Weekend Links

From a book I happen to be reading at the moment:

Our bodies are of course what get left out of a theory that treats architecture as a language, a system of signs. Such a theory can’t explain the physical experience of two places as different as Grand Central Station and my little shack, because the quality of those experiences involves a tangle of mental and physical, cultural and biological elements that the theory can’t account for, blinded as it is by old Western habits of regarding body and mind as separate realms. Taking the side of the mind in the ancient dualism of mind and body, this theory can only explain that part of architecture that can be translated into words and pictures, published in magazines and debated at conferences. An architecture that ignores the body is certainly possible; the proof is all around us. But I doubt it will ever win our hearts.

—A Place of My Own: The Architecture of Daydreams by Michael Pollan, pg. 214.

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And Now, The Links

• Conquering cancer with implants? Bioengineered vaccines and magnetic nanodiscs show promise
• Air Force space plane shooting for April launch
• Ares team pressing forward with plans for Ares I-X Prime flight, for now
• SpaceX founder weighs in on Falcon 9 launch readiness – Can’t wait to see Falcon 9 and Dragon work. Good luck, folks.
• Blue Origin Update on Opportunities for Research – Quiet, but still active. Looking forward to what these folks do in the long run.
• New space telescope to hunt for stealth asteroids
• Martian meteorite surrenders new secrets of possible life – The return of ALH84001. Welcome back.
• Fresh claim for fossil life in Mars rock
• Martian "Lake Michigan" Filled Crater, Minerals Hint
• Rainbow trapped for the first time
• Superconductors can come in from the cold
• LHC smashes protons together for first time
• Carfree Times no. 56 – Always worth a look.
• The Future of Trains: In-Depth Reports
• US bets $150m on high-risk renewable energy – Pretty small bet, considering the stakes.
• First osmosis power plant goes on stream in Norway
• Nuclear fuel: are we heading for a uranium crunch?
• World's last bastion of stable ice now thawing
• One for the Ages: Bristlecone Pines Break 4,650-Year Growth Record
• Extinction Countdown: New species galore in discoveries around the world
• Military Divorces Edge Up Again In 9th Year Of War – I knew a Navy officer who was “Dear John”-ed during W.’s initial attack on Iraq. Unfortunately, he has lots of company.
• Obama Pushes Hundreds Of Lobbyists Off Federal Advisory Boards
• Krugman: Tax The Speculators
• Feelin' the Heat – Blue Cross/Blue Shield asks for trouble, gets it.
• 'Godfather of Spam' sentenced to four years in prison

Weekend Links

From a book I happen to be reading at the moment:

[...T]his was real work too, something more than mere labor—time put in for pay. [....] At the end we would have something to show for it, would have added something to the stock of reality—to what Hannah Arendt once called the “huge arsenal of the given.” In The Human Condition Arendt writes of the privileged position of homo faber, man the maker of things, whom the Greeks believed stood not only above the laborer, but above even the man of action and the man of thought, or words. The laborer produces nothing lasting he can call his own, and both the man of action and the man of thought are ultimately dependent on other people, without whose regard and remembrance their deeds and creations do not matter or endure.

—A Place of My Own: The Architecture of Daydreams by Michael Pollan, pg. 165.

