Harlow’s Experiment: Rhesus macaques’ Typical response to cloth mother surrogate in fear test. (Harry Harlow)

Psychologists have always pondered over the subject of love. Love may be categorized and characterized in many ways, one of which is maternal love. Harry Harlow was one of the first psychologists to understand the depth of the behavioural characteristics, in this context, exhibited by young rhesus monkeys. The characteristics studied included ‘isolation’, ‘maternal deprivation’, and then the introduction of a maternal figure which directly made way for a study of ‘dependency’.

The research conducted by Harry Harlow and a few other social psychologists proved fruitful and they could make a leap forward in terms of cognitive analysis under emotional duress. The primary objectives of Harlow’s experiment targeted two hypotheses. The first of these involved the replacement of a biological mother with a surrogate, and the second involved the study of the physiological bond between the ‘mother’ and child.

Psychology of attachment

Attachment is an emotional understanding or a bond created in search of a safe place. There are various reactions to attachment exhibited in the different stages of life, and some forms of attachment need not be reciprocated.

Harry Harlow got curious about the mechanism of attachment that a newborn rhesus monkey exhibited towards its mother. The mothers were undoubtedly responsible for most of the care given to a baby monkey, yet there were some questions raised about the severity of the bond between the mother and child.

After Harlow finished conducting his experiments, it suggested quite the opposite of what psychologists had assumed about the infallible bond between mother and child. Newborn monkeys, although dependent on mothers for nutrition, preferred the comfort given by “touch”. Although separation may have had an adverse effect on the monkeys and made them behave differently, the results displayed were similar to human psychology.

Separation from the mother

To initiate the first stage of his experiment, Harlow found it necessary to separate the newborn rhesus monkeys from their mothers and render them isolated. The time for which these monkeys were isolated varied and this provided different results when they were reintroduced to other monkeys.

Since these monkeys had experienced no attachment since birth, they found it difficult to communicate and establish any form of contact. Instead, the isolation proved to have severe and diverse effects on the monkeys that made them aggressive towards other monkeys. Not only that, but it also resulted in stress-induced behaviour and anxiety, which made them rock back and forth while clutching themselves. One of the most severe effects included self-mutilation, i.e. biting themselves, scratching, and tearing off the hair on their body, thus self-harming themselves repeatedly.

The length of isolation was directly proportional to the severity of damage they inflicted on themselves, including the stress and anxiety. Those in isolation for brief periods of time showed signs of recovery and stable mental conditions, while those who were in isolation longer showed no signs of recovery or mental health restoration.

Concept of surrogacy

Wire and cloth mother surrogates for Rhesus monkey. (Harry Harlow)

While some monkeys were completely separated from their mothers, some were placed in certain spaces where they were deceived to think certain inanimate objects adorned with clothing were the maternal figures. Two inanimate objects were placed in the enclosure, one of them was constructed with a heavy wire mesh and the other was constructed out of wood. The heavy wire mesh object had no clothing or any soft texture covering it, while the wood figure had a covering of terry cloth which provided a soft and warm texture.

There were two instances of this experiment. In the first, they marked both the inanimate figures with food supply (that is, they could dispense milk) that left the newborn rhesus monkeys to rationalize and decide which maternal figure they would opt for. In the second, only the metal figure could dispense milk.

Results from the surrogacy experiment

After extensive research on the behaviour of the monkeys, Harlow observed monkeys resorted to being with the object that had a soft texture. The monkeys felt the need for soft touch and warmth so much that even when the cloth-clad wooden figure had no nutrition to offer as the wire mesh figure did; they opted to spend time with the wooden object. It happened so, that as soon as they were done feeding from the surrogate made of mesh, they would retreat to the cloth surrogate and stay with it for the rest of the day until they required to feed again.

Harlow also conducted an experiment where he introduced new and foreign objects into the enclosure. Since they had never interacted with any other object, the baby monkeys resorted to going into the arms of the cloth ‘mother’ and cuddle for security. In the cloth-clad wooden figure’s presence, the baby monkeys were ready to explore and showed signs of development in mental health. This concluded that while nutrition is important, infants focus more on the emotional bond of attachment in the form of touch.

Criticism on Harlow’s study

The sheer separation that Harlow subjected the monkeys to was considered inhumane and cruel. Not only did he deprive the subjects of their mothers, but he also subjected them to conditions of fear and a constant state of depression. These research studies had very limited value since they were conducted to understand the similarities in the working of a human brain.

Most of the monkeys subjected to these experiments not only displayed aggression towards other monkeys but towards their children too. Neurotic behaviour led them to a point where they inflicted damage to their children and continued doing so in a pattern. The research has proved somewhat fruitful in certain areas related to the cognitive abilities of human infants, but it is debatable whether the benefits reaped out of experimentation justifies the treatment the animals underwent.

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The stages of green flash. (Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons)

“It’s said that once you’ve seen a green flash, you’ll never go wrong in matters of the heart.”

Ever since Jules Verne included the green flash phenomenon in his popular science-fiction novels, myths about it have taken off into the wind. Although, it’s a rarity to witness this phenomenon. If you are lucky or quick, you may be able to see a green flash when the sun is setting. Sometimes, it also occurs when the sun is rising or under specific atmospheric conditions when the sun is high in the sky.

The green flash phenomenon

Pilots, when flying westward, have reported seeing the green flash phenomenon at the time of sunset. This phenomenon usually lasts for one to two seconds, however, Polar explorer Adm. Richard Byrd and his crew while on an expedition to Antarctica in 1929 claimed to have seen it for 35 minutes. These sights are easy to see from a mountaintop and when along the seaside due to an unobstructed vision of the horizon.

The sequence of M-Mir green flash phenomenon. (Ityllux/Wikimedia Commons)

Types of green flashes

According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, green flashes fall in four categories:

Inferior mirage or I-Mir: It occurs when the water surface is warmer than the air right above it. The inferior mirage flash that you see then is oval and flat and lasts around one to two seconds.

Mock mirage or M-Mir: Mock mirage flashes appear higher up in the sky and when the water or earth surface is colder than the air above it. One will see these green flashes as thin strips coming off the sun. They, like Inferior Images, only last for about one to two seconds.

Subduct flash: Subduct flashes are quite rare and occur due to the atmospheric inversion phenomenon during which the sun appears to take on an hourglass shape. It happens when cold air and moisture get trapped near the ground level by a warm air layer. The green subduct flash then appears at the sun’s top region. It lasts for about 15 seconds.

Green ray: A green ray is a comparatively rarer phenomenon. It usually occurs for a second, right after the sun has set, with a green ray emanating up a few degrees from the green flash up. It only occurs if the inferior mirage, mock mirage, and subduct flash are brighter than normal, and the atmospheric conditions are hazy.

Why the green flash phenomenon occurs?

When the light from the sun reaches the earth, its atmosphere acts as a prism and separates the light into different component colours. The colours with shorter wavelengths, such as blue, green, and violet, have stronger refraction than those with longer wavelengths like orange, red, and yellow.

Green flash above the solar disc. (ESO/G. Lombardi)

As the sun dips below the horizon, the atmosphere absorbs the orange, red, and yellow colours and scatters the blue and violet light colours. That leaves the green light colour, and that is why it is visible when the sun is setting or rising. And due to the layering of the atmosphere caused by temperature differences, the green flashes appear as ripples from high elevation points like mountaintops.

Photographs of the green flash phenomenon

The first colour photograph of the green flash phenomenon is from 1960, and a photographer named D.K.J. O’ Connell took it. At the time, he was at the Vatican Observatory to observe the sunset. Since then, various people have managed to photograph or video this phenomenon.

Green & red rims of the sun

Green rims about the sun are more common than green flashes. They are prominent at the time of sunset and sometimes transform into a green flash and back, but are difficult to see with the naked eye. Using a binocular or telescope for viewing is not advisable as they are harmful to eyes. One may see it safely, though, if projected as a magnified image on paper. The green rim grows fainter and is overpowered by the red rim as the sun touches the horizon.

Green & red rim of the setting sun. (Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons)

The green flash phenomenon in popular culture

As you might expect with one of the many amazing natural occurrences that have intrigued people over the centuries, the green flash phenomenon has figured prominently in popular culture. The famous science-fiction writer, Jules Verne, mentioned the phenomenon in his 1882 novel, The Green Ray, as well as in his 1905 book, The Lighthouse at the End of the World. Other novels that mention it include Victoria Holt’s Pride of the Peacock from 1976, William S. Burroughs’ Cities of the Red Night from 1981, Carl Hiaasen’s Flush from 2005, and Elizabeth Wein’s Code Name Verity from 2012.

Many musicians have also found the green flash to be inspirational. In 1916, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco composed II Raggio Verde, op. 9, a piano solo that expounded upon the emotions arising from seeing the phenomenon. Much later, in 1991, Gavin Bryars debuted his orchestral composition, The Green Ray.

The films that feature the green flash phenomenon or use it as a plot device include Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End from 2007 and Blue Lagoon: The Awakening from 2012. It also appears in episode 982 of the Pokémon Sun & Moon anime.

So, if you plan on seeing the green flash. Wait for a clear, cloudless, and haze-free day, and keep your eye on the distant horizon. Even if it doesn’t make you an expert in sentimental matters, you will be in the lead when it comes to the meteorological ones.

Caution: Since looking at it with the naked eye is likely to harm the eyesight, one should be precautious and see it through a regular camera or a video camera lens.

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The return of the Apollo 11 astronauts

On 24 July 1969, Neil Armstrong and his fellow astronauts, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, returned to Earth after completing the Apollo 11 mission. The crew brought their space shuttle down in the Pacific Ocean, 1480 km to the south-west of Hawaii, where the U.S. Navy ship, the USS Hornet, picked them up. It took two days—during which the astronauts remained quarantined in a NASA trailer to prevent the spread of any moon germs and diseases they might have inadvertently brought back. The astronauts emerged from the trailer in biological containment suits and disembarked from the ship and travelled to Houston for a further three weeks’ quarantine.

Going through Customs

According to popular lore, when they got back to the USA, the three astronauts had to go through immigration and fill out customs forms. Not only that, but they had to declare their cargo too. As it turns out, no, this did not happen. The astronauts were not bogged down by any customs paperwork on their return.

Read more: Did Man Really Land on Moon? The Dilemma of Apollo 11’s Missing Tapes

The customs form on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service website is authentic, of course, but it was more of a practical joke than a requirement. The Customs Service’s District Director for Hawaii created it, and, although the form gives its filing location as Honolulu Airport, the astronauts signed it with an auto-pen at the NASA headquarters later that year. On the form, the three astronauts listed Cape Kennedy, Florida, as their starting point and mentioned that they visited the moon for a stopover. They also noted moon rocks and moon dust as their space cargo.

The customs-and-immigration form jokingly filled out by Apollo 11 astronauts. (NASA/U.S. Customs and Border Patrol)

Current requirements of astronauts

Currently, it is a regular process for astronauts to go through customs. Not to travel into space, but to reach the training and take-off destinations on Earth from where they can begin their space missions to the International Space Station. Space astronauts train, at present, in the USA, Canada, Europe, Russia, and Japan, and they have to through immigration during the routine flights back and forth.

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Ideologically opposed USA and USSR

They were also apprehensive of the Soviet Union’s plan of expansion beyond the occupied territories. And on the other hand, Soviets nursed a grudge against America for not having recognized them as part of the international community for long. Russians also took exception to America’s delayed participation in WWII, which cost them millions of lives.

The ill will between the two nations soon galvanised into policy matter. Post World War II, America adopted a policy of ‘containing’ the Soviet Union. There could never be a permanent agreement with Soviets. Hence the best way out was vigilantism to check Russia’s ‘expansive tendencies’. This, for over four decades, remained the undercurrent of the foreign policy of America.

Read more: When the CIA trained cats to spy on the Soviets

Atomic power was a new symbol of military might

The policy of restraining USSR also became a reason for building and storing war weapons. Arms budget of America was increased four-fold, and Americans deemed communist expansion a threat to America and the world.

Atomic bomb test by the United States military at Bikini Atoll. (Victorrocha/Wikimedia Commons)

Hence such expansionism was sought to be curbed with military force. Atomic power, which gave Allied forces victory in WWII, became a symbol of military might. USSR tested atomic explosion in 1949. America retaliated by testing a more powerful hydrogen bomb. USSR responded with a test explosion of improvised and updated weaponry, ‘super bombs’.

Americans and Soviets geared up for nuke challenge

Atomic explosions come with a price tag. The environment gets dangerously polluted with radioactive waste. The fear that these explosions could annihilate the world, like Hiroshima and Nagasaki, grew by the day. Post-WWII Americans built bomb shelters in residential areas. They carried out mock drills in schools and public places for remaining safe in the event of a nuclear holocaust. Both nations implied the Cold War.

Space exploration became part of the Cold War

No wonder the emerging field of ‘Space Exploration‘ too became a bone of contention between these two nations. Soviets led by launching the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik, in space on October 4, 1957. The satellite was launched by firing the Russian R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile. America, second in a space race, was rattled—what if R-7 carried a nuclear weapon instead of a satellite? America thus enhanced its surveillance of the Soviet Military.

Communists of America were declared traitors

Apart from external threat, America faced an internal threat too. A report of the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) said that there were groups of communists spread all over America. They were traitors serving the interest of the Soviet Union, not America. Committee’s finding came as a rude shock and course correction was done in a big way. Communist ideologues were denied work. Thousands of state employees were hauled up for investigation. Suspects, including University Professors, were charged with subversive activities and were fired from their jobs. Anti-communist/anti-Soviet sentiment prevailed in every nook and corner the American society.

Read more: The Soviet ‘Masterplan’ to use dogs for bombing German tanks

Interventions and alignments kept the Cold War alive

When North Korea, aided by USSR, invaded South Korea in 1950, it was construed as communist expansion, and America responded by deploying its military force. Korean War ended in a standoff in 1953. But the muscle-flexing of the nations continued unabated. America made West Germany a member of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in 1955. Soviet Union countered this with Warsaw Pact, a unified military command of USSR with Albania, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and East Germany.

Cuba became a nuclear flashpoint

America, in 1961, made a discrete but unsuccessful attempt to topple Fidel Castro’s communist rule in Cuba. The very next year, the Soviet Union constructed the base for its nuclear missiles in Cuba. Panicked, America made frantic efforts to avoid a prospective atomic war. A reconnaissance US aircraft that flew over Cuba was shot down. US Navy was put on red alert. This was nearest that the two superpowers could have come to a nuclear flashpoint. However, direct communication between the American President John F. Kennedy and the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev ensued, and peace prevailed. A hotline between the White House and Kremlin for emergency talks was established for good. The two sides agreed to work towards the goal of a nuclear test ban treaty.

Project A119 ticked silently in the background

Even as the aforesaid scenario unfolded, a top-secret space project of America, proposed in 1958, thrived in the backdrop. It was ‘Project A119’, beguilingly called ‘A Study of Lunar Research Flights’. Leonard Reiffel, a physicist who would become Deputy Director of NASA’s Apollo Program, headed the project.

Cover of A Study of Lunar Research Flights. (Armour Research Foundation)

Explosion on the moon was meant to scare the Soviet Union

The US Air Force directed Leonard Reiffel to conceptualize a nuclear explosion on the surface of the moon and work out its immediate (visible) and long-term effects. Reflecting on the proposal, Reiffel, much later in the year 2000, observed that proposal was out and out, a PR exercise. A mushroom cloud was what they wanted to see on the moon, with just one aim, to browbeat Russia in the space race. A visible mushroom cloud on the moon would humble the Soviets and put Americans in a one-up position.

Read more: How Russia’s Space Mirror Experiment Deflects Sunlight to Light up Arctic Region for Brief Period

Secrecy of Project A119 leaked

Reiffel had made a ten-member team for executing Project A119. It included two noted Astronomers, Gerard Kuiper (now considered as the father of modern planetary science) and Carl Sagan (who became a celebrated television personality later on). Even as the project was top-secret, Sagan inadvertently reneged on secrecy. In 1959, while applying for the Miller Institute of Graduate Fellowship, he wrote about his engagement with Project A119. Keay Davidson collected this spec of evidence in the late nineties while writing Sagan’s biography. When the book was released, Reiffel was forced to acknowledge and explain Project A119.

Researchers worked out the details of hitting the moon

Leonard Reiffel worked on the moon bombing project at ARF (Armour Research Foundation), Chicago, from 1958 to 1959. The place is now the Illinois Institute of Technology Research. His research concluded that the moon could indeed be hit within an accuracy of two miles. An intercontinental missile, already launched by the US in 1959, was good enough for it. The light-weight Atom bomb would be a better choice compared to the heavy-weight Hydrogen bomb. If the moon was nuked, dust and gas would rise on the moon surface would be good subjects for study. How the hit would be different for the two sides of the moon, light and the dark was explained.

Before the launch of the atomic warhead, Rieffel explained, three identical instruments must be put on the moon surface. These instruments would measure a slew of parameters at the time of the explosion, and the moments before and after the explosion. These findings would enrich our knowledge of the moon, and its environment, and planet earth. It would also expose any microbes that may live on the moon surface. Thankfully, the idea of nuking the moon with an atomic missile remained limited to a hypothesis and was never implemented.

