton, etc. Since all this (a possibly infinite hierarchy) is organized in "software," it must be under repair all the time from damage caused by errors. A large part of the problem is essentially self-stabilization recovering from a mess of arbitrary size and content. The present paper constructs an asynchronous one-dimensional fault-tolerant cellular automaton, with the further feature of "self-organization." The latter means that unless a large amount of input information must be given, the initial configuration can be chosen homogeneous.

Determination of refractive and volatile elements in sediment using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Duodu, Godfred Odame; Goonetilleke, Ashantha; Allen, Charlotte; Ayoko, Godwin A

2015-10-22

Wet-milling protocol was employed to produce pressed powder tablets with excellent cohesion and homogeneity suitable for laser ablation (LA) analysis of volatile and refractive elements in sediment. The influence of sample preparation on analytical performance was also investigated, including sample homogeneity, accuracy and limit of detection. Milling in volatile solvent for 40 min ensured sample is well mixed and could reasonably recover both volatile (Hg) and refractive (Zr) elements. With the exception of Cr (-52%) and Nb (+26%) major, minor and trace elements in STSD-1 and MESS-3 could be analysed within ±20% of the certified values. Comparison of the method with total digestion method using HF was tested by analysing 10 different sediment samples. The laser method recovers significantly higher amounts of analytes such as Ag, Cd, Sn and Sn than the total digestion method making it a more robust method for elements across the periodic table. LA-ICP-MS also eliminates the interferences from chemical reagents as well as the health and safety risks associated with digestion processes. Therefore, it can be considered as an enhanced method for the analysis of heterogeneous matrices such as river sediments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Design of a network for concurrent message passing systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Paul Y.

1988-08-01

We describe the design of the network design frame (NDF), a self-timed routing chip for a message-passing concurrent computer. The NDF uses a partitioned data path, low-voltage output drivers, and a distributed token-passing arbiter to provide a bandwidth of 450 Mbits/sec into the network. Wormhole routing and bidirectional virtual channels are used to provide low latency communications, less than 2us latency to deliver a 216 bit message across the diameter of a 1K node mess-connected machine. To support concurrent software systems, the NDF provides two logical networks, one for user messages and one for system messages. The two networks share the same set of physical wires. To facilitate the development of network nodes, the NDF is a design frame. The NDF circuitry is integrated into the pad frame of a chip leaving the center of the chip uncommitted. We define an analytic framework in which to study the effects of network size, network buffering capacity, bidirectional channels, and traffic on this class of networks. The response of the network to various combinations of these parameters are obtained through extensive simulation of the network model. Through simulation, we are able to observe the macro behavior of the network as opposed to the micro behavior of the NDF routing controller.

SNR-adaptive stream weighting for audio-MES ASR.

PubMed

Lee, Ki-Seung

2008-08-01

Myoelectric signals (MESs) from the speaker's mouth region have been successfully shown to improve the noise robustness of automatic speech recognizers (ASRs), thus promising to extend their usability in implementing noise-robust ASR. In the recognition system presented herein, extracted audio and facial MES features were integrated by a decision fusion method, where the likelihood score of the audio-MES observation vector was given by a linear combination of class-conditional observation log-likelihoods of two classifiers, using appropriate weights. We developed a weighting process adaptive to SNRs. The main objective of the paper involves determining the optimal SNR classification boundaries and constructing a set of optimum stream weights for each SNR class. These two parameters were determined by a method based on a maximum mutual information criterion. Acoustic and facial MES data were collected from five subjects, using a 60-word vocabulary. Four types of acoustic noise including babble, car, aircraft, and white noise were acoustically added to clean speech signals with SNR ranging from -14 to 31 dB. The classification accuracy of the audio ASR was as low as 25.5%. Whereas, the classification accuracy of the MES ASR was 85.2%. The classification accuracy could be further improved by employing the proposed audio-MES weighting method, which was as high as 89.4% in the case of babble noise. A similar result was also found for the other types of noise.

Fate of sulfur(IV) dechlorinating agents in natural waters: effect of suspended sediments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kijak, P.J.; Helz, G.R.

1988-10-01

To investigate the fate of SO/sub 2/ in dechlorinated waste water effluents, oxidation rates were measured in nonilluminated solutions at near-neutral pH and 25/degrees/C. River water was simulated with 0.01 M NaCl, 0.001 M buffer, and 1 g/L standard sediment MESS-1. Components leached from the sediment catalyzed the oxidation of S(IV) by O/sub 2/, but the particles themselves exerted a slight inhibitory effect. Sulfate was the major reaction product. Some nonoxidative loss of S(IV) to particles was observed at high-sediment concentrations (20 g/L). Sulfur(IV) reductively dissolved 25% of the Cu from the sediment, possibly an environmentally harmful process. Iron andmore » manganese dissolutions were insignificant. The rate of loss of S(IV) from air-saturated solutions covering a 50-fold S(IV) concentration range as well as described by the empirical equation (time in s and concentrations in M) -d(SO/sub 3//sup 2 -/)/dt = (5 /times/ 10/sup -8/)((S(IV))/(1 + (H/sup +/)/K/sub a/))/sup 1/2/ K/sub a/ being the second ionization constant of H/sub 2/SO/sub 3/. The rate of loss of S(IV) was a factor of 2 faster in actual effluent/river water mixtures, likely caused by higher trace metal concentrations in these mixtures.« less

The bloody mess of red blood cell transfusion.

PubMed

Chandra, Susilo; Kulkarni, Hrishikesh; Westphal, Martin

2017-12-28

Red blood cell (RBC) transfusion might be life-saving in settings with acute blood loss, especially uncontrolled haemorrhagic shock. However, there appears to be a catch-22 situation reflected by the facts that preoperative anaemia represents an independent risk factor for postoperative morbidity and mortality, and that RBC transfusion might also contribute to adverse clinical outcomes. This dilemma is further complicated by the difficulty to define the "best" transfusion trigger and strategy. Since one size does obviously not fit all, a personalised approach is merited. Attempts should thus be made to critically reflect on the pros and cons of RBC transfusion in each individual patient. Patient blood management concepts including preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative optimisation strategies involving the intensive care unit are warranted and are likely to provide benefits for the patients and the healthcare system. In this context, it is important to consider that "simply" increasing the haemoglobin content, and in proportion oxygen delivery, may not necessarily contribute to a better outcome but potentially the contrary in the long term. The difficulty lies in identification of the patients who might eventually profit from RBC transfusion and to determine in whom a transfusion might be withheld without inducing harm. More robust clinical data providing long-term outcome data are needed to better understand in which patients RBC transfusion might be life-saving vs life-limiting.

Cleaning up our Federal energy regulatory mess

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kennedy, R.T.

1978-08-01

The new Department of Energy is making much effort to cut back on overlaps of regulations in regard to energy. Several governmental agencies were absorbed into DOE, but many of the previous agencies' policies are still on the books. The Energy Reorganization Act of 1977 did not eliminate the problem of regulatory overlap and confusion, the author says. Also, our future national energy policy will have to rest on this very complex of laws and regulations, he says. The author, being a former deputy administrator of the FEA, uses the nuclear industry to discuss ''the confusion.'' He concludes that eachmore » of us ''has a responsibility to clean up the energy regulation situation. Broad national policy issues must be addressed by Congress and the President. The States must focus hard on ways to simplify and strengthen their processes; and Federal agencies must look to ways to improve their interface with the states and to reduce duplication both with the states and with each other. All regulatory agencies must, mindful of their role in the process, police themselves, and keep a close eye on how that process is working. Finally, each government official and citizen must do his part to bring problems and solutions to the attention of the appropriate officials. For you are the watchdogs in this process, the keystone upon which our system rests.'' (MCW)« less

Beyond the language given: the neural correlates of inferring speaker meaning.

PubMed

Bašnáková, Jana; Weber, Kirsten; Petersson, Karl Magnus; van Berkum, Jos; Hagoort, Peter

2014-10-01

Even though language allows us to say exactly what we mean, we often use language to say things indirectly, in a way that depends on the specific communicative context. For example, we can use an apparently straightforward sentence like "It is hard to give a good presentation" to convey deeper meanings, like "Your talk was a mess!" One of the big puzzles in language science is how listeners work out what speakers really mean, which is a skill absolutely central to communication. However, most neuroimaging studies of language comprehension have focused on the arguably much simpler, context-independent process of understanding direct utterances. To examine the neural systems involved in getting at contextually constrained indirect meaning, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging as people listened to indirect replies in spoken dialog. Relative to direct control utterances, indirect replies engaged dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, right temporo-parietal junction and insula, as well as bilateral inferior frontal gyrus and right medial temporal gyrus. This suggests that listeners take the speaker's perspective on both cognitive (theory of mind) and affective (empathy-like) levels. In line with classic pragmatic theories, our results also indicate that currently popular "simulationist" accounts of language comprehension fail to explain how listeners understand the speaker's intended message. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Findability of Federal Research Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hourcle, J. A.

2013-12-01

Findability of Federal Research Data Although many of the federal agencies have been providing access to scientific research data for years if not decades, the findability of the data has been quite lacking. Many discipline-wide efforts have been made in the big science communities, such as PDS for planetary science and the VOs in night time astronomy and heliophysics, but there is a lack of single entry point for someone looking for data. The science.gov website contains links to many of these big-science search systems, but doesn't differentiate between links to science quality data and websites or browse products, making it more difficult to search specifically for data. The data.gov website is a useful repository for PIs of small science data to stash their data, particularly as it allows for interested parties to interact with tabular data. Unfortunately, as each group thinks of their data differently, much of what's now in the system is a mess; collections of data being tracked as individual records with no relationships between them. Big science projects also get tracked as single records, potentially with only a single record for missions with multiple instruments and significantly different data series. We present recommendations on how to improve the findability of federal research data on data.gov, based on years of working on the Virtual Solar Observatory and withing the science informatics community.

STS-51G Mission Highlights Resource Tape

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1985-01-01

The STS-51G flight crew, Commander Daniel C. Brandenstein, Pilot John O. Creighton, Mission Specialists Shannon W. Lucid, John M. Fabian, and Steven R Nagel, and Payload Specialists Patrick, Baudry, and Sultan Salman Al-Saud are seen performing pre-launch activities such as eating of the traditional breakfast, ride out to the launch pad, and crew suit-up for an early morning launch. Also, included are various panoramic views of Discovery on the pad. The main objective of this mission is to deploy three communication satellites. The satellites being deployed are MORE LOS-A, for Mexico; ARABSAT-A, for the Arab Satellite Communications Organization; and TELSTAR-3D, for AT&T. The crew also retrieve the SPARTAN-1 satellite. Scenes include the crew in the mess deck via video link with Mission Control Center in celebration of the 100th American in space. Al-Saud also spoke with his father in Saudi Arabia via video link. Views of certain experiments are also seen. Al-Saud is seen conducting the postural experiment, and Baudry is seen conducting the equilibrium experiments. Panoramic views of the Hawaiian Island Archipelago, and Wadi Habawnah, Saudi Arabia are also visible from the shuttle. Live footage ends with the re-entry of the vehicle into the Earth's Atmosphere, an early morning touchdown at Edwards Air Force Base and crew departure from the craft.

Solving a Bloody Mess: B-Vitamin Independent Metabolic Convergence among Gammaproteobacterial Obligate Endosymbionts from Blood-Feeding Arthropods and the Leech Haementeria officinalis

PubMed Central

Manzano-Marín, Alejandro; Oceguera-Figueroa, Alejandro; Latorre, Amparo; Jiménez-García, Luis F.; Moya, Andres

2015-01-01

Endosymbiosis is a common phenomenon in nature, especially between bacteria and insects, whose typically unbalanced diets are usually complemented by their obligate endosymbionts. While much interest and focus has been directed toward phloem-feeders like aphids and mealybugs, blood-feeders such as the Lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum), Glossina flies, and the human body louse (Pediculus humanus corporis) depend on obligate endosymbionts which complement their B-vitamin-deficient diets, and thus are required for growth and survival. Glossiphoniid leeches have also been found to harbor distinct endosymbionts housed in specialized organs. Here, we present the genome of the bacterial endosymbiont from Haementeria officinalis, first of a glossiphoniid leech. This as-yet-unnamed endosymbiont belongs to the Gammaproteobacteria, has a pleomorphic shape and is restricted to bacteriocytes. For this bacterial endosymbiont, we propose the name Candidatus Providencia siddallii. This symbiont possesses a highly reduced genome with high A+T content and a reduced set of metabolic capabilities, all of which are common characteristics of ancient obligate endosymbionts of arthropods. Its genome has retained many pathways related to the biosynthesis of B-vitamins, pointing toward a role in supplementing the blood-restricted diet of its host. Through comparative genomics against the endosymbionts of A. americanum, Glossina flies, and P. humanus corporis, we were able to detect a high degree of metabolic convergence among these four very distantly related endosymbiotic bacteria. PMID:26454017

A mess of stars

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-10

Bursts of pink and red, dark lanes of mottled cosmic dust, and a bright scattering of stars — this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows part of a messy barred spiral galaxy known as NGC 428. It lies approximately 48 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster). Although a spiral shape is still just about visible in this close-up shot, overall NGC 428’s spiral structure appears to be quite distorted and warped, thought to be a result of a collision between two galaxies. There also appears to be a substantial amount of star formation occurring within NGC 428 — another telltale sign of a merger. When galaxies collide their clouds of gas can merge, creating intense shocks and hot pockets of gas and often triggering new waves of star formation. NGC 428 was discovered by William Herschel in December 1786. More recently a type Ia supernova designated SN2013ct was discovered within the galaxy by Stuart Parker of the BOSS (Backyard Observatory Supernova Search) project in Australia and New Zealand, although it is unfortunately not visible in this image. This image was captured by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). A version of this image was entered into the Hubble’s Hidden Treasures Image Processing competition by contestants Nick Rose and the Flickr user penninecloud. Links: Nick Rose’s image on Flickr Penninecloud’s image on Flickr

Mess management in microbial ecology: Rhetorical processes of disciplinary integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCracken, Christopher W.

As interdisciplinary work becomes more common in the sciences, research into the rhetorical processes mediating disciplinary integration becomes more vital. This dissertation, which takes as its subject the integration of microbiology and ecology, combines a postplural approach to rhetoric of science research with Victor Turner's "social drama" analysis and a third-generation activity theory methodological framework to identify conceptual and practical conflicts in interdisciplinary work and describe how, through visual and verbal communication, scientists negotiate these conflicts. First, to understand the conflicting disciplinary principles that might impede integration, the author conducts a Turnerian analysis of a disciplinary conflict that took place in the 1960s and 70s, during which American ecologists and biologists debated whether they should participate in the International Biological Program (IBP). Participation in the IBP ultimately contributed to the emergence of ecology as a discipline distinct from biology, and Turnerian social drama analysis of the debate surrounding participation lays bare the conflicting principles separating biology and ecology. Second, to answer the question of how these conflicting principles are negotiated in practice, the author reports on a yearlong qualitative study of scientists working in a microbial ecology laboratory. Focusing specifically on two case studies from this fieldwork that illustrate the key concept of textually mediated disciplinary integration, the author's analysis demonstrates how scientific objects emerge in differently situated practices, and how these objects manage to cohere despite their multiplicity through textually mediated rhetorical processes of calibration and alignment.

Always cleave up your mess: targeting collagen degradation to treat tissue fibrosis.

PubMed

McKleroy, William; Lee, Ting-Hein; Atabai, Kamran

2013-06-01

Pulmonary fibrosis is a vexing clinical problem with no proven therapeutic options. In the normal lung there is continuous collagen synthesis and collagen degradation, and these two processes are precisely balanced to maintain normal tissue architecture. With lung injury there is an increase in the rate of both collagen production and collagen degradation. The increase in collagen degradation is critical in preventing the formation of permanent scar tissue each time the lung is exposed to injury. In pulmonary fibrosis, collagen degradation does not keep pace with collagen production, resulting in extracellular accumulation of fibrillar collagen. Collagen degradation occurs through both extracellular and intracellular pathways. The extracellular pathway involves cleavage of collagen fibrils by proteolytic enzyme including the metalloproteinases. The less-well-described intracellular pathway involves binding and uptake of collagen fragments by fibroblasts and macrophages for lysosomal degradation. The relationship between these two pathways and their relevance to the development of fibrosis is complex. Fibrosis in the lung, liver, and skin has been associated with an impaired degradative environment. Much of the current scientific effort in fibrosis is focused on understanding the pathways that regulate increased collagen production. However, recent reports suggest an important role for collagen turnover and degradation in regulating the severity of tissue fibrosis. The objective of this review is to evaluate the roles of the extracellular and intracellular collagen degradation pathways in the development of fibrosis and to examine whether pulmonary fibrosis can be viewed as a disease of impaired matrix degradation rather than a disease of increased matrix production.

Solving a Bloody Mess: B-Vitamin Independent Metabolic Convergence among Gammaproteobacterial Obligate Endosymbionts from Blood-Feeding Arthropods and the Leech Haementeria officinalis.

PubMed

Manzano-Marín, Alejandro; Oceguera-Figueroa, Alejandro; Latorre, Amparo; Jiménez-García, Luis F; Moya, Andres

2015-10-09

Endosymbiosis is a common phenomenon in nature, especially between bacteria and insects, whose typically unbalanced diets are usually complemented by their obligate endosymbionts. While much interest and focus has been directed toward phloem-feeders like aphids and mealybugs, blood-feeders such as the Lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum), Glossina flies, and the human body louse (Pediculus humanus corporis) depend on obligate endosymbionts which complement their B-vitamin-deficient diets, and thus are required for growth and survival. Glossiphoniid leeches have also been found to harbor distinct endosymbionts housed in specialized organs. Here, we present the genome of the bacterial endosymbiont from Haementeria officinalis, first of a glossiphoniid leech. This as-yet-unnamed endosymbiont belongs to the Gammaproteobacteria, has a pleomorphic shape and is restricted to bacteriocytes. For this bacterial endosymbiont, we propose the name Candidatus Providencia siddallii. This symbiont possesses a highly reduced genome with high A+T content and a reduced set of metabolic capabilities, all of which are common characteristics of ancient obligate endosymbionts of arthropods. Its genome has retained many pathways related to the biosynthesis of B-vitamins, pointing toward a role in supplementing the blood-restricted diet of its host. Through comparative genomics against the endosymbionts of A. americanum, Glossina flies, and P. humanus corporis, we were able to detect a high degree of metabolic convergence among these four very distantly related endosymbiotic bacteria. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Mess in mass transit: though demand is up, the service is down

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1979-07-16

Mass transit systems (bus and rail), in poor mechanical and physical condition, are facing an economic crisis. Most industries that had been constructing new rail or bus equipment have now quit production completely or nearly so. San Diego is buying trolleys for its 16-mile line to the Mexican border, on which construction will begin in late 1979, from a West German supplier. The background of how the US got into this situation is reviewed. American's love affair with the automobile put the transit systems in financial trouble with poor ridership, and now the companies are afraid to reconstruct, thinking perhapsmore » Americans will revert to the automobile if gasoline again becomes plentiful. As the US attempts to remedy the transit situation, there should be a burden sharing between local and Federal governments. Local transit authorities should carry the operating costs, but even if they are heavily traveled, fares meet only 48% of operating costs. Therefore, communities will have to find ways to raise money in order to keep the systems running. The Carter Administration did not seize on mass transit as a means of conserving gasoline, but President Carter did say that part of the windfall tax on oil companies would be set aside for mass transport. But some progress is noted: Baltimore is digging its first subway; Buffalo began construction of a 6.5-mile subway and elevated-transit system; and Atlanta put into operation the first 6.7-mile segment of MARTA. Improvisions in many cities are noted, such as, leasing commercial buses and pressing school buses into operation. (MCW)« less

Report nixes Geritol fix for global warming

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roberts, L.

1991-09-27

Several years ago John Martin of the Moss Landing Marine Laboratory in California suggested a quick fix to the greenhouse problem: dump iron into the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. That, he said, would trigger a massive bloom of the ocean's microscopic plants, which in turn would suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and help reduce global warming. His idea ignited a firestorm of controversy that rages on today. While the idea quickly won supporters - including some prominent members of the National Academy of Sciences - much of the oceanographic community was incensed, arguing that you don't tinker withmore » a perfectly health ecosystem to clean up humanity's mess. Now the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) has a report that represents the views of much of the oceanographic community. In the report, released in late summer, ASLO trounces the idea of fertilizing the oceans with iron as a greenhouse fix, as expected. But in an unexpected twist, the society endorses a small-scale experiment in which iron would be added to the open ocean. The idea isn't to engineer the oceans, but to test the hypothesis that might answer one of the longstanding puzzles in biological oceanography: why do the phytoplankton of the Southern Ocean, as well as those in parts of the subarctic and equatorial Pacific, grow so poorly, even though the waters are rich in nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen The answer could shed light not only on how the food web operates, but on the global carbon cycle as well.« less

Nuclear astrophysics of supernovae

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cooperstein, J.

1988-01-01

In this paper, I'll give a general introduction to Supernova Theory, beginning with the presupernova evolution and ending with the later stages of the explosion. This will be distilled from a colloquium type of talk. It is necessary to have the whole supernova picture in one's mind's eye when diving into some of its nooks and crannies, as it is quite a mess of contradictory ingredients. We will have some discussion of supernova 1987a, but will keep our discussion more general. Second, we'll look at the infall and bounce of the star, seeing why it goes unstable, what dynamics itmore » follows as it collapses, and how and why it bounces back. From there, we will go on to look at the equation of state (EOS) in more detail. We'll consider the cases T = 0 and T > 0. We'll focus on /rho/ < /rho//sub 0/, and then /rho/ > /rho//sub 0/ and the EOS of neutron stars, and whether or not they contain cores of strange matter. There are many things we could discuss here and not enough time. If I had more lectures, the remaining time would focus on two more questions of special interest to nuclear physicists: the electron capture reactions and neutrino transport. If time permitted, we'd have some discussion of the nucleosynthetic reactions in the explosion's debris as well. However, we cannot cover such material adequately, and I have chosen these topics because they are analytically tractable, pedagogically useful, and rather important. 23 refs., 14 figs., 3 tabs.« less

The French Mess Nucleaire

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Davis, M.B.

1994-07-01

Nuclear weapons production has contaminated parts of France, and measures to counter this contamination may be as much cover-up as cleanup. The nuclear weapons industry is trying to remedy some of the problems it created. But until France lifts military secrecy from weapons production matters that affect the environment, the public has no way to gauge the cleanup. No institution outside the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and the Ministry of Defense has control over waste disposal, decontamination, and dismantlement at military nuclear sites. The major generators of weapons production waste in France are the CEA and Cogema, one of itsmore » many subsidiaries. Regular operations in military production sites produce environmental contamination. The authors also discuss some accidents causing further contamination. The clean-up measures that the industry is known to be taking, diluting the waste and minimizing the amount of waste, are suspect. The earth`s atmosphere has been considered a prime medium for diluting waste by open air burning of radioactive materials. Releases of mercury to the atmosphere, 260 kilograms per year as of 1984, contributed to water pollution as rain washed the mercury out of the air. Ocean dumping was the CEA`s answer to disposal of sold as well as liquid wastes. Injection liquids into the soil has been a temptation at sites not near substantial bodies of water. Burial of solid wastes has been common. The nuclear industry and the military must make public where and in what form wastes are stored. They must allow independent experts and institutions to examine their research, fabrication, and waste disposal sites. 48 refs.« less

Relationship of clinical and quality of life trajectories following the onset of seizures: findings from the UK MESS Study.

PubMed

Jacoby, Ann; Lane, Steven; Marson, Anthony; Baker, Gus A

2011-05-01

We defined a series of clinical trajectories represented among adult patients with new-onset seizures across a 4-year follow-up period; and linked these clinical trajectories to the quality of life (QOL) profiles and trajectories of those experiencing them. We examined both between- and within-group differences. Analyses were based on 253 individuals completing QOL questionnaires at baseline and 2 and 4 years subsequently. Based on patient self-report, we defined five "clinical trajectory" groups: individuals experiencing a single seizure only; individuals entering early remission; individuals experiencing late remission; individuals initially becoming seizure-free but subsequently relapsing; individuals with seizures persisting throughout follow-up. QOL profiles at each time point were compared using a validated QOL battery, NEWQOL. Even at baseline, there were significant between-group differences, with patients experiencing a single seizure only reporting the best QOL profile and those with seizures subsequently persisting across all time points reporting the worst. By 2 years, the QOL profiles of individuals experiencing early remission were similar to those of single seizure patients, as were those for late remission and relapse patients. A consistent pattern was seen, with "single seizure" individuals doing best and individuals with persistent seizures doing worst. Of particular concern is that even at baseline, individuals whose seizures persisted were doing poorly for QOL, suggesting the possibility that underlying neurobiologic mechanisms were operating. In contrast, our findings support previous reports of only short-lived and small QOL decrements for individuals experiencing a single or few seizures. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2011 International League Against Epilepsy.

Field transportable beta spectrometer. Innovative technology summary report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1998-12-01

The objective of the Large-Scale Demonstration Project (LSDP) is to select and demonstrate potentially beneficial technologies at the Argonne National Laboratory-East (ANL) Chicago Pile-5 Test Reactor (CP-5). The purpose of the LSDP is to demonstrate that by using innovative and improved deactivation and decommissioning (D and D) technologies from various sources, significant benefits can be achieved when compared to baseline D and D technologies. One such capability being addressed by the D and D Focus Area is rapid characterization for facility contaminants. The technology was field demonstrated during the period January 7 through January 9, 1997, and offers several potentialmore » benefits, including faster turn-around time, cost reduction, and reduction in secondary waste. This report describes a PC controlled, field-transportable beta counter-spectrometer which uses solid scintillation coincident counting and low-noise photomultiplier tubes to count element-selective filters and other solid media. The dry scintillation counter used in combination with an element-selective technology eliminates the mess and disposal costs of liquid scintillation cocktails. Software in the instrument provides real-time spectral analysis. The instrument can detect and measure Tc-99, Sr-90, and other beta emitters reaching detection limits in the 20 pCi range (with shielding). Full analysis can be achieved in 30 minutes. The potential advantages of a field-portable beta counter-spectrometer include the savings gained from field generated results. The basis for decision-making is provided with a rapid turnaround analysis in the field. This technology would be competitive with the radiometric analysis done in fixed laboratories and the associated chain of custody operations.« less

Inhibition of the electron cyclotron maser instability in the dense magnetosphere of a hot Jupiter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daley-Yates, S.; Stevens, I. R.

2018-06-01

Hot Jupiter (HJ) type exoplanets are expected to produce strong radio emission in the MHz range via the Electron Cyclotron Maser Instability (ECMI). To date, no repeatable detections have been made. To explain the absence of observational results, we conduct 3D adaptive mess refinement (AMR) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the magnetic interactions between a solar type star and HJ using the publicly available code PLUTO. The results are used to calculate the efficiency of the ECMI at producing detectable radio emission from the planets magnetosphere. We also calculate the frequency of the ECMI emission, providing an upper and lower bounds, placing it at the limits of detectability due to Earth's ionospheric cutoff of ˜10 MHz. The incident kinetic and magnetic power available to the ECMI is also determined and a flux of 0.075 mJy for an observer at 10 pc is calculated. The magnetosphere is also characterized and an analysis of the bow shock which forms upstream of the planet is conducted. This shock corresponds to the thin shell model for a colliding wind system. A result consistent with a colliding wind system. The simulation results show that the ECMI process is completely inhibited by the planets expanding atmosphere, due to absorption of UV radiation form the host star. The density, velocity, temperature and magnetic field of the planetary wind are found to result in a magnetosphere where the plasma frequency is raised above that due to the ECMI process making the planet undetectable at radio MHz frequencies.

Always cleave up your mess: targeting collagen degradation to treat tissue fibrosis

PubMed Central

McKleroy, William; Lee, Ting-Hein

2013-01-01

Pulmonary fibrosis is a vexing clinical problem with no proven therapeutic options. In the normal lung there is continuous collagen synthesis and collagen degradation, and these two processes are precisely balanced to maintain normal tissue architecture. With lung injury there is an increase in the rate of both collagen production and collagen degradation. The increase in collagen degradation is critical in preventing the formation of permanent scar tissue each time the lung is exposed to injury. In pulmonary fibrosis, collagen degradation does not keep pace with collagen production, resulting in extracellular accumulation of fibrillar collagen. Collagen degradation occurs through both extracellular and intracellular pathways. The extracellular pathway involves cleavage of collagen fibrils by proteolytic enzyme including the metalloproteinases. The less-well-described intracellular pathway involves binding and uptake of collagen fragments by fibroblasts and macrophages for lysosomal degradation. The relationship between these two pathways and their relevance to the development of fibrosis is complex. Fibrosis in the lung, liver, and skin has been associated with an impaired degradative environment. Much of the current scientific effort in fibrosis is focused on understanding the pathways that regulate increased collagen production. However, recent reports suggest an important role for collagen turnover and degradation in regulating the severity of tissue fibrosis. The objective of this review is to evaluate the roles of the extracellular and intracellular collagen degradation pathways in the development of fibrosis and to examine whether pulmonary fibrosis can be viewed as a disease of impaired matrix degradation rather than a disease of increased matrix production. PMID:23564511

OT2_nflagey_2: Capturing missing evolved stars in the Galactic plane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flagey, N.

2011-09-01

We discovered more than 400 compact shells in the MIPSGAL 24 microns survey of the Galactic plane. About 15% of all these objects were already known as planetary nebulae, supernova remnants, Wolf-Rayet stars, and luminous blue variables. The unknown bubbles are expected to be envelopes of evolved stars that could account for the ``missing massive stars in the Galaxy. Indeed, recent spectroscopic follow-ups in the near-IR and mid-IR have revealed several dust-free planetary nebulae with very hot central white dwarf and significantly increased the number of WR and LBV candidates. Our OT1 Priority 1 proposal just provided us with a first observation in the PACS-SED B2A mode of one object, revealing only a strong [N II] 122 microns line. Without further spectral information, identification and modeling of the target are impossible. However, analysis of the PACS and SPIRE data from the HiGal survey has recently enabled us to measure much higher detection rates of the shells in the far-IR than with MIPS 70 microns. We are thus very confident that dust features and/or gas lines can be detected with the PACS and SPIRE spectrometers. Therefore, we request complementary PACS-SED B2B and SPIRE-FTS observations on our OT1 sample. The complete far-IR/submm spectrum of each target will allow its unequivocal identification thanks to comparison with spectra of known evolved stars from the MESS key program. We will also model with much detail the different phases of the envelopes, thanks to our expertise in circumstellar envelopes, dust models and photoionization codes.

NASA Bluetooth Wireless Communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Robert D.

2007-01-01

NASA has been interested in wireless communications for many years, especially when the crew size of the International Space Station (ISS) was reduced to two members. NASA began a study to find ways to improve crew efficiency to make sure the ISS could be maintained with limited crew capacity and still be a valuable research testbed in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO). Currently the ISS audio system requires astronauts to be tethered to the audio system, specifically a device called the Audio Terminal Unit (ATU). Wireless communications would remove the tether and allow astronauts to freely float from experiment to experiment without having to worry about moving and reconnecting the associated cabling or finding the space equivalent of an extension cord. A wireless communication system would also improve safety and reduce system susceptibility to Electromagnetic Interference (EMI). Safety would be improved because a crewmember could quickly escape a fire while maintaining communications with the ground and other crewmembers at any location. In addition, it would allow the crew to overcome the volume limitations of the ISS ATU. This is especially important to the Portable Breathing Apparatus (PBA). The next generation of space vehicles and habitats also demand wireless attention. Orion will carry up to six crewmembers in a relatively small cabin. Yet, wireless could become a driving factor to reduce launch weight and increase habitable volume. Six crewmembers, each tethered to a panel, could result in a wiring mess even in nominal operations. In addition to Orion, research is being conducted to determine if Bluetooth is appropriate for Lunar Habitat applications.

Hubble Captures Cosmic Ice Sculptures

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

NASA image release September 16, 2010 Enjoying a frozen treat on a hot summer day can leave a sticky mess as it melts in the Sun and deforms. In the cold vacuum of space, there is no edible ice cream, but there is radiation from massive stars that is carving away at cold molecular clouds, creating bizarre, fantasy-like structures. These one-light-year-tall pillars of cold hydrogen and dust, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope, are located in the Carina Nebula. Violent stellar winds and powerful radiation from massive stars are sculpting the surrounding nebula. Inside the dense structures, new stars may be born. This image of dust pillars in the Carina Nebula is a composite of 2005 observations taken of the region in hydrogen light (light emitted by hydrogen atoms) along with 2010 observations taken in oxygen light (light emitted by oxygen atoms), both times with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The immense Carina Nebula is an estimated 7,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. in Washington, D.C. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe. Follow us on Twitter Join us on Facebook

Changes in soil quality indicators under long-term sewage irrigation in a sub-tropical environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masto, Reginald Ebhin; Chhonkar, Pramod K.; Singh, Dhyan; Patra, Ashok K.

2009-01-01

Though irrigation with sewage water has potential benefits of meeting the water requirements, the sewage irrigation may mess up to harm the soil health. To assess the potential impacts of long-term sewage irrigation on soil health and to identify sensitive soil indicators, soil samples were collected from crop fields that have been irrigated with sewage water for more than 20 years. An adjacent rain-fed Leucaena leucocephala plantation system was used as a reference to compare the impact of sewage irrigation on soil qualities. Soils were analyzed for different physical, chemical, biological and biochemical parameters. Results have shown that use of sewage for irrigation improved the clay content to 18-22.7%, organic carbon to 0.51-0.86% and fertility status of soils. Build up in total N was up to 2,713 kg ha-1, available N (397 kg ha-1), available P (128 kg ha-1), available K (524 kg ha-1) and available S (65.5 kg ha-1) in the surface (0.15 m) soil. Long-term sewage irrigation has also resulted a significant build-up of DTPA extractable Zn (314%), Cu (102%), Fe (715%), Mn (197.2), Cd (203%), Ni (1358%) and Pb (15.2%) when compared with the adjacent rain-fed reference soil. Soils irrigated with sewage exhibited a significant decrease in microbial biomass carbon (-78.2%), soil respiration (-82.3%), phosphatase activity (-59.12%) and dehydrogenase activity (-59.4%). An attempt was also made to identify the sensitive soil indicators under sewage irrigation, where microbial biomass carbon was singled out as the most sensitive indicator.

Class Explorations in Space: From the Blackboard and History to the Outdoors and Future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cavicchi, Elizabeth

2011-11-01

Our everyday activities occur so seamlessly in the space around us as to leave us unawares of space, its properties, and our use of it. What might we notice, wonder about and learn through interacting with space exploratively? My seminar class took on that question as an opening for personal and group experiences during this semester. In the process, they observe space locally and in the sky, read historical works of science involving space, and invent and construct forms in space. All these actions arise responsively, as we respond to: physical materials and space; historical resources; our seminar participants, and future learners. Checks, revisions and further developments -- on our findings, geometrical constructions, shared or personal inferences---come about observationally and collaboratively. I teach this seminar as an expression of the research pedagogy of critical exploration, developed by Eleanor Duckworth from the work of Jean Piaget, B"arbel Inhelder and the Elementary Science Study. This practice applies the quest for understanding of a researcher to spontaneous interactions evolving within a classroom. The teacher supports students in satisfying and developing their curiosities, which often results in exploring the subject matter by routes that are novel to both teacher and student. As my students ``mess about'' with geometry, string and chalk at the blackboard, in their notebooks, and in response to propositions in Euclid's Elements, they continually imagine further novel venues for using geometry to explore space. Where might their explorations go in the future? I invite you to hear from them directly!

[Prevalence of processes and pathologies dealt with by the pre-hospital emergency medical services in Spain].

PubMed

Pacheco, Andrés; Burusco, S; Senosiáin, M V

2010-01-01

This study was carried out by contacting 26 Medical Emergency Services (MES), through survey, with final data obtained from 22. Population covered: 42,538,730. Total number of calls: 7,656,768, with 711,228 interventions. Number of operational forces: intensive care units (mobile-ICUs): 329, rapid intervention vehicles (RIV) 20, health ambulances 39 and medical helicopters 39 (4 of them 24 hour: Canary Islands and Castile-La Mancha) and 3 airplanes. mobile-ICUs: 94.3%, medical helicopters: 1.4% and health ambulances: 4.3%. Number of A&E doctors/day: 388, nursing personnel 427. Pathologies dealt with, grouped according to ICE-9-MC: V-psychiatry group: 3.7%, VI-neurological group: 2.7%, VII-cardiovascular group: 9.3%, VIII-respiratory group: 3.2%, XVII-lesions poisonings group: 23.1%, IX-digestive group: 1.3%, X-XI-genital-urinary and gynaecology-obstetrics groups: 1.4%, XVI-group of other ill-defined pathologies: 40.1%. Specifically studied groups (from the MESs that provided them) were: thoracic pain- dyspnea: 3.7%, ictus/acute cerebrovascular accident: 0.9%, alteration in consciousness: 7.7%, syncope-blackout: 2.5%, self-inflicted lesions: 2,654 (0.4%). Total of pathological and syndrome groups: 59.9% and total of other ill-defined pathologies: 40.1%. Of the pathologies considered to be of greater relevance in A&E: acute coronary syndrome: 3.1%, arrhythmias: 3.2%, cardiac arrest: 1.7%, respiratory stoppage: 0.16%, total traumatisms: 34.9%, traumatisms: 1.16%, cranio-encephalic traumatism: 1.77%, intoxications: 5.1%, agressions: 6.9%, burns: 0.26%.

Evaluation of the educational environment of postgraduate surgical teaching.

PubMed

Khan, Junaid Sarfraz

2008-01-01

Medical Education is becoming increasingly community-oriented, student-centred, self-learning and self & peer-assessing process especially in the undergraduate years. This is happening because of increasing patient awareness of their rights in our new healthcare world of increased consultant responsibility; and implementation in the U.K. health institutions of the 'European Working Time Directive' and 'Modernization of Medical Careers'. The study was conducted to determine the change if any in the education environment of postgraduate surgical teaching in a leading teaching hospital in London when a teacher-centred, old-fashioned postgraduate teaching approach was replaced with a student-centred, self-assessment, portfolio-based approach. Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM). Twenty postgraduate trainees filled in the questionnaire before and after the change in their learning/teaching pattern. The response rate was 100%. No statistically significant difference in the overall score for the two teaching environments (p = 0.8024, 95% CI = -5.549273 to 4.349273) was found, because the loss of on-call rooms, trainee's mess and catering services statistically significantly deteriorated the social support subscale of the PHEEM scale (p < 0.0001, 95% CI = 6.66752 to 13.03248) to counteract any statistically significant improvement in the teaching role perception subscale of the instrument (p = 0.001, 95% CI= -12.443896 to -4.856104). There was no statistically significant difference in the role autonomy perception subscale in the two methods (p = 0.3663, 95% CI = -5.870437 to 2.270437). A student-centred approach to postgraduate teaching is better than a teacher-centred approach. However, further studies will be needed to evaluate both postgraduate teaching and training environment.

Bacterial Community Analysis, New Exoelectrogen Isolation and Enhanced Performance of Microbial Electrochemical Systems Using Nano-Decorated Anodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Shoutao

Microbial electrochemical systems (MESs) have attracted much research attention in recent years due to their promising applications in renewable energy generation, bioremediation, and wastewater treatment. In a MES, microorganisms interact with electrodes via electrons, catalyzing oxidation and reduction reactions at the anode and the cathode. The bacterial community of a high power mixed consortium MESs (maximum power density is 6.5W/m2) was analyzed by using denature gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and 16S DNA clone library methods. The bacterial DGGE profiles were relatively complex (more than 10 bands) but only three brightly dominant bands in DGGE results. These results indicated there are three dominant bacterial species in mixed consortium MFCs. The 16S DNA clone library method results revealed that the predominant bacterial species in mixed culture is Geobacter sp (66%), Arcobacter sp and Citrobacter sp. These three bacterial species reached to 88% of total bacterial species. This result is consistent with the DGGE result which showed that three bright bands represented three dominant bacterial species. Exoelectrogenic bacterial strain SX-1 was isolated from a mediator-less microbial fuel cell by conventional plating techniques with ferric citrate as electron acceptor under anaerobic conditions. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rDNA sequence revealed that it was related to the members of Citrobacter genus with Citrobacter sp. sdy-48 being the most closely related species. The bacterial strain SX-1 produced electricity from citrate, acetate, glucose, sucrose, glycerol, and lactose in MFCs with the highest current density of 205 mA/m2 generated from citrate. Cyclic voltammetry analysis indicated that membrane associated proteins may play an important role in facilitating electron transfer from the bacteria to the electrode. This is the first study that demonstrates that Citrobacter species can transfer electrons to extracellular electron acceptors. Citrobacter strain SX-1 is capable of generating electricity from a wide range of substrates in MFCs. This finding increases the known diversity of power generating exoelectrogens and provids a new strain to explore the mechanisms of extracellular electron transfer from bacteria to electrode. The wide range of substrate utilization by SX-1 increases the application potential of MFCs in renewable energy generation and waste treatment. Anode properties are critical for the performance of microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). Inexpensive Fe nanoparticle modified graphite disks were used as anodes to preliminarily investigate the effects of nanoparticles on the performance of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 in MECs. Results demonstrated that average current densities produced with Fe nanoparticle decorated anodes were up to 5.9-fold higher than plain graphite anodes. Whole genome microarray analysis of the gene expression showed that genes encoding biofilm formation were significantly up-regulated as a response to nanoparticle decorated anodes. Increased expression of genes related to nanowires, flavins and c-type cytochromes indicate that enhanced mechanisms of electron transfer to the anode may also have contributed to the observed increases in current density. The majority of the remaining differentially expressed genes were associated with electron transport and anaerobic metabolism demonstrating a systemic response to increased power loads. The carbon nanotube (CNT) is another form of nano materials. Carbon nanotube (CNT) modified graphite disks were used as anodes to investigate the effects of nanostructures on the performance S. oneidensis MR-1 in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). The current densities produced with CNT decorated anodes were up to 5.6-fold higher than plain graphite anodes. Global transcriptome analysis showed that cytochrome c genes associated with extracellular electron transfer are up-expressed by CNT decorated anodes, which is the leading factor to contribute current increase in CNT decorated anode MECs. The up regulated genes encoded to flavin also contribute to current enhancement in CNT decorated anode MECs.

Racism as a cause of depression.

PubMed

Fernando, S

1984-01-01

Racism is not just an added stress to individuals of minority ethnic groups (identified as racial groups) but is a pathogen which generates depression. In analysing this within a social model of depression indicating a few ways in which racism subtly - and not so subtly - affects self esteem, causes losses in a psychological sense, and promotes a sense of helplessness (Table 2) I have indicated ways in which this perspective should influence treatment. A more complex scheme summarising the matters raised in this paper are given in Table 3. It should be acknowledged that in depression (as in any other psychiatric illness), the patient is implicated in the genesis of the condition one way or another, but the emphasis given in this paper to a "victim" approach is deliberate and necessary. In dealing with depression among people who are victims of social condition be it racism or the unemployment it is all too easy to see the individual as the problem. We then see solutions merely in terms of changing or treating the individual and really get into quite a mess. For example the author was recently talking to a G.P. about a man who had become depressed because of unemployment. The G.P. wanted to give him an antidepressant. Yes X is "good for unemployment" he was told. He did not see the joke. The emphasis had already shifted. Even if we recognise the effects of racism in causing identity crises, low self esteem or a sense of helplessness, we must of course help the individual but we must keep reminding ourselves that the problem is not really the low self esteem or whatever, but the racism.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Operations and maintenance in the glass container industry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barbieri, D.; Jacobson, D.

1999-07-01

Compressed air is a significant electrical end-use at most manufacturing facilities, and few industries utilize compressed air to the extent of the glass container industry. Unfortunately, compressed air is often a significant source of wasted energy because many customers view it as a low-maintenance system. In the case of the glass container industry, compressed air is a mission-critical system used for driving production machinery, blowing glass, cooling plungers and product, and packaging. Leakage totaling 10% of total compressed air capacity is not uncommon, and leakage rates upwards of 40% have been observed. Even though energy savings from repairing compressed airmore » leaks can be substantial, regular maintenance procedures are often not in place for compressed air systems. In order to achieve future savings in the compressed air end-use, O and M programs must make a special effort to educate customers on the significant energy impacts of regular compressed air system maintenance. This paper will focus on the glass industry, its reliability on compressed air, and the unique savings potential in the glass container industry. Through a technical review of the glass production process, this paper will identify compressed air as a highly significant electrical consumer in these facilities and present ideas on how to produce and deliver compressed air in a more efficient manner. It will also examine a glass container manufacturer with extremely high savings potential in compressed air systems, but little initiative to establish and perform compressed air maintenance due to an if it works, don't mess with it maintenance philosophy. Finally, this paper will address the economic benefit of compressed air maintenance in this and other manufacturing industries.« less

Ground potential rise characteristics of urban step-down substations fed by power cables - A practical example

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sobral, S.T.; Barbosa, J.O.; Numes, J.V.C.

1988-10-01

This paper shows some special ground potential rise characteristics of substations fed by power cables. These characteristics were detected during the study of the interconnected ground system of 14 step-down urban substations fed by the 138 kV underground cable network serving the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro city in Brazil. As this type of system is very common in large cities, the subject can be of general interest for the industry. It was verified that when a fault occurs at a ''cable substation'' (a substation fed exclusively by power cables), almost no ground potential effects were detected at themore » faulted substation or at the other ''cable substations'' of the 138 kV network. However, high values of ground potential occurred at the ''transition substations'' (substations in which the power cables are connected to overhead 138 kV transmission lines, with steel groundwires). That ground potential was enough to produce shocks and equipment damage in certain ''transition substations''. It was verified that this problem has no relation with potential transfer. The paper shows also that the utilization of overhead lines with ACSR groundwires on the initial spans closer to the ''transition substation'' would be enough to avoid the problem. Even if the ACSR conductor is used only at the initial section of one of the lines, a reduction of the problem would be obtained. The paper shows also that the utilization of ACSR ground-wires near the ''transition substations'' contributes to reduce the amount of the copper necessary to control step, touch and mess potentials in these substations. Additional mitigation procedures are also examined in the paper.« less

Getting IT right.

PubMed

Feld, Charlie S; Stoddard, Donna B

2004-02-01

Modern information technology started four decades ago, yet in most major corporations, IT remains an expensive mess. This is partly because the relatively young and rapidly evolving practice of IT continues to be either grossly misunderstood or blindly ignored by top management. Senior managers know how to talk about finances because they all speak or understand the language of profit and loss and balance sheets. But when they allow themselves to be befuddled by IT discussions or bedazzled by three-letter acronyms, they shirk a critical responsibility. In this article, the authors say a systematic approach to understanding and executing IT can and should be implemented, and it should be organized along three interconnected principles: A Long-Term IT Renewal Plan Linked to Corporate Strategy. Such a plan focuses the entire IT group on the company's over-arching goals during a multiyear period, makes appropriate investments directed toward cutting costs in the near term, and generates a detailed blueprint for long-term systems rejuvenation and value creation. A Simplified, Unifying Corporate Technology Platform. Instead of relying on vertically oriented data silos that serve individual corporate units (HR, accounting, and so on), companies adopt a clean, horizontally oriented architecture designed to serve the whole organization. A Highly Functional, Performance-Oriented IT Organization. Instead of functioning as if it were different from the rest of the firm or as a loose confederation of tribes, the IT department works as a team and operates according to corporate performance standards. Getting IT right demands the same inspired leadership and superb execution that other parts of the business require. By sticking to the three central principles outlined in this article, companies can turn IT from a quagmire into a powerful weapon.

Hubble Sees a "Mess of Stars"

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-14

Bursts of pink and red, dark lanes of mottled cosmic dust, and a bright scattering of stars — this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows part of a messy barred spiral galaxy known as NGC 428. It lies approximately 48 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster). Although a spiral shape is still just about visible in this close-up shot, overall NGC 428’s spiral structure appears to be quite distorted and warped, thought to be a result of a collision between two galaxies. There also appears to be a substantial amount of star formation occurring within NGC 428 — another telltale sign of a merger. When galaxies collide their clouds of gas can merge, creating intense shocks and hot pockets of gas, and often triggering new waves of star formation. NGC 428 was discovered by William Herschel in December 1786. More recently a type of supernova designated SN2013ct was discovered within the galaxy by Stuart Parker of the BOSS (Backyard Observatory Supernova Search) project in Australia and New Zealand, although it is unfortunately not visible in this image. This image was captured by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). Image credit: ESA/Hubble and NASA and S. Smartt (Queen's University Belfast), Acknowledgements: Nick Rose and Flickr user pennine cloud NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Apixaban Inhibits Cerebral Microembolic Signals Derived from Carotid Arterial Thrombosis in Rabbits.

PubMed

Zhou, Xueping; Wu, Weizhen; Chu, Lin; Gutstein, David E; Seiffert, Dietmar; Wang, Xinkang

2016-09-01

Cerebral microembolic signal (MES) is an independent predictor of stroke risk and prognosis. The objective of this study is to assess the effects of apixaban, as a representative of the novel oral anticoagulant class, on a rabbit model of cerebral MES. A clinical transcranial Doppler ultrasound instrument was used to assess MESs in the middle cerebral artery in a 30% FeCl3-induced carotid arterial thrombosis model in male New Zealand White rabbits. Ascending doses of apixaban were evaluated as monotherapy and in combination with aspirin on both arterial thrombosis and MES. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic responses were also evaluated. The effective dose for 50% inhibition (ED50) of thrombus formation for monotherapy was 0.04 mg/kg per hour apixaban, i.v. (0.03 μM plasma exposure) for the integrated blood flow, 0.13 mg/kg per hour apixaban (0.10 μM plasma exposure) for thrombus weight, and 0.03 mg/kg per hour apixaban (0.02 μM plasma exposure) for MES. Dual treatment with aspirin (5 mg/kg, PO) and apixaban (0.015 mg/kg per hour, i.v.) resulted in a significant reduction in cerebral MES (P < 0.05) compared with monotherapy with either agent. Pharmacokinetic analysis of apixaban and pharmacodynamic assays using activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and prothrombin time (PT) for apixaban- and arachidonic acid-induced platelet aggregation for aspirin were used to confirm the exposure-response relationships. In summary, our study demonstrates that apixaban in a concentration-dependent manner inhibits both arterial thrombosis and MES, suggesting a potential association between factor Xa (FXa) blockade and the reduction in MES in patients at risk of ischemic stroke. Copyright © 2016 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

I was greedy, too.

PubMed

Coutu, Diane L

2003-02-01

Americans are outraged at the greediness of Wall Street analysts, dot-com entrepreneurs, and, most of all, chief executive officers. How could Tyco's Dennis Kozlowski use company funds to throw his wife a million-dollar birthday bash on an Italian island? How could Enron's Ken Lay sell thousands of shares of his company's once high-flying stock just before it crashed, leaving employees with nothing? Even America's most popular domestic guru, Martha Stewart, is suspected of having her hand in the cookie jar. To some extent, our outrage may be justified, writes HBR senior editor Diane Coutu. And yet, it's easy to forget that just a couple years ago these same people were lauded as heroes. Many Americans wanted nothing more, in fact, than to emulate them, to share in their fortunes. Indeed, we spent an enormous amount of time talking and thinking about double-digit returns, IPOs, day trading, and stock options. It could easily be argued that it was public indulgence in corporate money lust that largely created the mess we're now in. It's time to take a hard look at greed, both in its general form and in its peculiarly American incarnation, says Coutu. If Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan was correct in telling Congress that "infectious greed" contaminated U.S. business, then we need to try to understand its causes--and how the average American may have contributed to it. Why did so many of us fall prey to greed? With a deep, almost reflexive trust in the free market, are Americans somehow greedier than other peoples? And as we look at the wreckage from the 1990s, can we be sure it won't happen again?

Biological Information Document, Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Biggs, J.

1995-12-31

This document is intended to act as a baseline source material for risk assessments which can be used in Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements. The current Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility (RLWTF) does not meet current General Design Criteria for Non-reactor Nuclear Facilities and could be shut down affecting several DOE programs. This Biological Information Document summarizes various biological studies that have been conducted in the vicinity of new Proposed RLWTF site and an Alternative site. The Proposed site is located on Mesita del Buey, a mess top, and the Alternative site is located in Mortandad Canyon. The Proposedmore » Site is devoid of overstory species due to previous disturbance and is dominated by a mixture of grasses, forbs, and scattered low-growing shrubs. Vegetation immediately adjacent to the site is a pinyon-juniper woodland. The Mortandad canyon bottom overstory is dominated by ponderosa pine, willow, and rush. The south-facing slope was dominated by ponderosa pine, mountain mahogany, oak, and muhly. The north-facing slope is dominated by Douglas fir, ponderosa pine, and oak. Studies on wildlife species are limited in the vicinity of the proposed project and further studies will be necessary to accurately identify wildlife populations and to what extent they utilize the project area. Some information is provided on invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles, and small mammals. Additional species information from other nearby locations is discussed in detail. Habitat requirements exist in the project area for one federally threatened wildlife species, the peregrine falcon, and one federal candidate species, the spotted bat. However, based on surveys outside of the project area but in similar habitats, these species are not expected to occur in either the Proposed or Alternative RLWTF sites. Habitat Evaluation Procedures were used to evaluate ecological functioning in the project area.« less

[Linee guida italiane per il trattamento dell'alcolismo].

PubMed

Ceccanti, Mauro; Iannitelli, Angela; Fiore, Marco

2018-01-01

RIASSUNTO. L'Europa è la regione con il più forte consumo di alcol al mondo, con la più elevata percentuale di malattie totali e morti premature alcol-correlate. In Italia, questo fenomeno coinvolge circa il 13% della popolazione oltre i 18 anni e oltre il 25% dei pazienti ospedalizzati. Sfortunatamente, solo il 5% di questi pazienti vengono riconosciuti come persone affette da disturbo da uso di alcol (DUA). Una scarsa conoscenza della malattia, la mancanza di accesso alle cure e le poche risorse messe a disposizione nella gestione del problema sono tra le principali cause di ritardo nella diagnosi, alla fine con conseguenze cliniche molto più importanti e costose da gestire. Alla luce di ciò, abbiamo deciso di dedicare questo numero speciale della Rivista di psichiatria a una serie di articoli riguardanti le linee guida italiane per il trattamento della dipendenza da alcol. Realizzate in collaborazione con numerosi esperti e importanti società scientifiche italiane come il Centro di Riferimento Alcologico della Regione Lazio (CRARL), la Società Italiana Tossicodipendenze (SITD), la Società italiana per il Trattamento dell'Alcolismo e le sue Complicanze (SITAC), la Società Italiana Psichiatria delle Dipendenze (SIPDip), la Società Italiana Patologie da Dipendenza (SIPaD) e l'Istituto di Biologia Cellulare e Neurobiologia (IBCN-CNR), queste linee guida forniscono agli operatori una serie di raccomandazioni basate su prove di efficacia volte ad aumentare la conoscenza e un uso appropriato dei farmaci per le persone affette da DUA. Con la possibilità di un continuo aggiornamento, l'obiettivo principale di queste linee guida sarà quello di garantire l'omogeneità dei trattamenti e un incremento qualitativo nell'assistenza dei pazienti affetti da DUA, così da ridurre le conseguenze psicosociali e sulla salute pubblica di questa importante malattia psichiatrica.

Digital kids of the Heisei era: experiment at Toyonaka Bunka Kindergarten.

PubMed

Matsuda, S

1999-01-01

I wonder what most people think when they hear of small children playing on computers in kindergarten. One can almost hear the responses: "Why should kindergarten children have to use computers?" Small children are using computers? It's much too earlyl" "At kindergarten children should be singing, playing games, and making mud pies!" A computer is the epitome of the artificial. If we really make a mess of things, humans will become slaves to computers. What can they be thinking, putting such things in kindergartens as a child's toy? Many people who think in this way have never touched a computer, and it often seems the case that these "emotional opponents" are opposed to them only because of their own preconceptions. There is still a preconception that" a computer = a square machine like a TV with lots of difficult-looking keys". Computers are now in virtually all of the electronic appliances we use every day, refrigerators, washing machines, vacuums and televisions, and we think nothing of it. We live each day using computers, but only the "square" computer invites such contempt. Why is this the case? On the other side, there are the "proactive endorsers", who think "Computers have spread thus far in society and schools, so we must let children become familiar with them from a very young age!" These people often seem to want to teach everyone everything. There is much to know about the image and use of computers. They seem to think that if adults don't teach them, children won't understand anything. On this point, they are at the same level as the "emotional opponents", in that they conceive of computers as being something out of the ordinary.

When to ally & when to acquire.

PubMed

Dyer, Jeffrey H; Kale, Prashant; Singh, Harbir

2004-01-01

Acquisitions and alliances are two pillars of growth strategy. But most businesses don't treat the two as alternative mechanisms for attaining goals. Consequently, companies take over firms they should have collaborated with, and vice versa, and make a mess of both acquisitions and alliances. It's easy to see why companies don't weigh the relative merits and demerits of acquisitions and alliances before choosing horses for courses. The two strategies differ in many ways: Acquisition deals are competitive, based on market prices, and risky; alliances are cooperative, negotiated, and not so risky. Companies habitually deploy acquisitions to increase scale or cut costs and use partnerships to enter new markets, customer segments, and regions. Moreover, a company's initial experiences often turn into blinders. If the firm pulls off an alliance or two, it tends to enter into alliances even when circumstances demand acquisitions. Organizational barriers also stand in the way. In many companies, an M&A group, which reports to the finance head, handles acquisitions, while a separate business development unit looks after alliances. The two teams work out of different locations, jealously guard turf, and, in effect, prevent companies from comparing the advantages and disadvantages of the strategies. But companies could improve their results, the authors argue, if they compared the two strategies to determine which is best suited to the situation at hand. Firms such as Cisco that use acquisitions and alliances appropriately grow faster than rivals do. The authors provide a framework to help organizations systematically decide between acquisition and alliance by analyzing three sets of factors: the resources and synergies they desire, the marketplace they compete in, and their competencies at collaborating.

An assessment of the vulnerability of carotid plaques: a comparative study between intraplaque neovascularization and plaque echogenicity

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Carotid plaque echolucency as detected by Color Doppler ultrasonography (CDUS) has been used as a potential marker of plaque vulnerability. However, contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has recently been shown to be a valuable method to evaluate the vulnerability and neovascularization within carotid atherosclerotic plaques. The aim of this study was to compare CEUS and CDUS in the assessment of plaque vulnerability using transcranial color Doppler (TCD) monitoring of microembolic signals (MES) as a reference technique. Methods A total of 46 subjects with arterial stenosis (≥ 50%) underwent a carotid duplex ultrasound, TCD monitoring of MES and CEUS (SonoVue doses of 2.0 mL) within a span of 3 days. The agreement between the CEUS, CDUS, and MES findings was assessed with a chi-square test. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Neovascularization was observed in 30 lesions (44.4%). The vascular risk factors for stroke were similar and there were no age or gender differences between the 2 groups. Using CEUS, MES were identified in 2 patients (12.5%) within class 1 (non-neovascularization) as opposed to 15 patients (50.0%) within class 2 (neovascularization) (p = 0.023). CDUS revealed no significant differences in the appearance of the MES between the 2 groups (hyperechoic and hypoechoic) (p = 0.237). Conclusion This study provides preliminary evidence to suggest that intraplaque neovascularization detected by CEUS is associated with the presence of MESs, where as plaque echogenicity on traditional CDUS does not. These findings argue that CEUS may better identify high-risk plaques. PMID:23537052

The relation between family meals and health of infants and toddlers: A review.

PubMed

Verhage, Chantal L; Gillebaart, Marleen; van der Veek, Shelley M C; Vereijken, Carel M J L

2018-04-11

Family meals are associated with multiple health benefits in children and adolescents including evidence that eating together as a family may play a role in reducing childhood obesity. The current review aims to investigate whether the beneficial health effects of the family meal also apply to infants and toddlers. PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and PsycInfo were searched and 14 empirical studies were identified. The findings were discussed according to frequency of having a family meal and parental perception, associations between the family meal and health aspects (e.g., eating behaviors and diet quality) and causal influences of these associations. Descriptive data showed that mothers offer food at a structured mealtime, but that eating together as a family was not always upheld. The frequency of family meals was positively associated with more nutrient-dense food intake and a more balanced diet. Different advantages (e.g., social importance, practical considerations) and obstacles (e.g., planning, possible mess) of the family meal were mentioned by parents. Further, having structured mealtimes and family meals was associated with more food enjoyment and less fussy and emotional eating. Finally, no causal studies were identified. The limited number of studies suggests that the pattern of positive associations between family meal and child health which has been shown in older children may also exist in infants and toddlers. More specific research is needed to examine the causality of the associations between the family meal and health of the infant and toddler. The associations between the family meal and less fussiness and emotional eating, more food enjoyment and better nutrient intake suggest that the family meal is a valuable moment to promote healthy eating in toddlers and infants. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

An epidemiological study on the predictors of health status of food handlers in food establishments of teaching hospitals of North India.

PubMed

Singh, Arun; Katyal, Rashmi; Chaudhary, Varsha; Narula, Kusum; Upadhayay, Deepak; Singh, Shailendra Pratap

2015-01-01

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USDHHS-CDC 1996) revealed that the outbreaks of food borne diseases include inadequate cooking, heating, or re-heating of foods consumption of food from unsafe sources, cooling food inappropriately and allowing too much of a time lapse. As we all know that the food handlers have been working in various types of community kitchen and their health status can affect the status of food hygiene which can lead to contamination of foods attributing to acute gastroenteritis and food poisoning in various subgroups of the population e.g., medical/dental/nursing students. The background characteristics of these food handlers may have important role to affect health status of these handlers. The indexed study was carried out among the food handlers working in the food establishments the 5 teaching hospitals of Bareilly city in U.P. India during one year i.e., from August 2013 to July 2014. The survey method using schedule was conducted to get information about the background characteristics and food handlers and each food handler was examined clinically for assessing health status. Chi-Square test was used as test of significance and regression analysis was also done to nullifying the effect of confounders. The health status of the mess workers was found to be significantly associated with use of gloves, hand washing after toilet and hand washing before cooking and serving food. The rationale of this study was that though many studies have been carried out to show the health status of the food handlers and their background characteristics, no study has highlighted the association of these background characteristics and personal hygiene practices with the health status of food handlers.

Efficient differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells into motor neurons.

PubMed

Wu, Chia-Yen; Whye, Dosh; Mason, Robert W; Wang, Wenlan

2012-06-09

Direct differentiation of embryonic stem (ES) cells into functional motor neurons represents a promising resource to study disease mechanisms, to screen new drug compounds, and to develop new therapies for motor neuron diseases such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Many current protocols use a combination of retinoic acid (RA) and sonic hedgehog (Shh) to differentiate mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells into motor neurons. However, the differentiation efficiency of mES cells into motor neurons has only met with moderate success. We have developed a two-step differentiation protocol that significantly improves the differentiation efficiency compared with currently established protocols. The first step is to enhance the neuralization process by adding Noggin and fibroblast growth factors (FGFs). Noggin is a bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) antagonist and is implicated in neural induction according to the default model of neurogenesis and results in the formation of anterior neural patterning. FGF signaling acts synergistically with Noggin in inducing neural tissue formation by promoting a posterior neural identity. In this step, mES cells were primed with Noggin, bFGF, and FGF-8 for two days to promote differentiation towards neural lineages. The second step is to induce motor neuron specification. Noggin/FGFs exposed mES cells were incubated with RA and a Shh agonist, Smoothened agonist (SAG), for another 5 days to facilitate motor neuron generation. To monitor the differentiation of mESs into motor neurons, we used an ES cell line derived from a transgenic mouse expressing eGFP under the control of the motor neuron specific promoter Hb9. Using this robust protocol, we achieved 51 ± 0.8% of differentiation efficiency (n = 3; p < 0.01, Student's t-test). Results from immunofluorescent staining showed that GFP+ cells express the motor neuron specific markers, Islet-1 and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT). Our two-step differentiation protocol provides an efficient way to differentiate mES cells into spinal motor neurons.

Chronic Insomnia

PubMed Central

Buysse, Daniel J.

2010-01-01

Ms. F, a 42-year-old divorced woman, presents for evaluation of chronic insomnia. She complains of difficulty falling asleep, often 30 minutes or longer, and difficulty maintaining sleep during the night, with frequent awakenings that often last 30 minutes or longer. These symptoms occur nearly every night, with only one or two “good” nights per month. She typically goes to bed around 10:00 p.m. to give herself adequate time for sleep, and she gets out of bed around 7:00 a.m. on work days and as late as 9:00 a.m. on weekends. Her nighttime sleep problems result in daytime irritability and difficulty focusing and organizing her thoughts, which subjectively impair her work as an administrative assistant, although her performance evaluations have been satisfactory. She says that she has “no energy for anything extra,” that her house is a mess, and that she routinely declines invitations to join social and even family activities. Her insomnia began approximately 5 years ago during a period of increased life stress related to a difficult divorce and a job change. At that time she was diagnosed with major depression and was started on a successful trial of escitalopram, which she continues at a dose of 10 mg/day. Her current symptoms are distinct from those that were associated with her episode of major depression. She denies pervasive sadness or loss of interest, but she is very frustrated with her inability to function more effectively, which she attributes to her insomnia. In fact, she believes that her cognitive difficulties and irritability are most noticeable after nights of particularly poor sleep. Her medical history is unremarkable other than a past history of Graves’ disease. She has been treated with levothyroxine for the past 15 years. How should Ms. F be evaluated? What medical testing, if any, would be appropriate? What factors should be considered in formulating a treatment plan? What treatments would be appropriate? PMID:18519533

Probing the interaction of bisintercalating (2,2':6',2″-terpyridine)platinum(II) complexes with glutathione and rabbit plasma.

PubMed

Harper, Benjamin W J; Morris, Thomas T; Gailer, Jürgen; Aldrich-Wright, Janice R

2016-10-01

Platinum(II) complexes have demonstrated considerable success in the treatment of cancer, but severe toxic side effects drive the search for new complexes with increased tumour selectivity and better efficacy. A critical concept that has to be considered in the context of designing novel Pt complexes is their interactions with biomolecules other than DNA. To this end, here the interactions of 16 previously reported bisintercalating (2,2':6',2″-terpyridine)platinum(II) complexes, [{Pt(terpy)} 2 μ-(X)] n+ (where X is a linker) with glutathione (GSH) by means of 1 H and 195 Pt NMR spectroscopy were investigated. The GSH half-life (GSH t 1/2 ) was determined following the incubation of each [{Pt(terpy)} 2 μ-(X)] n+ complex with GSH (8mM). It was observed that complexes 1-7, 11, 12 and 14-16 reacted more rapidly than cisplatin, whereas complexes 8-10, 13 and 17 reacted more slowly (≥200min). There was no apparent correlation between linker length and the GSH t 1/2 . In order to understand these interactions, two complexes: 1 (t 1/2 <1min) and a previously studied 17 [Pt(5,6-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline)(1S,2S-diaminocyclohexane)] (56MESS) (GSH t 1/2 =4080min) were incubated with rabbit plasma. A "metallomics" approach was used to analyse plasma for all platinum species at the 5 and the 60min time point and provided results that were congruent with the reaction of the selected Pt complexes with GSH. Our studies demonstrate that the combined application of NMR spectroscopy, cytotoxicity studies and a metallomics approach can contribute to better understand the interaction of [{Pt(terpy)} 2 μ-(X)] n+ complexes with biomolecules to better assess which compounds may be advanced to in vivo studies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The integration of science and politics to clean up 50 years in the nuclear sandbox

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lyons, C.E.; Holeman, T.

1999-07-01

The Cold War was fought between world superpowers for approximately 40 years from the end of the second World War until the end of the 1980s. During that time, the US government devoted billions of dollars to the development and production of nuclear weapons. Now the Cold War is over and the US is left with numerous nuclear weapons factories, stockpiles of nuclear materials, and mountains of waste to decontaminate and decommission. In the heat of the Cold War, little or no thought was given to how the facilities building bombs would be dismantled. Far too little attention was paidmore » to the potential human health and environmental impact of the weapons production. Now, dozens of communities across the country face the problems this negligence created. In many cases, the location, extent, and characteristics of the waste and contamination are unknown, due to negligence or due to intentional hiding of waste and associated problems. Water supplies are contaminated and threatened; air quality is degraded and threatened; workers and residents risk contamination and health impacts; entire communities risk disaster from potential nuclear catastrophe. The US government, in the form of the US Department of Energy (DOE), now accepts responsibility for creating and cleaning up the mess. But it is the local communities, the home towns of the bomb factories and laboratories, that carry a significant share of the burden of inventing the science and politics required to clean up 50 years in the nuclear sandbox. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the role of the local community in addressing the cleanup of the US nuclear weapons complex. Local governments do not own nor are responsible for the environmental aftermath, but remain the perpetual neighbor to the facility, the hometown of workers, and long-term caretaker of the off-site impacts of the on-site contamination and health risks.« less

Supporting Evidence for the Astronomically Calibrated Age of Fish Canyon Sanidine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rivera, T. A.; Storey, M.; Zeeden, C.; Kuiper, K.; Hilgen, F.

2010-12-01

The relative nature of the 40Ar/39Ar radio-isotopic dating technique requires that the age and error of the monitor mineral be accurately known. The most widely accepted monitor for Cenozoic geochronology is the Fish Canyon sanidine (FCs), whose recommended published ages have varied by up to 2% over the past two decades. To reconcile the discrepancy among recommended ages, researchers have turned to the use of (i) intercalibration experiments with primary argon standards, (ii) cross-calibration with U-Pb ages, and (iii) cross-calibration with sanidine-hosted tephras present in astronomically tuned stratigraphic sections. The increasingly robust quality of the astronomical timescale, with precision better than 0.1% for the last 10 million years, suggests this method of intercalibration as the best way to proceed with addressing the true age of FCs. Recently, Kuiper, et al. (2008) determined an astronomically calibrated age of 28.201 ± 0.046 Ma (2σ), based upon the Moroccan Melilla Basin Messâdit section. Here, we provide independent verification for the Kuiper, et al. (2008) FCs age using sanidines extracted from a tephra intercalated in another Mediterranean-based astronomically tuned section. The direct tuning of this section was achieved through correlation to long (~400 kyr) and short (~100 kyr) eccentricity, followed by tuning of basic sedimentary cycles to precession and summer insolation, using the La2004(1,1) astronomical solution (Laskar, et al., 2004). We employed a Nu Instruments Noblesse multi-collector noble gas mass spectrometer for the 40Ar/39Ar experiments, analyzing single crystals of FCs relative to sanidines from the astronomically dated tephra. The use of the multi-collector instrument allowed us to obtain high precision analyses with a level of precision for fully propagated external errors for FCs near the 0.1% goal of EARTHTIME. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 215458.

WIRED BY WEBER: The Story of the First Searcher and Searches for Gravitational Waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trimble, Virginia

2017-01-01

Joe Weber, the last child of eastern European immigrants, had a ham radio license at age 10. He also wired the mess hall of the US Naval Academy for sound, causing the chatter and clashing crockery of his fellow midshipmen to be drowned out by Schubert's Great C Major symphony. He kept a 6 cm radar (not standard equipment on submarine chasers) working before and during the Sicilian landing and ended ``his'' war in charge of electronic countermeasures for the Navy. Hired as a full professor of electrical engineering and ordered to get a PhD in something, somewhere, by the University of Maryland in 1949, he talked with George Gamow (a story for a different time), but ended up working with Keith Laidler at Catholic University of America on the inversion spectrum of ammonia, building and using a 2-meter traveling wave tube. That, plus a lecture by Karl Herzfeld on the Einstein A and B coefficients, led him to think about inverted populations as amplifiers and spectrometers. His talk at an IEEE conference and the subsequent paper were the first ``open source'' presentations of what we now call masers and lasers. Then came his interest in General Relativity and the desire to bring this beautiful theory into contact with laboratory science. He started building and then operating bar detectors for gravitational waves in 1965-66, and reporting results from 1968-69. The scientific community first took an enormous interest in his work, then ``voted him off the island'' starting in about 1973. He continued to operate bar detectors, and later perfect crystal detectors for neutrinos, until his death on 30 September 2000 (Rosh Hashonah that year). The first LIGO event was recorded on his 15th Jarhzeit. We had, by that time, been married for 28.5 years, and it was a joy to watch him pick the right resistor or capacitor out of a box of miscellaneous electronic components.

Persistence, resistance, resonance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsadka, Maayan

Sound cannot travel in a vacuum, physically or socially. The ways in which sound operates are a result of acoustic properties, and the ways by which it is considered to be music are a result of social constructions. Therefore, music is always political, regardless of its content: the way it is performed and composed; the choice of instrumentation, notation, tuning; the medium of its distribution; its inherent hierarchy and power dynamics, and more. My compositional praxis makes me less interested in defining a relationship between music and politics than I am in erasing---or at least blurring---the borders between them. In this paper I discuss the aesthetics of resonance and echo in their metaphorical, physical, social, and musical manifestations. Also discussed is a political aesthetic of resonance, manifested through protest chants. I transcribe and analyze common protest chants from around the world, categorizing and unifying them as universal crowd-mobilizing rhythms. These ideas are explored musically in three pieces. Sumud: Rhetoric of Resistance in Three Movements, for two pianos and two percussion players, is a musical interpretation of the political/social concept of sumud, an Arabic word that literally means "steadfastness" and represents Palestinian non-violent resistance. The piece is based on common protest rhythms and uses the acoustic properties inherent to the instruments. The second piece, Three Piano Studies, extends some of the musical ideas and techniques used in Sumud, and explores the acoustic properties and resonance of the piano. The final set of pieces is part of my Critical Mess Music Project. These are site-specific musical works that attempt to blur the boundaries between audience, performers and composer, in part by including people without traditional musical training in the process of music making. These pieces use the natural structure and resonance of an environment, in this case, locations on the UCSC campus, and offer an active form of musical consumption and experience. The three pieces draw lines connecting different aspects of persistence, resistance, and resonance.

A Herschel study of NGC 650

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Hoof, P. A. M.; Van de Steene, G. C.; Exter, K. M.; Barlow, M. J.; Ueta, T.; Groenewegen, M. A. T.; Gear, W. K.; Gomez, H. L.; Hargrave, P. C.; Ivison, R. J.; Leeks, S. J.; Lim, T. L.; Olofsson, G.; Polehampton, E. T.; Swinyard, B. M.; Van Winckel, H.; Waelkens, C.; Wesson, R.

2013-12-01

As part of the Herschel guaranteed time key project Mass loss of Evolved StarS (MESS) we have imaged a sample of planetary nebulae. In this paper we present the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) and Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) images of the classical bipolar planetary nebula NGC 650. We used these images to derive a temperature map of the dust. We also constructed a photoionization and dust radiative transfer model using the spectral synthesis code Cloudy. To constrain this model, we used the PACS and SPIRE fluxes and combined them with hitherto unpublished International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) and Spitzer InfraRed Spectrograph (IRS) spectra as well as various other data from the literature. A temperature map combined with a photoionization model were used to study various aspects of the central star, the nebula, and in particular the dust grains in the nebula. The central star parameters are determined to be Teff = 208 kK and L = 261 L⊙ assuming a distance of 1200 pc. The stellar temperature is much higher than previously published values. We confirm that the nebula is carbon-rich with a C/O ratio of 2.1. The nebular abundances are typical for a type IIa planetary nebula. With the photoionization model we determined that the grains in the ionized nebula are large (assuming single-sized grains, they would have a radius of 0.15 μm). Most likely these large grains were inherited from the asymptotic giant branch phase. The PACS 70/160 μm temperature map shows evidence of two radiation components heating the grains. The first component is direct emission from the central star, while the second component is diffuse emission from the ionized gas (mainly Lyα). We show that previous suggestions of a photo-dissociation region surrounding the ionized region are incorrect. The neutral material resides in dense clumps inside the ionized region. These may also harbor stochastically heated very small grains in addition to the large grains. Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.Tables 2-5 are available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

Using Piezoelectric Ceramics for Dust Mitigation of Space Suits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Angel, Heather K.

2004-01-01

The particles that make up moon dust and Mars soil can be hazardous to an astronaut s health if not handled properly. In the near future, while exploring outer space, astronauts plan to wander the surfaces of unknown planets. During these explorations, dust and soil will cling to their space suits and become imbedded in the fabric. The astronauts will track moon dust and mars soil back into their living quarters. This not only will create a mess with millions of tiny air-born particles floating around, but will also be dangerous in the case that the fine particles are breathed in and become trapped in an astronaut s lungs. research center are investigating ways to remove these particles from space suits. This problem is very difficult due to the nature of the particles: They are extremely small and have jagged edges which can easily latch onto the fibers of the fabric. For the past summer, I have been involved in researching the potential problems, investigating ways to remove the particles, and conducting experiments to validate the techniques. The current technique under investigation uses piezoelectric ceramics imbedded in the fabric that vibrate and shake the particles free. The particles will be left on the planet s surface or collected a vacuum to be disposed of later. The ceramics vibrate when connected to an AC voltage supply and create a small scale motion similar to what people use at the beach to shake sand off of a beach towel. Because the particles are so small, similar to volcanic ash, caution must be taken to make sure that this technique does not further inbed them in the fabric and make removal more difficult. Only a very precise range of frequency and voltage will produce a suitable vibration. My summer project involved many experiments to determine the correct range. Analysis involved hands on experience with oscilloscopes, amplifiers, piezoelectrics, a high speed camera, microscopes and computers. perfect this technology. Someday, vibration to remove dust may a vital component to the space exploration program. In order to mitigate this problem, engineers and scientists at the NASA-Glenn Further research and experiments are planned to better understand and ultimately

[Noise-related occupational risk aboard fishing vessels: considerations on prevention and the protection of exposed workers].

