Category Archives: Science

Drones Over Fukushima

I recently wrote a feature story about the many uses of unmanned aerial vehicles (“drones”). It was published in February 2011 issue of the German Gruner+Jahr publication, Wunderwelt Wissen.

I truly believe that drones will revolutionize law enforcement, border patrol, search and rescue, security, agriculture, environmental monitoring, fire fighting, traffic control and many other areas.

Here is a good example for what drones can do. Flying over the Fukushima reactors is very dangerous at this time. Not only because of the direct radiation, but also because radioactive particles can get sucked into aircraft. Unmanned drones, on the other hand, can fly very close and and provide images and measurements around the clock. Some can even hover in the air and get within a few meters of parts to be inspected.

Here are a few aerial shots.

Continue reading →

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Daylight Saving Time Makes No Sense

This Sunday we will again do the crazy switch: “Daylight Savings Time”. But the assertion that Daylight “Saving” Time “saves” energy is bunk. It is simply a stupid and anachronistic idea. It serves no documentable purpose and should be done away with.

Not only have the positive effects of DST never been conclusively documented. On the contrary! In recent years, there has been a growing body of scientific evidence showing an increase in energy consumption during DST.

The idea behind DST was that more daylight in the afternoon would reduce the need for artificial lighting, thus cutting down on energy costs.

But as it turns out, more light (and heat) in the afternoon also means an increased demand for air conditioning, which results in a net increase in energy usage. These are the findings of a 2008 study by two University of California, Santa Barbara researchers. “I’ve never had a paper with such a clear and unambiguous finding as this,” said lead researcher Matthew Kotchen.

Studies conducted in Japan, Australia and the State of Indiana have reached similar conclusions.

In the U.S., the situation is rather bizarre: some states switch to DST, others don’t. In the State of Indiana, some counties have DST. Others don’t. So if one drives though the state, the time jumps!

There is similar confusion around the globe. Some countries switch to DST, others don’t. Some (just to top everyone else in terms of absurdity) switch only one half hour forward and back.

Here is a world map showing DST usage:

Legend: DST implemented (blue), DST not implemented (red), DST formerly used but now abolished (orange). Click to enlarge.

Of course, this impacts telecommunications, the travel industry, navigation and international business.

It is idiotic (to say the least!).

By the way: another false myth about DST is that Benjamin Franklin suggested it. Not true! Franklin merely suggested that getting up earlier (with the sun) and going to bed earlier would be more efficient – considering that most illumination in his days came from (expensive) candles and oil lamps.

Franklin is said to have remarked: “Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”. In 1784, he also published an anonymous letter, which satirically suggested taxing shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells and firing cannons at sunrise. Of course he was not serious. And he never suggested to move the clocks back and forth.

Here is an organization with the goal of abolishing DST for good: http://www.standardtime.com/

(Adapted from my blog post of 03/07, 2008)

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Please Do Not Call Me “Caucasian”

There has been quite an uproar about an NPR (National Public Radio in the U.S.) commentator, who used the term “Gringo” for white Americans.

Personally, I don’t care if you call me “Gringo”. What I find offensive is the term “caucasian”. It is anthropologically and ethnologicially wrong and scientifically ignorant.

The term was probably invented by the German anthropologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach. Around 1800, he theorized that all of the indigenous populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia originated in the Caucasus region. (Locate the Caucasus on a map. Most Europeans would not even consider it to be part of Europe).

In this region, so Blumenbach thought, God had created the “perfect man”. As they spread out in all directions, Blumenbach (and his fellow “monogenists”) believed, people degenerated in appearance.

Blumenbach wrote: “Caucasian variety – I have taken the name of this variety from Mount Caucasus, both because its neighborhood, and especially its southern slope, produces the most beautiful race of men, I mean the Georgian; and because all physiological reasons converge to this, that in that region, if anywhere, it seems we ought with the greatest probability to place the autochthones (birth place) of mankind.” [From: Blumenbach, De generis humani varietate nativa (3rd ed. 1795), trans. Bendyshe (1865)]

The 4th edition of Meyers Konversations-Lexikon (Leipzig, 1885-1890) shows the “caucasian race” as comprising Aryans, Semites and Hamites. Aryans are further subdivided into European Aryans and Indo-Aryans (the latter corresponding to the group later designated Indo-Iranians.

Blumenbach’s theories (most of which were derived from a bizarre pseudo science called “craniology” — the examination of skulls) are considered absurd by today’s standard of knowledge.

The term “caucasian” is anachronistic, misleading, scientifically wrong and should be dropped altogether. What should be used instead? “Caucasoid”, “Europid” and “Europoid” have been suggested, but are a similarly demented.

“European” would suffice. “European-American”, if you must. “Europeans” can be subcategorized into “Nordic” or “Germanic European” peoples, Slavic peoples, etc. — although in practice, these groups have been mixing in Europe for thousands of years. What matters more are the distinct cultural (and linguistic) differences, which have been preserved in Europe to this day.

