Online Cortex Thoughts on Science and Technology

Brian May, the lead guitarist of Queen, finished his requirements for his Ph.D. in Astrophysics.  (See his remarks on his blog here)  I remember years ago, when I first became interested in Queen’s music and learned that Brian May had studied Astrophysics.  He put his studies on hold to form the famous rock band Queen with Freddie Mercury, John Deacon, and Roger Taylor.  Now, just after his 60th birthday, Brian May has finished his requirements for his Ph.D.

Brian May’s thesis is on the “Radial Velocities of the Zodiacal Dust Coud”.  The Zodiacal Dust Cloud is a disk-shaped cloud of dust that lies in the plane of our solar system and orbits the Sun with the other planets.  It is referred to as Zodiacal since from the vantage point of the Earth, the cloud lies in the direction of the constellations of the Zodiac.  There is no mystery in that, since those constellations were chosen because they are in the directions that define that plane in the first place.

The Zodiacal Dust Cloud is formed in part from material from asteroid collisions, cometary debris, and intruding interstellar dust.  However, it is still not clear to what degree each of these processes contribute to the dust cloud.  By measuring their radial velocities, presumably by measuring Dopper shifts in the infrared thermal emissions of different regions of the disk-shaped cloud, one may be able to tease out regions that may have been generated by distinct processes.  We will have to wait for Brian May’s thesis and research papers to see what he has found!

I spent many hours of my Ph.D. studies listening to Queen LPs and CDs.  So I have to say that I am happy that Brian put his studies aside for his music.  Moreover, my friend Don says that the most precious object in the world is Red Special, Brian May’s guitar.  This is because Brian and his father made it from scratch with wood from an old fireplace mantle and various spare parts.  While many have attempted to imitate its sound, Red Special remains unmistakeable.

Congratulations to Brian for finishing his studies!
And for reminding us that one is never too legendary to learn even more!

Newspaper clipping here.
Brian May’s images of the Galileo Telescope in La Palma here.

Cheers,
Kevin Knuth
Albany NY

Posted under Astronomy, Music, Research, Space

A global dust storm has developed on Mars enveloping the red planet in a shroud of red dust.  At times up to 99% of the sunlight is blocked out, and NASA scientists fear that the rover’s batteries will not last until the storm subsides.  The Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been actively exploring Mars for about three and a half years now.  The missions were expected to last only three months!

The sequence of photos below, taken by Opportunity, shows the darkening skies due to the onset of the dust storm over the last month, from Sol 1205 through 1235.  A more detailed picture can be found on Astronomy Picture of the Day.  

To see the extent and severity of this global storm, check out this time lapse movie of Mars’ surface over the last month.  Note that the surface features all but disappear.  Mars’ global storms can last many weeks, and it is unclear whether the rovers can hold out.

Kevin Knuth
Albany NY

Posted under Astronomy, Exploration, Mars, Robotics, Space

Note to Self: In the Shutterstock Discussion Forum, there is a tutorial on Isolating Objects in Photoshop.
http://submit.shutterstock.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3711

Posted under Note to Self, Photography, Solutions

This weekend we visited my friend Kelly in New York City.  Kelly works for Design and Source Productions in Manhattan, and she told us about all the ecofriendly developments that they are making in packaging and production.  Their new environmental division is Chameleon Packaging, which is responsible for developing and promoting environmentally and economically smart choices of materials for consumer packaging. 

Their new materials are:

Terraskin which is a new tree-free paper based on calcium carbonate.  In addition to working to prevent deforestation, this new paper does not require the processing and bleaching of pulp that contributes significantly to waterway pollution.  Furthermore, it requires 20-30% less ink, which again reduces the use of potentially toxic chemicals.

Bamboo and Charcoal Fabrics are made from Bamboo fibers.  Bamboo is an rapidly renewable resource ona n annual basis.  These textiles mimic the properties of cotton and polyester.

Bioplastics are being researched, which are made from 100% vegetable starch obtained from corn and beets rather than fossil fuels.

Design and Source Productions, which is certified as a woman-owned enterprise, is continuing to research and develop new ecofriendly materials.  Visit Chameleon Packaging for more information.

Kevin Knuth
Albany NY

Posted under Entrepreneurship, Green, Inventions, Solutions

I am getting a huge amount of comment spam, and despite the fact that I have blacklisted a large number of keywords, the spammers have gotten smart and are commenting with single innocuous words, such as: nice, cool, and sorry.  It is tough to blacklist these as they will just come up with others.

Instead, the only commonality I see is that the email addresses are all from mail.com and hotmail.com.  So, for the time being, I am blacklisting these email addresses.

If anyone has a better way to handle this, I would appreciate the advice.

Kevin Knuth
Albany NY

Posted under Internet, Solutions