PubMed

Rapisarda, V; Valentino, M; Bolognini, S; Fenga, C

2004-01-01

Recent legislation regarding the safety of workers aboard fishing vessels requires the appointment by ship owners of a Reference Physician in charge of health surveillance, preventive inspections and related tasks. As maritime workers, especially fishermen, have always been excluded from legal protection of occupational health, there are no exhaustive data on the incidence of their occupational disease. Several epidemiological studies of fishermen have evidenced a high prevalence and incidence of occupational conditions, among which noise-related hypoacousia. We report data of a phonometric survey conducted aboard six fishing vessels carrying a crew of less than six fishing in the mid-Adriatic. Measurements were performed during fishing and navigation aboard five vessels fitted with a fixed-pitch propeller and during fishing only aboard one vessel fitted with an controllable pitch propeller. Measurements were conducted: 1) in the engine rooms; 2) in the work area on deck; 3) at the winch; 4) in the wheelhouse; 5) in the mess-room and kitchen; 6) in the sleeping quarters. Results show that the equivalent sound pressure level in the engine rooms consistently exceeded 90 dBA on all vessels. The speed of the vessels fitted with the fixed-pitch propeller is 3-4 knots in the fishing phase and around 10 knots during navigation to and from the fishing grounds; noise emission is lower with the former regimen because of the smaller number of engine revolutions per minute. Our survey demonstrated considerably different noise levels in the various areas of vessels. One key element in workers' exposure, the tasks assigned and the environmental working conditions is of course the type of fishing in which the vessel is engaged. Further phonometric studies are required to assess the daily level of exposure per crew member, which represents the reference for the noise-related risk of each subject. Knowledge of the sound pressure levels in the work environment and the length of daily exposure of each crew member will allow to assess the level of occupational exposure and consequently enact the proper prevention and protection measures by the Reference Physician.

Improved acid digestion of environmental and biological samples and coal for the determination of both arsenic and selenium by hydride generation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Z.

1994-12-31

Hydride generation (HG) is a good sample introduction technique for the determination of As and Se, and has been widely used in atomic spectrometry. Several instrumental developments have been made in the hydride-generation system, however, sample digestion (pretreatment) is still the critical step in the FIG determination of As and Se in solid and semi-solid samples. The general digestion procedure with mineral acids is not suitable for complete decomposition of refractory organic compounds of As and Se present in some organic-rich materials, and then does not allow for the measurement of both As and Se in most environmental and biologicalmore » samples by HG. In this work, some well-designed experiments on the wet digestion in open system have been done with a temperature controlled sand bath. The oxidation performances of some mixtures of mineral acids and salts in different combinations have been investigated and evaluated with environmental and biological samples. With the use of HNO{sub 3}/HClO{sub 4} mixing with either the high-boiling-point acids (H{sub 2}SO{sub 4}, H{sub 3}PO{sub 4}) or some mineral salts(Mg(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}, MgSO{sub 4}, Na{sub 2}SO{sub 4}, NaH{sub 2}PO{sub 4}), the complete mineralization of organoarsenic and organoselenium compounds in the samples can be readily achieved while a dewatered step is in the employ of the digestion program. An improved wet digestion procedure with HNO{sub 3}/HClO{sub 4}/H{sub 3}PO{sub 4}(or Mg(NO{sub 3}){sub 2}, or MgSO{sub 4}) was investigated and optimized for the determination of both As and Se in sediment, soil, coal, fish and plant materials by HG-AAS. This method has been evaluated by the analyses of CRMs, including PACS-1, BCSS-1, MESS-11 DORM-1. DOLT-1. NIST-1632b, BCR-40 and BCR-181 for both As and Se, and good agreements with the certified values were obtained.« less

A conjugated mess: measurements of benzene (C6H6), CH4, CO2, and H2O using a cavity ring-down spectrometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fleck, Derek; Hoffnagle, John; He, Yonggang

2017-04-01

Benzene is widely used carcinogenic chemical that ranks among the top 15 chemicals produced in the world by volume. It is part of many industrial processes from solvents to rubber and drug production and is also produced in petroleum refinement and use. OSHA and European regulators have set a strict long-term exposure limit and short-term exposure limit of 1ppm and 15ppm, respectively, to minimize hazards to a person's health. With the recent passing by the EPA of mandatory fence line monitoring of benzene at petroleum factories, it is evident that a robust, continuous measurement of benzene is necessary. Conventional measurements of benzene suffer from a high granularity (nearly 1 ppm), cumbersome sample preparation/processing, or cross-sensitivities from other gas species. The aim of this study is to show development of an analyzer using cavity ring-down spectrometry (CRDS) to measure benzene, as well as all the main constituents of air that can influence a measurement: H2O, CO2, and CH4. A measurement of benzene to an uncertainty of 100 ppb in <5 minutes is currently attainable, with a future goal of making this measurement in only ten seconds to 1 minute. Initial results show precisions of CH4 at 0.5ppb, CO2 at 0.5ppm and H2O of 10ppm. Because of the relatively IR-inactive C6H6 molecule, only broad features lying underneath the relatively sharp signals of CH4, CO2, and H2O can be used to quantify benzene concentrations. The stability of the CRDS analyzer allows us to look at structured changes in the baseline due to benzene to get out a precise measurement, while rarely having to do a zero-reference calibration. The analysis of these four species yields an instrument that is not only viable for fence line monitoring of petroleum refineries, but one that could also be used for local atmospheric monitoring of cities or even gas-stations.

Unraveling climate influences on the distribution of the parapatric newts Lissotriton vulgaris meridionalis and L. italicus.

PubMed

Iannella, Mattia; Cerasoli, Francesco; Biondi, Maurizio

2017-01-01

Climate is often considered as a key ecological factor limiting the capability of expansion of most species and the extent of suitable habitats. In this contribution, we implement Species Distribution Models (SDMs) to study two parapatric amphibians, Lissotriton vulgaris meridionalis and L. italicus , investigating if and how climate has influenced their present and past (Last Glacial Maximum and Holocene) distributions. A database of 901 GPS presence records was generated for the two newts. SDMs were built through Boosted Regression Trees and Maxent, using the Worldclim bioclimatic variables as predictors. Precipitation-linked variables and the temperature annual range strongly influence the current occurrence patterns of the two Lissotriton species analyzed. The two newts show opposite responses to the most contributing variables, such as BIO7 (temperature annual range), BIO12 (annual precipitation), BIO17 (precipitation of the driest quarter) and BIO19 (precipitation of the coldest quarter). The hypothesis of climate influencing the distributions of these species is also supported by the fact that the co-occurrences within the sympatric area fall in localities characterized by intermediate values of these predictors. Projections to the Last Glacial Maximum and Holocene scenarios provided a coherent representation of climate influences on the past distributions of the target species. Computation of pairwise variables interactions and the discriminant analysis allowed a deeper interpretation of SDMs' outputs. Further, we propose a multivariate environmental dissimilarity index (MEDI), derived through a transformation of the multivariate environmental similarity surface (MESS), to deal with extrapolation-linked uncertainties in model projections to past climate. Finally, the niche equivalency and niche similarity tests confirmed the link between SDMs outputs and actual differences in the ecological niches of the two species. The different responses of the two species to climatic factors have significantly contributed to shape their current distribution, through contractions, expansions and shifts over time, allowing to maintain two wide allopatric areas with an area of sympatry in Central Italy. Moreover, our SDMs hindcasting shows many concordances with previous phylogeographic studies carried out on the same species, thus corroborating the scenarios of potential distribution during the Last Glacial Maximum and the Holocene emerging from the models obtained.

Scientific habits of mind: A reform of structure and relationships

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mooney, Linda Beth

This research was designed to broaden current elementary science reform efforts by including the voices of our young scientists. Ten high school students who were defined as possessing both coherent science knowledge and scientific habits of mind were selected for the study. Through a three-part series of in-depth, phenomenological interviews, these students revealed early childhood experiences from birth through age ten to which they attributed their development of science knowledge and scientific habits of mind. Educational connoisseurship and criticism provided the framework through which the experiences were analyzed. The research revealed the overwhelming role of scientific habits of mind in the current success of these young scientists. Scientific habits of mind were developed through the structures and relationships in the home. Parents of the participants provided a non-authoritarian, fun, playful, tolerant atmosphere in which messes and experimentation were the norm. Large blocks of uninterrupted, unstructured time and space that "belonged" to the child allowed these children to follow where curiosity led. Frequently, the parent modeled scientific habits of mind. Good discipline in the minds of these families had nothing to do with punishments, rewards, or rules. The parents gave the children responsibilities, "free rein," and their trust, and the children blossomed in that trust and mutual respect. Parents recognized and supported the uniqueness, autonomy, interests, and emotions of the child. Above all, the young scientists valued the time, freedom, patience, and emotional support provided by their parents. For girls, construction toys, hot wheels, sand boxes, and outdoor experiences were particularly important. Art classes, free access to art media, sewing, music, and physical activity facilitated observational skills and spatial relationship development. The girls knew that doing traditionally masculine and feminine activities were acceptable and celebrated by both parents. The time has come to include scientific habits of mind in science education reform. The time has come for science education reform to espouse fun and playfulness, large blocks of unstructured time, responsibility and trust, emotional support, and caring teacher-child relationships. The time has come to listen to the voices of our young scientists.

Is sitting worse than static standing? How a gender analysis can move us toward understanding determinants and effects of occupational standing and walking.

PubMed

Messing, Karen; Stock, Susan; Côté, Julie; Tissot, France

2015-01-01

The Yant Award was established in 1964 to honor the contributions of William P. Yant, the first president of the American Industrial Hygiene Association. It is presented annually for outstanding contributions in industrial hygiene or allied fields to an individual residing outside the United States. The 2014 award recipient is Dr. Karen Messing, Professor emeritus, Department of Biological Sciences, Université du Québec à Montréal and Researcher, CINBIOSE Research Centre. Gender (socially determined) differences in occupations, employment, and working conditions, task assignments, and work methods that affect exposure to health risks are increasingly documented. Interactions of (biologically influenced) sex differences with workplace parameters may also influence exposure levels. During field studies, ergonomists learn a lot about gender and sex that can be important when generating and testing hypotheses about the mechanisms that link workplace exposures to health outcomes. Prolonged standing is common in North America; almost half (45%) of Québec workers spend more than three-quarters of their working time on their feet and 40% of these cannot sit at will. This posture has been linked to chronic back pain and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in the lower limbs, but many health professionals suggest workers should stand rather than sit at work. We ask: (1) Given the fact that roughly the same proportion of men and women stand at work, what does a gender-sensitive analysis add to our ability to detect and thus prevent work-related MSDs?; (2) How does ergonomics research inform gender-sensitive analysis of occupational health data?; and (3) What do researchers need to know to orient interventions to improve general working postures? We have sought answers to these questions through collaborative research with specialists in epidemiology, occupational medicine, biomechanics, and physiology, carried out in partnership with public health organisations, community groups, and unions. We conclude that failure to characterize prolonged static standing and to apply gender-sensitive analysis can confuse assessment of musculoskeletal and circulatory effects of working postures. We suggest that prolonged static sitting and standing postures can and should be avoided by changes to workplace organization and environments. Research is needed to define optimal walking speeds and arrive at optimal ratios of sitting, standing, and walking in the workplace.

Online Measurement of Microembolic Signal Burden by Transcranial Doppler during Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation-Results of a Multicenter Trial.

PubMed

von Bary, Christian; Deneke, Thomas; Arentz, Thomas; Schade, Anja; Lehrmann, Heiko; Fredersdorf, Sabine; Baldaranov, Dobri; Maier, Lars; Schlachetzki, Felix

2017-01-01

Left atrial pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is an accepted treatment option for patients with symptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF). This procedure can be complicated by stroke or silent cerebral embolism. Online measurement of microembolic signals (MESs) by transcranial Doppler (TCD) may be useful for characterizing thromboembolic burden during PVI. In this prospective multicenter trial, we investigated the burden, characteristics, and composition of MES during left atrial catheter ablation using a variety of catheter technologies. PVI was performed in a total of 42 patients using the circular-shaped multielectrode pulmonary vein ablation catheter (PVAC) technology in 23, an irrigated radiofrequency (IRF) in 14, and the cryoballoon (CB) technology in 5 patients. TCD was used to detect the total MES burden and sustained thromboembolic showers (TESs) of >30 s. During TES, the site of ablation within the left atrium was registered. MES composition was classified manually into "solid," "gaseous," or "equivocal" by off-line expert assessment. The total MES burden was higher when using IRF compared to CB (2,336 ± 1,654 vs. 593 ± 231; p  = 0.007) and showed a tendency toward a higher burden when using IRF compared to PVAC (2,336 ± 1,654 vs. 1,685 ± 2,255; p  = 0.08). TES occurred more often when using PVAC compared to IRF (1.5 ± 2 vs. 0.4 ± 1.3; p  = 0.04) and most frequently when ablation was performed close to the left superior pulmonary vein (LSPV). Of the MES, 17.004 (23%) were characterized as definitely solid, 13.204 (18%) as clearly gaseous, and 44.366 (59%) as equivocal. We investigated the burden and characteristics of MES during left atrial catheter ablation for AF. All ablation techniques applied in this study generated a relevant number of MES. There was a significant difference in total MES burden using IRF compared to CB and a tendency toward a higher burden using IRF compared to PVAC. The highest TES burden was found in the PVAC group, particularly during ablation close to the LSPV. The composition of thromboembolic particles was balanced. The impact of MES, TES, and composition of thromboembolic particles on neurological outcome needs to be evaluated further. (Clinical Trial Registration: Deutsches Register Klinischer Studien, https://drks-neu.uniklinik-freiburg.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00003465. DRKS00003465.).

All Pillars Point to Eta

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2005-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Eta Carinae Starforming RegionSimulated Infrared View of Comet Tempel 1 (artist's concept)

These false-color image taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the 'South Pillar' region of the star-forming region called the Carina Nebula. Like cracking open a watermelon and finding its seeds, the infrared telescope 'busted open' this murky cloud to reveal star embryos (yellow or white) tucked inside finger-like pillars of thick dust (pink). Hot gases are green and foreground stars are blue. Not all of the newfound star embryos can be easily spotted.

Though the nebula's most famous and massive star, Eta Carinae, is too bright to be observed by infrared telescopes, the downward-streaming rays hint at its presence above the picture frame. Ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from Eta Carinae and its siblings have shredded the cloud to pieces, leaving a mess of tendrils and pillars. This shredding process triggered the birth of the new stars uncovered by Spitzer.

The inset visible-light picture (figure 2) of the Carina Nebula shows quite a different view. Dust pillars are fewer and appear dark because the dust is soaking up visible light. Spitzer's infrared detectors cut through this dust, allowing it to see the heat from warm, embedded star embryos, as well as deeper, more buried pillars. The visible-light picture is from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory.

Eta Carina is a behemoth of a star, with more than 100 times the mass of our Sun. It is so massive that it can barely hold itself together. Over the years, it has brightened and faded as material has shot away from its surface. Some astronomers think Eta Carinae might die in a supernova blast within our lifetime.

Eta Carina's home, the Carina Nebula, is located in the southern portion of our Milky Way galaxy, 10,000 light-years from Earth. This colossal cloud of gas and dust stretches across 200 light-years of space. Though it is dominated by Eta Carinae, it also houses the star's slightly less massive siblings, in addition to the younger generations of stars.

This image was taken by the infrared array camera on Spitzer. It is a three-color composite of invisible light, showing emissions from wavelengths of 3.6 microns (blue), 4.5 microns (green), 5.8 microns (orange), and 8.0 microns (red).

The movie begins with a visible-light picture of the southern region of our Milky Way galaxy then slowly zooms into the area imaged by Spitzer.

The influence of a Classroom Model of Scientific Scholarship on Four Girls' Trajectories of Identification with Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, Melissa Sunshine

This study examines the teacher's role in shaping the identity construction resources available in a classroom and the ways in which individual students take up, modify, and appropriate those resources to construct themselves as scientists through interaction with their teacher and peers. Drawing on frameworks of identity construction and social positioning, I propose that the locally-negotiated classroom-level cultural model of what it means to be a "good" science student forms the arena in which students construct a sense of their own competence at, affiliation with, and interest in science. The setting for this study was a 6th grade science class at a progressive urban elementary school whose population roughly represents the ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of the state of California. The teacher was an experienced science and math teacher interested in social justice and inquiry teaching. Drawing from naturalistic observations, video and artifact analysis, survey data, and repeated interviews with students and the teacher, I demonstrated what it meant to be a "good" science student in this particular cultural community by analyzing what was required, reinforced, and rewarded in this classroom. Next, I traced the influence of this particular classroom's conception of what it meant to be good at science on the trajectories of identification with science of four 6th grade girls selected to represent a variety of stances towards science, levels of classroom participation, and personal backgrounds. Scientific scholarship in this class had two parts: values related to science as a discipline, and a more generic set of school-related values one might see in any classroom. Different meanings of and values for science were indexed in the everyday activities of the classroom: science as a language for describing the natural world, science as a set of rhetorical values, science as an adult social community, and science as a place for mess and explosions. Among school-related values, participation, cooperation, and completing work were most important. Individual students leveraged different aspects of the local cultural model of scientific scholarship to construct themselves as competent participants in the science classroom. This study extends and complicates current analyses of classroom norms by showing that to understand identity construction, we must do more than identify a list of norms operating in a classroom---we must map the relationships between norms. This analysis demonstrates how broader discourses, in this case about schooling and science, infiltrated the classroom and influenced the meaning and operation of classroom norms and individual students' efforts to position themselves in relation to the classroom model of a good student. Finally, these findings show the value in examining recognition from three interrelated lenses: self-narratives, other-narratives, and observational accounts of positioning.

Conservation and protection

USGS Publications Warehouse

Leopold, Luna Bergere

1960-01-01

When I was a child we had a burro I called Gacho. He was a typical burro, omnivorous in his eating habits and prone to streaks of extreme recalcitrance.Our yard wasn't very large, but it did produce enough grass and weeds to keep old Gacho in good fettle. His first preference was for the native grasses, and he chose to graze the lush patches rather than the shriveled plants on the areas of thin soil. Nevertheless, he was not particular and seemed to graze to some extent all over the yard. He often nibbled in the flower beds and I sometimes wondered whether he did this just for spite.After a time I arranged some crude fences and a tethering rope to keep him out of the most important flower beds.The yard was so small that we had a waste problem. To ignore the problem would hardly have been civilized, but, on the other hand, one couldn't follow him around all day with a shovel. So a workable compromise was adopted by keeping him penned up at night in a small enclosure, which, of course, could not be kept immaculate but was at least reasonably clean.We had the burro and we weren't getting rid of him. He was useful; we enjoyed riding him and hitching him up to our wagons. But he was a bother sometimes.Here was a simple case of resource use and resource development. The case is incomplete, but it demonstrates a principle.The resource, represented by the vegetation, was being utilized, or developed if you will, by a small juggernaut which was only partly controllable by my youthful skills. There was no need to urge utilization. That followed as a matter of course. The problem was that the one who utilized the resource, in this case the burro, was not very discerning of relative values. To Gacho the choice of which plant to eat and where to get rid of the waste was governed only by his own interests and convenience.Now, when a planning body convenes, one may bet that either the burro has Jain down in a flower bed or he has messed up the yard. By this time everybody is already in a lather.An appreciation of the existence of problems usually leads to a period of organizing the facts, assessing the current situation, and surveying the future possibilities. In the New England area such an assessment has recently been completed. Since that stage has been reached, it is logical to discuss the function of a planning unit as a prelude to the next phase. I should like to outline my own thoughts on this matter, but I do so without expecting to convince all others.

Bluetooth and security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivo, Penn

2004-04-01

Bluetooth is the new emerging technology for wireless communication. It can be used to connect almost any device to another device. The traditional example is to link a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or a laptop to a mobile phone. That way you can easily take remote connections with your PDA or laptop without getting your mobile phone from your pocket or messing around with cables. A Class 3 Bluetooth device has range of 0,1 - 10 meters. The architecture of Bluetooth is formed by the radio, the base frequency part and the Link Manager. Bluetooth uses the radio range of 2.45 GHz. The theoretical maximum bandwidth is 1 Mb/s, which is slowed down a bit by Forward Error Correction (FEC). Bluetooth specification designates the frequency hopping to be implemented with Gaussian Frequency Shift Keying (GFSK). The base frequency part of the Bluetooth architecture uses a combination of circuit and packet switching technologies. Bluetooth can support either one asynchronous data channel and up to three simultaneous synchronous speech channels, or one channel that transfers asynchronous data and synchronous speech simultaneously. The Link Manager is an essential part of the Bluetooth architecture. It uses Link Manager Protocol (LMP) to configure, authenticate and handle the connections between Bluetooth devices. Several Bluetooth devices can form an ad hoc network. In these piconets, one of the Bluetooth devices will act as a master and the others are slaves. The master sets the frequency-hopping behavior of the piconet. It is also possible to connect up to 10 piconets to each other to form so-called scatternets. Bluetooth has been designed to operate in noisy radio frequency environments, and uses a fast acknowledgement and frequency-hopping scheme to make the link robust, communication-wise. Bluetooth radio modules avoid interference from other signals by hopping to a new frequency after transmitting or receiving a packet. Compared with other systems operating in the same frequency band, the Bluetooth radio typically hops faster and uses shorter packets. This is because short packages and fast hopping limit the impact of microwave ovens and other sources of disturbances. Use of Forward Error Correction (FEC) limits the impact of random noise on long-distance links. Bluetooth transmissions are secure in a business and home environment. Bluetooth has built in sufficient encryption and authentication and is thus very secure in any environment. In addition to this, a frequency-hopping scheme with 1600 hops/sec. is employed. This is far quicker than any other competing system. This, together with an automatic output power adaption to reduce the range exactly to requirement, makes the system extremely difficult to eavesdrop. Information Integrity in Bluetooth has these components: Random Number Generation, Encryption, Encryption Key Management and Authentication.

Survey, Representation and Analysis of a War i Complex System of Surface and Underground Fortifications in the Gresta Valley, Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salvador, I.; Vitti, A.

2011-09-01

This work is part of a research on the use of terrestrial laser scanner, integrated with total station and GPS, for the documentation and comprehension of complex architectures in up-land sites. The research is performed in the framework of the project "Ambiente e Paesaggi dei siti di Altura Trentini" - APSAT (Environment and landscape of hill-top sites in Trentino), a multidisciplinary project focused on the evolution of hill-top anthropic system in the Trentino region, Italy. The study area is located in the Gresta Valley and this work concerns on the Nagià Grom site, fortified by the Austria-Hungarian Army during the World War I. The site has been interested by a significant restore operation of a large series of entrenches paths and fortifications in the last decade. The survey herein described has involved an area once interested by military barracks with Officers' Mess, water provision and by one of the biggest field kitchens discovered in the Trentino region. A second survey involved the tunnel connecting the ammunition depot to the artillery stations. The nature of such complex architectures, characterized by an irregular and composite 3D span leads, in general, to necessary simple surveys and representations and somehow to simplified studies too. The 3D point cloud, once filtered by the massive presence of dense vegetation, eventually constitutes a rich data set for further analyses on the spatial, geological, architectural and historical properties of the site. The analysis has been carried out on two different scales. At the architectural-scale, the comparison to historic photos has allowed to understand how the original structure of the barracks was made and to find building characters that now are lost. The on-site observation of the underground stratigraphic splices and their analysis in the 3D point cloud, e.g., spatial extension and slope, have permitted the understanding of the special excavation process guided by the practical advantage of exploiting the natural collapse of the rock along the stratigraphic splices. At the landscape-scale: the 1918's aerial photos, showing the trenches and military barracks during the World War I, have been georeferenced and compared to recent ortho- photos and DTM to evaluate the landscape changes and to assess the complete detection of the entire set of fortified structures. The analysis involved also the evaluation of the landscape visibility from some key points of the fortification and the visibility of the same fortification from the surrounding landscape. That has permitted, for example, to underline the very strategic location of the field kitchen. The availability of the 1×1m ALS DSM suggests a possible processing for the detection of the preserved surface artefacts and trenches so to extend the metric knowledge of the fortification system and to plan further surveys.

Environmental Risk Assessment for a Developing Country like India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmed, Shamsuzzaman; Saha, Indranil

2017-04-01

The developing world is facing an increased risk of accelerating disaster losses. A concrete risk assessment along with subsequent management program involving identification, mitigation and preparedness will assist in rehabilitation and reconstruction once the disaster has struck is critical to subvert the magnitude of the loss incurred. A developing country like India has been taken as an example to highlight the elements mentioned. Most countries like India in the developing world is facing a mounting challenge to promote economic growth and bring down poverty. In this scenario, significant climatic changes will not only impact key economic sectors but also add to the existing conundrum. Sudden onset of natural calamities pose an increasing problem to the developing countries for which risk management strategies need to be forged in order to deal with such hazards. If this is not the case, then a substantial diversion of financial resources to reconstruction in the post disaster phase severely messes up the budget planning process. This compromises economic growth in the long run. Envisaging cost effective mitigation measures to minimize environmental and socio economic toll from natural disasters is the immediate requirement. Often it has been found that an apparent lack of historical data on catastrophic events makes hazard assessment an extremely difficult process. For this it is useful to establish preliminary maps to identify high risk zones and justify the utilization of funds. Vulnerability studies assess the physical, social and economic consequences that result from the occurrence of a severe natural phenomenon. Also they take into account public awareness of risk and the consequent ability to cope with such risks. Risk analysis collates information from hazard assessment and vulnerability studies in the form of an estimation of probable future losses in the face of similar hazards. Promoting different governmental schemes to catastrophe risk absorption can be of great assistance for individuals in this context. Reconstruction and rehabilitation measures provide long term assistance for people having suffered major disaster losses. This will involve cooperation and participation of the local communities and stakeholders. In India the government is actively assisting the states in their response to catastrophes. India lacks an integrated system for disaster risk management, instead it is developing a loosely networked system. Here, the NGOs play a significant role in risk reduction programs. The National Natural Disaster Knowledge Network has been set up to promote a simultaneous interactive platform for all the stakeholders dealing with natural disasters. An Indian NGO like Disaster Mitigation Institute is closely working with the government to design means to address disaster loss. The apparent deficit in India is the dominance of the unorganized sector and there is an active focus in increasing the government's contribution by creating various national programs. Involvement of the private sector will also play a key role in addressing such losses in the future. There is an increasing emergence of various initiatives that can provide a meaningful platform to tackle the staggering losses incurred from severe natural hazard events.

A Study of Umbilical Communication Interface of Simulator Kernel to Enhance Visibility and Controllability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koo, Cheol Hea; Lee, Hoon Hee; Moon, Sung Tae; Han, Sang Hyuck; Ju, Gwang Hyeok

2013-08-01

In aerospace research and practical development area, increasing the usage of simulation in software development, component design and system operation has been maintained and the increasing speed getting faster. This phenomenon can be found from the easiness of handling of simulation and the powerfulness of the output from the simulation. Simulation brings lots of benefit from the several characteristics of it as following, - easy to handle ; it is never broken or damaged by mistake - never wear out ; it is never getting old - cost effective ; once it is built, it can be distributed over 100 ~ 1000 people GenSim (Generic Simulator) which is developing by KARI and compatible with ESA SMP standard provides such a simulation platform to support flight software validation and mission operation verification. User interface of GenSim is shown in Figure 1 [1,2]. As shown in Figure 1, as most simulation platform typically has, GenSim has GRD (Graphical Display) and AND (Alpha Numeric Display). But frequently more complex and powerful handling of the simulated data is required at the actual system validation for example mission operation. In Figure 2, system simulation result of COMS (Communication, Ocean, and Meteorological Satellite, launched at June 28 2008) is being drawn by Celestia 3D program. In this case, the needed data from Celestia is given by one of the simulation model resident in system simulator through UDP network connection in this case. But the requirement of displaying format, data size, and communication rate is variable so developer has to manage the connection protocol manually at each time and each case. It brings a chaos in the simulation model design and development, also to the performance issue at last. Performance issue is happen when the required data magnitude is higher than the capacity of simulation kernel to process the required data safely. The problem is that the sending data to a visualization tool such as celestia is given by a simulation model not kernel. Because the simulation model has no way to know about the status of simulation kernel load to process simulation events, as the result the simulation model sends the data as frequent as needed. This story may make many potential problems like lack of response, failure of meeting deadline and data integrity problem with the model data during the simulation. SIMSAT and EuroSim gives a warning message if the user request event such as printing log can't be processed as planned or requested. As the consequence the requested event will be delayed or not be able to be processed, and it means that this phenomenon may violate the planned deadline. In most soft real time simulation, this can be neglected and just make a little inconvenience of users. But it shall be noted that if the user request is not managed properly at some critical situation, the simulation results may be ended with a mess and chaos. As we traced the disadvantages of what simulation model provide the user request, simulation model is not appropriate to provide a service for such user request. This kind of work shall be minimized as much as possible.

PREFACE: 1st International Symposium on Electrical Arc and Thermal Plasmas in Africa (ISAPA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andre, Pascal; Koalaga, Zacharie

2012-02-01

Logos of the University of Ouagadougou, ISAPA and Universite Blaise Pascal Africa (especially Sub-Saharan Africa) is a continent where electrification is at a low level. However, the development of the electrical power sector is a prerequisite for the growth of other industrial activities, that is to say for the social and economic development of African countries. Consequently, a large number of electrification projects (rural electrification, interconnection of different country's grids) takes place in many countries. These projects need expertise and make Africa a continent of opportunity for companies in different domains for business and research: energy; energetic production, transmission, distribution and protection of electricity; the supply of cable; the construction, engineering and expertise in the field of solar and wind power. The first International Symposium on electrical Arc and thermal Plasma in Africa (ISAPA) was held for the first time in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to progress and develop the research of new physical developments, technical breakthroughs, and ideas in the fields of electrical production and electrical applications. The ISAPA aims to encourage the advancement of the science and applications of electrical power transformation in Africa by bringing together specialists from many areas in Africa and the rest of the world. Such considerations have led us to define a Scientific Committee including representatives from many countries. This first meeting was an innovative opportunity for researchers and engineers from academic and industrial sectors to exchange views and knowledge. Both fundamental aspects such as thermal plasma, electrical arc, diagnostics and applied aspects as circuit breakers, ICP analyses, photovoltaic energy conversion and alternative energies, as well as space applications were covered. The Laboratory of Material and Environment (LAME) from Ouagadougou University and the Laboratory of Electric Arc and Thermal Plasmas (LAEPT) from Blaise Pascal University have worked in close collaboration within the framework of the Organizing Committee of this new and first ISAPA symposium in Africa. We registered 40 participants from France, Portugal, Belgium, Mali, Niger, Togo, Tchad and, of course, Burkina Faso, and also through collaborative works from Russia, Poland and Ukraine. 20 papers, one poster and 3 oral contributions were presented for this first ISAPA. The ISAPA Symposium has been held with the material and financial support of the following organizations: EDULINK Program of EU-ACP; SCAC Service of the French Embassy in Burkina Faso; IRD (Institute of Development Research) Burkina Faso; ASDI/SAREC project in Burkina Faso; University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Blaise Pascal University of Clermont Ferrand, France. The opening ceremony of ISAPA Symposium was presided over by two ministers: the minister in charge of secondary and higher education (MESS) and the minister in charge of scientific research and innovation (MRSI). Thus, they have marked the interest given by the government of Burkina Faso for RAMSES Scientific Meetings such as ISAPA. Zacharie Koalaga (LAME, University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso) Pascal André (LAEPT, Blaise Pascal University, France) ISAPA 2011 Co-Chairmen of the ISAPA International Organizing Committee and editors Logos

Ringwoodite rim around olivine core in shock-induced melt veins of Antarctic chondrite : Mechanisms of transformation and Fe-Mg diffusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Z.; Li, X.; Sharp, T. G.; de Carli, P. S.

2009-12-01

Introduction: High-pressure minerals, produced by shock metamorphism, are common in and around melt veins in highly shocked chondrites. The shock duration can be constrained by using transformation kinetics, such as the crystallization rate of the melt-vein matrix[1-2], or growth rate of the high-pressure minerals [3-4], or using elements diffusion rate between two minerals [5]. Using transformation kinetics to constrain shock duration de-pend on the details of the transformation mechanism. For example, growth of topotaxial ringwoodite in olivine with coherent interfaces is slower than growth of inclusions with incoherent interfaces [4-5]. Similarly, diffusion-controlled growth, where rates are determined by long-range diffusion, is generally much slower than interface-controlled growth, which is only dependent on diffusion across the interface [6-8]. The occurrences of the high-pressure mineral rims were recently reported in shock-induced melt veins in several heavily shocked (S6) chondrites, ALH78003, Peace River and GRV052049 [9-11]. Here we report EMAP and Raman results of the ringwoodite rims around olivine cores in shock veins of the Antarctic chondrites GRV 022321, and to elucidate the mechanisms of transformation and Mg-Fe diffusion of the olivine to ringwoodite. Results: GRV022321 has a network of black veins which enclose abundant host-rock fragments. The enclosed fragments have sizes ranging from 5 µm to 30 µm, with a brighter rim up to several µm wide and a dark core in reflected light and BSE image. The Raman data reveal that the rim mineral is ringwoodite signature, and the core minerals are dominated by olivine and mixed minor ringwoodite. EMAP data confirm that the ringwoodite in rim is richer in faylite (Fa) than the olivine core. The Fa values range from 50 to 10 with the outer rim having highest Fa value, and the inside darker area with a lower value. Discussion: The occurrence of the rounded shape grains with smooth edges embedded in the fine matrix in shock-induced melt veins suggest that they are enclosed host-rock fragments and that the ringwoodite in the rim was transformed by solid-state transformation from previous olivine. The variable extent of transformation is likely a result of temperature variations during shock, with the hottest outer olivine forming the ringwoodite rim. The outer hotter ringwoodite attract more Fe than inside cooler olivine, and Mg-Fe diffusion occurs in rapid transformation at high pressure and temperature over up to 10 µm distance. The sample is unique because we can test and double check different shock duration constraints in future work. References: [1] Langenhorst and Poirier (2000) EPSL 184, 37-55. [2] Xie, Z. et al. (2006) GCA, 70. 504-515. [3] Ohtani et al. (2004) EPSL 227(3-4), 505-515. [4] Xie and Sharp (2007), EPLS, 433-445. [5] Beck, et al. (2005) Nature 435, 1071-1074. [6] Kerschhofer et al. (1996) Science 274 (5284), 79-81. [7] Kerschhofer et al. (2000) PEPI 121, 59-76. [8] Sharp and DeCarli (2006) MESS II, 653-677. [9] Ohtani et al. (2006), Shock Waves, 16:45-52. [10] Miyahara et al. (2008) Proceedings. of NAS 105,8542-8547. [11] Feng et al. (2007), MAPS 42, A45.

Accretion and Preservation of Organic Matter in Carbonaceous Chondrites as Revealed by NanoSIMS Imaging.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Remusat, L.; Guan, Y.; Eiler, J.

2008-12-01

Carbonaceous chondrites are the most primitive known meteorites. Their parent bodies accreted several discrete components of the early solar system: CAIs, other silicates, oxides, sulfides, ice, organics, and noble gases. Radioactive decay of short live radionucleides quickly heated these parent bodies and drove thermal metamorphism and aqueous alteration of their constituents. Despite this post-acretionary modification, at least some components of the organic matter in the carbaceous chondrites retained distinctive isotopic and molecular properties that may relate to their pre-acretionary origins in the protosolar nebula or in the molecular cloud that gave birth to it [1]. These processes that gave rise to early solar-system organic matter and the extent to which it was modified by parent body processes are still a matter of debate [2]. We have acquired NanoSIMS images of matrices of several CI, CM, CR and CV chondrites to document, in- situ, the distribution of organics and their textural and chemical relationships to co-existing inorganic components. Importantly, we performed these analyses on essentially unmodified fragments of matrix material pressed into indium, rather than on extracts, which have been the focus of most previous work on meteoritic organic matter. Specifically, we simultaneously collected H, D, 12C, 18O, 26CN, 28Si and 32S with a spatial resolution of 200 nm. Inorganic constituents of the imaged domains were determined by SEM imaging and EDS analysis. We identify two textural classes of organic constituents: diffuse organic matter and organic particles ~ 1 micron in diameter. The particles are common and do not exhibit any textural association with any inorganic matrix constituent. This distribution is consistent with previous observations by fluorescence optical microscopy [3]. These organic particles are likely primarily composed of insoluble organic matter (IOM) that grew prior to accretion as pure organic particules and was preserved in the matrix. In contrast to some observations of nm-scale HRTEM observations of chondritic matrices [4], organics do not seem to be associated with sulfides or sulfates. Instead, they are found intermixed with clay minerals within the matrix. We also found that a subset of organic particles in the matrices of CI, CM and CR chondrites are D rich (as previously reported by [5]). Profiles across these particles reveal that no significant isotopic exchange has occurred between these D-rich organic grains and the surrounding clays. This suggests that the isotopic composition of these grains remained unchanged during the parent body evolution, in contrast with conclusions from bulk measurements [2]. It has been previously suggested that relatively D-depleted water circulated through the parent bodies of the volatile-rich carbonaceous chondrites for 3 My. Known rates of water mobility through polymerized organic compounds and of D/H exchange between organic hydrogen and water lead one to predict that organic particles should have fully equilibrated with their surrounding phases in much less time than this. We speculate that this paradox might be evidence for exceptionally refractory character of H-C bonds in meteoritic IOM, or extreme D-exchange behavior of some organic moieties like radicals evidenced in IOM. [1] Pizzarello et al. (2006) in MESS II 625-651; [2] Alexander et al. (2007) GCA 71, 4380-4403 ; [3] Alpern and Benkheiri (1973) EPSL 19, 422-428; [4] Brearley and Abreu 32th LPSC; [5] Busemann et al (2006) Science 312, 727-730.

Women and the Hanford Site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerber, Michele

2014-03-01

When we study the technical and scientific history of the Manhattan Project, women's history is sometimes left out. At Hanford, a Site whose past is rich with hard science and heavy construction, it is doubly easy to leave out women's history. After all, at the World War II Hanford Engineer Works - the earliest name for the Hanford Site - only nine percent of the employees were women. None of them were involved in construction, and only one woman was actually involved in the physics and operations of a major facility - Dr. Leona Woods Marshall. She was a physicist present at the startup of B-Reactor, the world's first full-scale nuclear reactor - now a National Historic Landmark. Because her presence was so unique, a special bathroom had to be built for her in B-Reactor. At World War II Hanford, only two women were listed among the nearly 200 members of the top supervisory staff of the prime contractor, and only one regularly attended the staff meetings of the Site commander, Colonel Franklin Matthias. Overall, women comprised less than one percent of the managerial and supervisory staff of the Hanford Engineer Works, most of them were in nursing or on the Recreation Office staff. Almost all of the professional women at Hanford were nurses, and most of the other women of the Hanford Engineer Works were secretaries, clerks, food-service workers, laboratory technicians, messengers, barracks workers, and other support service employees. The one World War II recruiting film made to attract women workers to the Site, that has survived in Site archives, is entitled ``A Day in the Life of a Typical Hanford Girl.'' These historical facts are not mentioned to criticize the past - for it is never wise to apply the standards of one era to another. The Hanford Engineer Works was a 1940s organization, and it functioned by the standards of the 1940s. Just as we cannot criticize the use of asbestos in constructing Hanford (although we may wish they hadn't used so much of it), we cannot criticize the employment realities or the social practices of those days. If we can simply understand the past, then maybe we can learn from it. This presentation will highlight the success stories of many of Hanford's women. About 4,000 women came to the gargantuan, remote desert location, most of them young and away from home for the first time. Almost all of them were coming to a place they had never heard of and undertaking a mission that could not be explained to them because it was Top Secret. Faced with decidedly unequal opportunity, they came and took the jobs that were available, because they felt a personal dedication to the war effort. They had fun at Hanford, despite living in dusty barracks and eating mess hall food, and they left their mark on Hanford and its memories in many ways. Without them, the Site could not have functioned, and the war might not have been won as soon as it was. They then became the grandmothers of Richland, Washington, who told their stories to me in the 1990s. This presentation will show the lives of these women at Hanford during the Manhattan Project, as they worked to make the best of the situation, contribute and do their jobs. Their feelings about the work 50 years later will also be discussed.

Chemical leaching methods and measurements of marine labile particulate Fe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Revels, B. N.; John, S.

2012-12-01

Iron (Fe) is an essential nutrient for life. Yet its low solubility and concentration in the ocean limits marine phytoplankton productivity in many regions of the world. Dissolved phase Fe (<0.4μm) has traditionally been considered the most biologically accessible form, however, the particulate phase (>0.4μm) may contain an important, labile reservoir of Fe that may also be available to phytoplankton. However, concentration data alone cannot elucidate the sources of particulate Fe to the ocean and to what extent particulate iron may support phytoplankton growth. Isotopic analysis of natural particles may help to elucidate the biogeochemical cycling of Fe, though it is important to find a leaching method which accesses bioavailable Fe. Thirty-three different chemical leaches were performed on a marine sediment reference material, MESS-3. The combinations included four different acids (25% acetic acid, 0.01M HCl, 0.5M HCl, 0.1M H2SO4 at pH2), various redox conditions (0.02M hydroxylamine hydrochloride or 0.02M H2O2), three temperatures (25°C, 60°C, 90°C), and three time points (10 minutes, 2 hours, 24 hours). Leached Fe concentrations varied from 1mg/g to 35mg/g, with longer treatment times, stronger acids, and hotter temperatures generally associated with an increase in leached Fe. δ56Fe in these leaches varied from -1.0‰ to +0.2‰. Interestingly, regardless of leaching method used, there was a very similar relationship between the amount of Fe leached from the particles and the δ56Fe of this iron. Isotopically lighter δ56Fe values were associated with smaller amounts of leached Fe whereas isotopically heavier δ56Fe values were associated with larger amounts of leached Fe. Two alternate hypotheses could explain these data. Either, the particles may contain pools of isotopically light Fe that are easily accessed early in dissolution, or isotopically light Fe may be preferentially leached from the particle due to a kinetic isotope effect during dissolution. To explore the first hypothesis, we modeled dissolution of Fe from particles assuming two separate pools, labile and refractory. The model produces a good fit to the data assuming 3mg/g of a labile Fe pool with δ56Fe = -0.9‰ and a refractory Fe pool with δ56Fe = +0.1‰. If the second hypothesis is true, and there is a kinetic isotope effect during dissolution, the similar relationship between amount of Fe leached and δ56Fe for both organic and mineral acids suggests that Fe is leached from particles via proton-promoted dissolution. Several of these leaching techniques will be employed on sediment trap material from the Cariaco Basin to further investigate the relationship between δ56Fe and the labile, bioavailable fraction of iron particles. A leach or series of leaches will be chosen to provide the most useful information about the bioavailability of iron from particles, and they will be applied to filtered particle samples from portions of the US GEOTRACES A10 (North Atlantic) transect. δ56Fe values from particulate material in these regions will provide a better understanding of the sources of particulate iron to the ocean, and may help to trace how particulate iron is involved in global biogeochemical cycles.

Double Mantle Plume Upwelling—A Possible Formation Mechanism of Beta Plateau and Devana Chasma,Venus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, N.

2009-12-01

Ning Ding,Zuoxun Zeng,China University of Geosciences,Wuhan,430074,China NingDing.eagle@gmail.com Introduction:Venus represents a‘one plate planet’[1],and the uplift,fractures and volcanism in Beta Regio on Venus are considered to be formed by lithosphere uplift driven by a hot plume[2]. Based on the double peaking saddle landform,we suggest the tectonic pattern of double mantle plume upwelling to interpret the formation mechanism of Beta Plateau and Devana Chasma.We take a physical modeling to validate this possibility. Model:There is no ductile shear in Venus[3],so we use quartz sands to simulate the crust of Venus.We use two wood stickes 1.5cm in diameter rising from the rubber canvas slowly and straight till about half of the model,then falling down slowly and straight.The base is a hard rubber plate,in the center of which,there are two holes 3cm in diameter,and the distance between them is 5cm.The holes are covered by rubber canvas.We use the quartz sands in colours of white, red and black with particle size of 70 mess as the model materials. Result:Fig.1:At the beginning of the wood stickes upwelling,only fine radial cracks are formed above the upwelling from central to outside.With the upwelling continue,surface energy of the fine radial cracks increase and make the cracks unstable,finally,the fine radial cracks connect each other and form a fracture zone.And then the two mantle plume downwelling,the fracture zone is developed to form a chasma at the end. Fig.2:The four profiles all form reverse faults outside and normal faults inside.But the difference is the faults in the middle of the chasma goes deeper than others.It is the pattern of Beta Plateau where the tectonic rising is cut by Devana Chasma zone in the topographic features. Fig.3:From the tow fig., we can see two points similar:a.the elevation is high and distribution area is large around the area of two upwelling and it is high around the area of chasma,but the distribution area is small;b.both of them shows saddle shape and two highland connectting bya chasma. Discussion:Based on the‘Geology Map of V-17’,two highlands of Northern part of Devana Chasma,but the material Unit of North and South highland are different.The material Units of North highland are the oldest unit tt and t,the material Unit of South highland is pl and the material Unit of rift is r are both the youngest unit.From the Magellan SAR mosaic[5],we can clearly see Devana Chasma cut the material Unit of tt and pl.So the two highlands of Northern part of Devana Chasma are simultaneous formed.The younger material Unit of South highland of Northern part of Devana Chasma is because of the volcanic eruption of Theia Mons. Conclusion:The physical modeling validates the model of the double plume upwelling is a possible explanation. Acknowledgements:This research was supported by the National Teaching Bases For Geology(CUG)foundation funded. References:[1]I.López,Icarus2008[2]A.T.Basilevsky,Icarus2007[3]J.C.Aubele,2009,LPSC[4]A.V.Vezolainen,2003,Journalofgeophysicalres5earch[5]http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/images/v17_comp&v29_comp.pdf Fig.1 Fig.2 Fig.3a,3b

When Worlds Collide: Chandra Observes Titanic Merger

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2002-04-01

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has provided the best X-ray image yet of two Milky Way-like galaxies in the midst of a head-on collision. Since all galaxies - including our own - may have undergone mergers, this provides insight into how the universe came to look as it does today. Astronomers believe the mega-merger in the galaxy known as Arp 220 triggered the formation of huge numbers of new stars, sent shock waves rumbling through intergalactic space, and could possibly lead to the formation of a supermassive black hole in the center of the new conglomerate galaxy. The Chandra data also suggest that merger of these two galaxies began only 10 million years ago, a short time in astronomical terms. "The Chandra observations show that things really get messed up when two galaxies run into each other at full speed," said David Clements of the Imperial College, London, one of the team members involved in the study. "The event affects everything from the formation of massive black holes to the dispersal of heavy elements into the universe." Arp 220 is considered to be a prototype for understanding what conditions were like in the early universe, when massive galaxies and supermassive black holes were presumably formed by numerous galaxy collisions. At a relatively nearby distance of about 250 million light years, Arp 220 is the closest example of an "ultra-luminous" galaxy, one that gives off a trillion times as much radiation as our Sun. The Chandra image shows a bright central region at the waist of a glowing, hour-glass-shaped cloud of multimillion-degree gas. Rushing out of the galaxy at hundreds of thousands of miles per hour, the super-heated as forms a "superwind," thought to be due to explosive activity generated by the formation of hundreds of millions of new stars. Farther out, spanning a distance of 75,000 light years, are giant lobes of hot gas that could be galactic remnants flung into intergalactic space by the early impact of the collision. Whether the lobes will continue to expand into space or fall back into Arp 220 is unknown. The center of Arp 220 is of particular interest. Chandra observations allowed astronomers to pinpoint an X-ray source at the exact location of the nucleus of one of the pre-merger galaxies. Another fainter X-ray source nearby may coincide with the nucleus of the other galaxy remnant. The X-ray power output of these point-like sources is greater than expected for stellar black holes accreting from companion stars. The authors suggest that these sources could be due to supermassive black holes at the centers of the merging galaxies. These two remnant sources are relatively weak, and provide strong evidence to support the theory that the extraordinary luminosity of Arp 220 - about a hundred times that of our Milky Way galaxy - is due to the rapid rate of star formation and not to an active, supermassive black hole in the center. However, in a few hundred million years, this balance of power may change. The two massive black holes could merge to produce a central supermassive black hole. This new arrangement could cause much more gas to fall into the central black hole, creating a power source equal to or greater than that due to star formation. "The unusual concentration of X-ray sources in the very center of Arp 220 suggests that we could be observing the early stages of the creation of a supermassive black hole and the eventual rise to power of an active galactic nucleus," said Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, another member of the team studying Arp 220. Clements and McDowell were joined on this research by an international group of researchers from the United States, United Kingdom and Spain. Chandra observed Arp 220 on June 24, 2000, for approximately 56,000 seconds using the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) instrument. ACIS was developed for NASA by Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program, and TRW, Inc., Redondo Beach, Calif., is the prime contractor. The Smithsonian's Chandra X-ray Center controls science and flight operations from Cambridge, Mass.

PREFACE: Selected invited contributions from the International Conference on Magnetism (Karlsruhe, Germany, 26-31 July 2009) Selected invited contributions from the International Conference on Magnetism (Karlsruhe, Germany, 26-31 July 2009)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goll, Gernot; Löhneysen, Hilbert v.; Loidl, Alois; Pruschke, Thomas; Richter, Manuel; Schultz, Ludwig; Sürgers, Christoph; Wosnitza, Jochen

2010-04-01

The International Conference on Magnetism 2009 (ICM 2009) was held in Karlsruhe, Germany, from 26 to 31 July 2009. Previous conferences in this series were organized in Edinburgh, UK (1991), Warsaw, Poland (1994), Cairns, Australia (1997), Recife, Brazil (2000), Rome, Italy (2003), and Kyoto, Japan (2006). As with previous ICM conferences, the annual Conference on Strongly Correlated Electron Systems (SCES) was integrated into ICM 2009. The topics presented at ICM 2009 were strongly correlated electron systems, quantum and classical spin systems, magnetic structures and interactions, magnetization dynamics and micromagnetics, spin-dependent transport, spin electronics, magnetic thin films, particles and nanostructures, soft and hard magnetic materials and their applications, novel materials and device applications, magnetic recording and memories, measuring techniques and instrumentation, as well as interdisciplinary topics. We are grateful to the International Advisory Committee for their help in coordinating an attractive program encompassing practically all aspects of magnetism, both experimentally and theoretically. The Program Committee comprised A Loidl, Germany (Chair), M A Continentino, Brazil, D E Dahlberg, USA, D Givord, France, G Güntherodt, Germany, H Mikeska, Germany, D Kaczorowski, Poland, Ching-Ray Chang, South Korea, I Mertig, Germany, D Vollhardt, Germany, and E F Wassermann, Germany. E F Wassermann was also head of the National Organizing Committee. His help is gratefully acknowledged. The scientific program started on Monday 27 July 2009 with opening addresses by the Conference Chairman, the Deputy Mayor of Karlsruhe, Ms M Mergen and the Chairman of the Executive Board of Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, E Umbach. ICM 2009 was attended by the Nobel Laureates P W Anderson, A Fert and P Grünberg who gave plenary talks. A special highlight was the presentation of the Magnetism Award and Néel Medal to S S P Parkin who also presented his newest results in a plenary talk. The IUPAP Young Scientist Award on Magnetism was presented to S O Valenzuela, E Saitoh and T Kimura. The sessions were held in the Stadthalle Karlsuhe operated by the Karlsruher Messe- und Kongress-GmbH (KMK). We are grateful to Ms M Mäkelburg (KMK) for organizing the conference site impeccably. The conference was attended by 1552 participants from 48 countries, with approximately 50 per cent from overseas. The program entailed six plenary talks (40 min each), with 16 half-plenary and 41 invited talks (30 min) and 298 contributed talks (15 min). Extended lunch breaks and evenings were devoted to poster sessions, with a total of 1632 posters presented. All submitted papers were reviewed in order to meet the standards of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter and Journal of Physics: Conference Series. The referees made every effort to ensure that the manuscripts submitted for publication in the proceedings reached a high standard. The tremendous work in organizing the paper classification and refereeing procedures was carried out by the Publication Committee which was headed by J Wosnitza, and comprised, in addition, Th Pruschke, M Richter and L Schultz. We also thank G Douglas, IOP Publishing, for his support with the preparation of these proceedings. We gratefully acknowledge the help of L Behrens, E Maass and B Schelske in preparing the conference. The conference would not have been possible without G Goll (conference secretary) and C Sürgers (finances). I thank them for their help. Thanks also go to the many students in blue t-shirts who helped to manage the conference. We are grateful for the financial support of Universität Karlsruhe (TH) and Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (both institutions merged to form the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) as of 1 October 2009), the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), the City of Karlsruhe, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German National Science Foundation), and the European Commission through COST MPNS Action P16. Hilbert v Löhneysen Conference Chairman of ICM 2009 Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany

Ecological and climatic consequences of phase instability of gas hydrates on the ocean bed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balanyuk, I.; Dmitrievsky, A.; Akivis, T.; Chaikina, O.

2009-04-01

Nowadays, an intensive development of shelf zone in relation with hydrocarbons production and underwater pipelining is in process. The order of the day is execution of engineering works in non-consolidated sediment and investigation of underwater slopes instability. The problem of reliable operational behavior of underwater constructions poses completely new tasks for engineers and developers. Wide spread of has hydrates in bottom sediments is not only the possibility of hydrocarbon reserves increase but, in the same time, is a serious industrial and ecological problem. One of the most complicated engineering problems under the condition of instability of has hydrate deposits on the sea bed is operation of the sea fields, oil platforms construction and pipelining. The constructors faced the similar problem while designing the "Russia-Turkey" gas pipeline. Because of instability and specificity of gas hydrates bedding their production is very problematic and is related mostly to the future technologies. Nevertheless, they attract more and more attention due to limited hydrocarbon reserves all over the world. On a quarter of the land and on nine tenth of the World Ocean thermodynamic conditions are favourable to accumulation and deposition of natural gas hydrates. Sufficiently high pressure and low temperature necessary for gas hydrates formation are observed usually on the sea bed at depths more than 1000 m. Mean water temperature in the World Ocean at depths 1 km don't exceeds 5°С, and at depths 2 km and more - 2°С. In sub-polar zones the mean water temperature is close to 0°С for the whole year. In the tropic regions gas hydrates are able to form and accumulate from the depth of 300 m and in the polar regions - from the depth of only 100 m. Being warmed up, gas hydrate melts and dissociated into free gas and water. Drilling of the gas hydrate deposits is very dangerous because the heat produced by the bore can melt gas hydrate and release huge amount of energy and gas that leads to explosion. Methane is the main natural source for power engineering specialists. It is transported by pipelines, and gas hydrate is dangerous in this case too. It can block the gas pipeline system forming the so-called "trombus" of "thermal ice". After that the pipes have to be opened. The mess of this strange ice discovered melts immediately releasing methane and water vapor. The trombus formation can be prevented by the temperature increase or the pressure decrease. Both methods are very uncomfortable under the conditions the pipelines work. The better method is thorough drying up of the gas because gas hydrate obviously cannot be formed without water. Gas hydrates attract attention not only as a fuel and chemical stuff but in relation to a serious anxiety of strong ecological and climatic problems that can occur as a result of methane release to the atmosphere due to both gas hydrate deposits development and minor changes in thermodynamic conditions in the vicinity of a threshold of gas hydrate phase stability. One of the most probable causes is the global warming of the Earth due to the hothouse effect because the specific absorption of the Earth heat radiation by methane (radiation effectivity) is 21 times higher than its absorption by carbonic gas. Analysis of the air trapped by polar ice show that contemporary increase of methane concentration in the atmosphere is unexampled for the last 160 thousands of years. The sources of this increase are not clear. Observer and latent methane bursts during natural gas hydrates decomposition can be considered as a probable source. Amount of methane hided in natural gas hydrates is 3000 times higher its amount in the atmosphere. Release of this hothouse potential would have terrible consequences for the humanity. The warming can cause further gas hydrates decomposition and released methane will cause the following warming. Thus, self-accelerating process can start. The most vulnerable for the climate changes are gas hydrate deposits of the Arctic continental shelves. Thanks to sea level rise gas hydrates are washed by the waters of the Arctic Ocean and suffer of the surface water temperature increase by 100С and more for the last 10 thousand years. For this gas hydrates source the temperature 0-2оC is crucial. For the higher temperature the self-conservation effect stops and avalanche gas hydrate decomposition starts. The natural thermal and pressure conditions are very close to the stability threshold of gas hydrates. Because of this even minor changes can lead to gas hydrates decomposition and uncontrolled bursts, gas leakage to the atmosphere, explosions, fires, increase of the hothouse effect and can be a cause of mechanical instability of engineering constructions.

Summary of Glue Tests 1993

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bell, D.; /Fermilab

1993-01-07

I have reported most of the results of my adhesive testing to members of the VLPC design team at one time or another, usually verbally, but I am wnnng this summary as an easy reference to the results I obtained. The adhesives I tested were for two primary purposes. The first was adhering optical fibers to Torlon 7130; the other was for securing an aluminum nitride substrate to the same material. I have not had access to a scanning electron microscope and someone with the knowledge to determine actual failure mechanisms, so the deductions I have made about why somemore » adhesives have worked well at low temperatures for some purposes and not for other applications while a different material never worked and another always worked are partially speculation. They should be taken merely at face value with no particular results 'carved in stone' so to speak. The first aspect of my testing was adhesion of optical fiber to torlon. Knowing that this is a very important joint, I tested a variety of glues of two primary types: acrylic and W cure. W cure adhesives are known to possess reasonably good properties at low temperatures and are quite convenient to use as long as a W source is available. The W cure adhesives I tested were: Loctite Utak 376 and also 7EN484(?), Master Bond 1 Component W 15-7, and Norland optical adhesive 61. I found them quite easy to use, and they were packaged in a way in which they were not likely to cause a mess. Lab 6 e Perimenters generally used the Loctite 376 optical cure adhesive in their research into connecting scintillating fibers to the standard type. The acrylics I tested were Loctite Speed Bonder 324 and Permabond Quick Bond 610. These worked reasonably well, but they require a considerably longer set time than the W cure adhesives and are more complicated to use. (5 minutes set time or so for the acrylics versus about 30 seconds for the W. The Loctite must have the activator applied about 5 minutes prior to the adhesive application and the Permabond must be mixed adequately.) I also used a cyanoacrylate ester (superglue type) adhesive which appeared to function adequately in this test, but I would not recommend it for extended use, and I am certain neither would anyone else. I would highly recommend using a W curing adhesive for this purpose if the adhesives and the W treatment can be determined to cause no damage to the fibers. There is no apparent physical damage, but transmission could potentially be damaged. The final optical fiber to torlon test that I did involved testing to see if individual fibers could hold the weight of the entire VlPC copper isotherm in the event that a small number of fibers shrink more than the others as the cryostat is cooled down. While this test was primarily for the purpose of testing the fibers themselves, I constructed a new sample to avoid breaking the others that had already been finished. The adhesive I used for this test was 3M 3535 BIA two part urethane adhesive. I had no problems whatsoever with this product, but like the other two part adhesives, it is considerably less convenient and more messy than the W curing adhesives. The short pot life of this adhesive was also a reason to avoid urethane, since mixing would be required frequently. The other portion of the adhesive testing for the VLPC that I performed was the adhesion of the substrate to the torlon used as a carrier. This bond is extremely small in practice, and I could not completely simulate the size and likely construction methods. I used larger pieces than those that will be bonded, but the primary goal of these tests was to test the performance of the adhesives. These tests contained harsher conditions of temperature changes and loadings than the substrates are likely to meet. By lightly loading the substrates before and after the cooling, it is possible to see if the cold temperatures had any effect on the adhesive-torlon interface, the adhesivesubstrate interface, or the adhesive itself. I tested about 10 adhesives intensely. In addition to these tests I also talked to people with about 20 different adhesive manufactures (maybe more) and Jay Hoffman, an adhesive expert here at the Lab. The general consensus from the. people that I spoke with is that the temperature range near liquid helium is very harsh and many adhesives that set quickly are not able to withstand these temperatures. Only one of the companies that I spoke with had any experience with temperatures that low (they made adhesives for space applications). I will go over each adhesive used in my testing. In addition, I will describe and speculate on the cause of any failures.« less

PREFACE: The 16th International Symposium on Boron, Borides and Related Materials (ISBB 2008)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanaka, Takaho

2009-07-01

This volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series contains invited and contributed peer-reviewed papers that were presented at the 16th International Symposium on Boron, Borides and Related Materials (ISBB 2008), which was held on 7-12 September 2008, at Kunibiki Messe, Matsue, Japan. This triennial symposium has a half-century long history starting from the 1st meeting in 1959 at Asbury Park, New Jersey. We were very pleased to organize ISBB 2008, which gathered chemists, physicists, materials scientists as well as diamond and high-pressure researchers. This meeting had a strong background in the boron-related Japanese research history, which includes the discovery of superconductivity in MgB2 and development of Nd-Fe-B hard magnets and of YB66 soft X-ray monochromator. The scope of ISBB 2008 spans both basic and applied interdisciplinary research that is centered on boron, borides and related materials, and the collection of articles defines the state of the art in research on these materials. The topics are centered on: 1. Preparation of new materials (single crystals, thin films, nanostructures, ceramics, etc) under normal or extreme conditions. 2. Crystal structure and chemical bonding (new crystal structures, nonstoichiometry, defects, clusters, quantum-chemical calculations). 3. Physical and chemical properties (band structure, phonon spectra, superconductivity; optical, electrical, magnetic, emissive, mechanical properties; phase diagrams, thermodynamics, catalytic activity, etc) in a wide range of temperatures and pressures. 4. Applications and prospects (thermoelectric converters, composites, ceramics, coatings, etc) There were a few discoveries of new materials, such as nanomaterials, and developments in applications. Many contributions were related to 4f heavy Fermion systems of rare-earth borides. Exotic mechanisms of magnetism and Kondo effects have been discussed, which may indicate another direction of development of boride. Two special sessions, 'Boron chemistry' and 'Superconductivity', were also held at the symposium. The session on Boron chemistry was planned to honor the scientific work in boron chemistry of Professor J Bauer on the occasion of his retirement. Many recent results were discussed in the session, and Professor Bauer himself introduced novel rare-earth-boron-carbon compounds RE10B7C10 (RE = Gd - Er) in his lecture. In the latter session, on the basis of recent discoveries of superconductivity in MgB2 and in β-boron under high pressure, the superconductivity of boron and related materials was discussed and the superconductivity of boron-doped diamond was also addressed. More than 120 participants from 16 countries attended the ISBB 2008, and active presentations (22 invited, 33 oral and 68 posters) and discussions suggest that research on boron and borides is entering a new phase of development. This volume contains 46 articles from 52 submitted manuscripts. The reviewers were invited not only from symposium participants but also from specialists worldwide, and they did a great job of evaluating and commenting on the submitted manuscripts to maintain the highest quality standard of this volume. Recent discoveries of superconductivity in boron under high pressure, synthesis of a new allotrope of boron and of various boron and boride nanostructures will lead this highly interdisciplinary field of science, which will further grow and gain attention in terms of both basic and applied research. In this context, we are very much looking forward to the next symposium, which will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2011, organized by Professor Onuralp Yucel, Istanbul Technical University. Turkey currently has the world highest share of borate production and is expected to be involved more in boron-related research. Acknowledgements We gratefully acknowledge the style improvement by Dr K Iakoubovskii, and sincerely thank Shimane Prefecture and Matsue City for their financial support. The symposium was also supported by Tokyo University of Science, Suwa and foundations including, the Kajima Foundation, Foundation for Promotion of Material Science and Technology of Japan and Nippon Sheet Glass Foundation for Materials Science and Engineering, as well as companies including JFE Steel Corporation, Shincron Co, Ltd, Toyo Kohan Co, Ltd, Fukuda Metal Foil and Powder Co, Ltd, Japan New Metals Co, Ltd, H C Starck Ltd and Fritsch Japan Co, Ltd. Editors Chair Takaho Tanaka (National Institute for Materials Science, Japan) Vice chairs Koun Shirai (Osaka University, Japan) Kaoru Kimura (The University of Tokyo, Japan) Ken-ichi Takagi (Tokyo City University, Japan) Touetsu Shishido (Tohoku University, Japan) Shigeru Okada (Kokushikan University) Hideaki Itoh (Nagoya University,Japan) Katsumitsu Nakamura (Nihon University, Japan) Organizing committee of ISBB 2008 K Takagi Chairman (Tokyo City University) T Tanaka Program Committee Chairman (National Institute for Materials Science) K Kimura Secretary (The University of Tokyo) J Akimitsu (Aoyama University)K Shirai (Osaka University) H Itoh (Nagoya University)T Shishido (Tohoku University) K Nakamura (Nihon University)K Soga (Tokyo University of Science) K Nishiyama (Tokyo University of Science, Suwa)M Takeda (Nagaoka University of Technology) S Okada (Kokushikan University)Y Yamazaki (Toyo Kohan Co, Ltd) International Scientific Committee 0f ISBB (2008-2011) K Takagi Chairman (Japan) B Albert (Germany) J-F Halet (France) M Takeda (Japan) M Antadze (Georgia) H Hillebrecht (Germany) T Tanaka (Japan) J Bauer (France) W Jung (Germany) R Telle (Germany) I Boustani (Germany) K Kimura (Japan) M Trenary (USA) D Emin (USA) T Mori (Japan) O Tsagareishvili (Georgia) M Engler (Germany) P D Ownby (USA) H Werheit (Germany) N Frage (Israel) P Rogl (Austria) G Will (Germany) Yu Grin (Germany) S Shalamberidze (Georgia) O Yucel (Turkey) V N Gurin (Russia) N Shitsevalova (Ukraine) G Zhang (China)

Editorial: Focus on X-ray Beams with High Coherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinson, Ian; Gruebel, Gerhard; Mochrie, Simon

2010-03-01

This editorial serves as the preface to a special issue of New Journal of Physics, which collects together solicited papers on a common subject, x-ray beams with high coherence. We summarize the issue's content, and explain why there is so much current interest both in the sources themselves and in the applications to the study of the structure of matter and its fluctuations (both spontaneous and driven). As this collection demonstrates, the field brings together accelerator physics in the design of new sources, particle physics in the design of detectors, and chemical and materials scientists who make use of the coherent beams produced. Focus on X-ray Beams with High Coherence Contents Femtosecond pulse x-ray imaging with a large field of view B Pfau, C M Günther, S Schaffert, R Mitzner, B Siemer, S Roling, H Zacharias, O Kutz, I Rudolph, R Treusch and S Eisebitt The FERMI@Elettra free-electron-laser source for coherent x-ray physics: photon properties, beam transport system and applications E Allaria, C Callegari, D Cocco, W M Fawley, M Kiskinova, C Masciovecchio and F Parmigiani Beyond simple exponential correlation functions and equilibrium dynamics in x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy Anders Madsen, Robert L Leheny, Hongyu Guo, Michael Sprung and Orsolya Czakkel The Coherent X-ray Imaging (CXI) instrument at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) Sébastien Boutet and Garth J Williams Dynamics and rheology under continuous shear flow studied by x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy Andrei Fluerasu, Pawel Kwasniewski, Chiara Caronna, Fanny Destremaut, Jean-Baptiste Salmon and Anders Madsen Exploration of crystal strains using coherent x-ray diffraction Wonsuk Cha, Sanghoon Song, Nak Cheon Jeong, Ross Harder, Kyung Byung Yoon, Ian K Robinson and Hyunjung Kim Coherence properties of the European XFEL G Geloni, E Saldin, L Samoylova, E Schneidmiller, H Sinn, Th Tschentscher and M Yurkov Fresnel coherent diffractive imaging: treatment and analysis of data G J Williams, H M Quiney, A G Peele and K A Nugent Imaging of complex density in silver nanocubes by coherent x-ray diffraction R Harder, M Liang, Y Sun, Y Xia and I K Robinson Methodology for studying strain inhomogeneities in polycrystalline thin films during in situ thermal loading using coherent x-ray diffraction N Vaxelaire, H Proudhon, S Labat, C Kirchlechner, J Keckes, V Jacques, S Ravy, S Forest and O Thomas Ptychographic coherent diffractive imaging of weakly scattering specimens Martin Dierolf, Pierre Thibault, Andreas Menzel, Cameron M Kewish, Konstantins Jefimovs, Ilme Schlichting, Konstanze von König, Oliver Bunk and Franz Pfeiffer Dose requirements for resolving a given feature in an object by coherent x-ray diffraction imaging Andreas Schropp and Christian G Schroer FLASH: new opportunities for (time-resolved) coherent imaging of nanostructures R Treusch and J Feldhaus Structure of a single particle from scattering by many particles randomly oriented about an axis: toward structure solution without crystallization? D K Saldin, V L Shneerson, M R Howells, S Marchesini, H N Chapman, M Bogan, D Shapiro, R A Kirian, U Weierstall, K E Schmidt and J C H Spence Analysis of strain and stacking faults in single nanowires using Bragg coherent diffraction imaging V Favre-Nicolin, F Mastropietro, J Eymery, D Camacho, Y M Niquet, B M Borg, M E Messing, L-E Wernersson, R E Algra, E P A M Bakkers, T H Metzger, R Harder and I K Robinson Coherent science at the SwissFEL x-ray laser B D Patterson, R Abela, H-H Braun, U Flechsig, R Ganter, Y Kim, E Kirk, A Oppelt, M Pedrozzi, S Reiche, L Rivkin, Th Schmidt, B Schmitt, V N Strocov, S Tsujino and A F Wrulich Energy recovery linac (ERL) coherent hard x-ray sources Donald H Bilderback, Joel D Brock, Darren S Dale, Kenneth D Finkelstein, Mark A Pfeifer and Sol M Gruner Statistical and coherence properties of radiation from x-ray free-electron lasers E L Saldin, E A Schneidmiller and M V Yurkov Microscopic return point memory in Co/Pd multilayer films K A Seu, R Su, S Roy, D Parks, E Shipton, E E Fullerton and S D Kevan Holographic and diffractive x-ray imaging using waveguides as quasi-point sources K Giewekemeyer, H Neubauer, S Kalbfleisch, S P Krüger and T Salditt Mapping the conformations of biological assemblies P Schwander, R Fung, G N Phillips Jr and A Ourmazd Imaging the displacement field within epitaxial nanostructures by coherent diffraction: a feasibility study Ana Diaz, Virginie Chamard, Cristian Mocuta, Rogerio Magalhães-Paniago, Julian Stangl, Dina Carbone, Till H Metzger and Günther Bauer The potential for two-dimensional crystallography of membrane proteins at future x-ray free-electron laser sources Cameron M Kewish, Pierre Thibault, Oliver Bunk and Franz Pfeiffer Coherence properties of hard x-ray synchrotron sources and x-ray free-electron lasers I A Vartanyants and A Singer Coherent imaging of biological samples with femtosecond pulses at the free-electron laser FLASH A P Mancuso, Th Gorniak, F Staier, O M Yefanov, R Barth, C Christophis, B Reime, J Gulden, A Singer, M E Pettit, Th Nisius, Th Wilhein, C Gutt, G Grübel, N Guerassimova, R Treusch, J Feldhaus, S Eisebitt, E Weckert, M Grunze, A Rosenhahn and I A Vartanyants

Design challenges for matrix assisted pulsed laser evaporation and infrared resonant laser evaporation equipment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greer, James A.

2011-11-01

Since the development of the Matrix Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation (MAPLE) process by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in the late 1990s, MAPLE has become an active area of research for the deposition of a variety of polymer, biological, and organic thin films. As is often the case with advancements in thin-film deposition techniques new technology sometimes evolves by making minor or major adjustments to existing deposition process equipment and techniques. This is usually the quickest and least expensive way to try out new ideas and to "push the envelope" in order to obtain new and unique scientific results as quickly as possible. This process of "tweaking" current equipment usually works to some degree, but once the new process is further refined overall designs for a new deposition tool based on the critical attributes of the new process typically help capitalize more fully on the all the salient features of the new and improved process. This certainly has been true for the MAPLE process. In fact the first MAPLE experiments the polymer/solvent matrix was mixed and poured into a copper holder held at LN2 temperature on a laboratory counter top. The holder was then quickly placed onto a LN2 cooled reservoir in a vacuum deposition chamber and placed in a vertical position on a LN2 cooled stage and pumped down as quickly as possible. If the sample was not placed into the chamber quickly enough the frozen matrix would melt and drip into the bottom of the chamber onto the chambers main gate valve making a bit of a mess. However, skilled and motivated scientists usually worked quickly enough to make this process work most of the time. The initial results from these experiments were encouraging and led to several publications which sparked considerable interest in this newly developed technique Clearly this approach provided the vision that MAPLE was a viable deposition process, but the equipment was not optimal for conducting MAPLE experiments on a regular basis for several reasons. The first reason is that the polymer/solvent mix as well as the sample holder are both exposed to the humidity in the air which will coat the entire surface of the holder and target with water vapor. Some polymer and/or solvent materials may not react well with water vapor. Also, the layer of water vapor absorbed on the target surface may then absorb the incident laser radiation until it is removed from the surface. Thus, it may be unclear when the water vapor is fully removed from the polymer/solvent surface and the MAPLE deposition process actually occurs. This makes deposition of specific polymer thickness difficult to calculate. While it is well known that Quartz crystal microbalances do not work well for PLD of oxide materials it can be used for the deposition of MAPLE materials. However, with rastered laser beams the tooling factor becomes a dynamic number making interpretation of final thickness potentially difficult without careful pre-calibration. Another serious issue with the initial MAPLE process was related to the use of UV lasers such as an excimer operating at 193- or 248-nm or frequency tripled, Nd:YAG lasers at 355 nm. These lasers have high energy per photon (between about 6.4 to 3.5 eV) which can lead to a variety of deleterious photochemical mechanisms that can damage the polymer chains or organic structure. Such mechanisms can be direct photo-decomposition by photochemical bond breaking and photothermal effects. Alternative lasers, such as a Er:YAG laser operating at 2.9 microns produce photons with energy of ˜0.43 eV. Such longer wavelength lasers have been used for the IR-MAPLE process and may be very useful for future MAPLE systems. A third issue with the initial approach to MAPLE was that the process did not lend itself easily to growing multilayer films. Most standard pulsed laser deposition tools have "multi-target" carousels that allow for easy target changes and multilayer film growth. This is true for sputtering, MBE, and evaporation equipment as well. This multilayer feature would certainly benefit the MAPLE process for the growth of multilayer organic materials. Another more recent advancement in thin-film laser deposition is that of Resonant Infra Red Pulsed Laser Deposition (RIRPLD) of polymer materials. This process is more akin to standard PLD but uses tunable lasers with which to select the proper wavelength to couple to vibration bands of a solid polymer, or in some cases a polymer/solvent MAPLE mixture. This technique was developed under a collaboration of researchers at the Naval Research Labs and the Free Electron Laser (FEL) at Vanderbilt University. The wide tuning range of the FEL and its relatively high power make it a very attractive source for RIRPLD. However, the price of such lasers—of order several million dollars in capital costs alone—is very high and well beyond the budgets of most research institutions. Advances in RIRPLD are currently limited due to the scarcity of tunable lasers with sufficient power in the IR range of interest to obtain reasonable deposition rates. Over the past nine years commercial equipment for MAPLE has been on the market and new lasers are being developed that may significantly improve MAPLE and RIRPLD capabilities. Examples of basic single-target MAPLE equipment, as well as multiple target MAPLE systems are described. Discussion of current lasers for MAPLE and RIRPLD are given. Finally, even though these processes have been around for a significant amount of time there are still many unknowns associated with these techniques that still should be explored before these processes can be used for production of useful products. Some of these issues which need to be addressed will be discussed.

Students Excited by Stellar Discovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2011-02-01

In the constellation of Ophiuchus, above the disk of our Milky Way Galaxy, there lurks a stellar corpse spinning 30 times per second -- an exotic star known as a radio pulsar. This object was unknown until it was discovered last week by three high school students. These students are part of the Pulsar Search Collaboratory (PSC) project, run by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank, WV, and West Virginia University (WVU). The pulsar, which may be a rare kind of neutron star called a recycled pulsar, was discovered independently by Virginia students Alexander Snider and Casey Thompson, on January 20, and a day later by Kentucky student Hannah Mabry. "Every day, I told myself, 'I have to find a pulsar. I better find a pulsar before this class ends,'" said Mabry. When she actually made the discovery, she could barely contain her excitement. "I started screaming and jumping up and down." Thompson was similarly expressive. "After three years of searching, I hadn't found a single thing," he said, "but when I did, I threw my hands up in the air and said, 'Yes!'." Snider said, "It actually feels really neat to be the first person to ever see something like that. It's an uplifting feeling." As part of the PSC, the students analyze real data from NRAO's Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to find pulsars. The students' teachers -- Debra Edwards of Sherando High School, Leah Lorton of James River High School, and Jennifer Carter of Rowan County Senior High School -- all introduced the PSC in their classes, and interested students formed teams to continue the work. Even before the discovery, Mabry simply enjoyed the search. "It just feels like you're actually doing something," she said. "It's a good feeling." Once the pulsar candidate was reported to NRAO, Project Director Rachel Rosen took a look and agreed with the young scientists. A followup observing session was scheduled on the GBT. Snider and Mabry traveled to West Virginia to assist in the follow-up observations, and Thompson joined online. "Observing with the students is very exciting. It gives the students a chance to learn about radio telescopes and pulsar observing in a very hands-on way, and it is extra fun when we find a pulsar," said Rosen. Snider, on the other hand, said, "I got very, very nervous. I expected when I went there that I would just be watching other people do things, and then I actually go to sit down at the controls. I definitely didn't want to mess something up." Everything went well, and the observations confirmed that the students had found an exotic pulsar. "I learned more in the two hours in the control room than I would have in school the whole day," Mabry said. Pulsars are spinning neutron stars that sling lighthouse beams of radio waves or light around as they spin. A neutron star is what is left after a massive star explodes at the end of its normal life. With no nuclear fuel left to produce energy to offset the stellar remnant's weight, its material is compressed to extreme densities. The pressure squeezes together most of its protons and electrons to form neutrons; hence, the name neutron star. One tablespoon of material from a pulsar would weigh 10 million tons -- as much as a supertanker. The object that the students discovered is in a special class of pulsar that spins very fast - in this case, about 30 times per second, comparable to the speed of a kitchen blender. "The big question we need to answer first is whether this is a young pulsar or a recycled pulsar," said Maura McLaughlin, an astronomer at WVU. "A pulsar spinning that fast is very interesting as it could be newly born or it could be a very old, recycled pulsar." A recycled pulsar is one that was once in a binary system. Material from the companion star is deposited onto the pulsar, causing it to speed up, or be recycled. Mystery remains, however, about whether this pulsar has ever had a companion star. If it did, "it may be that this pulsar had a massive companion that exploded in a supernova, disrupting its orbit," McLaughlin said. Astronomers and students will work together in the coming months to find answers to these questions. The PSC is a joint project of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and West Virginia University, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. The PSC, led by NRAO Education Officer Sue Ann Heatherly and Project Director Rachel Rosen, includes training for teachers and student leaders, and provides parcels of data from the GBT to student teams. The project involves teachers and students in helping astronomers analyze data from the GBT, a giant, 17-million-pound telescope. Some 300 hours of observing data were reserved for analysis by student teams. Thompson, Snider, and Mabry have been working with about 170 other students across the country. The responsibility for the work, and for the discoveries, is theirs. They are trained by astronomers and by their teachers to distinguish between pulsars and noise. The students' collective judgment sifts the pulsars from the noise. All three students had analyzed thousands of data plots before coming upon this one. Casey Thompson, who has been with the PSC for three years, has analyzed more than 30,000 plots. "Sometimes I just stop and think about the fact that I'm looking at data from space," Thompson said. "It's really special to me." In addition to this discovery, two other astronomical objects have been discovered by students. In 2009, Shay Bloxton of Summersville, WV, discovered a pulsar that spins once every four seconds, and Lucas Bolyard of Clarksburg, WV, discovered a rapidly rotating radio transient, which astronomers believe is a pulsar that emits radio waves in bursts. Those involved in the PSC hope that being a part of astronomy will give students an appreciation for science. Maybe the project will even produce some of the next generation of astronomers. Snider, surely, has been inspired. "The PSC changed my career path," confessed Thompson. "I'm going to study astrophysics." Snider is pleased with the idea of contributing to scientific knowledge. "I hope that astronomers at Green Bank and around the world can learn something from the discovery," he said. Mabry is simply awed. "We've actually been able to experience something," she said. The PSC will continue through 2011. Teachers interested in participating in the program can learn more at this link, http://www.gb.nrao.edu/epo/psc.shtml.