In the U.S., the Supreme Court in 1923 decided that Asian Indians may be “caucasian” but not “white”. (United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind). In 1946, the court modified its opinion. The issue came to the court’s attention because of their relevance to immigration laws which, before 1965 favored white Europeans. As a result, the court was left to decide who was to be considered “white”.

Outside of American English and in science, the term “caucasian” has fallen out of use a long time ago, and it should be thrown out from everyday American language as well.

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From My Bookshelves

A fortnight ago I attended a lecture by Robert Piccioni. Rarely have I heard Einstein’s work and the fundamentals of modern cosmology explained in such a simple, entertaining and yet informative way. Much of the lecture’s content is echoed in Piccioni’s latest book, which I highly recommend for everyone.

Learn the basics about how the universe works and understand the difference between Newton’s and Einstein’s view of gravity. Take a brief look at phenomena such as black holes, dark energy, gravitational lensing, redshift and the expanding universe! Piccioni’s work is a perfect blend of hard science and amusing anecdotes, making it very easy to follow. No advanced background in science is needed.

Everyone’s guide to Atoms, Einstein and the Universe, by Robert L. Piccioni (2nd Edition). ISBN 13: 978-0-9822780-7-9.

Talking about books: The Grand Design, the most recent book by Stephen Hawking (this time co-authored Leonard Mlodinow) just came out. (ISBN-13: 978-0553805376)

The wheelchair bound physicist from Britain is arguably the most famous scientist since Einstein. At his last lectures here at Caltech, people were lining up all night for a spot in the lecture hall. (It is amusing to see that even in this day and age, scientists can achieve rock-star fame).

Immediately after the The Grand Design appeared earlier this month, some began to misquote it, saying Hawkins claimed that there was no God. But that’s not what Hawkins & Mlodinow are saying.

If we accept that nature is governed by laws, logical questions arise: What is the nature of these laws? Are there exceptions to them (the so-called “miracles”)? Is there really only one set of laws?

Ever since the beginning of mankind’s inquiry, there were those who accused “scientists“ (as the believers in “natural philosophy” began to be called in the 19th century) of plunging the world into moral and ethical darkness, as theirs was allegedly an attempt to demystify or even deny God’s involvement in nature.

Even this is a misunderstanding. Descartes, Galilei, Copernicus, Newton, Darwin and the like maintained their belief in a supreme being, while at the same time carrying on their investigations into the principles and laws governing everything in the universe.

Hawkins & Mlodinow contend that modern science has reached the point where the “mysterious hand of God” is perceivably no longer necessary to “explain” how the universe functions. Rather, our level of understanding of natural laws may have progressed to the point where we can (or will soon be) able to explain all the fundamental milestones of cosmology with pure reason.

The intellectual methods used in today’s science are in effect no different to those used by Aristarchus of Samos (310 BC – 230 BC, approx.) who, during the Ionian period, correctly calculated that the Earth orbits the Sun. Furthermore, that the Sun must be bigger than the Earth, which was not the center of the universe. (Of course, it took more than 1800 years until the heliocentric world view would become universally accepted). Here too, an “explanation” such as “God made it” is not sufficient, and neither is:

The sun is a luminary whose egress is an opening of heaven, which is (located) in the direction of the east, and whose ingress is (another) opening of heaven, (located) in the west. I saw six openings through which the sun rises and six openings through which it sets. The moon also rises and sets through the same openings, and they are guided by the stars; together with those whom they lead, they are six in the east and six in the west heaven. All of them (are arranged) one after another in a constant order. There are many windows (both) to the right and the left of these openings. First there goes out the great light whose name is the sun; its roundness is like the roundness of the sky; and it is totally filled with light and heat. The chariot in which it ascends is (driven by) the blowing wind. The sun sets in the sky (in the west) and returns by the northeast in order to go to the east; it is guided so that it shall reach the eastern gate and shine in the face of the sky. (1 Enoch 72:2–5)

And yet, science has never ruled out the possible existence of a supreme being, which may well lie beyond the abilities of our intellect, in the same manner as quantum physics is beyond what a chimp can rationally comprehend.

In human terms, as Piccioni rightfully pointed out in his talk, we live in the “golden age” of Astronomy. There have been more groundbreaking discoveries about our universe within the last 100 years, than in all the history of mankind before.

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Lacking Vaccines, 78 Humans And 800,000 Dogs Killed in Bali

Here’s a wake-up call to members of the anti-science, flat-earth society who believe that vaccines are more harmful than infectious diseases: due to a shortage of vaccines, rabies is now out of control in Bali.

The toll of infection so far: 600,000 dogs and at least 78 humans — most of whom were children. Many deaths have gone unreported. In desperation, the government has ordered the killing of an additional 200,000 dogs. And this in a nation known for revering dogs!

Around the world, rabies kills some 55,000 people annually, according to the WHO. Most deaths happen after bites from unvaccinated dogs. Most human fatalities occur when the human vaccine is not given immediately after a dog bite.