Controversies around Project A119

When the project information leaked in the late nineties, it attracted wide-ranging public debate. There were speculations that had the explosion been actually carried out, the moon would have been trashed. Reiffel rubbished such claims and said the explosion, at worst, could have created a small crater on the moon. So small that best of the telescope couldn’t make it visible on earth. Reiffel conceded that the contamination of the moon’s environment with radioactive material was a dangerous prospect. Such contamination could thwart research related to the origin of life on earth. Hence, Project A119 was dismissed.

Nuking moon was deemed impracticable

There were other apprehensions as well. Like the possibility of a bomb-carrying missile straying from the path and falling on earth. Also, nuclear device exploding midway, short of reaching the moon. These possibilities may have dampened the enthusiasm of the US Air force, and the space adventure was quietly dropped.

What was USSR’s stand on the moon all this while? Surprisingly, the Soviet Union planned and geared up on similar lines. And accordingly dropped the idea of polluting the moon.

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Artistic depiction of Wan Hu launching himself into space. (NASA)

It is said the roots of this endeavour began as early as 6000 years BC when ancient cultures were trying to understand the qualities of celestial objects. In China, in an area dominated now by the Gobi desert, Wan Hu put into practice a mission to get closer to the stars. So does this mean his mission to step into outer space was successful?

Read more: Dressmaker Who Jumped off the Eiffel Tower Experimenting with Self-Designed Parachute-Suit

Seeking the stars

Wan-Hoo crater, on the far side of the moon. (NASA)

An obsession with the stars and space is not a modern concept. It has been observed and studied since ancient times in various ancient empires. For example, since the 6th Century BCE in Ancient China astronomical observations were kept. An astronomer called Gan De made a star map as early as the 4th Century BCE. A few centuries later it is reported that Wan Hu looked to get closer than any person had to the sky. Some reports state he lived as early as 2000 BCE while others place him in the Ming Dynasty around the 16th Century ACE.

Wan Hu strapped himself to a bamboo chair with forty-seven gun-powder filled rockets, and a large kite system for movement and to act like a parachute when returning to the ground. Forty-seven assistants used torches to set light to the rockets, which propelled the wannabee astronaut upwards through a cloud of smoke and a massive explosion. It was said that the rockets exploded at various times, yet no remains were found of the chair or of Wan Hu.

Fact or fiction?

Wan Hu is revered in Chinese legend but most believe the story to be fake or allegory such is the ridiculousness and recklessness of the act. If it happened, then the success of even reaching the sky seems impossible. It seems he was a well-educated man, so it is more likely his experiment was a show. A famous US television program set up a recreation of the event to test the hypothesis,

“The television series Myth busters had attempted to recreate… Wan Hu’s flight by using materials which would have been available to him in an episode aired in 2004. In the experiment, the chair naturally exploded on the launch pad, and the crash test dummy showed what would have been… critical burns.”

Whether true or untrue, it becomes part of humanity’s journey to reach outer space. The reason being is that four thousand years later the dream became a reality,

“In 2003, Yang Liwei was launched aboard Shenzhou 5, becoming the first person sent into space by the Chinese space program.”

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21 Grams Experiment: The New York Times article about the experiment from March 11, 1907. (The New York Times)

IT WAS ON the 10th of April 1901 in Dorchester, Massachusetts when Dr Duncan MacDougall and his team of four other doctors selected six dying patients for an experiment to determine the weight of human soul which leaves the physical body when a man dies. So, logically, a difference of body weight before and after death must be the weight of the soul that departs. Of the six patients picked up by them, five were men and one woman.

The 21 Grams Experiment

The just-about-to-die patient was placed in a specially made Fairbanks weight scales. As the first patient died, the needle of the weighing machine flickered and rested on a lower scale. The loss in weight was estimated to be three-fourths of an ounce or 21 grams.

Dr Duncan MacDougall. (Boston Sunday Post)

A repetition of the experiment with the second patient gave a similar result. Doctors monitoring the experiment made independent observations. Loss of weight in patients was a consistent finding, though the extent of loss varied from one patient to another. The third patient didn’t show any weight loss immediately on demise but showed a minute later. Dr MacDougall blamed the dying man’s phlegmatic temperament for the delayed exit of the soul from the body. The patient, he said, was ‘slow of thought and action’. So, the soul seemingly hung on to him for a minute even after death.

The experiment could only be carried out in four patients. One patient died before being put on weighing scale and in yet another case, the equipment failed. Doctors did their best to ensure that the experiment was conducted fairly and impartially. The weight of air in the lungs, body fluids, water evaporating from the skin; all were taken into account. The weight loss which still remained unaccounted was obviously the weight/mass of the departing soul. Doctors concluded that the average weight loss of each patient was ¾ of an ounce, implying that the human soul weighed 21 grams.

However, no change in weight was observed when Dr MacDougall repeated the experiment on 15 dogs. A physics teacher at Los Angeles, H. Lav. Twing tried the same on mice in 1917. He too didn’t find any change in body weight after their death.

Scepticism and criticism

The scientific world expressed serious doubt on the relevance and authenticity of these experiments. Fellow Massachusetts doctor Augustus P. Clarke said that there is a sudden rise of temperature when death strikes because lungs stop working and their cooling effect on bloodstream goes off. This rise in temperature, he said, caused sweating and loss of moisture by evaporation through the skin surface. Loss of weight upon death, he argued, was because of such sweating and evaporation, and not because of the soul leaving the dead. According to him, the experiment failed with dogs because dogs cool their body by panting and not by sweating. Dr MacDougall countered by saying that death stops blood circulation in the body, so the question of blood rushing to the skin and raising body temperature simply doesn’t arise.

The debate on the subject continued unabated with many questioning the intent, ethics and veracity of such morbid experiments. ‘Which family would offer their dying member as a Guinea pig for scientific study?’ posed sceptics. Experiments failing with animal species implied that animals don’t have a soul. This inference too was questioned.

Though Dr MacDougall announced that he would try to photograph the soul in subsequent experiments, his stand on nature of soul remained ambiguous. He conceded that his experiments were not conclusive and that more such experiments must be conducted to know the truth. That apart, an assumption based on only 4 out of chosen 6 patients couldn’t be rated as a significant finding. The exact time of the patient’s death too couldn’t have been precise and accurate.

MacDouglass passed away in 1920 without any further breakthrough in weighing the human soul leaving a maxim that the human soul weighs 21 grams.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “The Rise and Fall of the Victorian Era Creepy Therapeutic Treatment Called Electric Bath“.

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Artistic impression of a future moon colony. (NASA / SAIC / Pat Rawlings)

Amidst the deadly Coronavirus pandemic that has struck the entire world, Donald Trump, the President of the U.S., signed an executive order on April 6 that has a far-reaching impact on international relations and outer space politics. The treaty asserts that the U.S. does not think of space as a “global commons”. Therefore, it shall allow the country to mine lunar resources without requiring an international treaty to permit it. The White House believes that the water, ice and other lunar resources are available for the taking for the country of United States, which will help them in the establishment and consolidation of human presence on the moon.

Benefits of space mining

Sarah Cruddas, a space journalist, believes that mining the Moon would be rather beneficial and will aid humans to go further into space, like Mars, for instance. She also said that the Moon could operate as “an intergalactic petrol station” since it has resources essential for rocket fuel–hydrogen and oxygen. If there was a petrol station in space itself, it would mean that rockets could travel further in space as fuel limitations would no longer be a concern. Cruddas simplifies this idea with an analogy saying,

“It’s like not taking a kitchen sink when you go on holiday. We shouldn’t need to take everything with us when we go into space”.

According to Benjamin Sovacool, a professor of energy policy at the University of Sussex, humankind is aggressively blowing a hole through the resources at our disposal. Professor Sovacool believes that mining on the moon for resources could help in the building of things like electric cars, which would be beneficial in protecting the environment for the long haul. However, he also reiterates that space mining does not provide any short-term solutions in dealing with climate change.

The moon treaty of 1979

The ‘1979 Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies’, more commonly referred to as the ‘Moon Treaty of 1979’, stipulates that nations may not mine resources in outer space. However, several space-faring countries of the world including the U.S do not recognise the treaty. Countries that are already engaged in spaceflights or intend to do so have not adopted the Moon Treaty.

In fact, earlier in 1967 a treaty was signed called the ‘1967 Outer Space Treaty’, according to which, the use of lunar resources was allowed. Also, in 2015, Congress passed a law according to which American companies and citizens would be allowed to use moon and asteroid resources.

Though it was agreed that any nation can not claim the moon as their property, but currently it quite resembles maritime laws. Sarah Cruddas says, “If you go there, find it and mine it – it’s yours to keep.”Professor Sovacool explains that the typical argument for space settlement is that it will be our only escape since we will eventually ruin Earth’s ecosystem beyond repair. It is a viewpoint that asserts that the sole way to preserve a future for mankind is by seriously considering space settlement.

What does Trump’s executive order entail?

According to the executive order signed by President Trump, it is made clear that the U.S not only does not see space as a “global commons”, but it also makes things very official. According to administrative sources, the executive order was underway for nearly a year. The order also states that there are commercial partners taking part in an “innovative and sustainable program” which is being led by the U.S in order to “lead the return of humans to the Moon for long-term exploration and utilization.” The treaty states that a logical extension of this plan is to carry out human missions to Mars and other destinations in the long run.

In 2018, NASA, the space agency of the United States, had announced their plans to send astronauts to the moon by 2024, which had last been attempted in1972. NASA’s program for crewed space exploration, also known as ‘Artemis’ plans to send two of their astronauts to the moon by 2024 and aims to “establish a sustainable human presence on and around Earth’s nearest neighbour by 2028”. According to NASA officials, lunar resources, especially the water ice which is said to be found abundantly on the floors of the polar craters, is probably the doorway to the beginning of Artemis’ huge ambitions.

Scott Pace, who is the deputy assistant to Trump, along with being the Executive Secretary of the U.S National Space Council, said: “This executive order establishes U.S. policy toward the recovery and use of space resources, such as water and certain minerals, in order to encourage the commercial development of space.”

Dissenting views and a space race

The U.S has received many dissenting views, one of which belongs to the Russian space agency ‘Roscosmos’ which has condemned the executive order and labelled it colonialism. The deputy director-general of Roscosmos, Sergey Saviliev said, on the matter of international cooperation, “Attempts to expropriate outer space and aggressive plans to actually seize territories of other planets hardly set the countries (on course for) fruitful cooperation.” He proceeded to liken it to and remind us of the impact of British Colonialism specifically, and Colonialism as a concept, and how it has gone down in the annals of history.

However, despite criticising the U.S for its move about mining on the moon, Russia is not too far behind. They have expressed their plans to hopefully establish a permanent base on the moon sometime after 2025 in order to extract Helium.

China too has similar plans as Russia and the U.S with regard to asteroid mining and space explorations. In fact, there are talks that China and Russia may even team up in order to establish a “joint lunar and deep space data centre with hubs in both the countries”.

The ESA, or European Space Agency, has also expressed explicit interest in moon mining.

Trump’s space mission in a nutshell

Trump’s lunar development plans rely heavily on the cooperation between the private sectors and the U.S. Government. The signing of this latest executive order by Donald Trump will quite possibly not only strengthen the position of the U.S on an economical front but also in terms of their military strength. This aggressive encouragement for the activity of moon mining given by Trump may be considered a result of his presidential pursuits. He has consistently shown a very active interest in outer space over the years. He has endeavoured to lift regulations that hindered several mining projects which were given under the presidential rule of Barack Obama. In 2019, the United States became the only country to have an independent space force, cementing the nation’s position as a forerunner in the space race.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “A Glimpse into the Exciting World of Space Tourism“.

Fact Analysis:
STSTW Media strives to deliver accurate information through careful research. However, things can go wrong. If you find the above article inaccurate or biased, please let us know at [email protected].

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Sergei Krikalev. (NASA)

We have all read or watched movies about time-travellers; people who travel back in time or into the future by some unexplainable medium or device. For example, various types of ‘Time Machines’ as famous, generic mechanisms which are present in many of these stories. These are either fiction or conspiracy theories of course, but there is another type of time travelling which is very much real. Although it happens in a very much shorter space of time.  

A famous time travelling conspiracy photo from the 1940’s (Note the man on the right with futuristic sunglasses, camera and attire.) (www.virtualmuseum.ca)

Time dilation

The factual type of time travel is through the concept of time dilation – a difference of elapsed time between two events. It is an extremely hard thing for us mortals to get our head around – that is, people who are not well versed in the fields of physics and astronomy for instance. This is because Einstein’s theory of relativity plays a part.

In short, when astronauts orbit Earth they are noticeably further from the planet than those who reside on the surface. This means their gravitational time dilation is less because gravity is less and that everything they do is faster (even the clocks run slower on space stations). When they return to Earth they are literally travelling back in time. It is by no means a large number because the time dilation is caused by gravity which is a weak force. (As forces of attraction in the Universe goes). It has been calculated that Russian astronaut Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev has time travelled the most. Here is a brief summary of how he did so.

Early life of Sergei Krikalev

Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev was born in Leningrad (what is now St. Petersburg) during the USSR in 1958. He graduated with a mechanical engineering degree and gained employment for a company called NPO Energia who organized manned space flights. Part of his primary work was testing equipment and developing operations. This included a rescue operation when the Salyut 7 Space station had problems in 1985. He would later achieve his dream of becoming a cosmonaut in 1985 and joined the Buran program however it was later cancelled. It would not be long until he would take part in a successful mission.

Missions

In 1988 he was selected for a long-duration flight to join the Mir space station. Soyuz TM-7 launched on November 26 with Krikalev as flight engineer. The team carried out maintenance and also added new equipment to Mir in what is known as an EVA (Extravehicular activity) – moving outside a spacecraft. They also played a Pink Floyd cassette they brought along which is said to be the first music played in space. Soyuz successfully returned to Earth 27, 1989. This would be Krikalev’s first successful mission. In 1991 he returned to Mir and then again in 1992.

His defining mission would come in April 1993 when he was named a Prime Mission Specialist for the STS-60 Discovery. It would be the first joint US/Russian mission and he would partake in many more after this, travelling regularly to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

To keep himself amused on his missions Sergei spoke to many amateur radio broadcasters (AKA Ham Radios) as he was something of an enthusiast himself. One such relationship was with Margaret Iaquinto who was a graduate of Boston University in Russian Language. Later in life she moved to Australia becoming a teacher and operated a Ham Radio from her back garden. At one stage they communicated with each other every day for one year, Iaquinto let her children and students speak to Krikalev and other astronauts on board. From Australia they would see the light in the sky from the MIR Space Station. They would later meet in Houston in 1994 at the bequest of Sergei.

She kept him abreast of the situation during the collapse of the Soviet Union as he was in space during the dissolution in 1991. For that reason, he is known by many Russians as the last citizen of the Soviet Union.

Another famous mission was the STS-88 Endeavour launched in 1998.  It would be the maiden mission to the ISS (International Space Station) where Krikalev would later live as part of Expedition-1 Crew. They were the first crew to occupy the ISS station.

Record-breaking

2005 would be a record breaking year. Aboard a Soyuz rocket, Krikalev would overtake the record for the total time spent in space. It was formerly held by fellow Russian Sergei Avdeyev with 747.5 days but Krikalev made it to over 803. This is why Sergei Krikalev also holds the record for time-travelling.

“If you add up the accumulated speed cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev has traveled in space – the most of any human with a total time spent in orbit of 803 days 9 hours and 39 minutes – he has actually time-traveled into his own future by 0.02 seconds.”

He would return to Earth with many accolades including: Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin, L’Officier de la Legion d’Honneur, Hero of Russia and Space Flight Medals. Moreover, he has an Asteroid 7469 Krikalev named after him.   

Although having the record for time dilation, the Russian is third in the list of most time travelled in space behind Gennady Padalka and Yuri Malenchenko. (At STSTW Media we are still researching why their time dilation is not higher but we believe it is to do with speed travelled. If you know please leave a comment or send us an e-mail.)

Life after space

After he retired from space missions Sergei Krikalev decided to pass on his wisdom to younger astronauts becoming the administrator of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center at RSC Energia, a spacecraft manufacturer. He was made an honourary citizen of Saint Petersburg to add to his many accolades and was selected to be one of the Russian flag carriers at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. He looks back on his career and life with fondness as well as togetherness for the human race as a whole.

“The further you travel, the more you feel part of a big group of people. Travelling outside of Earth, I get this feeling of being part of mankind. So we do not represent only our countries in space; it’s an international adventure. It’s similar to what sailors feel when they are out at sea – if they meet another ship, they probably feel some kind of brotherhood; it doesn’t matter what flag if on the ship. The sea is a hostile environment, so people help each other to fight with nature.”

The future of time travel

While 0.02 seems inconsequential, remember that we are at the very beginning of space travel. In the future this effect will surely enlarge as technology increases and spacecraft can travel faster. This has been proven on space stations and satellites.

“…after 6 months on the ISS, an astronaut has aged less than those on Earth, but only by about 0.007 seconds“. The effects would be greater if we could get the ISS to orbit Earth at near the speed of light (approximately 300,000 km/s), instead of the actual speed of about 7.7 km/s.