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And Now, The Links

• Europe puts brakes on fusion project – Cheap, clean, limitless power? Maybe later. Time to fund a few domestic alternate efforts.
• A Tiny Revolution: Save Yourself! – (Thanks to Jay Lake.) I was one of the approximately ten thousand people in the February 15, 2003, demonstration here in Austin, Texas. It may not have been much in the grand scheme of things, but there are times when you have to, at a minimum, stand-up and say “no, this is wrong” (wrong factually, wrong morally, wrong practically). Turns out it had some effects, after all. And, as the largest day of protest in human history, it should have. But if local media coverage is anything to go by, I have to wonder: How many Americans even know it happened? And how many non-Americans? If our media had done its job better, would it have had even more effect?
• Why do we hate? Academics seek answer in new field – Thanks to Jay Lake.
• War Is Peace: Can Science Fight Media Disinformation?
• Greenland ice loss behind a sixth of sea-level rise
• Antarctic temperature spike surprises climate researchers
• Hacked E-Mails Fuel Global Warming Debate
• IBM makes supercomputer significantly smarter than cat – It should have worked, and it did. Bravo!
• Rat Made Supersmart -- Similar Boost Unsafe in Humans?
• A 25-Year Battery – Thanks to Jay Lake.
• Boffins try to get closer to hot bodies – Quantum dots: making electricity from waste heat
• Will secret copyright treaty restrict your digital rights?
• Shocker: Ars, Hollywood agree on need for ACTA openness
• Could Jupiter Moon Harbor Fish-Size Life? – Oxygen enough for fish in the seas of Europa.
• Icy moon's lakes brim with hearty soup for life – The hydrocarbon lakes of Saturn’s moon Titan are loaded with acetylene, a possible anti-freeze for life.
• Manager encouraged by first attempts to move Spirit rover
• New hope for plucky Japanese asteroid mission
• 'Frankenstein' fix lets asteroid mission cheat death
• Dark galaxy crashing into the Milky Way
• Novel Nova: Stellar Blast Powered by Helium May Leave a Tantalizing Remnant
• Titanic Thirty Meter Telescope Will See Deep Space More Clearly
• Future colliders: Beyond the LHC
• Circulation of LHC Beams Could Resume in Earnest over the Weekend
• The Emerging Field of Biophotonic Communication – Thanks to Jay Lake.
• Birth of New Species Witnessed by Scientists
• Malaria Gaining Resistance to Best Available Treatment – Evolution in action.
• Fight to protect California condors from lead ammunition moves to Arizona
• ID Error Leaves Fish at Edge of Extinction
• Extinction Countdown: Skate punk'd: Taxonomic "oops" put rare fish species in danger of extinction
• Dung Fungus Provides New Evidence in Mammoth Extinction
• Lava Cave Minerals Actually Microbe Poop
• Plants Have a Social Life, Too
• Plants Share Light If Neighbor Is Related
• Surreal underwater river – Thanks to Jay Lake.
• WWII "Samurai Subs" Found -- Carried Aircraft
• Scuba diving to the depths of human history
• Maya "Painted Pyramid" Reveals 1st Murals of Daily Life
• Don't pack your parachute: Totally free fall – There’s what you can do, and what you should do.... Leaving that issue aside, here’s wishing you safe landings, folks.
• Creepy insurance company pulls coverage due to Facebook pics
• US could ban caffeine-alcohol drinks within months
• Daimler Brings Car-Sharing to the Lone Star State
• Nov. 23, 1963: Doctor Who Materializes on BBC

Weekend Links

• Meteor shower this week as we cut through comet trails – NASA’s Fluxtimator says I’m out of luck on this one.
• Paranoia Strikes Deep – Thanks to Jay Lake.
• Court Silences CIA Operative Despite Yellowcake Scandal
• Government Will Pay $3 Million in Coffee Table Spying Suit
• Bush Feared Successor Might Revoke Telco Spy Immunity – Sadly, there seems to be no danger of that.
• Copyright Time Bomb Set to Disrupt Music, Publishing Industries
• SPDY: Google wants to speed up the web by ditching HTTP
• Go: new open source programming language from Google
• SFLC tech director finds one new GPL violator every day
• First universal programmable quantum computer unveiled
• Examining science on the fringes: vital, but generally wrong
• Nov. 11, 1930: Einstein Gets Ice Cold – Einstein’s Icebox – Cool!
• Using photosynthesis to power hydrogen production
• In SUSY we trust: What the LHC is really looking for
• Will probe's upcoming fly-by unlock exotic physics?
• Comet Hunter’s Last Look at Earth Is Haunting
• Impact reveals lunar water by the bucketful
• Scientists confirm abundant water in lunar crater
• Lunar Impactor Finds Clear Evidence of Water Ice on Moon
• NASA sees "significant quantities" of water on the moon
• Pluto 2015: Journey to the Rim of the Solar System
• Two solar sailing trials readied for launch next year
• Propelled by light: the promise and perils of solar sailing
• Mars rover battles for its life
• Spirit's roving chances bleak, team cheered by discoveries
• Troubled asteroid mission stumbles on road home
• NASA’s Scrubbed Escape Pod Glides to New Home – X-38 lifting body finds a retirement home.
• Backward star ain't from around here
• City Streets a Mortal Threat to Pedestrians
• Tuna in peril as catches reach triple the limit
• Extinction Countdown: Tuna fishing kills an albatross every 5 minutes
• Natural Gas Drilling Produces Radioactive Wastewater
• Stop selling out science to commerce
• Yes Men punk US Chamber of Commerce on climate change, sued
• Mini ice age took hold of Europe in months
• Common cold may hold off swine flu
• Less loud sounds can still damage ears
• New Brain Cells May Knock Out Old Memories
• Darpa: Freeze Soldiers to Save Injured Brains
• Bering in Mind: Who says love hurts? Romantic partners alter our perception of pain
• The Peeriodic Table of Illusions
• Human-Chimp Gene Comparison Hints at Roots of Language
• Bones Show Biggest Dinosaurs Had Hot Blood
• Colfer’s Hitchhiker’s Guide Sequel Will Be His Last
• Scott Brown on Why America Is Finally Ready for Doctor Who

Bamberger Ranch Preserve Gets an Observatory

I finally get to show my photo of the XXXXXXXXXXX that David Bamberger embargoed until he could make his official announcement on-line: The Bamberger Ranch Preserve now has an observatory, as you can see below.