PREFACE: International Conference on Magnetism (ICM 2009)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goll, Gernot; Löhneysen, Hilbert v.; Loidl, Alois; Pruschke, Thomas; Richter, Manuel; Schultz, Ludwig; Sürgers, Christoph; Wosnitza, Jochen

2010-11-01

The International Conference on Magnetism 2009 (ICM 2009) was held in Karlsruhe, Germany, from 26-31 July 2009. Previous conferences in this series were organized in Edingburgh, United Kingdom (1991), Warsaw, Poland (1994), Cairns, Australia (1997), Recife, Brazil (2000), Rome, Italy (2003) and Kyoto, Japan (2006). As with previous ICM conferences, the annual Conference on Strongly Correlated Electron Systems (SCES) was integrated into ICM 2009. Conference photograph Participants of ICM 2009 in front of the Stadthalle Karlsruhe. Topics of ICM 2009 were: Strongly Correlated Electron Systems; Quantum and Classical Spin Systems; Magnetic Structures and Interactions; Magnetization Dynamics and Micromagnetics; Spin-Dependent Transport; Spin Electronics; Magnetic Thin Films, Particles, and Nanostructures; Soft and Hard Magnetic Materials and their Applications; Novel Materials and Device Applications; Magnetic Recording and Memories; Measuring Techniques and Instrumentation, as well as Interdisciplinary Topics. We are grateful to the International Advisory Committee for their help in putting up an attractive program encompassing practically all aspects of magnetism, both experimentally and theoretically. The program committee comprised A Loidl, Germany (Chair), M A Continentino, Brazil, D E Dahlberg, USA, D Givord, France, G Güntherodt, Germany, H Mikeska, Germany, D Kaczorowski, Poland, Ching-Ray Chang, South Korea, I Mertig, Germany, D Vollhardt, Germany and E F Wassermann, Germany was also head of the National Organizing Committee. His help is gratefully acknowledged. Photographs Left: Poster session in the Stadthalle Karlsruhe. Upper right: H v Löhneysen (Conference Chairman), Nobel Laureates A Fert and P. Grünberg, E Umbach (Chairman of the Executive Board of Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe) (left to right). Lower right: Nobel Laureate P W Anderson. The scientific program started on Monday 27 July 2009 with opening addresses by the Conference Chairman, the deputy Mayor of Karlsruhe, Ms M Mergen, and the Chairman of the Executive Board of Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, E Umbach. ICM 2009 was attended by the Nobel Laureates P W Anderson, A Fert and P Grünberg who gave plenary talks. A special highlight was the presentation of the Magnetism Award and Néel Medal to S S P Parkin who presented his newest results in a plenary talk as well. The IUPAP Young Scientist Award on Magnetism was given to S O Valenzuela, E Saitoh and T Kimura. The sessions were held in the Stadthalle Karlsuhe operated by the Karlsruher Messe- und Kongress-GmbH (KMK). We are grateful to Ms M Mäkelburg (KMK) for a perfect organization at the conference site. The conference was attended by 1552 participants from 48 countries, with about 50 percent from overseas (see figure). The program entailed six plenary talks (40 minutes each), with 16 half-plenary and 41 invited talks (30 minutes) and 298 contributed talks (15 minutes). Extended lunch breaks and evenings were devoted to the poster sessions, with a total of 1632 posters presented. Attendance breakdown All submitted papers were reviewed in order to meet the standards of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter and Journal of Physics: Conference Series. The referees made every effort possible to ensure that the manuscripts submitted for publication in the proceedings reach a high standard. The tremendous work in organizing the paper classification and refereeing procedures was carried out by the Publication Committee which was headed by J Wosnitza, and comprised, in addition, Th Pruschke, M Richter and L Schultz. We also thank G Douglas, IOP Publishing, for his efficient support with the preparation of these proceedings. We gratefully acknowledge the help of L Behrens, E Maass and B Schelske in preparing the conference. The conference would not have been possible without G Goll (conference secretary) and C Sürgers (finance). I thank them for their great help. Thanks go to the many students in blue T-shirts who helped to run the conference. We are grateful for financial support to Universität Karlsruhe (TH) and Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (both institutions merged to form the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) as of 1 October 2009), International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), the City of Karlsruhe, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German National Science Foundation) and the European Commission through COST MPNS Action P16. Hilbert v Löhneysen Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Email address: hilbert.loehneysen@kit.edu Logo Conference Organization Chairperson Hilbert v Löhneysen, Karlsruhe Members of IUPAP Commission 9 Magnetism C Chang, TaipeiD Kaczorowski, Wroclaw khrouhou, SfaxP H Kes, Leiden M A Continentino, NiteróiS Maekawa, Sendai D E Dahlberg, MinnesotaI Mertig, Halle D Fiorani, RomaD McMorow, London M R Freeman, EdmontonS Rezende, Recife D Givord, GrenobleS Sanvito, Dublin A Granovsky, MoscowJ Xiaofeng, Shanghai International Advisory Board G Aeppli, UKM Gingras, Canada I Affleck, CanadaJ C Gomez Sal, Spain J Akimitsu, JapanP A Grünberg, Germany D Awschalom, USAB Heinrich, Canada S D Bader, USAT J Hicks, Australia E Baggio-Saitovitch, BrazilM R Ibarra, Spain M N Baibich, BrazilY H Jeong, Korea G Baskaran, IndiaB Keimer, Germany E Bauer, AustriaG Kotliar, USA R J Birgeneau, USAR B Laughlin, USA P Bruno, GermanyP A Lee, USA J Chapman, UKG G Lonzarich, UK Y Endoh, JapanA MacDonald, USA A Fert, FranceM B Maple, USA J Fink, GermanyA J Millis, USA Z Fisk, USAL W Molenkamp, Germany J Flouquet, FranceJ A Mydosh, Germany A J Freeman, USAY Maeno, Japan H Fukuyama, JapanK Miyake, Japan P Fulde, GermanyP Nordblad, Sweden H Ohno, JapanF Steglich, Germany H R Ott, SwitzerlandT Takabatake, Japan Y Onuki, JapanJ L Tholence, France S S P Parkin, USAY Tokura, Japan A P Ramirez, USAK Ueda, Japan T M Rice, SwitzerlandD Vollhardt, Germany Z X Shen, USAE F Wassermann, Germany S -C Shin, KoreaM K Wu, Taiwan T Shinjo, JapanD Y Xing, China J C Slonczewski, USAY D Yao, Taiwan H Szymczak, PolandF C Zhang, Hong Kong National Organizing Committee E F Wassermann (Chair), DuisburgB Keimer, Stuttgart G Bayreuther, RegensburgJ Litterst, Braunschweig T Brückel, JülichI Mertig, Halle B Büchner, DresdenG Reiss, Bielefeld R Claessen, WürzburgK Samwer, Göttingen M Farle, DuisburgL Schultz, Dresden M Fähnle, StuttgartF Steglich, Dresden G Güntherodt, AachenD Vollhardt, Augsburg P Grünberg, JülichJ Wecker, Erlangen W Hanke, WürzburgD Weiss, Regensburg B Hillebrands, KaiserslauternR Wiesendanger, Hamburg R Hilzinger, HanauJ Wosnitza, Dresden A Loidl, AugsburgP Wöle, Karlsruhe A Kasten, RheinstettenH Zabel, Bochum Program Committee A Loidl, Germany (Chair)D Kaczorowski, Poland Ching-Ray Chang, TaiwanI Mertig, Germany M A Continentino, BrazilH Mikeska, Germany D E Dahlberg, USAD Vollhardt, Germany D Givord, FranceE F Wassermann, Germany G Güntherodt, Germany

hwhap_Ep13_First Flight

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-10-06

>> HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PODCAST. WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL PODCAST OF THE NASA JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, EPISODE 13: “BEFORE HIS FIRST FLIGHT.” I’M GARY JORDAN AND I’LL BE YOUR HOST TODAY. SO THIS IS THE PODCAST WHERE WE BRING IN THE EXPERTS, LIKE NASA SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS, SOMETIMES EVEN ASTRONAUTS, AND THEY ALL TELL YOU THE COOLEST THINGS GOING ON HERE AT NASA. SO TODAY, WE’RE TALKING WITH MARK VANDE HEI. HE’S A U.S. ASTRONAUT HERE AT THE JOHNSON SPACE CENTER IN HOUSTON, TEXAS, AND HE JUST LAUNCHED TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ON SEPTEMBER 12th, 2017 TO GO TO SPACE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME. WE HAD A GREAT DISCUSSION ABOUT HIS EXPECTATIONS FOR FLYING TO SPACE AND SOME OF THE WORK AND HIS TRAINING THAT HE HAD TO GO THROUGH TO GET READY FOR HIS VOYAGE TO THE STATION. SO WITH NO FURTHER DELAY, LET’S GO LIGHTSPEED AND JUMP RIGHT AHEAD TO OUR TALK WITH MR. MARK VANDE HEI. ENJOY. [ MUSIC ] >> T MINUS FIVE SECONDS AND COUNTING. MARK. [ INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER ] >> HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PODCAST. [ MUSIC ] >> ALL RIGHT, WELL, THANKS FOR COMING TODAY, MARK. I KNOW YOU’RE VERY BUSY, ESPECIALLY COMING SO CLOSE TO YOUR LAUNCH DATE. SO THAT’S SEPTEMBER AGAIN, RIGHT? >> IT IS SEPTEMBER 13th. >> IT IS SEPTEMBER, OKAY. SO THAT’S WITH-- NOW, IT’S KIND OF CHANGED UP A BIT, RIGHT? SO NOW WE’RE TALKING-- YOU’RE LAUNCHING WITH ALEXANDER AND JOE, RIGHT? >> THAT’S CORRECT. >> ALEXANDER MISURKIN AND JOE ACABA. SO, I MEAN, THIS IS YOUR VERY FIRST FLIGHT COMING UP SOON, SO YOU’VE BEEN BUSY TRAINING FOR YEARS. I MEAN, YOU WERE SELECTED IN 2009, IF I’M NOT MISTAKEN, RIGHT? >> THAT’S CORRECT. >> THERE’S A LOT OF TRAINING TO BE HAD SO, I MEAN, LET’S TALK ABOUT SOME OF THOSE THINGS. LIKE, WHAT WERE YOUR-- WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS AND WHAT ARE YOU PREPARING FOR REALLY? I MEAN, WHAT DOES AN ASTRONAUT NEED TO KNOW BEFORE THEY LAUNCH? >> SO, THE PRIMARY THING WE NEED TO KNOW IS HOW TO-- I WOULD SAY THE PRIMARY THING WE NEED TO KNOW IS HOW TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS. >> ALL RIGHT. >> BECAUSE WE REALLY ARE SERVING AS THE EYES AND HANDS OF A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE THAT AREN’T THERE WITH US BUT ARE ABLE TO SUPPORT US. >> MM-HMM. >> SO THAT’S THE PRIMARY THING. YOU ALSO NEED TO KNOW HOW TO WORK WELL WITH THE OTHER PEOPLE THAT YOU’RE LIVING WITH. >> THAT’S RIGHT. >> AND MAKE SURE YOU TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER, MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING’S FULLY FUNCTIONAL, AND THEN AFTER THAT I WOULD SAY WE HAVE TO HAVE ALL THE TECHNICAL SKILLS TO DO OUR JOB THAT ARE OPERATE THE SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS AND BE ABLE TO KEEP THE SPACE STATION ACTUALLY RUNNING. >> NICE. NOW, I MEAN, SO WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ON A PREVIOUS EPISODE WITH RANDY BRESNIK ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS YOU HAVE TO LEARN, BUT JUST LIKE AN OVERVIEW OF SOME OF THE THINGS, LIKE, IN TERMS OF KNOWING WHAT TO DO ON THE STATION. >> MM-HMM. >> YOU’RE TALKING ALL THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS, RIGHT? SO, KOMRADE DESCRIBED MORE FIXING THE TOILET. >> YEAH, YEAH. >> AND YOU KNOW, LEARNING HOW TO DO AN EVA AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN. >> YEAH. >> SO IS THAT KIND OF WHAT YOU’VE BEEN DOING OVER THE PAST-- >> ABSOLUTELY. I’VE GOT-- KOMRADE’S GOING TO BE THE COMMANDER SO THERE’S SOME-- CERTAINLY SOME ADDITIONAL THINGS HE’S GOT TO LEARN. >> OKAY. >> BUT, BY AND LARGE, THE CREW MEMBERS ON THE SPACE STATION, WHEN THERE’S NOT AN EMERGENCY TAKING PLACE, WE’RE ALL KIND OF EQUAL. >> MM-HMM. >> CERTAINLY THE COMMANDER, WHEN AN EMERGENCY IS HAPPENING, HE’S-- THAT’S THE PERSON THAT’S MAKING THOSE TOUGH CALLS AND PULLING THE TEAM TOGETHER. >> MM-HMM. >> AND HE WILL ALSO COORDINATE ON BEHALF OF THE ENTIRE TEAM. BUT, CREW MEMBERS ON THE STATION ARE GENERALISTS. WE HAVE TO HAVE A SKILL SET THAT WILL ALLOW US TO DO WHATEVER THE GROUND NEEDS US TO DO AND THAT DOES INVOLVE EVA TRAINING, OF COURSE. >> MM-HMM. >> THAT INVOLVES ROBOTICS TRAINING. THAT INVOLVES MEDICAL TRAINING, TOO, JUST IN CASE SOMETHING COMES UP, WE’LL HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER. THAT’S BEEN PRETTY INTERESTING. >> YEAH. >> DID KOMRADE TALK AT ALL ABOUT THAT? >> ABOUT THE-- WHICH PART? >> THE MEDICAL TRAINING? >> YEAH, OH, YEAH. I MEAN, JUST A TINY LITTLE BIT. WE ACTUALLY ONLY HAD ABOUT 25 MINUTES TO TALK, SO HE TALKED-- I MEAN, MOSTLY A LITTLE BIT. HE SAID, I MEAN, YOU HAVE TO-- YOU HAVE TO KNOW KIND OF THE BASICS OF MEDICAL TRAINING IN CASE THERE’S AN EMERGENCY SITUATION, BUT HE ALSO MENTIONED THAT YOU HAVE-- YOU CAN CALL DOWN TO DOCTORS AND THEY CAN WALK YOU THROUGH SOME OF THOSE THINGS. >> ABSOLUTELY. >> AND I GUESS THAT KIND OF HELPS, RIGHT? BECAUSE ESPECIALLY NOT BEING A DOCTOR AND YOU GUYS-- ONE THING I SAID LAST TIME WAS YOU HAVE TO BE A JACK OF ALL TRADES AND A MASTER OF ALL IN SORT OF A-- IN A WAY, I GUESS. YOU HAVE TO REALLY KNOW THE SYSTEMS. >> IN A WAY, BUT THE GROUND IS ALWAYS THERE TO HELP OUT. >> THAT’S TRUE. >> FOR EXAMPLE, WE HAD AN EVENT THAT INVOLVED US SIMULATING THAT ONE OF THE CREW MEMBERS NEEDED CPR. >> MM-HMM. >> AND IT HAD BEEN SIX MONTHS AT LEAST, MAYBE EVEN A YEAR, SINCE MY PREVIOUS TRAINING ON THAT AND THE INSTRUCTORS DID A GOOD JOB OF SAYING, “OKAY, GO FOR IT.” SO, I KNEW I SHOULD DO CHEST COMPRESSIONS. I KNEW I SHOULD GIVE-- DO BREATHS PERIODICALLY. >> RIGHT, RIGHT. >> BUT, I WASN’T 100% CERTAIN OF WHAT NUMBER OF BREATHS, WHAT NUMBER OF REPETITIONS. >> RIGHT. >> SO I JUST STARTED, AND THEN THEY REMINDED AS PART OF THE TRAINING THAT, “HEY, LOOK, WHEN YOU HAVE THAT UNCERTAINTY-- YOU DID A GOOD JOB OF GETTING STARTING, BUT THE GROUND’S THERE TO HELP ANSWER THAT QUESTION. YOU COULD’VE GOT-- SAID, “HEY, WE NEED THIS CONFERENCE RIGHT NOW AND LET’S GET A DOCTOR TALKING TO US AND MAKE SURE WE’RE DOING THE RIGHT THINGS.”” >> MM-HMM. >> SO BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO KNOW SO MUCH SOMETIMES THE DETAILS-- THE GROUND CAN REALLY HELP YOU OUT WITH THAT. >> YEAH, AND THEY’RE THERE 24/7, RIGHT? >> ABSOLUTELY. >> SO YOU CAN CALL DOWN AND SAY, “HEY, SOMETHING’S GOING ON. I NEED HELP.” >> YES. YES. >> AND YOU GUYS WALK THROUGH ALL OF THOSE DIFFERENT THINGS. SO, I MEAN, ON TOP OF JUST TRAINING FOR SOME OF THE THINGS ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION THAT YOU’RE GOING TO BE DOING, ESPECIALLY EMERGENCY SITUATIONS, YOU GO THROUGH OTHER TYPES OF TRAINING TOO, RIGHT? DON’T YOU DO SURVIVAL TRAINING AND THINGS LIKE THAT? >> YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. WE HAVE THE-- FIRST OF ALL, THERE’S LAND SURVIVAL TRAINING-- ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS YOU DO AS ASTRONAUT CANDIDATES. >> MM-HMM. >> I BELIEVE THE NEXT CLASS IS GOING TO DO THAT AT FORT RUCKER, IT’S AN ARMY BASE. >> OKAY. >> THEN, THERE’S LAND SURVIVAL TRAIN-- NO, I ALREADY TALKED ABOUT THAT. THERE’S LAND SURVIVAL TRAINING THAT WE DO AS ASTRONAUT CANDIDATES. >> RIGHT. >> AND THEN, THE NEXT SURVIVAL TRAINING YOU DO IS ACTUALLY AFTER YOU’RE ASSIGNED TO A SOYUZ CREW. THERE’S WINTER SURVIVAL TRAINING IN CASE YOUR SOYUZ LANDS SOME PLACE WHERE THE SEARCH AND RESCUE FORCES CAN’T GET TO YOU AS QUICKLY AS YOU’D LIKE. >> OH. >> AND YOU MAY HAVE TO BE SOME PLACE IN THE WINTER IN RUSSIA AND HAVE TO BE ABLE TO SURVIVE FOR A COUPLE DAYS. >> OH, WOW. >> WORST CASE. >> RIGHT, RIGHT. >> SO WE DO THAT TRAINING. THAT’S ALSO A VERY GOOD TIME FOR THE CREW TO BOND WITH EACH OTHER, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE. >> YEAH. >> THERE’S ALSO NOMINALLY, THE SOYUZ LANDS ON LAND. >> RIGHT. >> BUT, WE ALSO HAVE WATER SURVIVAL TRAINING. >> OKAY, JUST IN CASE IT DOES LAND ON WATER. >> JUST IN CASE. WELL, IF THERE’S A REALLY URGENT NEED TO DESCEND. >> RIGHT. >> AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO WORRY ABOUT WHERE ON THE EARTH WE HIT. >> RIGHT. >> POSSIBLY, IF IT’S THAT-- NORMALLY, WE’RE VERY-- >> A LOT OF BAD THINGS HAVE TO HAPPEN IN A ROW TO GET TO THAT POINT. >> YES. WE REALLY WANT TO LAND IN SPECIFIC PLACES, BUT JUST IN CASE, THERE’S THE OPTION. MUCH OF THE EARTH IS COVERED WITH WATER, SO WE LEARNED HOW TO DEAL WITH THAT SITUATION AS WELL. >> RIGHT. SO, YOU DID DO THE WINTER SURVIVAL TRAINING, RIGHT? YOU HAD TO GO THROUGH THAT. WHAT ARE-- DO YOU HAVE ANY GOOD STORIES OF-- YOU SAID IT WAS A GOOD TIME TO BOND WITH YOUR CREWMATES, SO ARE THERE ANY GOOD STORIES THERE? >> SURE. SO, THE TRAINING CONSISTS OF STAYING UP. FOR US, WE STAYED UP FOR TWO NIGHTS. >> MM-HMM. >> THE FIRST NIGHT YOU EGRESS THE SOYUZ CAPSULE THAT THEY PUT OUT IN THE FOREST. WE’VE GOT A REALLY GOOD SET OF COLD WEATHER GEAR THAT WE PUT ON. >> MM-HMM. >> AND SO, WE PUT ALL THAT STUFF ON, AND THEN WE USE THE SEAT LINERS, THAT ARE MOLDED TO US, THAT ARE IN THE-- I WOULD CALL IT KIND OF LIKE A BUCKET INSIDE THE SOYUZ. >> OH. >> WE CAN TAKE THOSE OUT AND USE THOSE AS SLEDS. SO WE PUT A BUNCH OF GEAR ON THAT. >> OH, I SEE. >> AND YOU GOT TO DRAG THOSE THROUGH TO A PLACE TO FIND A PLACE TO SET UP CAMP. >> COOL. >> OF COURSE, THE PARACHUTE THAT THE SOYUZ LANDS WITH IS HUGE, SO THAT’S A MASSIVE RESOURCE OF CLOTH. >> MM-HMM. >> SO THE FIRST NIGHT, WHAT WE DID IS HAD TO SET UP A LEAN-TO AND USED BOTH TIMBER THAT WE FOUND IN THE AREA, AND STRINGS FROM THE PARACHUTE, AND THE ACTUAL CLOTH FROM THE PARACHUTE, AS WELL AS A LOTO OF BRANCHES TO SET UP A SHELTER. BUT, THAT WAS REALLY-- THAT NIGHT WAS ALL ABOUT THE FIRE. >> OH. >> BECAUSE THE LEAN-TO JUST KEPT US FROM LOSING ALL THE HEAT, BUT WE WERE KIND OF SLEEPING-- THERE WAS TWO PEOPLE KIND OF SLEEPING ON TOP OF EACH OTHER JUST ABOUT-- >> SORRY, A LEAN-TO IS LIKE-- IS THAT A SHELTER THAT, I’M ASSUMING, LEANS UP AGAINST SOMETHING? IS THAT WHAT THAT IS? >> A LEAN-TO-- IMAGINE IF YOU HAD A PLANE THAT WAS-- LIKE, A HALF OF A ROOF. >> OKAY. >> AND ALL IT IS IS ONE WALL THAT GOES FROM MAYBE ABOUT WAIST HIGH DOWN TO THE GROUND, WITH ENOUGH SPACE UNDERNEATH IT SO THAT TWO PEOPLE COULD BE SLEEPING UNDERNEATH IT WITH THE LENGTH OF THEIR BODIES FACING OUT TO THE OPEN. >> I SEE, OKAY. >> AND WHAT WE DO WITH THAT IS WE LIGHT A FIRE ON THE OPEN SIDE SO THAT THEY GET A LOT OF WARMTH, AND THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE THAT BACKDROP HELPS REFLECT SOME OF THAT HEAT DOWN TOWARDS YOU. >> NICE. BUT, IT DOESN’T TRAP ANY OF THE SMOKE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT? >> IDEALLY, NO. >> YEAH. >> NO. BUT, THAT’S WHY I SAID, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE FIRE. >> RIGHT. >> IF THE FIRE GOES OUT, THAT LEAN-TO IS REALLY WORTHLESS. >> RIGHT. >> SO, ONE PERSON’S AWAKE AND CONSTANTLY CUTTING WOOD, BECAUSE TO KEEP THE FIRE GOING IT’S AMAZING HOW MUCH WOOD YOU NEED IN THAT ENVIRONMENT. >> WOW. >> WE DID THAT. MY TWO RUSSIANS THAT I-- INITIALLY I WAS GOING TO LAUNCH WITH TWO RUSSIANS, SO I DID THAT WITH TWO RUSSIANS. >> I SEE. >> THEY HAD BOTH DONE THIS BEFORE. THEY WERE REALLY, REALLY GOOD WITH THE MATERIAL WE HAD. >> NICE. >> AND WERE SMART ENOUGH THAT THEY KNEW THAT THE NEXT DAY WE’D HAVE TO SET UP A TEEPEE. SO, OUR LEAN-TO KIND OF HAD A FEW PIECES THAT WE COULD USE FOR THE TEEPEE READY TO GO, SO WE JUST HAD TO CHANGE THE LEAN-TO AND WE KIND OF TURNED IT INTO A TEEPEE ON THE NEXT DAY. >> OH. >> SO, THE TEEPEE WAS GREAT. WE-- IT’S MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE. IT HAD A MUCH SMALLER FIRE INSIDE THE TEEPEE. >> OH, OKAY. >> SO, YOU HAD TO MAKE THE TEEPEE ON THE SECOND DAY BECAUSE IT’S-- I GUESS, IT’S MORE INTENSIVE TO BUILD? IS THAT WHY? >> IT TAKES LONGER TO BUILD. >> I SEE. >> BUT, IT’S ALSO MUCH BETTER SHELTER. >> OKAY. >> SO, IT’S THE TYPE OF THING THAT-- QUITE HONESTLY, I THINK ALL OF US WOULD’VE PREFERRED TO GO RIGHT TO THE TEEPEE, BECAUSE-- I MEAN, I’M NOT 100% CERTAIN IT REALLY IS-- TAKES LONGER TO BUILD, BUT THE RUSSIANS WANTED US TO HAVE THE EXPERIENCE BUILDING BOTH TYPES. >> I SEE. >> AND TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT TOOK TO LIVE IN BOTH OF THEM. >> OKAY, OKAY. >> YOU NEED A LOT LESS LUMBER TO KEEP THE TEEPEE WARM, BUT AGAIN, WE WERE BOTH-- WE WERE EXPERIENCING BOTH SITUATIONS. >> MM-HMM. WOW. AND THEN, I GUESS, YOU HAVE SURVIVAL TRAINING. WHAT OTHER KINDS OF THINGS DO YOU GO THROUGH? >> WELL, ONE OF THE BIG DEALS FOR ASTRONAUTS THAT WORK AT NASA IS WE COME FROM A LOT OF DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS-- >> OKAY. >> --FROM MICROBIOLOGIST TO NAVY SEALS. SO, WE’VE GOT TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A CULTURE WHERE ALL THOSE PEOPLE CAN COME TOGETHER AND OPERATE IN A-- OPERATE HIGHLY TECHNICAL MACHINES IN AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE IF YOU MESS IT UP YOU COULD DIE. >> RIGHT. >> SO, ANOTHER THING THAT’S REALLY VERY, VERY INTERESTING IS WE USE T-38s. IT’S A-- IT’S THE SAME TYPE OF AIRCRAFT THAT THE AIR FORCE USES TO TRAIN PILOTS. >> OKAY. >> SO WE USED THOSE. >> MM-HMM. >> THE NICE THING ABOUT IS, MUCH LIKE-- WE CAN’T FLY PEOPLE IN SPACE VERY OFTEN, BUT WE CAN PUT PEOPLE IN THESE JETS VERY OFTEN AND IT-- YOU HAVE TO-- THE JET MOVES REALLY, REALLY FAST, SO YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO THINK FAST. YOU’VE ALSO GOT TO COORDINATE WITH THE GROUND AND THEY WILL DIRECT YOU WHAT TO DO, AND AT TIMES YOU HAVE TO MAKE DECISIONS THAT REQUIRE YOU TO SAY, “HEY, I GET WHAT YOU JUST SAID, BUT WE REALLY NEED TO DO THIS BECAUSE WE’RE IN A TOUGH SITUATION,” FOR EXAMPLE. >> OKAY. >> AND YOU HAVE TO COORDINATE WITH THE OTHER CREW MEMBER BECAUSE IT’S A TWO COCKPIT AIRCRAFT. THERE’S A PILOT AND TYPICALLY WE CALL HIM A BACK SEATER. YOU WORK AS THE NAVIGATOR AND COMMUNICATOR IN A NOMINAL SITUATION. >> AND WAS THAT YOUR JOB? >> WELL, BECAUSE I’M NOT A MILITARY PILOT, YES. >> OKAY. >> SO ALL OF THE FRONT SEATERS ARE MILITARY PILOTS IF THEY’RE ASTRONAUTS, AND THEY ARE INSTRUCTOR PILOTS, TYPICALLY FROM THE MILITARY AS WELL IF THEY’RE NOT ASTRONAUTS. IT’S A GREAT DEAL TO HAVE TO GO FLY AROUND IN A JET AS PART OF YOUR JOB. >> RIGHT. DID YOU END UP FLYING A FELLOW ASTRONAUT? OR DID YOU FLY WITH ONE OF THE PILOTS THAT THEY HAD, I GUESS? >> INITIALLY, YOU FLY WITH INSTRUCTORS. >> OKAY. >> BUT, BY AND LARGE, ALMOST EVERY FLIGHT IS WITH THE-- ANOTHER ASTRONAUT PILOT. >> I SEE. DID ANY OF THEM MESS WITH YOU AT ANY TIME OR TRY TO MAKE YOU THROW UP OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT? >> NO. SO, ONE TIME THOUGH-- SO ONE OF THE THINGS THEY ALWAYS TELL-- BECAUSE THEY’RE VERY EXPERIENCED AND WE’RE NOT, IT’S REAL EASY TO JUST ASSUME THAT THEY KNOW HOW TO DO EVERYTHING. THEY CAN FLY THAT JET COMPLETELY BY THEMSELVES. >> AWESOME. >> SO IT CAN BE A LITTLE INTIMIDATING WHEN YOU GET IN THE BACK SEAT. YOU KNOW THE FRONT SEATER CAN DO EVERYTHING BY THEMSELVES. >> MM-HMM. >> BUT, THEY REALLY WANT YOU TO BE ENGAGED AND RECOGNIZE THAT IF THEY DO SOMETHING STUPID THAT WOULD KILL THEM IT’S GOING TO KILL BOTH OF US. >> RIGHT. >> YOU’RE A NANO SECOND BEHIND THEM. AND WE TRAIN AND THE ASTRONAUT PILOTS ALLOW US TO DO EVERYTHING. THEY’LL ALLOW US TO FLY THE JET, DO THE COMMUNICATIONS, DO THE NAVIGATION, JUST TO GET GOOD AT THAT, BECAUSE THERE’S A-- FOR EXAMPLE, IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO THE PILOT, YOU MIGHT HAVE TO DO THAT. >> RIGHT. >> AND IT’S MORE FUN FOR US. AND ACTUALLY, A LOT OF THE ASTRONAUT PILOTS HAVE EXPERIENCED WITH BEING AN INSTRUCTOR PILOTS, SO THEY’RE GOOD AT THAT. >> MM-HMM. >> WELL, ONE TIME, BARRY WILMORE WAS TRYING TO MAKE SURE I WAS PAYING ATTENTION, AND I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE CLIMBING TO A SPECIFIC ALTITUDE, AND JUST MAYBE ABOUT 500 FEET BEFORE I NEEDED TO START LEVELING OFF, HE SAID, “SO, WHERE DO YOU GO TO CHURCH?” AND I STOPPED PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE JET AND THEN I STARTED TALKING TO HIM. AND THEN HE DID THAT ON PURPOSE SO THAT HE-- SO THEN I RECOGNIZED I NEED TO PRIORITIZE WHAT I WAS DOING TO THE JET MORE, AND SO THEN HE WAITED UNTIL I WAS REALLY FLYING STRAIGHT THROUGH THE ALTITUDE I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE LEVELING OFF AT AND SAID, “CHECK YOUR ALTITUDE.” AND THEN I DID. ANOTHER TIME, WE’RE NOT-- AS A BACK SEATER, I’M NOT ALLOWED TO FLY WITHIN 200 FEET OF THE GROUND, BUT YOU CAN FLY TOWARDS AN AIRPORT, GET TO 200 FEET, AND THEN ACT LIKE THERE’S A PROBLEM ON THE RUNWAY, AND THEN BASICALLY ADD POWER TO THE JET AND GO THROUGH THE TAKE OFF PROCESS. >> I SEE. >> WELL, EARLIER ON IN MY TRAINING, I WAS FLYING WITH ANOTHER GUY AND HE DID A REALLY GOOD JOB OF LETTING ME MESS UP AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE BEFORE HE’D CORRECT ME SO THAT I WOULD LEARN. SAME TYPE OF THING, I GAVE IT A LOT OF POWER, I STARTED CLIMBING. >> MM-HMM. >> I DIDN’T-- I WASN’T EXPERIENCED ENOUGH TO RECOGNIZE THAT RIGHT AFTER I STARTED CLIMBING I NEEDED TO REDUCE THE POWER. >> OH. >> SO, I WAS REALLY, REALLY SPEEDING UP AND I ONLY HAD TO CLIMB UP TO 3,000 FEET, WHICH YOU DO REALLY FAST IN THAT JET IF YOU HAVEN’T TAKEN THE POWER OUT. >> WHOA. >> AND SO, SAME THING, I GOT TO 3,000 FEET, I WAS CLIMBING REALLY, REALLY FAST, HE SAID, “CHECK YOUR ALTITUDE.” AND MY IMMEDIATE RESPONSE WASN’T TO TAKE OUT THE POWER, IT WAS JUST TO PITCH THE NOSE FORWARD, WHICH MEANT THAT ANYTHING THAT I HAD LOOSE IN THE JET JUST HIT THE CEILING BECAUSE I JUST WENT DOWN SO FAST ALL THE SUDDEN. >> WHOA. >> REALLY GOOD TRAINING. >> YEAH. >> I DIDN’T FORGET THAT LESSON. >> YEAH. THAT’S GOOD THAT YOU GUYS ARE ALWAYS KEEPING EACH OTHER IN CHECK. I’M SURE THAT ALL YOUR ASTRONAUT-- YOUR FELLOW ASTRONAUTS ARE CONSTANTLY DOING THIS, RIGHT? THEY’RE GIVING YOU ADVICE AND ANYTHING LIKE THAT. >> ABSOLUTELY. >> NOW, YOU BEING A FIRST TIME FLYER, I’M SURE THEY’VE GIVEN YOU SOME OF THOSE EXPERIENCES, ESPECIALLY SOME OF YOUR CLASSMATES, RIGHT? >> MM-HMM. >> SO WE HAVE REID WISEMAN, AND I’M TRYING TO THINK. >> MIKE HOPKINS. >> MIKE HOPKINS. >> KJELL LINDGREN. >> KJELL-- ALL THESE GUYS HAVE FLOWN BEFORE. >> KATE RUBINS. >> YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT, KATE MOST RECENTLY. SO, HAVE THESE GUYS GIVEN YOU SOME ADVICE, COME TO YOU AND SAY, “HEY, THIS”-- YOU KNOW, ANY KIND OF THINGS THAT YOU HAVE TO BE WATCHING OUT FOR? >> ABSOLUTELY. >> YEAH. >> AND NOT JUST THEM, ALL OF THEM. >> RIGHT. >> EVERYTHING FROM IF YOU’RE HAVING A BAD DAY DON’T TALK TO IT ON THE-- DON’T TALK TO PEOPLE ABOUT IT ON THE RADIO, TO EXPECTATIONS ON HOW TO-- AS YOU’RE GETTING READY FOR THE LAUNCH AND YOUR FAMILY’S IN KAZAKHSTAN, GETTING READY FOR THAT, WHAT TO EXPECT OUT OF THAT. >> ANY GOOD NUGGETS THAT THEY’VE TOLD YOU? >> CHRIS CASSIDY TOLD ME THAT ONE OF THE THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU’RE DOING A PROCEDURE IS TO MAKE SURE-- THERE’S NOTES BLOCKS IN A LOT OF THE PROCEDURES. >> MM-HMM. >> AND HE SAID, “THE NOTES BLOCKS AREN’T REQUIRED FOR US TO READ.” >> HMM. >> BUT, YOU REALLY NEED TO READ THOSE BECAUSE THEY TYPICALLY GIVE YOU THE BIG PICTURE. >> HMM. >> AND SO, WHEN YOU READ THOSE CAREFULLY, THEN AS YOU’RE DOING THE STEPS IT’LL PREVENT YOU FROM DOING THOSE STEPS BLINDLY, WHICH HELPS YOU BE A LITTLE MORE ACCURATE IN HOW YOU’RE DOING THE PROCEDURE. SO IF YOU KNOW WHY YOU’RE DOING THIS PARTICULAR THING THEN IT’S A LOT EASIER TO RECOGNIZE WHEN YOU’RE PRESSING THE WRONG-- ABOUT TO PRESS THE WRONG BUTTON BECAUSE IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE. >> I SEE. >> MAYBE YOU MISREAD THAT STEP LATER ON. >> OKAY, SO LIKE, ALL THE LITTLE DETAILS, I’M SURE. >>THERE’S A-- OH, YEAH. YES, YES. >> SO, I MEAN, IS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU-- THAT ANY ASTRONAUT HAS GIVEN YOU SO FAR JUST TO ALWAYS KEEP THIS IN MIND. I GUESS, THE NOTES IS ONE OF THEM, BUT ESPECIALLY-- MAYBE SOYUZ ASCENT OR SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, MAYBE LEAN BACK. I REMEMBER, WHAT WAS-- I WAS TALKING WITH SHANE KIMBROUGH JUST RECENTLY AND THEY SAID ONCE HE GETS TO A CERTAIN POINT YOU GOT TO MAKE SURE YOU STRAP DOWN, OTHERWISE YOU’RE GOING TO GO FLYING UP OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. ANY KIND OF PIECES OF ADVICE LIKE THAT? WELL, IT DOESN’T EVEN HAVE TO BE OPERATIONAL. IT COULD BE YOU’RE GOING TO THE BATHROOM AND YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU TURN THE FAN ON FIRST OR ONE OF THOSE THINGS. >> MM-HMM. >> I’M SURE YOU GO THROUGH ALL OF THOSE THINGS. >> KEEP TRACK OF YOUR STUFF. SO, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE’RE VERY COMFORTABLE WITH ON EARTH IS WHEN YOU PUT SOMETHING DOWN IT’S DOWN. >> MM-HMM. >> AND WE TEND TO THINK OF LEAVING THINGS ON A TWO DIMENSIONAL SURFACE AND STAYING THERE. >> YEAH. >> BUT, YOU HAVE AN EXTRA DIMENSION IN SPACE AND YOU HAVE TO PUT A LITTLE EXTRA EFFORT INTO REMEMBERING, LIKE, ANOTHER DIMENSION THAT IT COULD BE SOME PLACE ELSE, TOO. >> THAT’S RIGHT. >> THAT CAN BE CHALLENGING FOR PEOPLE, IS JUST REALLY SLOWING YOURSELF DOWN ENOUGH TO LOOK AT WHERE YOU PUT SOMETHING AND VISUALIZE WHAT’S AROUND YOU. BECAUSE YOU COULD COME BACK TO THE SAME PLACE, AND IF YOU WEREN’T VERY DELIBERATE ABOUT LOOKING AT THAT PLACE FROM AN ORIENTATION THAT YOU ALWAYS TAKE, YOU MIGHT COME IN THERE UPSIDE DOWN AND BE LIKE, “WELL, I REMEMBER PUTTING IT SOMEWHERE IN HERE, BUT NOTHING LOOKS-- I CAN’T PICTURE IT IN THIS SPOT.” >> YEAH. >> SO, THINGS LIKE THAT. >> I REMEMBER TALKING TO MIKE HOPKINS A COUPLE-- WELL, PROBABLY MORE THAN A COUPLE MONTHS AGO, BUT HE-- ONE THINGS THAT ALWAYS STUCK WITH ME WAS HE WAS TALKING ABOUT HE WAS WORKING ON THIS RACK, I GUESS, AND HE HAD TO PULL IT BACK AND GET TO-- GET BEHIND IT. AND JUST THE WAY THAT HE WAS DOING IT, HE JUST-- IT WAS HARD TO REACH. AND I DON’T KNOW IF HE’S TOLD YOU THE SAME STORY, BUT IT WAS HARD TO REACH AND HE CALLS TO THE GROUND, TELLS HIM HIS PROBLEM, AND HE’S LIKE-- AND THEY’RE LIKE, “WELL, FLIP UPSIDE DOWN.” AND HE’S LIKE, “OH, YEAH, I CAN DO THAT.” AND SO, I GUESS YOU’RE TRAINING ON THE GROUND, BUT YOU DO HAVE THE LIMITATIONS OF GRAVITY ON THE GROUND EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE ALL THESE MOCK UPS. BUT, FLIPPING UPSIDE DOWN WAS-- IT SOLVED THE PROBLEM IMMEDIATELY. HE GOT A WHOLE NEW VANTAGE POINT, BUT YOU CAN’T PRACTICE FLIPPING UP ON-- IN 1G ON THE AIRPLANE. >> YOU CAN'T. YEAH, DEFINITELY CAN’T. >> OH. SO AN ASTRONAUT CLASS, JUST ACTUALLY RECENTLY GOT SELECTED. DOES THIS BRING BACK ANY KIND OF ANY MEMORIES OF WHEN YOU GOT SELECTED AS AN ASTRONAUT BACK IN 2009? >> YES, DEFINITELY. I’VE SEEN A LOT OF THOSE ASTRONAUT HOPEFULS THAT HAVE BEEN EITHER IN THE GYM. >> YEAH. >> OR GOING TO THEIR INTERVIEWS OR WHATEVER. THAT IS AN EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER. I DON’T ENVY THEM AT ALL. >> BECAUSE YOU WENT THROUGH IT. >> ABSOLUTELY, YEAH. >> YEAH, YEAH. >> IT’S-- I THINK I DID A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF ASSUMING THERE WAS NO HOPE THAT I WOULD GET THE JOB AND THAT MADE IT A LOT LESS STRESSFUL. IN FACT, THE ONLY TIME THAT I GOT KIND OF LIKE, “WHOA, BE CAREFUL,” WAS WHEN I THOUGHT I HAD JUST DONE SOMETHING REALLY, REALLY SUCCESSFUL AND MAYBE THERE’S A CHANCE I’LL GET THIS JOB. I THOUGHT, “NO, NO, NO. DON’T DO THAT TO YOURSELF.” >> BECAUSE THAT’S WHEN YOU GET-- YOU MAKE YOURSELF ALL NERVOUS, RIGHT, I GUESS? >> THAT’S WHEN YOU-- IF YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE, THEN IT’S NO BIG DEAL. >> RIGHT. >> I JUST WOULD’VE-- IF I DIDN’T GET THE JOB I WOULD’VE HAD-- STILL HAD A REALLY COOL EXPERIENCE GETTING THE FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE OF WHAT THE ASTRONAUT SELECTION PROCESS IS LIKE, IF NOTHING ELSE. >> YEAH, I MEAN, WHAT IS IT LIKE, RIGHT? I MEAN, YOU SAY IT’S STRESSFUL AND THERE’S THINGS, BUT WHAT ARE THEY DOING THROUGHOUT THIS INTERVIEW PROCESS? >> WELL, I WOULD SAY IT’S-- I’M CERTAIN THAT THE PROCESS THAT THIS CLASS THAT REALLY HASN’T BEEN SELECTED YET, BUT IS IN THE PROCESS OF FINISHING BEING SELECTED. >> UH-HUH, AT THIS TIME THROUGH. >> I’M SURE THEIR-- I KNOW THEIR PROCESS HAS CHANGED SINCE WE WENT THROUGH, BUT THERE’S PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINATIONS THAT WE DID. >> OH, WOW. YEAH. >> THERE WAS GROUP PROBLEM SOLVING EXERCISES THAT WE DID. THERE WAS A LOT OF MEDICAL EXAMS, ESPECIALLY BY THE SECOND INTERVIEW. A LOT OF THAT IS CHECKING TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON’T HAVE ANY MEDICAL ISSUES. >> RIGHT. THERE ARE-- OF COURSE, THERE’S AN INTERVIEW. EACH TIME YOU COME TO VISIT NASA, THE FIRST TIME AND THE SECOND TIME, THERE’S AN HOUR LONG INTERVIEW. >> MM-HMM. >> THERE-- >> SO, IT’S TO TIMES THAT YOU COME? YOU COME-- >> WELL, THE FIRST TIME-- >> OKAY. >> FOR MY CLASS, THE FIRST TIME THEY INTERVIEWED PEOPLE THEY INVITED 120 PEOPLE TO COME. >> OKAY. >> AND THEN, OF THAT 120 THEY PARED IT DOWN TO 40 OR 50 FOR A SECOND INTERVIEW. >> WOW. >> AND BECAUSE THE MEDICAL EXAMS, YOU CAN IMAGINE ARE SO EXPENSIVE, THEY ONLY GIVE THE MEDICAL EXAMS MOSTLY TO THAT SMALLER GROUP. >> MAKES SENSE. I MEAN, HONESTLY, LIKE TO BE AN ASTRONAUT, NOT ONLY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SUPER SMART AND BE ABLE TO GET ALONG WITH YOUR CREWMATES AND EVERYTHING, BUT YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE YOU’RE IN TIP TOP PHYSICAL SHAPE AND THAT NOTHING COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG. YOU WERE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO ACTUALLY GET THE CALL TO BE-- >> YES, YEAH. >> WHAT WAS THAT LIKE? WHERE WERE YOU? >> I WAS ACTUALLY IN THE MISSION CONTROL CENTER WORKING AS A CAPCOM THAT DAY. >> OH. >> SO IT WAS-- I’M PRETTY SURE THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHERE I WAS. I ANSWERED MY CELL PHONE AND IT WAS TOUGH BECAUSE I WAS SO EXCITED, BUT I WASN’T IN A SITUATION WHERE I WAS ALLOWED TO ANNOUNCE IT TO ANYBODY. >> RIGHT. >> SO I’M SITTING AROUND A WHOLE BUNCH OF OTHER PEOPLE THAT I’M WORKING WITH AND I JUST WANTED TO CHEER, BUT I JUST-- AND I HAD TO-- BUT, I WAS STILL WORKING ON CONSOLE. I HAD TO BE LISTENING FOR THE CREW TO CALL AND I HAD TO BE LISTENING TO WHAT THE GROUND WAS TALKING ABOUT. >> YEAH. >> SO I HAD TO JUST ACT LIKE IT DIDN’T HAPPEN AND JUST GET BACK TO WORK. >> SO, IN THAT SITUATION, FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, YOU’RE ONLY ALLOWED TO TELL VERY FEW PEOPLE, LIKE YOUR WIFE AND YOUR PARENTS. >> I TOLD MY WIFE-- YUP. >> AND THAT’S PRETTY MUCH IT. >> YEAH, I THINK I SENT MY WIFE AN EMAIL, TOLD HER WHAT HAD HAPPENED, AND THEN ONLY ABOUT THREE HOURS LATER DID I-- THAT I SENT HER ANOTHER EMAIL THAT SAID, “OH, AND DON’T TELL ANYBODY ELSE.” >> OH. [ LAUGHING ] >> YEAH, LET’S JUST SAY THAT WASN’T QUITE AS SUCCESSFUL AS I SHOULD’VE MADE IT. >> OH, MAN, THAT HAD TO BE-- I CAN’T EVEN IMAGINE JUST GETTING THAT CALL. THAT WOULD BE-- >> I WAS-- YEAH, I WAS PRETTY EXCITED. >> YEAH. >> LET’S GO BACK TO SOME OF THE OTHER TRAINING. SO YOU HAVE-- WE TALKED ABOUT A LITTLE JUST TRAINING FOR ON ORBIT, SURVIVAL TRAINING. HOW ABOUT, I GUESS, SOYUZ TRAINING. NOW, YOU SAID THAT NOW THEY SWITCHED THE CREWS AROUND AND NOW YOU HAVE TO LEARN A LOT MORE. NOW YOU HAVE TO-- YOU HAVE TO BE IN THE KIND OF NOT THE HOT SEAT BUT I GUESS ONE OF THE HOT SEATS? IS THAT HOW THAT WORKS? >> YES. >> OKAY. >> AS I INITIALLY STARTED TRAINING I WAS IN THE RIGHT SEAT. >> OKAY. >> WHICH HAS VERY LIMITED RESPONSIBILITIES. THE CREW-- WELL, EXAMPLE, JACK FISCHER AND FYODOR YURCHIKHIN, WHEN THEY LAUNCHED THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANYBODY IN THE RIGHT SEAT. >> RIGHT. >> THEY DON’T-- YOU DON’T NEED SOMEONE TO BE THERE. >> OKAY. >> THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT ARE MORE UNCOMFORTABLE FOR-- IT’S VERY, VERY HELPFUL TO HAVE A RIGHT SEATER, AND I REALIZED THAT WHEN I STARTED TRAINING AS A LEFT SEATER BECAUSE YOU NEED SO MUCH MORE TIME TO TRAIN AS A LEFT SEATER. >> MM-HMM. >> YOU DON’T ALWAYS HAVE THE RIGHT SEATER THERE. AND SO, JUST HAVING AN ADDITIONAL PERSON WHO YOU CAN SAY, “HEY, REMIND ME WHEN-- TELL ME WHEN FIVE MINUTES GOES BY,” OR “CALCULATE AT WHAT RATE THE PRESSURE'S DROPPING SO THAT WE CAN FIGURE OUT HOW MUCH TIME WE HAVE TO-- CAN WE WAIT TO LAND AT OUR NOMINAL LANDING SPOT? OR DO WE HAVE TO START THE LANDING PROCESS IMMEDIATELY, WHEREVER THAT TAKES US?” I’M TALKING ABOUT SITUATIONS IN THE SIMULATIONS IN RUSSIA WHERE THEY’RE MAKING IT A REALLY BAD DAY IN THE SOYUZ. >> RIGHT. YEAH. >> SO, WHEN I CHANGED TO BEING A LEFT SEATER IT WAS A LOT-- YOU’RE REALLY HELPING TO OPERATE THE SPACECRAFT. >> MM-HMM. >> THE TRAINING’S GOOD, BUT YOU CAN IMAGINE THE FIRST TIME YOU’RE IN THERE PRESSING BUTTONS AND RECOGNIZING THAT, “IF I MESS THIS UP THIS IS REALLY GOING TO BE BAD.” AND I’VE DONE IT SO MANY TIMES NOW THAT I’M WELL PAST WORRYING ABOUT THAT. >> OH, YEAH. >> BUT, THERE'S A LOT THAT GOES ON AND IT’S-- THE TRAINERS THERE DO A REALLY GOOD JOB OF MAKING YOU READY FOR A REALLY, REALLY BAD DAY, BUT EVEN GIVEN SIX MALFUNCTIONS-- WELL, FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF THE SIMULATIONS THAT I DON’T THINK I’LL EVER FORGET WAS WE WERE DOCKING WITH THE SPACE STATION AND THIS-- THE AUTOMATIC SYSTEMS TO DOCK HAD STOPPED WORKING, SO THE COMMANDER HAD TO TAKE OVER AND DO EVERYTHING MANUALLY. >> MM-HMM. >> AND THEN, WE GOT UP TO THE SPACE STATION, WE MADE CONTACT WITH THE SPACE STATION. I WAS EXPECTING THE SIMULATION TO END AT ANY MOMENT, BECAUSE ALL WE HAD TO DO AT THIS POINT WAS-- THE WAY THE SOYUZ DOCKING MECHANISM WORKS IS THERE’S A PROBE THAT STICKS OUT THE FRONT, AND THEN ONCE IT MAKES CONNECTION WITH THE SPACE STATION THEN THE NEXT STEP IS YOU RETRACT THAT PROBE AND THAT DRAWS THE TWO SPACECRAFTS TOGETHER. >> OKAY. >> SO WE’RE IN THAT SITUATION, WE’RE CONNECTED NOW TO THE SPACE STATION, BUT THE RETRACTION MECHANISM DIDN’T WORK. >> OH. >> SO WE COULDN’T GET THAT LAST DISTANCE TO CLOSE THE GAP WITH THE SPACE STATION. AND SO, WE’RE GOING THROUGH THE TROUBLESHOOTING FOR THAT. IT WASN’T-- NOTHING HAD TO HAPPEN SUPER FAST. >> MM-HMM. >> WE HAD TIME, SO WE’RE KIND OF GOING THROUGH THAT PROCEDURE. >> OKAY. >> AND THEN, IN THE MIDST OF THAT, SUDDENLY SIMULATED SMOKE STARTED COMING FROM UNDERNEATH THE SPACECRAFT. >> FANTASTIC. >> SO HERE WE ARE-- SO IN THE MIDST OF THAT, WE HAD A FIRE WHERE WE COULDN’T GET TO THE SPACE STATION. WE HAD TO DO AN EMERGENCY UNDOCKING AND THEN HAD-- SO WE HAD TO GO THROUGH THE WHOLE EMERGENCY DESCENT PROCESS. >> WOW. >> AND IT WAS JUST TOTAL-- IT WAS A LOT OF-- TONS OF STUFF HAD TO HAPPEN REALLY FAST AT THAT POINT. >> WOW. YEAH, BECAUSE I MEAN, IF YOU’RE GOING THROUGH THE SIMULATION YOU THINK, LIKE YOU SAID, THIS IS THE LAST THING. >> YEAH, I WAS MENTALLY KIND OF ON THE, LIKE, WINDING DOWN, LIKE, “OKAY, IT WON’T BE LONG NOW AND WE’LL BE DONE.” >> YEAH. >> AND THEN, IT WAS LIKE A WHOLE OTHER SIMULATION STARTED. >> WOW. OH, MY GOSH. THE THINGS YOU GUYS HAVE TO GO THROUGH IS JUST UNREAL. >> BUT, IT’S REALLY KIND OF COOL, TOO. >> IT IS. IT IS. BUT, THAT’S WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO, RIGHT? SO A LOT OF THE-- A LOT OF THE TRAINING IS NOT ONLY KIND OF UNDERSTANDING THE SYSTEMS AND DOING JUST THE DAY TO DAY STUFF, BUT REALLY, “HEY, IF THIS SCENARIO HAPPENS, THIS IS WHAT YOU DO. IF THIS SCENARIO”-- LIKE, A LOT OF PROCEDURAL STUFF. >> AND NOT ONLY THAT, BUT IT’S IMPORTANT THAT WE’RE DOING IT AS A CREW BECAUSE THE STYLES OF EACH PERSON ARE DIFFERENT. AND UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE EXPECTATIONS OF THAT SOYUZ COMMANDER ARE FOR ME AS A LEFT SEATER VERSUS THE CREW WHO HAD TRAINED FOR YEARS TO DO THAT ROLE WHERE I WAS GETTING ANOTHER SIX MONTHS TO DO THAT. >> YEAH. >> SO THE TEAMWORK ASPECT IS HUGE. >> RIGHT. I MEAN, THAT’S TRUE FOR SOME OF THESE THINGS, BUT ALSO, I GUESS, EVA TRAINING, TRAINING IN THE NEUTRAL BUOYANCY LABORATORY. >> YES. >> SO I’M SURE YOU’VE DONE THAT BEFORE, RIGHT? >> A LOT, YUP. >> YEAH, SO WHAT KIND-- HOW OFTEN HAVE YOU BEEN IN DOING THAT KIND OF TRAINING AND SORT OF WHAT IS IT LIKE? >> BEFORE I GOT ASSIGNED, I DID IT ABOUT AN AVERAGE OF SEVEN TIMES A YEAR. >> OKAY. >> AND I THINK I WAS KIND OF PUSHING TO GET MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO DO THAT. >> OKAY. >> NOW THAT I’VE BEEN ASSIGNED, IT’S PROBABLY BEEN A LITTLE LESS THAN THAT. >> INTERESTING. >> BUT, IT’S ALWAYS A SIX HOUR-- IT’S TYPICALLY SIX HOURS UNDERWATER-- >> RIGHT. >> --IN THE EXTERNAL MOBILITY UNIT IS WHAT WE CALL IT, THE SPACEWALKING SPACESUIT. >> MM-HMM, EMU. >> MM-HMM. AND JUST IN CASE PEOPLE AREN’T AWARE, THE WAY THAT WORKS IS THERE’S DIVERS THAT ARE AROUND US TO HELP BALANCE THE SUIT TO MAKE IT AS GOOD AS POSSIBLE A SIMULATION OF WEIGHTLESSNESS. >> RIGHT. >> IT’S-- BECAUSE OF THE AIR VOLUME IN THE SUIT AND THE FACT THAT THE SUIT IS ACTUALLY QUITE HEAVY, IT WOULD BE REALLY EASY TO END UP IN A SITUATION WHERE YOUR LEGS ARE REALLY, REALLY LIGHT AND YOUR CHEST IS HEAVY, AND YOU WOULDN’T HAVE THE STRENGTH TO FLIP YOURSELF SO THAT YOUR FEET ARE BACK UNDERNEATH YOU AGAIN. >> RIGHT. >> SO THE DIVERS WILL HELP TRY TO MAKE IT SEEM A LITTLE MORE LIKE YOU’RE OUT IN SPACE, HOWEVER, THE SUIT IS FLOATING. YOU’RE NOT FLOATING INSIDE THE SUIT. >> YEAH. >> SO IF YOU’RE UPSIDE DOWN IN THE SUIT THEN ALL THE WEIGHT OF YOUR BODY MIGHT BE RESTING ON YOUR SHOULDERS, SO IT’S-- IT CAN NEVER BE A PERFECT SIMULATION. >> YEAH. I GUESS, I MEAN, FROM WHAT I’VE HEARD IS KIND OF-- SO, LIKE YOU SAID IT, YOU’RE UNDERWATER IN THIS HUGE POOL THAT’S LIKE 40 FEET DEEP, JUST ENORMOUS, AND THEY HAVE FULL SCALE MOCKUPS OF THE ISS UNDERNEATH SO YOU CAN ACTUALLY KIND OF FEEL LIKE WHAT IT WOULD BE TO BE ON THE STATION AND HAVE KIND OF THE MUSCLE MEMORY TO KNOW, “OKAY, THIS IS HERE, AND THIS IS HERE, AND THEN THIS HANDRAIL’S HERE,” SO YOU KNOW KIND OF WHERE TO GRAB ON AND EVERYTHING. BUT, FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, IS YOU’RE RIGHT, IT’S PROBABLY AS CLOSE TO SIMULATING WHAT IT’S LIKE TO ACTUALLY DO A SPACEWALK AS POSSIBLE. >> MM-HMM. >> BUT, FIRST OF ALL, YEAH, IF YOU’RE UPSIDE DOWN IN SPACE, THAT’S IT, YOU’RE JUST UPSIDE DOWN BUT YOU’RE STILL KIND OF FLOATING IN THE SUIT. >> MM-HMM. >> WHEREAS, YOU STILL HAVE GRAVITY ON EARTH, SO YOU’RE RIGHT, YOU FEEL THE WHOLE WEIGHT. BUT THEN ALSO MOVING, YOU STILL HAVE THAT WATER RESISTANCE, RIGHT. >> THAT’S TRUE. THAT’S VERY TRUE. >> SO I GUESS THINGS FLY A LITTLE BIT QUICKER IN SPACE THAN THEY WOULD IF YOU WERE TO TOSS THEM OR MOVE YOUR HAND OR SOMETHING IN UNDERWATER. AND I’M SURE YOU’VE KIND OF NOTICED A LITTLE BIT OF THAT, RIGHT? AND MAYBE THE DIVERS ARE SORT OF-- ARE SORT OF PUSHING THINGS A LITTLE BIT FASTER SO THAT IT SIMULATES IT? >> NO, WE-- I THINK SOMETIMES BECAUSE IT’S SO HARD FOR THE DIVERS TO TELL WHAT YOU’RE TRYING TO DO. >> OKAY, YEAH. >. THEY TEND TO LIKE LET YOU DO WHAT YOU NEED TO DO, UNLESS THEY CAN TELL IF THERE’S A SITUATION WHERE IT’S CLEARLY NOT. OR, YOU MIGHT-- WHAT I STARTED DOING WITH THE DIVERS IS I REALIZED THAT SOME THINGS THERE’S NO NEED FOR YOU TO FIGHT THROUGH JUST TOUGHING SOMETHING OUT. >> MM-HMM. >> SOMETIMES THEY’LL SAY-- WELL, FOR EXAMPLE, WE HAVE A BODY RESTRAINT TETHER. >> OKAY. >> IT’S KIND OF LIKE A SNAKE THAT YOU CAN RIGIDIZE IN A CERTAIN SHAPE. >> MM-HMM. >> AND IT’S LIKE A THIRD ARM. YOU CAN USE IT TO ATTACH YOURSELF TO THE SPACE STATION SO YOU HAVE TWO HANDS FREE AND YOU CAN DO WORK. >> MM-HMM. >> OR, IF YOU HAVE A LARGE WHAT WE CALL AN ORU, AN ORBITAL REPLACEABLE UNIT. >> OKAY, IT’S LIKE A SPARE PART ALMOST? >> A SPARE PART. >> YEAH. RIGHT. >> IT COULD BE VERY LARGE. IT COULD BE REALLY TINY. >> OKAY. >> YOU CAN ATTACH THAT TO THAT BODY RESTRAINT TETHER AND TRANSLATE ALONG AND IT'LL JUST BE THERE. >> OKAY. >> WELL, IMAGINE THAT THAT THING WANTS TO FLOAT UP TO THE SURFACE OF THE WATER. >> RIGHT. >> OR WANTS TO SINK TO THE BOTTOM OF THE POOL. THE DIVERS WILL HOLD ON TO THAT, BUT THEN YOU COULD POTENTIALLY HAVE THIS ARM STICKING OFF OF YOUR HIP AND IF A DIVER DOESN’T REALIZE THAT YOU’RE TRYING REALLY HARD TO ROTATE TOWARDS YOUR RIGHT SHOULDER YOU’RE NOT JUST TRYING TO ROTATE YOURSELF, YOU’RE SUDDENLY TRYING TO ROTATE THIS DIVER WITH A TANK WHO’S HOLDING ON TO THAT. >> RIGHT. >> SO WHEN I REALIZED THAT THAT BECOMES AN ISSUE SOMETIMES IS THAT I JUST SAY, “HEY, I’M NOT SURE WHY, BUT I’M HAVING A HARD TIME ROTATING TOWARDS MY RIGHT SHOULDER.” AND THEN SUDDENLY IT’LL BECOME VERY EASY TO ROTATE TOWARDS MY RIGHT SHOULDER. >> SO YOU DON’T HAVE DIRECT COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE DIVERS THEN? >> OH, THERE’S UNDERWATER SPEAKERS. >> OH. >> SO EVERYTHING YOU’RE SAYING-- IF THERE’S A LOT OF NOISE UNDERWATER, BECAUSE WHEN WE DO SCUBA STUFF SOMETIMES IT IS HARD TO HEAR. >> UH-HUH. >> WHEN YOU’RE BLOWING BUBBLES OUT, THERE’S A LOT OF NOISE FROM THE BUBBLES. BUT IF THEY STOP BREATHING FOR A MOMENT THEY CAN HEAR WHAT YOU’RE SAYING AND THEY’RE REALLY, REALLY GOOD ABOUT KEEPING TRACK OF WHAT WE’RE SAYING. >> THAT’S RIGHT. YEAH, AND THEY DO-- I MEAN, I’VE SPOKEN WITH DIVERS IN THE PAST AND THEY DO-- SO YOU GUYS DO SIX HOUR KIND OF SIMULATIONS UNDERWATER AND THEY DO TWO HOUR ROTATIONS. >> MM-HMM. >> AND IT’S A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT BECAUSE THE ASTRONAUTS ARE IN THE EMUs, SO YOU GUYS HAVE THE LIQUID COOLING GARMENT, AND YOU GUYS ARE AT A PRETTY GOOD TEMPERATURE. BUT FOR THEM, TWO HOURS IS A LONG TIME TO BE IN THE POOL AND THE TEMPERATURES, SO THEY DO THAT KIND OF ROTATION THING. >> YEAH, THAT’S TRUE. YEAH, IT’S ALSO PARTLY BECAUSE IT’S SUCH-- THEY’RE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR SAFETY AND IT’S A VERY-- THEY’VE GOT TO BE VERY, VERY ATTENTIVE SO THEY GOT TO MAKE SURE THEY’RE SUPER ALERT. AND THERE ARE LIMITATIONS FOR HOW LONG YOU CAN DIVE ON THOSE TANKS. >> YEAH. YEAH. SO, I MEAN, ONE OF THE THINGS I THINK ABOUT WITH BEING AN ASTRONAUT AND PREPARING TO BE AN ASTRONAUT IS JUST HOW PHYSICALLY ABLE YOU HAVE TO BE. YOU HAVE TO-- BECAUSE YOU’RE TALK-- I MEAN, WE’RE TALKING ABOUT SPACESUITS, THESE ARE VERY HEAVY AND BEING ABLE TO SPEND SIX HOURS UNDERWATER IN A POOL, NOT EATING, YOU KNOW, I’D BE SO HUNGRY AFTER SIX HOURS. BUT, THINGS LIKE THAT, WHAT DO YOU DO TO STAY HEALTHY AND TO MAKE SURE YOU’RE PHYSICALLY AT YOUR PEAK TO MAKE SURE YOU’RE ABLE TO DO ALL OF THESE CRAZY THINGS-- SURVIVE IN RUSSIA IN THE WINTER, AND STUFF LIKE THAT? >> SO, I HAD A BOSS ONE TIME WHEN I FIRST-- EARLY IN MY ARMY CAREER, THAT SAID MAKE PHYSICAL TRAINING THE FIRST PRIORITY OF EVERY DAY. >> HMM. >> AND I THINK SOMETIMES WE DON’T GIVE OURSELVES PERMISSION TO DO THAT. WE MIGHT FEEL A LITTLE GUILTY, LIKE IT ALMOST SEEMS SELFISH. >> YEAH. >> BUT, BECAUSE MY BOSS TOLD ME THAT, IT REALLY IS SOMETHING THAT STUCK WITH ME AND I REALLY I CAN’T AFFORD TO ALWAYS MAKE IT THE FIRST PRIORITY OF EVERY DAY. >> MM-HMM. >> BUT, I’VE RECOGNIZED THAT IT REALLY DOES NEED TO BE A PRIORITY AND THE NICE THING ABOUT THIS JOB IS THE JOB GIVES US OPPORTUNITIES TO DO THAT. >> MM-HMM. >> IT’S GOT A GREAT FACILITY. WE’VE GOT GREAT TRAINERS AND WE’VE ALSO GOT-- IF WE INJURE OURSELVES WE’VE GOT PEOPLE THAT’LL HELP US GET REHABILITATED AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. >> AND YOU GUYS-- THE ASTRONAUTS ACTUALLY HAVE THEIR OWN GYM HERE, RIGHT, AT THE JOHNSON SPACE CENTER? >> IT’S ACTUALLY NOT REALLY CALLED THE ASTRONAUT GYM. >> OH, OKAY. >> IT’S MORE DESIGNED TOWARDS A REHABILITATION FACILITY. >> OH. >> SO, WHEN PEOPLE COME BACK FROM SPACE, WE NEED-- THEY’VE GOT TO READAPT TO LIVING IN GRAVITY AGAIN. >> RIGHT. >> AND THAT’S REALLY THE PRIMARY FUNCTION. >> MM-HMM. >>IT WORKS OUT THAT AS A SECONDARY BENEFIT OF THAT IS WE GET SOME REALLY GOOD WORKOUT FACILITIES. >> THAT’S RIGHT. I REMEMBER TALKING WITH, AGAIN, SHANE KIMBROUGH A COUPLE WEEKS AGO, I THINK AT THIS POINT. YEAH, A COUPLE WEEKS AGO AND HE HAD-- I GOT THE CHANCE TO TALK WITH HIM JUST TWO DAYS AFTER HE LANDED. >> MM-HMM. >> AND HE WAS ALREADY WORKING OUT. IT’S CRAZY. I MEAN, HE WAS TALKING ABOUT BEING DIZZY JUST RIGHT AFTER LANDING, AND THEN, BAM, HE’S UP ON HIS FEET AND BEING REHABILITATED. >> MM-HMM. >> THAT’S CRAZY. SO, ARE THERE ANY OTHER SORT OF TRAINING ASPECTS THAT, LIKE, WE NEED TO KNOW BASED-- >> INTERESTING STUFF? >> YEAH, INTERESTING STUFF THAT YOU GO THROUGH THAT JUST, YOU KNOW, A CIVILIAN LIKE US DON’T REALLY GET TO EXPERIENCE. YOU KNOW, I KNOW ABOUT THE SURVIVAL TRAINING, ALL THE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT YOU DO TO PREPARE FOR BEING ON ORBIT, LEARNING ALL THE SYSTEMS, LEARNING HOW TO DO EVAs, ALL THESE DIFFERENT THINGS. >> YEAH, THERE’S ANOTHER FACILITY THAT I THINK IS REALLY, REALLY NEAT. IT’S CALLED THE VIRTUAL REALITY LAB HERE AT JOHNSON SPACE CENTER. >> OH. >> HAVE YOU EVER BEEN OVER THERE? >> YOU KNOW, I’VE SEEN IT. OH, IS THAT THE ONE WHERE YOU SIT IN THE CHAIR AND THEY PUT THE GOGGLES OVER YOU AND YOU HAVE THE HANDS-- YES, I’VE DONE THAT, YEAH. >> THAT’S AMAZING. THERE’S TWO THINGS THAT I’VE REALLY GOTTEN A KICK OUT OF LATELY DOING OVER THERE. ONE IS THE-- PRACTICING USING THE SAFER-- >> OH, OKAY. >> SO, EVERYTIME WE DO A SPACE WALK, WE’RE ALWAYS TETHERED TO THE SPACE STATION, SO THAT-- AND WE’RE LOCALLY TETHERED, SO IF YOU LET GO, YOU SHOULD STAY RIGHT WITHIN HANDS REACH OF SOMETHING. >> RIGHT. >> BUT ALSO ANOTHER, MUCH LONGER TETHER, JUST IN CASE WE MESS THAT UP, THAT WILL KEEP US SAFELY ATTACHED TO THE SPACE STATION. BUT IF WE MESS BOTH OF THOSE THINGS UP, THERE’S ALSO A THING CALLED THE SIMPLIFIED AID FOR EVA RESCUE. IT’S CALLED A SAFER. >> SAFER. >> IT LOOKS LIKE A BACKPACK THAT WE WEAR THAT’S BASICALLY A JET PACK. >> YEAH. >> BUT IT’S GOT VERY LIMITED RESOURCES AND YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW TO USE IT. SO, TO PRACTICE FLYING YOURSELF AS AN INDEPENDENT SPACECRAFT BACK TO THE SPACE STATION REQUIRES A LITTLE BIT OF TRAINING. SO, WHAT THEY DO IN THAT TRAINING IS THEY’LL TELL YOU, “OKAY, HERE’S WHERE WE’RE GOING TO START. YOU CAN SEE THE SPACE STATION RIGHT THERE.” I MEAN, YOU’RE WEARING THOSE GOGGLES, SO YOU CAN LOOK IN ANY DIRECTION AND YOU SEE EITHER STARS OR THE EARTH OR THE SPACE STATION. >> MM-HMM. >> AND THEN, THEY’LL SAY, “OKAY, WE’RE GOING TO START THE SIMULATION.” AND THEY’LL PUSH YOU OFF OF THE SPACE STATION. >> WHOA! >> SO THE SPACE STATION WILL BE SPINNING AND YOU’LL BE-- THE DISTANCE WILL BE INCREASING BETWEEN YOU AND THE SPACE STATION. >> SO YOU’RE SORT OF TUMBLING IN THIS SIMULATION, RIGHT? >> YES, ABSOLUTELY. >> OH, WHOA! >> AND YOU HAVE TO DO THAT BECAUSE IT TAKES A LITTLE BIT OF TIME FOR-- THEY KNOW THAT IT TAKES SOME TIME TO DEPLOY THE SAFER AND THE HAND CONTROLLERS AND THINGS LIKE THAT. >> OKAY. >> SO, MAYBE TEN SECONDS. I CAN’T REMEMBER EXACTLY. >> MM-HMM. >> AND THEY’LL TELL YOU-- BECAUSE, YOU’RE INITIALLY-- THEY DON’T HAVE A MOCK UP WHERE YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY DEPLOY THE SAFER. YOU START OFF WITH HOLDING IT IN YOUR HANDS. >> OH. >> BECAUSE THEY KNOW IT’S GOING TO TAKE SOME TIME, THEY DON’T LET YOU START IT RIGHT AWAY. >> MAKES SENSE, OKAY. >> SO THEY’LL SAY, “OKAY, NOW YOU CAN START IT.” BUT, THE FIRST THING YOU’VE GOT TO DO IS CALL THE GROUND AND SAY, “HEY, THIS IS EV2. I’M NOT CONNECTED TO THE SPACE STATION. I’M HEADING NADIR AND I’M DEPLOYING THE SAFER.” WHICH, YOU CAN IMAGINE, WOULD BE A VERY UNCOMFORTABLE SITUATION. >> OH, YEAH. YEAH, THAT’S A VERY CALM WAY OF SAYING, “HEY, I’M PLUMMETING TOWARDS EARTH, BY THE WAY.” >> AND IT’S A PRETTY SLOW SPEED, THANKFULLY. >> THAT’S TRUE. >> BECAUSE IT WOULD HAVE TO BE A SPEED WHERE YOU PUSHED YOURSELF OFF. >> OKAY, OKAY. >> BUT THE SAFER’S REALLY NEAT. ONCE YOU DEPLOY IT, IT WILL STOP ITSELF. SO, YOU MIGHT BE SPINNING, BUT ONCE YOU-- IT’S GOT SENSORS, SO IT WILL STOP ALL THE ROTATIONS. SO, YOU’LL BE FIXED IN ONE LOCATION. IT MIGHT BE LOOKING AWAY FROM THE SPACE STATION, BUT AT LEAST YOU’RE NOT ROTATING ANYMORE. AND THEN WE’RE TRAINED FIRST TO YAW, TO FIND THE SPACE STATION. >> OKAY. >> AND THEN-- SO WE START THAT YAW AND THEN ONCE YOU GET TO THE RIGHT STOP PLACE, THEN YOU PRESS A BUTTON AND IT’LL STOP THAT ROTATION AGAIN. >> FANCY. >> BASICALLY, YOU HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF AN IMPULSE. DON’T USE UP MUCH OF THE RESOURCES. >> RIGHT. >> YOU WAIT, BE PATIENT, WAIT FOR THE SPACE STATION TO BE LINED UP, AND THEN YOU STOP IT, AND THEN YOU CAN ADJUST YOUR PITCH. >> OKAY. >> GIVE IT JUST A LITTLE BIT, BE PATIENT, WAIT SO YOU’RE JUST LINED UP. AND THEN YOU CHANGE IT FROM ADJUSTING ROTATIONS TO ADJUSTING THE TRANSLATIONS. >> OKAY. >> SO, IDEALLY, AT THAT POINT, YOU’RE LINED UP EXACTLY WHERE YOU WANT TO GO, WHICH SHOULD BE EXACTLY WHERE YOU LEFT FROM, AND THEN YOU JUST GIVE IT A POSITIVE X. SO YOU START TRANSLATING DIRECTLY TOWARDS IT, JUST A LITTLE BIT. AND, IF YOUR AIM IS GOOD, YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TO MAKE ANY ADJUSTMENTS AND YOU HAVE PLENTY OF RESOURCES TO GET BACK. >> ALL RIGHT. >> IF YOU MESS UP-- MAYBE YOU FORGOT HOW TO CONTROL IT-- YOU COULD BURN THROUGH HALF OF YOUR STUFF AND JUST COMPLETELY MISS THE SPACE STATION. >> OKAY, SO, IT’S NOT LIKE A JETPACK HOW YOU WOULD IMAGINE IN LIKE A SCI-FI MOVIE, WHERE YOU’RE JUST KIND OF ZOOMING AROUND. IT’S STOP, PRESS A BUTTON, TURN, PRESS A BUTTON, LEAN FORWARD, OR WHATEVER IT IS. >> YOU DON’T WANT TO OVERDO ANY OF THOSE THINGS. >> RIGHT. >> YOU WANT TO DO EVERYTHING-- YOU WANT TO BE VERY CALM ABOUT IT. >> VERY METHODICAL, YEAH. >> AND THEY’LL DO IT AT A VARIETY OF LOCATIONS. THEY’LL DO IT FROM DIFFERENT VELOCITIES OF SEPARATION. >> OKAY. >> SO, THAT’S REALLY GOOD TRAINING. >> YEAH. >> ANOTHER THING-- DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT? >> NO-- WELL, I MEAN, THE ONE THING I WAS GOING TO ASK WAS: DO YOU GUYS HAVE A COMPETITION TO SEE HOW ACCURATE YOU CAN GO ON THAT FIRST-- BECAUSE YOU SAID YOU’VE GOT TO LINE UP AND THE HOPE IS THAT YOU PRESS THE BUTTON ONCE AND THEN YOU GO RIGHT WHERE-- DO YOU GUYS HAVE COMPETITIONS TO SEE WHO’S THE MOST ACCURATE? >> I HAVEN’T EVER WALKED OUT OF THERE AND TRIED TO COMPARE HOW MUCH PROPELLANT I HAD LEFT TO SOMEBODY ELSE. BUT MAYBE THAT MIGHT BE A GOOD THING TO DO IN THE FUTURE. WE’LL HAVE LIKE AN ASTRONAUT OLYMPICS. >> YEAH, THAT WOULD BE FUN. >> THAT WOULD BE REALLY FUN. >> YEAH! >> OR REALLY HUMBLING. >> YEAH! GO THROUGH THE TRAINING AND SEE-- DO LIKE LITTLE THINGS LIKE THAT. >> “HOW’D YOU SCORE?” >> “I HAD THIS MUCH PROPELLANT LEFT.” >> “OOH! I HAD THIS MUCH.” >> NO, BUT GO ON. YOU WERE GOING TO SAY SOMETHING ELSE. >> OH, ANOTHER THING THAT I THOUGHT WAS REALLY INTERESTING IN VIRTUAL REALITY LAB IS THEY TRAIN YOU HOW TO DO MASS HANDLING. SO, YOU PUT ON THOSE GLASSES AGAIN. >> OKAY. >> THIS TIME, AGAIN, YOU’RE SITTING IN THE CHAIR. BUT THEY HAVE, BASICALLY, HANDLES, LIKE WE WOULD HAVE FOR AN ORU. >> MM-HMM. >> IT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT, IN SPACE, HAS A MASS OF 1,000 KILOGRAMS. IT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT’S 200 KILOGRAMS. BUT THEY CAN SET UP THE COMPUTER, THE SIMULATION TO OPERATE THAT WAY. AND IT’S ATTACHED TO A BUNCH OF STRINGS IN EACH DIRECTION. >> OH. >> SO, YOU CAN START IT MOVING AND YOU’LL FEEL THE FORCE. AS YOU GET IT MOVING-- YOU CAN IMAGINE IF IT’S A TON-- >> RIGHT. >> AS YOU GET IT MOVING, IT’S HARDER TO GET IT TO STOP MOVING. AND MAYBE IT’S HARD TO GET-- >> OH. >> SO THINGS ARE, WE CALL IT, WEIGHTLESS. >> RIGHT. >> BUT THEY HAVE A LOT OF INERTIA. THEY HAVE THE SAME AMOUNT OF INERTIA AS THEY HAVE ON THE GROUND. >> MM-HMM. >> IF SOMETHING WEIGHS A LOT, IT’S GOING TO TAKE MORE FORCE TO GET IT STARTED MOVING-- >> MM-HMM. >> --AND MORE FORCE TO STOP IT MOVING. AND IT’S A REALLY INTERESTING-- IT’S THE CLOSEST TO DEALING WITH WEIGHTLESSNESS THAT I’VE EVER FELT, BECAUSE I HAD A LARGE OBJECT THAT I NEEDED TO LINE UP OVER SOME PINS. AND THEN, ONCE I GOT IT OVER THE PINS, I HAD TO LOWER IT DOWN. THE FIRST TIME I DID IT, I THINK, AS MOST PEOPLE WOULD, YOU HAVE A TENDENCY TO WANT TO BE MOVING IT ALL THE TIME. SO, I GRABBED THIS OBJECT. IT SEEMS REALLY HEAVY. I GET IT STARTED MOVING, BUT I KIND OF KEEP PUSHING IT. I’M USING MY STRENGTH TO KEEP IT MOVING. >> RIGHT. >> AND THEN, I HAD TO USE EVEN MORE STRENGTH TO GET IT TO STOP MOVING. THE SECOND TIME I DID IT, I REALIZED THAT ONCE I GOT IT STARTED MOVING I COULD ALMOST-- I COULD TAKE MY HAND-- BECAUSE IT WAS ALREADY MOVING. NOTHING’S GOING TO STOP IT FROM MOVING. >> MM-HMM. >> SO, ONCE I GOT IT JUST MOVING REALLY SLOWLY I JUST PUT MY FINGERTIPS ON THOSE HANDLES AND THEY KEPT MOVING. >> OH. >> AND THEN I JUST-- VERY RELAXED AND VERY CALMLY WAITED FOR IT TO GET TO THE RIGHT SPOT. AND I GAVE IT VERY LITTLE PRESSURE TO STOP IT, THIS MASSIVE OBJECT. >> WOW! >> AND THEN I-- WHEN I WANTED TO MOVE IT DOWN-- I JUST GAVE IT A LITTLE BIT OF A NUDGE. AS SOON AS I KNEW THAT IT WAS MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, I JUST USED MY FINGERTIPS AND LET IT GO. AND I SUSPECT, WHEN YOU’RE IN SPACE, DOING A SPACE WALK THAT, BECAUSE WE’RE IN THE POOL, YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE THIS TENDENCY, WHEN WE WERE TRAINING AS A NEWBIE, TO WANT TO FEEL LIKE YOU’VE GOT TO CONTINUOUSLY FORCE YOURSELF TO KEEP MOVING. >> RIGHT. >> BUT ONCE YOU START GETTING YOURSELF TO MOVE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, YOU JUST HAVE TO USE FINGERTIP PRESSURE TO TEND YOURSELF AND MAKE SURE YOU’RE CONTINUING TO DO THE RIGHT THING. >> SO, THAT’S THE NICE PAIRING BETWEEN DOING SIMULATION RUNS IN THE NEUTRAL BUOYANCY LABORATORY AND THEN GOING TO THE VIRTUAL REALITY AND DOING-- YOU JUST GET A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE. >> EXACTLY. IN THE NBL-- IN THE NEUTRAL BUOYANCY LAB-- >> YEAH. >> YOU CAN MOVE 100 METERS. >> MM-HMM. >> IN THE VIRTUAL REALITY LAB, YOU CAN MOVE ABOUT A FOOT. YOU CAN MOVE SOMETHING ABOUT A FOOT. SO, IT’S REALLY JUST A FINE TUNING OF THINGS. >> IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS. BUT THEY’RE REALLY IMPORTANT, RIGHT? >> ABSOLUTELY. >> KNOWING THAT IF YOU TRY TO TUG THIS BIG, MASSIVE OBJECT REALLY, REALLY FAST, IT’S GOING TO BE REALLY HARD TO STOP. >> YES. >> THOSE ARE LITTLE THINGS BUT, ALSO, EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. ALL RIGHT. WELL, MARK, THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO ACTUALLY SIT DOWN AND TALK THROUGH SOME OF THE ASTRONAUT TRAINING AND WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE SELECTED AS AN ASTRONAUT, ALL OF THE ABOVE. I KNOW YOU’RE VERY BUSY, SO I KNOW THIS IS A BIG CHUNK OF TIME FOR YOU. SO, THAT WAS AWESOME. BUT, FOR THE LISTENERS, IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE, AND FOLLOW MARK’S JOURNEY ONCE HE GOES TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, STAY TUNED UNTIL AFTER THE MUSIC CLOSING CREDITS THAT WE HAVE HERE AND WE’LL TELL YOU EXACTLY WHERE YOU NEED TO GO. SO, THANKS AGAIN, MARK, FOR COMING ON THE SHOW. >> THANK YOU. [ MUSIC ] >> HOUSTON, GO AHEAD. >> I’M ON THE SPACE SHUTTLE. >> ROGER, ZERO-G AND I FEEL FINE. >> SHUTTLE HAS CLEARED THE TOWER. >> WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND. >> IT’S ACTUALLY A HUGE HONOR TO BREAK THE RECORD LIKE THIS. >> NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE EASY, BUT BECAUSE THEY ARE HARD. >> HOUSTON, WELCOME TO SPACE. >> HEY, THANKS FOR STICKING AROUND. SO, TODAY WE TALKED WITH MARK VANDE HEI. HE’S GOING TO BE LAUNCHING TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION LATER THIS YEAR OR MAYBE RIGHT NOW, DEPENDING ON WHEN THIS PODCAST GETS POSTED. BUT MARK IS ON SOCIAL MEDIA. HE’S ON TWITTER @ASTRO_SABOT. THAT’S S-A-B-O-T, AND YOU CAN FOLLOW HIS JOURNEY ABOARD THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION AS HE TALKS ABOUT HIS DAY-TO-DAY LIFE AND MAYBE TAKES SOME PHOTOS FROM THAT VANTAGE POINT 250 MILES ABOVE THE EARTH. YOU CAN ALSO SEE HIS JOURNEY AT NASA.GOV/ISS. WE HAVE UPDATES ALL THE TIME ON WHAT’S GOING ON ABOARD THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. SOME OF THE RESEARCH STUDIES AND EXPERIMENTS THAT MARK WILL BE TAKING PART OF WHILE HE’S ABOARD. ON SOCIAL MEDIA, WE’RE VERY ACTIVE. JUST GO TO FACEBOOK, TWITTER, OR INSTAGRAM. ON FACEBOOK IT’S INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, ON TWITTER IT’S @SPACE_STATION, AND ON INSTAGRAM IT’S @ISS. WE’LL BE FOLLOWING MARK THROUGHOUT HIS JOURNEY AND POSTING PICTURES OF HIM AND SOME OF THE THINGS THAT HE’S DOING WHILE ON THAT ORBITING COMPLEX. YOU CAN ALSO USE THE #ASKNASA ON ANY ONE OF THOSE PLATFORMS AND SUBMIT AN IDEA FOR THE PODCAST, MAYBE ASK ANY QUESTIONS, AND WE’LL MAKE SURE TO ANSWER IT IN A LATER PODCAST. THIS PODCAST WAS RECORDED ON MAY THE 4th. THAT’S RIGHT, WE RECORDED TWO PODCASTS ON MAY THE 4th. MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU. SUPER LATE. I’M STILL GOING TO SAY IT. AND SPECIAL THANKS TO JOHN STOLL, ALEX PERRYMAN, PAT RYAN, AND JOHN STREETER FOR MAKING THIS PODCAST HAPPEN. AND THANKS AGAIN TO MR. MARK VANDE HEI FOR COMING ON THE SHOW. WE’LL BE BACK NEXT WEEK.