There is still much to be achieved in this field and cosmonauts like Sergei Krikalev are pioneers, paving the way for future developments. Dr. J. Richard Gott, a Princeton astrophysicist makes an excellent comparison by stating that,“The astronauts are the Lindberghs of time travel”.

Enjoyed this article? You would also love “The Philadelphia Experiment: When an American Navy ship Supposedly Teleported“.

Fact Analysis:
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Space colony concepts from the ’70s. (NASA)

A NASA backed study that took place in 1975 gave rise to two space colony form factors- the Bernal Sphere, and the O’Neill Cylinders. A third concept also arose from the same study which was an amalgamation of the first two space colonies to form a doughnut-shaped ring in structure. This concept is known as Stanford Torus, which derives its name from Stanford University where the research was conducted during the 1975 NASA Summer Study. “Torus” in Greek or Latin stands for ‘doughnut’ or ‘bagel’.

A background to space colonization

In 1869, Edward Everett Hale wrote and published “The Brick Moon”, a story about a satellite made of bricks which are sent into space. Though it exists only for navigation reasons, it actually accidentally brings people aboard. After several trials and tribulations, the characters realize that they were in a space station. This was one of the earliest depictions of space travel and a space colony. Space travel has captured our imagination since the dawn of our civilization. From wanting to visit the mighty Gods who ‘live in the heavens’, to the modern desire to go to the moon, it has always been a significant part of literature. But space colonization, in itself, is a very modern concept.

Authors like Robert A. Heinlein and Issac Asimov, and scientists such as Carl Sagan, have all advocated for a unified effort to conquer the stars. Much of the modern idea of space colonialism was first postulated and then published in the year 1975. Stanford University and NASA Space Camp did collaborative research, speculating the future of Space Stations as postulated in Space Settlements: A Design Study. Over nineteen professors across various fields and a few student-volunteers got together for a 10-week program to construct a fairly accurate picture of how humans can, on a large scale, establish their habitat in space.

Stanford Torus

Proposed by NASA, The Stanford Torus is a doughnut-shaped ring that is one mile in diameter and is designed to house over 10,000 people in space. It is designed to be a self-sufficient colony, completely capable of producing food, support manufacturing and enable residential capabilities akin to that on Earth.

The Stanford Torus would rotate at the speed of 1 revolution per minute just to produce a weak artificial gravity. It would require a highly reflective mirror, angled at 45 degrees, to provide sunlight to generate electricity and for agriculture. The estimated energy requirements have been calculated to be as high as 18 kW per person.

An artistic depiction of a Stanford torus’s exterior. (Don Davis / NASA)

Manufacturing the Torus would be a challenge in itself. Since the mass would probably weigh over 10 million tonnes, how would one expect to extract that amount of materials from Earth? The answer is simple: the moon. Futurists predict that the materials would be extracted from our moon, considering that the moon is rich in materials such as aluminium. They also suggested that humans could also smelt those materials through the power of the sun, i.e. solar furnaces. This is a viable option since the sun would be a simple, efficient and nearly limitless source of fuel.

The colony would also need to generate a lot of heat. To provide for that, radiators as large as 900,000m² would be installed, to generate heat as hot as 280 K. The ring is also connected to a hub via a number of “spokes”, which serve as conduits for people and materials travelling to the hub. 

The interior space of the Torus would be used for residential areas, shaped into large “Valleys” having Earth-like features. The Torus would probably look like a long and narrow glacial valley with its residential complex resembling “a bustling suburb”.

Bernal Sphere

The Bernal Sphere was first proposed by an Irish scientist named John Desmond Bernal, through his book ‘The World, the Flesh, & the Devil’ in 1929. There he talks about the future of humankind and its future habitat in space. In his original design, he had imagined a non-rotating shell, 16 km in diameter, capable of holding a population of around 20,000-30,000 people.

An artistic depiction of a Bernal sphere’s exterior. (Rick Guidice / NASA)

The internal view of a Bernal sphere. (Rick Guidice / NASA)

However, the modern conception of the Bernal Sphere comes from Gerard K. O’Neill (who was the technical director in the Stanford-NASA collaboration camp). O’Neill had further expanded on the hypothetical settlement, originally conceived by Bernard, in his book “The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space”.

O’Neill imagines our sphere into two incarnations:

–Island One: In its first incarnation, Island One, the diameter was decreased to 500m and the shell rotated at 1.6 RPM to produce complete artificial gravity. O’Neill also envisioned that his structure would support populations up to 10,000 people and would have a dedicated agriculture section called “the Crystal Palace”. Like the Torus, it would also use external mirrors to reflect sunlight for both electricity and farming. O’ Neill’s choice of the sphere was aimed towards resolving air pressure and radiation-related issues.

–Island Two: A larger incarnation, Island Two, was to have a spherical diameter over 1.8 km. This Island is, however, designed as a manufacturing space: emphasising less on housing and more on industrial production.

Can space colonies soon be our reality?

There are a lot of problems with the design of either of the two settlements, the Stanford Torus and the Bernal Sphere. The first drawback is the energy requirements. We certainly cannot use exhaustible forms of energy such as fossil fuels as a primary source of energy for these projects. At the same time, secondary renewable sources of energy, such as solar energy, have very low efficiency (as low as 22%). There is also a larger problem: most of the materials involved are required in humongous quantities, and would be impossible to extract from Earth, itself. Even with suggestions such as extracting materials from Mars or Saturn’s moons, the sheer costs of transportation itself would be backbreaking.

One of the potential solutions to this problem is to invest in Green Energy as much as possible. Improving technologies such as solar energy would help us in the long run. Renewable resources could be a really reliable source of energy in the vast emptiness of space.

Arthur C. Clarke once said that ideas pass through three stages:

 STEP 1: “Impossible”

STEP 2: “Possible, but not really sustainable in the long run”

STEP 3: “It was a great idea all along.”

The reality of space travel and habitation, however, depends on the economics of the future. If history is the true predictor of the future, then the possibilities are not that far off the mark.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “A Glimpse into the Exciting World of Space Tourism“.

Fact Analysis:
STSTW Media strives to deliver accurate information through careful research. However, things can go wrong. If you find the above article inaccurate or biased, please let us know at [email protected].

The post Stanford Torus & Bernal Sphere: Model Space Colonies for Mankind to Set up Base in Space appeared first on .

N-Ray or No Rays

The Parrot and the Carrot we may easily confound,
They’re very much alike in looks and similar in sound.
We recognize the Parrot by his clear articulation,
For Carrots are unable to engage in conversation

–Robert W. Wood

This rhyme was written by a very talented American scientist called Robert W. Wood– a pioneer or optics, infrared and ultraviolet photography. In 1904 he travelled to Nancy, France, after hearing reports relating to the discovery of a new form of electromagnetic radiation – similar to the X-Ray – call the N-Ray. He wanted to see the new rays for himself as he could not create them in his own laboratory.

Prosper-René Blondlot, circa 1910. (Wikimedia Commons)

Intro

In 1895, X-Rays were a momentous discovery in the field of medical science. Their aptitude in radiation therapy, security, as well as the discovery of broken bones and other anomalies created many breakthroughs. Their ability to pass through soft elements to characterise more solid forms was something extremely useful especially in the modern world. Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen was the German who discovered the X-Ray and many scientists tried to replicate his success by studying their conditions and uses. A neighboring Frenchman Prosper-Rene Blondlot believed that he had found a similar type of radiation in 1903 with the self-named N-Ray after his birthplace of Nancy in France.

Biography

Blondlot worked at the University of Nancy in north-east France his whole life. After being inducted into the French Academy of Sciences, his piece de resistance would during the unearthing of X-Rays in which he attempted to polarise – meaning he looked to change or focus the direction of their energy beams. Instead he came across what he thought was a new type of radiation.

Many more types of radiation were being discovered at the beginning of the 20th century such as Alpha, Beta and Gamma rays so another was not disputed especially from a respected scientist. Other students of science were trying to find more properties for the X-Rays themselves but Blondlot went one further by supposedly finding the new ray. Because of his previous accomplishments the scientific community was quick to believe him. The university was a hierarchal system which worked on good relations meaning younger students were quick to agree with their lecturer and mentor.

Discovery of N-Rays and dispute

Blondlot realised that when the N-Rays shone through a prism – a transparent optical element with flat sides refracting lights – they cut out visible light. In this case, he used an aluminium prism. Morever, electrical sparks would grow brighter when exposed to the radition and heat increased the volume of the rays. The Frenchman published his work in Nature – one of the world’s most respected scientific journals. He also reported his findings to the French Academy of Sciences. Hundreds of scientists purported to see the rays also, but the strange thing was that hundreds claimed they could not. The scientific world was in a schism. Blondlot’s response to this was that their eyes were simply not sensitive enough to pick up the mysterious rays.

Blondlot used various techniques to pick out the rays of light. These included variations within electrical sparks and phosphorescent screens. They were reported to go through most substances but not water. Saltwater would naturally emit them however, so the lengths and breadths of the oceans could transmit N-Rays according to Blondlot. He deemed that they could be emitted by elements like fire and the sun. A colleague of his at the University of Nancy, Augustin Charpentier, added to the importance and potential of the rays stating that they could be emitted by animals such as humans, from our nerves and muscles.

Robert Williams Wood. (Wikimedia Commons)

Investigation

It was the afore-mentioned publication Nature who sent the afore-mentioned scientist – Robert W. Wood – to investigate the discovery. Wood was a respected physicist but also an eccentric character. It was said he would go to his local park and confuse strangers by spitting into ponds with a sodium solution meaning the water would burst into yellow flames. But he was one such person who could not detect said N-Rays nor even a whiff of them in private studies. He worked and taught in Baltimore, Maryland in the US yet he flew to France as soon as possible to examine the rays first hand.

Wood and Blondlot met and although being fluent in French as well as German (German being the global language of physics) Wood did not admit he spoke French. This was so he could eavesdrop on the conversations between Blondlot and his assistants. The Frenchman’s main method of observing the N-Ray spectrum was through an aluminum prism. Wood could not see any deviations so when the room went dark for a test the American removed the prism. Blondlot’s readings were exactly the same– as if revised – and so he was caught to be lying.

Public Response

Wood immediately sent a letter to Nature mentioning that the N-Rays were all in the imagination of Blondlot – perhaps being generous as to not call him a fraud straight away. Soon, the scientific community went against Blondlot and his scientific career never recovered. He continued to believe in and promote the existence of N-Rays but allowed no more tests from outsiders. His excuse was that Wood’s imperfect German meant that there were several issues with understanding. It was said he continued to lecture at the University of Nancy and study the N-Rays until his death. Others say he went mad.

Wood did not mention Blondlot’s name in the article but it was clear to those familiar with science who the article was about.

“After spending three hours or more in witnessing various experiments, I am not only unable to report a single observation which appeared to indicate the existence of the rays, but left with a very firm conviction that the few experimenters who have obtained positive results have been in some way deluded,”

No-one will know whether Blondlot was mad, a fraud, or simply mistaken with his findings. Here is a case however which shows the immense strength in having a scientific community who can detect real science or counterfeits. N-Rays were a myth that was put to bed very quickly as opposed to the past, when several fake sciences could be believed for centuries before being debunked. We live in more enlightened times now, thankfully.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Thomas Midgley Jr. – The Scientist Who Almost Destroyed the Planet without Knowing“.

Fact Analysis:
STSTW Media strives to deliver accurate information through careful research. However, things can go wrong. If you find the above article inaccurate or biased, please let us know at [email protected].

The post After the Discovery of X-Rays Came N-Rays – But Do They Actually Exist? appeared first on .

Lost Cosmonauts: Soviet cosmonaut Alexey Leonov during the spacewalk, 1965. (Ria Novosti / Science Photo Library)

Today, we realise that USSR’s Yuri Gagarin was the first man to journey into outer space and USA’s Neil Armstrong was the first to set foot on the Moon. However, there are many conspiracy theorists, keep refuting the claims and call these events as a hoax.

Space travels have always come at a great cost, post-WW-II when the Cold War between the Soviet Union and USA was at its peak, both countries were trying their best to be one up on the other in the space race. It is said that during this period there were certain secret Soviet space programs that had gone awry, with cosmonauts never making it back, to either their country or planet.

There are also many conspiracy theories that corroborate the fact that the Soviets had sent cosmonauts in space prior to Gagarin, but they were considered either lost or dead while reentering into the Earth’s atmosphere. It is said that to avoid bad publicity and not lose the space race, the USSR covered up the failed events.

Cosmonaut Ivan Ivanovich

Interestingly, one name that stands out in the list of lost cosmonauts is Ivan Ivanovich, which had fueled the world’s interest in space flights. In March of 1961, the Soviets sent a test flight into outer space with Ivan Ivanovich aboard, along with some reptiles and critters. The manned test flight returned successfully, but when media covered the entire event and spotted the lifeless body of the cosmonaut inside, they began speculating that the Soviet mission had ended in tragedy.

Ivan Ivanovich was in fact, a life-like mannequin placed inside the flight to test whether it could be a success for future programs. Ivan was sent in space again a week later, which set the stage for Gagarin’s grand spaceflight – Vostok 1 – giving USSR an edge over her competitors.

Full body display of Ivan Ivanovich at the National Air and Space Museum. (Eric Long / Smithsonian Institution)

Was Vladimir Ilyushin the first man in space?

Apart from these lost cosmonaut theories, there was one theory, which particularly drew the world’s attention. Vladimir Ilyushin, a test pilot and later Soviet general, was the constant subject of a conspiracy theory, which stated that he was the first man in space rather than Yuri Gagarin. While USA was racing against the USSR to launch their first vehicle in space in the 1960s, it was alleged that Soviets had already sent Ilyushin into space a week before Gagarin. His spaceflight had steered off course and landed in China, where he was held as a prisoner for a year, before being sent back to USSR. It was later assumed that his death in a car crash was only the Soviet Union’s way of covering up the failed launch.

Judica-Cordiglia brothers’ recordings

Among all these allegations, two Italian brothers known as Judica-Cordiglia brothers came forward with startling discoveries. In the late 50s, Achille and Giovanni Battista set up their experimental radio station with homemade equipment on an abandoned German bunker. It had all the necessary listening equipment, which they claimed had picked up radio frequencies from several space missions, which were secretly being carried out by the Soviet Union.

They called the site Torre Bert, from where they started to eavesdrop into the frequencies of the secret Soviet space missions. The twosome claimed to have picked up conversations between the cosmonauts and ground stations that lasted for a few seconds as the space shuttles passed over their city.

The Judica-Cordiglia brothers. (Wikimedia Commons)

As their makeshift radio station grew, the brothers hired more amateur space enthusiasts, who helped them in their endeavour to dig deeper into Soviet Union’s dark secrets. They claimed to have come up with as many as nine recordings, which picked up disaster signals and cosmonauts crying out for help as they re-entered into the Earth’s atmosphere. 

Most of the recordings were of labored breathing of cosmonauts, an astronaut dying due to heart failure on one occasion and at one time, a cryptic message had been sent to the ground station. They also claimed to have heard distress signals from astronauts, whose existence was never reported by the Soviets. The brothers’ recordings were more than enough to prove that the Soviet Union had failed miserably in their space venture, resulting in casualties and losing their cosmonauts.

While The US hailed the efforts of the Italian brothers, the USSR rubbished their claims, for they could have possibly brought the country’s space malfunctioning to the fore.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “The Soyuz 11 Tragedy – The Death of Three Soviet Cosmonauts in Space“.

Recommended Read:
Starman: The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin | By Piers Bizony

Recommended Visit:
National Air and Space Museum | Washington, D.C., United States of America

Fact Analysis:
STSTW Media strives to deliver accurate information through careful research. However, things can go wrong. If you find the above article inaccurate or biased, please let us know at [email protected].

The post Lost Cosmonauts of USSR: Did the Soviet Union Cover up its Secret Cosmonaut Casualties? appeared first on .

Spider on drugs: A spiders ability to build web under the influence of various substances. (NASA)

Spiders are the largest group in the arachnid class. All spiders have eight legs, six to eight eyes, spin silk and can be found in six of the seven continents. It is only Antarctica where they are not native but you can guarantee that some scientist has one in a terrarium either for experimentation, or to cover all seven continents. Or both. These organisms have successfully adapted to a wide range of habitats. Those who study them have been trying to gain a deeper understanding and their newly mapped genomes may be the key to unlocking many of the spider’s secrets. A major reason why animals are studied is to find out what would happen if humans were exposed to the same circumstances. Spiders and insects are becoming a gateway for this as testing on larger animals such as mice is being prohibited more and more due to law restrictions based on cruelty.

Webbing information

In order to see how the creatures would react to the narcotics, the spiders were covered in the chemicals to see how their behavior would change and their webs would form. Spider silk is an incredible material made of super-strong protein chains. Millions of years of fierce evolution has unearthed a ruthless animal let alone killing-machine since their genetic emergence from crabs. Their silk is stronger than steel and incredibly tensile beginning internally as a soluble liquid-like form before leaving the spider as a hardened fiber. Scientists are continually trying to source the material in the hope of replicating it. The spun material from the spidery spinnerets would be an extreme money-spinner for companies also.