In Bali, about 30,000 dog bites have been reported in the last half year. And in most cases, a lack of vaccine means that doctors can do little but dress up the wound and send the patient home while hoping for the best.

Rabies is a serious, very infectious virus, but we have countermeasures, and nobody should have to die from it.

The Associated Press has more on this story.

From the Centers for Disease Control, more on rabies.

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12 Events That Would Change Everything

Someone at Scientific American had a magnificent idea: come up with a list of 12 plausible events with the biggest potential to shake up our world.

It is not difficult to identify such monumental events in the past, but harder than it seems when we try to gauge the relative importance (and likelihood) of things to come.

Here is what Scientific American came up with for an interactive web-only special:

1. Polar meltdown
2. The proof for additional dimensions
3. Proof for extraterrestrial life
4. An exchange of nuclear strikes
5. The creation of fully synthetic life
6. Superconducitvity at room temperature
7.  Machines demonstrating self-awareness
8. Cloning of a human
9. A really large earthquake along the Pacific Rim
10. Usable fusion reactors
11. A collision with a large asteroid
12. A deadly pandemic

A great list! Except, I don’t think human cloning is a big deal. We already have nature’s way of producing genetically identical humans (identical twins). So perhaps I would replace No. 8 with any of the following:

• Ability to switch off the biological aging mechanism
• Construction of a bionic uterus; extra-corporal gestation
• A working theory uniting Relativity & Quantum Mechanics
• Drugs which significantly decrease the need for sleep
• Fully reversible vasectomies and tubal ligations
• Ability to grow organs and tissues from stem cells
• Solid evidence for / against the life of Jesus Christ
• Technical applications for Quantum Entanglement

Now that I think about it, I’d like to expand the entire list! Food for thought? What would you add or remove?

For more in-depth information on the items on Scientific American’s list, please follow the link below. I seriously doubt that it will run equally well on all systems and browsers, but it is well worth the try.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=interactive-12-events

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Volcanic Ash on Mars (Air Traffic Unaffected)

Airborne volcanic ash has once again been obstructing air traffic over Europe this past week. This would be an even bigger problem on Mars, where ash particles travel much farther due to weak gravity and a thin atmosphere. (Luckily, Mars does not have much air travel at this time).

Does Mars have volcanoes? You bet! The Red Planet is home to the biggest volcano known to man. Olympus Mons rises 27 km above the median Martian surface level. This makes it three times taller than Earth’s Mount Everest! And it is 2.6 times taller than Mauna Kea measured from the base on the ocean floor to the top!

I wonder how long it will be until human mountaineers summit Olympus Mons for the first time. It would be a long and strenuous climb, but all equipment would weigh only 38% of its heft on Earth. It seems far fetched, but I would be willing to bet that some day in the distant future, explorers will seek out the challenge of climbing the tallest mountain in the Solar System on foot.

But back to volcanic ash. Today, ESA released some amazing images of volcanic ash deposits in the Meridiani Planum, as seen by the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera.

Meridiani Planum, a plain at the northern edge of the southern highlands of Mars, is half way between the volcanic Tharsis Region to the west and the low-lying Hellas Planitia impact basin to the south-east. Through a telescope, Meridiani Planum is a striking, dark feature, close to the martian equator.

It extends 127 km by 63 km and covers an area of roughly 8000 km², which is about the size of Cyprus. It was chosen as a central reference point for Mars’ geographical coordinate system. So the martian prime meridian, the equivalent of the Greenwich, UK, prime meridian on Earth, has been set to run through this region.

Click image for hi-res version. Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum).

In the center of this image is a 50 km wide impact crater. The black material appears to be volcanic ash composed of pyroxene and olivine. Martian winds must have whipped some of the stuff out of the crater and plunked it down in the region on the upper left. More ash was tossed into a smaller impact crater in the 10 o’clock position.

Volcanoes are not unique to Earth. Unmanned spacecraft have even found signs of active volcanic activities on moons such as Io, Enceladus, Triton and Europa.

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Amazing Footage of Eyjafjallajokull

In this amazing video, ITN reporter John Irvine and a helicopter pilot closely approach Eyjafjallajokull. The footage shows volcanic lightning bolts and pockmarks in the glacial ice caused by fallen lava.

I didn’t know that volcanic eruptions can cause electrical lightning. The phenomenon is caused by the interaction of  water droplets, ice, hail and ash, which builds up an electric charge.

Eyjafjallajokull can apparently get quite tempestuous. Its last eruption began in 1821 and lasted for two years. Not good! Historically, an eruption of Eyjafjallajokull has woken up nearby Katla. So far, there are no signs of this. But it could get nasty. Eyjafjallajokull managed to turn Europe into a no-fly zone for a week. Airlines were losing about $250 million every day. But Katla eruptions can be 10 times as strong!

By the way: I just returned from managed chaos at Los Angeles International Airport. What a strange sight! Many international terminals were empty because of cancellations. At other terminals, hundreds of stranded passengers were lined up, hoping to get a seat now that many routes are operational again. It will be chaos for a while.

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