hwhap_Ep20_ Special Delivery

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-11-22

Gary Jordan: Houston, We Have a Podcast. Welcome to the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center, episode 20, Special Delivery. I'm Gary Jordan, and I'll be your cohost today, along with Matt Buffington, director of public affairs at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, and the host of NASA in Silicon Valley Podcast. Matt, what's up? Matthew Buffington: Hey Gary, we're doing great, so glad we could team up on this. This is also concurrently episode 69 for the NASA in Silicon Valley Podcast. There's a ton of overlap between our listeners, so I'm really glad we were able to make this happen. Gary Jordan: Yeah, me too. Today is a very special episode, because we're teaming up with NASA in Silicon Valley Podcast to talk about some of the things we can find in a cargo vehicle when it's shipped to space, which is perfect because SpaceX will be sending its Dragon Cargo Vehicle to the International Space Station here soon. So, who do we have from Ames, Matt? Matthew Buffington: Over here we're bringing in Dennis Leveson-Gower. He's a project scientist here over at Ames, and has tons of experience working on cargo, working on payloads, and sending them on up to the space station. How about over there in Houston? Gary Jordan: We'll have Shane Kimbrough. He's a NASA astronaut who recently spent about six months on the space station and landed earlier this year. We've actually had him on the podcast to talk about his landing experience back in episode three. But while he was up there, he had quite a few cargo vehicles visit the station. He had the SpaceX Dragon, Orbital ATK Cygnus, Japanese HTV, and the Russian Progress all within his six-month stay aboard the station. So, it's fair to say he knows what cargo on station is all about. He performed hundreds of experiments with the science that was delivered on some of those vehicles, and even got some fresh food, so I'm excited to ask him about that experience. Matthew Buffington: Awesome. I'm really excited to get the different perspective on both the science, on the space station, so we can see the astronaut's point of view, and the people who actually design those experiments. Gary Jordan: Yeah, this is going to be a good episode. So, with no further delay, let's go light speed and jump right ahead to our talk with Shane Kimbrough and Dennis Leveson-Gower. Enjoy. Okay, all right, it looks like we're all connected, ready to go. How about this, Houston We Have a Podcast and NASA Silicon Valley combined? Matthew Buffington: Yeah, this is going to be sweet. Gary Jordan: Sweet, I know, I'm pumped. And we're doing this remotely, so here in Houston, I'm in the studio with NASA astronaut and no stranger to Houston We Have a Podcast, Shane Kimbrough. Shane, thanks for being here. Shane Kimbrough: Hey, great to be here. Gary Jordan: Cool, and how about over at Ames, Matt, who do you have? Matthew Buffington: I'm sitting over here with my buddy Dennis Leveson-Gower. We actually go way back from SpaceX 8, was it Dennis? Dennis Leveson-Gower: That's right. Matthew Buffington: I always remember it because it was the first time SpaceX had launched a rocket and landed it on a barge. And Dennis was nice enough as I drove him back and forth from his office to do press interviews and stuff. Gary Jordan: Nice enough indeed. Matthew Buffington: Exactly so, I always like to start our podcast with the question of, how did you get to NASA, how did you end up in Silicon Valley. I definitely want to hear about that from Shane as well, but let's start off with Dennis. So tell us about, how did you end up at NASA? Dennis Leveson-Gower: I really ended up here by accident. I was set to be a professor, discover things, have graduate students. I did a Ph.D. in biochemistry. Then I went to Stanford for a post-doctoral fellow doing bone marrow transplantation, graft vs. host disease, immunology. And slowly over the years, I thought, I'm going to go to industry. I'm not going to do the academic track anymore. It was a slow evolution. So I was out there, had my resume posted on job sites and stuff, looking around. Just got an email saying, are you interested in a position at NASA Ames? And I'm like, this is spam. I don't know anything about rockets, I'm not an engineer. I'm a biologist. So, talked to my wife. She's like, you have to apply, it's NASA. So I thought, all right, at least I can go and see the base and look around, because I saw it on the side of the highway, so I knew there was some NASA thing here. And yeah, it was when I talked to the hiring manager, she really convinced me this was a really cool opportunity. Got me into a different head space of not just doing basic research, but doing applied research, and working with a whole different cadre of engineers and operations and safety. And I don't know, it just really appealed to me, so I took a chance and took the job. Matthew Buffington: That's pretty awesome. I always say, when people think of NASA, they think of rockets and telescopes. Biology is a huge part of that. Speaking of that, sometimes we have humans up in space. Gary Jordan: Excellent segue. All right, Shane, how about you? How did you become an astronaut? Shane Kimbrough: I came -- there's several obviously avenues to be an astronaut. I came through the military. I was an Army officer, Apache pilot my whole Army career. I took a little detour toward the end of I would say my conventional Army career when I went to graduate school at Georgia Tech, and then I went to teach math at West Point for a few years. And then from there, I was called to come work down at Johnson Space Center for a few years. I had applied to be an astronaut that year, didn't get selected. But the good news was, I was I guess somewhat in the highly qualified category, so the Army detachment down here asked me to come down here and work for a few years. And that was to really get ready for the 2002 astronaut selection. Guess what, that selection never happened. So, we went through the whole thing, interviews and everything, and it never happened. Congress decided they didn't need a class that year. So, we hung around for another couple years, which in a way was somewhat rolling the dice on my Army career. But my wife and I felt it was where we wanted to be and what we wanted to do, so stuck around, and was lucky enough to get selected in 2004. Gary Jordan: Lucky and persistent enough. Shane Kimbrough: Yeah, persistence is a big trait, I think. It was my fourth time to apply. Matthew Buffington: I was going to say, isn't that normal for astronauts? Because we had Steve Smith a while back on our podcast, and I think he had applied three or four times as well. Shane Kimbrough: Yeah, I think at least it used to be the norm. A lot of times these days, at least in the last couple classes, we've had a lot of first-timers. But yeah, for folks a little older like myself, I think three or four times is pretty normal. Gary Jordan: I remember talking with the 2017 class, and a couple of them applied multiple times. I know for sure Raja Chari did, but you're right, a couple of them are first-timers. But then you've got folks like Clay Anderson, who applied like, what, eight or nine times or something? So yeah, right. Shane Kimbrough: Persistence. Gary Jordan: Exactly, persistence, and it works out too. This is perfect, to combine forces for the podcast today -- Houston We Have a Podcast and NASA in Silicon Valley -- because today's topic is cargo, and cargo going to the International Space Station. And Shane, I feel like you're the perfect person to have on the podcast today, because you've seen your fair share of cargo vehicles on your last mission, right? Shane Kimbrough: Yeah, we saw everything, and we saw Cygnus twice. We had a lot of vehicles coming and going. And really cargo, when you think about it, it's the way we handle the logistics problem on the space station. It's a big logistics problem, if you think about it, to get equipment and clothes and food and experiments to that orbiting laboratory. So, how do we do that? We used to do it with the space shuttle. It was nice and easy, it could haul a bunch of stuff. Now, we can't do that, so we have these cargo vehicles you're talking about. Gary Jordan: That's right, because on your way to the space station, you can bring stuff, but now you need stuff delivered. It's a huge complex. It's the size of a five-bedroom house, it needs stuff -- food, supplies, all that kind of things. Matthew Buffington: That's one of the funny things as we were coming in, especially as we're getting closer for the SpaceX 13 launch coming into it. We see there's the both sides -- there's the people up at the space station working on receiving the cargo or even science experiments, but also on the flipside of, how do you get that stuff prepared? That is a feat in and of itself. Gary Jordan: That's true. So Dennis, what do you have to do to prepare stuff to go on cargo missions? Dennis Leveson-Gower: That's a big question, because I mean, it really starts one to two years ahead of the launch, if you think about it, or more, because after you have an experiment defined, you've got to prepare exactly what the science requirements are, then you've got to start making a plan, then you've got to start assessing what the hardware needs are, and the kits' needs are, then you have to design those, then they have to get through safety, you have to plan operations, you have to plan how everything's going to be labelled. And then, usually I think somewhere between three and six months before a launch is when we're going to actually have things prepared, off-gassed, tested, H-fit, label committee, all those things, and do the early load. And then we start preparing the late load chemicals and perishables that have to be loaded 25 hours before launch. And we do that out at Kennedy Space Center for SpaceX launch, anyways. So, there's a whole experiment development cycle that happens, and that's just for one payload. And if we have five or six payloads from Ames coming out, that's a lot of work from a lot of people to send a box of something. Matthew Buffington: It takes a village for it, gathering all that stuff up. But I'm always curious on your guys' side, Shane, for you guys, when you receive this cargo, how exactly does that happen, or how does that work? Like, you're unpacking a trunk from a trip? Shane Kimbrough: No, we're always excited to open up the hatch and get new stuff. It's kind of like Christmas every time we get one of these vehicles up there. But the way we go about unpacking is very organized, and it has to be that way. We have a great team on the ground that gets us ready and prepared with all kind of documents, and keeps us organized with charts and things on how they want it to be unpacked. And so, we follow that religiously. We'll have somebody in the crew is going to be called the loadmaster, and that person's responsible for that vehicle. If we just start pulling things out and stowing things where we want to stow them, that's not the way it's going to be, because we'll never find that stuff. We really have to be disciplined, and put things where they're supposed to go. A lot of times, that means we'll take one bag out, and the bag will have 100 different items in it. And we have to go put those 100 things somewhere. So, it's not as easy as pulling a bag out and stuffing it somewhere. Sometimes it is, but most of the time it's not. So, we've really got to make sure we're all helping each other out. And it's always better to, as I've found with all these cargo ops, to do it as a team versus doing it individually. You're much more efficient, and you can have one person reading the book, keeping control of everything, and the other couple people running things around. And that really worked well for us. Gary Jordan: So, everything has an order and a destination, right? You've got to unload this first, and put it in this location, and it's all scheduled that way. How long does it take you to unload completely? Shane Kimbrough: I think we actually set some records for unloading vehicles the quickest, which is a good thing I guess. But, we really -- and we did it by working together as a team. And that's the only way. Thomas [Pesquet] and Peggy [Whitson] and I would knock out a vehicle, no kidding, in a day and a half or two. But, that's pretty unusual. That was kind of if it happened to show up just before a weekend, we used the weekend to do it, so it was a freebie. Where if they had it just playing out during a normal week, it would take a week to two weeks sometimes depending on the vehicle to get it unloaded. Gary Jordan: That's right, because you've got to fit it with everything else you're doing. Wow, amazing. Matthew Buffington: Yeah, and a lot of that, I'd imagine it's already complicated enough, and I'm sure it's crazy complicated even just within NASA, but then you start throwing in all these private companies and different groups. Is everybody, how do you keep -- maybe you guys could talk about, how do you keep everybody on the same page on how things get prepared. Because Dennis, you're preparing this stuff for these companies, but then . . . Dennis Leveson-Gower: I think they all go through NASA. You'll have private hardware developers, but the manifest is controlled through NASA, and the crew procedures are controlled through NASA. Shane, correct me if I'm wrong, but at some certain point has to be layered into the controlled process of NASA, even if it's like -- so, you could think of it as NASA buying things from different vendors, but they'll manage how it goes up, or they'll manage it through SpaceX how it goes up. Shane Kimbrough: Totally agree. We saw differences, of course, because the vehicles are all different inside, so the way they, location coding is all different, and where things might be on one is different than another. That's the only difference, but bottom line is, you're going to get a bag, you're going to take it somewhere, you're going to take it apart, and take those things somewhere. And if we keep it pretty simple like that, it made it easier on the crew. Gary Jordan: Definitely. You're the pro mover when it comes to cargo missions. Shane Kimbrough: I'm going to get a reputation here. Gary Jordan: So what are some of the main differences, then, in terms of, Dennis, on your end, for qualifications, and we can start with that -- what's the difference to get it on that vehicle? But then Shane, for unpacking it, some of those little tiny things? Dennis Leveson-Gower: The biggest thing for us is always safety. We go to great lengths to try to have chemicals that will not interfere with the life support system, that won't be toxic to the crew if they're spilled. Everything that has a tox level will have certain levels of containers and containment that have to be layered onto how it's packaged and how it's stored. Then, we have human factors. We have to make sure that the 5 percent Japanese female and the 5 percent American male can handle the things. And then, even right before it's loaded, there's an expert that comes in with gloves on and feels everything, to make sure there's no sharp edges on anything, and that it's not going to hurt anybody when they start pulling them out of the packages. That's what I've seen on my end, big picture. Shane Kimbrough: I'd say from our end, it's very similar, like I mentioned before. But there are some things. Every vehicle that gets there, there's some critical items that need to come off first. And we're well aware of what those are, based on the ground team prepping us for that. And most of the time, those are delicate experiments or things like that that have to come off, or are time-sensitive. We'll obviously hit those first, and then after that we'll follow the script that the ground lays out for us, so that we're all on the same sheet of music, and everybody knows what's going on. Even if we're doing it in our spare time, where the ground control team might not be following, we can update them with, hey, we did sections two, three, and four, whatever it was, and they'll be caught back up with us when they get back on console. Gary Jordan: Yeah, like if you're doing it on a weekend or something. Sweet. So, what's an example of time-critical, since you unpacked so many vehicles, what's an example of a time-critical experiment you had to unpack? Shane Kimbrough: We had some rodents onboard, so that was one thing we had to get off. Those are always time-critical, just to get them setup in their habitations on the space station. That's one. I think some that just showed up today actually on the space station were things like pizza on ice cream. If you get things like that, those are time-critical, because you need to eat those quickly. Anyway, there's plenty of different, a wide range there I gave you from rodents to ice cream. Matthew Buffington: And I have to chime in on that, because this isn't just the sad, dehydrated stuff you buy at the museum. This is a legit pizza. Shane Kimbrough: This is the real deal, apparently. It's the first time I've heard of a pizza delivery going to the space station, so whatever company got that is going . . . Matthew Buffington: 30 minutes or less. Dennis Leveson-Gower: It's not going to be the best pizza, but it'll probably taste good to you guys. Shane Kimbrough: Ice cream's legit, though. Of course, we didn't have any when I was there, but shortly after I left, they got some, and they're getting some today. Gary Jordan: They waited until right after you left? Oh, man. Shane Kimbrough: Apparently so. Dennis Leveson-Gower: After SpaceX 8 launched, all the guys on the ground at KSC had all these Klondike bars filling the freezer. And I'm like, where did these come from? And they go, the CMC team, the cargo team, when they were packing all the cold stowage, if there's any empty areas in the freezers, they start stuffing ice cream bars in there, as a surprise for the crew. So, we have extra boxes of Klondike bars. Shane Kimbrough: Always a welcome treat. Matthew Buffington: But, when you're unpacking during this, are you in constant contact with the ground, and they're walking you through it, or it's just a mix of sometimes you are, sometimes you guys get your to-do list and you make it happen and update them later on? Shane Kimbrough: Yeah, we have a couple meetings beforehand, of course, before the vehicle gets there, and there's a whole choreography they want us to do, and the order they want us to do it in. And so, we're disciplined and follow that to the T. A lot of times we'd have questions, or something wouldn't be where it was supposed to be, and that's where we'd call down real quickly and touch base with whoever was on console for that, so that we weren't getting out of their choreography, even if something wasn't there. But they were always there if we needed them. Usually, we would just tag up at the end of a day, end of a cargo day, and make sure to tell them exactly what we did so they were up to speed on everything. Gary Jordan: I don't know if you got any Klondike bars. Was there any missions that gave you some nice treats? Shane Kimbrough: I think almost every vehicle had care packages from our families onboard. Those are always a surprise, so that was kind of cool. We didn't get any ice cream, but we got a lot of fresh fruit, and that was kind of cool. That's another thing I think they hold onto, and if there's any extra space they'll cram them in there. But, some apples and oranges and things like that were really delicious after not having them for quite a while. Gary Jordan: I was going to say, definitely a treat compared to -- it's fresh, it's literally fresh. Shane Kimbrough: We ate those really quickly. Gary Jordan: You kind of have to. Shane Kimbrough: Yeah, don't want them to go bad. Matthew Buffington: I'm wondering, as you get into the coordination that's needed, and even thinking on the side when, we have researchers, scientists who are creating science experiments, it's hard enough doing it in a lab on your own. And so, when people are -- I'm wondering, Dennis, from your perspective as people design and put these experiments together, but then Dennis -- or, Shane, on your side, actually conducting these things. Talk a little about that, what goes into making an experiment for someone else to do, and your instructions on how to do it? It seems very complicated. I'm looking at you, Dennis. Dennis Leveson-Gower: Okay, what I'll receive is basically a grant proposal that had a very high science score from a panel of reviewers. And then I'll start looking at it and saying, can we actually do this in space? Because, crew time is very precious. You cannot do things as quickly in space as you can on the ground. We add a 1.4 margin of how long it would take us on earth, at a minimum. It's all got to be done in a self-contained glove box volume. And, I start working to make little tweaks and adjustments -- like I said, can we replace this chemical with a nontoxic one? Can we simplify this procedure? What's the tolerance of the timeline? Because, if they have to do an EVA, we can't have a time-critical part of our experiment at the same time they've got to be outside the station. So, we start looking at every single factor, and it takes month to organize that. But then, eventually we get that down into a set of crew procedures, just like written, step-by-step, everything to do, and it should be simple as possible, even though these astronauts are super well trained and super smart. We make these super simple documents to send them. It's kind of funny. And then the training happens at JSC, where an experienced scientist will go and work with the astronauts, and make a fighter pilot into a biologist. And then we send everything up. And then on my end, we're sitting in a control room watching a live video of the astronauts. It's very cool. And, talking to them. And usually, there's one designated person with the best speaking voice talking, and then there's five people in the room behind them with total chaos, yelling it's storage locker 5B, 6-Alpha, and they go, storage locker 5-6-B-Alpha. And then, we just are in their ear, pretty much, walking them through what we need them to do. I know there's simpler payloads, where I think Shane would say you just follow written instruction, but for some of the more complicated things, we're actually talking to them, walking them through it. Shane Kimbrough: Yeah, it's very helpful to have Dennis and his team there talking to us. These scientists in general have spent many years creating whatever the experiment is. The last thing we want to do is mess it up, or mess up any of their data. So, we want to be very careful in all that whole process Dennis explained about getting the experiment approved and then what he's got to do to get it in a crew procedure. That takes a lot of people a lot of time. And so, by the time it gets to us, it's pretty well refined. It's not perfect, because I haven't seen that procedure, and I might read something differently than Dennis would read it. So, it is so nice to have them on the horn, so to speak, right there talking to us in case we have any questions, so we don't mess up any of the experiment or any of the data. Gary Jordan: That's true. And then off of Dennis' point of making them as simple as possible, a lot of it has to do with the fact that, you're right, these scientists spend so much time getting these procedures ready for this experiment, but that's not the only one you're doing. You are doing quite a few experiments. Shane Kimbrough: Very true, and in general, we're not trained on all these. We're trained generically on experiments. Like Dennis alluded to, making a pilot a biologist for a day. I was lucky enough to have Peggy there, who is a biologist, so she could help me understand something that normally I wouldn't understand, because it's not in my background. But Dennis and his team can get some really complicated experiment into a procedure that's simple, like he said, so that even I can understand it. That's pretty good. Gary Jordan: So, what else do you have to train for, besides the scientific experiments? Because Dennis also talked about, you have to train for EVAs, and on this last mission you did four, so that's quite a big chunk of time that takes away for science. And then you've got to train for unloading cargo vehicles. What else are you training for? Shane Kimbrough: Those are the big ones. Of course, the cargo vehicles when they come up, we actually use the robotic arm to grab them, to capture them. So, a lot of our training is with the robotics team to make sure we do that operation successfully. Grabbing something that's going 17,500 miles an hour is not trivial. But, with our training, we always train of course for the worst-case scenarios, and the vehicles, at least when I was there, behaved very well. It seemed like it was simple, even though the stress is pretty high, the gains are up, because it's a real vehicle and you want to make sure we grab this thing and get it onboard. So, that's another piece of our training we do. What else? Those are the big-ticket items. Operationally, EVAs, like you talked about, robotics, when we're capturing these vehicles, and most of the other time we're doing experiments. That makes up most of our days onboard the space station. Gary Jordan: Yeah. Was it different to use the robotic arm to capture the different vehicles, or did it translate pretty well? Shane Kimbrough: There are differences certainly with every vehicle. So, we had Cygnus, we had SpaceX, we had HTV from Japan, and we had a Russian vehicle, but that one docks automatically, so we didn't have to reach out with the robotic arm to grab that one. But, there are several differences, and the cues you use are different for every vehicle. Again, we get spun up by our training team a week or two prior to each vehicle showing up, so we remember you're looking here, not here, based on whatever the vehicle was, and using certain cues to help get the vehicle onboard. Matthew Buffington: I'd imagine no matter how much you train on that, and I'm sure there's simulations and different things of remoting the giant robotic arm, I imagine once you're doing that for the first time, it's got to be nerve-wracking, because you're like, this is a very expensive toy, I don't want to mess this up. Shane Kimbrough: Yeah, it was on the first time. And again, we got several opportunities, so I won't say it became less important, but you got more comfortable with it. But, it is a big deal. And I really wanted Tomas, the French astronaut I was flying with, to get a lot of experiment. So, when we were together, I grabbed the first one, and after that I let him grab all the other ones, to get his experience level up. And he'll go fly again here in a few years, hopefully, and be able to use all that experience to help his crewmates out when he's onboard. Gary Jordan: Definitely. When you're training to capture these things, like Matt was saying, when you're in the real thing, it's a little bit different, but the training, I've seen it before. It's pretty detailed. There's a projection of, it's like a, I don't know, describe the training. Shane Kimbrough: We have this, we call it a dome facility, because that's what it is, and the graphics are just fantastic. And it gives you the sense of speed in which things are coming together, and the rats that you're coming are very good. But, it's just not the real thing. It's like our pool. Our pool is amazing to train for space walks, but it's not the real thing. There are differences. And until you get up there -- and now, we're in the Cupola, we're flying almost all of these out of the Kupla, which maybe think about you're upside down flying it, so spatially you've got to get your head around where are the arms moving even though you're upside down, those kind of things. It's not super simple until you actually get up there and do it a few times, and then it becomes a little bit easier on the mind. Gary Jordan: I can see why they would put you through the training for it, because there's a lot to think about, just being upside down, using the controls, controlling something from a Cupola, but then the arm's over here, I guess. Shane Kimbrough: Right. So, it's not necessarily right out your window. It is in this case when you're in the Kupla, but you could fly it from the lab as well, and you wouldn't have any windows and you'd just be using cameras. That's what we used to do. That's what we did on my first flight. So, things have gotten a lot better in that regard. Gary Jordan: I'm sure they write these procedures to be as easy as possible, so Dennis, what are some of the techniques you do whenever you're writing these scientific procedures for the astronauts to make it as easy as possible for them? Dennis Leveson-Gower: Yeah, I mean, we try to boil it down to step-by-step, but also add in some rationale for why you're doing it a certain way, so they don't have to memorize the exact step, but they can know what the end goal is and why they're doing it, so they know I should make sure I keep this cold, or I should make sure I handle this gently. And then hopefully, that helps. But I find that most of the time, it boils down to, we have the procedure, but then they say, tell me what to do next, and we're just talking to them. Shane Kimbrough: Especially when we're in the glove box. We're immobile when we're in there. We can't move around and do things. Dennis Leveson-Gower: Yeah, and how do you read something when you're doing that? Shane Kimbrough: Yeah, so it's very helpful to have you guys onboard. Matthew Buffington: And for me, going back, one thing that occurred to me as you're dealing with some, if it's a sensitive science experiment or the precious pizza cargo, I wonder, when you're packing, obviously there's a little bit of Tetris, where you're trying to place things into the cargo to be very efficient. But it's also, launches are quite intense. So I'd imagine, Dennis, I'd imagine things have to be durable enough to survive such a crazy, extreme, launching, and then it's floating in space, and then the big robotic arm that Shane's operating is grabbing it. But then also, on the flipside, Shane, I'd imagine for you, being a human experiencing that sensation as well. But what goes into keeping things safe and packed in? Dennis Leveson-Gower: Yeah, for especially things like the rodent habitat, we strap it to a table and we vibrate the heck out of it. It goes through launch impact testing, it gets put through temperatures, it goes through pressurization, depressurization. Anything like that goes through rigorous testing to make sure it stands up to things. And then, it's usually packed in some foam, into a locker. Then, it's put on a scale so that you can find the center of gravity of that hardware, and also the weight and dimensions. And then from that, some eggheads do some math, and some robots load it into the capsule the right way so it's all balanced. I don't understand all that part. But, we just make sure that we've tested everything, whatever. And I mean, it's pretty excessive. Whatever could possible go wrong, we test, worst-case, and then we treat it as gently as possible. And yeah, then wrap it up and ship it up. Matthew Buffington: And how is that, Shane, from your perspective being the human inside said rocket, vibrating and going through those intense pressures? Shane Kimbrough: On the Soyuz, which is what I just flew on, I was very surprised on the launch how smooth it was. I had an experience on the space shuttle before, and it was rocking and rolling and shaking around like you'd imagine, and you see in the movies. But the Soyuz was super smooth. We pulled about 3Gs going uphill, but the ride itself was very smooth. I was very impressed. Matthew Buffington: So, not only designing the experiments and getting them up, but you'd mentioned before, Dennis, that it could take years in this process. I'd imagine there's several experiments and ideas that never get into Shane's hands. Or, great ideas that just, either it's funding or different things. It's a competitive process, and everybody wants their cool science experiment to go up. Dennis Leveson-Gower: Yeah, no, we have a queue of investigators going out to 2022. We're trying to get them flown off as fast as possible, but we're limited by launch vehicles and crew time. Crew time is becoming less of a concern, because we're getting an extra crew member up there. But now it's launch vehicles, and you can only launch so many experiments at a time. But, there's a whole list of reserve experiments, of people that have put their heart and soul into something, and they just need 15 minutes of crew time, and they're just hoping their experiment can get done. Matthew Buffington: This is stuff that's already up there? Dennis Leveson-Gower: I think they have over 100 experiments at a time on the ISS. Shane Kimbrough: Yeah, I think we ended up doing 273, I was told, over the six months. But yeah, at any one time, there can be over 100 onboard, that's about right. Dennis Leveson-Gower: And I remember someone saying, Peggy's going to get every one of those done. She's going to work through the backlog. Matthew Buffington: Singlehandedly. Shane Kimbrough: We took out all the task list and all the things that were backlogged, for sure. So, it was nice. Dennis Leveson-Gower: Yeah, a lot of people over here appreciate it when you guys give up some of your free time and bang one of those experiments out. Shane Kimbrough: Glad to do it. Gary Jordan: That's true. What else, besides if you were to take the weekend to unpack a cargo vehicle, what else are you doing on the weekends? Shane Kimbrough: Weekends, generally on Saturday mornings, it's spent cleaning. So, it's like your house, about once a week you need to probably do a little cleaning. So, we spend all Saturday morning vacuuming the whole station, wiping things down, and just getting everything back in shape after usually a busy week. And then, Saturday afternoons are generally off, and Sundays are generally off. So, I'm a big sports fan, so I was usually watching games, whether it was football or World Series or anything going on. Tomas got us into watching rugby. So, that was big in Europe at the time. So, we got to watch some of those matches. So, we do that as a crew sometimes, or sometimes individually you'd watch those things. And you certainly can catch up on emails or watch movies or call home or any of those things as well. Or, you can just look out the window, which was always spectacular, something you can't do here on earth. So, I tried to do that more often, because I can always talk to people or email people when I'm on earth, but I can't always look out the Kupla window for a rev around the earth in 90 minutes. That was pretty cool. Matthew Buffington: I'm curious, how is that setup? You don't have a normal weekend like you would. It's not like you're commuting home and spending the weekend with your family. You're sitting there floating in space, so there's never really a day off. You're always on. Shane Kimbrough: Correct. So I had to, when I was the commander, I made it clear to my crew that we were going to work from DBC to DBC, which is the morning conference with mission control all the way to the evening conference with mission control, but we weren't going to work outside of that. And there were a few exceptions on the weekends where we'd say, there's this one cargo vehicle, for example, we want to unload. Let's do two hours, and that's it. We're going to work two hours together. If you've got three people, that equates to about six hours of work. And we can do a lot in two hours. But I would make sure we weren't working all weekend, because as the commander, I've got to make sure the crew is not exhausted, for one, so they can hit the next week's activities when Monday starts. But also, we've got to always be ready for that really bad day, an emergency onboard the space station, where that's in the middle of the night or during the day. The crew's got to be fresh enough to handle that. So, I'm always thinking about that as I'm working the crew and the crew's being worked by the ground. And sometimes, we have to modify what they want us to do in order to keep our reserves, so to speak, to be able to handle an emergency. Gary Jordan: That's right. So, as a commander, how much jurisdiction do you have on time, because I know they schedule a lot of things for you, but then what power do you have as a commander? Shane Kimbrough: Big picture, we'll talk. I'll talk with the lead flight director usually before the week, or maybe even two weeks out. We'll talk about the big picture, how things are going to flow, and what they want to get done. And then, the details just kind of flush out. I don't really have too much influence on that. I'll let the flight director know, here's what I want to focus on. Make sure we get maybe a day here or there because we worked last weekend, and those kind of things, because that happens a lot. And then in general, if something's coming up real-time, day-of, maybe an experiment or something is running twice as long as it was expected -- that happens. And we'll just adjust real-time. Maybe I'll take the activity that Peggy was supposed to do next, if she's buried in this experiment, or vice versa. We'll help each other out to get all the things done. And you do that almost daily. You get done with something early, you go help somebody else if you can, or else you take something else off their timeline by knocking out something down the road for them. Gary Jordan: Sounds like you guys were really tightknit. You guts needed to be a really tight team to get all this stuff done. Shane Kimbrough: Totally agree, and I was super fortunate to have Peggy and Tomas onboard for about 90 percent of my time onboard. I was with Kate [Rubins] and Takuya [Onishi] for only a week or so, unfortunately for me, because they were superstars as well. But, they left shortly after we got there. So really, my whole mission was with Peggy and Tomas on the US side. And we did really work well together. We thought the same, our work ethic was the same, and we just loved helping each other out and loved being around each other, which doesn't always happen. So, I was very fortunate. Gary Jordan: Very true. That makes me -- getting back on track to the cargo stuff, I was actually thinking about, we were talking a lot about when cargo comes up, how to get it, how to unpack it, but then, there's a packing story, and they're different for each vehicle, because some of them just burn up, some of them have experiments running before they burn up, and then some of them actually come back. What are some of the differences there? Shane Kimbrough: Yeah, so we had all those. The only one that comes back to earth, as you're probably aware, is SpaceX. So, anything that's real critical experiment-wise, or even maybe broken equipment that engineers want to get their hands on to figure out what happened to it, those kind of things we'll put into SpaceX, so they can come back to the ground. A lot of that has to do with experiments we did on our bodies -- blood draws and those kind of things need to come back, as well as rodent research things will come back on SpaceX, because the scientists need to recover them and look at the data and get all that stuff. That's one thing. All the other vehicles in general burn up, like you mentioned. So to me, I think of it, that's how we manage our trash. That's how we manage trash on the space station. We crate tons of trash, believe it or not, up there, whether it's food trash or clothes trash or experiment trash or waste, human waste. All that stuff needs to get off at some point. And the way we do that is to use these cargo vehicles that are not coming back to earth. And we can't just cram things in there, like you might think. It's a very organized way. And again, we'll get a plan from the ground team and mission control that lays out how they want us to pack it. And a lot of times there are experiments onboard that will happen once it leaves the space station before it gets burned up, like you mentioned. So, we've got to make sure certain aisle ways are clear, and the airflow is going to be correct, so that those experiments can happen correctly. Gary Jordan: I see. So, it's kind of like a supply chain, really, because there needs to be new stuff sent up to the International Space Station, and then you need to take some of the old stuff out. That's the cycle that keeps the ISS going. Shane Kimbrough: Correct. And launch delays and things don't happen, and these launches aren't always happening on time. So, sometimes your trash backlog gets pretty high on the space station. That's not a -- there are some odors and things that go along with that. So, we always like to have vehicles coming frequently, so we can manage our trash, of course along with doing great experiments as well. Gary Jordan: But you guys have plenty of food and all that kind of stuff, right? So, even if something gets delayed, you'll be set for a while, for at least a lot of things. Shane Kimbrough: Yeah. I think they have about a six-month reserve onboard. So, we can handle a lot of delays, I guess. Gary Jordan: Dennis, on your end, when it comes to these experiments coming back to earth, and especially on SpaceX, the ones you actually can get your hands on and don't burn up, what are some of the things you're looking at for those? Dennis Leveson-Gower: Looking at getting it back as quickly as possible is usually our priority, especially with rodent experiments, cell science experiments. You're trying to study the effects of microgravity on these organisms, and the minute you start getting back into the earth's atmosphere, you're going to start to experience gravity and see molecular changes. So, the clock is ticking to try to get the samples back. So in the future, hopefully return vehicles can land on solid ground, and we get the samples back even faster. Right now, it's taking about a day or two on a boat in the ocean. But yeah, the priority's obviously for animal experiments, we want all of them alive and happy. And so far, we've done it twice and they have been. JAXA has also done it twice. All the mice did really well on return. And, yeah, intact samples kept at the right stowage temperatures and everything, then we're happy. Matthew Buffington: On a similar note, and this is a slight pivot, but I love the little catchphrase of working off the earth for the earth. We've talked a lot about how it all happens, from an idea, an experiment, it's created, it's packed, it's sent up, then you actually conduct it. But, I'd love to pick your brain, Dennis and also Shane, of the why. Why is doing experiments in microgravity important? Clearly NASA and the international community is spending a lot of money to put this thing up here. And, what can we get out of that that you just can't do on the ground? Dennis Leveson-Gower: Yeah, there's a lot that we can't do on the ground. My bias is that we want to go to Mars, and we want to explore space, and we want to make Star Trek real, so we should be figuring out what happens to our bodies, what happens to physical processes on a cellular level, really understand the biology and what changes when the vector of gravity is removed. Of course, there is objectives to benefit the earth, as you say, and one prime example is, you can't have forced bedrest of research animals, but if they're in space, all the gravity load is off, and it will mimic conditions where people have extended bedrest or unloading on their muscles. You also, microgravity seems to have an accelerated aging effect, so you can look at age-related factors. You have fluid shifts, and basically high blood pressure in your brain, and that starts affecting the astronauts' vision and things like that, and we want to understand how that works. So, you have a lot of, like, growing 3D tissues in the lab. To be able to do those kind of things, you may be able to do them better in space, and understand the processes better in space. And I think it directly translates into, benefits the earth. Sometimes, you have to connect the dots a little bit to see how that space research affects the ground, but if you look at every experiment we've done, it always has spin-off benefits. Shane Kimbrough: Tough to add much to that. It's very true. The way I look at it is, everything we do up there is either for future exploration, like Dennis mentioned, or it's to help humanity in general. If we're not doing that, I think we're really missing the boat. But everything we touch up there and I've been involved with has met one of those two criteria. One example I like to think of is, we have this machine up there that makes water. It takes every bit of liquid onboard the space station, from urine to sweat to condensation to anything, and it goes into this machine and it makes water that's extremely pure that we use for our food and our drinks the next day, so to speak. It's a great technology for us to have. It's not something we have to have for the space station, but we will have to have something like that for Mars, or the moon, or wherever we're going to go deep space. So, we're working on that now for future exploration. A side benefit of this whole thing is, we actually use that technology on earth as well. There's third-world countries that don't have clean water supplies, and the same technology is helping them get clean water. That's really a cool thing when you're helping future exploration and you're helping humanity. Gary Jordan: That's just one example, right? That's one thing on the station that's helping in both directions. Matt, I think that's a really good place to end the podcast. Matthew Buffington: I think that's perfect, dude. Gary Jordan: I think that's fantastic, because it kind of sums up why do we do all the science, and why the science goes up and down to the International Space Station. Guys, thanks so much for coming on the show, both to Shane and Dennis for coming on Houston We Have a Podcast and NASA in Silicon Valley, the first time we're doing this together. Matt, I really hope we can do this again. Matthew Buffington: With our powers combined, it works out. Thanks a lot for helping pull this together. This has been a lot of fun. Gary Jordan: Yeah, absolutely. Thanks, guys. Shane Kimbrough: It was great, thanks everybody. Dennis Leveson-Gower: Thanks for having me. Matthew Buffington: Huge thanks to Dennis and Shane. Awesome. [END] Gary Jordan: Hey, thanks for sticking around. So today, we teamed up with the NASA in Silicon Valley Podcast to talk about cargo missions, and we had a couple different perspectives with Shane Kimbrough as an astronaut and also Dennis Leveson-Gower as a senior project scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. So if you want to want to check out all of NASA’s podcasts, just go to nasa.gov/podcasts. There’s where you can sign up for the NASA in Silicon Valley Podcast and subscribe to them, and there’s also a new one that just got released – last week I think at this point – called Gravity Assist and it’s hosted by Dr. Jim Green, NASA’s Director of Planetary Scientist. It’ll start with a 10-part series where he starts with the Sun and then goes all the way out to Pluto and makes his stops all along our solar system and then talks about planets beyond. This is going to be a really good podcast, so definitely stay tuned. We were talking about cargo missions, so definitely tune in to the live coverage of the launch and capture of SpaceX CRS-13. I think SpaceX covers the launch, but you can find the latest times for the capture on nasa.gov/NTV, as in NASA TV, and you can see the latest schedule for when we’re going to be broadcasting that. Make sure to follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Make sure to use the hashtag #asknasa to submit an idea for the podcast, and make sure to mention it’s for Houston We Have a Podcast if you want it answered here. This podcast was recorded on November 14, 2017. Thanks to Alex Perryman, John Stoll, Greg Wiseman, Kelly Humphries, Megan Sumner, and Brandi Dean from here in Houston. Thanks to Matt Buffington, Eric Land, Abby Tabor, and Frank Tavares from NASA’s Ames Research Center for teaming up for this podcast. And again thanks to Shane Kimbrough and Dennis Leveson-Gower for coming on the show. We’ll be back next week.