Spider on drugs: The experiment and results

Hans Peters – A Germany scientist – created a system to record Spiders spinning webs on various substances via their sugar water, most of which illicit. It was more to see how the spiders would react as to any scientific predisposition. These photos became famous none-the-less which gained the attention of some in the scientific sphere. However, it was Peter’s pharmacologist Peter Witt who did most of the practical elements as Peters himself, could ill afford to stay up late and perhaps lost hope in the investigation. Witt hoped the drugs would make the spiders lose track of time anyway as they normally only build webs at night. Hans Peters grew disillusioned with the experiment but Witt was fascinated, making it his primary work.

Science has come on leaps and bounds since this experiment in 1948. Back then they gave spiders samples of urine from people suffering from schizophrenia thinking it would have an effect, which it ultimately did not. In terms of the drugs sprayed, the results are not as obvious as they look as scientific knowledge now denotes that what chemicals do to an arachnid’s brain is likely not the same as humans. LSD, marijuana, benzedrine, sleeping pills and caffeine were tested, and while the webs show that caffeine is the most dangerous of the drugs tested, it may not be the same for humans. It is possibly just an alteration to a spider’s muscle memory as opposed to changes in the brain. Although it is now widely accepted, the dangers of over-caffeinating.

“For instance, naturally occurring amounts of caffeine can kill animals that need a hormone called Octopamine—a category that includes spiders, but not humans. That might help explain why caffeine devastates spider web production.”

One thing the findings definitely show is that for all animals, and for all chemicals, moderation is key.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Luigi Galvani: The Man Who Fuelled the Idea of Re-Animating Human Corpses“.

Fact Analysis:
STSTW Media strives to deliver accurate information through careful research. However, things can go wrong. If you find the above article inaccurate or biased, please let us know at [email protected].

The post Can a Spider Spin Webs on Acid and Other Drugs? appeared first on .

President Richard Nixon welcoming the Apollo 11 astronauts while they are quarantined. (GPA Photo Archive / Flickr)

The Cold War was a tense political stalemate that lasted for many years, affecting the lives of millions of people all over the world. The Space Race was a significant element of the Cold War. It was an uncompromising competition played out by the USA and the USSR. In the beginning, the USSR was successful in a lot of space-related achievements. The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human ever to go into space. However, the United States grabbed an enormous advantage on July 20, 1969 when they successfully managed to send astronauts to the moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission.

The Apollo 11 mission

Pre-launch

On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 mission was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with the help of a Saturn V rocket. Apollo 11 was the fifth crewed mission of NASA’s ambitious Apollo program. The Apollo 11 spacecraft could be divided into three important parts – the command module (CM), the lunar module (LM) and the service module (SM).  The CM had a cabin where the three astronauts would reside and it is the only part which returned to earth. The SM provided the CM and LM with electrical power, propulsion, oxygen and water. This was achieved with the help of revolutionary hydrogen fuel cells. The lunar module (LM) had two stages – one for descent onto the lunar surface and the other for an ascent stage back into the lunar orbit. The crew consisted of Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins.

Launch

The launch was viewed by at least a million spectators from the highways and beaches close to Merritt Island. Many dignitaries were present at the launch, including former president Lyndon Johnson and his wife Lady Bird Johnson. On July 19, the Apollo 11 spacecraft passed by the moon and fired its propulsion systems and entered lunar orbit. The Sea of Tranquillity was selected as the landing zone because earlier surveys had established the place as relatively flat and smooth.

Moon landing

The lunar module landed on the lunar surface at 20:17:40 UTC. Consequently, the Apollo 11 mission allowed human beings to set foot on the moon for the first time- with astronaut Neil Armstrong making history as the first man on the moon, soon followed by astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin.

Ascent into lunar orbit

The lunar module made its ascent and rendezvous with the CM on 21st July 1969. 

Apollo 11 Quarantine

After splashdown

The USS Hornet, a US Navy aircraft carrier was selected as the primary recovery and rescue ship for the Apollo 11 mission. The Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) was also placed on-board of the recovery ship. At the time, NASA did not know for sure that the conditions on the moon were completely sterile. They considered that there was a chance of the Apollo astronauts bringing back alien pathogens with them from the moon. For this reason, NASA extracted the astronauts and immediately placed them in Biological Isolation Garments (BIGs). Then, they were placed in a life raft.

Apollo 11 crew wearing biological isolation garments while being rescued. (NASA)

In the life raft, the three astronauts were rubbed with sodium hypochlorite (bleach). The Columbia was rubbed down with Betadine so as to remove even the faintest traces of lunar dust. The astronauts were subsequently transported by helicopter to the USS Hornet, which was lowered into the hangar bay via the ship’s elevator. The astronauts walked 30 feet to the MQF. They had to stay in their BIGs until they were safely situated within the MQF. For good measure, the life raft that carried the astronauts was also shot and drowned.

Apollo 11 astronauts exiting the recovery pick up helicopter to board the U.S.S. Hornet aircraft (NASA)

Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) being lowered from USS Hornet recovery ship. (NASA)

What is the Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF)?

The Mobile Quarantine Facility, or the MQF, is a repurposed airstream trailer which was used by NASA for quarantining astronauts returning from the Apollo missions.  The astronauts would then begin the three-week process of earth-based quarantine. The MQF also housed an engineer who operated the entire trailer and an in-house physician. While the astronauts were in the MQF aboard the USS Hornet, they were visited by President Nixon. The astronauts were also visited by their wives while they were in the MQF.

After Nixon departed, the Columbia (CM) was lifted by crane and placed next to the MQF. They were both connected by a flexible tunnel so that the astronauts could retrieve the lunar samples, data tapes and photographic film. When the Hornet returned to Pearl Harbour, the entire MQF was airlifted to the Lunar Receiving Laboratory (LRL) situated at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.  

The Extra-Terrestrial Exposure (ETE) law

The Extra-Terrestrial Exposure Law was the popular name for the set of official regulations adopted by NASA during 1969-1977. As scientists did not exactly know that space and the moon were completely sterile, they did not want the astronauts to bring back any dangerous pathogens. According to this law, the 21-day quarantine process of all moonbound astronauts was made mandatory. In 1977, it was proved beyond any doubt that the moon was completely sterile and NASA removed the Extra-Terrestrial Exposure Law from its set of regulations. Following this, the US Government also removed this law from its federal regulations.

Reason for revocation of the ETE law

The lunar samples brought back during the Apollo 11 mission were analysed thoroughly by scientists at NASA. After extensive testing, it was established without any doubt that the moon was completely sterile and there were no life forms of any kind residing in the lunar samples. The entire reason for the quarantine of the Apollo 11 astronauts was to prevent the spread of “space germs”. Although it can seem preposterous now, it was a necessary precaution that had to be taken for the safety of everyone else.

All three astronauts rode in ticker-tape parades organised in their honour in New York and Chicago on August 13, 1969. On the same day, there was a State Dinner organised in their honour which was attended by members of Congress, foreign dignitaries and important US politicians at the Century Plaza Hotel at Los Angeles. President Richard Nixon and Vice-President Spiro Agnew presented all the three astronauts with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Apollo 11 ticker tape parade. (NASA / Bill Taub)

Putting humans on the moon is one of the most significant scientific achievements of the 20th century and it is awe-inspiring. It is also a remarkable endeavour, considering that humans had invented reliable flight technology only fifty years ago.

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A driver using a global positioning system through his phone. (THE COLLAB. / Pexels)

The day: September 1, 1983. A Korean Air Lines Flight 007, taking off from New York City to Seoul, drifts 200 miles away from the flightpath, towards a sensitive Soviet military installation in the Kamchatka Peninsula. Soviet Pilots detect these intrusions and jump into action. KAL 007, the passenger plane, is mistaken for the spy plane and shot down. If only the KAL 007 had the Global Positioning System (GPS), then used exclusively by the U.S. Military, it would have noted the drift and mended direction. And, the tragedy could have been averted. Lest such navigational lapses repeat, America – the owner of GPS, then opened this facility for civil use all over the world.

Backed by solar power and batteries

GPS was conceived as stealth technology for the reconnaissance and surveillance work of the U.S. Defense Forces. Its formation began with the launching of the first GPS satellite into earth’s orbit in 1978. By the year 1994, it became a group of 24 satellites. Presently there are 32 satellites. Each weighs about 2000 pounds and carries a 17 feet expanse of solar panels. Functional life of a satellite is about 10 years and the duds are replaced with new functional units. Powered by solar energy, and on-board back-up batteries, each satellite is able to transmit 50 Watts or less of electromagnetic power. This generates 2 low-power radio signals which travel by the line-of-sight. That means, barring high-density solids like concrete buildings and mountains, the signals pass through all other mediums (plastic, glass, clouds etc.).

Satellite information is decoded by GPS devices

The signal given out by the Satellites is loaded with 3 types of information:

1. Pseudorandom code: It is an identification of the particular satellite which is sending the information. The satellite page on the GPS device being used on earth gives a clear indication of the sender satellite.

2. Ephemeris data: This shows update on functional status and the orbital-position of the satellite.

3. Almanac data: It has orbital and state (health) information of every satellite in the constellation. The GPS almanac also includes necessary data to correct for distortion caused by the ionosphere.

Geographical positioning is determined by trilateration

Each satellite, circumnavigating 12,500 miles (20,117 kilometers) away in space, makes 2 rotations of the earth in a day. The satellite demarcates a circular zone on the GPS device as the area of the user’s probable location. Circular zones, as indicated by a 2nd and 3rd satellites would naturally intersect, and the point of intersection reveals the geographical position in a narrowed down range. Even a 4th satellite may chip in with yet another intersection. More the number of intersections, more pinpoint and accurate the location of the GPS user. If still more number of satellites come in the loop, even 3-D position (longitude, altitude and latitude) can be assessed. This methodology of zeroing on to the exact geographical position is called trilateration.

Notably, GPS device, like smartphones, can only collect data transmitted by the satellites. It can’t send data back to the Satellite, except when it syncs with cell phone towers and internet for better output. The device can, as an exception, send such synced information to the satellite systems.

Capable of doing lot more than just positioning

GPS device doesn’t just stop at finding the subject location. It also reveals the distance to a projected destination, how long it may take to reach there, the speed of the subject, topography of the area being travelled, time of sunrise and sunset, and much more. Thanks to technological up-gradation, more and more sensitive receivers are now available. These have enhanced GPS reception in a big way. Some adjutant systems too, like WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation system) and DGPS (differential GPS), have ensured better results. WAAS accounts for atmospheric variations and the geographical position is homed in by more than 3 meters. The correction ensured by DGPS, (used by the U.S. Coast Guard), is in the range of 1-3 meters. With further research and development, tracking of 20 or more satellites could be a possibility. More the number of satellites engaged, better theresults. However, starting from 2018 the U.S. Coast Guard has slowly started to discontinue the use of DGPS due to the increase in the accuracy of GPS technology.

Can the reading on GPS device go wrong?

Yes. Satellites, apart from expiring in 10-year time, can also be obstructed temporarily. Like, conditions in troposphere (the atmosphere 6-20 KM above the sea level), and ionosphere (1000 KM above the sea level) may cause signals to move slowly. Signals may also bump off some high-density solid on earth and lead to error in positioning. 

What if America asserts its ownership of GPS?

By and large, GPS is a freebie from America. That, ironically, is its plus as well as minus. Plus, because it is being used extensively and intensively all over the world. Minus, because nothing really comes for free. On all good things, there is a price tag, overt or covert. Of the two levels of GPS services available, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) is free for use worldwide. The other level, Precise Positioning Service (PPS), is not for all. Its use is limited to American Armed forces, federal agencies and some selected nations. What if America decides to restrict worldwide use of GPS? It would indeed rattle the world, overly dependent on GPS in many ways. Is the world ready to face this eventuality?

World moving in the direction of alternatives

Yes, the world seems to be geared up for GPS road-block. Russia has built its own satellite cluster in space, called GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System). Galileo is another system, owned by the European Space Agency. China is busy expanding BeiDou to increase its global coverage. Most gadgets are receptive to GLONASS and GPS, and to some extent to BeiDou. The Indian counterpart is IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System), also called NAVIC.        Nevertheless, GPS remains the most widely used system as of now.

In spite of competition, GPS holds ground

Blaine Curcio, founder of Orbital Gateway Consulting, a satellite market research firm opines that the satellite navigation services of the future will divide the world into two camps. One: pro-China. Two: pro-US. The pro-China lobby would include nations sceptical of the service provided by the U.S. and the European Union.

Is there a pressing need for alternative navigation systems?

No, feels Curcio. Rightly so, for more reasons than one. According to Brian Weeden, director of the Secure World Foundation states that- the biggest merit of GPS is its consistency and reliability. Further, he says, establishing a global satellite navigation system and making it trust worthy, like GPS, is a hard job. Add to this the fact that BeiDou would be a two-way transmission. Satellite to device on earth, and from device to the satellite. This 2-way track would need more of spectrum bandwidth and the accuracy of positioning could be compromised.

What has ostensibly annoyed the Western countries is the probable role of BeiDou in China’s plan for a smaller & smarter military. It could be used for precision-guided missiles, reconnaissance, and short messages (the facility lacking with GPS). Doubtless, it would add to the military might of China significantly. Not surprising, considering GPS too was developed for the U.S. Military, and used for the first time in the Gulf War.

Keen contest among the nations of the world would indeed change the present day scenario of the global positioning systems. But it won’t come a day too soon. And GPS is likely to hold ground for pretty long.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Yellow Concrete Arrows Are the Last Reminders of Transcontinental Airway System“.

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An artistic impression of ‘Oumuamua. (European Southern Observatory / M. Kornmesser)

A mystery rock was spotted in our solar system on October 2017, which ended up sparking a lot of questions amongst the scientific community all over the world. This rock has been given the name ʻOumuamua – a Hawaiian word that basically stands for “scout or messenger from the distant past”. Prior to the detection of ʻOumuamua, we were unaware of the presence of any such interstellar objects present in our solar system.

The only feature that marked the rock as something that might belong to our solar system itself, was its composition of minerals and a characteristic reddish hue. Apart from these qualities, it appeared to be a space rock unlike anything ever spotted before. Shaped like a cigar, ʻOumuamua is nearly 400 meters in length. Not only that, the peculiar nature of the rock also includes the characteristic way it moves- spinning its way through space. Researchers say that it may be a ‘planetesimal fragment’, in the sense that during the formation of a planet in another solar system, it got ejected into space as a result of several factors which may include gravity and explosion of gases.

Discovery of the mystery rock

Observed from the Pan-STARRS1 telescope at the University of Hawaii, funded by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations program (NEOO), the ʻOumuamua was initially categorized as a comet. Later on, scientists decided it may be an asteroid due to the unusual activity exhibited by the space rock. Prior to this, interstellar objects were just a theory put forward by scientists. The arrival of the ʻOumuamua confirmed these theories that had plagued scientists for years. Observations made by researchers conclude that it is likely that the space rock has traversed its way through space for millions of years before finally entering our Solar System.

After the momentous discovery of the ʻOumuamua was made at the University of Hawaii, several telescopes were used to continue studying the interstellar object further. These included the European Organisation for Astronomical Research’s (ESO’s) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile to measure its brightness, orbit and color. Space telescopes like the Hubble and Spitzer tracked the movement and speed of the interstellar object. The speed of the ʻOumuamua was marked as 98,400 mph (158,360 km/h) relative to the sun.

Peculiar characteristic traits of ʻOumuamua

With the help of images combined with ESO’s telescope and FORS instrument, a team of researchers, led by Karen Meech of Institute of Astronomy in Hawaii, discovered that the brightness factor of the space rock varies by 10 every 7.3 hours as it spins on its axis. This variation is a characteristic of the ʻOumuamua as a result of its peculiar size. The ratio of its length to width varies by a factor of 10 as well. The length to width ratio of typical space rocks tends to vary by 1:3. There is no evidence of any water or ice present on the surface of the rock, no dust present inside or around it, and it is a completely inert object right to its core.

ʻOumuamua’s changing brightness as it rotates. It appears the brightest when its full length is facing towards the Earth. (NASA / JPL-Caltech)

There are four classifications for a space rock with respect to its eccentricity. They could be circular, elliptical, parabolic, or hyperbolic. The ʻOumuamua happens to have a hyperbolic eccentricity. It was observed that most rocks having hyperbolic eccentricities have values greater than 1- typically around 1.0001. Astonishingly, the ʻOumuamua had a measured eccentricity of 1.2.

ʻOumuamua: An alien probe?

The space rock exhibited, interestingly, added acceleration as it reached deeper into our Solar System. Due to this occurrence, the ʻOumuamua was almost classified as an alien probe, being controlled by organisms that were from beyond our known world. However, data indicated that there was no such possibility, since there was no sign of activity on the rock itself. Also, owing to the sheer speed by which it travelled through space, it would be nearly impossible for any organism to exist on it. There was still speculation amongst certain scientific and extra-terrestrial enthusiasts’ fraternities as the extremities an alien organism may survive our beyond what we have been able to ascertain as definite.