That was a 30-second, ISO 400 exposure shot by moonlight using a 10mm lens at f/4.5. Because the auto-focus system on my camera didn't have enough light to operate, the focus was accomplished with a bit of luck and a binary search.

The observatory will be a great addition to the Preserve's education programs, and is located within an easy walk of the the Center (see my panorama of the main room of the Center), where groups of school kids come to spend as many as three days participating in educational activities. For myself, despite the moonlit sky, I was able to see Jupiter’s clouds first-hand, for the first-time in my life.

Weekend Links

• Maryland Voters Test New Cryptographic Voting System – Hmm... Interesting....
• Texas snatches voter system from $863m IBM contract
• Xoie Claims $1 Million Lunar Lander Prize
• 'Space elevator' wins $900,000 NASA prize
• NASA juggles manifest for future Ares test flights
• Video: Aerial View of Ares I-X Flight Test
• Aerial video provides view of Ares 1-X parachute trouble
• Hubble’s New Camera Delivers Another Stunner
• Orbiter camera sees ice-covered Phoenix lander
• Mars rover plans its escape – Spirit not a weather station, yet.
• Ground teams struggle to save Mars orbiter from itself
• Strange Brew at LCROSS's Crash Site
• LRO Image of Apollo 17 Landing Site
• Signature of Antimatter Detected in Lightning
• Ionic batteries could multiply battery life by 11
• How to Keep Planes From Colliding With Lasers
• Nov. 3, 1993: Theremin Fades Out
• Generation specs: Stopping the short-sight epidemic
• Does Vitamin D Improve Brain Function?
• Oldest American artefact unearthed
• Darwin’s Wolf Mystery Solved
• Was life founded on cyanide from space crashes?
• Frozen Antarctic lakes yield new viruses
• Giant crack in Africa formed in just days
• Civil War In Corporate America: Banks Battling The Chamber On Accounting Rules
• Copyright Treaty Is Policy Laundering at Its Finest
• The ACTA Internet provisions: DMCA goes worldwide

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Panorama no. 8

This panorama was shot at sunset on December 29, 2008, at Texas’ justly famous Enchanted Rock, a billion-year-old granite dome exposed by eons of erosion. This was shot on one of the boulder strewn slopes, as the sun was rapidly disappearing beneath the horizon. The lighting changed so much during the shoot that I was sure this panorama was a write-off, but this weekend I decided to assemble it anyway, thinking that one or more subsections might be usable and interesting. Surprisingly (to me at least), modern panorama generating software was able to compensate for the continuously changing lighting, and produced, with a little effort, a pristine 360° image. And, because the pano was shot high dynamic range, the ever deepening shadows caused no loss of information.

This was the only panorama I managed to shoot that day. My earlier attempts to shoot a panorama whose centerpiece would have been a boulder about as big as a small house, failed when I had, with great care and not a few misgivings, setup my equipment on the absolute edge of the furthest point of the ledge on which it sat, and found that the boulder still didn’t fit entirely in frame, even with my 10mm lens (which was acting like a 16mm lens on the camera I was using).

I’d planned to spend two days shooting at Enchanted Rock, staying overnight at the Bamberger Ranch in between, but I was so disgusted at that first day’s failure (and the amount of time I wasted in getting there by following an absurd “short cut” to the Rock that Google Maps had selected for me, and the staggering number of people that were there, and the difficulty/danger of climbing to obscure boulders while carrying 40lbs of camera equipment), that after dinner with the Bambergers (and Leroy Petri) I decided to throw in the towel and just go home. At the time, Margaret said she’d like to join me at the Rock for a day of photography, and we’d planned to do that this past summer. Sadly, she died before that could happen.

What’s the line from the Death Cab for Cutie song (What Sarah Said), “every plan is a tiny prayer to Father Time”?

I’ll See Your “Monday Moment of Zen” and Raise You...

Old friend Jay Lake offers a “Monday Moment of Zen” photo this week, and, for a change, I think I can get in on the action.... Consider this your “Tuesday Moment of Zen.” © 2007, 2009 by Chris W. Johnson.