hwhap_Ep10_Average Joe, Educator, Astronaut

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-09-15

>> HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PODCAST. WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL PODCAST OF THE NASA JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, EPISODE 10: AVERAGE JOE, EDUCATOR, ASTRONAUT. I’M GARY JORDAN AND I’LL BE YOUR HOST TODAY. SO IF YOU’RE NEW TO THE SHOW, THIS IS WHERE WE BRING IN THE EXPERTS-- NASA SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS, ASTRONAUTS-- PRETTY MUCH ALL THE FOLKS THAT HAVE THE COOLEST INFORMATION, THE STUFF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW RIGHT ON THE SHOW AND WILL TELL YOU MORE ABOUT EVERYTHING NASA. SO TODAY WE’RE TALKING WITH JOE ACABA. HE’S A U.S. ASTRONAUT, AND HE JUST LAUNCHED TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION A FEW DAYS AGO ON SEPTEMBER 12, 2017 FOR HIS SECOND LONG-DURATION MISSION ABOARD THE ORBITING COMPLEX. WE TALKED ABOUT HIS TIME IN THE MARINE CORPS AND PEACE CORPS, HIS PREVIOUS MISSIONS TO SPACE, AND HIS BACKGROUND AS A HIGH SCHOOL AND MIDDLE SCHOOL EDUCATOR, AND A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW HE VIEWS THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING AN EDUCATOR IN SPACE. SO WITH NO FURTHER DELAY, LET’S GO LIGHT SPEED AND JUMP RIGHT AHEAD TO OUR TALK WITH MR. JOE ACABA. ENJOY. [ MUSIC ] >> T MINUS FIVE SECONDS AND COUNTING-- MARK. [ INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER ] >> HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PODCAST. [ MUSIC ] >> OKAY, WELL, THANKS FOR COMING ON THE SHOW TODAY, JOE. I KNOW YOU’RE VERY BUSY, ESPECIALLY COMING SO CLOSE TO YOUR LAUNCH DATE. AND LIKE WE JUST TALKED ABOUT BEFORE, YOU HAVE AN ACCELERATED TRAINING PROGRAM. YOU’RE NOT DOING THE TWO YEAR THING, YOU’RE DOING SIX MONTHS. SO YOU’VE KIND OF GOT A PRETTY JAM-PACKED SCHEDULE, HUH? >> I’M GLAD TO BE HERE, AND I’M GLAD WE FOUND THE TIME, AND IT IS-- IT’S A LITTLE BIT UNIQUE, WHERE USUALLY OUR TRAINING FLOW IS, DEPENDING ON YOUR EXPERIENCE, 18 MONTHS TO 2 YEARS, AND I’VE GOT A WHOLE 6 MONTHS, SO IT’S-- TIME IS BUSY, BUT IT’S GOING REALLY WELL. >> VERY COOL. ALL RIGHT, WELL, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT NOW GOING ON YOUR SECOND LONG-DURATION MISSION? YOU WENT ON YOUR FIRST ONE BACK IN 2012, SO THIS IS KIND OF PRETTY CLOSE, RIGHT? 2012, 2017, SO NOT BAD. >> YEAH, I CAN’T COMPLAIN-- FIVE YEARS BETWEEN MISSIONS IS PRETTY GOOD. I KNOW IT MIGHT SEEM LIKE A LOT OF TIME FOR SOME PEOPLE, BUT I’M PRETTY FORTUNATE. AND I’M EXCITED TO GET BACK UP THERE. EVERY MISSION IS DIFFERENT. OF COURSE, YOU HAVE DIFFERENT CREWMATES, DIFFERENT SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS THAT ARE GOING ON, SO YEAH, I’M PRETTY EXCITED AND READY TO HAVE THINGS JUST A COUPLE OF MONTHS AWAY. >> THAT’S AWESOME. WELL, SINCE WE HAVE YOU HERE TODAY, WE COULD DO A FULL EPISODE, WHICH IS SUPER FORTUNATE THAT WE ACTUALLY HAD THIS MUCH TIME. I FIGURED THAT WE’D JUST GO THROUGH YOUR STORY-- YOU KNOW, ALL THE WAY FROM WHEN YOU GREW UP IN CALIFORNIA BACK TO WHAT YOU’RE DOING NOW AND WHAT YOU’RE PLANNING ON DOING ON EXPEDITION 53-54. AND THEN, MAYBE SINCE YOU’RE AN EDUCATOR, YOU KNOW, MAYBE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT EDUCATION IN SPACE-- WHAT YOU FEEL ABOUT IT, KIND OF HOW IT’S-- ITS IMPORTANCE. >> SOUNDS GOOD. I’LL TRY NOT TO BORE YOU TOO MUCH. [ LAUGHING ] >> YOU’RE AN ASTRONAUT-- YOU CANNOT BE BORING. ANYTHING YOU SAY IS AMAZING. >> ALL RIGHT, YOU’LL HAVE TO STEER ME ALONG ON THIS ONE. >> OKAY, SO I MEAN, GROWING UP IN CALIFORNIA, RIGHT, SO YOU GREW UP THERE AND WENT TO COLLEGE-- BACHELOR OF SCIENCE-- BUT I REMEMBER TALKING TO YOU BEFOREHAND-- YOU WERE INTERESTED IN-- A METAL SHOP CLASS ACTUALLY KIND OF INFLUENCED YOU-- A LITTLE BIT OF YOUR CAREER AND THE BEGINNING OF YOUR EDUCATION, RIGHT? >> YEAH, IT’S FUNNY THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE WILL ASK ABOUT YOUR SCHOOLING AND EDUCATION, AND WHAT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT IN YOUR LIFE. >> YEAH. >> AND ONE THING I ALWAYS REFLECT BACK ON WERE THESE FOUR YEARS OF METAL SHOP WITH MR. WALTERS, THAT WE ALL CALLED WALT. AND I STAY IN TOUCH WITH HIM, AND HE’S NOW RETIRED AFTER-- I DON’T KNOW IF IT WAS 35 YEARS OF TEACHING, BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT WE DID IN THAT METAL SHOP CLASS, THAT DUDE WAS CRAZY. I MEAN, WE-- I MEAN, YOU KNOW HOW CRAZY HIGH SCHOOL KIDS ARE IN GENERAL. >> YEAH. >> AND KIDS THAT AGE DON’T ALWAYS MAKE THE BEST DECISIONS, AND NOW HERE YOU ARE-- AND BEING A FORMER EDUCATOR, WHEN I SEE SOMEONE LIKE HIM, WHO HAD 30 KIDS IN A CLASS, AND THEY’RE ALL DOING DIFFERENT THINGS IN A METAL SHOP, IT WAS PRETTY AMAZING. >> YOU’RE WORKING WITH SOME INTENSE EQUIPMENT, RIGHT? SOMETHING COULD GO WRONG, BUT AS AN EDUCATOR, YOU KNOW, HE HAD TO TRUST YOU GUYS TO DO THE RIGHT THING, AND LEAD YOU IN THE RIGHT PATH, I GUESS. >> HE DID, HE-- IT TOOK A LOT OF TRAINING BEFORE WE STARTED, BUT AGAIN, WE HAD ALL THE PIECES OF EQUIPMENT THAT YOU WOULD FIND IN ANY METAL SHOP. YOU KNOW, LATHES, THEY’RE CHURNING AT A FAST SPEED WHERE YOU CAN DO A LOT OF DAMAGE TO YOURSELF, THE EQUIPMENT. >> YEAH. >> WE DID GAS WELDING, WE DID ARC WELDING-- WHICH I WOULDN’T-- I WOULDN’T TODAY GIVE A 15 YEAR-OLD KID A GAS WELDER, LET ALONE IN A CLASS WITH 30 KIDS. >> YEAH. >> SO HE DID THAT, AND THEN WE HAD A FOUNDRY WHERE WE WERE-- NO KIDDING-- WE WERE MELTING STUFF, AND POURING IT IN THERE, AND MAKING THINGS. AND I STILL TODAY-- I LOOK BACK AND I DON’T KNOW HOW HE DID IT, AND FOR ALL THOSE YEARS. BUT IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST EXPERIENCES THAT I HAD, BECAUSE I LEARNED A LOT ABOUT MYSELF, WHAT I’M CAPABLE OF DOING. AND SO OF COURSE, AT HOME I-- YOU KNOW, I WASN’T A BIG MECHANIC TYPE DUDE, BUT YOU LEARNED A LOT, BUT THEN YOU ALSO HAD TO BE RESPONSIBLE. AND YOU HAD TO BE ACCOUNTABLE TO YOURSELF, AND I THINK A LOT OF TIMES WE MISS THAT AND WE DON’T REALIZE HOW RESPONSIBLE KIDS CAN BE BECAUSE WE DON’T GIVE THEM THAT RESPONSIBILITY. AND HE GAVE IT TO US, AND YOU KNOW, WE HAD TO RUN WITH IT, AND I’M GLAD TO STILL BE ALIVE AFTER THAT CLASS. >> YEAH, A LOT OF TANGIBLE LESSONS COMING FROM THAT CLASS FOR SURE, TOO. YOU’RE TALKING RESPONSIBILITY-- I WOULDN’T THINK ABOUT THAT, BUT IT MAKES TOTAL SENSE. YOU’RE WORKING WITH HEAVY EQUIPMENT. YOU’VE GOT TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY IN YOURSELF TO DO THE RIGHT THING. >> YEAH, HE CAN’T WATCH 30 KIDS AT ONE TIME, AND SO I THINK WHAT HE DID, AND WHAT I TOOK AS AN EDUCATOR, IS YOU KIND OF START WITH SMALL STEPS. YOU KNOW, YOU’VE GOT TO GUIDE THE STUDENT, BUT AT SOME POINT YOU’VE GOT TO LET THEM GO AND HOPEFULLY USE THE INFORMATION THAT YOU GAVE THEM. AND HE WAS ONE OF THE BEST TEACHERS EVER AT DOING THAT AND WHAT HE ALLOWED US TO DO. >> YEAH, SOUNDS LIKE IT’S A LOT ABOUT TRUST, TOO. >> YUP, YEAH-- AND BEING CRAZY. I THINK HE WAS A LITTLE CRAZY. [ LAUGHTER ] NO, BUT WE ALL LOVED HIM. >> A LITTLE TRUST, A LITTLE CRAZY. >> YEAH. BUT YOU KNOW, HE WAS ONE OF THE MORE STRICT TEACHERS THAT I HAD, BUT IT WAS IN A WAY THAT YOU KNEW IT WAS FOR YOUR OWN BENEFIT. EVEN BACK THEN, YOU UNDERSTOOD WHY HE WAS DOING WHAT HE DID. >> YEAH. >> BUT I LEARNED A LOT, OF COURSE, WHILE I WAS IN THAT CLASS, BUT THEN AS AN EDUCATOR, I WOULD OFTEN LOOK BACK AT HOW HE WAS AND TRY TO IMITATE HIM AS MUCH AS I COULD. SO I OWE HIM A LOT. >> YEAH, SO I MEAN, WAS IT HIS STYLE OF TEACHING, WAS IT HIM AS A TEACHER THAT MADE YOU REALLY LIKE THE METAL SHOP CLASS, LIKE YOU SAID? OR WAS IT THE MATERIAL, OR MAYBE A COMBINATION OF BOTH? >> IT WAS PROBABLY A COMBINATION OF BOTH, BUT I COULD SEE WHERE IF IT WAS A DIFFERENT TEACHER THAT DIDN’T ALLOW YOU TO WORK THE WAY WE DID, I MIGHT NOT HAVE ENJOYED IT, WHERE I COULD SEE A TEACHER THAT SAID, “OKAY, YOU’RE ONLY GOING TO DO THIS, AND I’M GOING TO WATCH YOU DO THINGS EVERY STEP OF THE WAY,” IT MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN AS ENJOYABLE, WHERE HE GAVE US A LOT OF FREEDOM. AND I THINK THAT WAS PRETTY APPEALING AT THAT AGE, TO HAVE THAT FREEDOM AND THAT RESPONSIBILITY THAT SOMEBODY HAS GIVEN TO YOU. >> RIGHT. SO I MEAN, FROM THERE YOU WENT TO UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA AND GRADUATED WITH A BACHELOR’S OF SCIENCE IN GEOLOGY. HOW DO YOU GO FROM METAL SHOP TO A SCIENCE BACHELOR’S? >> WELL, I THINK THE GEOLOGY THING CAME FROM HOW WE GREW UP. ONE THING THAT-- EVERY SUMMER WE WOULD GO CAMPING. THAT WAS JUST KIND OF OUR THING, MAYBE BECAUSE-- >> WELL, THE OUTDOORS, YEAH. >> YOU KNOW, IT WAS PRETTY FREE TO DO THAT, SO YOU KNOW, I’M SURE MY PARENTS ENJOYED THAT, WHERE WE WEREN’T HOPPING ON A PLANE GOING TO EUROPE. SO THAT WAS NOT SOMETHING WE COULD DO. BUT GOING CAMPING WAS RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE. BUT IT WAS ALWAYS FUN TO GET OUTDOORS, AND ALWAYS ENJOYED THAT. AND GROWING UP, OF COURSE, JUST BEING OUT IN THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT. SO YOU GO TO COLLEGE AND THINK ABOUT ALL THE DIFFERENT THINGS YOU COULD DO. GEOLOGY JUST SOUNDED LIKE, HEY, THIS IS COOL. I GET TO STUDY STUFF THAT’S OUTSIDE. >> YEAH. >> AND NOW I CAN LOOK AT, HEY, WHY DOES THE MOUNTAIN LOOK LIKE THAT? WHY IS THE RIVER HERE? AND SO GEOLOGY JUST SEEMED LIKE THE PERFECT MATCH FOR ME. >> THAT’S AWESOME. IN SCHOOL, WHAT KINDS OF ASSIGNMENTS DID YOU HAVE IN COLLEGE? WHAT KIND OF ASSIGNMENTS DID YOU HAVE THAT REALLY KIND OF STICK WITH YOU? >> AGAIN, I THINK SOME OF THE BEST CLASSES WERE WHEN WE WERE OUTSIDE DOING FIELD MAPPING AND THINGS LIKE THAT, WHERE IT’S NOT ALWAYS THE MOST FUN HAVING TO IDENTIFY 100 DIFFERENT MINERALS OR ROCKS AND GO, “OKAY, THIS IS YOUR FINAL EXAM.” IT WAS KIND OF COOL THAT YOU COULD DO THAT, AND IT WAS FUN BEING ABLE TO LOOK IN THE MICROSCOPE AND BEING ABLE TO IDENTIFY DIFFERENT MINERALS, BUT FOR ME PERSONALLY, IT WAS JUST BEING OUTSIDE AND KIND OF WALKING AROUND AND LOOKING AT WHAT’S OUT THERE, LOOKING INSIDE THE ROCKS, WHAT MIGHT YOU FIND INSIDE THE ROCKS. AND BEING A GEOLOGIST, IT’S SUCH A WIDE FIELD THAT THERE ARE SOME FOLKS THAT LIKE TO FOCUS IN ON THE SMALL, AND I JUST ENJOYED MORE OF THE BIG AND BEING OUTSIDE. >> SO AFTER THAT, YOU WENT FOR A MASTER’S IN GEOLOGY, CORRECT? SO YOU WANTED TO CONTINUE YOUR EDUCATION. WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO DO THAT? >> WELL, I-- YOU KNOW, IT SEEMS LIKE I WANTED TO CONTINUE. LIKE I TELL PEOPLE, I DIDN’T WANT TO CONTINUE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL. MY DAD KIND OF FORCED ME INTO GOING TO COLLEGE. >> OH! >> --WHERE I JUST, AGAIN, BEING IN METAL SHOP, I WAS HAPPY WORKING WITH MY HANDS. >> YEAH, YOU WANTED TO DO THE TECH STUFF. >> YEAH, I WANTED TO GO TECH. I THOUGHT THAT I HAD THE BEST PLAN-- I’M GOING TO GO DO SOLAR PANELS, AND I’M GOING TO GO STRAIGHT TO A TECH SCHOOL. AND MY DAD WASN’T HAVING THAT AT THE TIME, SO AFTER A FEW ARGUMENTS, HE BEAT ME DOWN ENOUGH-- NOT PHYSICALLY, BUT HE WON THAT BATTLE, AND HE CONVINCED ME TO DO ONE YEAR OF COLLEGE AND SAID, “HEY, JUST TRY IT OUT, AND IF YOU HATE IT, THAT’S COOL. YOU KNOW, AT LEAST YOU TRIED IT.” AND SO I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT PUSH THAT HE GAVE ME, BECAUSE OTHERWISE I MAY NOT HAVE DONE THAT. AND THEN AFTER I FINISHED MY DEGREE, I THOUGHT ABOUT JOINING THE U.S. PEACE CORPS, BUT AGAIN, I KEEP GOING BACK TO EDUCATION-- NOT BECAUSE I WAS AN EDUCATOR, BUT JUST BECAUSE OF THE VALUE OF IT. >> RIGHT. >> ONE OF MY INSTRUCTORS, HE TOLD ME ABOUT A GRANT THAT WAS OUT THERE TO GET MY MASTER’S DEGREE. >> OH. >> AND YOU KNOW, I WAS KIND OF TIRED OF BEING IN SCHOOL. YOU KNOW, YOU’VE PRETTY MUCH BEEN IN SCHOOL YOUR WHOLE LIFE. >> YEAH. >> SO YOU’RE READY TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT, BUT HE TOLD ME ABOUT THIS THAT WAS OUT THERE, SO I ENDED UP GETTING MY MASTER’S AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA. >> SO IT WAS THROUGH THAT GRANT, THEN. >> IT WAS THROUGH THAT THAT HELPED PAY FOR IT. >> YEAH, YEAH. >> AND AGAIN, YOU KNOW, IT TOOK AN EDUCATOR TO KIND OF PUSH ME IN THAT DIRECTION. SO YOU KNOW, HE MAY NOT KNOW-- I’VE TALKED TO HIM A FEW TIMES, BUT HE MAY NOT KNOW THE IMPACT THAT THAT HAD. AND GOING TO GET YOUR MASTER’S DEGREE WAS-- YOU KNOW, OF COURSE YOU LEARN A LOT, BUT IT’S THOSE LITTLE THINGS THAT HELP YOU GET WHERE YOU ARE TODAY. >> YEAH. SO DID THAT HELP YOU-- THE NEXT STEP WAS THAT YOU WENT INTO THE MARINE CORPS? WAS THAT THE NEXT STEP? >> WELL, I DID THE MARINE CORPS WHILE I WAS DOING MY UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES. >> OH, I SEE, OKAY. >> SO I GOT-- HAD SOME BUDDIES OF MINE, AND WE WERE HANGING OUT AND WE THOUGHT, “HEY, THIS’LL BE A COOL IDEA. LET’S JOIN THE MARINE CORPS!” AND SO NONE OF US BACKED OUT, AND SO-- >> ALL RIGHT! GOOD GROUP OF FRIENDS THERE. >> YEAH, SO WE ENDED UP-- I ACTUALLY WENT TO BOOT CAMP WITH A COUPLE OF FRIENDS OF MINE, WHICH WAS-- IT WAS PRETTY COOL, AND OF COURSE WE’RE STILL GREAT FRIENDS. >> GOOD. >> AND SO I’VE DONE QUITE A FEW THINGS IN MY LIFE THAT MY PARENTS DON’T APPROVE OF, AND OF COURSE, JOINING THE MARINE CORPS WAS NOT ONE OF THEIR FAVORITE CHOICES THAT I MADE. BUT IT ALL WORKED OUT GREAT, AND YEAH, SO THAT ALL HAPPENED WHILE I WAS IN COLLEGE. >> ALL RIGHT. SO THAT WAS-- IN THE MARINE CORPS YOU WERE A HYDROGEOLOGIST? >> OH, NOPE, SO-- >> OH, WOW, I’M GETTING ALL OF THIS WRONG. >> THAT’S OKAY-- IT’S A COMPLICATED STORY AND I CAN BARELY KEEP IT STRAIGHT. SO WHEN I DID THE MARINE CORPS RESERVE, WE ENDED UP-- WE WERE WORKING IN COMMUNICATION TO FIELD WIREMEN, YOU KNOW, DOING THAT TYPE OF WORK. AND IT JUST HAPPENED THAT THE SIX YEARS AS A MARINE CORPS RESERVE ENDED WHEN I FINISHED UP WITH MY MASTER’S DEGREE-- IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO GET THROUGH SCHOOL. AND SO WHEN I LEFT WITH MY MASTER’S DEGREE, THAT’S WHEN I WORKED OUT AS A HYDROGEOLOGIST IN CALIFORNIA. >> I SEE, OKAY. SO THAT SOUNDS LIKE SUCH AN INTERESTING JOB. WHAT IS A HYDROGEOLOGIST? WHAT DO YOU DO? >> YEAH, SO IT-- YOU’VE GOT THE HYDRO IN THERE, SO YOU’RE DEALING WITH WATER. AND THEN YOU’VE GOT EARTH STUFF GOING ON, BUT I ALWAYS KNEW THAT-- EVEN WHEN I WAS THINKING ABOUT THE TECH WORLD, DOING SOLAR ENERGY-- I’VE ALWAYS BEEN KIND OF ENVIRONMENTAL RELATED. >> OKAY. >> SO I ENDED UP WORKING WITH AN ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING FIRM. SO WHEN YOU’RE A HYDROGEOLOGIST, A LOT OF TIMES YOU’RE LOOKING AT HOW DOES GROUNDWATER FLOW, WHAT KIND OF CONTAMINANTS DOES IT HAVE. AND BEING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, THERE’S A LOT OF IT. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE INDUSTRY THAT WAS GOING ON BACK IN THE ‘50s AND ‘60s AND THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT THERE’S QUITE A BIT OF CONTAMINATION OUT THERE. SO A LOT OF OUR JOB WAS MAPPING THAT, AND THEN HOW DO YOU REMEDIATE IT, HOW DO YOU CLEAN THE WATER, HOW DO YOU CLEAN THE SOIL THAT’S THERE? SO A LOT OF GEOLOGISTS, THEY MAY GO INTO THE ENERGY INDUSTRY, BUT I KIND OF WENT MORE IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL AREA. >> VERY COOL. SO I FEEL LIKE I’M GOING TO MESS THIS UP AGAIN, SO I’M JUST GOING TO ASK. >> MIGHT AS WELL. >> SO WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? I KNOW THERE’S PEACE CORPS, BUT THEN ALSO MANAGER OF A CARIBBEAN RESEARCH CENTER. I DON’T KNOW WHICH ONE CAME FIRST, BUT THEY BOTH SOUND AMAZING. >> YEP, YOU GOT IT RIGHT. SO I WORKED AS A HYDROGEOLOGIST FOR-- I DON’T KNOW, MAYBE IT WAS A YEAR AND A HALF, TWO YEARS. >> OKAY. >> AND I WAS LOOKING AT THE PEACE CORPS WHEN I WAS DOING MY UNDERGRADUATE WORK, AND I ACTUALLY HAD APPLIED FOR THE PEACE CORPS BEFORE MR. SYLVESTER DIRECTED ME OVER TO GETTING MY MASTER’S DEGREE. AND SO I KIND OF PUT THE PEACE CORPS ON HOLD, BUT IT WAS ALWAYS SOMETHING I STILL WANTED TO DO. I DON’T KNOW, I JUST-- I DON’T KNOW-- WANTED TO DO THIS PUBLIC SERVICE, AND THOUGHT IT WAS AN IMPORTANT AGENCY. SO AFTER WORKING FOR A WHILE, IT JUST SEEMED LIKE A GOOD TIME TO PURSUE THAT, SO JUST QUIT THE JOB AND BECAME A VOLUNTEER. >> WOW. >> YEAH. >> BOLD MOVE. >> AGAIN, DISAPPOINTING THE PARENTS EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. THAT WAS NOT WHAT THEY WANTED TO HEAR, THAT I WAS GOING TO BECOME A VOLUNTEER. >> YEAH. SO WHAT WAS IT ABOUT THE PEACE CORPS THAT REALLY DROVE YOU, AND THEN WHAT DID YOU DO WHEN YOU WERE IN THERE? >> YOU KNOW, MAYBE IT WAS RECRUITERS COMING OUT AND TALKING ABOUT THE WORK THAT THE PEACE CORPS DOES. IT’S A PRETTY UNIQUE AGENCY THAT PRESIDENT KENNEDY STARTED. AND IT KIND OF HAS A FEW DIFFERENT GOALS, BUT IT’S TO GO OUT TO THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES AND TO HELP THEM WITH THE NEEDS THAT THEY IDENTIFY. SO IT’S NOT US GOING THERE AND SAYING, “HEY, YOU’VE GOT TO FIX THIS,” BUT THEM IDENTIFYING PROJECTS AND REQUESTING VOLUNTEERS TO GO THERE TO WORK ON THOSE. BUT IT’S ALSO A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR THE U.S. TO SEND, YOU KNOW, THESE YOUNG PEOPLE OUT THERE-- NOT THAT ALL ARE YOUNG, BUT-- YOU KNOW, AS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE U.S. SO EVERY PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER IS LIKE AN AMBASSADOR THAT’S OUT THERE REPRESENTING OUR COUNTRY. SO THAT’S-- THAT SEEMED PRETTY APPEALING, AND OF COURSE, WHEN YOU COME BACK, SHARING THAT STORY. AND I WORKED IN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION. >> OKAY. >> SO THE ENVIRONMENTAL PART, YOU KNOW, I’D KIND OF ESTABLISHED WITH WHAT I WAS DOING, AND EDUCATION TO ME WAS-- IN TERMS OF BEING AN EDUCATOR WAS NEW, BUT IT ALSO SOUNDED APPEALING. AND I THINK AFTER DOING THAT, IT KIND OF LED ME TO BEING AN EDUCATOR. >> OKAY, SO IT WAS-- IT SOUNDED LIKE IT’S A LITTLE BIT OF THE PEACE CORPS, BUT THEN ALSO, YOU KNOW, YOU KEEP REFERRING TO YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH WALT AND MR. SYLVESTER, THESE KEY PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE THAT KIND OF INSPIRED YOU. AND I GUESS, IN A SENSE, WOULD YOU SAY IT’S KIND OF-- YOU WANTED TO KIND OF EMULATE THAT AND YOU WANTED TO BE THAT PERSON MAYBE? >> I GUESS, YOU KNOW, NOW THAT YOU SAY THAT, BUT IT WASN’T LIKE I-- >> I DON’T WANT TO PUT WORDS IN YOUR MOUTH. >> NO, NO, BUT OF COURSE-- AND I THINK IT’S THE WAY WITH MOST STUDENTS AND MOST PEOPLE. >> SURE. >> YOU DON’T REALIZE WHAT IS GOING ON AT THE TIME. IT’S-- YOU KNOW, I NEVER WOULD’VE THOUGHT WHILE I WAS IN METAL SHOP, “MAN, THIS IS CHANGING MY LIFE. THIS IS REALLY COOL,” OR, “HEY, THANKS, DR. SYLVESTER, FOR SENDING ME TO GET MY MASTER’S.” YOU JUST-- IT’S ONE OF THOSE WHERE I THINK THAT WE DON’T ALWAYS REALIZE THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE THERE. SO EITHER YOU HAVE TO BE SMART ENOUGH OR LUCKY ENOUGH TO SEIZE THOSE OPPORTUNITIES. >> YEAH. >> AND I THINK IN MY CASE, IT WAS-- I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE THOSE PEOPLE THAT DID THAT. AND SO AGAIN, WITH THE PEACE CORPS, JUST WAS ANOTHER STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. AND JUST LEARNED A LOT THAT HELPED ME AS AN EDUCATOR, AND I THINK HELPED ME A LOT AS AN ASTRONAUT TODAY. >> WOW. AWESOME. YEAH, IT REALLY ONLY TAKES ONE. I MEAN, A SIMILAR STORY WITH ME. IT WAS MR. McKOSKY. HE WAS A FILM AND TV TEACHER, AND HE-- LIKE, I TOOK HIS FILM AND TV CLASS AND I WAS LIKE, “THIS-- I WANT TO DO THIS. WHATEVER IT TAKES TO DO THIS, THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO DO.” AND IT WAS THE SAME THING-- HE TRUSTED THE STUDENTS WITH ALL THIS EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT, AND WE JUST WENT OUT AND MADE SOME GREAT FILMS, AND COOL STUFF. AND IT KIND OF HELPED ME OUT. >> WELL, GIVE HIM THAT SHOUT-OUT, AND HOPEFULLY HE’LL BE LISTENING TO THIS. THAT’S COOL. >> I HOPE SO, I HOPE SO. SO YOU KNOW, YOU SAID THAT’S WHAT LED YOU TO BE AN EDUCATOR, AND YOU STARTED AS A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATOR, RIGHT? IS THAT CORRECT? >> YEP, I DID ONE YEAR AS A 9th AND 10th GRADE INTEGRATED SCIENCE TEACHER. >> OKAY. >> AND THEN ENDED UP MOVING TO THE MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND THAT-- THAT’S A WHOLE-- WE COULD PROBABLY SPEND A COUPLE HOURS TALKING ABOUT MIDDLE SCHOOL EDUCATION, BUT TO ME, I THINK EVERY TEACHER IS DIFFERENT AND TEACHERS FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS. AND I DIDN’T THINK I WAS GOING TO ENJOY THE MIDDLE SCHOOL AS MUCH AS I DID. >> YEAH. >> IT’S A CRAZY TIME, YOU KNOW. FOR PARENTS THAT HAVE MIDDLE SCHOOL AGED KIDS, THEY KNOW WHAT THEY’RE-- YOU KNOW-- >> THERE’S A LOT GOING THROUGH AT THAT AGE. >> THERE’S A LOT GOING ON WITH THOSE KIDS, AND YOU KNOW, A LOT OF KIDS AT THAT AGE, THEY DON’T KNOW-- AS THEY SHOULDN’T-- WHAT THEY WANT TO DO IN LIFE, BUT SOME OF THE DECISIONS YOU MAKE EARLY ON CAN REALLY DICTATE THAT INITIAL PATH THAT YOU MIGHT TAKE. AND SO I FEEL LIKE THERE’S A LOT OF ROOM DURING THOSE AGES TO MOTIVATE KIDS TO ENJOY SCHOOL. AND OF COURSE, I LIKE THE SCIENCES AND MATH, SO TRYING TO MAKE THAT FUN AND EXCITING SO THEY DON’T LEAVE MIDDLE SCHOOL GOING, “I HATE MATH,” OR THOSE KIDS THAT SAY, “I’M TERRIBLE AT MATH.” WELL, IT’S PROBABLY BECAUSE YOU HAVEN’T HAD SOMEBODY THAT TAUGHT IT IN A WAY THAT YOU COULD UNDERSTAND. >> YEAH. >> AND SO I TELL PEOPLE, “HEY, IT’S NOT ALWAYS YOU.” AND IT COULD BE THAT THE TEACHER JUST DIDN’T GET IT QUITE RIGHT FOR YOU. AND WE’RE ALL DIFFERENT, SO IT’S JUST FINDING THAT WAY TO MOTIVATE A STUDENT. >> YEAH, IT WAS THE SAME WAY, RIGHT? I HAD MY FAIR SHARE OF SCIENCE TEACHERS THAT WERE JUST-- THEY LITERALLY PUT UP IN THE PROJECTORS, THEY JUST PUT UP PAGES OF THE TEXTBOOK, AND WE JUST HAD TO WRITE DOWN THE NOTES. AND IT WAS WILDLY BORING, BUT IT WAS SUCH AN INTERESTING SUBJECT, RIGHT? IT WAS BIOLOGY FOR ME, AND IT JUST DIDN’T WORK. BUT THE NEXT YEAR, I HAD A CHEMISTRY TEACHER WHO LIT STUFF ON FIRE DAY ONE. >> YEAH. >> AND I WAS LIKE, “THIS IS AWESOME! CHEMISTRY IS AMAZING!” SO YOU’RE RIGHT, IT’S JUST-- SO WHAT DID YOU TO REALLY TRY TO GET THEM TO LIKE MATH AND SCIENCE? >> YOU KNOW, I THINK IT’S AS MUCH HANDS ON AS YOU CAN DO. >> THAT’S WHAT I WOULD THINK, YEAH. LIGHT STUFF ON FIRE. >> BUT-- YEAH, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE LIGHT STUFF ON FIRE IN THE CLASSROOM, KIDS ARE GOING TO LOVE YOU. PRINCIPAL MIGHT NOT LOVE YOU, BUT-- YOU KNOW, BUT IT IS HARD BEING AN EDUCATOR TODAY. AND I THINK IT’S ALWAYS BEEN HARD BECAUSE YOU’RE ALWAYS TORN BETWEEN-- YOU HAVE STANDARDIZED TESTING, AND YOU HAVE TO HAVE YOUR KIDS AT A CERTAIN LEVEL, BUT YOU ALSO WANT TO MAKE IT EXCITING FOR THE KIDS. SO IT’S KIND OF FINDING THAT BALANCE AND TRYING TO MAKE IT AS EXCITING AS YOU CAN. AND EVERY KID LIKES SCIENCE. I MEAN, WE ALL-- EVERY KID AS A KID-- I MEAN, WE’RE ALL SCIENTISTS. >> YEAH, CURIOUS, IN A WAY. >> YOU’RE CURIOUS, YOU KNOW, YOU LIKE PLAYING WITH BUGS, YOU WANT TO BE OUTSIDE-- WHATEVER. I MEAN, SCIENCE IS JUST COOL, AND-- >> IT IS. >> BUT OVER THE YEARS, I THINK AS YOU GO THROUGH SCHOOL, IF EVERYTHING YOU DO IN SCIENCE IS OUT OF A BOOK, IT’S NO LONGER FUN. AND THEN SOMEHOW WE LOSE THIS KIND OF LOVE FOR SCIENCE. SO AS MUCH AS YOU CAN DO AS AN EDUCATOR TO KEEP IT FUN AND TO BE THAT TEACHER THAT A KID WILL LOOK BACK AND GO, “YOU KNOW, THAT WAS A COOL CLASS. I LEARNED A LOT, BUT WE HAD FUN DOING IT.” >> YEAH. >> I THINK THAT’S THE KEY. >> THOSE ARE ALWAYS THE MOMENTS I GO BACK TO WITH MY SCIENCE CLASSES-- FROM PHYSICS, TAKING A SLINKY OUTSIDE IN THE HALLWAY AND JUST SHAKING IT AROUND AND SEEING HOW WAVES WORK, YOU KNOW, INSTEAD OF JUST DESCRIBING WAVES OR READING FROM A BOOK. LET’S SHAKE IT AND FIGURE IT OUT, YOU KNOW? IT’S THOSE LITTLE MOMENTS THAT REALLY, I THINK, ARE FUN. THEY’RE REALLY COOL. YOU’RE OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM ACTUALLY DOING STUFF. AND IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU WERE KIND OF THE SAME WAY, ESPECIALLY WITH THE METAL SHOP CLASS. ACTUALLY HANDS ON-- YOU WANT TO TOUCH STUFF, YOU WANT TO DO STUFF. >> YOU’VE GOT TO DO IT, YEAH. >> YEAH. >> BOOKS ARE GREAT. THEY HAVE THEIR PLACE, BUT YOU’VE GOT TO BE HANDS ON. AND THAT’S ALWAYS THE CHALLENGE I FOUND WITH MATH, IS THAT MATH TAKES A LITTLE BIT MORE WORK TO MAKE IT HANDS ON AND TO MAKE IT EXCITING. IT’S-- IF YOU LIKE MATH, IT’S COOL AND IT’S EXCITING, BUT IF YOU’RE SOMEBODY THAT DOESN’T LIKE MATH, IT’S HARD TO MAKE IT EXCITING. >> YEAH. >> AND SO I THINK THE EXCITING PART IS WHEN A STUDENT UNDERSTANDS A CONCEPT AND YOU’VE HELPED THEM KIND OF GET TO THAT POINT. BUT NOTHING WORSE THAN HAVING A KID LEAVE YOUR CLASS THAT SAYS, “MAN, I HATE MATH, AND I’M TERRIBLE AT MATH.” YOU KNOW, THEN YOU’RE JUST LIKE, “MAN, I DIDN’T DO THAT KID RIGHT.” SO IT IS A CHALLENGE. SOME CLASSES, OF COURSE, YOU’RE TEACHING ABOUT SPACE OR TEACHING ABOUT DINOSAURS. EVERY KID LOVES THAT, SO THAT’S KIND OF EASY. BUT IT’S THOSE OTHER SUBJECTS THAT AREN’T ALWAYS AS MUCH FUN THAT ARE MORE CHALLENGING. >> YEAH. I MEAN, I GUESS SOMETIMES IT COMES DOWN TO JUST NATURAL SKILL IN A WAY, RIGHT? SO SOMETIMES IT JUST CLICKS, AND SOMETIMES IT TAKES A LITTLE EXTRA TO CLICK, AND SOMETIMES IT NEVER CLICKS, SO-- THAT’S ALWAYS A BUMMER, THOUGH. >> BUT HOPEFULLY YOU CAN MAKE IT-- I THINK EVERYBODY HAS THE ABILITY. IT JUST MIGHT TAKE A LITTLE BIT MORE WORK ON THE PART OF THE TEACHER AND THE PART OF THE STUDENT. >> YEAH. >> OF COURSE, SOME THINGS ARE NATURALLY EASY, BUT IF THEY’RE NOT, THAT’S OKAY. BUT YOU CAN-- I ALWAYS TELL PEOPLE, “YOU DON’T NEED TO BE THE SMARTEST DUDE OUT THERE, BUT YOU CAN ALWAYS BE THE HARDEST WORKING PERSON OUT THERE. NOBODY CAN STOP YOU FROM WORKING HARD.” AND SOMETIMES IT JUST TAKES MORE WORK THAN YOU MAY WANT TO PUT IN AT THE TIME. >> THAT’S TRUE. >> ESPECIALLY AT THAT AGE. >> ESPECIALLY AT THAT AGE, FOR SURE. SO I MEAN, YOU TAUGHT MIDDLE SCHOOL FOR-- AND YOU SAID YOU ENJOYED IT. YOU TAUGHT IT FOR FOUR YEARS. IT WAS AROUND THIS TIME THAT YOU APPLIED TO BE AN ASTRONAUT? >> YEP, SO I WAS TEACHING MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND YOU KNOW, LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT, AND JUST REALLY FELT LIKE EDUCATION IS WHERE I WANTED TO BE. >> COOL. >> JUST LOVED THE JOB, LOVED THE KIDS, LOVED THE COMMUNITY. AND ONE DAY, A TEACHER CAME IN AND TOLD ME THAT SHE SAW SOMETHING ABOUT NASA WANTING TO HIRE SOME EDUCATORS TO BECOME ASTRONAUTS. I GO, “YOU KNOW, THAT SOUNDS INTERESTING.” AS A KID, THE APOLLO MISSIONS WERE KIND OF GOING ON, AND THAT WAS EXCITING. AND I LIKED READING SCIENCE FICTION AND ALL OF THAT, SO-- YOU KNOW, I THINK A LOT OF KIDS THINK OF BECOMING AN ASTRONAUT SOMEDAY, BECAUSE IT IS COOL. >> YEAH. >> YOU KNOW, GOING TO SPACE IS PRETTY AWESOME, AND SO-- >> YOU CAN SAY FROM EXPERIENCE. >> YEP, IT IS COOL. BUT A LOT OF TIMES YOU THINK OF ASTRONAUTS AND YOU GO, “WELL, THERE’S A FEW PEOPLE THAT GET TO DO THAT, AND IT MIGHT’VE BEEN MY DREAM, BUT IT JUST DIDN’T WORK OUT.” >> SURE. >> AND SO WHEN I HEARD ABOUT NASA WANTING TO HIRE SOME EDUCATORS, I JUST WENT ONLINE AND STARTED READING MORE ABOUT IT AND WHAT THE REQUIREMENTS WERE. AND I JUST KIND OF LOOKED AT MY RESUME, KIND OF LIKE WE’VE DONE, AND LOOKED AT WHAT I HAD DONE, AND LOOKED AT WHAT NASA WAS LOOKING FOR, AND I GO, “MAN, I’M A PRETTY DECENT MATCH, SO LET ME GO AHEAD AND APPLY.” AND AGAIN, YOU CAN’T WIN IF YOU DON’T PLAY. SO I JUST WENT AHEAD AND SUBMITTED MY APPLICATION, AND WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO GET HIRED. >> THAT’S AMAZING, AWESOME. SO THEN YOU KIND OF TRANSITIONED INTO HOUSTON, STARTED TRAINING-- NEXT THING YOU KNOW, YOU’RE ON A SHUTTLE MISSION, RIGHT? YOUR FIRST SHUTTLE MISSION WAS 2009? >> YEP, PRETTY CRAZY. >> YEAH. >> YOU GO FROM MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER TO NOW GOING INTO SPACE. AND IT WAS VERY, VERY COOL TO BE ABLE TO GO ON A SHUTTLE FLIGHT. AND YOU KNOW, YOU GO FROM BEING A TEACHER, AND NOW WHEN YOU JOIN NASA AS AN ASTRONAUT, YOU’RE STARTING FROM STEP ONE, SO NOW YOU’RE BECOMING A STUDENT. >> YEAH. >> AND SO THAT WAS A LITTLE BIT OF A CHALLENGE, JUST BECAUSE THERE’S SO MUCH YOU HAVE TO LEARN. AGAIN, ASTRONAUTS, WE COME FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. SOME ARE MEDICAL DOCTORS. I’M A GEOLOGIST. AND SO WE ALL HAVE TO LEARN THESE BASIC SKILLS THAT-- YOU KNOW, SOME ARE MORE CHALLENGING THAN OTHERS. YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO DO A SPACEWALK. YOU HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO FLY THE ROBOTIC ARM. YOU JUST HAVE GOT TO LEARN ABOUT ORBITAL MECHANICS. I MEAN, IT’S LIKE, “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?” YOU’VE GOT TO LEARN HOW TO FLY A JET. I’VE NEVER FLOWN BEFORE. >> YEAH. >> AND SO THERE’S ALL THESE THINGS THAT YOU HAVE TO LEARN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, AND IT’S NOT EASY BEING A STUDENT. AND I THINK I’LL BE A BETTER TEACHER SOMEDAY HAVING GONE BACK AS AN ADULT AND BECOMING A STUDENT AGAIN, AND KNOWING HOW HARD IT CAN BE. >> YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. ESPECIALLY BECAUSE TRAINING, ASTRONAUT TRAINING-- AND WE TALKED ABOUT THIS WITH RANDY BRESNIK, ACTUALLY, A COUPLE EPISODES AGO, BUT ASTRONAUT TRAINING IS INTENSE. IT’S-- YOU HAVE TO BE AN ALL-AROUND, I GUESS, JACK OF ALL-- NOT EVEN JACK OF ALL TRADES-- KIND OF A MASTER OF ALL TRADES, IN A SENSE. I MEAN, YOU ARE WORKING WITH PEOPLE ON THE GROUND ALL THE TIME WHO HAVE YOUR BACK, BUT AT THE SAME TIME YOU HAVE TO KNOW A LOT. YOU HAVE TO KNOW A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS. >> YOU DO. IT’S-- THAT’S PART OF WHAT MAKES IT EXCITING, AND PART OF WHAT MAKES IT CHALLENGING IS THAT YOU’RE NOT AN EXPERT IN ANY ONE FIELD. >> SURE. >> YOU HAVE ALL THESE SMART PEOPLE HERE AT JOHNSON SPACE CENTER THAT ARE THE EXPERTS, BUT WE HAVE TO KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT EACH ONE OF THOSE SO THAT WE CAN SUPPORT WHATEVER THE MISSION MAY BE. AND SO, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN GO ONE DAY-- HEY, YOU KNOW, WE’RE DOING A PODCAST AND WE’RE TALKING ABOUT THIS, AND THEN ON FRIDAY I’LL BE IN THE NEUTRAL BUOYANCY LAB PRACTICING FOR SPACEWALKS. YOU KNOW, I’LL BE IN A SIMULATION TOMORROW WITH THE ROBOTIC ARM. AND SO YOU’RE KIND OF JUMPING AROUND, GOING BACK AND FORTH TO DIFFERENT THINGS, AND SO IT’S PUTTING ALL OF THAT TOGETHER, AND JUST BEING ABLE TO PROCESS IT IS-- IT IS THE CHALLENGE. >> YEAH. >> BUT IT IS FUN. >> SO NEUTRAL BUOYANCY LABORATORY, YOU’RE GOING TO BE PRACTICING-- THAT’S WHERE YOU GO-- IT’S UNDERWATER, AND THEY CALL IT NEUTRALLY BUOYANT BECAUSE I GUESS YOU’RE KIND OF FLOATING AND SINKING AT THE SAME TIME, IS THE PHENOMENON, IN A SENSE? >> YEAH, SO IT’S A BIG SWIMMING POOL WE HAVE. I MEAN, IT’S A BIG SWIMMING POOL WE HAVE. AND SO THERE’S A MOCK-UP, KIND OF A MODEL OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION THERE, AND WE GET INTO SPACE SUITS THAT HAVE BEEN MODIFIED A LITTLE BIT, BUT THEY’RE PRESSURIZED JUST LIKE A REGULAR SUIT WOULD BE. AND WE HAVE THESE GREAT DIVERS THAT WILL KIND OF GET YOU IN THE WATER, AND KIND OF MOVE WEIGHTS AND FOAM AROUND TO GET YOU TO WHERE YOU ARE JUST FLOATING IN THE WATER AT THE RIGHT SPOT. >> YEAH, KIND OF LIKE SUSPENDED. >> YEAH, KIND OF SUSPENDED IN THERE. AND THAT’S THE CLOSEST WE CAN GET TO BEING IN A MICROGRAVITY ENVIRONMENT. AND WHEN THEY DO A GOOD JOB AND YOU’RE WORKING, YOU CAN LET GO AND YOU DON’T GO UP, YOU DON’T GO DOWN. YOU’RE JUST RIGHT THERE LIKE YOU WOULD BE IN SPACE. SO IT’S-- THAT IS ANOTHER TEAM EFFORT, WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT IT TAKES TO GET US IN THAT POOL TO PRACTICE FOR THE SPACEWALKS. BUT IT’S PRETTY COOL. >> YEAH, SO I MEAN, YOU’RE GOING IN THERE ON FRIDAY. I’M SURE YOU’VE BEEN IN THERE PLENTY OF TIMES BEFORE, BUT ALSO, ON YOUR SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION BACK IN 2009, YOU DID TWO SPACEWALKS. YOU GOT WELL OVER 12 HOURS OF SPACEWALKING TIME-- ALMOST 13. SO HOW DOES THAT COMPARE-- NEUTRAL BUOYANCY LABORATORY SPACEWALKING TO YOUR ACTUAL EXPERIENCE? >> IT’S AS GOOD AS WE CAN GET, AND IT’S REALLY GOOD. SO ON FRIDAY COMING UP IS ACTUALLY MY BIG TEST, MY EVALUATION. >> OH, OKAY. >> IT’S MY BIG TEST DAY, SO I’VE GOT TO CRAM FOR THAT. >> YEAH, YOU SHOULD BE STUDYING RIGHT NOW. HOW YOU DOING? >> I KNOW, YOU GUYS ARE KILLING ME, BUT-- SO I’VE GOT A LOT TO DO BEFORE FRIDAY. BUT IT’S-- IT IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR OTHER ASTRONAUTS IN THE EVA WORLD, THE SPACEWALK WORLD, TO LOOK AT YOUR SKILLS AND FINE TUNE ANYTHING THEY NEED TO FIX. SO I’VE GOT THAT, AND-- BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT BEING IN THE POOL TO BEING IN SPACE, IT’S REALLY, REALLY GOOD. >> WOW. >> IN THE POOL IT MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT MORE PHYSICALLY CHALLENGING BECAUSE YOU DO HAVE WATER THAT YOU’RE FIGHTING AGAINST, WHERE IN SPACE YOU DON’T HAVE THAT. >> OKAY, YEAH. >> BUT IN SPACE, YOU’RE LOOKING AT EARTH THAT’S A COUPLE HUNDRED MILES BELOW YOU, AND EVERY MOVEMENT THAT YOU MAKE IS CRITICAL. SO WHEN YOU GET DONE WITH A SPACEWALK, YOU’RE REALLY MENTALLY TIRED. >> YEAH. >> SO I THINK YOU GET OUT OF THE NBL, AND YOU’RE SUPER TIRED. YOU’RE READY TO JUST SIT ON THE COUCH AND RELAX. AND AFTER A SPACEWALK, IT’S KIND OF THE SAME. SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE TWO, IT’S A PRETTY GOOD ANALOGY TO WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO FEEL LIKE UP IN SPACE. >> WOW. SO WHAT WERE THOSE TWO SPACEWALKS THAT YOU WERE DOING ON DISCOVERY? WHAT WERE YOU DOING? >> YEAH, SO ON THE FIRST ONE, WHICH I WASN’T-- I WAS THE GUY INSIDE READING THE PROCEDURES FOR THOSE PUTTING THE LAST SET OF SOLAR PANELS UP ON THE SPACE STATION. >> OH, I SEE. >> SO TWO OF MY CREWMATES WENT OUT, AND SO I WAS ABLE TO WALK THEM THROUGH THAT. AND THEN THE NEXT COUPLE THAT WE HAD WERE JUST A BUNCH OF ODDS AND ENDS ON THE SPACE STATION. AND ONE STORY I TELL PEOPLE ABOUT THAT-- YOU KNOW, IT’S NOT ALWAYS FUN TO RELIVE IT, BUT-- YOU KNOW, ON MY FIRST SPACEWALK, YOU’RE ALL PUMPED UP. “THIS IS COOL. I’M GOING TO GO OUT AND DO A SPACEWALK.” AND EVERYTHING’S GOING PRETTY GOOD, AND THEN I MADE A MISTAKE BECAUSE I KIND OF GOT TWISTED AROUND, AND DID SOMETHING NOT THE WAY IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE. >> OKAY. >> AND YOU KNOW, NOW YOU’RE LIKE BUMMED OUT. YOU’RE LIKE, “MAN,” YOU KNOW-- ALL THIS TIME EVERYBODY IS WATCHING YOU, AND THEN YOU SCREW THIS THING UP. AND SO, YOU KNOW, YOU COME IN AND YOU’RE A LITTLE BIT DISAPPOINTED, EVEN THOUGH THE REST OF THE SPACEWALK WENT WELL AND WE GOT DONE WHAT WE HAD TO DO, BUT NOW THE PEOPLE ON THE GROUND HAD TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHY SOMETHING DIDN’T WORK THE WAY IT WAS PLANNED. >> OH. >> AND YOU’RE REFLECTING BACK GOING, “MAN, I MADE THIS MISTAKE,” AND SO YOU KIND OF GO FROM THIS-- THE GREATEST MOMENT EVER TO, “MAN, THIS KIND OF SUCKS.” AND-- BUT IT’S A GOOD-- YOU KNOW, TO ME, AGAIN, YOU LOOK AT ALL THE LITTLE POINTS IN YOUR LIFE, AND IT WAS-- THAT’S ANOTHER IMPORTANT POINT WHERE YOU LEARN FROM FAILURE. I HAD GREAT CREWMATES, GREAT LEADERSHIP AROUND ME THAT ALLOWED ME TO LEARN FROM THAT EXPERIENCE. AND SO AGAIN, TALKING TO STUDENTS THAT WHEN YOU MAKE A MISTAKE, IT’S NOT ALWAYS A BAD THING. IT’S JUST HOW DO YOU REBOUND AND HOW DO YOU LEARN FROM IT. >> YEAH, DEFINITELY. I HAVE A COUPLE INSTANCES MYSELF I’M THINKING ABOUT OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD WHERE, YOU KNOW, IT’S JUST NOT GOING TO GO THE WAY THAT YOU’RE PLANNING. ACTUALLY, THAT WAS MY SENIOR PROJECT IN HIGH SCHOOL, IS-- “WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THIS EXPERIENCE?” I WAS LIKE, “THINGS DO NOT GO THE WAY YOU PLANNED.” I MADE A WHOLE STORYBOARD, I HAD A SCHEDULE FOR SCRIPTING AND MAKING THIS FILM, AND JUST NOTHING WENT ACCORDING TO PLAN. UNLIKE YOU, I HAD FRIENDS THAT CONSTANTLY BAILED ON ME. >> YEAH, THAT’S NEVER FUN. YOU KNOW, AND YOU CAN ALWAYS PLAY IT SAFE AND TRY TO MINIMIZE THE MISTAKES, BUT THAT’S HOW YOU LEARN, AND THAT’S WHAT MAKES IT EXCITING. >> YEAH. >> AND IT’S OKAY TO MESS THINGS UP A LITTLE BIT. AND YOU CAN REFLECT ON IT, BUT DON’T LET IT BRING YOU DOWN TOO MUCH, BECAUSE YOU’RE GOING TO MAKE A LOT OF MISTAKES IN LIFE, SO YOU MIGHT AS WELL LEARN HOW TO DO IT EARLY. >> ABSOLUTELY. SO I MEAN, WHEN YOU WERE RECRUITED AS AN ASTRONAUT, YOU SAID THAT NASA WAS LOOKING FOR EDUCATORS TO GO INTO SPACE. SO WHAT WAS IT THAT YOU DID DIFFERENTLY AS AN EDUCATOR IN SPACE, VERSUS I GUESS OTHERS? >> YOU KNOW, IT’S-- SO WE CAME IN AND WE WERE BUILDING ON THE TEACHER IN SPACE PROGRAM. >> OKAY. >> WHERE THEY WERE LOOKING FOR TEACHERS TO FLY, YOU KNOW, AS EDUCATORS, DO A LESSON PLAN. YOU KNOW, CHRISTA McAULIFFE WENT, AND THAT’S WHAT SHE WAS GOING TO DO, AND THEN COME BACK AND GO BACK INTO TEACHING, WHERE WHEN THEY HIRED US, THEY WERE LOOKING AT EDUCATORS TO BECOME FULL TIME ASTRONAUTS. SO FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THEY OPENED IT UP TO SCIENTISTS-- YOU KNOW, EARLY ASTRONAUTS WERE ALL MILITARY PILOTS. >> RIGHT, YEAH. >> AND THEN THEY OPENED IT UP TO THE SCIENCES. SO NOW WE HAVE A WIDE RANGE OF SCIENTISTS. AND IN 2004 THEY OPENED IT UP AGAIN TO INCLUDE EDUCATORS, SO THAT IF YOU HAVE A TEACHING BACKGROUND, IT’S NO DIFFERENT THAN SOMEBODY WHO’S GOT A BACKGROUND IN CHEMISTRY OR BIOLOGY. AND SO OUR MISSION WAS PRETTY PACKED, LIKE MOST SHUTTLE FLIGHTS ARE. SO I DON’T THINK THAT WE DID A WHOLE LOT ON ORBIT WORKING WITH TEACHERS AND STUDENTS, YOU KNOW, AS EDUCATORS. >> YEAH. >> BUT I THINK THE BIGGEST THING WE DID IS THAT I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH ON MY FLIGHT THAT I CAME IN WITH TWO OTHER TEACHERS. >> OH, WOW. >> RICKY ARNOLD AND DOTTIE METCALF-LINDENBURGER. AND RICKY AND I, WE FLEW TOGETHER ON THE SHUTTLE FLIGHT. SO HERE YOU HAVE TWO TEACHERS THAT ARE IN SPACE TOGETHER, WHICH IS KIND OF COOL, AND I THINK IT’S-- IT WAS PRETTY IMPORTANT FOR EDUCATORS. BUT THEN RICKY AND I ALSO WENT OUT AND DID A SPACEWALK TOGETHER. >> WOW. >> SO NOW YOU’VE GOT TWO TEACHERS THAT ARE OUTSIDE SHOWING THAT, HEY, THEY HAVE A SKILL JUST LIKE ANYBODY ELSE DOES. SO I THINK IT DID A LOT OF GOOD FOR THE TEACHING PROFESSION. >> YEAH. >> I THINK THAT WHEN WE GO OUT AND WE TALK TO EDUCATORS, THEY LOOK BACK AT THAT TIME. AND TEACHERS AREN’T ALWAYS VALUED AS MUCH AS THEY SHOULD BE. WE ALL KNOW THE SAYING, “IF YOU CAN’T DO, TEACH.” >> “IF YOU CAN’T TEACH, TEACH GYM.” >> THERE YOU GO. AND SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK TO SHOW THAT TEACHERS HAVE A SKILL SET JUST LIKE ANYBODY ELSE WAS IMPORTANT. >> YEAH, WOW, AWESOME. YEAH, BECAUSE YOU’RE INSPIRING TEACHERS, RIGHT? TEACHERS ARE LOOKING AT YOU AND SAYING, “WOW, I’M A TEACHER. AND THAT TEACHER’S DOING THAT? THAT’S INCREDIBLE!” >> AND THE SAME WITH KIDS, YOU KNOW. KIDS LOOK AT TEACHERS AND THEY JUST THINK-- WELL, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY KNOWS A TEACHER. >> YEAH. >> SO THEY CAN RELATE TO A TEACHER. AND YOU CAN’T ALWAYS RELATE TO ASTRONAUTS, BECAUSE YOU MAY NEVER MEET ONE. SO I THINK EVEN FOR STUDENTS TO GO, “THIS IS SOMEBODY-- IT COULD BE-- MY CURRENT MATH TEACHER CAN BE AN ASTRONAUT, I CAN BE AN ASTRONAUT.” >> YEAH. >> SO I THINK IT’S EASIER FOR KIDS TO MAKE THAT LEAP OF YOU CAN DO PRETTY MUCH WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO, AS LONG AS YOU’RE-- YOU KNOW, YOU’VE GOT TO WORK HARD. THERE IS SOME LUCK INVOLVED. >> YEAH. >> BUT I JUST THINK IT MAKES IT A LITTLE BIT MORE TANGIBLE FOR PEOPLE. >> SURE. ESPECIALLY BECAUSE AFTER YOU WENT ON THAT MISSION, DID YOU KIND OF TRAVEL AROUND AND GO TO DIFFERENT SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS SPEAKING WITH SCHOOLS, AND STUFF LIKE THAT? >> YEAH, AS ASTRONAUTS, PART OF OUR JOB IS TO GO OUT AND-- AS AN EDUCATOR, MY PREFERENCE IS TO GO OUT AND EITHER TALK TO TEACHERS OR STUDENTS, WHERE, YOU KNOW, WE MAY HAVE THE ASTRONAUTS THAT ARE DOCTORS MAY ENJOY MORE GOING TO MEDICAL CONFERENCES AND THINGS LIKE THAT. >> YEAH. >> SO I THINK FOR THE THREE OF US THAT GOT HIRED, WE ALWAYS ENJOY GOING BACK TO SCHOOLS AND GOING TO NATIONAL CONFERENCES WHERE WE CAN TALK TO TEACHERS AND SHARE OUR EXPERIENCES. >> RIGHT. >> YOU KNOW, WE KNOW THAT WE CAN GO, AND MAYBE WE CAN INSPIRE SOME STUDENTS, BUT IT’S THE TEACHERS EVERY DAY THAT ARE MAKING THE BIG DIFFERENCE. >> YEAH. >> BUT IF WE CAN GO IN AND HELP THEM DO THEIR JOB, THEN I THINK THAT’S PRETTY IMPORTANT. >> YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. IS THERE ANY KIND OF TEACHING MOMENTS THAT YOU TOOK ON YOUR LONG DURATION FLIGHT? BECAUSE YOU FLEW AGAIN IN 2012, EXPEDITION 31-32. YOU WERE UP THERE FOR QUITE A WHILE-- 123 DAYS. SO WHAT KIND OF EDUCATION ELEMENT DID YOU BRING TO THAT MISSION? >> SO WE TRIED TO DO SOME MORE OUTREACH WITH TEACHERS AND STUDENTS. >> I SEE, OKAY. >> AND THEN WE DID SOME FILMING OF DIFFERENT EXPERIMENTS UP THERE THAT TEACHERS COULD USE. >> COOL. >> BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT-- WHETHER IT WAS INTENTIONAL OR NOT-- WELL, WE WERE EDUCATORS. NOW OUR PRIMARY JOB IS TO BE AN ASTRONAUT. >> SURE. >> AND SO THE MISSIONS ARE PRETTY BUSY, AND I THINK WITH THIS UPCOMING MISSION, WHAT’S UNIQUE, AGAIN, IS THAT I’LL BE LAUNCHING IN HOPEFULLY SEPTEMBER. I’LL BE UP THERE FOR ABOUT SIX MONTHS. >> RIGHT. >> AND THEN RICKY ARNOLD’S GOING TO BE GOING UP AND REPLACING ME, SO WE’RE GOING TO HAVE A YEAR WITH EDUCATORS ON ORBIT, WHICH IS GOING TO-- YOU KNOW, IT’LL BE THE FIRST TIME, AND IT’S PRETTY UNIQUE. AND NASA IS-- WE’RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON, “WHAT CAN WE DO WHILE THESE GUYS ARE UP THERE FOR A YEAR TO REALLY HIGHLIGHT EDUCATION?” AND SO AGAIN, YOU-- BEING AN ASTRONAUT, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN, AND SO A LOT OF THIS IS BUILDING AS WE’RE TALKING TODAY. >> RIGHT. >> BUT NASA EDUCATION IS LOOKING AT A PLAN ON WHAT CAN WE DO TO UTILIZE THESE GUYS THAT HAVE A UNIQUE SKILL SET AS EDUCATORS. SO I THINK IT’S GOING TO BE A GOOD YEAR FOR NASA TO REACH OUT TO EDUCATORS AND STUDENTS AND GET A LOT DONE. >> ABSOLUTELY. I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN. >> ME, EITHER. MORE TO COME. WE’LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS. >> VERY COOL. OKAY, SO I MEAN, YOU HAVE THAT LONG DURATION MISSION, EXPEDITION 31-32 BACK IN 2012. WHAT’S DIFFERENT FOR THIS ONE THAT YOU HAVE COMING UP IN SEPTEMBER? >> IT’S-- EVERY FLIGHT IS DIFFERENT, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY’RE LONG DURATION FLIGHTS. AGAIN, A SHUTTLE FLIGHT WAS VERY WELL CHOREOGRAPHED. THINGS MIGHT HAPPEN, BUT YOU REALLY KNEW WHAT YOU WERE GOING TO DO, WHERE A LONG DURATION FLIGHT, YOU DON’T KNOW. YOU DON’T KNOW WHEN THE TOILET’S GOING TO BREAK. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT MAY HAPPEN. AND WHAT’S NEAT ABOUT TODAY IS NASA IS WORKING HARD TO MAKE THE PROCESS TO GET SCIENCE ONBOARD A LITTLE BIT EASIER. AND SO THERE ARE PEOPLE SUBMITTING SCIENCE PROPOSALS NOW THAT COULD POTENTIALLY BE UP THERE WHILE WE’RE THERE. >> COOL. >> AND WHILE I’M UP THERE, WE’RE GOING TO HAVE AN ADDITIONAL PERSON WORKING ON THE USOS, THE OPERATING SIDE. >> RIGHT. >> FOR SCIENCE, SO WE HAVE ANOTHER BODY, WHICH WILL ALLOW US TO DO MORE SCIENCE. >> OKAY. >> AND SO I THINK THIS TIME AROUND, IT’S GOING TO BE A LOT MORE SCIENCE INTENSIVE, JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE AN ADDITIONAL PERSON. AND WE JUST HAVE A WIDE VARIETY OF EXPERIMENTS THAT ARE GOING ON. AND IT’S FUN BECAUSE AS AN ASTRONAUT, OUR JOB IS TO FACILITATE THE SCIENCE THAT PEOPLE WANT TO GET DONE UP ON THE SPACE STATION. AND SO IT CAN BE JUST LIKE IT IS HERE, YOU KNOW-- EVERY DAY IS DIFFERENT. UP THERE, EVERY SINGLE DAY IS DIFFERENT. >> WOW. >> THAT’S-- YOU JUST NEVER GET BORED UP THERE, AND EVERY MISSION IS DEFINITELY DIFFERENT. >> WOW, AWESOME. SO, OKAY, YOU KIND OF ALLUDED TO YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE SOME EDUCATION, ESPECIALLY WITH YOU GOING UP FOLLOWED BY RICKY ARNOLD. WE’VE GOT THIS YEAR OF SPACE EDUCATORS. YOU KNOW, GOING BACK TO STEM, HOW DO YOU SEE THE VALUE OF STEM? ESPECIALLY BEING AN EDUCATOR, AND SOMEONE-- A STEM EDUCATOR. WHAT’S THE VALUE OF STEM, AND ESPECIALLY FROM SPACE, TOO, HOW THAT APPLIES? >> EVERYTHING THAT WE DO IS ALL STEM, THE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATH. >> RIGHT. >> AND NOWADAYS, YOU’LL HEAR THE “A” PUT IN-- THEY’LL CALL IT STEAM. >> YES, YEAH. >> PUT THE ARTS IN, WHICH IS VERY APPLICABLE, BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK THAT MATH AND SCIENCE IS VERY RIGID AND IT’S KIND OF BORING. BUT IT’S REALLY-- IT’S FAIRLY ARTISTIC WHEN YOU LOOK AT MATH AND YOU LOOK AT SCIENCE. >> CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING. >> IT IS. IT’S WHAT YOU’RE DOING-- YOU’RE CREATING THINGS. WHETHER YOU’RE SOLVING THE PROBLEM OR YOU’RE DISCOVERING SOMETHING NEW. >> SURE, YEAH. >> BUT EVERYTHING WE DO HERE ON EARTH IS-- YOU KNOW, YOU CAN THANK SCIENCE FOR IT. SOMEWHERE IN THE STEM FIELD. YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT’S THE CAR YOU DRIVE, THE PHONE YOU USE, THE VIDEO GAME YOU PLAY. >> YEAH. >> ALL OF THAT IS STEM. >> RIGHT. >> AND IT’S SUCH A WIDE RANGE THAT NASA-- YOU KNOW, PEOPLE THINK OF NASA AND THEN THEY THINK OF STEM. BUT IT’S EVERY DAY. I MEAN, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATH IS WHAT WE DO EVERY SINGLE DAY. AND I THINK THAT’S WHY WE LIKE TO TALK ABOUT IT, IS TO LET THOSE KIDS KNOW THAT IT’S NOT THAT BORING SCIENCE CLASS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE WHERE ALL YOU DID WAS READ OUT OF A BOOK. >> RIGHT. >> IT REALLY IS EXCITING, AND IT REALLY IS APPLICABLE TO WHAT YOU DO EVERY DAY. AND IF YOU LIKE SPORTS, GUESS WHAT? THE CLOTHES YOU WEAR, ALL THE NEW FABRIC THAT YOU HAVE, THAT’S ALL SCIENCE. THAT’S ENGINEERING. >> YEAH. >> YOU KNOW, THE BASKETBALL, THE BASEBALL. I MEAN, EVERYTHING WE DO IS STEM RELATED. >> RIGHT. >> AND WE JUST DON’T ALWAYS REALIZE THAT. >> IT’S AMAZING. SO KIND OF GOING BACK ALL THE WAY TO THE BEGINNING OF YOUR STORY WHERE YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT KIND OF BEING INSPIRED TO PURSUE GEOLOGY BECAUSE OF SOME CAMPING TRIPS, WHY DID YOU CHOOSE SOMETHING STEM? WHY DID YOU GO THAT ROUTE VERSUS LIKE A JOURNALIST AND WRITING ABOUT THE OUTDOORS, OR SOMETHING? WHY DID YOU GO SCIENCE? >> WELL, MAYBE BECAUSE IT WAS EASIER. I’M NOT THE BEST WRITER OUT THERE. I’M DEFINITELY NOT AN ACTOR TYPE. AND FOR ME, LUCKILY, MATH WAS RELATIVELY EASY. AND IT’S-- I DON’T KNOW. IT JUST SEEMED LIKE THAT WAS THE NATURAL FIT, AND I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH THAT I COULD FIND A FIELD THAT I REALLY ENJOYED. AND SO AGAIN, WHEN I TALK TO STUDENTS WHEN I GO OUT, IT’S LIKE, “JUST FIND SOMETHING THAT YOU ENJOY DOING.” >> YEAH. >> BUT DON’T BE AFRAID OF SOMETHING THAT’S HARD, BECAUSE THEN YOU’RE GOING TO LIMIT WHAT YOU CAN DO. >> OH, YEAH. >> BUT I THINK I MAKE A BETTER SCIENTIST THAN I WOULD A JOURNALIST, THOUGH. I’M GLAD WE HAVE DIFFERENT PEOPLE OUT THERE WITH, YOU KNOW-- >> DIFFERENT SKILL SETS. >> DIFFERENT SKILL SETS, DIFFERENT THINGS THAT THEY ENJOY DOING. SO I THANK ALL OF YOU JOURNALISTS THAT ARE OUT THERE. >> YEAH. HONESTLY, IT’S-- EVERYTHING KIND OF HAS A PURPOSE, AND YOU’RE RIGHT-- PURSUE WHAT YOU LOVE. SOME PEOPLE JUST LOVE THE STORYTELLING ASPECTS AND GO FOR THAT. >> RIGHT. >> OTHERS THINK THEY WANT TO KNOW THE WHYS, AND THEY WANT TO BE OUTSIDE TOUCHING THINGS, SO-- >> IF YOU DON’T DO SOMETHING YOU LOVE, LIFE IS GOING TO BE LONG. >> YEAH. >> BECAUSE IT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE WHEN YOU HAVE A JOB THAT YOU ENJOY, AND YOU KNOW, I’M FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO HAVE ONE LIKE THAT, BUT-- >> YEAH. >> SO YEAH, JUST TRY TO FIND SOMETHING THAT YOU REALLY ENJOY, AND WORK HARD AT IT. >> VERY COOL. SO WE’LL LEAVE-- I FEEL LIKE THAT’D BE A GREAT PLACE TO LEAVE OUR AUDIENCE, BUT I DO WANT TO ASK ONE MORE QUESTION. SO US AT NASA-- ESPECIALLY FROM YOUR EDUCATOR PERSPECTIVE, WHAT CAN WE DO AT NASA TO JUST SORT OF REALLY CONVINCE PEOPLE THAT STEM IS A GREAT FIELD TO GO INTO-- OR STEAM, SORRY-- STEAM? >> YEAH, I THINK IF NASA CAN SHARE WHAT WE CAN DO-- YOU KNOW, YOU USED THE WORD “CONVINCE.” I DON’T THINK WE NEED TO CONVINCE EVERYBODY, BECAUSE THE WORK WE DO IS IMPORTANT. I THINK OUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE IS TELLING PEOPLE WHAT WE DO HERE. >> YEAH. >> AND NASA IS-- IT’S A BIG ENTITY. WE’RE DOING A LOT OF COOL THINGS, BUT-- YOU KNOW, WE HAVE JOURNALISTS. WE HAVE THE DIVERS AT THE NBL. WE HAVE ENGINEERS. SO THERE’S A LOT GOING ON THERE THAT PEOPLE CAN-- YOU KNOW, IF THEY WANT TO JOIN NASA TO HELP THE CAUSE THAT WE HAVE OF EXPLORING, HELPING LIFE ON EARTH-- BUT OUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE IS SHARING WHAT WE DO EVERY DAY. BECAUSE IT IS COOL, GOING INTO SPACE IS GREAT, IT’S GREAT BEING AN ASTRONAUT, BUT THAT IS SUCH A SMALL PART OF WHAT WE DO. >> YEAH. >> AND THE HARD PART IS JUST GETTING OUT THERE AND SHARING IT WITH FOLKS. SO I THINK THAT’S THE JOB THAT WE ALL HAVE FOR ANYBODY THAT WORKS AT NASA. >> DEFINITELY. VERY COOL. WELL, JOE, I THINK THAT’S ALL THE TIME WE HAVE. FOR OUR LISTENERS, I THINK, STAY TUNED UNTIL AFTER THE MUSIC AND WE’LL LET YOU KNOW HOW TO SUBMIT AN IDEA OR MAYBE ASK A QUESTION. BUT JOE, THAT WAS AWESOME. I JUST WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME TODAY. I KNOW THIS WAS QUITE A LONG TIME, ESPECIALLY COMPARED TO THE OTHER THING YOU HAD TO DO, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE A PRETTY JAM-PACKED WEEK-- WHAT WITH LEARNING HOW TO OPERATE A ROBOTIC ARM AND GOING IN THE NEUTRAL BUOYANCY LABORATORY. SO I APPRECIATE THE TIME. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. >> YEAH, YOU’RE WELCOME. IT’S GOING TO BE A GOOD WEEK, AND HOPEFULLY WE CAN TALK WHEN I GET BACK, AND WE’LL SHARE THE POST-FLIGHT EXPERIENCE. >> YEAH, I HOPE SO. CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO DO IN ORBIT. >> ALL RIGHT, THANKS A LOT. >> COOL. [ MUSIC ] [ INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER ] >> HOUSTON, WELCOME TO SPACE. >> HEY, THANKS FOR STICKING AROUND. SO TODAY WE TALKED WITH JOE ACABA, U.S. ASTRONAUT. AND HE IS GOING TO BE GOING TO SPACE VERY SOON, AT THE TIME OF THIS RECORDING. SO IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW HIM ALONG ON HIS JOURNEY, HE HAS A TWITTER ACCOUNT-- @ASTROACABA. AND HE’LL BE SHARING HIS EXPERIENCE ONBOARD AS AN ASTRONAUT AND EDUCATOR IN SPACE. WE’LL ALSO BE SHARING HIS STORY ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ACCOUNTS, AND AN ACCOUNT CALLED NASA ASTRONAUTS. JUST GO TO EITHER ONE OF THOSE ACCOUNTS ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK, AND INSTAGRAM. WE’RE VERIFIED, SO DON’T EVEN WORRY ABOUT IT. AND WE’LL BE SHARING HIS EXPERIENCE-- MAYBE SOME OF THE COOL VIEWS THAT HE SHARES, MAYBE SOME VIDEOS OR MOMENTS THAT HE SHARES WITH EDUCATORS THAT HE’LL BE TALKING TO WHILE ON ORBIT. JUST USE THE HASHTAG #ASKNASA OR THE HASHTAG #HWHAP -- H-W-H-A-P-- HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PODCAST. USE ANY OF THOSE ON YOUR FAVORITE PLATFORM-- SUBMIT AN IDEA FOR THE SHOW OR MAYBE A QUESTION YOU HAVE FOR JOE, AND WE’LL MAKE SURE TO ADDRESS IT IN ONE OF THE LATER PODCASTS. THIS PODCAST WAS RECORDED ON JULY 10, 2017. THANKS TO ALEX PERRYMAN, JOHN STOLL, PAT RYAN AND JOHN STREETER. AND THANKS AGAIN TO MR. JOE ACABA FOR COMING ON THE SHOW. WE’LL SEE YOU NEXT WEEK.