The mystery behind the ʻOumuamua’s change in trajectory

Slight deviations noticed in the path of the space rock are not just an effect of gravitational forces, but could also be due to loss in mass. The thrust could have occurred due to the heating up of the surface, which would eventually lead to the formation of a comet tail comprised of several gases. As this did not actually occur, it ended up puzzling scientists till they realized that the Oumuaumua was actually inert in nature. Not only that, there are several other factors, including the rotation period, that come into play.

In the case of loss in mass and formation of a cometary tail, the rotation period around its axis would have varied. Fragmentation of the rock would have caused an abrupt kick in speed, but that did not happen either. Authors Shmuel Bialy and Abraham Loeb suggest that the change in trajectory could be due to solar radiation pressure.

Study of space rocks

Further study of the interstellar rock was declared impossible, due to the lack of adequate technology. No rockets made by humans would be able to catch up with the Oumuaumua. The gravitational net between Jupiter and the Sun hold the possibility to trap interstellar objects entering our Solar System in the future, but this is just a theoretical speculation at the moment.

ʻOumuamua 2.0

Looking forward, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will be operational by 2020-2022, and make the study of space rocks much easier.

On August 30th, 2019, Gennady Borisov detected another interstellar object that appeared to be something we might call the ʻOumuamua 2.0. As observed by NASA’s Scout system, it appears to have an unusual orbit, and measurements taken by compiling data provided by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope classify the object as an interstellar space rock. Its closest approach would be in the month of December.

Assumptions have been made regarding the trajectory and traits of this rock, and it is under constant observation. Whether a cometary tail will appear, or not, in the course of its path is the question. Bumps in speed have also been kept a look-out for, to confirm the interstellar nature of the rock. If there is no out-gassing, no tail, and no explanation regarding its origin, the nature of the ʻOumuamua 2.0 will be confirmed, and will aid in our study of the increasingly frequent detections of interstellar objects.

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A graph showing deviation of day length. (Ⅱ Ⅶ Ⅻ / Wikimedia Commons)

Most of us have learned in science class that a day consists of 24 hours. The time taken for Earth to turn once its axis is 23 hours and 56 minutes and 4.0916 seconds, and this can fluctuate too according to how the Earth’s atmospheric and oceanic processes affect its rotation.

Understanding day length fluctuations

The Earth takes to complete one rotation around its axis, but the length of time for this rotation can vary. So, while we think of a day as having 24 hours, this isn’t strictly the case. Some 300 million ago, the spin of the Earth was faster than it is now. If you took a time machine back, you would encounter days that were 21 hours long.

The Earth’s rotation has been gradually slowing over the millennia, and, consequently, the length of day has increased. However, there are other factors like climate, winds, oceanic processes, and atmospheric pressure systems that also affect the rotation of Earth on its axis. According to researchers, winds blowing against mountain ranges can be so strong that they affect the Earth’s rotation and cause day length fluctuations over a period of one year. These fluctuations may increase or decrease the length of the day by a millisecond.

If a day is 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds long, then how do we correct time?

We don’t. There are two different types of days: a sidereal day and a solar day.

A sidereal day is less than 24 hours, and that is the amount of time that the Earth takes to rotate 360 degrees on its axis. However, that is not the day we measure.

What we measure is the solar day, which is almost 24 hours long. It is the amount of time that the sun takes to move through the sky and end up roughly in the same spot in the sky. Why is the solar day length different than the length of the sidereal day? Well, because the sidereal day only considers the Earth moving around its axis, while the solar day also takes into account the Earth’s rotation around the sun.

Day length research by the University of Liverpool

Researchers from the University of Liverpool, led by Professor Richard Holme from the School of Environmental Sciences, studied fluctuations in day length from 1962 and 2012. Their research covered the fluctuations over one year and fluctuations over 10 years. Along with discovering that the variations in the length of the day were caused by processes in the Earth’s core, they were able to produce a model of the variations in the length of the day. For this model, they took into account the effects of atmospheric and oceanic processes on the Earth’s rotation to come up with time scales longer than a year.

Prior to Professor Holme’s study, which, incidentally, was conducted together with the Universite Paris Diderot, the general explanation about the fluctuations in length of the day was far from satisfactory. Thanks to the study, we now know that there are two key signals generated by the Earth’s core that characterise the variations. First, there is a steady 5.9-year oscillation, and, secondly, there are episodic jumps that occur simultaneously with abrupt changes in the Earth’s magnetic field. The study was published by Nature.

Day length research by NASA

The Atmospheric and Environmental Research Inc.’s scientist David A. Salstein studied wind and satellite data to collate information about day length fluctuations. He discovered that the Earth’s rotation signal is affected by strong changes in the Earth’s atmosphere. These include changes in the atmospheric pressure around the world and the motions of the winds that may be caused by climate cycles such as El Niño that affect global weather patterns.

The winds and air pressure patterns change from year to year, and these annual changes mean that the Earth is subjected to different forces. Now, El Niño can occur every two to seven years, and during the years it does, we experience stronger winds. The Earth slows its rotation around its axis in this period due to these strong winds. Of course, it is a very slight slowing that increases the length of a day by a thousandth of a second.

Newton’s laws of motion and the concept of angular momentum

We can use Newton’s Laws of Motion to understand day length fluctuations. Let’s paraphrase these laws: The first law states that if an object is in constant motion, it will remain in motion like that unless an outside force applies to it. The second explains that force is created from mass and acceleration. The third proclaims that for every action there will be an equal and opposite reaction.

The law of conservation of momentum resulted from the third law. According to this law, when two or more bodies act on each other in a separate system, their total momentum will remain constant. That is, unless an outside force acts on them.

Now, when the Earth spins around its axis, its overall mass and its rotation confer a certain amount of angular momentum on it. An additional force known as torque arises away from the Earth’s rotational axis as a result of surface wind changes and distribution changes in high and low-pressure patterns. The torque affects and changes the Earth’s rotational rate and also the direction of the Earth’s rotational axis.

Since the law of conservation of momentum states that the total momentum remains constant unless an external torque acts on them, the changes in the Earth’s rotation and the atmosphere’s rotation remain linked and the sum of the angular momentum or push of the Earth remains constant.

However, if the atmosphere speeds up due to strong westerly winds, then the Earth’s rotation has to slow down and the length of day will increase. Also, if more atmosphere moves to a lower latitude further from the Earth’s axis of rotation, and the atmospheric pressure increases, it also gains angular momentum and the Earth will slow down as well.

If the total angular momentum is to remain constant, there has to be a balance between the changes in the angular momentum in different regions. Let’s say there is a large atmospheric mass in one hemisphere and a comparatively smaller atmospheric mass in the other hemisphere, then there will be wobble. As per the law of conservation of momentum, the poles will then shift.

Exchange of angular momentum

Regular evaporation and precipitation occurs between the atmosphere and the non-gaseous parts of the Earth and leads to an exchange in angular momentum. A mass of water vapour arises into the atmosphere from the oceans and, in doing so, slows down the Earth’s speed of rotation. When the water vapour returns to the oceans in the form of rain, there is an increase in the Earth’s rotational speed. These changes in rotational speed cause corresponding day length fluctuations.

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John Stapp being propelled in a rocket-powered sled at Edwards Air Force Base. (USFG / Wikimedia Commons)

Aviation technology had leapt massively in the years succeeding World War II. Thanks to the new streamlined fuselages and more powerful engines, planes had become faster and were capable of flying at much higher altitudes than previously thought. That said, scientists had little knowledge on how these advancements would affect the standard pilot. Faster and higher altitudes meant that pilots, on average, would have to bear significantly higher G-force on ejection, or on crashing. However, while others were worried about the effects, one man – John Paul Stapp – was absolutely fascinated by them.

John Stapp’s curiosity

John Stapp was born in 1910 to Reverend and Mrs. Charles F. Stapp, both of whom were American missionaries that were then stationed in Bahia, Brazil. Soon after, the family moved to Texas. This is where Stapp’s illustrious academic career began. By the age of 34, he had received his bachelor’s degree from the Baylor University, a Ph.D. from the University of Texas in Biophysics and an MD from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

While interning at the Saint Mary’s hospital in Duluth, Minnesota, he decided that he wanted to join the military. On October 5, 1944, Stapp enlisted in the Army Air Corps as a doctor. By 1946, he had been allocated to the Aero Medical Laboratory at the training facility of Wright Field. This is where his curiosity for testing human tolerance really exploded.

In this respect, John Stapp was completely riveted by the ejection seat tests that were being conducted at Wright Field at the time. At the time, many renowned scientists were of the opinion that the body can only withstand a maximum of 18 Gs. However, Stapp did not concur. Testing the limits of human tolerance was to soon become the subject of one of Stapp’s immediate research projects.

Early experiments

Stapp’s first tests began in early April 1947, at a 2,000-foot long course at the Muroc (later renamed Edwards) Air Force Base. To prepare for the experiment, he had powerful rockets added to a sled, codenamed, Gee Whiz. Additionally, at the end of the course, Northrop engineers built in 45-foot long hydraulic brakes. While the rockets would help propel the sled to near crash speeds, the brakes would help create the required G-force.

Essentially, the faster the sled went, the more G-force could be produced. After experimenting with a test dummy dubbed Oscar Eightball, the team was ready to begin human tests. By June 1951, Stapp managed to conduct close to 74 runs at the track. Apart from seven other volunteers, he, himself, was one of the most frequent riders. However, Stapp was not satisfied with the results at Muroc, as it had its limitations.

File photo of John Stapp (Left). An unknown subject being prepared by Stapp and Captain Eli Beeding for a rocket test (Right). (USAF / Wikimedia Commons)

Eventually, he got the opportunity to push things further when he was transferred out of Muroc to the Holloman Air Base in New Mexico. While here, along with Northrop engineers, he built an even more powerful rocket sled. This time, the sled, codenamed Sonic Wind No. 1, was capable of producing speeds of up to 421 miles an hour, with about 27,000 pounds of thrust.

In all, when it stopped, the test subject would be exposed to close to 22 Gs – the highest ever recorded at the time. While the tests went on routinely, with every trial, Stapp tried to up the ante.

Rocket sled built by John Stapp which was code-named Sonic Wind No. 1 in the 1950s. Located at the New Mexico Museum of Space History. (Allens / Wikimedia Commons)

John Stapp becomes the fastest man on earth

On December 10, 1954, John Stapp would record his final run. This time, three additional rockets were added to the propulsion system in order to gain a massive 40,000 pounds of thrust. To minimise the risk of injury, Stapp’s arms and legs were strapped into the sled to ensure little to no movement. Additionally, he was asked to wear a helmet and hold a bite block in his mouth to protect his teeth. In a matter of a few seconds, the nine powerful rockets behind Stapp sprung into action. In about five seconds, the sled had reached a speed of about 630 miles per hour (1013.89 km/hr), or Mach 0.9. And just soon after, the brakes kicked in, and the sled was brought to a complete halt. The rapid deceleration translated to an unfathomable 40 plus Gs! Essentially, this meant that Stapp’s body weighed close to 6,800 pounds as it slammed forward when the sled stopped.

The damage to Stapp’s body was immense. All the blood vessels in his eyes had burst, rendering him momentarily blind. There were fears that he would never regain his eyesight. Additionally, he managed to crack a number of his ribs, while breaking both his wrists. The deceleration had also taken a massive toll on his respiratory and circulatory systems. But despite all that, he was in good spirits at the success of the test. Following the experiment, Time Magazine dubbed him, the “Fastest Man on Earth.”

All in all, John Stapp’s experiments were a huge success. They went on to prove that a pilot ejecting at high speeds and at an altitude of about 35,000 feet, could easily survive, withstanding about 45 G’s of force.

Footage of John Stapp experimenting on the effects of rapid acceleration and deceleration. (Youtube: PublicDomainFootage)

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Sergei Krikalev: The Time Travelling Cosmonaut“.

Recommended Read:
Sonic Wind: The Story of John Paul Stapp and How a Renegade Doctor Became the Fastest Man on Earth | By Craig Ryan

Recommended Watch:
Space Men – American Experience | PBS

Recommended Visit:
New Mexico Museum of Space History

Fact Analysis:
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The circled area is the cold spot, suggesting the presence of a supervoid. (NASA)

From time immemorial there have been abundant discoveries and unsolved questions about the Universe. Starting from the revolutionary Big Bang Theory, to the recent images of black holes, humans, rather scientists, have made remarkable discoveries about the Universe. One of the lesser-known of such marvellous discoveries is perhaps the giant hole that our Universe harbours- the ‘Supervoid.’

The Supervoid is quite literally a giant comic hole in the Universe. It is a region that shrinks everything in and around it, but it lacks the standard features of a conventional black hole. A black hole is a region of space that is created by the curving of the continuum that joins space and time. This phenomenon is typically caused by some gigantic mass. The giant hole, on the other hand, is devoid of all kinds of matter.

An endless abyss

This hole is a giant void, devoid of stars, gas and other usual matter, including the darkness that envelopes the space all around us. “Not only has no one ever found a void this big, but we never even expected to find one this size,” says researcher Lawrence Rudnick of the University of Minnesota.

The hole is nearly 1.8 billion light years across. It is not uncommon to discover voids such as this in our vast Universe- the size of this particular hole, however, is unprecedented. “Supervoids are not entirely empty, they’re under-dense,” stated András Kovács, who is a co-author at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. A very important and characteristic feature of this void is its temperature. As astronomer Carlos Frenk says, “It’s like the Everest of voids.”

Cosmic Microwave Background or CMB can track radiation back to the birth of our Universe. This supervoid can be spotted on the maps of CMB as discovered by NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) in 2004. This observation was later confirmed by ESA’s Planck Satellite. Recently, the Institute for Astronomy at The University of Hawaii has found evidence stating that the density of galaxies in the supervoid is actually much lower than that in the rest of the Universe.

The universe: A perforated ball of cheese 

Professor Carlos Frenk, a cosmologist at the University of Durham, acknowledges that the discovery of the “Cold Spot”, as it was dubbed, had raised quite a few eyebrows. The main reason for this- the theories around it all posed a direct challenge to orthodoxy, negating some suppositions made by The Big Bang Theory. However, it was inevitable to go down the rabbit hole and research extensively to find the cause of the ‘cold spots’ and ‘supervoids’.

The Universe is, in fact, dispersed with holes and voids that are nothing but empty spaces, devoid of matter and gravitational pull. Consequently, when a particle of light (a photon) enters this void, it loses its energy but quickly regains some of it on exiting this hole. It is a known fact that the Universe is constantly expanding and changing. It is automatically presupposed that the exiting photon emerges into a medium that is less dense than what it was in when initially entering the void. Hence, the gravitational pull on the photon is a lot less than it was previously.

The photon converts its kinetic energy into a potential gravitational pull as it travels into the centre of the void. In a stationary Universe, the photon is ideally supposed to remain unchanged. But since the Universe is constantly stretching, the photon can no longer regain its original energy or the energy possessed by the other light particles in the Universe. This results in an overall drop in temperature. That is how the “cold spot” within the supervoids come to be. The exiting light from the void has a longer wavelength corresponding to the drop in temperature.

Two sets of data were used and compared to make this discovery. The scientists tested the objects that were found at infrared wavelengths by NASA’s Wide Field Survey Explorer (WISE). These were compared against the colours in visible light measured with the help of the robotic telescope Pan-STARRS1. They made a tomographic map of the galaxies that are present within the cold spot. The sudden drop in the number of galaxies led to the discovery of a region in the Universe that existed when the Universe was 11.1 billion years old.

Supervoid: A hole in the universe

Investigations around the phenomenon of supervoids, particularly this gigantic hole, are ongoing leading to new observations and new questions by the day. The biggest and most important of these issues that have come up is undoubted whether this Supervoid is a rare occurrence, or if there are more such voids out there. The discovery of other similar supervoids will help answer one of the biggest mysteries here- the relationship of the cold spots to the voids. As Dr Roberto Trotta, a cosmologist at Imperial College London said, “Now we have to figure out how does the void itself form. It’s still a rare event.” When scientists from the University of Minnesota discovered this massive hole in the Universe, they termed it as a “supervoid” with regards to the enormous size of it. This was then published in 2007 in The Astrophysical Journal.

Therefore, the Supervoid is simply an area with a lesser matter in comparison to the rest of the Universe. It is an accidental discovery as one might say, with due credits to NASA. There were investigating the spread of radiation as a result of the Big Bang due to the absence of about ten thousand galaxies when they stumbled upon this. Other voids in the Universe have thence made their appearance but none of them amounts to anywhere close to the size of the Supervoid.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Gliese 581g: A Habitable Exoplanet or Just Another Celestial Object Orbiting a Star?“

Fact Analysis:
STSTW Media strives to deliver accurate information through careful research. However, things can go wrong. If you find the above article inaccurate or biased, please let us know at [email protected].

Recommended Read:
Atlas of Astronomical Discoveries | By Govert Schilling

Genre:
Non-fiction > Space

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Photos of demon core from a re-creation of the experiment. (United States Department of Energy)

On 6th and 9th August 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs, Little Boy and Fat Man, on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. These bombs had plutonium cores, but it is less known that there was also a third plutonium core meant for a third atomic bomb. The Americans would have dropped it over a third Japanese city if Japan hadn’t surrendered on August 15, 1945. This was the core that came to be known as the Demon Core.

