The ISS and the Spacetalk

The plasma trail of a Russian-built Soyuz TMA-05M space capsule (inset) while re-entering the earth’s atmosphere on Nov’19, 2012. The space capsule landed safely in Arkalyk, a remote town of Kazakhstan bringing back to earth the three astronauts; Commander Sunita Williams, and Flight Engineers Yuri Malenchenko and Aki Hoshide from the International Space Station, ISS. (Right) Astronauts busy constructing the Space Station over New Zealand. Image courtesy: NASA.

November has been the month of space exploration and it was on November 20, 1998 that a first module 'Zarya' was launched into the space and the works began on the assembly of International Space Station (ISS) at an orbital altitude of 350 km; the final assembly of which was only completed last year. The Space Station now enters the fifteenth year of its existence and therefore, it is only appropriate to mark the occasion and comment on what is one of the largest and most complex international projects in the history of mankind. As an outsider looking into the Space and while sifting through the volumes of available information, I was profoundly struck by the enormous progress that has been made in space exploration by the human being and all credit goes to NASA and the Project Team of ISS, which comprises of 16 nations including USA, Russia, Japan, 11 European nations, Canada, and Brazil. Surely, many more surprises are in store as NASA nurtures its ambitious plans to move away from the lower Earth orbit (LEO, an orbit below an altitude of 2000 kms or 1200 miles from Earth) to deep space exploration: Moon,  Mars, and beyond!

Space Station orbits the Earth 16 times a day or once  every 
90 minutes with a speed of  nearly 28,000 km/h. Credit: NASA..

Of late, the project has been mired in a controversy and attracted much criticism from both scientific and political circles alike on the grounds of delays in completion, budgetary overruns, access to the space station and optimal laboratory facilities. This may be untrue because much of the initial phase of ISS has been relegated to the assembly and the research on biomedical, materials science, and the development of space technology for obvious reasons as maintaining the safety, health, and optimum performance of the astronauts and or the space station is of paramount importance and that the human presence in space is vital to any mission success. The achievements cannot be understated as more than 200 research publications have resulted from the direct offshoot of the experiments conducted under microgravity conditions aboard ISS.

Earthrise: Planet Earth rising over the Moon's horizon
captured by the crew of Appollo 8. Image courtesy:NASA

Isn't it high time that the Nobel Committee take a serious look at the unprecedented cooperation between the nations cross continents and the tremendous progress achieved by the multinational Team ISS and award its coveted Peace Prize to the mission. I am sure such a move would send positive signals across the international community and open up new avenues for the exchange of cooperation on a similar scale  between the nations not only in the softer areas of science and technology but also harder aspects of missile defense and guided technologies and in reducing the arsenals of mass destruction thus directly furthering the cause of global peace.

Big Bang Revisited!

This computer animation, created using new software called Arepo, simulates nine billion years of cosmic history. Created by a team at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics (CfA) in collaboration with researchers at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), Arepo can accurately follow the birth and evolution of thousands of galaxies over billions of years. Credit: CfA/UCSD/HITS/

Open Access Explained!

Here's an interesting video on open access journals. It is hilarious and raises some interesting questions on this practice of journals drawing rather expensive research material at no cost from the authors while charging exorbitant subscription fees. The original video is from http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php? comicid=153.  Have a look and draw your own conclusions.

Barack Obama Re-elected As The President Of The United States

Game over! Here's the latest on the US elections. Several leading news channels around the world including "The Big Picture" project Barack Obama's re-election as the  President of the United States. Contrary to predictions, all the talk of a tie, and prolonged election night; even before midnight, it's game over for Mitt Romney.

On Writing Styles

I find this interesting vimeo of an interview with Steven Pinker on writing, wherein he talks about where to begin, style, and the importance of knowing your audience; very informative, analytical, and helpful for all those upcoming writers out there. Steven is Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University and this vimeo is from:  http://www.cambridgenights.com. Here's another Link to his hour-long lecture given at MIT on "Communicating Science and Technology in the 21st Century". Take a look!

Hurricane Sandy Batters U.S. East Coast

Hurricane Sandy moves along the U.S. East Coast and into the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern U.S.(right). Predicted storm surge probabilities in percentages across the cities in the East Coast (left). Courtesy: NASA/NOAA.