HWHAP_Ep9_ International Space Station 2 Research

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-09-08

>> HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PODCAST! WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL PODCAST OF THE NASA JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, EPISODE 9: INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION #2 RESEARCH. I’M GARY JORDAN AND I’LL BE YOUR HOST TODAY. SO IF YOU’RE NEW TO THE PODCAST, THIS IS THE ONE WHERE WE BRING ON EXPERTS, NASA SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS, ASTRONAUTS, AND THEY TELL YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW, ALL THE COOLEST PARTS ABOUT NASA. SO TODAY WE’RE TALKING ABOUT SPACE STATION SCIENCE WITH TARA RUTTLEY. SHE’S THE ASSOCIATE PROGRAM SCIENTIST FOR THE SPACE STATION HERE AT THE NASA JOHNSON SPACE CENTER IN HOUSTON, TEXAS, AND WE HAD A GREAT DISCUSSION ABOUT WHAT KINDS OF RESEARCH WE’RE DOING ABOARD THE ORBITING COMPLEX RIGHT NOW, WHAT WE’RE LEARNING, AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT. SO WITH NO FURTHER DELAY, LET’S GO LIGHT SPEED AND JUMP RIGHT AHEAD TO OUR TALK WITH DR. TARA RUTTLEY. ENJOY. [ MUSIC ] >> T MINUS FIVE SECONDS AND COUNTING. MARK. [ INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER ] >> HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PODCAST. [ MUSIC ] >> WELL THANK YOU FOR COMING ON AND FOR TAKING THE TIME TO COME ON THE PODCAST. I’M EXCITED ABOUT THIS TOPIC BECAUSE YOU THINK ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION-- GIANT, FOOTBALL FIELD-SIZED SPACESHIP, HUGE SOLAR ARRAYS-- LIKE, THAT’S COOL, BUT WHAT ARE THEY DOING INSIDE? SO THAT’S KIND OF WHAT I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT TODAY, AND YOU’RE THE PERFECT PERSON TO DO THAT AS THE ASSOCIATE PROGRAM SCIENTIST FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION PROGRAM. SO WELCOME, WELCOME. FIRST THING I WANT TO SAY, ESPECIALLY IN YOUR POSITION, WE DO SCIENCE-- YOU KNOW, IF SOMEONE WERE EVER TO ASK YOU, “WHAT DO YOU DO? WHAT DO YOU DO UP IN THE SPACE STATION?” YOU’D SAY, “WE DO SCIENCE. WE DO SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH,” CORRECT? IS THAT-- AM I FAIR IN SAYING THAT? >> YES, AND THEN THEY SAY, “WHY, WHY? DON’T WE HAVE LABORATORIES ON EARTH?” AND THEN I SAY, YOU KNOW, “IT’S THIS HUGE ORBITING LABORATORY! THINK OF EVERY EXPERIMENT YOU’VE EVER DONE IN SCHOOL.” >> OKAY. >> “AND YOU KNOW, YOU CAN CONTROL TEMPERATURE, AND LIGHTING, AND ALL THESE DIFFERENT THINGS. BUT THE ONE THING YOU CAN’T CONTROL IS THAT YOU ALWAYS HAVE THAT GRAVITY VECTOR THERE.” >> STUPID GRAVITY. >> --EXPERIMENTS YOU’VE EVER DONE-- SUCH A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH! “ANY EXPERIMENT YOU’VE EVER DONE ON EARTH, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU COULD TAKE GRAVITY AWAY FROM THAT, AND WHAT WOULD YOU LEARN?” AND THEN THE LIGHT BULBS START TO GO OFF AND THEY GO, “OH, OKAY.” AND THE NEXT QUESTION IS WHAT WE’LL TALK ABOUT FOR THE REST OF THIS PODCAST, THIS, “WELL, WHAT DO YOU GET OUT OF IT?” >> YEAH, NO, THAT’S PERFECT. I MEAN, IF YOU COULD-- THERE’S ALWAYS-- WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, YOU HAVE CERTAIN THINGS THAT YOU JUST HAVE TO DEAL WITH, RIGHT? SO GRAVITY, I THINK, WOULD BE ONE OF THOSE THINGS. IT’S SOMETHING YOU CAN’T-- IT’S A FIXED-- I’M SORRY, I HAVEN’T TAKEN A SCIENCE CLASS IN A LONG TIME, BUT IS IT A FIXED SOMETHING VERSUS A VARIABLE? >> IT IS A FIXED-- IT’S AN INDEPENDENT VARIABLE. >> OKAY, YEAH. >> IT’S SOMETHING THAT-- WELL, AND IT’S SOMETHING THAT-- WELL, IT’S SOMETHING YOU CAN’T CHANGE. SO YOU CAN CHANGE TEMPERATURE, PRESSURE, LIGHTING, HEAT-- YEAH, ALL THOSE THINGS. YEAH, BUT GRAVITY, 9.81 METERS PER SECOND SQUARED-- BRINGING YOU BACK A LITTLE BIT-- >> ALL RIGHT, I WAS COMING BACK. >> AND WE’VE ALL-- THIS WHOLE PLANET, EVERYTHING ON IT, EVERY LIVING SYSTEM, EVERY PHYSICAL SYSTEM HAS EVOLVED AROUND THAT GRAVITY VECTOR. SO IT’S WHAT WE’RE USED TO, IT’S WHAT WE CAN PREDICT OUR THEORIES AROUND, AND IT’S WHAT WE CAN-- IT’S HOW WE KNOW WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT. BUT SO WHEN YOU GO UP AND YOU TRY ALL THESE DIFFERENT SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS IN THE MICROGRAVITY ENVIRONMENT, YEAH, IT’S NOT ALWAYS PREDICTABLE. AND THAT’S WHAT WE WANT TO USE THAT ENVIRONMENT OF THE SPACE STATION FOR. IT’S LIKE, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IF WE SEND THIS UP? AND THEN, AS HUMAN BEINGS WE WANT TO FIND OUT, WELL, HOW DO WE TAKE THAT INFORMATION AND LEVERAGE IT TO OUR BENEFITS, EITHER ON EARTH OR HELP US GO EXPLORE FURTHER. >> YEAH, NO, THAT’S A PERFECT OVERVIEW. THAT’S GREAT. THAT’S AWESOME. WELL, THAT’S GREAT. I MEAN, YOU’RE IN THE PERFECT POSITION, ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE THERE. BUT SO, WHAT’S SOMETHING-- I MEAN, JUST AS A GENERAL EXAMPLE BEFORE WE START TO GET GOING-- WHAT’S SOMETHING THAT YOU’RE LIKE, “HEY, I WONDER WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO THIS IF WE BROUGHT IT UP TO--” WHAT’S LIKE ONE OF THE COOLER THINGS THAT YOU CAN THINK OF? WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO BLANK? >> YOU KNOW, I’M GOING TO-- I DON’T KNOW-- I DON’T HAVE A PERSONAL-- MY HEAD RUNS THROUGH ALL KINDS OF SCENARIOS, SO I’VE NOT BEEN ABLE TO SATISFY MYSELF PERSONALLY WITH WHAT WOULD HAPPEN WITH A PARTICULAR EXPERIMENT. BUT THE ONE I GET ASKED THE MOST IS ABOUT DEVELOPMENT. DEVELOPMENT OF-- YOU KNOW, NEXT GENERATION OF A PARTICULAR LIVING ORGANISM. AND SO-- >> OH, LIVING THINGS, OKAY. >> YEAH, LIKE REPRODUCING IN SPACE, AND WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE OFFSPRING, AND DO THEY TURN OUT FUNKY, OR NORMAL, OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT? SO I MEAN, WE’RE NOT QUITE THERE, ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN A COUPLE OF WHAT WE CALL “MODEL ORGANISMS” THAT-- YOU KNOW, FRUIT FLIES, FOR EXAMPLE, WE CAN SEND UP AND HAVE REPRODUCTION, AND THEN LOOK AT THEIR OFFSPRING AND LOOK AT ANYTHING DIFFERENT THAT MIGHT BE OCCURRING. AND SO FUNDAMENTALLY, I THINK I GET ASKED THAT THE MOST, BECAUSE IT’S SOMETHING WE CAN ALL RELATE TO. IT’S KIND OF WEIRD IN ITSELF, BUT IT’S ALSO, LIKE, IT EXPLAINS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHO WE ARE AS LIVING ORGANISMS IN THIS ENVIRONMENT. >> IT’S SO COOL THAT WE HAVE A PLACE TO DO THAT, TOO. LIKE, YOU HAVE THAT QUESTION, LIKE, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO-- YOU KNOW, IF WE WERE TO HAVE LIVING THINGS REPRODUCE IN SPACE? OH, THAT’S RIGHT-- WE HAVE A LABORATORY WHERE WE CAN TEST THAT. THAT’S REALLY COOL. >> AND IT’S-- I HAVE TO SAY, YOU KNOW, I’VE BEEN A SPACE GEEK MY WHOLE LIFE, AND I’VE WATCHED ALL THE SHUTTLE EXPERIMENT MISSIONS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISS. AND BEING A SCIENTIST AS I AM, I HAVE TO SAY THAT NOW IS THE GOLDEN AGE FOR SPACE RESEARCH-- MORE THAN EVER BEFORE AND PROBABLY MORE THAN WE’LL EVER SEE AGAIN. NOW IS THE TIME. >> WELL, WE’VE GOT A GIGANTIC LABORATORY TO DO IT, SO I CAN SEE WHY IT’S THE GOLDEN AGE. >> YEAH, SO BY THE WAY, FOR ANYBODY WHO’S LISTENING WHO’S A RESEARCHER OR A STUDENT, IF YOU HAVE AN IDEA FOR SOMETHING THAT YOU THINK YOU COULD DO IN SPACE, WE’RE OPEN-- WE WANT THAT RIGHT NOW. WE’RE OUT THERE TRYING TO GET THE BEST TO USE THIS PLATFORM. >> OOH, OKAY. ALL RIGHT, WE’LL HAVE TO-- AT THE VERY END OF THE PODCAST WE DO LIKE A-- WE PITCH WHERE THEY CAN GO FOR MORE INFORMATION. >> YEAH, I’LL BE HAPPY TO GIVE IT TO YOU. >> I’LL MAKE A NOTE TO SAY WHERE THEY CAN GO-- RESEARCHERS. OKAY, COOL. SO YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE EXPERIMENTS THAT I ALWAYS THINK ABOUT IS-- NOT NECESSARILY EXPERIMENTS, BUT LIKE, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO SEND UP TO SPACE THAT WOULD LOOK COOL? AND LIKE, THE PICTURES OF WATER UP THERE. >> OH, YEAH. >> THEY ARE JUST SO COOL. LIKE, YOU KNOW, YOU THINK WATER SPLASHING, MAYBE STICKING TO STUFF, FALLING-- WATERFALLS-- BUT IT DOESN’T FALL. IT FORMS INTO LIKE A BALL, RIGHT? >> I LOVE THAT, YEAH. SO THAT’S A GREAT EXAMPLE. THAT’S ONE OF THE MOST HIGHLY VISIBLE PHENOMENA THAT ALWAYS COMES OUT OF SPACE STATION. AND YOU’RE ALWAYS SEEING ASTRONAUTS PLAY WITH IT, MESS AROUND WITH IT, BUT THE REALLY INTERESTING THING ABOUT FLUID BEHAVIOR, WATER BEHAVIOR IN SPACE IS THAT FOR DECADES WE’VE BEEN LAUNCHING TO SPACE, BUT WE’VE NEVER HAD ANY MODELS, SOFTWARE MODELS, OR MODELS OF FLUID BEHAVIOR THAT-- BASED ON THE MICROGRAVITY ENVIRONMENT THAT WE COULD BUILD PREDICTIONS ON. SO FOR EXAMPLE, IF WE WANT-- YOU KNOW, FLUID TENDS TO HIDE-- YOU KNOW, CRAWL UP CRACKS AND CREVICES IN MICROGRAVITY. ON EARTH, IT’S GOING TO SIT IN YOUR GLASS. YOU CAN STARE AT IT AND KNOW IT’S GOING NOWHERE. >> THAT’S GOOD. >> YEAH, IT’S GOOD, YEAH. THAT’S HOW WE WORK ON EARTH, BUT IN SPACE, THAT STUFF GETS EVERYWHERE. >> RIGHT. >> AND YOU COULD POTENTIALLY LOSE, YOU KNOW, IMPORTANT PARTS OF IT. IT’S A PRECIOUS RESOURCE, FLUID, UP IN SPACE, WHETHER IT’S A PROPELLANT OR IT’S WATER. AND SO WE HAVE NEVER CREATED THE MOST EFFICIENT PROPELLANT TANKS, FOR EXAMPLE, BASED ON THE BEHAVIOR OF WATER OR PROPELLANT IN SPACE. SO WE HAD-- REALLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE EXPERIMENTS WAS A VERY ELEGANT, SIMPLE, HANDHELD EXPERIMENT DEVELOPED BY MARK WEISLOGEL OUT AT PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY. AND HE’S A PHENOMENON WITH FLUID BEHAVIOR. AND WHAT WE GOT FROM HIS EXPERIMENTS WAS A WHOLE NEW SET OF OPEN-SOURCE CODE, NOW, UNDERSTANDING HOW FLUID BEHAVES IN SPACE IN DIFFERENT GEOMETRIES OF CONTAINERS-- SO A SQUARE, A TRIANGLE, A HONEYCOMB-- WHATEVER. >> OH. >> HE’S GOT ALL THOSE MODELS, AND NOW, IF YOU AS A RESEARCHER-- OR ANYONE INTERESTED IN BUILDING A PROPELLANT TANK OR A FLUID TANK FOR SPACE-- HAVE A CAD MODEL. YOU CAN GO STICK YOUR DESIGN INTO THAT SOFTWARE PROGRAM AND SEE HOW FLUID’S GOING TO BEHAVE IN YOUR SYSTEM. >> WHOA. >> YEAH, AND SO FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, WE HAVE THESE MODELS THAT WE CAN DESIGN MORE EFFICIENT PROPELLANT TANKS, MORE EFFICIENT WATER HANDLING SYSTEMS. THAT’S GOING TO HELP US EXPLORE. NOW, ALSO, BECAUSE WE ARE GETTING A BETTER HANDLE ON FLUID BEHAVIOR IN SPACE, WE’RE ALSO ABLE TO APPLY IT TO GROUND WATERING OF OUR AGRICULTURE. >> OH, COOL. >> THE WAY THAT PLANTS TAKE UP WATER IN THE SOIL, IT’S ALL THE SAME-- IT’S CAPILLARY FLOW, IT’S CAPILLARY ACTION, THE WAY THAT WATER MOVES THROUGH A MEDIUM TO GET TO ITS SOURCE. BECAUSE WE TOOK GRAVITY OUT, WE CAN REALLY FOCUS ON LOOKING AT CAPILLARY BEHAVIOR. AND NOW WE CAN APPLY IT TO GROUND-BASED WATERING SYSTEMS, WE CAN APPLY IT TO TINY LITTLE LAB ON CHIPS-- ANYTHING THAT USES FLUID MOVEMENT AND YOU DON’T WANT TO USE A BATTERY, YOU WANT TO LEVERAGE GRAVITY. I MEAN, ALL KINDS OF ADVANCEMENTS ARE COMING OUT OF THIS SIMPLE, ELEGANT SERIES OF RESEARCH THAT CAME OUT OF ISS. SO IT’S REALLY, REALLY COOL. >> THAT’S AMAZING. SO GOING BACK, THOSE CAD MODELS. IS THAT ASSUMING YOUR SYSTEM IS IN A WEIGHTLESS ENVIRONMENT, OR IS THAT FOR ANY SYSTEM? >> THAT’S ASSUMING THAT YOU’RE DESIGNING FOR A WEIGHTLESS ENVIRONMENT. >> I SEE, OKAY, COOL. >> SO IF YOU WANT TO DESIGN FOR THE NEXT VEHICLE THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT WE LAUNCH TO WHEREVER-- MARS, OR STATION, OR WHATEVER-- OR IF YOU’RE A STUDENT AND YOU WANT TO DESIGN AN EXPERIMENT FOR SPACE STATION AND IT’S GOING TO HAVE FLUID IN IT, YOU CAN TAKE YOUR MODEL AND STICK IT IN THERE AND SEE HOW IT BEHAVES. IT’S GREAT STUFF. >> THAT’S AWESOME. YEAH, I’VE SEEN SOME OF THOSE EXPERIMENTS, TOO, AND THEY’RE REALLY COOL. I MEAN, IT’S SOMETHING YOU WOULDN’T NORMALLY THINK ABOUT-- YOU KNOW, YOU PUT FUEL IN A ROCKET AND YOU LAUNCH IT, BECAUSE THE FUEL’S GOING TO GO DOWN TO THE BOTTOM. BUT IN A WEIGHTLESS ENVIRONMENT, IT’S NOT-- IT’S GOING TO FLOAT AROUND, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU’VE GOT FUEL COMING OUT WHENEVER IT HAPPENS TO SNAP TO THAT SIDE, BUT YOU’VE GOT TO FIGURE OUT A PATH IN A WEIGHTLESS ENVIRONMENT TO DO THAT. >> WICKING, WICKING, WICKING. >> WICKING, YEAH. VERY COOL. SO ANOTHER ONE BEFORE WE GO ON KIND OF THE OVERALL KIND OF RESEARCH KIND OF THING IS, YOU KNOW, WHEN I SEE FIRE IN SPACE-- THOSE FIRE EXPERIMENTS THAT THEY’RE DOING, IT’S LIKE A LITTLE SPARK, AND THEN IT FORMS THIS TINY, LIKE, FAINT BLUE BALL. >> YEAH. >> SO WHAT ARE WE LEARNING FROM FIRE? >> SO, YEAH, SO ANOTHER HIGHLY VISUAL ONE-- FIRE AND WATER, OUR BASIC NEEDS. >> WELL, THOSE ARE ALSO THE FIRST ONES THAT COME TO MIND FOR ME. >> IT’S TOTALLY COOL, YEAH. SO WE DO COMBUSTION STUDIES IN SPACE BECAUSE WHEN YOU TAKE THAT GRAVITY VECTOR AWAY, YOU KNOW, THE WAY A FLAME BURNS IT’S GOT LOTS OF DIFFERENT LAYERS AND IT PUTS OFF LOTS OF DIFFERENT PARTICLES, SO TO SPEAK. AND THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO STUDY THAT ON EARTH-- LIKE, THEIR WHOLE LIVES PEOPLE ARE STUDYING FLAMES, JUST LIKE THOSE WHO ARE STUDYING BUBBLES. BECAUSE WE HERE ON EARTH WANT TO LEARN HOW TO BETTER DETECT FIRES, WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO BETTER PUT THEM OUT. >> RIGHT. >> BUT ALSO IN SPACE WE WANT TO DO THE SAME, FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. >> THAT’S FAIR, YEAH. >> AND SO HOW DO FLAMES BEHAVE IN SPACE? WELL, WE’VE BEEN STUDYING THOSE FOR DECADES-- IN FACT, WAY BEYOND-- BEFORE SPACE STATION, EVEN. BUT NOW WE HAVE THIS HUGE FACILITY DEDICATED WITHIN THE LABORATORY FOR ONGOING EXPERIMENTS. AND SO, YOU KNOW, IF YOU’VE SEEN THE IMAGES, YOU SAID, A LITTLE-- THE WAY FLAMES BURN IN TINY LITTLE BALLS, BLUE, TINY LITTLE BULBS-- YOU DON’T HAVE THAT CANDLE-LIKE PEAK AT THE TOP. >> RIGHT. >> RIGHT, BECAUSE IN SPACE THERE’S NO CONVECTION, THERE’S NO-- THERE’S NO-- THINK ABOUT IT-- THERE’S NO DENSITY, THERE’S NO MASS-- THERE’S MASS, BUT THERE’S NOT RELATIVE DENSITY. SO YOU CAN’T HAVE-- ON EARTH, YOUR HOT AIR WILL RISE IN A FLAME. >> RIGHT. >> AND THEN THE COLD AIR WILL SINK TO THE BOTTOM, AND THEN RISE UP AGAIN, RIGHT. BUT THERE’S NO SINKING IN SPACE. EVERYTHING-- THERE’S NO RELATIVE DENSITY. SO YOU DON’T HAVE CONVECTION-- THAT’S WHAT THAT IS. >> GOT IT. >> SO NOW, IN SPACE YOU DON’T HAVE HOT AIR RISING, AND YOUR FLAME BURNS IN A LITTLE BALL UNTIL IT’S EXTINGUISHED. NOW, A REALLY INTERESTING PIECE OF THAT IS WE HAVE FOUND, IN BURNING SOME OF OUR FLUID-- GASOLINE, SO TO SPEAK, OR OUR FLUID PROPELLANTS-- IN SPACE IS THAT WE’VE SEEN EXTINGUISHING, AS NORMAL. AND THEN IN SOME CASES, WE’VE SEEN ALL OF A SUDDEN A REIGNITION EVENT. >> WHOA. >> SO YOU THINK THE FIRE’S OUT, AND THEN-- BOOM-- IT’S BACK AGAIN. >> YEAH. >> AND THAT KIND OF MADE OUR RESEARCHERS SCRATCH THEIR HEAD AND OPEN UP A BRAND NEW PATH OF RESEARCH ON ISS THAT WE WEREN’T ANTICIPATING. BUT THIS KIND OF PHENOMENON IS-- THEY’VE DETERMINED-- IS CALLED A COLD FLAME. >> AH, YES. >> SO YOU HAVE THE IGNITION EVENT, WHICH IS A THERMAL HEAT FLAME, THE SECONDARY COLD FLAME EVENT IS A CHEMICAL FLAME. IT’S REALLY A RESULT OF RECOMBINING OF ELEMENTS IN THE ATMOSPHERE UNDER THOSE CERTAIN ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. AND IT’S IMPORTANT TO US TO UNDERSTAND IN SPACE BECAUSE, JEEZ, YOU THINK YOU PUT THE FLAME OUT, BUT WHAT IF YOUR PRESSURES-- AND YOU’VE STILL GOT A LITTLE BIT OF MIXING THERE. >> RIGHT. AND IS IT INVISIBLE, OR IS IT A VISIBLE FLAME? >> IT’S A VISIBLE FLAME. >> OKAY, IT IS, OKAY. >> YEAH, AND IT SHOWS UP AS THIS PRETTY TOROIDAL CLOUD-- A DIFFERENT COLOR AND EVERYTHING. >> OH, OKAY. >> HOWEVER, YOU’VE GOT A GOOD POINT-- THERE ARE SOME CAMERAS IN THAT FACILITY THAT WE USE TO LOOK AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF THE FLAME AND WHAT WE CAN’T SEE VISUALLY AS WELL. AND ALL THOSE IMAGES GO BACK DOWN TO THE EARTH, AND THE INVESTIGATORS-- THERE’S PLENTY, PLENTY OF DATA TO LOOK AT FOR THOSE INVESTIGATORS. >> WOW. >> YEAH, IT’S REALLY FUN. >> SO I MEAN, YOU-- THESE ARE JUST A COUPLE OF THEM, RIGHT? SO JUST-- WE’RE TALKING ABOUT THE FLAME EXPERIMENT, AND WE TALKED BRIEFLY ABOUT LIFE REPRODUCING SORT OF PHENOMENON, BUT YOU KNOW, THERE’S A LOT GOING ON. AT ANY GIVEN DAY, HOW MANY EXPERIMENTS ARE GOING ON ON THE SPACE STATION? >> IT’S HARD TO SAY BY DAY, BECAUSE SOME TAKE LONGER THAN OTHERS, BUT WE TRACK THEM IN A SIX-MONTH EXPEDITION PERIOD. >> OKAY. >> AND SO THERE ARE, AT ANY ONE TIME, OVER SIX MONTH’S WORTH OF ABOUT 250 DIFFERENT INVESTIGATIONS. >> WOW. >> THAT SIX CREW MEMBERS ARE DOING ON ORBIT. AND THEY REPRESENT HUNDREDS OF SCIENTISTS ON THE GROUND, BY THE WAY. >> THAT’S AMAZING. >> YEAH, SO THAT ALWAYS GETS ME, EVERY TIME-- THOSE NUMBERS, LIKE 300-800 SCIENTISTS ON THE GROUND EVERY SIX MONTHS ARE GETTING THEIR SCIENCE REPRESENTED BY THOSE SIX CREW MEMBERS. >> WOW. >> NO PRESSURE! >> YEAH, FOR REAL. SO IS IT THE ASTRONAUTS THAT ARE WORKING ALL OF THESE EXPERIMENTS? OR ARE SOME OF THEM KIND OF RUNNING ON THEIR OWN? >> BOTH. >> OH, OKAY. >> SO BEST BET IS IF YOU’RE GOING TO CREATE AN EXPERIMENT FOR STATION, IF IT’S AUTOMATED ALL THE BETTER. >> RIGHT. >> AND THEN IF IT’S AUTOMATED, YOU AS THE INVESTIGATOR COULD PROBABLY INTEGRATE YOUR SOFTWARE INTO YOUR COMPUTERS AND WORK WITH MISSION CONTROL TO OPERATE THAT. >> WHOA. >> BUT SOME OF THESE THINGS ARE SO DELICATE, ESPECIALLY THE LIVING ORGANISMS, THAT YEAH, THEY REQUIRE CREW TIME. AND SO WE PRIORITIZE THE SCIENCE AND MAKE SURE EVERYBODY’S STUFF GETS DONE. AND WE LOG IT ALL, WE CAPTURE IT ALL, AND WE TURN OUT METRICS TO SAY, “OH, THIS MUCH GOT DONE.” >> IT’S JUST GOOD SCIENCE, RIGHT? >> YEAH, IT’S JUST GOOD SCIENCE MANAGEMENT, TOO. YES, THAT’S RIGHT. >> YEAH. >> YEAH. >> YOU’VE GOT TO DO THAT. OKAY, SO SOME OF THEM DO REQUIRE ASTRONAUT TIME. AND SO I GUESS IS THIS MOST OF AN ASTRONAUT’S DAY IS UP ON THE SPACE STATION? THEY ARE JUST GOING FROM RESEARCH EXPERIMENT TO RESEARCH EXPERIMENT-- IS THAT WHAT’S HAPPENING? >> SO IT DEPENDS ON THE CREW MEMBER, BUT YEAH, IT'S-- THE CREW IS SCHEDULED, I THINK, FOR EIGHT HOURS OF WORK DAY. AND I THINK BETWEEN ALL OF THE CREW MEMBERS ON ORBIT, THEY'LL REPRESENT ANYWHERE FROM 35-40 HOURS-- THEY'LL GET ABOUT 35-40 HOURS AS THE TARGET DONE PER WEEK OF SCIENCE. BUT WE HAVE BEEN AVERAGING-- WE HAVE HAD WEEKS OF 70 HOURS OF SCIENCE DONE, TOO. >> WHOA. >> SO IT DEPENDS ON THE VISITING VEHICLE FREQUENCY-- DO WE HAVE NEW SCIENCE COMING OR CARGO THAT'S BEING DELIVERED? DO WE HAVE CREW CHANGE-OUT WITH NEW CREW MEMBERS? >> RIGHT, YEAH, THAT CAN GET IN THE WAY. >> SOME PEOPLE ARE COMING UP TO SPEED, AND DO WE HAVE AN ANOMALY ON ORBIT THAT THEY NOW NEED TO GO DO AN EVA? >> OH, RIGHT. >> SO ALL OF THESE THINGS NEED TO BE FACTORED SO IT VARIES, BUT OUR GOAL IS ABOUT 40 HOURS A WEEK. BUT WE HAVE REPEATEDLY HIT 70, AT LEAST 70 HOURS. >> THAT'S AMAZING. AND WHAT’S COOL-- COMING UP HERE, WE’RE GOING TO HAVE A LOT MORE U.S. CREW MEMBERS, A LOT MORE TIME TO DEDICATE TO SOME OF THESE U.S. EXPERIMENTS, SO IS THAT GOING TO SKYROCKET EVEN BEYOND 70 MAYBE? >> YEAH! >> THAT’S AWESOME. >> SO WE’RE LOOKING AT AT LEAST, AT LEAST 80 HOURS. THAT’S LIKE TWO FULL TIME PEOPLE WORKING FULL TIME SCIENCE IN A WEEK, RIGHT? >> WOW. >> THAT’S AT LEAST, SO WE’RE ANXIOUS TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS THERE. >> YEAH, FOR REAL. OKAY, SO WE’VE GOT A LOT OF CREW TIME. WE’VE GOT A LOT OF EXPERIMENTS THAT WE’RE RUNNING AUTONOMOUSLY. SO IN GENERAL-- YOU KNOW, WE KIND OF HINTED AT THIS, BUT THE SPACE STATION, ONE OF THE MAIN BENEFITS IS THAT YOU CAN TAKE AWAY GRAVITY IN ONE OF YOUR EXPERIMENTS AND YOU CAN KIND OF MESS WITH THAT. BUT YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE OTHER THINGS THAT MAKES THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SUCH A NICE PLACE? THE ONE THAT COMES TO MIND IS PERSPECTIVE, OBVIOUSLY. YOU’VE GOT-- YOU’RE 250 MILES ABOVE THE EARTH, SO YOU CAN LOOK DOWN, SO YOU’VE GOT SOME OBSERVATIONAL THINGS. BUT WHAT OTHER KINDS OF THINGS, YOU KNOW, IS GOOD ABOUT PUTTING RESEARCH UP THERE? >> YEAH, SO THERE’S A FEW. OUR EARTH OBSERVATION IS A GREAT EXAMPLE, BUT YOU KNOW, THEN YOU GET ASKED, “WELL, WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER SATELLITES? AREN’T THERE LOTS OF OTHER SATELLITES OBSERVING THE EARTH?” >> SURE. >> WELL, YEAH, BUT SPACE STATION IS A BIG SATELLITE WITH LOTS OF DATA CAPABILITY, AND A TRAJECTORY THAT’S DIFFERENT THAN ANY OTHER SATELLITE THAT WE WOULD CALL SYNCHRONOUS, GEOSYNCHRONOUS SATELLITES. >> OH, OKAY. >> SO STATION HAS A TRAJECTORY THAT CAN CIRCLE THE EARTH ONCE EVERY 90 MINUTES, AND BY THE TIME IT’S THROUGH A COMPLETE ROTATION, I SHOULD SAY, IT COVERS ABOUT 90% OF THE EARTH’S SURFACE. >> ALL RIGHT. >> SO 99.5% IT CAN TAKE IMAGES. THAT’S MORE THAN ANY ONE SATELLITE CAN DO ON ITS OWN. PLUS, IT’S GOT HUMAN BEINGS UP THERE LOOKING DOWN AND FINDING THINGS HAPPENING THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT SATELLITES-- YOU KNOW, THERE’S NOTHING LIKE THE HUMAN EYE TO SEE A FLOOD, OR AN OIL SPILL, OR A VOLCANIC ERUPTION BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE. >> AND THAT’S HAPPENED BEFORE, RIGHT? >> YEAH, IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE. I HEARD A STORY OF ONE OF THE CREW MEMBERS CALLING DOWN TO USGS SAYING, “UM, I’M SEEING A VOLCANIC ERUPTION.” AND THEY’RE LIKE, “NO, I DON’T--” THEY THOUGHT IT WAS A HOAX. >> I THINK IT WAS-- I THINK IT WAS JEFF WILLIAMS. >> WILLIAMS, YEAH. >> YEAH, IT WAS, YEAH. >> OKAY, WE HEARD THE SAME STORY, YEAH, YEAH. >> AND THEN THEY WERE ABLE TO ACTUALLY COMMUNICATE ALL THAT. HE WAS LIKE, “HEY, I THINK THERE’S-- THINK THERE’S A VOLCANO ERUPTING.” BECAUSE HE TOOK A PICTURE OF IT. >> THAT’S RIGHT, AND YOU CAN GET THE MESSAGE OUT FOR THOSE DISASTER RESPONSE NETWORKS MUCH MORE QUICKLY. >> YEAH. >> BUT ALSO, ISS IS A HUGE PLATFORM FOR DATA. SO IF YOU’VE GOT SOMETHING LIKE THE ALPHA MAGNETIC SPECTROMETER THAT’S LOOKING FOR DARK MATTER-- >> OH YEAH. >> YOU KNOW-- >> LOVE THAT ONE. >> THE FACT THAT THAT-- IT’S A DATA HOG. IT’S LOOKING FOR-- IT’S, YOU KNOW, ABSORBING TONS AND TONS OF COSMIC RAYS AND SENDING I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT-- GIGA, TRIGA-- I DON’T KNOW-- BYTES OF DATA-- GIGATRIGABYTE, YEAH-- TEASED FOR THAT ONE. >> WELL, GIGATRIGABYTE’S AWESOME. >> BUT DOWN TO EARTH, AND ONLY ISS CAN HANDLE THAT KIND OF DATA AND POWER DEMAND TO KEEP SOMETHING UP THERE FOR SO LONG. >> OH! >> --THOSE KIND OF COSMIC BEHAVIORS. >> WOW. >> BUT ALSO, YOU CAN PUT EXPERIMENTS ON THE OUTSIDE OF SPACE STATION TO EXPOSE THEM TO ATOMIC OXYGEN, OR THE ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION, OR THE INTENSE THERMAL SWINGS. >> YEAH. >> WE HAVE PUT DIFFERENT TYPES OF MATERIAL OUT THERE BEFORE, AND GET THEM HOME, AND LOOK AT THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTS. AND FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF THOSE WAS A PAINT THAT’S NOW BEEN USED ON THE MARS ROVER CURIOSITY, WHO’S UP THERE. IT’S PROTECTING ITS POWER, ITS CRITICAL POWER UNIT. >> RIGHT. >> THAT WAS TESTED ON STATION FIRST. >> OH, YOU PUT A BUNCH OF PAINT OUTSIDE AND SEE WHICH ONE LASTED BEST, OKAY. VERY COOL. >> AND WE DO THAT WITH SPACESUIT PIECES AND VEHICLE PIECES. >> YEAH. >> WE’VE GOT STUFF ON-- PAINT ON THE SPACEX LAUNCH VEHICLES THAT WERE TESTED ON STATION. AND WE’VE ACTUALLY FLOWN MICROORGANISMS ON THE OUTSIDE OF SPACE STATION, TOO, TO SEE HOW THEY’LL SURVIVE, AND LITTLE TYPES OF ENDOSPORES, LITTLE, YOU KNOW, LIVING ORGANISMS THAT GO INTO HIBERNATION. THEN BRING THEM HOME AND FIND OUT WHAT SPACE DID TO THEM, YOU KNOW? >> WOW. >> SO IT’S GOT THAT EXTERNAL PLATFORM UNLIKE ANYTHING OTHER. >> SO I’M GUESSING BRINGING THEM HOME IS ALSO A PRETTY GOOD THING TO DO, RIGHT, BECAUSE YOU CAN PLAY WITH SOMETHING, BUT THEN YOU CAN ALSO GET IT BACK DOWN TO EARTH-- IS THAT A UNIQUE CAPABILITY OF THE ISS? >> YEAH, SO THE ULTIMATE GOAL FOR ANY RESEARCHER IS TO GET YOUR SAMPLE HOME-- IF YOU’RE A LIFE SCIENTIST OR A PHYSICAL SCIENTIST. AND THAT IS-- THAT IS ENABLED BY THE SPACEX VEHICLE. SPACEX CAN RETURN SAMPLES. >> RIGHT, OKAY. >> BUT THERE ARE ALSO OTHER WAYS TO GET YOUR DATA. SO IF YOU’RE A TECHNOLOGIST, OR, YOU KNOW, VISUAL-- IF YOU JUST NEED IMAGES, OR VIDEO, OR ZEROES AND ONES, DATA-- >> JUST DOWNLINK IT, RIGHT? >> DOWNLINK IT FROM STATION, AND IT’S BEEN-- THOSE ARE WAYS TO DO IT, TOO. NOW, THERE WAS A TECHNOLOGY EXPERIMENT CALLED OPALS, WHICH WAS TESTED ON STATION-- I BELIEVE IT MAY HAVE JUST WRAPPED UP. THEY MET THEIR OBJECTIVES. BUT THEY’RE LOOKING AT USING LASER OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY TO SEND DATA DOWN IN THE FORM OF HIGH SPEED LASERS TO-- YEAH, RIGHT, TO THE GROUND, YEAH. >> AWESOME! >> SO THAT-- AND THEY USED A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT ISS INVESTIGATIONS AS A WAY TO PIPELINE THAT DATA AND TEST IT OUT. >> SWEET. >> SO HIGH SPEED DATA TRANSFER VIA LASERS-- YOU KNOW, COOL STUFF. ALL THAT’S HAPPENING AT THE SAME TIME. >> YEAH, THAT’S AMAZING. OKAY, SO, YOU KNOW, THERE’S A LOT OF THESE EXPERIMENTS AT ALL DIFFERENT TIMES, RIGHT? WE’RE TALKING ABOUT OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH, TALKING ABOUT SATELLITE-- YOU GET THE BENEFIT OF COVERING THE EARTH. YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CATEGORIES OF EXPERIMENTS THAT WE’RE SENDING UP THERE? >> YEAH, SO I’LL START WITH THE FIRST ONE, WHICH IS MY FAVORITE, WHICH ARE ALL THE HUMAN EXPERIMENTS THAT HAPPEN. >> HUMANS. >> THERE’S NOTHING LIKE THE CREW MEMBERS ON STATION, RIGHT? THEY’RE NOT ROBOTS. THEY ARE THE HUMAN BEINGS THAT WILL GO AND EXPLORE FURTHER. AND SO WE’VE KNOWN FOR DECADES THERE ARE LOTS OF CHANGES THAT HAPPEN THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SYSTEM. BECAUSE WHY? WE’RE CREATURES OF THE GRAVITY ENVIRONMENT-- FOREVER. >> RIGHT. >> THAT’S HOW WE’VE EVOLVED. SO ANY SYSTEM IN THE HUMAN BODY THAT YOU CAN THINK OF IS-- HAS TO ADAPT TO THE SPACEFLIGHT ENVIRONMENT. THERE’S AN EFFECT. SO WE STUDY THE NEUROVESTIBULAR OR THE BALANCE SYSTEMS. WE-- BECAUSE THEY CHANGE. WE STUDY THE BONE. THEY’RE-- SINCE I WAS A KID-- I MEAN, WE’VE ALL KNOWN THERE’S BEEN BONE LOSS IF YOU DON’T USE YOUR BONES. THINK ABOUT WHY WE HAVE BONES. IT’S BECAUSE WE HAVE TO STAND UP AGAINST GRAVITY-- AND OUR MUSCLES, TOO. >> YEAH. >> IF YOU DON’T USE THAT IN SPACE, THEY’RE-- THE BODY’S PRETTY EFFICIENT AT GETTING RID OF IT. >> YEAH, YOUR BODY NEEDS TO CONSERVE ENERGY, AND IF IT DOESN’T NEED BONES, JUST GET RID OF THAT, PUT THE ENERGY SOMEWHERE ELSE. >> EXACTLY. SO WHERE DO WE GET THE ENERGY? WE KEEP-- TELL OUR BODY WE NEED ENERGY THROUGH EXERCISE. >> OH, OKAY. >> AND SO WE DO RESISTIVE EXERCISE AND CARDIOVASCULAR TRAINING ON ORBIT TO HELP MITIGATE THAT. AND VERY INTERESTING FINDING: WE’VE BEEN ABLE TO MAINTAIN BONE MINERAL DENSITY NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, AS A RESULT OF THE WORK THAT WE’VE BEEN DOING ON STATION. >> THAT’S AMAZING. OVER THE COURSE OF A SIX-MONTH-- >> YEAH. >> EVEN, IN THE CASE OF SCOTT KELLY, A YEAR LONG, RIGHT? >> YEAH, WASN’T AS BAD AS IT COULD’VE BEEN. >> YEAH. >> YEAH, SO KUDOS TO US FOR THAT. >> VERY COOL. >> AND YOU KNOW, THE IMMUNE SYSTEM-- SO ANYTHING IN THE HUMAN BODY, RIGHT? OTHER THAN THE HUMAN BODY, THERE ARE CHANGES IN BIOLOGY, THE LIVING SYSTEMS. WE-- THE FRUIT FLIES, FOR EXAMPLE, OUR MODEL ORGANISMS THAT ARE USED IN LABORATORIES, WE CAN LOOK AT CHANGES IN THEIR GENETICS AS A RESULT OF SPACEFLIGHT, WHAT THEIR BABIES WOULD LOOK LIKE, OR HOW THEY WOULD BEHAVE. WE CAN SEND UP TINY LITTLE WORMS THAT ARE CALLED C. ELEGANS AND LOOK AT HOW THEY BEHAVE, OR EVEN INFECT THEM IN SPACE WITH A CERTAIN TYPE OF BACTERIA. >> TO SEE HOW THE IMMUNE SYSTEM WORKS OR SOMETHING? >> WELL, YOU CAN STUDY THEIR IMMUNE SYSTEM, BUT YOU CAN ALSO TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT MAKES THAT BACTERIA AGGRESSIVE. >> OH, SO STUDY THE BACTERIA. >> WHY DOES IT INFECT YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE? >> WOW. >> WHAT IS IT? AND SO WE’VE ACTUALLY FOUND THAT MICROGRAVITY HAS UP-REGULATED-- IS WHAT WE CALL IT-- GENES TO MAKE CERTAIN BACTERIA MORE YUCKY AND MAKE YOU SICK QUICKER. SO YOU KNOW, ALL KINDS OF-- WE SEND UP RODENTS TO LOOK AT THE BEHAVIOR IN SOME OF THE SYSTEMS IN MICE, AND SO ANY LIVING SYSTEM-- THE MICROBIOLOGY COMPONENT OF IT IS FASCINATING, TOO. WE SAMPLE THE ENVIRONMENT ON A REGULAR BASIS-- THE AIR, THE WATER, THE SURFACE. >> OH, YEAH. >> AND ANY NEW FINDINGS IN BACTERIA OR FUNGI THAT MIGHT BE SHOWING UP THAT ARE-- >> WITHIN THE ENVIRONMENT-- YEAH, WITHIN THE HABITABLE ENVIRONMENT OF THE SPACE STATION. >> AND ESPECIALLY SINCE WE SEE THAT OUR CREW MEMBERS HAVE EVIDENCE OF A SUPPRESSED IMMUNE SYSTEM, HOW DOES THAT-- IF ANYTHING WACKY SHOWS UP, HOW IS THAT GOING TO AFFECT THEIR IMMUNE SYSTEM? >> YEAH. >> SO THE INTERESTING MICROBIOTA IS REALLY FASCINATING, THOSE KIND OF STUDIES. BUT WE ALSO DO TECHNOLOGICAL STUDIES, SO TECHNOLOGY. WE USE SPACE STATION AS A PLATFORM TO TEST WHAT WE WANT TO USE TO EXPLORE FURTHER. SO FOR EXAMPLE, THE BIG ONE RIGHT NOW IS BEAM, RIGHT?? >> OH, YEAH! >> THE BIG INFLATABLE ONE THAT’S UP THERE RIGHT NOW. >> THAT’S REALLY COOL-- EXPANDABLE TECHNOLOGY, EXPANDABLE MODULES. >> YEAH. >> I LOVE THAT. >> AND THAT’S-- IT’S HUGE. >> YEAH, IT IS. AND YOU CAN GET THEM TO BE WAY BIGGER-- THAT’S THE WHOLE VALUE ADD OF THAT, RIGHT, IS YOU CAN LAUNCH SOMETHING WITH A SIMILAR WEIGHT BUT JUST KIND OF PACK IT DOWN AND THEN EXPAND IT IN SPACE SO YOU HAVE WAY MORE VOLUME. THAT’S AWESOME-- YOU CAN MAKE GIGANTIC SPACE HABITATS WITH THAT. THAT’S REALLY AWESOME. >> IT’S REALLY-- IT’S GOT GREAT POTENTIAL. SO IT’S ONE OF OUR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES. BUT IT’S ALSO-- WE ALSO TEST OUT NEW GAS ANALYZERS OR AIR MONITORS UP ON ORBIT, OR WAYS TO BETTER SERVICE SATELLITES THAT END UP OUT THERE DEAD AND WERE NEVER INTENDED TO BE SERVICED-- BUT IF WE WANT TO GO TO MARS, FOR EXAMPLE, MAYBE WE WANT TECHNOLOGY TO SERVICE, YOU KNOW, STATIONS IN BETWEEN US AND MARS. >> OH, YEAH. >> RIGHT, SO YOU’VE GOT THESE LITTLE WAYPOINTS THAT GIVE YOU EXTRA FOOD OR EXTRA FUEL OR SOMETHING. >> LIKE SPACE GAS STATIONS SLASH CONVENIENCE STORES. >> YEAH, WHO KNOWS. SO WE DO SOME OF THOSE TECHNOLOGY EVALUATIONS TO CREATE NEW TOOLS AND PROCESSES THAT COULD POSSIBLY GET US THERE, TOO. SO TECHNOLOGY, BUT WE ALSO HAVE A LOT OF EDUCATION THAT HAPPENS. >> VERY IMPORTANT. >> YEAH, WE’VE GOT STUDENTS SENDING UP THEIR OWN EXPERIMENTS, AND DIFFERENT-- LOTS OF DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES ON ISS THROUGH NANORACKS AND STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS. HIGH SCHOOLS ARE GOING FUNDRAISING, YOU KNOW, THEIR OWN MONEY TO SEND THEIR OWN EXPERIMENTS ON ISS. IT’S THAT ACCESSIBLE. >> WOW, VERY COOL. >> AND WE’VE HAD 5th GRADERS DO THAT, TOO. THERE ARE A COUPLE OF FORMAL PROGRAMS. ONE’S CALLED THE SALLY RIDE EARTHKAM. >> EARTHKAM, RIGHT. >> LAUNCHED OUT OF THE U.S. SPACE AND ROCKET CENTER IN ALABAMA, WHERE, IF YOU’RE INTERESTED, AS JUST A REGULAR STUDENT, YOU JUST GO REGISTER WITH THAT PROGRAM AND YOU SAY, “I WANT SPACE STATION TO TAKE AN IMAGE OF X MARKS THE SPOT,” AND THEY WILL PUT YOU IN QUEUE, GET THAT IMAGE, AND CONTACT YOU WHEN IT’S AVAILABLE. >> WOW. >> AND YOU KNOW, HAM RADIO, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO LIKE, YOU KNOW, USING THE HAM RADIO, IF YOU’RE A HAM RADIO SPECIALIST, THERE ARE CERTAIN OPPORTUNITIES TO CALL THE SPACE STATION CREW MEMBERS ON A HAM RADIO AND JUST ASK QUESTIONS. SO THAT’S ALL ONGOING, AND SOME OF THE BEST EXPERIMENTS ARE STUDENT EXPERIMENTS, BECAUSE THEY ASK THE WEIRD QUESTIONS THAT-- THE WHAT-IF QUESTIONS, RIGHT? THEY’RE STILL IN THAT PHASE OF EARLY DISCOVERY. >> RIGHT. >> SOME OF OUR ESTABLISHED RESEARCHERS HAVE THEIR OWN PATH TO RESEARCH AND THEIR OWN QUESTIONS THEY WANT TO ASK THAT HELPS BENEFIT THE RESEARCH THEY’RE DOING, WHICH WILL ULTIMATELY GET TO US HERE ON EARTH, TOO. >> SURE. >> SO THERE ARE LOTS OF OPPORTUNITY-- AND IN FACT, EVEN THE RESEARCHERS WHO DON’T HAVE A GOAL OF EDUCATION, THERE’S ALWAYS A STUDENT INVOLVED ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, WHETHER IT’S UNDERGRADUATES OR GRADUATES CRUNCHING NUMBERS, OR HAS A DISSERTATION OR THESIS, OR SOMETHING ASSOCIATED WITH THAT. SO WE ARE ALWAYS INTERACTING WITH STUDENTS. >> WOW. >> SO LOTS OF EDUCATION. THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES-- ANYTHING FROM FLAMES TO FLUIDS, TO TINY LITTLE PARTICLES CALLED COLLOIDS IN A SUSPENSION OF FLUIDS. >> OH, OKAY. >> COMPLEX FLUIDS, OR NON-NEWTONIAN FLUIDS, OR SOLIDS, ALLOY BEHAVIORS-- CAN YOU MELT TWO MATERIALS TOGETHER AND CREATE SOMETHING NEW? WE’VE GOT CAPABILITIES FOR THOSE KIND OF METALS ON SPACE STATION, TOO. WE’VE GOT FURNACES. >> OOH. >> WE CAN LEVITATE MATERIALS, TOO. >> WHAT! >> YEAH, LEVITATE THEM ON ISS, AND BASICALLY YOU HAVE CONTAINERLESS PROCESSING, SO YOU CAN PROCESS MATERIALS-- METALS OR SOLIDS-- WITHOUT IT EVER TOUCHING A CONTAINER. >> DOESN’T HAVE TO TOUCH ANYTHING, COOL. >> YEAH, SO ALL THE KINDS OF SCI-FI, WACKY STUFF YOU CAN IMAGINE HAPPENING IN MICROGRAVITY, WE’RE ALMOST DOING ALMOST ALL OF IT. >> YEAH. >> WE’RE DOING A LOT OF COOL STUFF. >> WELL, 250-- YOU’VE GOT-- I MEAN, IT’S GOT TO COME FROM SOMEWHERE, RIGHT? SO YOU’VE GOT IT FROM EVERY DIFFERENT TYPE OF SCIENCE. THAT’S JUST AMAZING, ALL THE THINGS YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH, AND I’M EXCITED TO SEE WHAT THEY’RE ALL GOING TO DO WHEN ALL THE FOUR CREW MEMBERS ARE UP THERE. >> THEY’RE NEVER BORED, I’LL TELL YOU. THOSE GUYS ARE NEVER BORED. AND THE INTERESTING THING WITH THE ASTRONAUTS, TOO, IS THEY TAKE PERSONAL OWNERSHIP OF GETTING THIS STUFF IMPLEMENTED. LIKE, THEY’RE TRAINED ON THE RESEARCH. THEY KNOW THEY’RE THE PROXY SCIENTIST FOR THE GUYS ON THE GROUND, THE GUYS AND GALS ON THE GROUND. >> YEAH. >> AND THEY ARE SERIOUS ABOUT GETTING IT DONE. >> THAT’S AWESOME. >> AND THEN THEY TAKE JOY IN THE WORK THAT THEY DO, TOO, AND OFTENTIMES WILL ASK, “CAN WE DO MORE OF THAT? CAN WE DO, YOU KNOW, MORE OF THIS, MORE OF THAT?” >> AW, VERY COOL. YEAH, I THINK ONE OF MY FAVORITES WAS WHEN KATE RUBINS DID THE DNA SEQUENCING, RIGHT? BECAUSE SHE HAS A SCIENCE BACKGROUND, AND WHEN SHE DID-- AW MAN, THAT WAS-- IT WAS JUST COOL. >> YEAH, AND THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT KATE, TOO-- WHEN SHE CAME BACK, SHE’S SHARING ALL THE KNOWLEDGE WITH THOSE OF US ON THE GROUND WHO CAN ENABLE US TO DO EVEN MORE OF WHAT SHE DID. IT’S LIKE-- WOW, WHY DIDN’T WE THINK OF THIS-- WELL, WE DID-- WE THINK WE THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE, BUT KATE COMES BACK AND SHE’S LIKE, “NO, NO, SERIOUSLY, YOU CAN DO IT LIKE THIS. THIS IS EXACTLY HOW I DID IT.” >> WELL SHE DID IT RIGHT BECAUSE SHE HAS THE PERSPECTIVE-- SHE WAS THE ONE RUNNING IT. >> YEAH, SO UNIQUE. SO IT’S SUCH A RESOURCE WE’RE EXCITED ABOUT. >> AWESOME. >> YEAH, GOOD STUFF. >> I LOVE IT. DNA SEQUENCING, THOUGH, THAT’S A COOL ONE. THAT ONE’S-- THE PURPOSE OF THAT IS TO MAKE REAL TIME DECISION MAKING, RIGHT? >> YEAH. >> SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND HOW GENETICS CHANGE OVER TIME, BUT REAL TIME YOU’RE STILL GETTING DATA OUT. THAT’S AWESOME. >> I MEAN, ON EARTH, IT’S JUST-- THAT WHOLE-- THE WHOLE DNA GENETICS SEQUENCING, YOU CAN’T EVEN KEEP UP BECAUSE TECHNOLOGY AND PROCESSES ARE EVOLVING SO QUICKLY. IF YOU’VE KEPT UP WITH ANY OF THAT STUFF, THE HUMAN GENOME AND NEW FINDINGS IN DNA AND RNA, AND ALL THE THINGS IN BETWEEN-- I MEAN, EVEN SINCE I’VE GRADUATED, THERE’S NEW STUFF. >> YEAH. >> AND THAT I DON’T EVEN KNOW. BUT SO NASA NOW IS ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF KEEPING UP WITH WHAT’S HAPPENING ON EARTH, OR AT LEAST WATCHING. ISS IS WATCHING AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT’S IMPORTANT FOR RESEARCHERS, AND TRYING TO BRING THAT TO THE LABORATORY TO INVITE THOSE RESEARCHERS TO NOW DO THIS IN A MICROGRAVITY ENVIRONMENT. SO THERE’S INTERESTING CHANGES THAT CAN HAPPEN TO YOUR GENETICS THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFETIME THAT AFFECT YOUR GENES INSIDE OF YOU AS YOU LIVE, AND THEN YOU COULD PASS ON TO YOUR CHILDREN. AND SO-- >> THEY CHANGE NATURALLY? OR THEY CHANGE BECAUSE OF INFLUENCES? >> IT’S CALLED EPIGENETICS-- BECAUSE OF INFLUENCES, EXTERNAL INFLUENCES. >> INTERESTING. >> IT’S REALLY INTERESTING. >> WOW. >> EVEN THE STRESS OF AN ENVIRONMENT CAN CHANGE SOME OF YOUR GENETIC OUTCOMES, AND PASS ON TO YOUR CHILDREN. >> OH, NO WAY! >> YEAH. >> OKAY, SO I’VE GOT TO REMEMBER TO RELAX. >> RELAX, DUDE. IF YOU’VE GOT A FUTURE WITH CHILDREN, Y’ALL NEED TO RELAX. TRY TO CHILL. >> YEAH. >> BUT MICROGRAVITY COULD BE ONE OF THOSE, AND WHAT DOES THAT ALL MEAN? WELL, I DON’T KNOW. IF YOU CAN DO IT REAL TIME IN SPACE ON ISS, AND YOU CAN LOOK AT DATA FROM DNA REAL TIME, WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE YESTERDAY-- NOW YOU’LL KNOW WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE TODAY. THOSE ARE ALL TOOLS THAT RESEARCHERS ARE INTERESTED IN FOR VARIOUS, LOTS OF DIFFERENT REASONS ON EARTH. >> IT’S AMAZING. >> BUT ALSO, WHAT HAPPENS WITH OUR CREW MEMBERS IS WE STAY UP LONGER AND LONGER. AND WE WANT TO GO TO MARS-- WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR GENES? >> YEAH, YOU’VE GOT TO KNOW ALL THAT STUFF. >> YEAH. >> I MEAN, THERE’S A LOT OF DIFFERENT EXPERIMENTS GOING ON LIKE WE TALKED ABOUT, BUT HOW IS EVERYONE GETTING THEM ON SPACE STATION? I KNOW THERE’S AN ORGANIZATION CALLED CASIS, RIGHT? DO THEY KIND OF HELP WITH THAT? >> YEAH, THEY KIND OF HELP. NO, THEY’RE THE BIG HELP, YES. >> THEY’RE THE BIG HELP, OKAY. >> YEAH, SO CERTAIN PARTS OF THE-- WELL, THE UNITED-- I SHOULD SAY THE UNITED STATES ASSETS ON THE SPACE STATION ARE CONSIDERED A NATIONAL LABORATORY, A UNITED STATES NATIONAL LABORATORY. THAT’S A DESIGNATION THAT MAYBE 12 OR 13 OTHER LABORATORIES IN AMERICA ARE GIVEN, AND THAT MEANS THEY’RE SPECIAL-- THERE’S SOMETHING UNIQUE ABOUT THEM THAT NOBODY ELSE CAN OFFER. BUT IT ALSO MEANS THAT NOW WE HAVE ONE IN SPACE, AND IT’S THE NATIONAL LABORATORY ON ISS. AND ITS UNIQUE RESOURCES ARE EVERYTHING I JUST EXPLAINED. >> RIGHT. >> BUT ALSO, NOW IT OPENS UP ACCESS TO NON-NASA USERS. SO RESEARCHERS FROM OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, RESEARCHERS FROM ACADEMIA, RESEARCHERS FROM COMMERCIAL INDUSTRY, STUDENT, YOU OFF THE STREET WHO HAS A REALLY GREAT IDEA THAT’S FEASIBLE-- IT’S OPEN TO ALL OF YOU TO PROPOSE YOUR RESEARCH TO GET ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION NOW. CASIS IS THE CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE IN SPACE.. >> LOVE ACRONYMS. >> YES, WE HAVE ACRONYMS-- PROBABLY WITH AN ACRONYM. >> BUT THAT’S AN ORGANIZATION, RIGHT? >> YES, THEY’RE AN ORGANIZATION THAT MANAGES THAT NATIONAL LABORATORY COMPONENT. SO WHEN YOU HAVE A GREAT IDEA, YOU GO TO WWW.ISS-CASIS.ORG AND YOU’LL FIND OUT THAT THERE’S A FLOW-- YOU GET INTO THE RESEARCH PROCESS AND YOU PROPOSE YOUR IDEAS. AND EITHER CASIS HAS OPPORTUNITIES OPEN, OR YOU PROPOSE IDEAS. AND THEY’RE LOOKING FOR ALL-- I HATE THE CLICHE “BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST,” BUT IT’S TRUE-- THAT’S WHAT WE WANT. >> YEAH. >> LIKE I SAID, TO BE ABLE TO USE THIS LABORATORY NOW IS LIKE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER. >> RIGHT. >> AND A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T EVEN KNOW THAT THEY COULD DO THIS. THEY THINK SPACE IS SO INACCESSIBLE. AND I KNOW-- I GO AROUND AND I TALK TO RESEARCHERS, AND THE LOOK ON THEIR FACE IS LIKE YOUR LOOK RIGHT NOW! YOU’RE LIKE, “IT’S SO ACCESSIBLE! WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN JUST COME UP WITH AN IDEA?” >> WELL, HOW ABOUT THIS-- HOW ABOUT WE DO A WHOLE PODCAST EPISODE ON ISS RESEARCH AND TELL THEM HOW TO GET THERE? THAT’D BE COOL. >> YEAH, WE CAN INVITE SOME CASIS PEOPLE. >> ALL RIGHT, SOMEBODY WRITE THAT DOWN. >> YEAH, WE’VE GOT THIS-- ACTION TO US. WE’VE GOT AN ACTION. THAT’S GREAT. >> VERY COOL. OKAY, SO THEY GO THROUGH CASIS, AND CASIS MAKES IT EASY FOR THEM TO GET IT ON THE STATION, AND THEY’LL WALK THEM THROUGH THE WHOLE PROCESS, AND THEN THEY CAN USE THE NATIONAL LAB FOR WHATEVER IDEA THEY HAVE. >> THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT. >> THAT’S AWESOME. SO I MEAN, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT ALL THIS DIFFERENT RESEARCH-- AND A LOT OF IT, LIKE YOU SAID, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THEM-- WE WANT TO GO TO MARS, SO WE’VE GOT TO FIGURE OUT, WE’VE GOT TO PREPARE, YOU KNOW, WHAT’S THE HUMAN BODY GOING TO DO ON LONG DURATION SPACEFLIGHT? SO-- FOR WHEN WE GET THERE-- BUT YOU KNOW, WHAT-- THERE’S GOT TO BE SOME COMPONENTS THAT ARE COMING BACK DOWN TO EARTH, RIGHT? SO WHAT WE DO AND LEARN COMES BACK DOWN, AND WE CAN PUT IT INTO OUR EVERYDAY LIVES, RIGHT? >> YEAH. SO ONE GOOD EXAMPLE OF THAT IS THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE LAUNCH OUR CREW MEMBERS TO ISS, NOT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM IS A MEDICAL DOCTOR. AND SO WHAT IF SOMEONE HURTS THEMSELVES OR GETS SICK ON ORBIT? HOW DO WE ASSESS THAT FROM THE GROUND? WELL, WE HAVE AN IMAGING CAPABILITY ON ORBIT WHICH IS THE ULTRASOUND. AND THAT’S REALLY THE ONLY IMAGING CAPABILITY WE HAVE. WE DON’T HAVE X-RAYS OR ANY OF THAT STUFF. >> MM-HMM. >> AND SO NOW THE GOAL IS TO USE THE ULTRASOUND-- NOW YOU’VE GOT TO TRAIN NON-CLINICIANS TO USE THIS CLINICAL TOOL TO ASSESS, RIGHT, AND SEND INFORMATION DOWN TO THE DOCS. >> BECAUSE THEY DON’T-- YEAH. >> BECAUSE THEY CAN’T ASSESS ON ORBIT. >> RIGHT. >> AND SO WE’VE HAD AN ULTRASOUND THAT WE SENT TO ISS. IT WAS SLIGHTLY MODIFIED WITH SOME SOFTWARE. IT WAS-- WE USED IT TO TRAIN THE CREW MEMBERS UP BEFORE THEY LAUNCH. AND OUR UNIQUE SOFTWARE AND TRAINING PROGRAMS WERE SO WIDELY RECOGNIZED NOW BY THE ACADEMY OF SURGEONS ON THE GROUND THAT IT’S BEING TAUGHT TO UP-AND-COMING SURGEONS. LIKE, OUR TRAINING PROGRAM AND OUR SOFTWARE SYSTEMS ARE BEING TAUGHT TO NEW CLINICIANS TO USE THAT ON THE GROUND. BECAUSE WHEN YOU THINK IN TERMS OF TELEMEDICINE, YOU CAN DEPLOY THESE ULTRASOUNDS EVERYWHERE. AND IT IS BEING DONE THAT WAY. MORE AND MORE TELEMEDICINE IS HAPPENING, RIGHT, FOR OUR TROOPS WHO ARE IN A PLACE WHERE THEY CAN’T GET ACCESS TO HOSPITALS, OR TO COMMUNITIES THAT DON’T HAVE ACCESS TO CLINICAL FACILITIES. >> SO A DOCTOR COMES TO THEM REMOTELY, SORT OF. >> TELEMED-- YEAH, REMOTELY. SO THE IDEA IS NOW YOU’VE GOT THIS ULTRASOUND OUT THERE, YOU’VE GOT SOMEONE WHO’S BEEN TRAINED UP ON HOW TO USE IT. EVEN IF THEY’RE NOT A DOCTOR, YOU’VE GOT PEOPLE WHO CAN USE IT, SEND THE INFORMATION BACK TO THE DOCTORS WHEREVER THEY ARE, AND THE DOCTOR CAN MAKE A DIAGNOSIS. SO THOSE KINDS OF BENEFITS WE DON'T HEAR A LOT ABOUT, BECAUSE THEY DON'T-- ULTRASOUND DOESN’T AFFECT OUR EVERYDAY LIVES. >> YEAH. >> BUT THEY'RE ALSO-- BECAUSE OUT OF PURE, BASIC NEED, WE STARTED LOOKING AT SPECIFIC TISSUES ON ISS THAT YOU WOULD NOT NORMALLY USE AN ULTRASOUND TO LOOK AT. YOU WOULD USE SOMETHING LIKE AN X-RAY OR AN MRI, BUT WE HAVE GOTTEN NEED-DRIVEN, AND SO UNIQUELY USEFUL AT THIS ULTRASOUND TECHNIQUE. >> YEAH. >> IT’S NOW DRIVING CLINICAL DECISIONS ON WHEN TO USE AN ULTRASOUND VERSUS AN MRI, VERSUS AN X-RAY, AND ALL THESE DIFFERENT COMPONENTS. SO NEW TECHNIQUES COMING OUT OF ULTRASOUND. >> YEAH, SO NOT NECESSARILY IN YOUR HOUSE, A BENEFIT, BUT YOU KNOW, YOUR HEALTH. >> YOUR HEALTH, YEAH. >> YOUR DOCTOR DOES A BETTER JOB. YEAH, THAT'S COOL. >> YEAH, MAYBE THE DOCTOR CAN ORDER AN ULTRASOUND INSTEAD OF AN MRI, AND GET YOU SOME BETTER RESULTS, OR DIFFERENT RESULTS OR FASTER RESULTS. WHO KNOWS? >> VERY COOL. >> ANOTHER BENEFIT IS THAT THIS LABORATORY-- THIS SET OF LABORATORY SCIENTISTS HAVE USED SPACE STATION-- AGAIN, THINKING ABOUT THE FLUID BEHAVIOR IN SPACE-- >> MM-HMM. >> --TO ADVANCE SOME OF THE TREATMENT TOOLS THAT THEY'RE GOING TO DESIGN FOR POSSIBLY TREATING CERTAIN DISEASES INCLUDING CANCER. SO THIS TEAM SENT UP-- THEY'RE TRYING TO IMPROVE ON WHAT'S CALLED "MICROBALLOONS" OR "MICROENCAPSULATION." SO YOU TAKE THIS TINY, LITTLE BALL THAT YOU'VE CREATED, AND YOU PUT A BUNCH OF CHEMICALS IN THERE, WHETHER IT'S TREATING CANCER CHEMICALS, OR SOME GOOD AGENT. WHERE YOU WANT IT TO GO, YOU TARGET IT DIRECTLY TO THE POINT-- MAYBE IT'S A TUMOR-- AND YOU TREAT IT THAT WAY. >> OH, OKAY. >> RATHER THAN MAYBE A SYSTEMIC EFFECT OF CHEMOTHERAPY. SO THESE LITTLE MICROBALLOONS CAN BE DELIVERED ANYWHERE IN THE BODY, DO PRETTY MUCH WHATEVER YOU TELL THEM TO DO. BUT IT'S NOT PERFECT. WE'VE NEVER, EVER, IN THE HISTORY OF MICROENCAPSULATION, BEEN ABLE TO USE IT CLINICALLY. SO THIS-- BECAUSE OF DIFFERENT REASONS. IT'S JUST NOT EFFECTIVE. IT'S NOT TARGETING RIGHT. >> I SEE. >> SO THIS GROUP SENT A NEW MACHINE TO SPACE STATION, TRIED TO LEVERAGE THE MICROGRAVITY ENVIRONMENT TO CREATE NEW MICROBALLOONS BASED ON DIFFERENT FLUID BEHAVIOR, AND GOT A RESULT THAT SHOWED IMPROVEMENTS IN LABORATORY TUMORS. NOW, THIS PARTICULAR GROUP IS IN THE PATH OF GETTING TO FDA APPROVAL FOR USE AS A TREATMENT OF CANCER. >> OH! >> BUT WE'RE NOT QUITE THERE YET, RIGHT? >> OKAY. >> AND SO, WE'RE NOT SAYING STATION’S GOING TO SOLVE-- CURE CANCER-- >> YEAH. >> BUT SOME OF THE TECHNIQUES THAT HAVE COME OUT OF SPACE STATION ARE ON THE PATH TO FDA APPROVAL, AND WE MAY SEE SOME OF THAT COMING OUT IN THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS OR SO. >> WOW! VERY IMPORTANT STEP. >> YEAH, AND THOSE KINDS OF THINGS TAKE TIME, TOO, SO THAT'S ANOTHER THING TO REMEMBER. WE'RE SEEING-- YOU KNOW, WE'RE STILL SEEING RESULTS FROM APOLLO COME IN, RIGHT? >> OH, WOW! >> AND WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT REALLY CRITICAL RESULTS AND BENEFITS TO THOSE ON EARTH, ANY LABORATORY CAN TAKE A WHILE, DEPENDING ON WHETHER YOU'VE GOT FDA APPROVAL OR WHETHER IT'S A QUICK TURN-AROUND TYPE OF INVESTIGATION. SOME OF THEM GO QUICKER THAN OTHERS. AND THE LIFE SCIENCES ARE TYPICALLY THE LONGEST BECAUSE IT'S SO COMPLICATED. >> YEAH. >> YEAH, YEAH. BUT IN THE MEANTIME, IF YOU GO TO WWW.NASA.GOV I THINK IT’S /STATIONBENEFITS, WE HAVE A WHOLE PAGE DEDICATED TO THESE TWO EXAMPLES, PLUS TONS OF OTHERS THAT YOU CAN LEARN, "WHAT HAS STATION DONE FOR ME, LIKE IN MY DAILY LIFE, NOW?" >> COOL. >> AND EVERYTHING FROM BRAIN SURGERY, ROBOTICALLY, BECAUSE IT WAS DESIGNED BASED ON THE CANADARM THAT WE USE ON THE SPACE STATION, TO IDENTIFICATION OF LOST BOATS, YOU KNOW, SHIPS ON THE OCEAN, THANKS TO SOME OF THE SIGNALS THAT SPACE STATION WAS ABLE TO PICK UP. SO, THERE'S LOTS OF GOOD STORIES THERE. >> WOW, THAT'S AMAZING. >> YEAH! >> SO, A LOT OF THINGS BEING BROUGHT DOWN TO EARTH TO BENEFIT US, LIKE TO BENEFIT HUMANKIND. AND THAT'S A VERY, VERY IMPORTANT PART OF ISS, RIGHT? >> YES. >> SO THAT'S WHY WE LIKE TO SAY, "OFF THE EARTH, FOR THE EARTH." >> YUP, THAT'S RIGHT. >> THAT'S COOL. SO, I MEAN, GOING AWAY FROM EARTH TOWARDS TO MARS, WHAT ARE WE LEARNING-- I KNOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE HUMAN BODY AND SOME OTHER STUFF, BUT WHAT ARE WE LEARNING SPECIFICALLY ON ISS THAT'S REALLY GOING TO HELP US GET TO MARS, BOOTS ON THE GROUND? >> YEAH, SO A COUPLE OF THINGS. WE'VE GOT TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT. MINIATURIZED, MOST EFFICIENT SYSTEMS FOR MAINTAINING HUMANS. EVERYTHING EVOLVES AROUND MAINTAINING THE HUMANS, RIGHT? >> YEAH, RIGHT. >> WE ARE THE ONES GOING TO MARS, SO EVERY SYSTEM NEEDS TO COOPERATE WITH THAT. AND SO, KEEPING HUMANS ALIVE, HOW MUCH FOOD DOES A HUMAN NEED? CAN WE MINIATURIZE IT? IS IT AFFECTED BY RADIATION? CAN WE EXTEND SHELF-LIFE OF THAT? PLUS PHARMACEUTICALS-- WHAT ABOUT ALL THE MEDICAL CAPABILITIES? HOW ARE THEY GOING TO BE TRAINED? LET'S SEE-- RADIATION EFFECTS. OH... HOW OUR GENETICS CHANGE, BEHAVIOR EVEN OF ONE THAT YOU SENT ME AN EXAMPLE ON, WHICH IS THE STRATA INVESTIGATION. >> YEAH. >> I THOUGHT IT WAS COOL BECAUSE I WAS LIKE, "WHAT IS THAT?" BUT NO, THAT'S STUDYING HOW DUST BEHAVES, OR REGULAR DUST BEHAVES IN A MICRO-GRAVITY ENVIRONMENT. WELL, YEAH, RIGHT? THAT'S A GOOD THING TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO TO MARS. >> BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO INTERACT WITH IT, RIGHT? SO YOU’VE GOT TO KNOW WHAT IT DOES. >> YOU’LL LAND THERE-- AND I HEAR FROM STORIES ABOUT THE MOON, IT'S PRETTY-- IT'S A DRIVER. IT IS A MAJOR FORCE TO CONTEND WITH. SO ANY SYSTEM INVOLVING THE HUMANS, ANY SYSTEM INVOLVING AIR, WATER, RECYCLING, PLANET-- YOU KNOW, SPACESHIP EARTH-- THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, AND IN EVERY DIFFERENT DIRECTION. >> THAT'S AMAZING. >> YEAH. >> I MEAN, THAT'S COOL. >> THERE'S A LOT. >> IT'S GOING, IT'S GOING-- THINKING ABOUT MARS, WE’RE THINKING ABOUT OTHER PLANETS, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'RE LEARNING, YOU KNOW, THE REGOLITH ON THE MOON OBVIOUSLY IS A CONSIDERATION. THAT'S WHY WE PUT IT ON ISS, BROUGHT IT BACK DOWN TO EARTH. THIS RESEARCH GOES EVERYWHERE. >> YEAH. >> SO THAT'S AMAZING. >> YEP. >> SO, IS THERE ANYTHING-- IS THERE ANYTHING THAT WE'VE INVESTIGATED ON THE ISS THAT WE DIDN'T REALLY KNOW, OR SOME KIND OF STORY WHERE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S SOMETHING THAT WAS DISCOVERED THROUGH TRYING TO DISCOVER SOMETHING ELSE, OR SOMETHING NEW THAT HAS COME UP, YOU KNOW? >> YEAH, I THINK THE MOST-- ONE OF THE MOST INTRIGUING THINGS TO ME IS THE FACT THAT AS OUR CREW MEMBERS STAY ON ORBIT, THEIR BODIES START TO EXHIBIT LOTS OF SYMPTOMS-- I WOULD CALL IT SYMPTOMS-- BUT PROJECTIONS OF WHAT WE SEE IN OUR AGING POPULATION ON EARTH, AND THEY DO IT AT A VERY ACCELERATED RATE. >> OH, OKAY. >> SO THERE'S A COROLLARY BETWEEN WHAT WE SEE IN THE HUMAN IMMUNE SYSTEMS, THE BONE LOSS-- THE BONE LOSS HAPPENS AT A RATE OF-- IF IT'S NOT TREATED, AT THE RATE OF POST-MENOPAUSAL WOMEN, OR EVEN FASTER, WHICH IS 1-2% PER MONTH. >> JUST FROM BEING IN SPACE, WOW! >> YEAH, AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM STARTS TO-- A LOT OF THE CHANGES IN THE TINY MOLECULES OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM STARTS TO REPRESENT THE AGE-- WHAT WE SEE IN THE AGING POPULATIONS. THERE'S ALSO WOUND HEALING THAT SEEMS TO BE A LITTLE BIT SLOWER IN SPACE. SO I KEEP GOING BACK TO THE HUMAN BODY BECAUSE TO ME, IT’S THE MOST FASCINATING, AND EVERYTHING WE DO IS BECAUSE WE WANT TO EXPLORE. SO SOME OF THE MOST INTERESTING FINDINGS COME FROM THAT, AND ESPECIALLY THE AGING POPULATION. NOW, WHEN WE FIGURE OUT HOW TO TREAT OUR ASTRONAUTS-- OR, I WOULDN'T SAY "TREAT," BUT MITIGATE SOME OF THE EFFECTS THAT WE SEE WITH SPACEFLIGHT, THOSE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BE APPLIED TO THE AGING POPULATIONS HERE ON EARTH. SO FOR EXAMPLE, BONE LOSS, I MENTIONED, BUT IT'S BECAUSE THEY'RE DOING THEIR RESISTIVE EXERCISE. THAT'S BECAUSE THEY'RE TAKING THEIR HIGH DOSES OF VITAMIN D, AND THEY'RE EATING ALL THEIR CALORIES. WELL, BEFORE YOU’RE OSTEOPOROTIC, AND YOU GET TO JUST THAT POINT, YOUR DOCTOR'S ALREADY TELLING YOU: "WELL, WE THINK RESISTIVE EXERCISE IS A GOOD IDEA, AND CALCIUM AND VITAMIN D." BUT WE CAN SHOW, ON SPACE STATION IN A SHORT TIME-- >> YOU HAVE THE DATA. >> YEAH, THE DATA. AND SO IT'S AMAZING TO ME HOW THE CREW MEMBERS ARE AN ACCELERATED MODEL FOR EVERYTHING THAT WE ARE INTERESTED IN. DISEASE POPULATIONS OR AGING POPULATIONS ON EARTH. >> WOW. >> AND THEY'RE GREAT, BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHAT THEIR HISTORY IS. >> YEAH. >> SO THEY’RE KIND OF A CLEAN MODEL TO LOOK AT. >> OH, WOW. I MEAN, THAT'S KIND OF-- A LOT OF ASTRONAUTS DESCRIBE PART OF THEIR JOB AS BEING GUINEA PIGS, RIGHT? >> YEAH, YEAH. >> BECAUSE LIKE YOU SAID, YOU KNOW, THE HUMAN BODY IS ONE OF THE TOP RESEARCH INVESTIGATIONS ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO THE HUMAN BODY OVER TIME IN SPACE-- WHEN IT'S IN SPACE FOR THAT LONG. >> WANT A GOOD TEST. >> YOU KNOW, THIS IS-- WE'RE IN A TIME WHERE THIS IS A NORMAL THING, RIGHT? >> YEAH. >> ANYONE BORN PAST THE YEAR 2000, RIGHT? >> RIGHT! >> --HAS NEVER KNOWN A TIME WHEN THERE HASN'T BEEN SOMEONE LIVING IN SPACE. >> MY DAUGHTER'S TEN. SHE'S LIKE, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN? WHAT? YES, OF COURSE THERE ARE PEOPLE LIVING IN SPACE. THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN PEOPLE LIVING IN SPACE." >> ISN'T IT WEIRD THAT IT'S LIKE A NORMAL THING NOW? IT'S JUST LIKE, "OH, YEAH, THERE'S PEOPLE IN SPACE." >> YEAH, AND THE THING IS, WE'RE NOT SENDING-- WE'RE GOING TO BE DONE SENDING ROBOTS-- YOU KNOW, NOT DONE, BUT WE'RE GOING TO GET PAST JUST SENDING ROBOTS TO MARS. IT'S THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE, SO WE'RE VERY COMPLICATED MACHINES. >> YEAH. SO TO YOU, WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF SENDING HUMANS TO MARS? >> I THINK IT'S THAT PERSONAL JUDGEMENT. >> YEAH. >> IT'S SOMETHING THAT NO AMOUNT OF CIRCUITRY PROGRAMMING, AT LEAST IN MY MIND-- I'M NOT A SCIENCE FICTION READER, BUT-- SO MAYBE SOMEONE CAN CORRECT ME, BUT THERE'S NOTHING LIKE DISCERNMENT FROM A HUMAN BEING MAKING A JUDGEMENT CALL. IT COULD BE HARD, IT COULD BE A LITTLE EASIER, IT COULD BE TRICKY. >> YEAH. >> “HUMAN IN THE LOOP” IS THE CLICHE THAT I HATE TO USE, BUT IT'S TRUE. THERE'S NOTHING LIKE PEOPLE. >> MM-HMM. WE GET TO-- YOU KNOW, AND THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED WHEN WE LANDED ON THE MOON, RIGHT? YOU KNOW, YOU CAN TAKE PICTURES OF THE MOON ALL YOU WANT. >> YEAH. >> WE ACTUALLY HAD A COUPLE MISSIONS AROUND THE MOON. WE HAD ROBOTIC MISSIONS LAND ON THE MOON. >> THAT'S RIGHT. >> BEFORE THEY EVEN GOT THERE. NO ONE CARED. BUT ONCE THERE'S A HUMAN ACTUALLY SET FOOT, WE CAN-- WE CAN-- ALL OF THE SUDDEN, WE WERE PART OF THE EXPERIENCE. >> YES. >> WE COULD ALL SHARE. >> AND COMING BACK IS A BIG PART OF IT, BECAUSE THOSE PEOPLE COME BACK, AND THEY SHARE THEIR UNIQUE EXPERIENCES, AND THEY INSPIRE OTHERS, AND THE LESSONS LEARNED, AND YOU KNOW, WE WANT THAT INFORMATION BACK. AND THAT’S A-- THAT BECOMES A NATIONAL RESOURCE, YOU KNOW. SO, YEAH, THERE'S NOTHING LIKE IT. THAT WAS A REALLY GOOD EXAMPLE. >> YEAH. I MEAN, I JUST CAN'T WAIT. I CAN'T WAIT TILL SOMEONE LANDS. >> SOMEONE'S GOING TO DO IT. >> I WANT-- I WANT TO HEAR THEIR STORY. SOMEONE'S GOING TO DO IT, RIGHT, SO-- >> AND ISS WILL HELP GET THEM THERE. >> YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. SO WHAT'S ONE OF YOUR TOP INVESTIGATIONS GOING ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, EITHER RIGHT NOW, OR IN THE PAST? SOMETHING THAT YOU JUST THINK THAT REALLY STANDS OUT? AND IT COULD BE A PART OF THE HUMAN BODY, BUT ANYTHING THAT'S REALLY JUST, YOU KNOW, REALLY STUCK WITH YOU, OR YOU ALWAYS GO BACK TO OR REFER TO? >> MAN. >> IT'S A HARD ONE. IT'S LOADED. >> YEAH, I'M GOING TO TRY TO GET OFF THE HUMAN RESEARCH ONE, AND TALK ABOUT AMS, THE ALPHA MAGNETIC SPECTROMETER. >> OH, RIGHT. >> I AM NOT AN ASTROPHYSICIST, BUT AGAIN, IT'S SEARCHING FOR, YOU KNOW, THESE COSMIC PARTICLES, THIS DARK MATTER, THIS DARK ENERGY. I THINK I READ, AT SOME POINT, THAT, YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING THAT WE PERCEIVE, IS ONLY 5%, VISIBLY, 5% OF WHAT'S REALLY ACTUALLY OUT THERE. SO IF WE'RE ONLY SEEING 5% OF WHAT'S REALLY OUT THERE-- >> I CAN'T EVEN THINK-- I CANNOT-- >> WHAT IS IN FRONT OF ME RIGHT NOW? >> RIGHT! >> --THAT WE CAN'T SEE? AND SO I KNOW IT'S MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT, BUT-- >> RIGHT, RIGHT. >> PHILOSOPHICALLY, I THINK AMS SPEAKS TO ME IN TERMS OF WHERE DID-- WHAT ARE THE ORIGINS OF THE UNIVERSE? WHERE DO WE COME FROM? >> YEAH. >> YOU KNOW, AND-- >> I THINK THOSE ARE REALLY THE ULTIMATE QUESTIONS. >> YEAH. >> WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE? WHERE DO WE COME FROM? ARE WE ALONE? YOU KNOW, THESE BIG QUESTIONS. >> AND WE HUMANS ARE DESIGNING BIG TOOLS LIKE AMS TO TRY AND FIND THESE QUARK-Y THINGS, THEY'RE CALLED QUARKS, OR NEUTRALINOS, OR THINGS THAT WE THINK EXISTS, AND WE CAN RELICATE ON EARTH-- WE CAN CREATE THEM ON EARTH, BUT HOW DO THEY EXIST NATURALLY? AND THEN, IF THEY DO EXIST, THAT PROVES SOME THEORY-- IT HELPS PROVE THEORIES OF WHERE WE CAME FROM. SO THAT WHOLE VERY COMPLICATED, DESIGNED INSTRUMENT IS ALL-- JUST AN EXTENSION-- IT'S A TOOL THAT EXTENDS OUR HUMAN SENSES IN A WAY THAT WE CAN'T DO, AND SO THAT JUST FASCINATES ME AS AN EXTENSION OF US. >> I JUST THINK-- I THINK THAT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION AND AMS, YOU KNOW, ALL THESE THINGS-- THE FACT THAT THESE EXIST, THE FACT THAT THEY ARE-- THEY'RE ACTUALLY UP IN SPACE, THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY DOING THEM, THAT WE ASK THESE QUESTIONS AND PURSUE THEM THROUGH TECHNOLOGY, THINGS THAT WE INVENT, AND WE COME UP WITH AN IDEA IN ORDER TO OBSERVE-- IT JUST PROVES WE ARE VERY CURIOUS BEINGS. >> YES. >> WE REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. >> AND CAPABLE. >> AND WE WILL DO ANYTHING-- AND CAPABLE. CURIOUS AND CAPABLE. >> WE WILL STOP AT NOTHING. >> WE WILL STOP AT NOTHING! >> NOT EVEN BUDGETS. >> OH, MY GOSH! IT'S JUST A FASCINATING CONCEPT JUST TO THINK ABOUT IT. >> I'M REALLY LUCKY TO BE WORKING WHERE I AM NOW. >> YEAH. >> I WOULD HAVE NEVER DREAMT UP THIS CAREER FOR MYSELF. QUITE HONESTLY, IT'S EVERYTHING I'VE EVER LOVED-- I GET TO DO EVERYDAY. >> YEAH. >> SO, I COULDN'T HAVE CREATED IT. JUST REALLY FASCINATED. A FASCINATING PLACE TO WORK. >> IT REALLY IS, IT REALLY IS. THE THINGS WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT ALL DAY ARE JUST-- IT'S JUST-- YOU KNOW, YOU THINK ABOUT SPACE, YOU THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT COULD WE DO-- WHERE ARE GOING TO GO NEXT? HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET THERE? IT’S JUST-- >> YEAH, HOW DO WE MAKE THE MOST OUT OF WHAT WE HAVE? >> OH, MAN. I WISH WE COULD DO A TWO-HOUR LONG EPISODE, BUT TARA, I'M SORRY. I THINK THAT'S ABOUT ALL THE TIME WE HAVE. >> AHH. >> SO, FOR THE LISTENERS, STAY TUNED UNTIL AFTER THE MUSIC HERE, AND LEARN ABOUT SOME OF THOSE SITES. WE'RE GOING TO REITERATE THOSE SITES THAT TARA WAS TALKING ABOUT SO YOU CAN GO VISIT THEM, ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE A RESEARCHER LISTENING TO THIS PODCAST AND WANT TO KNOW WHERE TO SUBMIT YOUR RESEARCH AND ACTUALLY TAKE IT TO SPACE, GO TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. IT’S VERY, VERY COOL-- AND LEARN SOME OF THOSE BENEFITS, SOME OF THE ONES-- WE KIND OF SKIMMED OVER THEM BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE REALLY DO HAVE A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME, BUT IF YOU REALLY WANT TO LEARN ABOUT THEM, JUST STAY AFTER. YEAH, FOR SURE. SO TARA, THANKS AGAIN SO MUCH FOR COMING ON THE SHOW. I FEEL LIKE WE HAVE A GOOD GRASP OF-- I MEAN, WE HAVE-- I WOULDN'T SAY A GOOD GRASP, BUT LIKE, YEAH, AT LEAST A GOOD PLACE TO START, AN OVERARCHING KNOWLEDGE OF ALL THE RESEARCH GOING ON ABOARD THE SPACE STATION. BUT IT IS VERY CONTINUOUS, AND THANK YOU FOR COMING ON TODAY. >> I HOPE I'VE INSPIRED A COUPLE OF YOU OUT THERE, SO-- >> YOU INSPIRED ME, SO I THINK IT WAS WORTH IT FOR AT LEAST THAT. >> THANK YOU. >> SO, THANKS AGAIN. >> AH, SURE. [ MUSIC ] [ INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER ] >> HOUSTON, WELCOME TO SPACE. >> HEY, THANKS FOR STICKING AROUND. SO TODAY WE TALKED ABOUT SPACE STATION SCIENCE WITH DR. TARA RUTTLEY. AND IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON ONBOARD THE SPACE STATION RIGHT NOW, JUST GO TO NASA.GOV/ISS. BUT WE WERE TALKING MAINLY ABOUT SPACE STATION SCIENCE. IF YOU WANT TO GO THERE, JUST GO TO NASA.GOV/ISS-SCIENCE. THAT’S ACTUALLY WHERE YOU CAN FIND ALL THE RESEARCH THAT’S GOING ON ABOARD RIGHT NOW. WE ALSO SORT OF ALLUDED TO SOME OF THE BENEFITS THAT ARE GOING ON ON STATION THAT YOU CAN BRING DOWN RIGHT TO EARTH. SO IF YOU GO TO NASA.GOV/STATIONBENEFITS THAT’S THE ONE WHERE THE EXPERIMENTS THAT WE’RE DOING ABOARD THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, THE ONES THAT ACTUALLY HELP US OUT HERE ON THE GROUND. AND YOU CAN ALSO FIND A LOT OF THIS STUFF ON THE SPINOFF MAGAZINE. THOSE ARE SOME TECHNOLOGIES THAT HAVE BEEN SPINNED OFF FROM NASA TECHNOLOGY RIGHT HERE INTO OUR EVERYDAY LIVES, AND IT’S REALLY COOL. I WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND CHECKING IT OUT. AND SO IF YOU’RE A RESEARCHER OR A STUDENT AND YOU WANT TO SEND SOME OF YOUR RESEARCH ABOARD THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, JUST GO TO YOUR FAVORITE BROWSER AND JUST TYPE IN CASIS-- THAT’S C-A-S-I-S. OR YOU CAN GO TO WWW.ISS-CASIS.ORG. ONE OF THOSE WILL TAKE YOU TO THE ORGANIZATION THAT WILL ACTUALLY HELP YOU GET YOUR RESEARCH ABOARD THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, AND IT IS REALLY COOL. YOU CAN GET SOME REALLY COOL STUFF WHEN YOU SEND YOUR EXPERIMENTS ABOARD. WE HAVE STUDENTS THAT DO STUFF LIKE-- ONE OF MY FAVORITES IS SPHERES. THEY’RE ACTUALLY TINY LITTLE ROBOTS THAT STUDENTS CAN ACTUALLY PROGRAM CONTROLS, AND THEN THEY ACTUALLY FLY AROUND THE INSIDE OF THE SPACE STATION. YOU CAN GET SOME GREAT IMAGERY OF YOUR EXPERIMENTS THERE. SO IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA, ANY OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SITES WILL HELP YOU OUT. THERE’S THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FACEBOOK PAGE. ON TWITTER, IT’S @SPACE_STATION AND INSTAGRAM IT’S @ISS. BUT WE ALSO HAVE RESEARCH ACCOUNTS, TOO-- JUST TYPE IN “ISS RESEARCH.” I’M PRETTY SURE THEY’RE VERIFIED ON ALL THOSE DIFFERENT PLATFORMS-- FACEBOOK, TWITTER, AND INSTAGRAM. USE THE HASHTAG #ASKNASA ON YOUR FAVORITE PLATFORM TO SUBMIT AN IDEA TO THE PODCAST. MAYBE YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR MAYBE YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF AN EPISODE THAT WE SHOULD DO-- AND MAKE SURE TO MENTION IT’S FOR “HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PODCAST.” SO THIS PODCAST WAS RECORDED ON JUNE 21st. THANKS TO ALEX PERRYMAN, JOHN STOLL, GREG WEISMAN, AND DAN HEWITT FOR HELPING TO SET UP, AND OF COURSE, THANKS TO DR. TARA RUTTLEY FOR COMING ON THE SHOW TODAY. WE’LL SEE YOU NEXT WEEK.