The demon core

The first two plutonium cores caused the deaths of over 200,000 people in Japan and the deaths of many more over the years from the resulting radiation. Strangely enough, though, these cores received no pejorative nicknames. On the other hand, the deaths of two Los Alamos scientists, Harry Daghlian and Louis Slotin, caused the third core to be labelled as the Demon Core; it had originally been known as Rufus. These scientists were part of the Manhattan Project and were involved in the building of the atomic bombs. Their deaths were due to their carelessness and disregard of safety protocols.

There was nothing actually demonic about the Demon Core, except in its intended use in nuclear weapons.

It was merely a 6.2 kilogram, spherical plutonium core that was used in the criticality experiments that the scientists conducted in the Los Alamos laboratory.

The plutonium core

The type of plutonium used to make the core was Pu-239. It is a naturally radioactive substance. That means, its atoms continuously emit neutrons and other particles from their nuclei. The large-sized neutrons collide against other atoms and cause them to split and emit more neutrons. These neutrons then go on to cause more collisions and split more atoms. Usually, however, many of the neutrons fly away without colliding into other Pu-239 atoms. The nuclear chain reaction, therefore, occurs at a very slow rate.

When Pu-239 is used to make nuclear weapons, the weapon-makers try to contain the neutrons within the Pu-239. That causes a continuous and fast nuclear chain reaction that involves splitting trillions upon trillions of atoms. The whole thing soon gets out of control and releases an overwhelming amount of nuclear energy and causes the bomb explosion.

The criticality experiment – tickling the dragon’s tail

After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the plutonium core that was meant for use in a third atomic bomb was turned over to the scientists to use for research purposes. They used it in the criticality experiments, or, what the physicist Richard Feynman called ‘tickling the dragon’s tail’.

These experiments involved monitoring the nuclear chain reaction and measuring the point at which the plutonium would turn supercritical enough to trigger off a dangerous radiation blast. These were very risky experiments that could go wrong at any moment, and the physicists were well-aware of that. Hence the term ‘tickling the dragon’s tail’.

By carrying out the criticality experiments, the physicists wanted to find out how far they could go without triggering a deadly nuclear reaction. It would help them to figure out the critical mass point to successfully detonate an atom bomb. The knowledge would also prevent accidents when assembling bombs or while the plutonium was in storage.

Harry K. Daghlian’s criticality experiment

Harry K, Daghlian Jr. (Wikimedia Commons)

Harry K, Daghlian Jr. was a 24-year-old physicist working at the Los Alamos laboratory. A brilliant young man from Purdue University in Indiana, he had joined the Manhattan Project in 1943 to work on building the atomic bombs.

A week after Japan surrendered, on 21 August 1945, he returned to the lab after dinner at 9:30 p.m. to continue working on a criticality experiment. According to the lab protocols, he was not supposed to work there after hours, and he was not supposed to carry out the experiments without another scientist present. However, on this day, he ignored these rules and the security guard who was present— 29-year-old Private Robert J. Hemmerly—raised no objections.

Daghlian was building a neutron reflector around the plutonium core, using tungsten carbide bricks. Being a very dense metal, tungsten carbide prevents neutrons from flying off. Instead, they are reflected to the plutonium and cause more atoms to split and release yet more neutrons. The rate of atom-splitting will increase if the plutonium core is surrounded by more tungsten carbide and, as a result, the core could go supercritical or out of control. Daghlian wanted a controlled chain reaction that remained below the critical point. There was a Geiger counter to indicate how well the experiment was proceeding.

The experiment involved placing tungsten carbide bricks around the plutonium core. After placing each brick, Daghlian checked the Geiger counter to make sure the resulting nuclear chain reaction wasn’t heading towards supercriticality.

When Daghlian had raised the bricks to around 10 inches about the core base and was about to place yet another brick on the stack, the Geiger counter began ticking faster. The core was heading towards supercriticality. The physicist jerked back the brick he was holding, but, in his haste, it slipped and fell right on top of the plutonium core. Now surrounded by tungsten carbide, the plutonium core went supercritical in an instant. A blue light flashed in the room, and there was a wave of heat. The Geiger counter went wild.

Reflective blocks being placed around a sphere of plutonium. (© Los Alamos National Laboratory)

Panicking, Daghlian grabbed at the fallen brick and dropped it yet again. He then tried to overturn the heavy table and, failing in that, began to hurriedly dissemble the tungsten carbide brick stack. He then removed the fallen brick, experiencing a tingling sensation in his hand as he did so. The nuclear chain reaction stopped, and the Geiger counter fell silent.

The entire incident took place in one minute. In that time, however, he was exposed to neutron and gamma radiation. He also suffered beta burns on his hands. Within hours, he began to show the symptoms of radiation sickness. He was hospitalized at once. In following days, his hands blistered from the radiation burns, and his entire body began to swell up like a balloon. He died 25 days later.

Harry K, Daghlian’s hand after the ill-fated experiment. (U.S.A. – Manhattan Project)

The security guard received a milder radiation dose. He died 33 years later of leukaemia and other complications resulting from the radiation.

Louis Slotin’s criticality experiment

Despite a review of safety procedures after Daghlian’s death, there was a similar accident the following year.

On 21 May 1946, around 3:20 p.m., Louis Slotin, Alvin Graves, and six other scientists were busy conducting a criticality experiment involving the plutonium core and two bowl-like beryllium sections. Like tungsten carbide, beryllium reflects neutrons. Slotin placed one section in a wooden frame on a table and put the plutonium core inside it. He then placed the other beryllium section over the core, making sure it didn’t cover it entirely.

If the neutron-reflecting beryllium hemispheres surrounded the core, it would reach supercriticality. To avoid this scenario, Slotin inserted a flathead screwdriver between them to keep them apart. According to lab protocol, he should have been using shunts to keep the hemispheres apart. Slotin, however, often disregarded the rules. Sometime earlier, the physicist Enrico Fermi had warned him that he would end up killing himself if he wasn’t more careful.

Slotin, however, ignored the advice, and on this day, things went wrong. As Alvin Graves watched the experiment from behind him, the screwdriver slipped from Slotin’s hand. The beryllium hemispheres closed and the Geiger counter went wild as the nuclear chain reaction went supercritical. There was a flash of blue light and a wave of heat.

Slotin accident mock-up. (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

Having seen what had happened to his colleague a year earlier, Louis Slotin knew he was now doomed. He died nine days after his exposure to radiation. Like Daghlian, he allowed the doctors to document his rapid health deterioration.

Safety measures adapted for criticality experiments

After the deaths of the two physicists, the administration at Los Alamos halted further criticality experiments. They also issued a memo to outline safety measures for the future. The memo advised that all further criticality experiments be carried out by remote controls and in separate buildings to reduce the risk of radiation exposure.

End of the demon core

Before Slotin’s accident, the Los Alamos administration intended to include the plutonium core in Operation Crossroads. They would then have detonated it in the series of nuclear tests that the United States carried out at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. After the accident, however, it was first necessary to let the core to cool down and become less radioactive before anyone could transport it. Then, the United States government cancelled the third nuclear test and no longer required the core.

While the physicists at Los Alamos could have continued using it for their research experiments, nobody was now willing to work with the Demon Core. Therefore, in 1946, the authorities ordered it to be melted and recast. That was duly done, and it was the end of the Demon Core.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “The Manhattan Project: The Making of the First Atomic Bomb“.

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Victim (Helen Conway) of Spontaneous Human Combustion. (Folsomnatural / Flickr)

The phenomenon of Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC) has been reported as early as 1470 when an Italian knight burst into flames after enjoying some wine. It was completely unexplained then and it seems that over 500 years later we are no more enlightened on the subject. It is so strange in nature that it has never been scientifically proven or unproven but many theories exist.

A victim to SHC is usually found turned to ashes with only limbs such as their feet left behind. Generally, a human body requires a temperature of 1600 Celsius to disintegrate bone – for example during cremation – but the improbable aspect of these cases is that furniture in close proximity to them is usually unaffected, and in some instances, the victim’s clothes. SHC, in essence, is where a person bursts into flames without an external source.

Notable Spontaneous Human Combustion cases

Here are some famous cases within the peculiar history of SHC. The earliest accounts are from a Danish Anatomy expert Thomas Bartholin in his work Historiarum Anatomicarum Rariorum (1641). However, if all fire needs is a human body then its origins can surely trace back to prehistoric times. The works of Bartholin looks into strange occurrences unexplained by medicine which human combustion certainly falls into.

A tale comes from 1470 when he describes an Italian Knight named Polonius Vorstius who was drinking wine with his family. Witnesses saw him burping and then fatally exploding into flames. The author, Bartholin was told of the account from a descendant of Vorstius.

Another comes from the works of a French writer Jonas Dupont – De Incendiis Corporis Humani Spontaneis (1763). He wrote that a resident of Paris – an innkeeper called Nicole Millet – turned to ashes during her sleep. Her husband was actually accused of the murder. Such is the unfathomable scene left when a person combusts. What made the anatomist Dupont conclude that it was neither murder nor accident was the straw mattress – It remained completely unaffected. The Surgeon thought on the same lines of Dupont and stated that it did not have the look of manslaughter. A guest at the public-house also helped with this alibi, luckily for the husband.

Accounts which have followed generally have the same characteristics. Furniture will remain intact as well as the hands and feet of many cadavers. In others, strange remains will be left such as organs, pieces of bone or shrunken skulls. This may well be down to the torso containing the most heat and in many cases, the deceased has been left in a sedentary position. Not every victim will be killed however and some people have survived. Many of these will not have been engulfed in flames but rather have received internal burns. Their internal organs are usually not damaged.

More modern examples include one as recent as 2010 in Galway, Ireland, where only the cinders were found of Michael Flaherty, a 76-year-old man. His entire living room was untouched apart from the ceiling and floor below him which had a sticky, sooty residue. The coroner did not blame his locality to the fireplace but rather to the first official case of SHC. If this has been considered in such a modern, secular society as Ireland it certainly gives more credence to the unexplained phenomenon.

Again in the 1960’s, the death of Dr. John Irving Bentley – a renowned retired physician – drew attention from the media. He was discovered in his Pennsylvania bathroom with only his left leg and foot at the scene next to a pile of ash and his walking cane. Mary Reeser is another famous example. In 1951 the only parts of her found was a foot, a liver attached to a piece of vertebrae and a skull the size of a teacup.

Not all will occur solely in the homestead and some are reported with eye-witnesses who actually saw the incident. Those of which are very scarce in detail, however.  All of which do coincide to mention people giving off flames – often blue – from their stomachs and mouths. Many of these have been sensationally fabricated or added to along the lines of Chinese Whispers.

Take the story of Maybelle Andrews which with a simple internet search will describe her turning into flames at a Soho nightclub in front of dozens of party-goers. This seems to have now been debunked. It is from an earlier newspaper article where a lady named Phyllis Newcombe had her arm burned after a fire in an English club. Septicemia later killed her and the myth grew into Maybelle Andrews.

A very recent account with more information comes from Flensburg, Germany in 2015 where a woman burst into flames within a local park. An eyewitness put out the flames with his jacket to save her life. Authorities were quick to point the blame in the direction of two men who were seen to quickly exit the park. Otherwise, to a suicide attempt. With no clear answers however the non-explanation of SHC again rears its mysterious head.

What causes Spontaneous Human Combustion?

It was once thought that human bodies had no flammable substances so only a mass amount of a combustible substance such as ethanol i.e in alcohol could make a person ignite. But scientists have begun to unearth other theories. One of which involves a gas present in all of us known as methane. Once enough of it builds up it can be ignited by certain proteins also present called enzymes.

Another theory goes the way of a static electricity build-up – there are plenty of items after all which can catch fire without any help. If inside a bucket, oily fabrics can capture oxygen which will raise the temperature. Also, bales of hay where bacteria can build up to cause a chemical reaction.

A more popular hypothesis is labelled the “Wick Effect”. As many of the deceased are alcoholics – and many alcoholics are smokers (in past times more so) – if a lit cigarette strikes the skin it can ignite the whole body using fat as a flammable substance but keeping clothing protected. Many of whom also have debilitating diseases or are elderly which makes it harder to move or find help. This also makes the bones burn quicker in terms of diseases such as Osteoporosis. Others who are less believing of spirituality will point to cover-ups due to criminal activities for the main reason behind SHC.

We are still in the dark in terms of Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC). As even scientists and coroners cannot give definitive answers for any of the deceased. All that can be said is that the human body is an incredible thing with an insurmountable amount of reactions happening every nanosecond. For this reason, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that an internal reaction could cause some widespread damage.

Hopefully, with more research, we can find out more about this peculiar act and save people from future disintegration.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Luigi Galvani: The Man Who Fuelled The Idea Of Re-Animating Human Corpses“.

Recommended Read:
Faith, Madness, and Spontaneous Human Combustion: What Immunology Can Teach Us About Self-Perception | by Gerald N. Callahan

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Eigengrau vs. the black colour. (Private Detective / Wikimedia Commons)

Scientists believe that Eigengrau is the dark grey colour that human eyes see in perfect darkness and this is said to be the result of visual signals from optic nerves.

Gustav Theodor Fechner. (Wikimedia Commons)

German philosopher and physicist Gustav Theodor Fechner is believed to have investigated and popularized the term Eigengrau. He is also known for his key role in the genesis of the measurement of human perception. Being an early pioneer in experimental psychology, he founded psychophysics and is believed to have inspired most of the 20th-century philosophers and scientists.

What is the darkest colour a human has ever seen? For most people, the obvious answer would be black. More specifically, the blackness of total darkness. After all, black by definition is the absence of light. But total darkness isn’t as far as humans can think.

Paradoxically humans need light to see darkness

Let’s try to understand as to how humans perceive darkness with a little experiment.  Pick a black object in front of you and stare at it for about a second. Now close your eyes for a few seconds and allow them to adjust.

You may need to cover your eyes if you are in a bright room or outside. Now open them quickly and look at that black object. Now it may take you a few tries to fully see it, but you’ll soon notice that the black object appears darker than the black of total darkness.

When our eyes are open, the light-sensitive layers of cells at the back of our eyeballs called the retina are bombarded by packets of light energy called photons.

The photons are a kind of elementary particle. Or, perhaps they are the quantum of the electromagnetic field that includes electromagnetic radiation like the light. They are also the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. The photons have zero rest mass. They always move at the speed of light within a vacuum condition.

The photons represent visuals like a trigger nerve impulses on the retina that pass through the optic nerve to the brain and a visual image is formed on the retina.

When we close our eyes or enter total darkness most people see vague grey field usually composed of changing regions of tiny black and white dots.

This colour is called the Eigengrau, a German word that means intrinsic grey. What we are seeing is visual noise and it is the static of our retina.

Photo interceptors in the human retina

The photo interceptors in the human retina come in two types, rods and cones. As per science, rods are said to be responsible for vision at low light levels. This is called scotopic vision. They lack spatial acuity or they build immediate colour and they exist primarily at the outer edges of the retina forming a large part of our peripheral vision.

When photons hit rod cells, a photo-receptive pigment within the cell called Rhodopsin changes its shape. This initiates the process of triggering a nerve impulse. Rhodopsin can also change its shape spontaneously from ambient heat. This triggers a false nerve impulse.

The rate of these false impulses is temperature-dependent, though in humans it averages about once every 100 seconds.

120 million rod cells in the human eye

With over a hundred and twenty million rod cells in the human eye, the cumulative effect of these false triggers follows the visual noise that we see in total darkness.

Because of this intrinsic noise, most of us have experienced true darkness.

The same amount of visual noise is present whether our eyes are or open or closed. But, we don’t see it when we look at the world.

Contrast is more important than absolute brightness

So how can we see an object that is darker than the visual noise if we can’t see the visual noise itself? When our brains process visual information, contrast is more important than absolute brightness. Darkness as we see it is relative to the brightest thing that we are looking at.

The term Eigengrau or Eigenlicht (German and Dutch: own light, brain gray or dark light) dates back to the 19th century. However, it has hardly ever been mentioned in any recent scientific publications.

Eigengrau is professed to be lighter than a black object

Eigengrau is professed to be lighter than a black object when normal lighting conditions exist. That is because; the contrast in light is more significant to the visual system than complete brightness.

Continuous experiments on rod cells of cane toads, scientifically known as Bufo marinus, highlight that the frequency of these impulsive events is temperature-dependent and that means that they are caused by the thermal isomerization of rhodopsin. Scientists believe that Eigengrau can be looked at as both a biological and a psychological phenomenon. Scientists have also determined that different people perceive Eigengrau differently and there are possibly several variations of the ‘Opaque Gray’. Therefore, every individual will have his own appreciation of Eigengrau.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Vantablack: A Manmade Substance that is Blacker than the Blackest of Black“.