Hurricane Sandy slams densely populated East Coast of the United States virtually disrupting the life of nearly 75 million people in its path from North Carolina to New England.  Total shut down is reported in almost eight states including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.  Millions of people are without power. Atlantic City, New Jersey is the hardest hit as most of the city inundated with 3-5 ft flood water per latest reports.  New York City, the city that never sleeps, is completely shut down as nearly 8 million New Yorkers have been ordered to stay home and do nothing.  No local and international flights are going in and out of the city and so do train or bus services.  President Barak Obama cut short his scheduled presidential campaign and returns to White House to oversee the emergency operations.  President later signs the emergency disaster declaration for the eight affected states. Wall street will be shut down for Monday and Tuesday as the financial losses due to hurricane Sandy is estimated at $17.2b with most of the losses are expected from damages due to flooding and storm water inundation of the cities and boroughs across the coastline.

Endeavour's Final Journey

WOW! Here's an amazingly shot video, The Final Journey of Space Shuttle Endeavour from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to the California Science Center through the streets and alleyways of the City of Angels. Dubbed as Mission 26: The Big Endeavour, the space shuttle completed 123 million miles in space since it entered into service twenty years ago. The 75-tonne space shuttle was transported on a 160-wheel carrier traveling at a speed of 2 mph, took two days to cover the 12 miles from LAX to its final resting place as the people swarmed the city to witness the historic moment. Take a look!

Father Of Innovation Steve Jobs Dies At 56

Father of modern technology/innovation, a visionary, a marketing genius, and a co-founder and former C.E.O of Apple Computers Steven P. Jobs dies at the age of 56 after a prolonged battle with pancreatic cancer.  Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family.  The man who made the word "Apple" more synonymous with "computer" than the fruit that Adam and Eve supposedly shared in the Garden of Eden to create this humanity or the one that fell on Newton's head which unraveled the principle of gravity; is no doubt a great innovator and a visionary of modern era.  This is the man who transformed our lives with his innovative digital devices like iPod, iPhone, and iPad, which literally transformed the way we conduct our lives be it mobile communication, listening to music, or the industries of both mobile phones and music.

It's Official-Cell Phone Radiation Is A Possible Carcinogen!

Yes indeed!  The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the branch of the World Health Organization (WHO) that specializes in cancer research has declared that cell phone radiation is a possible carcinogen.  After reviewing data from previous studies to determine links between radiation and cancer when using mobile devices like cell phones, IARC released a statement on Tuesday from Lyon, France after a week-long conference with international experts for the IARC stating that cell phone radiation is a possible carcinogen and that cell phones are possible carcinogenic towards humans.  This will surely have a far reaching implications as majority of legal decisions pertaining to the siting or dismantling of cell phone towers especially on health grounds have been hampered by the ambiguity in  the position of UN's august health body so far.  Now that WHO has taken a clear stance on this and has come out with a statement, more and more judges could now rule in favour of  the real victims of cell tower radiation i.e. the residents of the tower locality rather than cell tower companies.                                                                                                                       IARC Press Release

Bin Laden's Killing-A Trump Card Of Prime Importance!

The mastermind of 9/11 attacks and the chief of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden has been killed in a mansion near Pakistani capital of Islamabad along with some of his family members in a high-precision surgical strike carried out by US Navy seals after an actionable US intelligence, according to CIA sources. This was later disclosed by the US President Barak Obama in his nationally televised address. The President said, "Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body."  It is still unclear who else were killed in the operation and the fate of No. 2 in al-Qaeda Ayman  al-Zawahiri is not known. Soon after this new broke out, celebrations erupt across the American cities.  This surely gives a great sense of relief and closure to all Americans and especially to the families of those who were killed in the 9/11 attacks masterminded by the al-Qaeda chief. At least 2,752 people from more than 90 countries were killed in this attack. This surely will boost the prospects of Obama's re-election as the President of the United States and bin Laden's death is going to be Obama's trump card of prime importance in Campaign 2012.

New York City's World Trade Center on fire, September 11, 2001. As many as 2,752 people from more than 90 countries were killed in this world's most gruesome terrorist attack on US soil masterminded by the late al-Qaeda chief.