hwhap_Ep24_Space Habitat

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-22

Production Transcript for Ep24_Space Habitat.mp3 [00:00:00] >> Houston, We Have a Podcast. Welcome to the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center, Episode 24, Space Habitats. I'm Gary Jordan, and I'll be your host today. So on this podcast, we bring in the experts, NASA scientists, engineers, astronauts, all to let you know all the coolest information that's going on right here at NASA. So today we're talking about the space habitat analog that we have here at the NASA Johnson Space Center called, The Human Exploration Research Analog, or HERA, with Lisa Spence and Paul Haugen. Here in Houston, Lisa is the Flight Analog's Project Manager for HERA, and Paul is the HERA Operations Engineer. They work with the people who actually stay in HERA, this analog, and simulate deep-space missions for days, weeks, and now more than a month. And actually, just recently, the campaign for Mission 3 this year just got out, and they're going to be going home for the holidays, and speaking of which, happy holidays to all of you, whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, whatever, happy holidays, and I'm glad to see that the campaign for Mission 3 crew members are going to be going home too. [00:01:06] But here with Lisa and Paul, we had a great discussion about HERA, what it is, what it's like inside, what crew members do on missions, what we're learning, and then how to sign up for those missions. So with no further delay, let's go lightspeed and jump right ahead to our talk with Miss Lisa Spence and Dr. Paul Haugen. Enjoy! [00:01:23] [ Music ] You were part of the crew that was in there during, like, right before Harvey hit, or something? [00:01:52] >> Yep, yep. So we were halfway through when Harvey hit [laughing], so. [00:01:55] >> Wow! Halfway through. How -- how long of a mission? [00:01:58] >> It's a 45-day mission, so. [00:02:00] >> Okay. [00:02:00] >> So we were on day 23 when we got kicked out, so [laughing]. [00:02:04] >> Wow. So by that time, were you pretty much immersed in... [00:02:07] >> Oh yeah. [00:02:08] >> ...in like the whole environment. [00:02:09] >> Oh yeah, yeah. [00:02:10] >> And then, all of a sudden, oh, by the way, you're back on earth and there's a hurricane? [00:02:14] >> It was weird. I mean, we were very much immersed and we got woken up, they have an emergency com [phonetic] for just stuff like this, and we were in a com delay, so our normal com, you know, was -- already had a, you know, delay going on, but we got called on the emergency radio and said, pack it up, you guys are kicked out, so. [00:02:35] >> That's it? It was just, alright, well, we're done, we got to go! So, was -- because at the end, I know there's like usually a ceremony, right, and they do this whole thing where you come out. It was just, alright, you guys get out. [00:02:47] >> Yep. They had -- all the gates were closed, so they had to specially open up a gate to get us out, because they were flooded. I mean... [00:02:53] >> Woah! [00:02:54] >> Yeah. [00:02:55] >> [Laughing] Wait, so, when did you -- what was the day that you guys were out? We got kicked out on August 27th, so that Sunday morning. So it was right in the middle of all the flooding and stuff. [00:03:08] >> Well, okay, so I -- I live up in the city, and, by far, the worst -- the worst night was Sunday night, but I think Saturday night into Sunday night was pretty bad. [00:03:16] >> Saturday night was the worst one. [00:03:18] >> For here? Down in JSC? [00:03:19] >> Yeah. [00:03:19] >> Oh, wow! [00:03:20] >> Oh, big time. Yeah, yeah. They got just hammered. [00:03:24] >> Wow! So what happened to the HERA facility? [00:03:27] >> It was fine. [00:03:28] >> Really? [00:03:28] >> So we -- we were fine inside, but mission control, those guys were having trouble getting in and out of -- of Johnson Space Center, and they -- so there was a concern for them that we had to call it short. [00:03:42] >> Wow. I know for -- they had to set up a lot of cots and everything for people to -- to go back and, you know, once they were done, they just slept in the back rooms or something. [00:03:51] >> Well, in building 30, yeah, but so we have our own mission control. [00:03:55] >> You're talking about HERA mission control? [00:03:56] >> The HERA mission control, and so those folks were having trouble getting in and out, and -- and they were getting stuck in flood waters and stuff. So it was concern for them that we had to call the mission. Yeah, because we -- inside HERA, we were fine. We -- frankly, we had no idea. [00:04:11] >> And you're right, they closed the gates. So, on top of all the flood waters, you know, you had -- you couldn't even get in. [00:04:17] >> Yep, yep. [00:04:17] >> Wow. Alright. [Laughter] Quite an experience! Are you going back then? [00:04:22] >> Nope, that's it. [00:04:23] >> That's it? [00:04:23] >> I mean, it was -- it was fun, but now I know too much so they won't let me go back and be a subject [laughing]. [00:04:30] >> Oh, that's right. Because you actually experienced it. Okay, well let's -- well let's pill back then, because that was an awesome story. Let's pull back and just talk about, you know, what is HERA? [00:04:38] >> Sure, okay. [00:04:39] >> So, we're talking about space habitats, and it's really a simulator for what it would be like, right, to live in a deep space environment. Is that -- is that kind of right? [00:04:50] >> Close. So it's -- it's not actually a simulator, and that's a -- it's a -- that's a word that gets used quite a bit, but it's a little inaccurate, so it's not -- it's not actually a simulator, it allows us to simulate what it's like, and the difference is that, I mean, is -- there's a fidelity difference. So, what this allows us to do is to simulate that we are in a deep space mission and -- and we're isolated, we're confined, and we're controlled. And by controlled I mean so they are constantly monitoring us with cameras and audio and we are wearing all sorts of different equipment to measure various biomarkers or whatever the case may be, and -- and then there's a mission control. So they are -- it's very controlled what they allow in and out of HERA. So it's a very, very controlled environment, and so that's -- and so by being -- by allowing us to simulate what it's like to be, then they can do all sorts of various studies and they can tweak this little part here to see how that will affect things, or -- or not, so. [00:06:03] >> Okay, so instead of a simulator, what do they -- what do they call HERA then? [00:06:07] >> An analog. [00:06:08] >> Analog, okay. So what's an analog? [00:06:10] >> So an analog is kind of what I was describing. So it's -- it's a -- it's an environment that, in our case, there's two main types of analogs. There's a -- there's an isolated and confined and controlled analog, and then there's one that's more of an extreme environment that's not as controlled. So -- so there's not as much monitoring, there's not as much knowing what goes in and out, but it's more of a harsh environment, such as Antartica or Nemo, which is an underwater analog. So there's two main types of analogs, the one here, HERA, is -- is the -- is the controlled environment. So it's the isolated control, confined and controlled environment. [00:06:55] >> Okay, and what's the significance of those two segments? Like the controlled environment and then the extreme environment? [00:07:01] >> Sure. So the controlled one allows you to do specific scientific studies and really control what's going on, right? So it really allows you to baseline and to -- and to change certain parameters that really allow you to see how that is going to affect various things, and you're very much isolated and controlled that way, whereas more of an extreme one, it's not nearly -- there's a lot more variables that are not controlled, and so it's harder to set up specific types of scientific experiments, maybe. However, there's the added part of being an extreme environment. So there's actual really, you know, physical risk. You know, if there's an issue in Antartica, you cannot just open up the door and walk out and be okay and go to the doctor, I mean, you're -- you're in a rough environment, same with Nemo. I mean, you can't just open up the door and, I mean, you're 60 feet underwater, so... [00:08:02] >> Yeah, because Nemo -- yeah, Nemo is the habitat that's literally underwater, and you're right, you can't -- you can't open up the door, because -- because you're so deep underwater, it's not even just getting out and splashing up, like, there's a whole sequence of -- of getting... [00:08:14] >> And there's real, you know, real danger. [00:08:16] >> But the whole -- but that's the purpose, right? Is you're putting them in an environment because the -- the imminent danger is supposed to help with imminent danger in space, right? [00:08:26] >> That's correct. So, you're -- you're adding that stressor that is -- is a real stressor. I mean, you know, technically, I suppose that T38 could be considered a type of an analog, because, you know, it's a -- it's a, you know, they use it as a trainer, but they do that because there's real risk involved and there's a real operational experience. Whereas, you know, HERA, I mean, you know, a person knows that you can open the door and step out. Now, that being said, after day 2, it, you know, we were really quite immersed. I mean, we were -- I mean, you have that in the back of your head, that you can open the door and step out, but -- but you forget about it and you really become immersed in the mission. So -- so it's not as big of a player is what I would have originally thought maybe. [00:09:17] >> Yeah. [00:09:17] >> I mean, I was surprised how quickly I was able to get immersed in the mission and -- and forget that I was, I mean, obviously, I knew I wasn't in space, because I wasn't floating around or anything like that, but I -- but I, you know, I got immersed in the mission, and that happened much, much more than I would have guessed and much quicker than I would have guessed. [00:09:36] >> Yeah, because one of the main objectives of HERA, right, is -- is the human research component, is understanding what goes through, I guess, well, I guess, psychology is one component, but then there's other components too for the human research aspect? [00:09:51] >> Yeah, so, actually, psychology, that's probably the largest component, because they're looking at the isolation aspect and that type of thing, and how four crew members operate together, and in our case, I mean, we're total strangers. So, but the -- but then there also is more, you know, there's physiological studies and -- and other principal investigators that look at other aspects as well, but probably the -- the psych docs are the biggest components of the studies. [00:10:22] >> Yeah, I guess the psychology and then -- is there a team component too, because you said, like, you -- that you're working with some strangers, but do they select you because you're compatible with these strangers or incompatible? [00:10:35] >> Oh, well, [laughing]. So -- so they -- so the people that select the crew, so there's -- there's criteria they want. There's an age range, they want 30 to 57, I think it is, and they want at least a master's, and they want it in a technical field, and they, you know, so, there's different criteria like that, but then beyond that, you know, there's -- and there's a physical you have to pass, and there's psych screening that you have to pass, but beyond that, so the people that are selecting the crew, they look at personalities, and they look to see, is this crew going to be compatible? And they are not trying to pick a crew to fail, they are picking one to succeed. So they are picking crew members that they think will -- will work well together. And knowing that, you know, maybe one or two or three or four, maybe all of them, are going to have some quirks, like we all do I guess, I mean, that -- so maybe they're not going to work, you know, person A and B are not going to work as well as person C and D together, but they'll still be good enough to get the job done. [00:11:39] >> Yeah. [00:11:39] >> So they definitely look at that. [00:11:41] >> Alright. So, it's getting these group of people to test, you know, all of these human aspects of -- of putting together a mission, and the mission is -- is what? What are you simulating in the analog? [00:11:56] >> So our mission, this year, so this -- this year is -- is simulating going to an asteroid and collecting samples at the asteroid. It's a 715 day mission or something like that. [00:12:12] >> Wow. [00:12:13] >> That they, you know, shrink down to 45 days. [00:12:16] >> Okay, so you're -- you're in there for 45 days, but pretending to be in there for...? [00:12:20] >> That's correct. So, you know, future ones may be going to the moon, maybe going to Mars, something like that, but -- so, but it's, the purpose for HERA is a deep space mission. So it's not just going up to ISS or anything like that, but it's extended exploration into deep space. [00:12:41] >> And is the deep space mission in this analog, right? Which is simulating that if you were to go in a -- in a mission profile, just like this, you would have this habitat that you would be in, and that you would live and work in for a simulated two-ish years or whatever, but really it's 45 days, obviously. So what are -- what -- what's the lay of the land inside of HERA? What -- what's the full, I guess, the plan? Yeah, the blueprint for HERA? [00:13:12] >> The floor plan? Yeah. So, they try to keep it, you know, similar to what they think, you know, a deep space vehicle would be, you know, volume wise. Obviously, the difference here is we're in 1G, so -- so we can't live on the roof or the -- or the walls or anything like that. [00:13:33] >> Oh, that's right. [00:13:34] >> But, so the general layout of the -- there's two and a half levels, [chuckling] I guess you could say. So the bottom level, there's a tiny airlock, and we use that for simulated EVAs and stuff like that. There's the main part, down on the first floor, and that has, you know, workstations or different simulators that we'll work on and stuff. Lab desks, and -- and then there's also a hygiene module. So there's a bathroom, a shower, a sink and stuff like that. The -- the second level is -- that's more of the quote, unquote living space maybe, that's where the -- the food galley is, so that's where the kitchen is, where we'll cook, prepare foods, that -- we would do -- there's some workstations up there, as well. There's workout areas for -- whether it's an exercise bike or weights or whatever, and then the half level that I was talking about, it's actually a level three, but -- and those are the sleeping quarters. [00:14:46] And so those are roughly the size of a twin bed. So they're fairly small. And they are -- and that's all that's up there, so it's -- it's just the sleeping quarters. [00:14:58] >> Alright. Hey, thanks for joining us, Lisa, I'm sorry. [00:15:00] >> Glad to be here! [00:15:01] >> I know you're very busy, especially because there's -- there's a mission going on right now, right? [00:15:06] >> Yes, there is. We are actually on day 19 of 45. So, yes, we're -- we're getting there. We're getting there. [00:15:15] >> Well, Paul was -- we started with Paul talking about his part of a mission, because of -- because of the whole Harvey thing, but now we were just going through the -- the sort of layout of HERA and -- and living and working, I guess, but there's -- it's two and half levels you said, and there's living, you know, there's a living component, sleeping component, and it's -- it's just this whole confined area, right? It's -- is it self-contained? [00:15:40] >> It's pretty much self-contained, it's -- it's not -- it's not hermetically sealed, so it is getting air exchanged from the outside. We don't have an active environmental control and life support system. You know, we have plumbing that's provided by the facility, but -- but it is self-contained. So once we close the doors to start a mission, those doors stay closed until 45 days later when the crew triumphantly emerges from -- from the HERA and gets to reunite with friends and family. [00:16:13] >> That's true. Or quickly emerges, in Paul's case I guess. [00:16:16] >> Yeah, that was a -- that was a bit unfortunate [laughter]. [00:16:20] >> Well, he said, even in that short amount of time, he got immersed, right? You got immersed into the environment, and you were living it. Right? So what was that like living it then? What was -- you know, what -- what state of mind were you in in order to, you know, to think that you're in space? That you were operating in a -- in a space habitat? [00:16:40] >> So -- so, again, I don't quite know how to describe it, because, I mean, so -- so, you know, we knew that we weren't in space, for example, but I get -- maybe it started with training. I mean, the trainers did such a good job explaining the importance of what we're doing and why we're doing it, and -- and how important it is to get in that mindset, and so just going in purposely with that mindset, it -- I guess it just kind of came naturally then after that, and -- and we got into a routine and, you know, we -- we kept incredibly busy, you know we had -- it was partly a sleep deprivation going on, so we had long work days and they just kept us busy doing tasks all day, and -- and it really -- I suppose that was part of it too, just keeping us busy and going -- constantly going, you know, that helped us to -- to get in there. [00:17:42] >> So on top of the 45 days, there's a prepping component too? [00:17:46] >> Oh yeah. [00:17:47] >> How early are you starting to -- to prep the crew members for their stay? [00:17:50] >> So the training, for these 45 day missions, the training starts 16 days before they're going to go in. So, it's -- we were finding that two weeks was just a little bit cramped, and even 16 days may be a little cramped. Because as -- as Paul said, we keep them really, really busy during the timeframe that they're in there. And so some of that is on the more operational tasks. So, you know, the kinds of activities and tasks that you would do as you are flying your spacecraft to this destination. And then, of course, the activities that you're going to do at destination and then the return. But they're also engaged in all of the scientific investigations that -- that we are doing where we're collecting the data that will ultimately inform some decisions that we'll be making, you know, in order to keep our crew members safe and healthy and happy and productive as they're going on those really long duration exploration missions. So -- so there is -- there is that training component that's up front. [00:18:54] We're also collecting some data that we used as our baseline data that can then be compared to, well, what are the effects, you know? So now we have these individuals, we get some baseline information, now we subject them to this -- this isolated, confined, and controlled environment for 45 days. You know, what is that effect? What changes? And can we detect those kinds of changes? And then, ultimately, will we be able to mitigate those changes if they're not healthy or productive? [00:19:23] >> Alright. So there's, I mean, 16 days, that's a pretty jam-packed kind of schedule to prep for all of that sort of training. What kind of -- what's the type of training you're getting, I guess it depends on what you're doing on board, so I guess the follow up would be, what are you doing on board? [00:19:39] >> So, I'm not quite sure how detailed we can get, because we can't spill the beans for future stuff. [00:19:47] >> That's right, because you want people to sign up to do more missions. [00:19:49] >> We do! [00:19:50] >> Okay! [00:19:50] >> It's critically important that -- that we're able to find, you know, suitable volunteers, you know, people who, to a large degree, mimic or emulate the type of people that we select for astronauts. So that's very important to us. But, you know, some of the types of things that they do, you know, we have a lot of simulators. And so they're flying a simulator for their spacecraft. They're participating in virtual reality EVAs. So they do spacewalks that they're all in virtual reality. There's prep work that needs to go with all of that. There's also a simulator that is like a robotic arm trainer. And -- and those are what we -- some of the operational tasks, so the operational tasks do allow us to collect some data, as well. They have to cook their food [laughter]. Yeah, there's -- there's, you know, there's no, you know, mom or dad or -- or spouse or whatever to cook the meals for you, so they do have to cook their own food. [00:20:56] It's all food from -- for this current mission, this series of missions, all of the food is from the food lab at JSC. The same food that the astronauts are getting on board the International Space Station, which means that it's either prepackaged, it's dehydrated, or it's those meals ready to eat that you just kind of warm up in a little warming oven, and every single package of food has to be individually fixed. So it takes time. There's a serial process. They get to do a lot of exercise, and then, you know, of course, any self-respecting spacecraft, you're going to have to do a little bit of onboard training, you're going to have to do some maintenance and housekeeping tasks. We also have to practice some emergency procedures just in case an emergency were to happen. And so -- so, you know, the team, my team, comes up with, you know, a very intensive scenario for the spacecraft mission itself, and then we weave in the -- all of the different scientific investigations. [00:22:12] >> Alright [laughing]. So, do you have to make up different ones every time or is it -- do they sort of translate? The emergency scenarios? [00:22:21] >> So there's a wide variety of things that they run you through and stuff like that, and, you know, all of those things, you know, they need to train you in 16 days prior, because, as Lisa said, I mean, if -- if you don't know how to do something, it's not like they're going to open the door and show you how to do it. So they -- you need to know how to do all of the operational tasks, all of the scientific studies, how the vehicle works, how the HERA works, in those 16 days. So -- so the training is quite intensive, as well. They -- they really cram it with [inaudible] and that stuff. [00:22:59] >> Sounds like it! Is there a lot of autonomy with the way that you're doing these tasks? Or do you have some support from -- from a simulated mission control? [00:23:07] >> Well, so mission control is always there. So they're -- they're 24/7. And they are always there to answer questions or -- or whatever the case. So you always have that support. There's, honestly, I think it depends, it varies from crew to crew and crew member to crew member how autonomous a person or a crew will -- wants to be. [00:23:29] >> Oh! [00:23:30] >> So MCC is always there, but some crews, or some people, may be a little more autonomous than others. [00:23:36] >> So is that one of the things you're looking at, Lisa, is trying to see, you know, what -- what things people can do by themselves and what, you know, about autonomy and what you need to support? [00:23:47] >> Yep, absolutely. Some of the research is looking at those levels of autonomy, and so, yes, MCC is there 24/7. Sometimes they're more there than at other times. But one of the other things that happens during the mission is, you know, we're -- we're simulating a mission to an asteroid. You're getting really, really, really far away from earth over the course of the mission. So as you get further away from the earth, there's a calm delay. And so you don't -- when you say something to mission control, it may take, you know, anywhere from an additional 30 seconds to 5 minutes before they hear what you said. And then, of course, when they respond, it's going to take that same 30 seconds to 5 minutes before you hear it. So if you're the crew member on board, and you have a question, and you ask MCC a question, it's at least 10 minutes, worst case, it's at least 10 minutes before you get a response. [00:24:54] And so what we find is that sometimes the crew members will have to wait for the response, and sometimes the crew members just get to the point where they're like, hey, we don't need no stinking mission control [laughter], we can figure this out by ourselves, because we're not going to hear back from them anytime real soon. So we do see some -- some trending towards increased autonomy. As we move forward with, not this particular research campaign, but future research campaigns, autonomy will become more and more important from a -- from a research perspective. So, mission control will always be there 24/7 to some degree, because that's a -- that's a safety requirement to make sure that we have, you know, that everybody is going to, you know, be able to implement the mission safely, no issues, no problems, but in terms of how much interaction the crew members might have with the mission control, that may be scaled back in -- in future research campaigns to sort of force that autonomy and to -- to really be able to determine, you know, if there are tasks that can and should be done that way, or if there are things that ought not to be done so autonomously. [00:26:21] >> So is that kind of depending on the mission profile? So you're doing a mission profile to an asteroid now. Maybe with -- once you get to Mars, those can take 20-something minute one-way trip. You're talking about not getting a response for 40 minutes! So, autonomy is definitely something that needs to be built into the tasks for -- for that kind of mission, right? [00:26:44] >> Absolutely. And -- and with the autonomy, we'll probably come and need to revisit how we're doing training, how much training we can do, how long it's going to take to do the training, and whether we need to move some of that training inside the module after the mission starts. I'm not talking about us coming in and -- and setting up our little genie workshop, you know, it would be some type of onboard training, maybe some uplink video or something along those lines, but our simulator does have the capability of doing that 20 minute voice delay. We just -- we don't need it for the current -- current set of missions, but if we change our scenario, and as we change our scenario to -- to a Mars-based scenario, we could certainly implement that longer -- longer-term comm delay. [00:27:39] >> Wow. So, Paul, did you have to live this comm delay? [00:27:43] >> Yep. [00:27:43] >> You did? [00:27:44] >> Yeah, we were -- so we were on day 23. So we were at the 5-minute, one-way comm delays, so. [00:27:50] >> Alright. So how did that affect your work from, you know, how did that progress? [00:27:55] >> You know, frankly, I -- I didn't really notice any difference other than having to be a little more careful about what -- looking ahead more in whatever task we were working on, and saying, oh, I need to interact with MCC here, I'm going to make the call as soon as I possibly can, and kind of lining it up that way. But really, I mean, it wasn't as huge an impact. I think, you know, one or two of the crew members would probably say otherwise, you know, I think it was a little more of an impact, but, you know, then one or two of us, you know, I don't think it was a huge impact, so. [00:28:39] >> So is that some of the stuff you're finding, Lisa? Is that some of this stuff is not universal, right? It kind of is a little bit more crew-dependent. [00:28:47] >> It certainly is. And you had asked the question a little while ago about, you know, whether some of the tasks that we do, if we create them new for every mission? Actually what we do is we -- we have a suite of scientific investigations that we're -- we're implementing right now. We will implement those scientific investigations for all four of the missions that will run within that, we call it a campaign. Each one of the missions in that campaign is as identical as we can make it from a mission control, from a timeline standpoint, the variable in how the mission is executed really comes down to the individuals who are our crew members inside. And, you know, we say it a little bit tongue-in-cheek, and it's -- it's really true, every single crew is different. You know, every crew is special, they're different, they're unique. [00:29:50] How these four individuals mold into a crew. It's different every single time, and then, of course, the -- the four individuals acting as individuals, that's different every time as well. So, it -- it really -- you know, when I abstract myself out of, you know, the actual execution of the mission and I look at it kind of more in an aggregate viewpoint, it's just fun to -- to see the variability between individuals. [00:30:24] >> Absolutely! That's just good science, right? Doing it the same, and then you just see the differences between exactly what you want to study, which is the people, right? [00:30:32] >> That's what we're hoping for, yes. [00:30:35] >> Alright. [00:30:36] >> And that's one thing that's very unique. You know, we had talked earlier about the different types of analogs, and that's one thing that is very unique, I think, to HERA, is that we are able to -- to cookie cutter four missions and have them as identical as they possibly can be, and have 16 subjects, or 16 guinea pigs or whatever, that we are -- can use for that scientific data. That is, you know, probably more unique to our analog than -- than to some others. [00:31:07] >> Alright. So backing up from there. 16, you're talking about 4 mission per year, right? So 4 missions of 4 crew members. [00:31:15] >> Correct. [00:31:16] >> And this year, I guess, was the 45-day mission. [00:31:19] >> Yes. [00:31:19] >> So where did it start and how has it evolved? [00:31:22] >> So the HERA, this is only our fourth year of operations. So this is campaign four. It started, I guess, in, you know, 2012, 2013, with seven-day missions. So pretty short, you know, but, you know, that's -- it's a good place to start. And then the following year, we went to 14-day missions. So we doubled, which is pretty exciting! And then the third year, so campaign three, last year, we did four 30-day missions. So we doubled again. Now, if you do the math, we couldn't continue to double the duration of the mission and still get four missions executed in, you know, roughly a year's period of time. So, we -- we worked very, very closely with our -- our scientific community, the stakeholders in all of this, and, well, yeah, they -- they certainly want those longer duration missions, they kind of determined that 45 days is a duration that is -- is very beneficial to them, and so we -- we can do the four 45-day missions in roughly a year. [00:32:41] As long as we don't get Harvey'd. [Laughter] Harvey -- Harvey sort of threw a monkey wrench into the whole process this year. [00:32:49] >> Oh, that's right. So what number was your mission, Paul? Was it number three of four? [00:32:53] >> We were actually number two. [00:32:55] >> Number two? Okay. So you got -- you have two completed 45-day missions, right, and you're on the last one? Or is it -- did the schedule kind of get messed up? [00:33:05] >> The schedule got a little bit wonky. I guess the technical term that we use for wonky. So, Paul's mission was the second, and it got Harvey'd. So truncated at 23 days. And so we're -- we're currently in the middle of our third mission. [00:33:22] >> I see. [00:33:23] >> So, again, you kind of have to, you know, we had to do all the recovery, of course, from -- from Harvey, and then, you know, we already had this third mission scheduled for a specific time. We'd recruited subjects, and so we can't just, you know, move the schedule around, you know, to fill up the white space that was created by the shortened mission. So -- so this is the third mission. Our fourth mission will start in the January timeframe. [00:33:52] >> Alright. So you mentioned that the 45-day mission was kind of like a 700 and something, what was the number again? [00:34:00] >> I think it was 715 or something like that. [00:34:03] >> 715 day mission collapsed into 45, just because 715 would be a lot to ask of someone. [00:34:11] >> In terms of a time warp. [Laughter] [00:34:15] >> So how -- so how has the mission design changed for, because there was a 7-day mission, right? Did you -- did you condense the 715 day mission to 7 days? [00:34:24] >> We used a slightly different scenario during the -- the 7 and 14 day missions, but, yeah, they do get compressed or condensed fairly significantly. The 45-day mission, obviously, means that we don't have to compress it quite so much, but as -- as we move on, we are looking at different kinds of scenarios, and, you know, so we may -- we may use a different compression factor just depending on what kind of mission profile we choose to fly for future campaigns. [00:34:56] >> So what was the 7-day mission? Was it out to an asteroid or was it somewhere else? [00:34:59] >> I believe it was to an asteroid. I actually came onto the project at the tail end of the 14-day missions, actually, I think they were already over by the time I came onto the project. So -- so I've really only been the project manager, you know, for the end of that campaign, and then all of the third and the fourth campaign. And now planning for campaign five. [00:35:23] >> Alright! [00:35:24] >> Yes, it's very exciting! [00:35:25] >> So what's -- what's coming up then? Do you -- do you want to preview? [00:35:29] >> For campaign five? [00:35:30] >> Yeah! [00:35:30] >> I mean, it's going to be, you know, the same type of thing, where they'll be a deep space exploration mission, you know, to a destination of some type, and it'll be, you know, they'll be operational -- it'll be laid out the same, it'll be a different scenario, but it'll be the same type of something, so operational tasks, scientific tasks, they'll be looking at, you know, psychological aspects and autonomy and -- and possibly some physiological, again, but -- but the -- it'll be laid out similar. So, again, they'll be four missions, you know, as identical as can possibly be with four crews a piece, so. [00:36:16] >> And they will be 45 day missions. So, for the foreseeable future, you know, all of our campaigns, as far as we know, the research community is requesting us to continue with the 45-day missions. So, for campaign five, we -- we will have a different suite of scientific investigations. Some of the investigations that we're currently doing will carry over, and then we also have some new investigations that we'll be executing for the first time in campaign five. So -- so, there's -- there's a lot of work that needs to be done with that. The -- the investigations themselves, often times, will drive the types of operational activities that my team develops. So, for instance, you know, one particular research investigation may be looking at crew interactions. And so we might want to develop some operational tasks that would force a couple of crew members with working together, and maybe force different combinations of the four crew members working together, maybe, you know, two working together, three working together, or even tasks that would require all four. [00:37:36] And so, as we get into -- we're just getting ready to kick off all of that activity, but as we get into kind of into the guts of the individual scientific investigations, that will help us determine what scenario is going to work best, what kind of activities will we need to do, how intensive are some of the data collection activities that we need to do, how is that going to impact laying things out on a mission timeline? All of those things kind of get rolled up into a whole lot of work that a small number of people will do in what seemingly is an incredibly short amount of time. [00:38:21] >> Alright. Well, it sounds like there's not a lot of spoilers that you can give for what's coming up and -- but is there -- is there some high level stuff that you can share about what you've learned so far and how that's going to be put into deep space missions for actually, you know, for human spaceflight in the future? [00:38:37] >> You know, you're kind of touching on an area that, for me, was one of the neatest aspects of -- of being on the crew, and that was -- was having the folks doing the training amplifying the fact that this is needed for -- for real deep space missions. So this type of research, the questions that are being asked, and the answers that they're trying to find are needed before we can ever hope to go to deep space. And so that aspect is -- is pretty neat. You know, there's -- there's -- all of the questions I think that we've already been touching on as far as what types of questions they need to answer. You know, the autonomy, the crew composition, the [pause] different -- how busy do the crew need to be on, you know, if they're going for 9 months to Mars, how busy do they need to be during that time? [00:39:42] Or can they just have nothing to do all day for nine months? I mean, so there's all sorts of different questions that -- that need to be answered and they're trying to answer now. I think, you know, I think a lot of the studies, because they do roll from year to year, I think a lot of it hasn't been published yet and been fully analyzed, so I think -- I think, Lisa will know better, but I think we're just starting to get to the point where they're starting to maybe publish some of the work now from the past four years. [00:40:10] >> So more to come. [00:40:11] >> Yeah, absolutely more to come. And -- and Paul's absolutely right. A lot of the studies that we saw in earlier campaigns, they do have a tendency to roll forward. About half of the studies in any given campaign tend to move forward, and some of them have -- have been implemented or plan to be implemented in two or three, maybe even more, research campaigns. So it -- it gives the researchers a lot of -- a lot of N, you know, that scientific validity, but the researchers are also being -- making some slight modifications to how they're doing their research based on what they're seeing. That doesn't mean that they have the answers or that they have published those answers, but they can kind of see, you know, trends in what is -- what is going on. So, I think it will be very exciting. One of the things that the human research program does every year, they have an investigator's workshop that happens at the end of January, it's down in Galveston. [00:41:21] We invite all of the researchers who are being funded through the humean research program to come and talk about their research, yo uknow, and whether that is talking about what their research is, you know, for instance, if they don't have any results yet or haven't crunched all the numbers, if you will, or whether they have preliminary results or, you know, if they're just in the planning stage for that next experiment. But it -- it really, I think we are now at the point where the 2018 investigator workshop is -- is really going to start, we're really going to start hearing about some of the results that investigators, participating in HERA over the last three years, have -- what they found. [00:42:11] >> Wow! [00:42:12] >> I know! It's great! [00:42:14] >> That's cool! So, HERA is mostly human study, right? It's mostly the human aspect. Is there some components of designing a mission or the layout of a space habitat or is it really just focusing on the human part? [00:42:29] >> No, I think you touch on an important aspect. So, I mean, you know, there's -- whether it's procedures or even equipment or whatever that -- that sometimes, you know, groups will want to vet or check out in an analog such as HERA. So -- so there's -- there's most definitely other aspects of -- of what analogs are useful for, and -- and can be used for. [00:42:55] >> Definitely. [00:42:55] >> And mission planning too like you stated, as well. So, yeah. [00:42:59] >> Even on the International Space Station right now, too, they -- they have, you know, they have conferences for, like medical conferences that are private because, you know, you need to keep that stuff confidential, but then also in case anything's wrong, you can talk to a psychologist, and then you can talk to your family too, so you're in constant communication with them, you're in constant communication with the ground, you don't feel isolated, you know, all of these things on the International Space Station, as well, and I'm sure HERA too has some human elements, but all of this can be translated out to deep space. So, Paul, take me through like, I don't know, without, you know, much spoilers, what's like a typical day in -- on the -- in HERA. [00:43:39] >> You wake up at 7. [Laughter] [00:43:42] >> Yep, wake up at 7, you know, you -- you don all of your equipment, which takes a fair amount of time, I mean, there's all sorts of different measurements that -- that they're taking, so, you don that stuff, you eat breakfast, and then you begin your day. So, there's -- whether it's -- and the days vary, so it's not the same everyday. So, whether it's, you know, some of the simulator that Lisa was describing earlier or some of the other various tasks -- tasks, and, you know, generally we do them throughout the morning, you know, lunch would be later, typically, and we had a sleep deprivation going on, like I was stating. So, we eat later, in, you know, mid-afternoon, and then continue on with tasks until evening. And evening would roll around and we would, you know, obviously eat supper then, and -- and then we would have a little bit of downtime, and, you know, we had to be sure that we stayed awake until certain -- you know, so they were monitoring that pretty closely. [00:44:49] But, so -- but the days were surprising, I mean, the time was absolutely flying by. I mean, it felt like we had been in there about 5 days and it was 23. I mean, it felt like we were in the first week. So, it was really going by fast. [00:45:07] >> Did you -- was your sense of time off, because you're not really seeing the sun rise and set, right? [00:45:13] >> Yeah, yeah, I suppose it was. You know, yeah, I think so. You know, that was a little weird not seeing the sun ever [laughter], but -- but, yeah, you know, yeah, I guess, you know, I didn't find myself getting hungry until lunch at 3 o'clock or whatever it was, you know, I mean, later in the day, and supper we were eating late, but -- but it didn't seem like that. It didn't seem like we were working these extended, long days, it seemed like -- like just a normal day. I mean, so the days were going by fast, and the -- the time itself was going by pretty fast. [00:45:50] >> Wow. So you wouldn't let Paul go to sleep, huh? [00:45:54] >> No. No, everybody had to stay awake. So with the -- the study that's going on, the -- the awake time is 19 hours, and then the sleep time is 5 hours, that's only Monday through Friday, you get to sleep in a bit on the weekend. So you do get a break on the weekend, sort of reset. And -- and for some individuals, the fact that there is a weekend and -- and the schedule's a little bti different, that might help people mark time, but, yeah, the absence of all of those external queues. We do find that -- that the crew members lose track a little bit of time. Now you had a very special guest inside -- inside the HERA. [00:46:39] >> We did. [00:46:40] >> You had Wilson. And so, that goes back to the movie, I guess, Castaway, right? [00:46:47] >> Alright! [00:46:48] >> Now, as I recall from that movie, and it has been a long time, he kind of marked off the number of days, but he was able to see the sun rise and the sun set to keep track of how many days he'd been on that desert island, but I didn't observe this crew marking off the days, they just had Wilson as their companion. [00:47:08] >> Actually we did. So we had on -- there was a little whiteboard that we designated and we'd written out the calendar, or, you know, the mission days, and that was one of the highlights. So at the end of the day, we would go down and X off what day we had finished, and... [00:47:22] >> Like an advent calendar. [00:47:24] >> Yep, that's exactly what it was like! And we -- we marked where, you know, the halfway point, we marked when the comm delays would start. You know, kind of all of the big, exciting things. When we'd reach the destination and how long we'd be there. We -- we blocked that off. So -- so, we were -- we were checking the days off, but that was kind of a -- I mean, it was, you know, exciting to who's turn it was to check off the date [laughing], so. [00:47:49] >> So that was something that your crew sort of just kept track of, right? It wasn't assigned to you, it was just, so was it like a team building thing that you guys came up with or...? [00:47:58] >> Not intentionally, but, I mean, it kind of ended up being that way. I mean, you know, it ended up being that, you know, I mean, you know, I think it was the first day we were in there and I just wrote out the numbers, and I didn't think anyone would really care, but then, you know, they all wanted to be -- everyone wanted to be, you know, the one to check it off when we were done with the day, so. So it kind of became I suppose a team-building thing. [00:48:20] >> Yeah. I guess in an environment like that, like those little things, you really just look forward to. And hanging out with Wilson too. [00:48:27] >> Yeah, you know, having Wilson -- I mean, we used him on a lot of the PAO events and, you know, had them, had them around, and so, yeah, it became kind of a -- kind of a neat, little team-building mascot, as well. [00:48:43] >> Wow. So the kinds of people you're looking for to sign up are astronaut-like, right? In what sense? [00:48:51] >> So, obviously, our astronauts are very healthy. So, our -- our subjects have to be able to pass a modified class III Air Force physical, which -- which generally means you're in pretty good health. [00:49:04] >> Congratulations, Paul. [Laughter] [00:49:06] >> So you don't have to be an Olympic athlete or anything like that, but you do need to be pretty -- pretty healthy. We're looking for people between the age range of 30 and 55. And I know we've gotten a lot of feedback on that, but -- but by the time our astronauts fly, that's really generally the age range that we're going to see. So we want them to be similar in terms of, you know, I'll call it social maturity, educational maturity, social maturity, so similar in that respect, to our astronaut corp. Our astronauts are pretty highly-educated. And so education is also one of our criteria and we -- we are looking for people who have an advanced degree, say a master's degree or above, in some type of STEM, you know, science, technology, engineering, or math field. That's -- that's our -- our -- our favorite criterion to use, one of our key criterions to use. [00:50:12] We do find, though, that -- that people who have certain types of backgrounds, say, for instance, a military background. We can easily substitute military background for that advanced education if -- if a person has, you know, some level of skill in, say, maybe an engineering or a technology type of field, and military experience. Those people are very similar to our astronaut corp, as well. So -- so those are some of the -- the major criterion that we're looking for. You know, we are looking for men, as well as women. We -- in a perfect world, we would have a career that's -- that's 50/50, you know, half men and half women. You know, so -- so those healthy, educated, you know, individuals. Some of the other things that -- that we look for are people who are highly-motivated. [00:51:14] You know, so maybe goal-oriented, highly-motivated, that's, you know, that describes our astronaut corp to a T. And so, so those are some of the factors that we're looking at, as well. And -- and, you know, so most of those things are objective, you know, you can -- you check them off, you know, yep, you're in the right age range, yep, you've got the right skillset or educational background, yep, you passed the physical. And then we also do some interviews and some assessments with the potential crew members and say, yep, this person's definitely goal-oriented, which, you know, helps us to say, you know, this person, if they set a goal to, you know, stay with us for 45 days, by golly, they're going to meet that goal. [00:52:02] >> That's true. Because you need good people and good data too. You don't want someone leaving halfway through it, just like, eh, I'm done. [00:52:09] >> Yep. [00:52:09] >> That would be a bad day. [00:52:10] >> That would be a bad day. Alright, well, I'm sure there are plenty of people out there like that, but it's interesting that you say, you know, in a perfect world, half -- half men, half women, is that -- is that the ultimate goal or do you kind of mix it up every once in awhile? [00:52:25] >> So that's -- that's our ultimate goal, and that is the goal that -- that we have from a research perspective. You know, so over the course of the campaign, they would really dearly love to see that 8 of the 16 were female and 8 of the 16 were male. So we -- we would like to have that, you know, that 50/50 split in each mission, but we also have to maintain schedule. And so, sometimes just the way it works out between the people who have applied and who have screened and been found acceptable, they may or may not be available for a specific mission. So we have had missions where all four crew members were male, we've had missions where all four crew members were female! And we've had missions with a 50/50 split, and we've had missions with, you know, three of one gender and one of the other. So, to some degree, we kind of take what we can get, or what's available, it generally comes very close to to 50/50 over the course of the campaign. [00:53:33] >> Alright. Well, hey, good -- best of luck to you for getting the candidates for -- for the HERA 5 I guess. What's the next one called? [00:53:41] >> Campaign five. [00:53:42] >> Campaign five, yeah. [00:53:43] >> Campaign five. [00:53:44] >> Very cool! Alright, well, I think that's a great place to wrap up, and if you stay tuned until afterwards, we'll tell you exactly where to sign up so you can possibly be a HERA crew member if you meet all the qualifications that Lisa said, but Lisa and Paul, thanks so much for -- for coming in today. Lisa, I know you're busy, so thanks for running over here [laughter]. I appreciate this. This was really cool! I really... [00:54:05] >> Yeah, thank you. [00:54:05] >> Just to know about HERA. I've been to HERA and visited a couple of times, but just to -- to dive in and understand what it's like to be there, that's -- that's pretty cool. So thanks again for coming on! [00:54:15] >> Thank you! [00:54:15] >> Absolutely! And if you're over 30, consider joining us. [00:54:20] >> Almost there. [Laughter] [00:54:23] [ Music ] Hey, thanks for sticking around! So, based on Lisa's description, if you think you're qualified to stay in HERA for those 45 day missions, and from what Paul was describing -- was describing, they sounded pretty cool. Just go to nasa.gov/analogs/HERA. That is the official HERA page, and if you scroll to the bottom, there's a box that says, want to participate, and there you can see all the qualifications and how to apply and all that kind of stuff and be prepared for campaign five next year. Those 45-day missions that Lisa was talking about, and the new mission profile that they're going to be doing. [00:55:24] We also like to post about HERA on social media, on the NASA Johnson Space Center accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you have a question about HERA, just use the hashtag NASA on any one of those platforms, and ask a question about HERA, we'll answer it, otherwise, if you have an idea for the show that you want us to do, maybe you want us to do another episode on HERA or on something else entirely. Make sure to mention it's for, Houston, We Have a Podcast, and we'll make sure to answer it for you or even do a whole episode on it. So this podcast was recorded on November 16th, 2017. Thanks to Alex Perryman for producing the show, and thanks again to Miss Lisa Spence and Dr. Paul Haugen for coming on the show. We'll be back next week!

HWHAP_Ep4_Space Food

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-07-28

Gary Jordan (Host): Houston we have a podcast. Welcome to the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center, episode 4, Space Food. I'm Gary Jordan and I'll be your host today. So this is the podcast where we bring in the experts, NASA scientists, engineers, astronauts, all the coolest people that tell you all the coolest parts about NASA. So today we're talking about space food with Takiyah Sirmons, she's a food scientist here at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. And we had a great discussion about the science behind what astronauts eat, what it is, how they make it and how they have a long shelf life and what happens to an astronaut's palate after living in space for several months. So with no further delay let's go light speed and jump right ahead to our talk with Dr. Takiyah Sirmons, enjoy. [ Music ] Host: Okay, well Takiyah thank you so much for taking the time to come here today and talk about space food. This is one of my favorite topics because it's space food, right. Right, when you think about astronauts you think about what do they eat in space and then you have all these preconceived notions about what they eat in space. And so I thought first of all I think we should start the episode before we even get into anything by just debunking a couple of myths, right. Takiyah Sirmons: Let's debunk those myths. Host: Let's debunk it right off the bat, did NASA invent Tang? Takiyah Sirmons: NASA did not invent Tang. Tang was already in existence, it was created in the late 50s by a company called Mission Foods and we flew it in the early 60s when we were trying to figure out our food system. So John Glenn tasted Tang in space and it boosted its popularity and ever since then it's been synonymous with the space program but we did not create it, we just purchased it, repackaged it and then sent it into space. Host: See I feel like that's just always one of those things people always bring up though. They say oh Tang that's such a NASA thing and I guess they just got tied together for whatever reason. But they did use Tang. Takiyah Sirmons: We did use Tang, we still use Tang. We still use Tang until today but we did not invent it, we did not. Host: It's just because of that rehydratable, the idea that you don't have to ship up these bags of water, you can just ship up bags of powder. Takiyah Sirmons: Yah, powder flavored essentially so it's already convenient, you just put it into the beverage, package and you add water to it and you have a great flavored beverage. And it worked we don't try to reinvent the wheel here and we had a product that was on the market that was great so we just sent it. Host: All right, cool, all right there's one more that at least comes to the top of my head and you might be able to add a couple more but astronaut ice cream. Takiyah Sirmons: Oh, astronaut ice cream, that's been plaguing the crew for a long time now. So the ice cream that you see in the novelty stores with the strawberry, vanilla, chocolate swirl. We have never sent anything that is remotely like that. Host: That's what I thought, yeah. Takiyah Sirmons: Back in the Apollo days we sent ice cream one time and it was the cube form, so if you think back to tube and cube days it was a pressed food substance that was coated so it didn't have a lot of crumbs. Host: Interesting. Takiyah Sirmons: And it flew one time at the request of an astronaut and it hasn't flown since, no one else has requested it after that. From time to time the astronauts get ice cream if there is a science experiment that requires refrigeration or a freezer on the way back. We will load up the empty unit with ice cream or if it's plugged in, if it's powered up. And they'll get ice cream single serve ice cream every once in a while but it's very, very rare. Only other time that they may have had ice cream was during the sky lab days and that's because we had refrigeration and a freezer on that particular vessel. Host: That makes sense, okay. Well, I feel like those astronauts should consider themselves real lucky because they are the few that actually get to have it sometimes. >> Every once in a while. Host: Ice cream in space, so cool. Okay so it's nice to see you again after the super bowl thing that we did. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah, that was the last time we got together. Host: Exactly, it was so fun, so they had super bowl live downtown and NASA just came up and did like a culinary event and we talked about food science. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah. Host: We talked about you know, what we have to do different because it wasn't really a cooking show, it was like this is what NASA does even though we were preparing meals and having everyone sample them, it was pretty cool. And there is, you're not considered chefs right, you're considered food scientists because there's a whole different mindset when it comes to food in space, right? Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah, so you're taking a product that everyone is used to, everyone is familiar with food, food is very important, our emotions are tied to food and you're getting it to last for an extended period. And so I think that's where the beauty of this profession comes in, you're solving problems with an everyday product that you need, you need for life. Host: So is that kind of the main purpose of space food is your job to make the food las as long as possible or is there more to that? Takiyah Sirmons: Well, there's a nutrition component obviously so it's a prepackaged food system so imagine if you were on a diet plan and the only thing that you could have is what a company sent you in a box. You know you need to make sure it is nutritionally sound, that the calories are balanced and that it tastes good. Because if you've eaten the same product for over I want to say six months or so you're going to get tired of it. So that's where we come in to play is we want to have foods that are nutritious, that offer a wide variety but they're also appetizing at the same point. And it's a really delicate balance, a lot of people think that oh it's just food, you can just make it but it's a lot of moving parts that go into making space food. Host: Yeah, yeah, there really are so like let's just go right into it, right so space food, why are we talking now about space food versus just -- do they have a kitchen up in the International Space Station right now, what is different about space food? Like the overall concept of it? Takiyah Sirmons: The difference is that it's already prepared for you, so most of the food that they have it's a prepackaged food system like I said before so we do all of the cooking and all of the processing here on earth. We send it up and they can either reheat it in the case of thermal stabilized products that I'll guess we'll get into in a minute. Host: Sure. Takiyah Sirmons: And then they'll add water to our rehydratable products. And so all of the cooking and all of the preparation has been done for them they just need to prepare it in that moment how they're going to eat it and then if they want to remix the foods in any ways, then they have the opportunity to do that. But there's no room for a kitchen, they have a food preparation area where they can make the meals and then eat them on the go and they are also very limited in the amount of time that they have. So anything that we give them they have to be able to heat up in about 15 minutes or so and then go onto the next task. So it's not enough time in the day for them to actually cook foods. Host: Right, they have like -- what do they allot, like an hour for like lunch but they don't even allot too much time, they allot sometime in the beginning and at the end of the day but not really like -- I think they allot like an hour for lunch. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah, yeah. Host: So that's pretty much it. Takiyah Sirmons: It's a really tight window, so I mean if you want just eat and relax during that time you don't have the time to actually prepare the food. Host: Makes sense, okay so it's not ingredients based packaging, it's meal based packaging. Takiyah Sirmons: It is meal based packaging, so we package entrees separately and then we have a number of side dishes, a number of snacks, a number of deserts and they can pick and choose from any menu of items that they want or any variety that they want. Host: So they pick and choose all the time or do they have like specific like for on this day you're going to eat this for lunch, so they don't like have meal planning. Takiyah Sirmons: No, so we put together what's called a standard menu and it's basically a suggested menu that would get them to the amount of calories that they need per day. But when they eat it's prepared pantry style, so we'll send up a container that has x amount of side dishes, x amount of entrees, x amount of vegetables and they can pick from those containers. We only as that they open one container at a time and so that's how we know if the inventory is getting low, we just assume that they've eaten everything in that container once it's opened. Host: Got it, you have to keep track so -- Takiyah Sirmons: We don't mandate that they eat according to a certain menu, we've tried that in the past and we've seen that it doesn't necessarily work. The only time that they have to eat according to a specific menu is if they are participating in a nutritional study. So they're tracking actual foods that they have and how their bodies react to that. That's the only time but that's never the entire duration of their stay. Host: Yeah, they have experiments like that, right where they're actually doing sort of like meal planning. Takiyah Sirmons: Correct they have shorter duration experimenting, during that time we'll track exactly what they eat and have to eat according to that menu but outside of that they just kind of grab what they want. Host: Okay, so that's what they do for the most part. Takiyah Sirmons: For the most part. Host: Yeah, they're just going in and having whatever they feel like having that day. I know so Peggy she got her mission extended and she's starting to get to that point where she's out there for a long time and starting to you know, the menu can only be so big, so -- what was her favorite that she just mentioned, chicken, was it chicken fajitas that was her favorite. Yeah, but you obviously have your favorites and things that are good but then you're going to have -- you can't please everyone right. It's just like any food at home right. So everyone has their preferences. Takiyah Sirmons: Everyone has their preference and after a while they start remixing meals, we make a mac and cheese product and we make a chili product and you can mix them together and make chili mac and cheese. And they do that all the time, eating the same thing for six months, you're like okay I got to find a new way to develop this product. Host: Okay, so you open up some containers and like you said they're pantry based organizations so you have like you're snacks, pet package and you have like everything, so how are the meals and you hinted at this before, like thermostabilized is one way of packaging a meal, right, so. Takiyah Sirmons: It's one way of preserving a food product, so everything that we send to the International Space Station has to be shelf-stable. We don't have refrigerators, we don't have freezers, we only have that for a short period of time during sky lab days and that was like our early stab at a space station type vehicle. Right now we don't have the power to support those type of preservations so refrigerators or freezers so everything is shelf-stable meaning that we have to preserve the foods before we send them out of earth. So the primary methods are thermostabilized which is essentially canning but in a flexible pouch. So if you've seen MRE pouches that the military uses. Host: Yeah, meals ready to eat, they're just like these brown rectangular packages. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah, so we use the same technology, basically a canning system. So a giant pressure cooker you kill any bacteria using heat as well as pressure and -- Host: Thermostabilized [cross-talk]. Takiyah Sirmons: And so about half of our foods are produced that way and then other foods are produced the freeze drying and I think most people are familiar with freeze dried foods. You basically pull all the moisture out of a food product so that nothing can grow. And both products are great because they're light-weight, where we can pack more into our containers because they don't weigh as much and all they have to do is add the water back when they get to the space station. Host: Nice, is there a benefit to doing one versus the other for particular foods? Takiyah Sirmons: So, it depends on the foods product some can't withstand the processing for thermal processing so say if you have a product that has a lot of cheese in it you have a lot of negative effects when you apply that high of a temperature to it so those do better when you freeze dry them. And so sometimes we can try the foods both ways and you'll see which ever one comes out better. It just depends on the food product. Host: Nice, okay for the rehydratable ones, I'm guessing so since the thermostabilized, MRE you can technically just rip open the package and start eating, right. Takiyah Sirmons: You can heat them up and eat them. Host: Oh, so they do have the ability to heat them up. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah, they have a small food warmer on station that they can put their pouches into, they don't get terribly hot but I mean it's warm enough so that you can enjoy it. Host: Okay, so it's like the space version of I guess a microwave but just not as fast maybe. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah, exactly. Host: And then so for the freeze dried ones that one they actually have to rehydrate, right, they have to stick it in the machine that gives it water and then what do they let it sit for a while? Takiyah Sirmons: Correct, they have a rehydration station on [inaudible] and on all of our food products we tell them how much water they need to add, whether or not it's room temperature or has to be warm water. They'll inject the product and it rehydrates within 10 to 15 minutes. Again, they don't have a lot of time to wait for their products to rehydrate and then they can put it in the food warmer if they want it warmer or they could put it into a small chiller if they want it cool. And then they're able to enjoy the product that way. Host: Nice. Takiyah Sirmons: It takes a little bit longer to prepare than the thermal stabilized products but I think the quality sometimes is a lot better. Host: Interesting, okay yeah because it goes through -- okay I guess the process of that makes it actually taste better. Takiyah Sirmons: Well, the texture is preserved a little bit, if you imagine just cooking something, basically cooking it to death versus something where you pull the water out and then you add it back into the same place, it's a slightly better texture. Host: Oh, okay, see these are things I'm thinking like regular food, like cooking over a pan you know, you don't normally think about this stuff. Okay so I've seen that machine before that they use to rehydrate their meals. They have a dial like you said they can put a certain amount of liquid into it, so however many milliliters it takes to rehydrate that particular food. Takiyah Sirmons: Yes. Host: So, what foods take a little bit more water than others and why? Takiyah Sirmons: It depends, products that have obviously if you have more of a food product in the package it's going to take slightly more water. Depending on if there's sugar in the product or not that may not require as much water to rehydrate. They also adjust the amount of water that they put in so we may be do our testing on earth and say hey you need 75 milliliters, they may not like their food that watery so they'll just dial it back a little bit. So it just really depends on the product and preferences once they get into space. Host: Yeah, so I guess they just learn from experience in that kind of instance whereas it's just like oh that one was a little bit too watery for me, maybe next time I'll use the same thing because it was good but just a little bit less water. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah, and it takes a couple of times to I guess learn the product. Host: Nice. So you work in the food lab so I'm assuming you've tried a bunch of the different meals so. Takiyah Sirmons: I like food. Host: Yeah, so what are some of your favorites? Takiyah Sirmons: I really like the meatloaf, I think it's really flavorful, it's better than the meatloaf that I make at home, I don't know if that's saying a lot. I'm really fond of anything sweet so the dessert category I'm always dipping in a dessert category, we have chocolate pudding cake, lemon carrot cake, cherry blueberry cobbler so those are probably some of my favorites. Host: I've tried the cherry blueberry cobbler. Takiyah Sirmons: Do you like that? Host: That one is really good, yes. Takiyah Sirmons: Anything sweet I think is [inaudible]. Host: So, I know in space I think it's a little bit different because I guess there's something where the astronauts over time start to lose a little bit of their taste sensitivity, so they start to enjoy spicier foods but is there a reason for that? Takiyah Sirmons: So the perception of taste changes a little bit. Number one they're in microgravity so there's a fluid shift and so it's kind of like eating with a head cold. There's still flavor there but everything is muted and so the preference for spicy foods is because you can always taste spicy food it gives you a little bit more kick. And so we always provide a variety of condiments. They have pepper on station, not in the powder form but -- not in the granulated form I'm sorry, it's dissolved in an oil so they can squeeze a drop and touch it to the product and they can spice up their foods. We have a number of hot sauce, hot sauce is always on the menu, different kinds of hot sauce. Host: I love hot sauce, I would bring so much hot sauce if I went up to orbit. Takiyah Sirmons: Well, you live in Texas [cross-talk] so a lot of hot sauce to spice up their foods. One of the favorites is shrimp cocktail because it has a spicy kick in it and I guess anything, yeah spicy food. Host: Anything spicy, yeah so how about sweet, is sweet a little bit enhanced or is the sweetness muted so they add more sugar or something like that? Takiyah Sirmons: You know, I've not heard that they add more sugar, I haven't had very many complaints about sweet products, I think it comes down to a preference if you like sweet products before you go into space you'll still have a sweet tooth when you go into space and vice-versa. Host: Okay, does preference change at all? Takiyah Sirmons: I've heard that preference does change so before any crew member goes into space they sit down with our dietician and we have one dietician on staff who essentially shows them the entire menu, so they'll work their way through all 200 different menu items. Host: Sounds like a great day, a great day. Takiyah Sirmons: They do it over several days, maybe four different times they have lunch with us and it's just so they know what to expect and they understand how the food is going to taste when they get into space. Or hopefully how it's going to taste when they get into space. They rate all the products and then items that are scored pretty high, we add those to their crew specific container which is essentially like a bonus container, it's separate from the standard menu so it's just for that particular crew member. And we do that in case they really like one item and we don't provide enough of it in the standard menu, they can have some just for themselves. Host: All right. Takiyah Sirmons: So we've heard that they come into evaluate food and they score it really high and then when they get into space they say oh I don't want this product anymore, so it's really hard to accommodate that. Host: Wow, that would stink if you had to -- if you really enjoyed one item and you're like for example the cherry blueberry cobbler and you're like oh that's my favorite dessert I'm going to have a bunch of that and then you put it in your personal and you take up all this space then you're like I really don't want it, I've had too much cherry blueberry cobbler. Takiyah Sirmons: You know what I mean, you live and you learn. Host: Yeah, I guess. Takiyah Sirmons: They trade a lot of foods on space station, so if you said you wanted one product and it doesn't taste the same when you get into space, I'm sure someone else would like that product. So it works out usually. Host: So I mean beyond preparing specifically for the International Space Station because that's where we're flying right now. You sit them down and you go through the whole menu to select what they're going to have aboard but is there any other, are there any other processes before they go up where you are preparing in a sense? Takiyah Sirmons: Preparing them for -- Host: Preparing either the meals or like how do you get ready for that, so do you sit down with the dietician and then select your meals and then you are busy preparing that food for the next couple months, like what other steps are there? Takiyah Sirmons: You mean in the lab where we prepare? Host: Yeah in the lab, yeah. Takiyah Sirmons: Oh, so we keep inventory, so like I said before all the food is packed according to category and we ask that they just open one container at a time per category. So once they've opened it, they'll scan it and we'll get a message saying hey they've opened their breakfast items which means that that is no longer in inventory. So we'll at that point go and prepare more breakfast items in the lab and have them available for the next shipment. Host: So yeah, yeah so it's more like you're watching what everyone is doing in orbit. It's not necessarily like you know, they sit down, like this is what I want and then you're preparing their meals for their orbit specifically. Takiyah Sirmons: No, no, no, no we don't do it that way because they eat according to a standard menu, no for their crew specific containers if it's something that we don't have on the menu, so say we send up granola bars, a generic form of granola bar. If you have a certain brand that you're loyal to we will go to the store and buy that brand for you as long as it's flight compatible. Meaning that it doesn't have a lot of crumbs, it's not very liquidy. It's not going to produce a lot of free liquid in space. We'll repackage it and send it into space for you so those items we will do on a case by case basis. If you say you know, I really like this brand of chocolate granola bar we will go and get that for you and package it. Host: All right, okay, I'm trying to think of other things that I would probably want to package but I'm thinking of a lot of crumby stuff so that's one thing they have to be wary of right, is because crumbs are not good to have on orbit because I guess they fly around. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah, I mean it's a closed environment, if you don't eat it in space it's going to float around and it's going to stick somewhere. It may get stuck in your eye, it's going to get stuck in equipment, we just don't know where it's going to land to we try to avoid that we don't send chips into space for that reason but you can have crackers. Host: Oh, okay because they're less crumby, okay that makes a lot of sense. So I know another one is bread, right you can't ship bread up because bread is crumby and instead they use tortillas. Takiyah Sirmons: Right, they have tortillas and we have one type of bread product that we send up and it's extended shelf life bread and we purchase that and then we send it into space. But primarily when they want to have a sandwich or something on the go they use tortillas because it's just really convenient. Host: Yeah. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah, so traditional bread that you find on the shelf we can't send that up, the shelf life isn't long enough and then it produces too many crumbs. Host: All right, so what else has the food lab learned just from, now that you've been flying space, flying food to space for so long, what have you sort of learned along the way. Like bread for example, thinking about crumbs, what other things have you learned along the way and kind of adapted to the menu that you have now. Takiyah Sirmons: Gees, lessons learned from flying in space. I'd like to say that the hardest thing to control is the human factor of eating in space. So like I said before we don't dictate what they eat in space because we've tried that in the past and it doesn't necessarily work. Host: Because they want to eat what they want to eat. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah, and I mean that's a human factor that you can't control for. So you have people who are very brilliant people that are going into space but there's a psychological component that goes along with eating and when you eat something it reminds you of home, there's comfort foods that you have, you can't always mandate what someone does or doesn't want to eat. And so I think that's been one of our, I guess our biggest lessons learned. Host: So I guess it's a lot of planning then is really what the lessons come down to as you're trying to plan something diverse or if someone wants something you can deliver [inaudible]. Takiyah Sirmons: Right and that's been the driving force behind the food lab here at JSC, we started from tube and cube days and we were providing nutrition but it was very good, it wasn't very appetizing and we learned quickly that you had to provide something that at least mimicked or resembled food here on earth. And so that's what we've been doing sense the beginning of the space program when we were allowing humans to eat in space is just trying to improve it. And get something that's closer to what you normally have here on earth. Host: So I mean working with space food and designing food that has to be nutritionally balanced for the astronauts, what have you learned that you've taken into your personal life about food. Little tips and tricks that maybe us at home can take into account. Just like maybe I should have you know, I know there's a lot of fad diets out there right, so people are eliminating carbohydrates starting to eat more proteins. Or something like that, is there anything that you've learned just from creating food for astronauts on board? Takiyah Sirmons: I would say that seasonings go a very long way. Prior to coming into the food lab I seasoned everything with salt and pepper. And we had a large sodium reduction initiative in our food lab a couple years ago, we were finding that the astronauts, some of the astronauts were having vision problems from having high blood pressure in space [cross-talk]. So we reduced the sodium to reduce blood pressure and a long with that you had to reformulate a lot of your products and figure out different ways to season them. And don't under estimate the power of good seasoning, with herbs and spices and so now in my personal life I season a lot more with those. They're slightly more expensive but they go a further way than just salt and pepper. Host: So it's eliminating sodium from your or at least reducing sodium. Takiyah Sirmons: We're not eliminating it. Host: Reducing and then seasoning them with different things other than salt. Takiyah Sirmons: Yes, in my personal life I've learned how to do that. Host: Okay, all right, that's a good one, I'm going to take that one back and I'm the same way I like putting salt and pepper on everything. Because it's a good neutral seasoning and it enhances the flavor of whatever you're eating without necessarily changing it and yeah but I guess that's a bummer because I really like salt. Takiyah Sirmons: You can have your salt. Host: Okay so up on board they're going to have their preferences, right, we've been talking about this but do they share meals, right and this in an International space station, so do they share internationally? Takiyah Sirmons: So the U.S. provides about half of the food for the International Space Station and then our international partners, primarily Russia provides the other half of the foods. The astronauts that come and evaluate foods in house, they are U.S. astronauts but it's not uncommon once they get into space to begin trading food with the Russians and vice-versa. So it's a lot of trading that goes on it just kind of depends on their preference, if they see something they like then they'll try it and then they can request Russian food in their crew specific containers if they really like an item. So the next time we have a vehicle go up we can send those foods. But very common for them to trade foods amongst themselves. Because we get curious after a while. Host: Yeah, what are you guys eating, I want to know what that is, so. And they package theirs differently right, so you're talking about in the U.S. we package, thermostabilized, we do the dehydrated or what did you say, freeze dried. Takiyah Sirmons: Freeze dried foods. Host: Freeze dried foods and they do theirs in cans. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah, they still use a can system which means that their food warmer is slightly different so they have a -- their food warmer allows you to drop the cans into a slot and they warm it that way. And our foods obviously don't fit in that particular configurations. So it's very different, the one advantage to moving to a flexible pouch which we use is that it's a light lighter so you can send more food up. Host: Oh, okay, nice yeah I do like -- it's something you have to think about right especially when you're launching things to space you got to make sure that weight is money right. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah weight is money. Host: Yeah, so you got to reduce that and that makes a lot of sense. So going back to the lab, you know, when you're talking about sharing but you do have to prepare it and you said you're preparing -- you realize the inventory of what's on board and then prepare it that way. What's that like, what does preparing entail, like are you making dish by dish and putting them into packages. Like what's the process to get from a meal here on the ground packaged and ready to go, shipped up to the International Space Station? Takiyah Sirmons: So it's kind of a batch process, we will make maybe 100 pounds of food, 80 to 100 pounds of food depending on the process we'll determine how long it takes so with thermal stabilized foods you'll make a large kettle and then you'll put the food into individual servings sizes and so one of those collectable pouches is a serving of food. So say you take 160 grams, you'll package it, you'll seal it and then you'll put the entire batch into a retort, which is basically a giant pressure cooker. And that retort will run at a high temperature, high pressure for say an hour and then you'll take all those packages out, inspect them one by one and then they will be stored until it's time to send those. For freeze dried foods the process is a little bit longer because it can take up to a week to remove all that moisture in our freeze driers. So the process starts about the same, you'll buy ingredients from the grocery store, you'll inspect all of the ingredients. Make your batch of foods and then you'll either freeze dry them into individual servings or into one large pan, And then from there you take the pan of product and then you'll put it into individual servings, package it and then store it until you're ready to use it. So quite a long time, it is a process. Host: But you have to do that right, you can't, you've got to make sure the food is going to be good. Takiyah Sirmons: Correct. Host: When you send it up both in terms of taste obviously but in terms of quality. Takiyah Sirmons: Correct, correct. Host: Okay, so let's see we talked about shelf life, it's one of the more important things, so you're going through this process for a reason, it lasts a long time. Takiyah Sirmons: Right. Host: So what is a typical shelf life of space food? Takiyah Sirmons: Again it depends on the product, we try to have an inventory that will last for at least six months. Six months on space station, our thermostabilized foods because of the processing those can last from one year up to two year and then it can last beyond that depending on what the product is. But we definitely shoot for at least six months on space station and that just allows us enough time to prepare more foods and to get another vehicle up. Host: So what are the steps that need to happen to take it beyond that? Takiyah Sirmons: So if we needed to extend it beyond whatever shelf life we assigned it. Host: Yeah. Takiyah Sirmons: So we have a control set that we have on earth, it's housed here at JSC, anytime that we make a product and we package it we'll pull a couple samples and keep them in storage here. And so if there's a situation where we have to extend the shelf life we as a team will evaluate those products and make sure that it's till acceptable. So if I'm not going to eat it on earth, I would never ask you to eat it in space. So we don't do anything we're not willing to [inaudible]. Host: Okay, so you prepare it to last that long, you've packaged it, you've gone through that whole process what about getting it to space, how does that happen? How do you get from the lab and I guess how much do you put in a single cargo vehicle to get to space? Takiyah Sirmons: So there's no solid answer for that it really depends on how much space is available on that vehicle and what the inventory looks like on ISS. Host: So it's constantly changing. > Takiyah Sirmons: > It's constantly changing, no vehicle has the same amount of weight put into that. With that being said we don't have our own vehicle that we use, we use commercial vehicles, so Space-X and Orbital now those will dock with the International Space station, they'll unload the food and they will load up any trash or anything that needs to come back or experiments that need to come back. We don't send that on our own. Host: Oh, okay, so it changes just based on whatever you have available on that [inaudible]. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah, it's all inventory driven so whatever is available in space that will dictate what we make on earth as well as what we package and what we send on the next vehicle. Host: But I'm assuming you have plenty of food on the International Space Station, right, so they'll never -- there's a very low chance that they'll actually runout. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah, they'll never be in a situation where they're running out of food, they may not have all the variety that they like. They might be down to peanut butter and something they don't necessarily like but they will never runout of food. It's set up so that they have a reserve of food at all times. Host: All right, so what's some of the more creative things you've seen astronauts do with the food because you said they are prepared in a way that you can just heat them up and eat them as is because they're already meals. But are they adding stuff together and -- I mean the chili mac and cheese sounds amazing. Takiyah Sirmons: It is amazing. Host: Yeah. Takiyah Sirmons: Oh gosh I guess they make a little bit of anything, we filmed a video a couple of months ago, we had two astronauts come in and show us some of their treats and I think I was the most blown away with the space smores. They a chocolate brownie I want to say they put peanut butter paste and then cookies on the outside and I was actually really impressed with the flavor of that. And that's not anything that I would have thought of but I guess if you're in space for six months and you've been eating the same food you kind of think of different ways to consumer it. Host: Wow, if you're going to snack in space you're going to snack right, the space smore that sounds amazing. Awesome, okay so we've been talking a lot about the International Space Station and it seems like we're in a system where we're still learning and you're learning how to do different things to make it as efficient as possible and it sounds like it's very efficient right now the way that food is delivered, eaten, the whole process. But for deep space what has to change and I'm assuming shelf life is at the top of that list but you know, we've already brought down the weight so much with the freeze drying capabilities but what do we have to do to prepare for a mission to deep space and to Mars? Takiyah Sirmons: Well, your right shelf life is our number one concern. We can make foods that last two years easily, that's what we've been doing for the International Space Station. When you start talking about going to Mars you're looking at a five-year shelf life. And that's because they're have been talks of prepositioning the foods, so we launch the food ahead of the crew. The crew travels, completes the mission and then we have to have food that will last to come back. And so no one has ever done a five-year shelf life, it's not something that's necessarily desired in industry because it doesn't make money, the quicker you can turn product over the better for our food company. And so no one is really testing out to five years and so that's been a challenge for us, not only quality wise but nutritionally. We have to make sure that vitamins are stable, vitamins and minerals are stable through the entire duration of the mission so that you don't have astronauts that are malnourished at the end of their stay on Mars. You know, so that's been a challenge, that's what we're looking at now, a lot of projects that have starting now are looking at the shelf life of food up to five years. Host: So I mean you can obviously store food for long periods of time, what about a growing food? Is the food lab a part of any experiments where you're talking about planting vegetables or something like that and growing them in a different environment? Takiyah Sirmons: Well, we're not growing plants at the food lab, a lot of that work is housed out of Kennedy Space Center in Florida. And so they are growing different dwarf vegetables with the expectation that that would supplement the foods system but not necessarily be the full menu. So we still have to have a standard menu that will provide the core amount of calories. And then there's a certain amount of food that you can grow to increase their variety. And so we've partnered with them on a couple of their projects, mainly for the sensory component so seeing whether or not those products taste good and whether or not consumers can tell the difference between a product that was grown in the greenhouse versus something that you would buy in the grocery store. And so we've done a little bit of work with them on that. Host: All right, all right that sounds awesome. Takiyah Sirmons: They can have a salad in space. Host: Yeah, cut up some fresh tomatoes or something. Takiyah Sirmons: They goes a long way, if they haven't had a salad in a while then you'd be very thrilled to have one in space. Host: That is true, they did something on International Space Station recently, right the veggie experiment. Some lettuce, Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren and some of those guys actually got to taste it up in orbit and they said it tasted like arugula. Takiyah Sirmons: Oh, okay, arugula is tasty. Host: So it would be good for a salad right, sprinkle a little arugula on a salad, I mean I'm imagining eggs benedict right now, I'm super hungry. Takiyah Sirmons: We're not there yet. Host: One, day, one day, oh okay all right so is there anything that you've learned you know, about astronauts, just anything new. I know taste buds maybe change but is there anything that they brought down with them from their experience on orbit that has kind of changed the way that. Or maybe not exactly changed the way but just added something to the way that you process food, make food, something like that. Takiyah Sirmons: I think the preparation component has changed a little bit, we're constantly getting feedback, like we mentioned before the amount of water that it takes to rehydrate a food item. We may get feedback that says hey when we were up there it took more than 15 minutes so you guys might want to look at your formula again. Or it didn't take that much water, I had to add water, so those are things that help us improve the products for the next crew that goes up. And so we're constantly depending on astronauts for their feedback so that we can optimize any formulas that we have in house. Host: All right, cool, all right I just know from talking to different astronauts their experience with making food and eating food and it's always visually just a cool thing to watch, right because they, a lot of them end up playing with their food. Takiyah Sirmons: Playing with your food. Host: It's a very cool thing to play with, right, they bring out the different colored candies and they flow. Yeah and they flow and they're making water bubbles and drinking that, I guess are all the drinks powdered and then they have to rehydrate. Takiyah Sirmons: Yes, every drink that we send whether it's coffee, coffee with sugar or just a hint of lemon, it goes in a powder form and then they add water to it. And all of our beverages have a clamp on them, it's to prevent that bubble from floating around in space but if you want to play with your food you just remove the clamp and then over time liquid will come through the straw and start to bubble at the top, so. Host: There you go. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah the eating experience is very different, you have to think more about it when you're in space just to make sure you're not making a mess everywhere. Host: So I mean I should have asked about that, just drinking, just coming out of a pouch, you have a straw coming out of a pouch, you have to clamp the straw otherwise -- Takiyah Sirmons: It won't happen fast but eventually over time you'll start to see a large bubble at the top and if you're not watching it then that can fall off. Host: So the bubble appears at the top of the straw and then I guess. Takiyah Sirmons: Then you can play with it. Host: You can play with it, yeah but eating though I guess we talked about making and eating but we didn't really talk about the actual process of eating. So when you open up a package is the food flying out or does it stick to the inside of the package. Takiyah Sirmons: So surface tension will keep the food in the package, it will keep it on the fork, they all have metal utensils that they use and they just clean it with wipes after they're done with the food product. Because you can't have free water, they can't wash dishes but they can sanitize and clean them. The overall experience is a little different because number one your food is floating and then you're floating in space. And so when we package food we use vel coins on the back of every product and that's so that you can literally stick it to the wall and your food doesn't float away. And so say if you're snacking while you're doing something else, you have your food product there you have your beverage there and it's stuck to one place. You can't just sit it on the table and walk away, like we have the luxury here on earth, your product will be somewhere else. Somewhere else in the space station. Host: That's interesting, you called it a vel coin? Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah a small Velcro coin. Host: Okay, like a circular, so then it sticks to that and then the food is inside the package just with the surface tension. Takiyah Sirmons: Right it stays in the package it just makes sure your food is where you left it when you turn your back. Host: Okay. And then whenever you're scooping it out with your fork or spoon or whatever it's not sticking just because you know, when you think about soup is the first thing that comes to mind. You scoop your soup and it stays at the bottom of the spoon because of gravity but because if you're scooping I don't know they probably don't have soup, do they have soup? Takiyah Sirmons: No, they have a number of soup items. They have soup, some of them have solid pieces in them so they eat them with a spoon and then we have a couple of them that it's just more of a broth and so you can drink those with a straw. So they have a number of soup products. Host: And does it stick to the -- Takiyah Sirmons: It sticks to the spoon. Host: No way it sticks to the spoon, that's really cool, awesome. All right I have so many more questions I just want to make sure that I get them all. Okay, so you're sticking it to the wall and they have like a -- I'm throwing up some air quotes here, so a dinner table right, it's just a table that's kind of diagonally against the wall but they have like tape and Velcro on it right. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah so they can stick their food product down. And it's still a communal experience, no one wants to eat alone, unless they decide to, we don't dictate that. Host: Sometimes they're busy right. Takiyah Sirmons: Sometimes they're just busy but I mean it is set up so they can at least have the community aspect of eating, breaking bread together. Host: Breaking bread, yeah all having a meal together, that's pretty awesome. Okay, do you notice that they eat together more often or do they kind of just rush eat? Takiyah Sirmons: That I actually don't know they choose to do it one way or another. And I imagine it will depend on their schedules as well as the crew member themselves. Host: I've seen sometimes where they have an experiment and it's too vital that kind of bleeds over into their lunch time and so their lunch time is pushed to a different time and it doesn't overlap with other crew members. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah, so they don't always eat together. Host: I was just curious on what they do in those instances, I'm assuming they just like they rehydrate their package, go do some work, come get their package, eat along the way so -- Takiyah Sirmons: Just a normal day at the office, I've had those days. Host: It's just crazy, I noticed you know, some astronauts when I was talking to them sometimes they just take that stuff for granted right, like I forget who was saying but this is not necessarily food but obviously you know, you're floating your food over on the side and working. And you're not really thinking about it. But your food is floating right next to you. I guess eventually you get in a groove when you're up there for so long that there was one astronaut talking about working out. And you know the ARED, the advanced resistance exercise that simulates weight lifting, it's positioned right, I guess if you were looking at the configuration of the International Space Station above the cupola. So when you're working out and doing bench presses you just see the earth right down -- Takiyah Sirmons: It's a beautiful sight. Host: Above you I guess it depends on -- yeah and they're taking it for granted, like awe man this workout is really hard [cross-talk] I've seen that one before, you know. I'm sure that not all of them are like that but there comes a point where you know, you're doing the same thing. They're working out two and a half hours a day, every single day. So eventually you know, things get a little bit more repetitive and I can understand it, but still very, very cool. Takiyah Sirmons: They work out a lot so they have to eat a lot, they eat a lot than you would on earth, so. Host: Oh, they do, their calories are increased? Takiyah Sirmons: They have more calories on average, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that they're working out so much and then also it takes a little bit of energy to stay upright in zero gravity. We take for granted that when we sit in a chair we want to be sitting upright, whereas they're constantly bobbing and weaving. So they have to exert that energy to stay up right. Host: There's no real sitting right, they kind of like hook their feet underneath one of those hand rails and then they have to, yeah you're right they're bobbing because they have to stay in one position unless they kind of get their footing, right. Takiyah Sirmons: Yeah. Host: Interesting, do you notice that they come down, I guess this is kind of subjective but do they come down in better shape than they went up or worse shape or how does that change? Takiyah Sirmons: It kind of depends on the person, so NASA in general they take the health of the astronaut very seriously. Host: Of course. Takiyah Sirmons: And so that is part of the reason why they workout so much, that's to combat muscle loss as well as bone loss. And so they probably work out more than they would maybe on earth, depending on the person. We try to make sure that their food is nutritionally sound so that if you're someone who is not constantly paying attention to your diet before going into space it will be an improvement for you. But a lot of them are already very health conscious. So it really depends on the person and what state they were in before, but in general we don't notice those changes as much as we used to in the past. Host: I guess that's good, right because then there's not really negative -- well, you have counter measures against those negative things. Takiyah Sirmons: Right, right. Host: So you're eating healthy, you're exercising regularly so you come down. Takiyah Sirmons: To make sure you're in reasonably good health when you come back and that's an overall mission of the space program to make sure there aren't lasting effects of going into space. And obviously the more that we have astronauts in space, the more we learn and we try to combat those effects. Host: Right and the International Space Station is perfect for that right, it's like a big you know, it's a laboratory that you can practice this over and over and then if you go do another mission then you're well-prepared because you have all this data from collected from the International Space Station, very cool. Well, Takiyah I think that's about all the time we have for the listeners if you want to know more have a suggestion on what we should talk about stay tuned to after the music to learn how to submit those ideas. Takiyah thank you so much for coming it's always a pleasure talking to you, space food is one of my favorite things to talk about. And I know we were just talking beforehand but we might have to do another episode on the history of space food. Takiyah Sirmons: That would be very interesting. Host: Yes, okay and I'm sure there's more so we'll do another episode but thank you again, it's been an absolute pleasure. Takiyah Sirmons: Thank you. [ Music ] Host: Hey, thanks for sticking around, so today we talked with Dr. Takiyah Sirmons about space food and the space food that they make is mostly right now, well almost entirely, for the International Space Station. And you can see some of the pictures that some of the astronauts share of the food that they're eating on the International space Station by going to NASA.gov/ISS. We have a lot of blog posts and photos that we release regularly, some of them are about space food but you can also learn what's going on aboard the International Space Station like what experiments they're doing and some of the latest updates on what's being done onboard. On social media we're very active on Facebook it's International Space Station, Twitter at space underscore station and on Instagram is at ISS. If you use the hashtag ask NASA on anyone of those platforms and submit an idea or maybe a question for the show we'll make sure to address it in a later episode of Houston We have a Podcast. This podcast was recorded on July 5, 2017. Thanks to Alex Perryman, John Stoll and Bill Jesse and thanks again to Dr. Takiyah Sirmons for coming on the show. We'll be back next week.