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Ham – the chimpanzee in his biopack couch preparing for the sub-orbital spaceflight. (NASA)

The cold war between America and the Soviet Union (present-day Russia) wasn’t limited to just sea and territorial region. It extended well into space. In the Space Race, Russia took the lead by launching an artificial satellite Sputnik-1 into earth’s orbit in 1957. Later the same year Sputnik-2 was launched with Laika the canine cosmonaut who became the first animal to go into orbit. America in the meanwhile sent fruit flies (1947) and monkey-mice team (1951) into space. Life could survive in space; this was proved beyond doubt. But could life also perform a designated task in space? America sought an answer by sending Ham – the chimpanzee, into space and the answer was ‘yes’. The answer came full 10 weeks ahead of Soviet Astronaut Yuri Gagarin orbiting around the earth on 12th April 1961.

Ham – the chimpanzee was procured and trained for the space mission

Born in African forests of French Cameroons in 1957, Ham was procured and purchased for Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, America. It was one in a team of 40 chimpanzees chosen for training at the ‘School for Space Chimps’. The training was a part of NASA’s Project Mercury, which aimed at sending a human being in the space. On Jan 2, 1961, six from these 40 were shortlisted and shifted to Cape Canaveral, Florida for the last round of preparations. They were divided into 2 groups of 3 each, lest illness of anyone spread the infection to all six. The mission would help scientist understand if the human body could perform well at high speed and zero-gravity conditions of space travel.

Trained for responding to coloured light in a preplanned manner

The training schedule established a healthy rapport between the primates and their handlers. The health of chimps was thoroughly monitored. Ham, initially called No. 65, was supervised by a Neuroscientist.

Ham with his trainer at Cape Canaveral, Florida. (NASA on The Commons / Flickr)

The training was about testing a directed response to 3 lights – red, white and blue, kept before the chimps. Each light had a lever below it. The red light was continuously on, and its lever wasn’t supposed to be pulled. The white light was off and would flicker only when the related lever was pulled. The chimps were trained to switch on the white light once every 20 seconds. The blue light shone erratically for 5 seconds during which time the chimps must pull the lever related to blue light. Primates performing as per the directions were rewarded with food bite and water. Derelicts got punished with electric shock in the sole of their feet. Primates were also subjected to simulated microgravity and g-forces to acclimatize them with the space environment.

Ham the astrochimp had two other names before his return from the space mission

A technician displaying all the equipment of Ham the Astrochimp in preparation of the launch. (NASA on The Commons / Flickr)

Mercury Redstone 2 rocket was ready for take-off on 31st January 1961. Which primate would go on a mission was decided on 30th. The decision went in favour of the flamboyant Ham. Another primate (Minnie) was selected as standby. Interestingly, the name Ham was made public only after the successful return of the primate on earth. Before that, No. 65 was made his official name, and for a good reason. The officials felt that if a formal name was announced for the chimpanzee, it could add to bad publicity in case the primate couldn’t return safely from the space. Ham – the chimpanzee had a pet name too, ‘Chop Chop Chang’; that’s how the handlers addressed Ham during his training period.

Preparing for takeoff was elaborately planned

Ham in his spacesuit sitting inside MR-2 capsule prior to its test flight. (NASA)

Nineteen hours before takeoff, the selected primates were given a special diet and placed in their pressurized cabins with biosensors attached to their bodies. Seven and a half hours before takeoff, a chain of pre-launch examinations were conducted. Four hours before the journey, the two were dressed up in spacesuits, positioned in their couches, and taken to a transfer van. In the transfer van, they were provided with environmental control equipment. Two and a half hours before launch, only Ham was boarded into an elevator and ushered into the nosecone of the spacecraft. It would be a sub-orbital spaceflight as spacecraft wouldn’t orbit or circle the earth.

In spite of several problems, the mission was a success

Problems for the mission began right from the start. There was a dip in air pressure, but thanks to the buffer arrangement, Ham remained safe. A technical snag made spacecraft overshoot planned altitude of 115 miles and cover 157 miles. Speed too went on the excessive side. Against the planned speed of 44000 mph, the spacecraft reached a speed of 5,857 mph. Consequently, it landed on earth 422 miles away from the launch site, as against the planned distance of 290 miles. Naturally, salvage operations after the splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean got delayed. However, help reached in the nick of time and Ham escaped death-by-drowning.

Ham being greeted by the commander of the ship after his recovery. (NASA on The Commons / Flickr)

On return to earth, Ham was in high spirits and accepted apple given by the commander of the recovery ship. He also shook hands with the members of the receiving team. But for a little limp in legs, he was in a good physical shape. Flashing of cameras, and the commotion of the Press reporters did irritate him, and it took quite some time to cool him down.

Ham being rewarded with an apple after his successful spaceflight. (NASA)

Ham’s performance in space was on expected lines

Ham’s perform in the total 17 minutes of his journey in space was satisfactory. His reflexes to lights and levers were only a little slower in the space than on earth. Enough hint to the scientific community to go ahead with the manned spacecraft. As mentioned earlier, it was only after the success of the space mission that the name Ham was made public. Ham, the Astrochimp. Ham is the acronym for Holloman Aerospace Medical Center, the laboratory that trained the iconic primate. Coincidently, the-then lab commander was Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton ‘Ha’’ Blackshear.

In life, as well as death, Ham remained a subject of keen scientific exploration

Ham shot to instant fame and was widely covered in media. Till 1980, he lived at Smithsonian’s National Zoo at Washington DC. Then he was shifted to the North Carolina Zoological Park in Asheboro where he died in 1983. Skeleton from Ham – the chimpanzee’s dead body was removed and sent to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology for studies and investigations. Other remains of the body were buried in Alamogordo, New Mexico, at the International Space Hall of Fame.

Several space programs followed in quick succession

Ham’s space jaunt opened the way for a chain of successful Mercury programs. Alan Shephard, the first American Astronaut was launched into space on May 1961. Enos, another chimpanzee, went into orbital space flight in November 1961 and made 2 full circles around the earth. In February 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit around the earth.

Was Ham the chimp subjected to cruelty?

The story doesn’t end here. There is a flip side to it, if a noted Primatologist, Dr. Jane Goodall is to be believed; she perused the photographs of Ham – the chimpanzee taken during 17 minutes of his space flight and after recovery of his capsule from the Atlantic Ocean. The photographs, according to her, were shockingly horrendous. Terror was writ large on the primate’s face. He lived alone in captivity for 20 years after travelling in space and died prematurely at the age of 25.

Goodall criticized NASA’s portrayal of Ham as a hero. Chimp’s pictures given in the media were selective and edited. The animal did go through bouts of extreme pain and distress but such pictures were kept away from the public. She also took exception to remove and exhibit the primate’s skeleton. That, she said, amounted to death-without-dignity.

The use of animals in experiments for the advancement of technology and human welfare will remain a grey area of human endeavour. Nevertheless, the contribution of Ham, the Astrochimp, will remain a milestone and a turning point in the history of Space Science.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Laika the Canine Cosmonaut – From the Streets to the Stars“.

Fact Analysis:
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Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle | By Colin Burgess & Chris Dubbs

Genre:
Non-fiction > Space

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The blank space

13.8 billion years ago the Universe was created with a massive Big Bang, and over time Space itself has expanded. Gravitational forces have worked their magic, and the Universe has evolved into its present state. Our planet Earth is in the third position from the Sun, and together with her seven other siblings, forms the solar system. It is important to remember, our solar system is actually just one of the many solar systems in our Milky Way. And the Milky Way in turn, is just one of the innumerable galaxies in the Universe.  Astronomers and cosmologists have been on a quest to unravel the eternal mystery presented by Space, since time immemorial. With the advent of modern technology, humankind has made remarkable leaps of success in this regard. 

The Pale Blue Dot

Twenty-nine years ago, on 14th February 1990, Voyager 1 spacecraft clicked the first-ever picture of our solar system. Including Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Earth and Venus, the spacecraft ended up clicking a “family portrait” while turning the spaceship towards the Earth. This was not at all pre-planned. There had been, in fact, a total of 60 frames that the Spaceship had tried to capture, the ‘Pale Blue Dot’ being one of them.

Unfortunately, Mars had little sunlight, Mercury was very close to the sun, and Pluto turned out too dim while the picture was taken. Consequently, they are not visible in the iconic photograph. The picture was taken from a distance of more than 4 billion miles from Earth, at about 32 degrees from the ecliptic. The Earth looks like a mere point of light due to the huge distance between the Planet and the Spaceship. 

Coincidentally, Earth lies right at the centre of the scattered light rays, thus resulting from the intense sunlight and the dramatic effect overall. It is one of the most famous photographs of the Earth, although it just appears as a ‘pale blue dot’ that is moving.

Earth as ‘Pale Blue Dot’. (Voyager 1 / NASA)

What is Voyager 1?

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched Voyager 1, a 722 kg robotic spacecraft on a mission to go into outer space and explore it in, way back in 1977. Voyager 1 was the first spaceship that was able to provide comprehensive images of the two largest planets, (Jupiter and Saturn) and their major moons. This space shuttle is still loitering in the Universe, and it is the first man-made shuttle to leave the solar system and explore beyond. It still receives command and transmits back important data back to the NASA Deep Space Network. When the spacecraft encountered Saturn in 1980, Carl Sagan proposed the idea of the spaceship to take one last picture of the Earth. Although the photograph would not be of much worth to science due to the lack of proximity, it would be meaningful as a perspective on our home in the Universe.

Why so blue?

From outer space, our planet Earth appears to be a blue due to the scattering of the Sunlight in its atmosphere. The wavelength of the blue colour is quite short and scatters to a great extent. This is the same reason why the sky appears blue when we look up from our planet as well! Another factor adding to the blueness of Earth is its huge oceans which also appear blue. From Space, the colour of the planet appears like a ‘pale blue dot’, as opposed to a dark blue one owing to the white light reflected by the clouds combining with the scattered blue light.

Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan

The sensation that this picture created is both unusual and difficult to put into words. A book named ‘Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space’ was written by Carl Sagan in 1994. In it, he says,

“Look again at the dot. That’s here. That’s home. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you heard of, every human being who ever was lived out their lives. Every aggregate of our joy and suffering is, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every Hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every mother, father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived here—on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.”

The image of the pale blue dot gives us a perspective of just how insignificant our lives on Earth are when compared to the vast majestic spread of the Cosmos. We think we are very safe here, in our big blue planet, but it is not so. The mundane things of life, ideologies like racism, sexism, imperialism, war and even emotional turmoil are just petty things. They are just momentary glorification of a fraction of a dot. Everything will collapse into ashes if there is a slight distraction in the orbital path of any large heavenly body, and it collides with us. Yet, living in this distinct planet that benefits us with all its wonderful resources, we are misusing them for our trivial interests. It is the only planet known so far to harbour life, and there is no other place for us to set up base in the near future. It is for our own good that we should learn to take care of this place and to think in a wider spectrum. 

This underscores our responsibility to deal with each other with more humanity and to preserve our species and our homeland. It is this planet that we call our ‘Home’, which maybe is a mere ‘pale blue dot’ somewhere in the extragalactic nebula, but it is our only home which is long waiting to be cherished.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Gliese 581g: A Habitable Exoplanet or Just Another Celestial Object Orbiting a Star?“

Recommended Read:
Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space |  By Carl Sagan

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McMurdo Station in Antarctica. (Eli Duke / Flickr)

While extensive swathes of Antarctica remain unpopulated, there are several international research stations on the continent that maintain personnel there throughout the year. The United States operates three research facilities under the National Science Foundation’s U.S. Antarctic Program, the largest of which is known as McMurdo Station.

McMurdo Station

This coastal station is located on the southern tip of Ross Island on the bare volcanic rock shore of the McMurdo Sound. It is about 1360 kilometres from the South Pole and about 3864 kilometres to the south of Christchurch, New Zealand. As the largest station in Antarctica, it serves as a starting base for research expeditions headed further inland and provides supplies to the research camps.

The station gets its name from the McMurdo Sound, which, in turn, is named after Archibald McMurdo. He was a lieutenant on the HMS Terror with the ship commander, James Clark Ross, when they first surveyed the area in 1841. Incidentally, Ross Island, which is a part of the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency, gets its name from James Clark Ross.

In 1902, Robert Falcon Scott, the famous British explorer, set up the first base camp near the current location of McMurdo Station. The wooden hut that he built—which is named Discovery Hut—still stands along the shore at Hut Point.

When the United States decided to build McMurdo Station in Antarctica, it was meant to be a Naval Air Facility. The U.S. Navy Seabees carried out the construction work from 1955 to 1956, and the station officially opened on 16 February 1956. Later, the United States decided to transform the station into a research centre, and it has operated as such ever since.

Radar and air traffic control equipment near the station. (Jose Lopez / U.S Defence)

Research carried out at the McMurdo Station

The research carried out at McMurdo Station covers multiple scientific disciplines such as geology, geophysics, glacial geology, glaciology, aeronomy, astrophysics, biology, and ecosystems. If you would like more information about the field projects that the McMurdo Station supports in the Antarctic region, please visit the USAP Science Planning Summaries Archives on the Science Support Page.

Additionally, the McMurdo Station also hosts writers and artists as part of the Antarctic Artists and Writers Program.

Life at McMurdo Station

Surrounded by icescapes, with the volcanic Mt Erebus looming in the background, McMurdo Station resembles a frontier town you might encounter in a science-fiction novel.

Helicopters come and go with regularity, and there are over 100 structures ranging from shacks to three-storey buildings across a 4 square kilometre area. These structures include administrative buildings, dormitories, the Albert P. Crary Science and Engineering Centre, repair facilities, a water distillation plant, a power plant, a fuel tank farm, a fire department, a post office, stores, warehouses, clubs, a church, an ice pier, three airfields, and a diving recompression chamber. The power and telephone lines for these buildings are all above the ground, as are the water and sewer connections.

Crary Science and Engineering Center. (Nathan Hoople / National Science Foundation)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry with a scientist inside Crary Labs at McMurdo Station on November 12, 2016. (U.S. Department of State / Flickr)

Given the icy landscape of Antarctica, it is necessary to take special care when it comes to waste disposal in order to avoid adversely impacting the environment. McMurdo gets its electricity from three wind turbines, and, to heat the buildings, it reuses the waste heat generated from the desalination plant.

The sewage plant carries out wastewater treatment on the sewage and compresses the resulting solids. They are then dispatched for incineration to the US mainland. Before the sewage plant was built at the McMurdo Station in 2003, the sewage was diluted and drained into the sea.

The wastewater plant. (Eli Duke / Flickr)

When the McMurdo Station opened in 1956, it had a total population of 93, and this was considered a lot back then. At present, the population hovers in the neighbourhood of 1200. That makes it the largest populated station in Antarctica. However, in the winter months—when the temperatures are known to drop to minus 50 degrees Centigrade and the snow can pile up to 1.5 meters—the population dwindles down to around 250 people. They are mainly research scientists and workers that have to remain at the station to look after the regular operations and maintenance of the place.

Food and other necessities being delivered by cargo vessel MV Green Wave to McMurdo Station. (U.S. Navy)

Frozen food warehouse at McMurdo Station. (Eli Duke / Flickr)

So, winter months are quiet, but things can get livelier in the summer. Along with being more populated, the station is largely without snow, and the temperature can rise to plus 8 degrees Centigrade. When the residents are not busy with their research work, they keep themselves entertained by participating in various sports and recreational activities.

Indoor soccer. (Eli Duke / Flickr)

To get around McMurdo Station and its surrounding environs, people generally use snowmobiles and other vehicles. You must drive slowly—on the righthand side of the road—not just on account of the snow, but because the speed limit at the McMurdo Station is 30 kilometres per hour.

Nuclear Station at McMurdo

The US government set up a 1.8-megawatt nuclear power plant on Observation Hill in December 1961. It turned out to be a costly mistake. It encountered several operational problems and required extensive repairs. Ultimately, the US government decided to shut it down in 1972. By then, however, the nuclear reactor – that everyone at the station called Nukey Poo – had contaminated the surrounding soil and turned it radioactive. Several tons of it had to be removed. Now a plaque commemorates the existence of the nuclear plant, and the site is a Historic Site or Monument.

Another, less toxic commemorative memorial on the McMurdo Station is the Richard E. Byrd Historic Site or Monument. The United States designated it as such at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. The bronze bust of Richard E. Byrd sits on a black marble base, and the whole thing is kept on a wooden platform. It was unveiled in 1965. The accompanying inscription gives visitors an overview of Byrd’s polar expeditions. Except for pioneers like him, we probably wouldn’t have advanced research centres like the McMurdo Station in the Antarctic region.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Halley Research Station: The First Floating, Relocatable Research Facility in the World“.

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Jack Parsons during a murder trial. (Los Angeles Times / Wikimedia Commons)

Very few people across the world know that the space programme of the United States should actually be credited to a Satanist, Jack Parsons, and not Wernher Von Braun. The later was a German-American aerospace engineer and a pioneer of rocket technology in the US. Wernher Von Braun was also a contemporary of Jack Parsons. Strangely though, most people of the later times never heard of Jack Parsons.

Born on October 2, 1914, as Marvel Whiteside Parsons, Jack’s actual name was John Whiteside “Jack” Parsons. His family was a wealthy family in Pasadena.

Jack lived a colourful, but an eventful life for just 37 years. He died on June 17, 1952, in Pasadena.