Weekend Links

• In Industry First, Voting Machine Company to Publish Source Code – Even if the source code was absolutely complete—representing every element of logic in every piece of hardware in the entire voting system (which isn't going to happen)—and absolutely correct, and absolutely uncorruptible, how would voters, or election officials, know that it was that software running in the machines they vote with? This is a nice gesture, but, ultimately, a meaningless one.
• House, Senate get separate bills to kill net neutrality
• Intel touts NAND-killer breakthrough
• Little, big, and green: a biography of the solid-state disk
• Slim, warm superconductors promise faster electronics
• Quantum gravity theories wiped out by a gamma ray burst
• Baffling Patterns Form in Scientific Sandbox
• Silence! The Last of the Giant Radio Telescopes Is Listening to the Universe
• 3,000 Images Combine for Stunning Milky Way Portrait – It won't really be stunning until we get a much higher-resolution look at it, but it sounds like a great piece of work.
• Huge Explosion Was Biggest Space Rock to Strike Earth Since 1994
• Taking Earth’s Temperature With 30-Mile Thermometer
• NASA assessing parachutes and dented Ares 1-X booster
• Parachute failure causes damage to Ares 1-X booster
• Pad 39B suffers substantial damage from Ares I-X launch – Parachute update
• Asteroid blast reveals holes in Earth's defences
• Little X-Plane Pushes Bottom Edge of the Envelope
• Army’s Robot-Man Walks Like the Real Thing
• Animal Robots: Marine Machines Made in Nature's Image
• Magnetic 'eyesight' helps birds find their way
• A Short History of Vaccine Panic
• The secret history of swine flu
• US swine flu vaccine too late to beat autumn wave
• Swine flu: Eight myths that could endanger your life
• Autoimmune disease cells harnessed to fight cancer
• US FDA says omega-3 oils from GM soya are safe to eat
• Inside a Cellphone Radiation Testing Lab
• Where do ghosts come from?
• Don’t Tell Geico: You May Be a Natural Born Bad Driver
• Clever 'chopped' cars promise cheap electric commuting – Of course, they'll still sit in the same traffic jams as conventional vehicles.
• Probably guilty: Bad mathematics means rough justice
• Daylight Savings Time 2009: When and Why We Fall Back

Drought Plus 10 Inches, Minus Barbecue

I was out at the Bamberger Ranch Preserve this evening for their annual volunteer appreciation gathering. Arriving with the sun low in the sky, but with a little time before sunset, I quickly found the legendary J. David Bamberger and asked for permission to head up into High Lonesome to re-photograph the tanks I showed in my Drought with a Side of Pig posting, early in September. He agreed, and I dashed out of the party just as the food was beginning to show up.

I borrowed a friend's truck (having bummed a ride to ranch), drove out along the ranch's main road, took a right at the misleadingly named Hes' Country Store (it's half museum, half bunkhouse, and not one bit a store), there leaving pavement behind, then bumped and juddered my way up a pair of well-worn, rock strewn, tire tracks into High Lonesome, and eventually parked in my usual spot, halfway up a valley wall. Shouldering my 40 pounds of photographic equipment, I started hiking toward my favorite valley as fast as the terrain would permit. My interest was in in seeing how the tanks had changed after at least 10 inches of rain had fallen in the last month or so.

Regular readers will recognize the photo above of the drought-stricken tank cooking in September's hot afternoon sun. The photo below was taken by twilight this evening. Leaving aside the gentler lighting, though still far from full, the tank is transformed. The bare, burned ground with a shrinking pool of sickly orange water at its center is now a decent-looking body of water, and every bit of grass and other ground cover has surged back to life.

That tank has looked a lot better in the past, for example in April of 2007, as seen below, but the rains have made a huge difference, nonetheless.

Unfortunately, in order to a make-up for the drought's damage, we need even more rain than the latest photo suggests. As you may recall, the tank in a neighboring valley had dried-up completely when I visited it this September:

This evening, seen below from a different angle, that tank is still dry. More than ten inches of rain simply vanished into the bone-dry soil. In exchange, there's a lot more vegetation, but still not a drop of available water.

So, wish us more rain, world. Central Texas is far from recovered from its drought.

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Those pictures turned-out to be more expensive than I expected, by the way. The camera and tripod took a tumble from my shoulder to the ground as I struggled to simultaneously untangle a leg of the tripod from both the branch of a bush on the trail, and one of the little bungee cords on the back of my camera gear backpack. The camera wouldn't power-on after that fall, and only a methodical disassembly and reassembly of all the bits and pieces led to the discovery, to my relief, that the problem was confined to the camera's battery grip. Removing that and going back to single-battery operation brought the camera back from the dead.

Adding hunger to injury, by the time I made it back to the volunteer appreciation party, all of the barbecue, side dishes, and even the cake had been eaten. I had to settle for a plate of beans, and the last fragment of cake – so sad a remnant it was that nobody else had been willing to touch it.

Alas, trying to take a beautiful photo can be an expensive undertaking in a lot of ways, and, while you can bet on the expense, the beauty has a way of being elusive.

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As it happens, my best photo this evening was of the XXXXXXXXXXX, shot hours later by moonlight, but David has embargoed that image until he's ready to announce the XXXXXXXXXXX at some unspecified, future date on his blog.