Houston, We Have a Podcast. Episode 50: DNA Sequencing

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-06-22

Gary Jordan (Host): Houston, We Have a Podcast. Welcome to the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center, episode 50, DNA sequencing. I'm Gary Jordan, and I'll be your host today. On this podcast we bring in the experts, NASA scientists, engineers and astronauts, all to let you know the coolest information about what's going on right here at NASA. So today we're talking about DNA sequencing on board the International Space Station with Dr. Sarah Wallace. First a little background, DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. This basically serves as a blueprint for any organism. DNA provides detailed instructions on how to make a living thing what it is, whether it's a banana tree, bunny rabbit or human being. DNA sequencing is when you take a small sample of a living thing, such as a mold from the kitchen sink or cheek cells from your mouth and extract the DNA from the cells. Then you determine the order of the nucleotide basis. This is the order then that's matched with the patterns of known organisms. Thirty years ago, first-generation DNA sequencing machines could easily take up an entire laboratory's worth of space. Now we're using a sequencer on the International Space Station that could literally fit inside of a pocket. So today, we're talking with Dr. Sarah Wallace who was instrumental in developing this sequencer as part of a multicenter effort led right here at the Johnson Space Center. I'm particularly excited about this interview because DNA sequencing can be used for all sorts of beneficial things in space from monitoring the crew members' health to identifying microbes, and even potentially detecting life in the solar system. So with no further delay, let's go light speed and jump right ahead to our talk with Dr. Sarah Wallace. Enjoy. ~- [ Music ] Host: Sarah, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. Very excited for this topic because DNA sequencing, this is relatively new for spaceflight in particular, but it sounds super cool, but if you kind of know what it is. And that's the thing is whenever I was like cool, yeah, DNA sequencing in space. What is that? So, if we can just start there. What's DNA sequencing? Sarah Wallace: Sure, so DNA sequencing, like you mentioned, not new to labs here on Earth. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: Definitely brand new to space. Traditionally, you know, we've been doing DNA sequencing on the ground for a couple decades now through different methods of doing it. But it's definitely evolved to the point where the instrumentation could be small and portable enough that we could do it in space. The old, most of the sequencers, the other two that I have in my lab, they're very large. They're sensitive to vibrations. They require a large power draw. As you know, those are not things that are awesome for spaceflight. Makes things a little difficult. So when this new technology came out that would really let us achieve the same thing, which is obtaining the sequence of DNA in a smaller platform, that's what's really allowed us to do it in space. So really, DNA sequencing is just that, just determining that order of those four bases, the A, the G, the T and the C, that if you sometimes see all those kind of, just looks like a bunch of letters and looks like it doesn't mean anything. But that's that sequence that makes up every living thing. And so this instrument is letting us determine that sequence. Host: So I hate to back up even further than that, but you're talking to a marketing major here. So if we're to backup to DNA and these four letters, what is that? Sarah Wallace: So they're made of, these are the nucleotide bases, so that's really a sugar phosphate backbone that you have these, the bases on. So, do you just want me to say deoxyribonucleic acid? Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: Okay, like I didn't know, like am I going too simple? Okay. So deoxyribonucleic acid, and so this is really, again, like it makes up every living thing. And so it's, you know, one of the basic building blocks, or the basic thing that makes up these blueprints that we know all lifeforms on Earth have this very similar, incredibly similar structure that if we can determine the sequence, that can tell us, either tell us all about that living thing, even if it's something small like a microorganism. Even tells who that living thing is. So it's really just an abundance of information that we can get on something. Host: So, basically, the order of these four things spread out over how many characters? Millions? Or is it millions? Sarah Wallace: Yeah. Yep, depending on if we're talking about for a human or for a plant or for bacteria. You're going to have different size genomes. So this makes up your genome. And so what those four letters do is that they code for genes. So a sequence of these four letters make up a gene. And it's those genes and the way that they get turned on and off that tells our bodies how to respond to certain environments, and they're telling our cells when to grow and when to, you know, all these different things. So by looking at the DNA, we have the genes. And then we need to take it a step further to look at the RNA which is, DNA is transcribed into RNA. And so by looking at the RNA, which is what our next experiment is going to do, that gets back to the telling us which genes are on and off. So the DNA in theory should always be the same, unless it's changed by something like a mutation. Now your gene expression, that's something that's changing all the time. And we do that by measuring the RNA. Host: Interesting. This is a complicated world. Sarah Wallace: It is. I'm sorry. I'm not doing a good job. Host: No, you're doing great. It's me who didn't study enough in school. Sarah Wallace: Well, and I'm jumping ahead and all over the place. Host: But if I were to sort of take it down to my brain capacity, this, a gene, for example, is, and correct me if I'm wrong, the color of your hair. So a gene is going to say, you have brown hair. Sarah Wallace: Yep. Host: And then this sequence is going to say, this person is going to have brown hair based on this gene. Sarah Wallace: Right. Host: Okay. Sarah Wallace: Yeah. Host: But it doesn't, it's not like it's going to identify this long string of letters and just like this is Dr. Sarah Wallace. Sarah Wallace: We're getting there. Host: Really? Sarah Wallace: Yeah, we're getting there. So with a microorganism, that's exactly what it's going to do. It's going to tell me who that microorganism is. And for me as a microbiologist, that's what I want to know. Host: That's awesome. Sarah Wallace: I want to know, yep, I want to know who that is that could potentially make the crew sick or be a problem to the ISS environment. A lot, there's a lot of companies, I'm sure you've seen the commercials on TV for send us your DNA sample, and we'll tell you all about you. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: They're getting into the, it's getting pretty specific to where if you, you know, you can find out a lot about somebody's background, their heritage, maybe what certain, you know, diseases they might be more likely to have. So it's, we're kind of right at that point I think. And again, I'm a microbiologist, not human. But a dose of the human genomes. But we're kind of right at the cusp of where that's really starting to take off to where you could start looking at things like personalized medicine based on your genome. And that's really where a lot of research is headed. Host: Is it fair to say that that's huge. Sarah Wallace: Uh-huh. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: Yeah. Host: That's a big one, right? Sarah Wallace: Yeah. And, you know, especially for NASA. These are, you know, we have a, you know our crew is, you know, they're a healthy population. So, you know, we're not looking necessarily if they have these diseases, but if there were a way where we could understand if a crew was more, would metabolize a certain nutrient better, or there was a way we could alter it based on their genome, that may be a countermeasure for being able to, you know, if certain nutrients are limited or, you know, the body isn't absorbing them, that you could really handle that at the level of the genome. Host: So you can basically identify where the gaps are, and you say you need this extra nutrient. Okay, add this to the diet. Or, yeah basically -- Sarah Wallace: Or if they're taking it in, but they're just not metabolizing it. And so they're getting plenty of it, but it's being excreted in their urine because their body isn't metabolizing it as well as somebody else's. So maybe there's other things that you can do to help them increase their metabolism of that nutrient. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: But the research is already kind of headed in that direction. Host: Like maybe some sort of pharmaceutical that can help them to digest or something like that. Sarah Wallace: Same thing. Same thing, yep. Yep. Host: Okay. Sarah Wallace: And maybe someone is more prone to be susceptible to a certain type of pharmaceutical or somebody else wouldn't be. And those are things that we're starting to really look at the level of the genome to provide insight towards. Host: Wow, okay, so I guess, there's a lot of things to look forward to in the future, but in terms of DNA sequencing, I guess right now on the Station, we'll start with what are we doing now? What are we learning now on the Station with sequencing? Sarah Wallace: So our very first experiment on the biomolecule sequencer -- Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: Dr. Aaron Burton was the principal investigator of that experiment. That was really to take this new piece of technology, this very small sequencer that, again, the output of what it gives you is the same as these big ones. It just does it in a very different way. But does this even work in microgravity? Before we start developing a lot of ways to prepare the sample, does this thing even work? So that was the first experiment. And that's the one that, you know, Kate Rubins, I think that picture's been seen a lot, her holding it with her success, the first DNA sequencing. And that's really what it was. We prepared the DNA on the ground here on Earth. And then we launched the DNA. We launched the sequencer. And everything worked beautifully. Much better than we could have expected. And so then the follow one that we were already working on at the same time, we had gotten funding to develop, was that sample prep process. Because the sequencer is no good if you don't have a way to prep your sample. And every sequencer, this very tiny one to the larger ones, you have to put the DNA in a state that the sequencer can recognize it or read it. So that sample preparation part is key no matter what DNA sequencer you're using. So that was really where the, where some of the got yous would be is how do I basically put my entire molecular biology lab on ISS? And so what we were really doing was finding ways, you know, using what was already out there and technology that was already up there, and just how can we tweak procedures to make this as easy for the crew to do as possible but get us meaningful science. Host: Did size have a lot to do with it? You were constrained on how much you can bring up and how much you can have, you know. Sarah Wallace: Exactly. Host: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sarah Wallace: Size and power and, you know, something that we use a lot of on the ground is a centrifuge. And while there are centrifuges up there, they're not, they're not exactly the same ones we would use for this type of, you know, to do the molecular biology where you just quickly pop in a little tube in and out. They're very specialized. So they weren't available to us. So it was actually a piece of equipment that was already up there that was called mini PCR. And that PCR stands for the polymerase chain reaction. And that process is just amplifying DNA. So you can think of it kind of like a photocopier for DNA. So if you have a very little amount, you can turn it into a lot. And that's a common first step in any molecular biology process but especially DNA sequencing. That's usually a first step thing you're going to do. So that was already on board. It was actually, the Genes in Space program, which is a high school student, high school students get involved, and they can propose an experiment. So the first molecular biology experiment ever done in space as a high school student, which I think is just cool. I just think, you know, way to go. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: And so we were able to partner with them, our biomolecule sequencer and mini PCR, and we became Genes in Space-3. And so what that was, Genes in Space-3 was really to show that we could go all the way from a sample to an answer. And what we chose as our sample for that was actually microorganisms that have been collected from and cultured on ISS as part of my lab's normal job is to monitor the ISS air, water and surface for what's growing up there. So we already have this stuff growing up there, but it wasn't a part of our process. So we were able to pull in some of those bacteria and actually have the astronaut sequence them on board, which is the first time we've ever identified anything off planet Earth. So super exciting. Host: So the sample was the stuff that's growing. What's growing? What's growing up there? Sarah Wallace: Well, it's not all necessarily growing, but some of it is. There's everything. So ISS has a microbiome just like we do. So, every, you know, we don't send up a sterile vehicle. We don't send up sterile crew. We don't send up sterile anything. You know, cargo, hardware, food, everything has microorganisms that it's taking up there. Host: It's as sterile as we can make it, but -- Sarah Wallace: Well, and we do our best to reduce potential pathogens from getting up there. But as I think we're starting to learn, there's a healthy balance. There's very beneficial microbes. And we're still working on understanding how those in the environment interplay with us as humans in our daily life. That research is just starting to get underway. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: But, what we want to do is make sure that some of those potential pathogens that we carry with us aren't there in high abundance to where a crew could come in contact with them, or they would get into the water system and something could foul up the water system and cause problems for the vehicle that would be a problem for everybody. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: So that's part of our normal. We've been doing that since the beginning of Station. Host: Right. Sarah Wallace: And the astronauts actually are physically culturing the bacteria and the fungi that are up there. Host: Is this a normal part of living in a contained environment, I guess? No matter what kind of contained environment, there's going to be this microbiome -- Sarah Wallace: Absolutely. Host: these fungi bacterial that are just going to. But you have to learn to coexist with them in this type space. Sarah Wallace: Absolutely. Right. Host: And that's really what it is. Sarah Wallace: Yeah, and really just reducing the risk. If we find something that, there are definitely things we carry as people, but you know, they're fine when they're on us. But we don't want them out in the environment in high numbers where the crew has a scrape or something. They accidently bump up against it. They get it in there. You know, there's, we just want to have the environment be as free of those types of things as possible. Host: Sure. Sarah Wallace: And also the things, like I said, that could foul up one of the environmental life support systems because something's growing in them. Which is something we have to keep a close eye on. So, that's really the why we do this monitoring in the first place is just to see, making sure the environment is leading to the least amount of risk possible. Host: So what's the normal monitoring that you do? And then what was this, you said there was a sample and then answer section of the DNA. Sarah Wallace: Yes. Yep. Host: So what are those two components? Sarah Wallace: So the normal monitoring is this basic have the astronaut collect from the air, the water, the surface, a sample, and actually grow the bacteria and the fungi. That's what we do all the time. Host: Cool. Sarah Wallace: Then we get about an idea of about how many is there, but we have no idea what it is. And as a microbiologist, I would argue that oftentimes, with some of these environmental bugs, sometimes what it is can be more important than how many there are. When you drink water, you're drinking bacteria, and it could be in relatively high number. They don't hurt you, but if just a few of the wrong type are in there, you're in for a rough night. And anybody that's ever had food poisoning or anything kind of knows, yeah. You don't want the crew to experience that. So, it's really important to know what it is, not just how many there are. So we, up until very recently, we have never been able to have that answer in space. We have to wait until those samples come back to the lab on the ground here and for our microbiologists to be able to process them and provide an answer. And we do that through DNA sequencing. So now, with Genes in Space-3, we were able to take one of those samples that we would normally return, and we were able to actually have the astronaut take some of the cells that had been grown and put them through our mini PCR process into the MinION, which is the DNA sequencer, and actually, we were able to get the data down of what was growing on those petri dishes before we even got the petri dish back. So that was, again, that's really something we need to be able to enable, you know, human exploration beyond ISS. So it was, for me, that was one of the most exciting moments I've ever had in my career was seeing, you know, sitting there watching the data come down and watching us analyze it and see the IDs pop up, just because it's not a capability we've ever had. Host: Yeah. So you're basically scrubbing the station and putting it into here, hey, is this going to hurt me. And then you put it through the DNA sequencer, and you can find out pretty quickly, no, I'm good. Sarah Wallace: Yep. Host: And that's really the benefit rather than waiting for a return mission. Sarah Wallace: Exactly. Exactly. Host: Okay, yeah. Sarah Wallace: Yep, because imagine if you're not on ISS, and you have a limited supply of antibiotics -- Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: If you have a wound infection, do you treat it with the antibiotic, because maybe it's something we need to worry about. Or, is it an acne-causing bacteria? Like, don't waste the antibiotic. Let's save it. Because we can't resupply. And same thing with the disinfectant wipe. If something's growing up on station, which we've seen it, do we need to waste all of our disinfectant wipes to go clean that up? Or is it something that we don't need to worry about until later down the road? So it's really those types of questions that we get into that I think the sequencer is going to be hugely powerful in helping us address. Host: Yeah, just basic, yeah, okay, I can coexist with this for a while. It's not going to hurt me. But then also, identifying okay, this, if I have this particular type of bacteria, now you're talking about efficiency of pharmaceuticals. You're talking about, you don't waste, don't waste this one, because it's not going to work. Because the DNA sequencer identified it as this, therefore, you need to use this pharmaceutical. Sarah Wallace: Different, yep. Host: Wow, that's significant. Sarah Wallace: Yeah, and it's just, you know, and this is, again, this is all very micro-specific, because that's what I do. But those things we talked about early on, that's really the research is starting to be there on the human health front. You know, how are humans responding to things and, you know, measuring changes in the crew members' gene expression and things like that that really, you know, I think, so much beyond just microbes. But for now, the microbe part for me is just huge and exciting. Host: You're right, there's those steps, right. Let's deal with the microbe now, but then eventually, we'll be able to identify, that's Sarah Wallace. Sarah Wallace: Yep. Host: We'll get there. You know, we sort of addressed it in the beginning, but I don't think I circled back to it. One of the main things for the MinION is what you called it right, whenever you were first testing it on board the station was to see does this thing work in microgravity. Sarah Wallace: Correct. Host: So, what were the concerns that it wouldn't? Sarah Wallace: Well, everything, the way that the sequencer works, your DNA is in a fluid. It's in a buffer. And there's some salts, some other things that, there's, that when you turn on the sequencer, basically these things start to flow through these proteins. These are actual proteins. We call them nanopores. So it's a nanopore sequencer. So they're the same type of proteins that your cells have and my cells have that let ions in and out of our cells. It's those same proteins in a membrane. And as the DNA, well, let me back up, as those salts that are in the buffer flow through there, a current is created. As the DNA molecule passes through, it changes that current. It's the change in current that the software then takes and changes it into the AGTC sequence that we're looking for. So with that, the fluid and the buffers, all of that, any time there's fluidics involved, you never quite know in microgravity. Host: Yes. Sarah Wallace: On the ground, we have issues where if accidently when you're loading your sample a bubble is introduced, that bubble is very problematic. Was that going to be the same in space? So it was some very, pretty simple fundamental questions in terms of just the operation of such a small device and, you know, the crew working on a small scale. Then back to kind of the fluidics issues with bubbles, things that we just really didn't know until we got it up there. Host: Yeah, one of the things I always go back to with fluids is, I mean, if you just see any video of water is space, it's one of the coolest things to watch. Sarah Wallace: Yep. Host: Because you think, the primary force on Earth that controls water is gravity. That's what helps it stick to a cup. But at the same time, you're going to get little sweat beads, and that's the surface tension. Surface tension dominates in microgravity. Sarah Wallace: Yep. Host: And I could see that really, really messing with, but I mean, so you said you didn't have any problems. How much of it was because you had Kate Rubins, who's an expert in this sort of thing, dealing with it versus the capability of the machine. If you said everything's working perfectly, I'm thinking it's the latter. Sarah Wallace: I think, I think it's the latter as well. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: I think that, right now we've been so fortunate. We've had Kate Rubins and then Peggy Whitson. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: So couldn't, yeah, couldn't ask for better hands in terms of come from a lab. I mean, that's what, these are scientists. Host: They're scientists. Sarah Wallace: That's what they do. Host: Right. Sarah Wallace: So for them, it wasn't a foreign thing. We have, again, microgravity isn't at play here, but we have had multiple astronauts test this for the last two NEEMO expeditions, which is the NEEMO is a, it's Nasa Extreme Environment Mission Operations. So it's Florida International University owns this habitat that sits on the ocean floor off the coasts of Key Largo. Host: Aquarius. Sarah Wallace: There we go. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: Thank you. And every, NASA rents it out for a couple weeks during the summer to send some of their astronauts to train. So last two summers we've had a lot of different astronauts get their hands on it from this, so we've actually had far more than just Kate and Peggy run the sequencer. And in extreme environment, we just haven't, we're working on writing up those papers, and they just haven't gotten talked as much about. But I think that speaks to the, just the device itself and how well it was designed, that it really is, we're doing something very, very complex. But the system is pretty simple to use, and then I like to think that the process that we've developed to do the sample prep is also pretty simple. Of course, there's, we're trying to make it better and even more simple and more automated. But it's working, and we're really excited to see where it all goes. Host: So what were they identifying in Aquarius? Were they scrubbing like the ocean floor or something? Sarah Wallace: So here's the kicker with this. So we are still focused on the inside of the habitat. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: But what we were doing was we were having the crew swab a surface. That swab was going directly into the process. So we were removing the need to first culture the microorganisms. So how great would that be if we didn't, if we have potential pathogens, if the crew never has to turn them from, you know, a couple hundred maybe on the surface to millions. And we could remove that step completely. And so what we do right now is a culture-dependent process. What I hope to see in the future is a culture independent process. That's what we've been working on getting ready at NEEMO for our next spaceflight investigation. Host: So I might be missing a step. Is this that PCR component where you're making a lot of copies and -- Sarah Wallace: Kind of. Host: Okay, okay. Sarah Wallace: So we'll still need PCR, but PCR you can think of PCR as copying the DNA. Host: I see. Sarah Wallace: That culture, you can think of the actual, they're growing. They're living, they're growing, those cells are dividing. So you're amplifying the material, but those cells are living, you get the big fuzzy spots from the fungus and the big colonies from the bacteria. So removing that part. So you would still amplify the DNA, but you would never have to increase the number of organisms that you had originally in your sample, Which culture, that's what you're doing, you're increasing the number of living organisms. Host: Okay, what's the, is there a fancy culturing process in order to make sure that these things, or is it just, what do you do to culture them? To make sure that they go through this process. Sarah Wallace: That's, it's the same way, it is good old microbiology 101. The same way, if you ever took a class where you went and streaked something out and streaked it across the plate, that's the exact same thing the astronauts are doing. Host: That's what you're doing. Okay. Sarah Wallace: There's, picture a petri dish with the food in there, and that's the same thing. So it's the way microbiology has been done since the beginning. The way we've been doing microbiology since Apollo. Host: Wow. Sarah Wallace: It's great. It's the gold standard. It's you know what you have, you know. There are some drawbacks, as are with anything. And I just think moving away and not needing to do that in the future would be huge. Host: Yeah. It seems like there's a lot of microbiology components to flying in space that maybe you wouldn't normally think about. Sarah Wallace: I think, yeah, I think we're a little underrated. I don't think people think enough about us. There are, I mean, and it's, I think a lot of people, you know, take it for granted. We, you know, keeping the crew safe and healthy is what everybody who works for NASA in some way, shape or form is, that's what we care about. But if anybody's ever, you know, you've had strep throat, you've had, you know, something, a cut that gets infected. You know, you've been plagued by these things. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: Infectious disease is an issue that everybody has dealt with. And just because we send astronauts up there, they may not be exposed to the flu virus or the cold virus as often as we are, but they're carrying up those bacteria and things with them that could potentially make them sick. Host: That's right. And how cool would it be if you can just use this mini PCR, and you have a little bit of a cough. And you take a little swab and put it into the mini PCR, and you're like okay, this is this kind of flu or common cold or something. And then okay, I need to take these antibiotics or something. Sarah Wallace: That's my goal. So the two-part. You do that, you just, whether it's a swab or, you know, you just something into mini PCR and then into the MinION. So we amplify it, and then we sequence. Host: Amplify, sequence. Sarah Wallace: And then that will give, and that's, we're doing that right now with just the swab. So I can envision it, you know, as the technology becomes more sensitive and we start to understand this kind of culture-independent data better, and develop proper standards and controls, I can really see it going in that direction. Host: So you talked about Genes in Space-3. And I know there's been more. So what's the sort of progress that you're taking to learn more and more about this study? Sarah Wallace: So, the biomolecule sequencer was the first. Host: Okay. Sarah Wallace: That's the, we're going to, that's what we called the MinION. That is the actual, is the company name of the sequencer. We call it the biomolecule sequencer. Host: It's a commercial off-the-shelf product, right? Sarah Wallace: Exactly. Host: Okay. Sarah Wallace: Oxford Nanopore Technologies and really the only sequencer out there that I can put in my pocket and fly to ISS. You know, it's really that small. Host: Wow. Sarah Wallace: And it's smaller than your smartphone. So the other, and then mini PCR is also extremely small. So the first one was just a biomolecule sequencer. Genes in Space at the time, we were not collaborating with them. That was a high school student's experiment, just to show same thing, DNA can be amplified in space. Host: Right. Sarah Wallace: And then we collaborated, and that was Genes in Space-3. And we're continuing our collaborations. The next investigation is called BEST, the BEST experiment. Host: Very humble. Sarah Wallace: Right. Stands for Biomolecule Extraction and Sequencing Technology. Really, what we're going to do with that is just everything we can. We're going to take advantage while we have a little bit left of this extra crew time, of this crew member, we're going to take advantage of as much science as we can get done. So that swab process I as talking about, where we just have them swab and stick that swab directly into the process, never culture anything. We're going to try that out. We are also going to do some evolution-type experiments. We're going to send up some bacteria that are common water bacteria that, you know, no one, that are very, they're safe to handle. Send them up and have them grow and then have the crew do some transfers of them. So we get a lot of generations of them reproducing. And see if we can start to see by sequencing their entire genome, see if we can start to see any changes due to mutation. And so this is something that, you know, a lot of people have been working on trying to define a mutation rate. It's hard if you don't have a proper ground control where you're tracking the same thing. And so people ask me all the time as a microbiologist, well, do things mutate? I don't know, because the staph aureus that we isolated from the Space Station, I don't have that exact staph aureus before it launched. So I can't say if it mutated. But this, we will have, we'll be able to start to get some insight into maybe how susceptible, at least this organism, is to radiation and if we can see any changes at the level of the genome. So then the next experiment, and I'm equally excited about all of them, but I'm very much excited about this one. Host: You can tell. Sarah Wallace: We will be sequencing RNA directly. This is a big deal because this is really the only platform out there that you can do direct RNA sequencing. Most of the time, you're converting RNA back into cDNA to be able to sequence it when you're doing these types of experiments. But with the Nanopore sequencer, we can sequence RNA directly, meaning we don't have to do a lot of things to change it. So I'll tell you why this is important. You yourself have your DNA in you right now that is, it says who you are, and it makes you up. But it doesn't tell me anything about what you are experiencing right now. If I'm just looking at the DNA, actually there are ways that it could tell me some things. But we'll keep it simple. So, but if I want to know things about how you're responding to your environment, I want to know what genes are being turned on and turned off. Because let's just say you have 100 genes. You have much more than that, but let's say you have 100. You don't need all 100 all the time, so your body is not going to waste energy expressing all 100 all the time. So maybe right now, sitting here talking to me, you're just trying to keep your eyes open, so you're only using those 20 to do that. Host: I'm trying to pretend I'm smart. That's what I'm doing right now. Sarah Wallace: You're doing a great job. So if I wanted to know that this environment of me talking to you is doing, I would want to know which genes are turned on and turned off. Host: Okay. Sarah Wallace: In space, that is kind of the goal is how are organisms, how are living things responding to space. And how we do that is looking at what genes are on and what genes are off. So to turn a gene on and off, you transcribe it into RNA. So that DNA makes RNA, which eventually goes on to make a protein, which will do something. But it's that RNA that's telling, that we can look at and see what kind of environment you're in. So we know the gene expression changes. Every time we've done a spaceflight experiment or we look at a living thing, we see their gene expression changing. That's just, it does because you're in a, you need certain things in space. Certain genes need to be on and off that aren't the same as they would be on Earth. Whether it's due to radiation or microgravity or you're changing your diet. All of these things. We're really now just trying to understand all this and pick it apart. So if I have a capability to where I can sequence RNA directly without having to turn it back into cDNA, which we do for most of the sequencers on Earth, and I can do it right there, I can gain a lot of insight into how these things are responding and when. And it's really important, because they change over time. And so to be able to track that and do it would give us just a huge amount of insight that we haven't had. So with this experiment, that's what we're going to do is we're going to sequence RNA directly and actually have the crew, RNA is a little less stable than DNA. It's a little bit more difficult to work with. So have the crew go through all the steps of preparing it and sequencing it. Host: So I'm trying to think of an example to sort of wrap my brain around this. So if you were to swab, I guess, some of the microbiome [phonetic] in this station, right, and then we'll just say the DNA would tell you this is kind of microbiome it is. What would it say, what would the RNA tell you about how it's reacting? What do you expect? Sarah Wallace: That's what it was. So the DNA would tell me who is there. Host: Yes. Sarah Wallace: The RNA would tell me what genes were being turned on and turned off. So it would tell me what that system, as the whole, what they are doing. So are they metabolizing the surface that they're on? Are they being able to, are they producing, are they giving off some kind of, you know, different compound? Or is it just a simple, are they just respiring? So it would tell us the function more what they are doing. It gives more towards that functionality. And so, with our cells, it tells us, again, are you able, are you building up muscle? Are you tearing down muscle? Are you, those types of things that -- Host: Wow. Sarah Wallace: Yeah. To really get at what's going on in the whole system. Aaron is my analogy guy. I should have asked him for a good analogy. Host: That's a great analogy. Sarah Wallace: He's good. But that's, it's really, it's what, the DNA tells you what capabilities are there. The RNA tells you what's actually happening. Host: So it's like, okay, so I'm going to scale it up a bit to humans. And tell me if I'm wrong again. Sarah Wallace: Okay. Host: So, the DNA would tell you, this is, let's just say Gary's flying in space. This is Gary. He has brown hair and, you know, brown eyes, and he's this tall. That's what the DNA tells you. The RNA is going to tell you he is losing muscle in this area. His eyes are changing this way, and he's kind of nervous and scared about doing this podcast. Sarah Wallace: Yes. Host: Yes, that's what it would tell you. Sarah Wallace: There we go. Yes. Host: Okay, good. Sarah Wallace: Yes. And all those little things about, all those different systems and how they're functioning together and separately, you know, and just how everything you said. Host: Okay. All right. Very interesting stuff, and especially there's a lot of applications that can go forward. I did want to circle back to just microbiology and you. How did you sort of get into this world that turned from microbiology to space microbiology? Sarah Wallace: So it all started space for me. I'm one of -- Host: Space first, okay. Sarah Wallace: I'm one of those, yep. So I am very fortunate to have grown up in a small town in Kansas. That small town in Kansas was located within about an hour drive to another small town in Kansas, Hutchinson, Kansas, which is home to the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center. I tell everybody if you're a space nerd, you have to go there. It's the largest collection of spaceflight memorabilia anywhere in the world, both US and Soviet at the time, Russia now. Just a phenomenal collection. Apollo 13 is there. I think the Liberty Bell is traveling around, but it was there. It's where we're sending pieces of mission control to get restored. So it really, it really is like, this is where you go to nerd out. Host: Yeah, that'll get you into space. Sarah Wallace: And they had a space camp, so I know it's not the space camp in Huntsville. But I went to that space camp. And so, just really, my sixth grade science teacher, Jim Lester, just really, he inspired the love of space in me. And not only did we take tests over, you know, the solar system, like all sixth graders do, but we took tests over NASA history. And I just loved it. So, when I, it was really when I got to undergrad, I knew, I was always a biology girl. I was never that strong in math and engineering, so thank goodness that I didn't need to do a whole lot of it. I had to do well in those classes to do well to get into graduate school. Host: Yep. Sarah Wallace: But my strength was always more in the life sciences in biology and chemistry. And so when I got into undergrad, I really, I didn't know, but there was a professor there that had some NASA funding doing kind of astrobiology-type work. And he was like, come work in my lab for a little while, and that's where I streaked my first plate as a microbiologist, and that was it. I was hooked from that day. And so, it was like how do I combine my love of microbiology with my love of NASA? And I found the University of Texas medial branch down in Galveston, which has a phenomenal PhD program in microbiology in case the whole space thing didn't work out, I would have a microbiology, you know, degree from a good world-renowned program. So I was fortunate enough to, and then have that proximity, so was able to get a fellowship to do my research, my PhD research here at NASA. And then just never left. Host: Yeah. You know, I hear that narrative a lot where you go for something knowing that if you were to just stay there, you'd be happy anyway. I see that all the time. And I think it's such a good piece of advice, because if your ultimate goal is astronaut, which it is for a lot of people. Sarah Wallace: It is for a lot of people. Host: You know, you've got to take steps that if you were to no get to eventually astronaut, you would be happy for the rest of your life in whatever. I love that, yeah. I think it's a good piece of advice. Sarah Wallace: Great plan B. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: And also, you know, STEM is so important, but I always tell kids, you have to be good in all of them. Find the one you're passionate about, and if you struggle as you get into some of the harder math classes, that's okay. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: Or if you struggle in, you know, you don't care about the biology, but you really like the chemistry. Whatever it is, you know, I just I think that's good too. Host: Just hang in there until you swab a plate. Sarah Wallace: Exactly. And once, it's magic once that happens. Host: I love it. I love it. You know, talking about, you know, passion for space and sort of going down this path to eventually do microbiology for NASA, there's one story that's just, it's stuck in my head. And that's last year when Hurricane Harvey happened, and gosh darn we still needed to sequence that DNA in space, you were calling Peggy Whitson from your house because we were all trapped because of the storm. Sarah Wallace: Yes. Host: How was that experience? Sarah Wallace: That, I was going to say, getting the data was probably the highlight of my life. That actually was probably the highlight of my life. So, the way we did Genes in Space-3, we did it in two separate portions so that it would be just easier to schedule and that kind of thing. So, the first part was to have Peggy collect some of those cells that were growing and put them in mini PCR. And then it can stop, and after that point, whenever there was time again, to come back and collect that. There was a little more prep she had to do to sequence it. So come back, get the DNA that had been amplified, and then finish prepping it for sequence and actually sequencing. So we had done the first part a week or two before Harvey hit. Everything went well. But of course, I'm just waiting, like knowing it's so close. Let's get these IDs. So, it gets put on the timeline for that Monday morning, and Harvey hits. And it became very apparent that the, the Center, it wasn't like you could come in. It was like you're not coming in. The Center was closed, and -- Host: The gates were under water. Sarah Wallace: Yes. Host: You literally like could not physically couldn't. Sarah Wallace: I could not. I could not leave my house. Host: Yeah, yeah. Sarah Wallace: It was awful for anyone that lives here understands. So, but me, you know, yes I'm worried about the house and the cars and all those things, my family. Should have said that first. But you know, for me it was like, we have the schedule, you know, the crew's up there. They're still doing their stuff. We need to support. So I'm usually enabled to talk them through the procedures just in case they have any questions or anything. So I usually communicate with them. I had taken my, everything home to be able to connect to the voice loops that allow us to communicate with the crew. But of course, my, the firewall was blocking my connection for my internet from home. So that's when the people at Marshall Space Flight Center, the POIC folks were like, that's it. We'll patch you through to Peggy. And Peggy, she didn't know, she just thought I was talking to her like normal. But I'm in my house, in my sweatshirt, and it's raining and cold, and on my cellphone. And I usually have video. I can usually see what the astronauts were doing. This time I did not. I was blind. Host: Wow. Sarah Wallace: So I was really, I had my procedure book. I knew where she was in the process. I knew what she was doing, so I was able to walk her through it. Went off without a hitch, like thank goodness there were no weird things that had to be troubleshooted. Everything went perfectly. And as the sequencer, what's really cool about the sequencer is as it's sequencing, you're getting the data near real time. So, I don't know if things are successful. I know what Peggy's told me. But the folks at Marshall were able to get a camera view on the Surface Pro 3 that we had running the sequencer. And they were able to get a screen shot of me that confirmed to me that it was successful. So, we knew pretty soon after Peggy had hit go on the sequencer that it was at least sequencing something that was the size of the gene we were looking to sequence. And so, that was just, that was one of the most exciting moments. And when I got that text from Marshall with that picture, I sent to, you know, my whole team. And it was just a super, super exciting moment. And it really was. It was like this, you know, not only this experiment but just science in general was not stopped because of Hurricane Harvey. And I just think that that's, being here in Houston, and I just, I think that's such a cool story. And for me personally, just because it was a huge, a huge first in space. You know, if you think about what we were doing, we took bacteria that had been collected from and cultured entirely in space, and then we sequenced them and got the AD entirely in space. So we did all of this that normally takes the whole lab off of the planet. And I mean, it was just a big huge first, and we're really excited. Host: And you still got the data in your living room on a cellphone. Sarah Wallace: Yep. Host: And like you said, doing it blind. Sarah Wallace: Yep. Host: Doing it, just reading the procedures, not getting a video feed. Sarah Wallace: Yep. Host: That's a testament to the technology, but then also, just the communications from mission control. It's a, that's a huge accomplishment really. Sarah Wallace: Thanks. And the people at Marshall, like they were, they knew that, you know, they're always running the payloads, but they knew that time especially that there just wasn't anything we could do from here. So they were awesome. Host: Yeah. Now really, I absolutely love that story. It's really, really cool. I wanted to kind of end with sort of looking ahead. You know, we're talking about a lot of stuff going on the Station, and we've definitely hinted in the beginning of the evolution of what's possible with DNA and RNA sequencing. There's just, there's so much ahead. What are some of the implications whenever we are starting to go beyond lower Earth orbit and starting to travel now deeper into space? Now you're talking about transiting to Mars on, you know, several month, several year-long missions. You're talking about going to the moon and even beyond, you know, thinking really way ahead. How is DNA sequencing and RNA sequencing really going to help you along the way? Sarah Wallace: So I think for me personally, it's going to be, it's all about the microbes. It's being able to know if a crew member has an infectious disease that we can diagnose it. If their vehicle has something, we can diagnose it. And then we can provide the proper course of remediation. Which if we're far away from Earth, that's going to be really critical that we get that data. For my friends that work on more the side of the humans and not just the microbes, I really think what we're going to start seeing is the use of this technology to monitor the way humans are responding to spaceflight, in whatever it is, if it's in terms of a certain, you know, the diet that they're eating or an exercise, you know, regime that they're doing. Whatever it is, how are they responding to it? And is it the way we think, or should it be altered and tweaked? That's the kind of thing that I'm seeing now being done, research here on Earth that, you know, hopefully it can start to be applied to NASA. And I know many of my colleagues are looking at that to really have that, you know, how is astronaut Gary responding? What do we need to do to make his response better, healthier, stronger, all of those things? Then on the turn of that, I would be remiss if I didn't mention this. So I mentioned my colleague, Dr. Aaron Burton who is the PI of the biomolecule sequencer. Host: Right. Sarah Wallace: So for me, the sequencer is the here and now with the microbes. For him, it really is this future. Is this device a first-generation device that is along the lines of what some day detects life beyond Earth? And why we're so excited about the sequencer is because, as I was describing the way it worked with that change in current. So it's not detecting DNA or RNA per se. It's detecting a biomolecule that's going through its pore. It can be anything that's going through that pore. You just need to know what the signature is and have your database to be able to match it up to. So he has colleagues, and they're working on things that are, you know, it's not like DNA or RNA as we know it. They call it XNAs, and it's something that maybe, if life weren't like what we expect it to be, this technology could detect it. So it's far out there, but you know, it's really not that far out there. If maybe this is version one of what that device some day is. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: So to be able to detect life beyond Earth, and you know, have this thing strapped to a rover or in an astronaut's hand on another planet, I think, is something that's definitely the something that folks in the astrobiology world are really excited about. Host: Yeah, maybe not identify right off the bat, but at least start to identify -- Sarah Wallace: Right. Host: and realize what this is, because. Sarah Wallace: So, just having something that you knew came from biological origin. It wasn't, you know, it came from something living, it is truly a biomolecule. Not just, you know, oh we found amino acid, but it didn't come from something living. No, this was from something living. Host: Yeah. And it has to, does some of it have to do with, and this can be a whole tangent of a conversation, but, you know, when we're talking about DNA and RNA and identifying these proteins, there's a difference between these proteins. Which I think, I forget which one, but there's a difference between left-handed and right-handed, and all the ones on Earth are one of the two, I forget. Sarah Wallace: Yes. Host: If they're left-handed or right-handed. I think left-handed proteins. Sarah Wallace: I'm not going to jump in there. Host: Okay, yeah. Sarah Wallace: And that is, that's out, if you want to do another one on taking that spin, you need Aaron Burton. That's what he does. Host: Right. Sarah Wallace: So yeah, but yes. Host: Okay. Sarah Wallace: And that's, you know. Host: Is that that XNA kind of going down that path. Sarah Wallace: So kind of. It's just, it's not the, you know, it may not be the AGTC that we're so used to seeing. It might be something totally different. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: And this, this technology could detect it. And so there's researchers out there working on ways to, you know, throw anything you can at it and see what it can detect. And also, you know, making it more robust and durable to survive a trip to Enceladus or Europa, or you know, wherever they're going. So, but I leave all that to Aaron. So. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: He can give you good answers there. Host: I just think this is a fascinating topic, not only because of what we're doing right now but then exactly what we're talking about now, what we can do in the future. For space exploration, but then also, kind of bringing it down to Earth. Sarah Wallace: Yes. Host: That would be huge if you can identify like an illness, like right off the bat, and know exactly how to treat that. There's some significant Earth benefits. Sarah Wallace: Yeah, can you imagine going to your doctor's office and right away walking away with a confirmed, it's you know, it's this. You need, you know, it's a staph infection. But not only is it I staph infection, it's resistant to these, these, these antibiotics. So we're putting you on this antibiotic. Knowing that. Just like walking away and knowing that, not needing further tests or anything like that. I really think that's kind of what this, the ease and the portability of use of this technology, I really think that's a great prime target for them is really. And I think you're going to see, you know, you're going to go to your doctor and they're, well let's just take a look at your whole genome and let's see if you are, you know, it's. You can pay right now to have it done for fun, you know, the 23 and Me. Host: Oh yeah. Sarah Wallace: But it's really, I think, might be coming. And then that gets into all kinds of ethical things. But, you know. Host: Sure. Oh yeah, if you want gene editing, and that's a whole different, that's one of those other tangents we can take and do a whole other episode. Sarah Wallace: And human genetic data is, which I love sticking with the microbes. Host: Yeah, yeah. Sarah Wallace: Yeah. All kinds of issues when you start talking about human data. Host: Well still some breakthrough stuff just going on in the world in microbes. Sarah Wallace: Absolutely. Host: Yeah, yeah. Sarah Wallace: And they're, you know, like we talked about earlier. We, it's an important thing that we do, you know. It's, if anybody's ever really had a bad night in the restroom because of food poisoning or something along those lines, and knows how extreme it can be, it's not something we want the crew to experience. Host: Oh, for sure. Sarah Wallace: And that's just one example. Host: Yeah. Well Sarah, I really just wanted to thank you for your contribution to the space program. But I'm sure you're not the only one making all these breakthroughs, are you? Sarah Wallace: Yep, no. As I've said, my colleague Dr. Aaron Burton was the PI originally, and he's still, it's really, there's been a team of four of us all the way through. So Aaron Burton, Kristen John, Sarah Stahl and myself. So really, the four of us, we've had lots of other collaborators. But we've been the four key people who have done all of this. Host: Wow. Just that small of a team making these -- Sarah Wallace: We're a small team. Host: Yeah. Sarah Wallace: Yeah. Host: Well, hey, thank you so much for your contributions. Again, to the whole team, but also to you, Sarah, for coming on the podcast today. Sarah Wallace: Thank you very much. [ Music ] Host: Hey, thanks for sticking around. So today we talked to Dr. Sarah Wallace about sequencing DNA and RNA in space. This was episode 49 of Houston We Have a Podcast, but they're not really in any particular order. So you can go back and listen to another episode if you want. We talked a little bit about Dr. Aaron Burton. And that was an episode called The Search for Life. You can go back and listen to when we're talking, we almost went on a tangent about the difference between left-handed proteins and right-handed proteins. We get into that a little bit in that episode The Search for Life. You can go back and listen to that. They're in no particular order. So trust me, all of them are good. And this was from a completely unbiased opinion. Otherwise, you can listen to other NASA podcasts. We have Gravity Assist up at headquarters hosted by Dr. Jim Green, if you're really into planetary science. Otherwise, we have our friends over at the Ames Research Center that have the podcast called NASA in Silicon Valley that talk about the things they're doing over there in California. And they also do some of the research aboard the International Space Station just like we do here at the Johnson Space Center. And we also talked about during this podcast our friends over at the Marshall Space Flight Center over in Huntsville, Alabama do. It's sort of a cross-center thing. But you can see some of the things that they're doing over there. If you want to know what's going on aboard the International Space Station besides DNA sequencing, NASA.gov/iss is a great place to do that. Otherwise, NASA.gov/hrp is a good place to see some of the other human research program elements that we're doing. Dr. Sarah Wallace is part of the microbiology lab here, and there's a lot of other human research aspects to, I guess, just flying humans in space but also aboard the International Space Station and beyond. On social media, we're on the International Space Station account. You guys should know this, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Go to any one of those accounts and use the hashtag ask NASA on any one of the platforms to submit an idea for the podcast. And then we'll make sure to mention it on a future episode or make a whole episode out of it. This podcast was recorded on April 17, 2018. Thanks to Alex Perryman, Isidro Reyna., Pat Ryan, Bill Stafford and Junie Hayes [phonetic]. And special thanks to Thalia Petrinos [phonetic] for writing the questions on today's episode. Thanks again to Dr. Sarah Wallace for coming on the show. We'll be back next week.

HWHAP_Ep3_Landing From Space

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-07-21

Gary Jordan (Host): Houston, we have a podcast. Welcome to the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center, Episode 3, Landing from Space. I'm Gary Jordan, and I'll be your host today. So on this podcast, we bring in the experts -- NASA scientists, engineers, astronauts, pretty much all the folks that have the coolest information, the stuff you really want to know -- right on the show to tell you about everything NASA, everything from extraterrestrial dirt to the unknown parts of the universe. So today, we're talking landing from space with Dr. John Charles. He's the chief scientist for the NASA Human Research Program here at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and we talked about the more human side of space -- specifically, what happens to the human body in the microgravity environment and what that means for adjusting to life back on Earth, even on other planets, like Mars. I also had the chance to catch NASA Astronaut Shane Kimbrough just two days after landing from a 173-day mission aboard the International Space Station, and he gave a firsthand experience of what it feels like to adjust back to Earth's environment after living in space for that long. So with no further delay, let's go light speed and jump right ahead to our talk with Dr. John Charles and then NASA Astronaut Shane Kimbrough. Enjoy. [ Music ] Host: All right. Dr. Charles, welcome. Is it, should I say Dr. Charles or John? John Charles: Call me John. Host: John, okay. [laughs] All right. Well, John, thanks for coming on the show. We always seem to end up in the same circles first with the landing on Mars video and with speaking presentations, and, you know, you were the first person I thought of when we had this topic. But what's cool about this one is for this particular podcast, I actually got a chance to talk to Shane Kimbrough two days after he landed, which was awesome. I mean, he was really tired, but it was pretty cool to talk to him. Not to say that you're not a special guest, but-- John Charles: I'll try not to be as tired as you are. [ Laughs ] Host: Well, we're doing this I guess after lunchtime, so I can understand. John Charles: Yeah, that's possible. Yeah. Host: It is. But what's cool is that he was just getting adjusted to Earth. It was perspective, of such a unique perspective. He just came down, and he was still getting adjusted, and that takes weeks, right? That takes-- John Charles: Yes, it may take -- well, some folks say it takes as long to respond to or adjust back to Earth as it did in flight. So there is going to be ongoing adjustments, especially in the areas of, say, the bone loss, that will take months, and months, and months before they even come back to what they were approximately before flight. Host: Yeah. I mean, even some astronauts say they have, they still have dreams about floating. I mean, even floating and-- John Charles: Yeah. Host: They kind of, I guess their body just doesn't know where they are. John Charles: That, it's certainly, it is certainly a monumental experience, and I cannot imagine ever getting tired of it or used to it. I understand Peggy Whitson was excited to get the mission extension of three more months. Host: Right. John Charles: And she said she was actually interested in going back again. So I think once you've experienced the wonders of weightlessness, and the awesome view out the window, and all the other parts of going on a spaceflight these days, it's not something you ever get used to, and it probably colors your dreams for many, many years to come. Host: That's beautifully put way. John Charles: Thank you. Host: A beautiful way of saying it. But that's what I guess, you know, for, at least for Shane Kimbrough is kind of I guess happy to be home. You know, when we were interviewing him, his wife was not too far away. So he was, you know, I'm sure he's happy to see his family. John Charles: Sure. Host: But I was thinking, you know, why don't we start off with that conversation with Shane Kimbrough? Because he does talk about a lot of the human aspects, and he just says, you know, I'm dizzy and this is how I'm feeling. So I thought it would be cool if we kind of elaborated on that a little bit after. But first, let's start with Shane Kimbrough's interview. We do have to go back in time, so producer Alex, let's cue the wormhole sound effect thingy. [ Music ] Host: So if you need to take a breather, you know, let me know because it's just like talking, and then talking-- Shane Kimbrough: No, no. It's— Host: And then talking, and then talking. Shane Kimbrough: Good. [laughs] Let's knock it out. Host: Oh, man. So, wow. Okay, I know it's been a busy couple of days for you, but, you know, thanks for taking the time to actually set, you know, ten minutes aside to have this conversation. You just landed two days ago. That's pretty crazy. [laughs] But since we only do have, like, a short period of time, I thought we'd start, and if you can just kind of take us through the journey of starting at when you were saying your final goodbyes to Peggy, and to Thomas, and Oleg, and then you just closed the hatch, and then that journey all the way to where you, bam, smacked the ground. Shane Kimbrough: All right. Yeah, we were, you know, it was an anticipated moment when we were going to say goodbyes. We'd kind of been sitting around for about an hour waiting on the time to, when Sergey, the Soyuz commander, came and said, "It's time to go." So we did say our goodbyes. We gave hugs to all the other crew members we were leaving, like you said -- Peggy, and Thomas, and Oleg. We spent about four-and-a-half months together with them, so we spent a lot of time together, so we got to be really good friends and crewmates. So it was great with them, but it was, you know, we were heading home, and so we had to say our goodbyes, quickly shut the hatch right after we say goodbyes, and then we started preparing our vehicle with leak checks and everything, trying to make sure we were leak tight before we departed from the Space Station. Host: So a lot of, like, a lot of right to the procedures, right. Not a lot of reflection time. Shane Kimbrough: Absolutely. Host: Just right into it. Shane Kimbrough: We didn't have any time to mess around [laughs] because you, we do a leak check, then we get in our space suits, and then we get in the descent module, close the hatch to the other module, and then we depart pretty quickly. So all had to happen, you know, by the procedure. If we had any hiccup in that, then we wouldn't have been leaving that day. So it was pretty pressure packed trying to get to the undocking time. And so we undock, and then we actually, after you undock, you have about an hour and a half, which is an entire revolution around the Earth, to really not do much. So we took a little nap [laughs] because we were-- Host: Well deserved. Shane Kimbrough: Really tired. I mean, they had us on a crazy sleep shift on the last day. And so we were pretty worn out. So we took a little nap and then got ready after that for the deorbit burn, which is a pretty big emotional event when the big engine fires off-- Host: Yeah. Shane Kimbrough: And puts you on a trajectory to enter the Earth's atmosphere at the correct angle so that you actually make the landing site and make sure the vehicle's pointed in the right direction so you don't burn up when you're coming through the atmosphere. So that's obviously a plus. Host: So you didn't really feel the deorbit burn, right? You mainly felt the reentry? Is that what-- Shane Kimbrough: You do feel the deorbit burn-- Host: Oh. Shane Kimbrough: Because the engine kicks in and it's, you know, it's kind of like a kick in the pants, and you're thrown back in your seat. Host: Oh, wow. Shane Kimbrough: And it, you know, lasts I think about a couple minutes. So, you know, it's a sustained kind of pulse, and-- Host: You feel it that whole time, right? Shane Kimbrough: Yeah, you're feeling it. I mean, initially, you feel it a little more, and then you get used to it. Host: Right, right. Shane Kimbrough: And so then you're kind of getting ready to come back through the atmosphere, then separation of our descent module in the [inaudible], the habitation compartment happens. That's kind of like just an explosion, right. [laughs] So you feel it. You hear it. You see things flying by the windows from the other module that just came apart. So that's pretty interesting. Host: Yeah, not a boring ride. Shane Kimbrough: No, [laughs] not a boring ride. And then, we're kind of getting ready for the next big event. There's always, I mean, four or five big events along the way. The next one was parachute opening. Of course, after you started pulling, you're feeling the effects of gravity, all right. So we were pulling and we ended up pulling them 4.3 g's I think. So we felt like 4.3 times your body weight. Host: Wow. Shane Kimbrough: Which, after microgravity, felt like about 20 times your body weight. Host: Yeah. Shane Kimbrough: And so that built up, and we kind of just felt it building. We're watching the meter go up, and, man, I was like, wow, that's a lot. And then, right after that, the parachute, you know, started coming out, and that was really an emotional event because it's really dynamic, [laughs] I guess is the best word. And it kind of throws you around really drastically four or five times, and, you know, it's completely normal. But until you go through it the first time, which is my first experience, I was like, there's no way this can be normal. Host: Yeah. [laughs] Shane Kimbrough: But it is, and that's the way they do it, and it's just the parachute coming out and getting set up and the risers getting in the right position. And then, once that's done and then it's kind of a peaceful ride until you crush into the ground. Host: Yeah, yeah. [laughter] Okay, so the swinging back and forth, how would you compare that? Is it -- I'm thinking of an amusement park ride, right. It's got to be more intense than that, right? Shane Kimbrough: It is, but, you know, I don't know if there's one out there that just really slams you to the right [laughs] and slams you to the left, and you do that five or six times, you know, in a -- you know, I can't think of one that does that, but that's what it was like. I couldn't believe it. Shane Kimbrough: Yeah. Host: I guess that's why they, you know, they kind of strap you into that thing real tight, right, because you're-- Shane Kimbrough: Right. Host: Getting bounced and kicked in, like, all-- Shane Kimbrough: Exactly, yeah. Host: Directions. Shane Kimbrough: So as we come in, you start, the advice I got was as soon as you start feeling the g-force, start pulling on your straps as much as you can to really get you down into that seat-- Host: Yeah. Shane Kimbrough: So that you're not just secured but, you know, getting ready for the impact of the landing as well. Host: So is it fair to say that that landing was the hardest impact, probably? Shane Kimbrough: Oh, yeah. [laughs] Yeah. No doubt. Host: How did that feel? Shane Kimbrough: it was, you know, I've heard it called like, it's like a really bad car crash, and now I can confirm that that is accurate. Host: Wow. Shane Kimbrough: So you hit just really hard. And in our case, we hit twice really hard, so. Host: Oh. [laughs] And then, you roll around, right? Shane Kimbrough: And then, we rolled some more too just for added effect, so. Host: And then, you said, I remember you saying, because we did it in like a bunch of other events before this, but you said, like, you were in a position where you were just kind of dangling a little bit, right? Shane Kimbrough: Yeah, so I was kind of on-- Host: You were-- Shane Kimbrough: Top looking down at the ground, but-- Host: Yeah. Shane Kimbrough: In that case, I was hanging from my straps. Host: Wow. Shane Kimbrough: Really uncomfortable feeling for about five minutes, five to ten minutes until they could get there and roll the vehicle kind of to the normal position. Host: Oh, that's it. Just five to ten minutes, and then they were there. Shane Kimbrough: Yeah. It was very likely we had perfect weather that day. The search and rescue forces saw us the whole time. And really, right after the parachute opened, they tracked us all the way to the ground, so they were right there-- Host: Wow. Shane Kimbrough: In about ten minutes and got us out pretty quickly. Host: So when that door opened and they pulled you out, what was that feeling? Was it relief or was it just more of the, you know, just here's the next step kind of thing? Or, like, describe those emotions. Shane Kimbrough: Yeah, so the hatch, they opened the hatch, the search and rescue forces. And they're familiar faces from our training in Star City, Russia. I mean, they're Russian-- Host: Yeah. Shane Kimbrough: Folks. But it was nice to see their smiling faces. And then, I saw my flight sergeant from NASA and the Chief Astronaut Cassidy right there as well. So, you know, we were all smiles and waving. We all felt great at the time. And getting out is very challenging because it is so small, like we were talking about earlier. Host: Right. Shane Kimbrough: But they have to help you out. You can't get out on your own for gravity for one, and then it's just too tight and too small. You can't even really get to unstrap yourself. They have to get in there. It's that tight. Host: Wow. Shane Kimbrough: Like, you can't move your hands enough to unstrap most of your straps, so they get in there and help you out doing that as well as pulling you out of the vehicle. Host: Yeah. So okay, when you first, you know, you're pulled out of the capsule. You have fresh air, familiar faces. Obviously, that's a great moment, but so now you're kind of, you're back on Earth. You can feel it, right? What's, how are you feeling -- do you feel sick? Do you feel, is it mostly happy? Is there overwhelming feelings? What's going on? Shane Kimbrough: I think people have felt all those things you've mentioned. [laughs] I really felt great. I love smelling that fresh desert air. It was kind of like a 60-degree day in Kazakhstan. Feels beautiful. The wind was blowing. It was just awesome to have that sensation of nature again for me. And then, just seeing friendly faces and knowing I was going to get to talk to my family pretty soon after that was pretty special. Host: Yeah, that's amazing. What was the, so what was the main thing you noticed about the way your body was adjusting to life back on Earth? Shane Kimbrough: Well, to not move your head around is great advice, I guess. [laughs] Yeah, because that really provokes some folks to get sick, so-- Host: Okay. Shane Kimbrough: I really try to keep my head focused straight ahead. If anybody was talking to me, I would make them come right in front of me so I didn't have to kind of, because the natural tendency is to just look at them, right, but that really gets your-- Host: Yeah. Shane Kimbrough: Inner ear spinning up pretty well and-- Host: It must've been hard because there's a lot happening, right? People are-- Shane Kimbrough: There is. Host: All over. Yeah. [laughs] Yeah. Shane Kimbrough: So I heard people to my side, and I was, I just told them, "Hey, come right in front of me so I can see you [laughter] because I'm not going to turn my head." Host: Yeah, exactly. So-- Shane Kimbrough: And it seemed to pay off, so. Host: Yeah. Well, okay, so besides feeling sick, were you weak, like are, can you move around, or what was the-- Shane Kimbrough: You can move around a little bit. Host: Okay. Shane Kimbrough: They were carrying us. You know, I wasn't walking anywhere at the time, and they had people that carried us to where we were sitting there for a while. And then, after that, they carried us to the medical tent. But once we got in there, then it was a bunch of testing, and walking, and with your eyes closed and open, and just crazy things. And, [laughs] you know, just trying to-- Host: You just don't get a break. Shane Kimbrough: See where you're at. [laughter] Host: You just don't get a break. And then, they throw you-- Shane Kimbrough: Yeah. Host: On, what is it? To get a helicopter, and then the helicopter-- Shane Kimbrough: Yeah. Host: To a plane. Shane Kimbrough: Right. Host: You're off to Houston. Shane Kimbrough: Exactly. Host: Did you -- I'm guessing you slept on the plane, right? Shane Kimbrough: I did. I slept-- Host: Yeah. Shane Kimbrough: Really well on the plane, so it was good. [laughter] Host: I probably should've start off this -- I just realized -- but how are you feeling now? Shane Kimbrough: I'm feeling, yeah, I'm feeling really well compared to what I thought I'd be feeling at this point. It's only two days after I landed, like you mentioned earlier, and I really feel great. I had a great workout today, which I think really made me feel better. Host: Oh, wow. You're right back into it. Shane Kimbrough: Yeah, so we got about a 45-day program of working out and getting you rehabilitated, back to your full strength. Host: Okay. Shane Kimbrough: But it should only take maybe a week or so to get there, and then from there, we'll just build on whatever strength I have. Host: All right. All right, well, one more question, then I'll let you go. What was the first thing you ate when you got back here? Shane Kimbrough: [laughs] A lot of people are asking me that, and [laughs] it's a really boring answer, but it was a banana-- Host: Oh. Shane Kimbrough: Because that's something [laughs] I hadn't had in-- Host: A banana. Shane Kimbrough: A while. I was really wanting some fruit, and-- Host: That's true. It's not, yeah. Shane Kimbrough: I had a banana and an apple and had a bunch of those on the plane. [laughs] Host: Okay, so once you're -- how about this? -- once you're well enough, what's the first thing you're-- Shane Kimbrough: Yeah. Host: Going to eat? Shane Kimbrough: I think we're going to do some Italian tonight, which I've been thinking about. Host: Oh. Shane Kimbrough: So that's good. And then, Mexican probably here in the next few days as well, so. Host: All right. All right. >> It'll be good. Host: Definitely two good ones. Well, Shane, thank you for spending these couple minutes with me. Shane Kimbrough: My pleasure. Host: Thanks. Shane Kimbrough: Thanks, Gary. Host: Cool. [ Music ] Host: All right. Producer Alex, we're going to have to work on that wormhole sound effect. Come on. That was quite a ride. I mean, I was, [laughs] I honestly felt sick just listening to the way that he was going down. But there was a lot going on for every step of the way, so, I mean, first off, you know, what are those changes that he was talking about that makes him feel so, you know, so off when he lands on the ground? John Charles: The human body goes through many changes in weightlessness and the rest of spaceflight. I'm always interested most in weightlessness. I don't like the term microgravity. I think that's unnecessarily accurate. Host: There's a lot of synonyms, or syllables. John Charles: It's, yeah, a lot of syllables too. [laughs] But the weightlessness has profound effects, and I like to say that it's evolutionarily unanticipated. There's nothing that has ever happened to us in our lives and in all of the lives of everybody that lived before us, all the way back to as far as you want to go, that is weightlessness. Now, even floating in water is not weightlessness because you're still subject to gravity. The parts of your body that are denser go to the bottom and the parts of your body that are lighter float to the top, and that's true even in the vestibular system. The organs of balance he was talking about. Being dizzy. Those are not weightless, even underwater. The only time they're weightless is if you fall off a cliff, and then the effect is very short lived. Host: Right. John Charles: You don't get a chance to enjoy it very much. Host: Right. John Charles: So this is a real opportunity to, for the body to experience something that it's never experienced before ever, and not surprisingly, there are changes that occur in the body, and the changes might be summarized by the concept that the body economizes its metabolic energy. It doesn't waste energy supporting metabolic processes it doesn't think it needs. And nobody, you can't tell your body, hang on to that because you're going to need it eventually. The body doesn't talk to you in that sense. The body responds -- and by this, I mean the autonomic processes, the physiological processes -- respond to the environment that they have seen recently and are seeing at the moment. So as far as the body is concerned, gravity went away and it's never coming back. And so what do I need to do to be more effective metabolically in the environment that I will see forever? Host: It's just the body adapting to a new environment. John Charles: It's to a new environment. And luckily, the body adapts nicely to the weightless environment-- Host: Right. John Charles: Because it really is sort of a step down. It's less hard to do almost everything metabolically in weightlessness, and the body doesn't know that you're going back to Earth with gravity, so you have to fool the body to get back to, to get ready to go back to Earth. So you go through the changes of weightlessness, and these metabolic efficiencies I'm talking about include not maintaining bone strength. You don't need bone strength in weightlessness, and the body says, great, I'm not going to spend metabolic energy on that anymore. I'm going to dedicate it to something else. Host: Right. John Charles: You don't need muscle strength. You don't need cardiovascular strength so much. You don't need all of the intricate understanding of how to respond to gravity. You don't need to keep track of where all your joints are, your limbs, and all that kind of stuff. Host: Because all of that is gone in the weightless environment. John Charles: That's right. Host: It's just, you don't need your bones because you're not pressed up against anything. John Charles: You're not-- Host: You're just floating. John Charles: You're not supporting yourself anymore. Host: Right. John Charles: There is a residual bone strength, a residual bone volume or density that you will probably plateau at. If you stay in space forever, you will never become like the guys were in WALL-E when they had no bones. Host: [laughs] Yeah. John Charles: Just the big blobs of jelly. Host: That's right. John Charles: That would never happen. You probably, based on other studies and clinical experience, you'd probably lose up to 40% of your bone mass eventually. That is after years, and years, and years. Host: Wow. John Charles: So you, I mean, even so-- Host: Is this saying that you're not working out during those years? John Charles: Yeah, assuming you're just weightless. Host: Assuming you're just weightless. John Charles: Assuming you're just weightless and not working out, that's right. Host: Okay. John Charles: Which would be I think my preferred lifestyle. [laughs] I'd like to be weightless and not working out. But that, see, Gary, that's the answer, though, is the way we fool the body or don't fool the body. We just change the conditions is by working out. So the astronauts work out two hours a day every day, including resistive exercise, my favorite. I call that weight lifting in weightlessness. Host: Right. John Charles: And that's all done with hydraulics and computers. And then, or aerobic training -- exercising on treadmills, and bicycles, and maybe a rowing machine someday. And what that does is put a load on the bones, and the muscles, and the cardiovascular system, not the vestibular system, not the organs of balance, but all the other systems mimicking the absence or the effect of gravity, which is then absent in that environment. Host: So that's, so they're doing those you said aerobic and resistive. So that's the, I guess like you said, though, in space, the weight-lifting machine-- John Charles: Right. Host: Sort of with hydraulics-- John Charles: Right. Host: And that simulates weight lifting. And then, you also have aerobic exercise, which is the treadmill and the bicycle. John Charles: The bicycle. Host: So you have to do this I believe two and a half hours every single day-- John Charles: Yeah. Host: In order to maintain everything? John Charles: Right. And that's a total of two plus hours a day. That includes breakdown, and setup, and changing your clothes, and all that stuff. So you do-- Host: Oh, yeah. John Charles: You know, multiple tens of minutes at each. Host: I see. John Charles: And different exercises on different days. And I think one day is actually a free form. You can do whatever you want. But, you know, the other days are fairly prescribed. But what that does is put a load on the bones, and the muscles, and the cardiovascular system, and other organs as if they were doing something against gravity. It's not the same, but it's close. Host: So that's the way that you're saying you're tricking your body-- John Charles: You're tricking your body. Host: Into thinking that, you know, you don't need, you still need to maintain the muscles. Hold on. John Charles: Right. Host: Stop. You know. John Charles: You're maintaining them for something else. You're maintaining them for exercise and not for fighting against gravity. Host: Right. John Charles: But it has the beneficial effect in many cases of being appropriate for gravity. And in fact, the resistive exercises that we're doing now seem to minimize the loss of bone structure that occurs in weightlessness that has been seen on previous missions. So the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device, the ARED, may well be the way that we protect bones and muscles in the future on Mars missions. Host: Oh. John Charles: It may be that we're able to go on really long missions without losing much calcium and without changing the structure very much of the bones. And it's not the loss of calcium per se that's the problem. It's where the calcium comes out of. The bones are developed in everybody whilst you're growing up. Host: Right. John Charles: You're, when you're growing up, you know, you're, first, you're born with a skeleton, and then you spend the first 18 years of your life banging yourself around, and jumping up in trees and off of hillsides, and falling, and jumping, and running, and pulling, and lifting. And all that stuff shapes your body. Host: Yeah, and that's in childhood. John Charles: Right, and that, [laughs] well, I saw people do it. [laughs] Like I said, see previous comment. Host: Right, right. John Charles: But that shapes your body and gives you the structure you need to keep doing that for the rest of your life. And then, at some point, that, those structures, those facets are completed, and you can then go and do useful things with the body that you've built up over the first 18 plus years of your life. Host: Right. John Charles: So when you go into weightlessness, you start eating away at that in the absence of gravity, and if you come back to the Earth, you restore some of that, but you don't restore it the way it was originally. You restore it to the way it needs to be now, which means you don't go back inside the bones and reestablish the framework, the structure. And the bones actually have structure inside of them. The outside is called the cortex, and it's a thick layer. And then, on the inside are the trabeculae, and the trabeculae are like a framework. Think of a lattice work inside of your bones. And those, that lattice work is genetically engineered by you as you grow up to respond to the forces you're putting on bones. So it puts down calcium where the forces are the greatest and it doesn't put down calcium where the forces are not the greatest. But that's the structure you take with you for the remainder of your active life, unless you go into weightlessness. In which case, that obviously gets eroded gradually but persistently over the time in weightlessness. So your bones actually do lose calcium, do lose mass, bone mass, and you lose strength of the bones. Not, so far, not enough to cause you to fracture when you come back to the ground. There have been a couple of astronauts who have fractured bones in the post-flight period, and we have analyzed those, and they would've fractured their bones if they had never flown in space. They just caused an impact that broke bones, and that's just what happens. Host: They were trying to run up and down trees like their childhood days, right? John Charles: Well, they, yeah, nothing quite so [laughs] glamorous. One guy fell off of a stage after a public affairs presentation. He just-- Host: Oh no. John Charles: He didn't fall off. He tripped because there was something on the edge of the stage, so-- Host: Oh. John Charles: It was unavoidable whether he was an astronaut or not and whether he'd flown in space or not. Host: Right. John Charles: So we don't see bone-breaking episodes in astronauts that would not have broken their bones beforehand, but there's the risk that with even longer flights, longer than six months like Shane was on and longer than one year like Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko were on, and perhaps, you know, two-and-a-half year Mars missions might be getting close to the threshold where you might start seeing a slight possibility, increased possibility of breaking bones under normal circumstances. Not during the mission, but after the mission when you're back on the Earth. You know, that's sort of, after 30 months, that's when you start getting close to that threshold. Host: So it has to do with the time that you're in the weightless environment? John Charles: It seems to be an ongoing process. And like I say, though, that process seems to be interrupted by the heavy resistive exercise. Host: Right. John Charles: So that sort of stretches that period out. So you're not at risk if you keep doing your heavy resistive exercise. But that's an interesting question too, and you haven't asked me that one yet, but I'll go ahead and answer it because-- Host: [laughs] You were just reading my mind. John Charles: Yeah. That is, are we going to do resistive exercise on the Mars missions? And the answer is I hope so. Host: Right. John Charles: But we probably will not be using the ARED. The ARED is a very large device that takes up an entire module on the-- Host: Right. John Charles: Space Station. It's a node, which is, that's a module. And we don't have, probably will not have that kind of real estate, that kind of volume available for that kind of device. So right now, what the Human Research Program is doing is trying to understand which of the exercises on the ARED are the most effective in protecting which of the bone facets that are important to protect. And then, building a smaller device that'll just do those. A tailored, specialized device. So this is maybe an important point to make, and that is astronauts will go on missions and will suffer deficits -- deficits that we know how to protect against because we can't afford to protect against them within the limited constraints of a spaceship. So we will give them a device that gives them certain exercise capabilities to protect them against deficits that we think are the most important. But we may be allowing the rest of other aspects of the, say, the other aspects of the skeleton to go ahead and atrophy just because we don't have the flexibility and the resources to protect them against that. We don't think that's going to put them at an increased risk because they're not going to be doing things that will need those aspects on the skeleton, for example. Host: Right, so you've prioritized and you-- John Charles: We had to prioritize lots and lots of things when we start talking about a Mars mission. Host: Right. Yeah. No-- John Charles: I knew we wanted to talk about a Mars mission [laughs] because that's the only thing you talk to me about ever. Host: [laughs] Well, we were getting there. John Charles: Yeah. Host: I was taking baby steps. John Charles: Yeah. Host: And you just jump right there. John Charles: I did. I did. Host: [laughs] I guess, so how would the exercises, since we are on Mars now, how would the exercise work on Mars, you know, if you're talking about landing on -- would you kind of use sort of the same thing, or can you afford a different type of exercise? John Charles: Well, it's going to have to be tailored for the Mars environment, and for the Mars environment means both exercising at one-third of a g, or 38% of Earth's normal gravity -- we call that a third of a g -- on Mars. And also, being appropriate for the spacecraft that will land on Mars. And you raised a very important question. I hope you realized you raised it because it's an important question. Host: [inaudible] intentional. John Charles: And that is, that's, it's a matter of economics to get to Mars. First, you got to build a spaceship, and then you got to send it there with fuel. And fuel is the coin of the realm in space. It takes lots, and lots, and lots, and lots of fuel to get any place. And if you get there, then it takes even more fuel to slow you down and land safely. So everything on the surface of Mars will be mass constrained and volume constrained because mass, volume requires mass. You know, if you build a small room, it's got less mass than a big room. So we are going to be focusing on not only what we can put into the Mars transit vehicle, which will be constrained by the volume of the vehicle, but also what we can land on Mars, which will be constrained by the volume of the lander and the mass capable of landing. So it may well be that we figure out, we hope we figure out a way to use that one-third of a g on Mars as a way to supplement some of the exercise that they would normally be doing in their mini-gym inside the Mars lander or the Mars habitat. Host: Right, so when you're thinking about a Mars mission, it kind of goes back to that idea of prioritizing, right. So just as you're going to prioritize which parts of the body are the most sensitive-- John Charles: Right. Host: The most important for you to maintain, when you're sending stuff to Mars, you got to prioritize which things are the most important things to bring, to send, and make sure they're really small, and light, and don't take up a lot of space. John Charles: Small, and light, and don't take up a lot of space, and don't take a lot of energy, don't take a lot of mass, power, volume, which are the-- Host: Right. John Charles: Important constraints of a spaceship. And just think, we started talking about this because I was trying to make the point that Shane's body is not back to normal yet still. It's, his bones are going to take months to get back to normal. But other organ systems may respond more quickly. Host: But they will get back to normal? His, is the months? John Charles: See, here's a metaphysical question -- what does normal mean in a case like this? Because your bone changes normally over the course of your lifetime, including over every six months. You know, he was gone for six months. His bone was going to be atrophying a little bit anyhow. Host: Right. John Charles: So we're not going to get him back to what he was before flight. And why would we? Because he wouldn't be at that condition now after his landing if he'd just been walking around the Earth for six months. Our goal is to get him back to where they need to be to live a full, happy, functional life here on Earth. But it's, you can't, you know, you can't go home again. You can't go back to your old skeleton again. It just, this is, things are different [laughs] with time in life, and that's doubly true for time spent in space. Host: Yeah. It doesn't matter. You're always going to, just going to get older. Time's-- >> You're going to get older. Host: Just going to go forward. John Charles: That's right. Host: But you, I guess, you know, bones are not the only thing you have to think about, right? You have to-- John Charles: That's correct. Host: Think about a lot of other things. Shane mentioned, you know, when he landed and they pulled him out, he couldn't even turn his head. He was extremely dizzy. John Charles: And see, I think this is the other extreme. The bones are the, some of the slowest to respond in spaceflight and some of the slowest to respond post flight during the recovery back on Earth, but the vestibular system is probably the fastest responder. The vestibular system is the organ system of balance, and it allows us to stay upright. We are constantly making adjustments in our bones and our muscles and the way they're lining our, lining us up. I mean, the old illustration is imagine balancing a broomstick. Remember broomsticks? We used to have brooms and broomsticks. And imagine balancing a broomstick upright on your, on the palm of your hand and all the adjustments you have to make to keep that upright. Host: Right. John Charles: That's how it is when you're walking. When you're walking and standing on one foot or even standing on two feet, your body is constantly adjusting its center of balance and its center of mass to stay over the center of pressure of the feet so you can stay upright. And that all requires sensors in the skin, sensors in the soles of the feet, sensors that detect the angles between the ankle, and the shinbone, and all the other bones, and the organs of balance inside the inner ear. And Gary, even though we're on a podcast, I am automatically pointing at my ears because the organs of balance are behind the inner ears. Host: I can see. John Charles: Yeah. Host: [laughs] But I guess no one else can. John Charles: Nobody else can. [laughs] But this organ system is exquisitely tuned to respond to motion and to respond to gravity. There are parts of it that detect how you move your head, and now I'm twisting my head left and right because that causes a sensation in my inner ear, which then is, at a most simple case, is translated to my eyeballs. So my eyes counteract the motion on my head so I can keep continuing to look at you while we're talking. But there are other organs that detect my tilting my head left and right, and those are the balance. So those are the otoliths. The other ones are the semicircular canals. But the otoliths, the otolith is ear stone, oto-lith. Host: Okay. John Charles: And those are little stones inside little sacs of fluid inside your head which detect which way down is. And those are the ones that are the most immediately affected by spaceflight and weightlessness because if your whole existence is predicated on detecting down and somebody takes away down, then what do you do? And that's sort of how the vestibular system responds to weightlessness is it spends a lot of time the first several hours or several days saying, oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. My only job is to detect down and there is no down. What do I do now? Now, I'm built, you know, the organs of balance are built to detect motion and to detect directions of acceleration, so they may get more sensitive. In fact, the little otoliths in your ears might become bigger. They might accrete more of the mineral that they're made of because they, they're sure there's a down there someplace and that if they could only get heavier, they might be able to detect it again. Host: And this is over the first couple days of the spaceflight? John Charles: Over the, it's over the course of the spaceflight. Host: Oh, over the -- wow. John Charles: Over the course of the spaceflight. Over the course of the first few days -- thank you for bringing me back to the point at hand -- [laughs] over the course of the first few days, essentially the brain says, you know what? You guys are just making gibberish. You're not making any sense anymore. I'm going to start ignoring you. Now, the brain doesn't actually use words. It just sort of economizes the metabolic energy. It says, I'm not going to put so much metabolic energy into the nerves that come from the vestibular system because-- Host: Right. John Charles: I'm just getting gibberish from there and it just, it makes my, the stomach part of me sick. Let's just not pay attention so much to that anymore. And in fact, on Skylab, the American space station in the 1970's, when there was a rotating chair onboard specifically to see how often we could make astronauts sick in spaceflight -- rotating chairs are good ways to make people sick. If you rotate them and ask them to move their heads while they're rotating, that's a great way to be sick. Host: Oh, yeah. I remember those chairs. John Charles: Turns out after a few days in weightlessness, astronauts couldn't be made sick anymore by moving their heads while they were rotating because the-- Host: Yeah. John Charles: Organs of balance had adapted and also because the stimuli were different. Host: I've seen that video of Tim Peake, where I think it was Tim Peake and Tim Kopra, when they were both on the International Space Station-- John Charles: Yeah. Host: Kopra took Peake and just spun him around really, really, really fast-- John Charles: Yep. Host: And then stopped him suddenly. And Peake had like one moment where he stopped suddenly where, I mean, the whole time he was spinning, he didn't feel a thing. John Charles: Yeah. Host: And then, he stopped suddenly. He's like, "Okay, I'm dizzy for a second." And now he's good. John Charles: It's gone. Host: Yeah. John Charles: So there are quick responses, but as I say, you know, the organs of balance, vestibular system continue to, like I say, try to find gravity. And so they may actually increase the mass of the little stones inside your inner ears. And that's kind of an interesting novelty that nobody's figured out yet whether, what the functional -- operational, I should say -- significance -- functionally, we know what it means -- but operationally, what does it mean in terms of your ability to stand upright after you land on Mars? Or things like that. So there's lots of more, lots of research on, some topics for research that we can do in that domain. But the point I was trying to make originally is that this is a quick-responding organ system. Then, slightly slower will be the organs of your cardiovascular system. And those are all fluid based in the sense that they, you're a big, pressurized bag of fluid. Nothing personal, but all of us are. [laughs] And our goal is to stay pressurized by the function of our heart so that the blood can then perfuse the brain and also the blood pressure we carry around with us, 120/80, when the doctor does your blood pressure, tells you, yes, 120/80. Host: That's a good one. John Charles: That's the pressure that you need to get through the muscles when you're exercising. The, when your muscles are exercising, they're constricting and contracting. They're squeezing down the blood vessels. It takes a certain amount of blood pressure to push through there to deliver the nutrients that the muscles need to continue exercising. That's where your 120/80 comes from. And you have to continue building that pressure up. But in weightlessness, you're not exercising so much anymore. You're floating freely. You're relaxing, and your blood vessels are dilating, and your pressure, you'd actually lose blood volume in space. You may lose about a liter of blood in space. Host: Wow. John Charles: You may actually lose, that's about a blood donation, about the same amount as they take out of you when you donate blood, half a liter or a liter. Host: Huh. John Charles: Yeah, that's because the body's, the fluid distribution builds into it an assumption that a lot of your fluid is going to be down in your lower limbs because of gravity, and your lower limbs have a lot of veins, which are very floppy and good places to sequester extra fluid that you don't need, extra blood you don't need. And in weightlessness, that fluid is all shifted into the upper direction, and it's-- Host: Oh. John Charles: There's not a lot of extra venous volume in the upper part of the body, and so the body says, aha, I've got a, I've got too much fluid onboard. I know what to do in a case like this. Decrease thirst, increase urination, you know, eliminate fluid elsewhere, shift it into other parts of the body, which has the effect of causing your body to lose blood volume over the course of the first few weeks in spaceflight. Host: That was going to be my question. John Charles: Yeah. Host: Where does that liter go? Okay. John Charles: Liter goes out, becomes tomorrow's coffee. Host: Yeah. [laughs] John Charles: You remember the old analogy about the water recycling system. Host: That's right. John Charles: So that fluid volume is appropriate for your time in weightlessness. And again, one of those tricks that you pull on your body is that you come back to the Earth after your time in weightlessness and suddenly that fluid drains back down to the lower part of the body. And then, suddenly, the upper part of the body is volume deprived, and that's when you may feel a little bit light headed, a little bit weak. Astronauts wear compression garments in the lower body -- in the legs, especially -- to squeeze to make sure the fluid stays up in the upper part of the body and not pooling in the lower part of the body. Shane was wearing those compression garments that are called Cantaver [phonetic] garments. That's the Russian name for Cantaver. [laughs] And it-- Host: Nice translation. John Charles: Yeah. I'm good at that. But that, those are very effective techniques, and we are, we have other capabilities like that as well. But the point is during, while he wasn't being sensitive to emotion by not turning his head very much, he was also, his body was functioning to keep the blood flowing to the upper part of his body through his brain so he could continue to function normally. That's all part of the early re-adaptation process as well. Host: That's right. John Charles: So the vestibular system is quick responding. The cardiovascular system is slightly slower. Along the way, you lose muscle mass because you're not hefting your body mass around, and they have to rebuild that when you come back. And then, out there at the, sort of the tail end is your skeleton. What we haven't talked about before, yet, though, are things like your radiation tolerance, or radiation exposure, I should say. Host: That's right. John Charles: That doesn't plateau. That doesn't decrease. That doesn't accommodate because you keep getting exposed to radiation, and radiation has a cumulative effect. The more you-- Host: As long as you're in space-- John Charles: As long as you're in spaceflight. So that's an ongoing issue, and that's something we will have to deal with going to Mars because you're exposed to even more radiation when you leave Earth's magnetic field and are-- Host: Right. John Charles: Exposed to the deep-space radiation. And then, the other aspects, of course, are the psychological aspects of spaceflight. And if you think what I've described to you before is complicated, you ain't seen nothing yet because the psychology [laughs] is one of the most self-regulating and self-protecting let's call it organ system that we have until it's not anymore. And so you adapt, you accommodate, you adjust. All those A words are the way that your [laughs] psychological aspects function in normal, everyday life and especially in spaceflight. Host: Yeah. John Charles: But you're exposed to stresses that are the most unique that anybody's ever been exposed to in spaceflight. And if we're talking about a Mars mission, we're talking about let's call it two and a half years just you and three other people face to face in the volume of a couple of Space Station modules maybe with the pressure and the eyes of the world on you to make sure you, to wonder if you succeed. So there's no pressure, obviously. And the, nobody can help you when you're on your way to Mars. At least, they can't help you immediately. There's going to be, when you get to Mars, you may be eight minutes away from Earth by radio. Host: Right. John Charles: At the midpoint of your stay on Mars, you might be 40 minutes away, 20 minutes away one way by radio. Host: Yeah. John Charles: So if you have a problem and it takes longer than, it takes less time than 20 minutes to fully express itself, and you don't know what you're doing, then you've got a big problem. Host: That was one thing Shane said. He said, five minute, he landed. Five minutes, and everyone was, you know, taking him out of the capsule. John Charles: That's right. Host: And you're right. You're not going to have any-- John Charles: That's right. Host: Not only no help, but it's going to be a while until actually someone talks to you. John Charles: I like to paint a picture for people, and that is if you're the first person on Mars, you're climbing down the ladder, and you stumble and fall face first into the Mars dust, [laughs] the bad news is that everybody on Earth will see it because they're all going to be watching the live stream. Host: Of course. John Charles: But the good news is it'll be 20 minutes before they see it. [laughs] So you've got a few minutes of relief before you have to explain to the entire universe how you stumbled your, for your first step on Mars. Host: [laughs] That would be pretty cool if that was the actual video of-- John Charles: Yeah. Host: The first person stepping on Mars. [laughs] So obviously, you know, you have to be thinking about, you know, this is, obviously, you are thinking about, you know, this is kind of what that's going to look like if someone's going to land on Mars. You know, what are we doing to sort of get them ready for that? One of the things I think, I'm pretty sure Shane mentioned was they sat him in the seat and, for a while, and then they took him right to a tent and started doing some field tests on him. John Charles: Yes, they're, exactly, and that's exactly what we called it. We call it the field test. It is, it's one of our Human Research Program investigations. It's a joint investigation by the U.S. and the Russians. The U.S. and Russian investigators Millard Reschke and Inessa Kozlovskaya are very longtime investigators, and they both have been anxious to do this kind of research on the adjustments of the sensorimotor system and the neurovestibular system to gravity after a long-duration spaceflight. We started doing this a few years ago. Chris Cassidy I think was the, actually the first guy to do it on his Soyuz landing. Host: Oh. John Charles: And we've been doing it pretty consistently since then to try and build up a database of responses so we know what an average, and, you know, what the statistical mean is, and what the variation is. Host: Nice sample size. John Charles: Nice sample size. Host: Right. John Charles: And it's also very dramatic, and it's also, it's a, an important set of things to do. But what it does briefly is after they're extracted from their Soyuz -- and you heard Shane talk about how they got out of the Soyuz with a lot of assistance. Nobody going to help you on Mars. Your vehicle has to be designed appropriately for you to get out on your own. Then, they set him in a chaise lounge for a little bit and have a brief public affairs event there on the steps of Kazakhstan, and that's a good chance for them to catch their breath. And then, they're carried, not walked, but they're carried into the medical tent. And inside the medical tent, in privacy because of human research concerns-- Host: Right, makes sense. John Charles: They are unsuited -- that is, their space suits are taken off -- and then, then if they volunteered for this investigation, they go through a stylized set of motions. And they start off with being seated in a chair and just being asked to stand upright and stand quietly for 30 seconds or so. Host: And that must be hard, though, right? John Charles: That's a substantial stress, a substantial [inaudible]. Host: Yeah. John Charles: Sonny Carter back on STS-33 I think it was said -- and that was after a five-day flight -- said the hardest thing he had to do on his spaceflight was stand up for the first time after a spaceflight out of the chair in the shuttle. Host: Wow. John Charles: So that was after just a few days. Now, this is after six months or so of weightlessness. Host: Right. John Charles: So that's the stress. We're watching their blood pressure, their heart rate, as well as their balance. And then, sort of to add insult to injury, one of the early things we do then is to lay them on the floor in the face down, in a prone position, and then ask them to stand up again. And it's, to mimic, it's called recovery from a fall. So the idea is that they have stumbled on Mars or they've stumbled on the Earth and they find themselves face down in the red dust on Mars like I've mentioned before. How long does it take to get back up again? And that we can quantify how long it takes them to stand up, to go through all the complicated motions of getting up on your hands, and getting up on your knees, and then finding a way to balance yourself and get back up. That's a very integrated physiological and, or musculoskeletal activity, and it's, it can be quantified. And then, once they've got them standing up again, and I always haste to add that no astronauts are actually pushed over. They're asked to lay down gently and then stand up. Host: [laughs] That's funny because that would be very rude. John Charles: That would be another good video. [laughs] But then, we make them walk an obstacle course to see if they can do it. And the obstacle course is actually, as Shane described, walking in a straight line with your eyes closed, or with your eyes open and then with your eyes closed. And sometimes, you know, eyes closed, you veer because you're using the, your visual system is your dominant way to orient yourself in the absence of a functional vestibular system and in the absence of a fairly relaxed set of somatosensory sensors. Those are the sensors that detect pressure on the bottom of your feet and at the angles of the joints, you know -- your ankle angles, and your elbow angles, and things like that. So walking with eyes open is always a challenge. Walking with eyes closed is almost always impossible because you veer immediately left or right because you just can't orient yourself in the absence of any inputs. And the inputs you're receiving are those that your brain has decided six months ago to ignore, and inputs that it wanted us, wanted to keep you've now deprived yourself of because your eyes are closed. So there's a little bit of a stressor there. And then, there are other things that we ask them to do as they sort of gradually move through this set of activities -- moving heavy masses back and forth as if they were unpacking a Mars lander and getting things set up on the surface of Mars, and, you know, just a bunch of generalized things like that involving motions, bending, twisting, standing still, you know, things like that. So-- Host: So how long does that usually take? John Charles: It's about 45 minutes-- Host: Wow. John Charles: In the tent, and that's only a subset. When they get back to Houston, there's a much longer set of measure, of activities they go through, and that'll be 24 hours after landing. Host: Right. John Charles: But we also test them in the airport in Karaganda, which is where the helicopter takes them after they land. Host: Right. John Charles: Or we test them in the airport either in Norway or in Scotland, depending on where the jet lands to refuel on the way-- Host: Their layover, right. John Charles: On the way back. Their layover. Host: Yeah. John Charles: So that gives us, you know, minutes, and hours, and then a day of adaptation. And then, we watch them for several days post flight up to potentially even several weeks post flight to track their full recovery back to normal. And this is specifically to quantify the responses, the re-accommodation and re-adaptation back to gravity so engineers can design habitats and landers for Mars missions, and they'll know what capabilities astronauts will have to design around. Host: Right. John Charles: Now, smart fellow that you are, you're going to say, but John, you already said that Mars has only one-third of a g, and here we are making them do all this stuff at one g. Host: Again, you're reading my mind. [laughs] John Charles: We've worked together so much, I can anticipate your, almost your next thought. But the deal is, yes, we are making them do it at one g when normally on Mars they'd be at one-third of a g. All we've got is one g, and this is the closest we can get to that situation, so we have to-- Host: Right. John Charles: Make the appropriate adjustments, if we think it's necessary, to compensate for the fractional gravity. But right now, in answer to your next question, we don't have any information on what fractional gravity does. And so we just have to assume that it will be as unpleasant, uncomfortable, difficult as one g is. And then, once we get experience at fractional gravity, like if we go to the Moon and get one-sixth of a g experience or if we land on Mars, and do it a few times, and say, you know what? That was not as hard as we said it was going to be. It's going to be easier here at one-third of a g. We can make the appropriate adjustments. Host: Right. There's a lot deeper of a story here, I can tell. John Charles: Yeah. [laughs] Host: There's a lot of different directions we can go, but I'm going to ask one more question, and then we're going to let you go. So, you know, you have all these field tests, and you're kind of preparing for what, you know, what we have to do in order to make a Mars mission work. So I do have one, like, theoretical question for you: In a perfect world, if you were to land on Mars, what would you want that to look like? I'm guessing, I mean, can it be as simple as they land on Mars and they're good? They get out of the capsule. Or is there, you know, is there other things that we are going to have to sacrifice based on the knowledge we have now to make that as easy as possible? John Charles: I think the answer is going to be yes and yes. Host: Awesome. John Charles: I think astronauts come in varieties just like other people do, and some people will have problems accommodating, adjusting, adapting, and others will not. Some folks are going to be able to land on Mars, and bounce right up, and feel like they want to go to work. We're probably going to insist that the landing vehicle be able to accommodate them for a couple of days. Host: I see. John Charles: Because we don't want to bet that they're all going to be perfect, they're all going to be bulletproof. And by perfect, I mean in this particular regard. Because they're all going to have, they're all going to be perfect in some way. It's not just, you know, the, not just the '70's kids. [laughs] We're all perfect in some way, but they're all not going to be perfect at adjusting to Mars. There's going to be some that are slower, and some that are faster, and some that are sort of run of the mill. We have to accommodate all of them because you can't leave the guy behind that's not feeling the best, then go and start exploring Mars. Host: Right. John Charles: So the goal is to make the landing vehicle as lightweight as possible. Previous discussion about mass, and power, and volume. Host: Right. John Charles: Which means minimize the amount of mass that you dedicate to life support systems. You don't want to build a two-week life support system into the lander if you're only going to use it for a couple of days, then you're going to feel good enough to go out and then traipse across the desert to the habitat that's waiting for you with all the life support you can use inside of it. Host: Right. John Charles: But you don't want to carry excess life support, but you don't want to carry too little life support in case it turns out to be, just by the luck of the draw, you've got four people that are going to have a tough time readjusting, and-- Host: Yeah. John Charles: They don't want to get, put their space suits on and stumble across Mars face down into the dust, you know. Things like that. Host: Yeah [inaudible]. John Charles: So what I would like to see the landing on Mars look like is that the entire crew feels good, and it was the luck of the draw that we got four people that just turned out to feel good this time. They're, they understand the importance of the design of the habitat, of the lander, so they take their time getting suited up and making the excursion out. Maybe they, maybe we're clever on the first landing and we don't make them actually walk very much at all. We make them have a radio-controlled rover that deploys from the habitat, and comes over, and is waiting out their front door on the lander. And they get into that, and they drive off to the habitat, and they get in, and set up housekeeping instead of actually having to stress themselves for the first time in a six- or eight-month period of time after they transited to Mars. Host: That's a cool concept. Nice. John Charles: So, you know-- Host: Valet service. John Charles: Yeah, valet service. [laughs] And it might be even, may be even a self-driving car, so maybe Uber or-- Host: Yeah. [laughs] John Charles: Google's going to have something to say about it. Host: That's right. John Charles: And then, they gradually become accustomed to their environment on Mars so they can go to work on Mars. The habitat will have the gym, whatever it looks like, as well as the food, and the fresh water, and the fresh air. But the point of all this is not to cater to the astronauts. The goal is to make sure that the astronauts are, as I like to say, in the best condition of their lives when they land so they minimize the time they spend readapting-- Host: Right. John Charles: Because the Mars missions will be the most expensive undertakings humanity's ever embarked upon. Host: Sure. John Charles: And if we want to have a second, and a third, and a fourth, and a fifth one, the first one had better be productive. And the way to be productive is to be in good condition so you can get to work as quickly as possible, allowing for the accommodation time of a few days, or a week, or so, and then get to work, and show us why we sent you to Mars, and make those Nobel Prize winning discoveries on Mars so that Congress, and the parliaments of all the partner agencies, and everybody, all the taxpayers, think, yeah, that was a good thing. We want to do that some more. [laughs] We'll have more Mars missions and build up the flow to Mars and the infrastructure for Mars. So it's, it sounds like I'm altruistic, but Gary, you know me well enough to know that [laughs] I'm not altruistic. I want the astronauts to be in great condition when they land on Mars not just for themselves but for us too because if we have hopes of becoming a multi-planet society, our first emissaries to other planets will have to be, will have to demonstrate how productive we can be in other planets, and that's really the goal here. Host: John, I want you to lead the charge and lead us [laughs] all the way to Mars. John Charles: I'm not going to Mars, then. Host: You'll be the guy landing. [laughs] John Charles: I want to stay at home and cheer them on. Host: [laughs] Well, this was awesome. Thanks for coming on the show and talking about, you know, really analyzing what Shane was feeling and what, why we are doing what we're doing, you know, obviously for later missions and landing on Mars. So obviously, you know, there's something that, there's some stuff that Dr. Charles was not able to address today, so for those listening, if you want to know more or you have a suggestion on what we need to talk about, stay tuned until after the music to learn on where and how you can submit some ideas. So John, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. John Charles: Delighted. Thank you [inaudible]. Host: Glad to have you, and we'll probably have to have you again. John Charles: Okay. [ Laughs ] [ Music ] Host: Hey, thanks for sticking around. So I hope you enjoyed our talk with Dr. John Charles and Astronaut Shane Kimbrough. If you want to learn more about kind of all the things that specifically Dr. Charles talked about, there's, we actually have a website for that, per usual -- nasa.gov/hrp. This is the website for the Human Research Program, and you can learn about everything that they're studying there. All of these things that Dr. Charles was talking about -- the human body, bone density, even we have some stuff about the twin study that happened just actually a couple years ago now when Scott Kelly launched in 2015. So you can find all that information there. A lot of the research that's done and especially with Shane Kimbrough on the International Space Station was done up there on that orbiting complex. You can go to nasa.gov/iss to learn about the latest updates on the International Space Station -- all the latest blogs and scientific findings. We also have a lot of cool pictures that we like to put up on that website. On social media, we're very active. Facebook is the International Space Station. That's their Facebook page. On Twitter, we're @space, underscore, station. And on Instagram, it's @iss. If you want to submit an idea or you have a question about something that we talked about on the podcast, just use that hashtag #asknasa on your favorite platform. Doesn't matter. We'll check them all. And we'll make sure that we address it on one of the next podcasts that we do. And maybe we even will make a whole podcast out of, episode out of it. So this podcast was recorded on April 19th thanks to John Stoll and Eric Sparamin [phonetic] for helping to produce the show. Thanks again to Dr. John Charles and Shane Kimbrough for coming on the show. See you in 6.79 sols. Get it because the Mars? Okay. See you next time.