Interest in science fiction literature

Thanks to his interest in science fiction literature, Jack is said to have developed an interest in rocketry at a very young age. At the same time at the tender age of 13, Jack is said to have first invoked Satan. Simultaneously, by the age of 14 in 1928, he started to indulge in amateur experiments on rockets with the help of his school buddy Edward Forman.

Jack started his initial experiments in the backyard of his house. There he made gunpowder-based rockets.

Most of his experiments ended up as explosions and he used to have fun. Generally, he used to blow up things with fireworks. As a result, he and Forman were considered as crazy guys at school. The two boys were the kind of kids who were trouble at their school all the time. It was also during this period that the two boys experienced spells and incantations.

The ‘Suicide Squad’

Jack and Forman eventually dropped out of high school. In 1929, when the Great Depression crippled the world, the fortunes of Jack’s family nosedived. He had to drop out of Pasadena Junior College and later from Stanford University due to cash crunch.

In that background, the two friends joined a California-based company known as Hercules Powder Company. The company manufactured armaments. While they were at the Hercules Powder Company, Jack became famous across the nation as a rocket expert.

Later, Jack went to CalTech. In 1934, he teamed up with Forman and approached a graduate student named Frank Malina at the California Institute of Technology. The three formed a

Rocket Research Group that was focused on studying rockets and referred themselves as the ‘Suicide Squad’.

The group was known as the Caltech-affiliated Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory (GALCIT) RRG. GALCIT chairman Theodore von Kármán supported the activities of the research group.

Jack Parsons (bottom right) and Edward Forman (top right) along with other GALCIT group members. (NASA / JPL)

Even as World War II was coming to an end, the Rocket Research Group came to be known as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Wernher Von Braun credited Jack with US space programme

Wernher Von Braun. (SDASM Archives / Flickr)

Later, of course, Wernher Von Braun acknowledged Jack’s contribution to jet propulsion and rocket technology. In this connection, Wernher Von Braun credited Jack with inventing the American space programme.

It was Jack who actually created the solid fuels that the US later used in the propulsion Polaris nuclear missiles and in the Apollo space missions, said Wernher Von Braun.

During the 1920s and 1930s, rocket science was largely confined to science fiction. In this background, when engineering professor Robert Goddard suggested that a rocket would one day reach the moon, he was mocked at.

Nevertheless, the Suicide Squad’s Jack was a genius at developing rocket fuels. It was a delicate process involving the mixing of chemicals in the right amounts to avoid explosions. During this period he had developed controllable versions of the rocket fuel. NASA later used them.

Aerojet Engineering Corporation (AEC) established

By the 1940s, Malina approached the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for funds to do research on ‘jet propulsion’. Flush with funds from NAS, the Suicide Squad established a company called Aerojet Engineering Corporation (AEC) in 1943.

The formation of AEC, more or less, legitimized their work. Thus, the Suicide Squad played a vital role in the founding of Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA. JPL is the research centre that has been sending ever since spacecraft into the outer space.

With more government involvement, Jack Parsons and his team experienced greater success. More opportunities opened up for Jack. Following this success, the government agencies had to take a closer look into his personal life that had several shocking covert activities.

Jack was engaging in occult activities

While pioneering scientific developments that later put men on the moon, Jack was engaging in occult activities like the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO). The notorious British occultist Aleister Crowley was leading OTO at that time.

Across Britain and the US, Crowley was said to be “the wickedest man in the world”. It was at OTO that Jack and others took part in strange occult rituals like eating cakes prepared with menstrual blood.

As his career progressed, Jack’s interest in the occult grew manifold. In the early 1940s, Jack was appointed as the West Coast leader of the OTO.

He pumped in money from his rocketry business into his occult activities. He even purchased a mansion in Pasadena to use as a den of hedonism. This gave him an opportunity to explore sexual adventures. During this period, he slept with his wife Helen’s 17-year-old sister Sara in the form of cult-like orgies.

FBI increased its vigil on Jack Parsons’ nocturnal activities

The US government directed the FBI to increase its vigil on Jack Parsons’ nocturnal activities. The FBI found that Jack’s behaviour became a liability to national security. Therefore, in 1943, Jack was forced to quit Aerojet Company and he was paid off his shares. This clearly shows that Jack was expelled from the field that he had actually helped to grow.

With no work on hand, Jack plunged deeper in the occult. During this period, Jack met science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. Hubbard was on the verge of establishing Scientology.

Hubbard urged Jack to summon a goddess to Earth

He urged Jack to summon a goddess to Earth during an outlandish ritual. The ritual itself involved ritual chanting and drawing occult symbols in the air with swords. Then, dripping animal blood on runes and then masturbating to ‘impregnate’ the magical tablets.

During the late 1940s and on the onset of the Red Scare, Jack came under government scrutiny for involving in “sexual perversion” at the OTO. With no hope of getting a government job, Jack started using his expertise on explosives to work on special effects in the movies.

Jack was 37 years old when he died

In spite of this environment, Jack continued to indulge in reckless backyard experiments on rockets. On June 17 in 1952, Jack got a job to work on explosives for a film project. When he was working for his project, an unplanned detonation destroyed his home laboratory and killed him. Jack was 37 years old when he died.

Police investigating the site where Jack Parsons was killed. (Los Angeles Time)

One of the interesting facts includes Jack’s habit of working by day and involving in dark magic during the night.

On Pasadena’s Millionaire’s Row, he purchased a mansion and welcomed his sex-magic cult with open arms. The mansion turned into a den of hedonism.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Space Burial: Making Skies Our Cemetery“.

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Map showing how submarine communications cables are connected across the globe. (networkatlas)

Today, “cloud” is synonymous to everything online in common parlance. However, unbeknownst to us, most of the data we are accessing is shuttling across the world through an intricate network of cables under the ocean. This massive system of Submarine Communications Cable connects every continent, except Antarctica, and carries everything from emails and videos to the most encrypted documents.

Submarine communications cable: what are they?

Submarine Communications Cables are primarily made of strands of glass as thin as a hair, known as fibre optics. Data is transmitted via these cables at the speed of light, through wavelengths, across huge distances without obstruction. Each strand is capable of carrying an enormous amount of information, with over sixty 400 GB per second channels across a single strand of fibre-optic cable. To put it into perspective, each strand is capable of conducting 375 million telephone conversations at the same time.

The number of fibre optic strands within each cable is variable, depending on the distance it needs to cover. A trans-Atlantic cable can have around 4 to 8 strands, whereas a cable spanning the entire continent of Europe would require as much as 200.

Layers of protection for optical fibers that will be submerged in the ocean. (Oona Räisänen / Wikimedia Commons)

Submarine communications cables are very thin, measuring to a maximum diameter of 60mm. They are composed of a copper core that transmits power to signal boosting equipment and a variety of combination steel armour wires. Polyethene insulation waterproofs the cables. According to TeleGeography, there are approximately 420 cables running across the world today, the entire network spanning more than 700,000 miles. These cables might be running across the ocean, or along the coast of a continental shelf. Some cables are lying as deep as the height of Mt. Everest above the ground.  

Procedure for installing cables under the sea

The submarine communications cables are generally buried under the sea floor. This is especially true on the shallow region around continental shelves where they might be damaged during fishing, or by ship anchors.

There are multiple methods for installing the cables in this manner, but the most popular one is using a cable plough. Towed by a cable ship, the plough lifts up a section of the seabed, allowing the cable to slide in. The chunk of the seabed is then placed on top of the cable, effectively burying it. The depth at which a cable is buried depends on a lot of conditions, including the texture of the seabed.

Installation of internet cables in progress. (Nc tech3 / Wikimedia Commons) 

On a very hard and rocky floor, it is impossible to plough a cable through. In such circumstances, the cable is padded with additional protective layers. Increased armour when constructing the cable, covering it with graded coatings, and polyurethane or concrete casings, etc. is usually the way out. If the cable is laid on the sea floor extremely deep into the ocean, excess padding around the cables is usually not necessary.

Evolution of the submarine communications cable

The modern submarine communications cable network can find its origin in the telegraph system. The first such cable was a trans-Atlantic one between Ireland and Newfoundland that had taken four years to build and was completed in 1858. The first non-test message was a 509-letter message to President James Buchanan from Queen Victoria that took over 17 hours to transmit. It might seem like an eternity compared to today’s emails, but it was much faster than the contemporary alternative- ships. This cable, however, lasted barely a month.

After six years, another line was finally set up across the Atlantic to transmit telegraph messages. Since then, an extensive network of submarine cables has been established across the oceans of the world. These telegraph cables were later linked to telephone cables, and eventually, the fibre optic cables that the Internet depends on were developed.

Submarine cable being installed from Bondi, Sydney to Auckland, New Zealand. (Australian National Maritime Museum on The Commons / Flickr)

Submarine communications cables were originally point-to-point connections. However, the evolution of SBUs, or Submarine Branching Units, allowed a single cable system to serve multiple destinations. Today’s fibre optic cable networks have the fibres arranged in self-healing rings and are sectioned to follow different routes under the ocean. Another kind of network developed is the ‘Mesh Network’ which employs fast switching equipment to transfer services across paths. This is useful as even if a specific path is rendered inoperable, there is a negligible effect on the higher-level protocols. The Mesh System allows for a multitude of available paths between two points, making it unlikely for the entire network to crash at once.

Shark bites to espionage – the various threats to undersea cables

One of the biggest threats to the submarine communications cables is presented by sharks and certain fish. Barracuda, sharks and similar fishes have had a long history of biting these undersea cables, as can be seen from teeth embedded in cable sheaths. This has often led to the cables being seriously damaged, exposing the power conductor within the ripped insulation to the seawater. Communication cables are being modified to overcome this. Google, for instance, has been helping build a kevlar-like protective layer to drive back aquatic creatures. Undersea avalanches have also been known to damage cables. The Newfoundland earthquake in 1929 had triggered a massive undersea avalanche that had destroyed multiple trans-Atlantic cables. The Hengchun earthquake in 2006 had similarly wrecked the cables around Taiwan.

Another major factor that causes cables to malfunction is human error. Ship anchors and fishing trawlers have often damaged submarine communication cables, especially along the continental shelves. This can be devastating for developing nations with few links to the global Internet. Such shipping related disturbances had caused two instances in a single month back in 2012. The damaged cables connecting East Africa to the UAE and Europe affected at least nine countries. Regardless, damages to communication cables have reduced in recent times, since cables are now usually buried under the sea-bed.

During wartime, cables were often intentionally cut off by enemy forces to isolate the region. In fact, fibre-optic cables have always been a vulnerable target for espionage and surveillance efforts. During the Cold War, the NSA-run operation ‘Ivy Bells’ used these cables to tap into Soviet naval bases. Edward Snowden, the infamous NSA whistleblower, had revealed that the NSA still used the fibre-optic cables for global surveillance.

How are these cables repaired?

Submarine communication cables are fixed by bringing the damaged segment to the surface with the help of a grapple. A new segment is fitted in its place. Repaired cables are generally longer and are laid in a U-shape on the ocean-bed. If the cables are close to the surface, they are generally repaired on a submersible. Ports near cable routes often have specialized ships for cable repair on stand-by.

A submarine cable being repaired by a private marine engineering company. (The Castle Group / Wikimedia Commons)

Environmental impact of submarine communications cables

Since the fibre-optic cables used today are extremely small in diameter, they hardly cause any disturbance to the aquatic ecosystem or the sea-bed itself. The only exception is during installation and repairs. Then too, a very small perimeter is affected. Its negligible impact on the environment is recognised by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and Natural England, the conservation advisors of the UK Government. They have thus allowed cables to be laid even within Marine Conservation Zones.

Global Internet connectivity, that forms the bedrock of progress in the modern world, has submarine communications cables as its veins and arteries. The intricate infrastructure of global communications that countries and economies thrive on, depends entirely on these tiny cables crisscrossing the globe underwater. Eco-friendly, and ever-developing, the submarine communications cables are indispensable in Man’s quest to create a sustainable and progressive future in a busy world.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Optical Telegraph: Communication Before the Internet“.

Recommended Website:
Interactive map of the submarine cable

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Animal Suicide: Kathy, one of the five bottlenose dolphins that were part of a famous television show called Flipper. The dolphin reportedly committed suicide after being depressed for a long time. (1950sUnlimited / Flickr)

Humans commit suicide, is a given. Do nonhuman animals commit suicide? Well, that’s not a given. Generally speaking, it’s a moot point. A human contemplates on past, present and future. He may seek closure in self-inflicted death. Animals, ostensibly, live in present with limited hindsight and foresight. So, why would they want to die? But, the ground realities reveal that suicide could be a way with non-humans as well.

Animal Suicide: Dogs and horses have done it

Man’s best friend, a dog, was in news in 1845, for committing suicide. The Illustrated London News reported that a dog of Newfoundland breed lay low for a couple of days, and then, threw itself in water, attempting to drown. It was rescued. But it rushed once again to deep waters and was rescued yet again. This exercise continued for long. In the long last, dog succeeded in drowning to death, something that he was dead bent to accomplish. Another case of a chain of canine suicides was highlighted by this portal under the head, ‘Overtoun Bridge from where dogs leap to their deaths’. Despite tangible holes in suicide theory, it is hard to ignore that animals too may choose to die, out of their own free will.

Consider man’s second-best friend, horse. Aristotle (384-322 BC), described one which jumped into a gorge and killed self. The horse had unwittingly mated with its biological mother. A case like Oedipus, the mythical king who unwittingly married his biological mother. When the couple realized the truth of their relationship, both were full of remorse. The lady killed self, and Oedipus renounced the world.

Grief/monotonous existence/choice of a less painful death, have triggered animal suicides

The list of suicide-prone animals is long and mindboggling. Dogs prostrating at the graves of their dead masters and dying. A cat, unable to bear the grief of her dead kittens, chooses to die. A herd of cattle, as recently as 2009, jumps off a cliff in Swiss Alps over a period of 3 days. A deer jumps to death over a slope, preferring to die by a bone-crushing fall rather than fall to hunting dogs.

The suicide of a dolphin, star of the 1960 television show, Flipper, made waves. It is believed that the dolphin grew tired of monotonous life and decided to die. Dolphins are an intelligent creature. They have the ability to observe their thought processes and choose one that suits them best at a particular point in time. They are also unique in being voluntary breathers, unlike humans and other animals who are involuntary breathers. Dolphins breath consciously whereas for other life forms breathing is automatic, uncontrolled, reflex action. That means the dolphin may decide not to breathe till it dies from lack of oxygen. Since such observations can’t be reproduced in experimental conditions, it remains a tentative finding. Nevertheless, this self-induced death of a dolphin is a strong argument in favour of animal suicides.

Suicide bombers do exist in the animal kingdom

Further, there are some life forms which act as suicide bombers. The objective though, is not self-centred, as in suicide, but is self-denial for a larger good. For example, the exploding ants of Malaysia. These ants blow their head or abdomen (autothysis) in the face of a threat. The blow scatters a paste which traps and kills the threat. Thus, a suicide/self-sacrifice saves fellow ants from an enemy. A similar defence is characteristic of a termite (Globitermes sulphurous). It catches hold of the intruder/enemy and pumps its (termite’s) abdomen to release glue which spills over both the lives pitted against each other. The glue hardens upon coming in contact with air, killing them both. Likewise, pea aphid blows up its body to scare, even kill a predator, to save its commune. In what’s closest to committing suicide, it may surrender to a natural parasite, the wasp, to lay eggs on its body. Young wasps feed on aphid body, killing it in the process of growing up. A volunteer aphid thus barters its life to buy protection for the rest of the aphid group from wasp attack. Much like the grandma story of a village and a demon. To contain demon to lesser harm, one villager would volunteer to walk to the demon’s cave every day, and offer himself as food to the demon. That would keep the demon in good humour and save the rest of the village from demon’s wrath.

Self-sacrifice could be suicide by default

Consider self-sacrificing crab spider. It feeds her young ones with her unfertilized eggs. The taste of eggs hooks young ones to the taste of their mother’s body. And the mother is devoured, bit by bit, till it goes lifeless. Matriphagy, the act of feeding on mother’s body, is also observed in some species of scorpions, insects and amphibians. This may be a case of maternal care gone awry but does prove that there is a thin line that separates life and death. If self-preservation was a baseline of animal behaviour, as generally believed, such cases of self-denial wouldn’t be seen among animals. Can these instances, be construed to mean suicides?

Man, unlike animals, may philosophise to choose death

Is suicide a consequence of physical factors? If yes, there are parallels between humans and non-humans. Like, the monotony of existence, perceived pain and tragedy, a drug or substance-induced fatal attraction, etc. Risk of suicide goes up significantly in a man living on anti-depressant drugs. That’s a physical factor prompting suicide. But it is well known that metaphysical factors are significant drivers of human suicide. An IAS officer Mukesh Pandey makes a detailed video of him explaining why he is about to commit suicide. The officer isn’t bogged down by any pain or tragedy, but feels, vaguely, that life isn’t worth living. Does such a metaphysical angle apply to animals as well? Can animals contemplate that life isn’t worth living? Well, as of now, we have no way of knowing.

The mystery of dog-suicides in Scotland remains unsolved

For dog suicides at Overtoun Bridge in Scotland, one explanation is that dog being colour-blind, can’t separate bridge from surrounding greenery, and trips in the intervening space. Another view is that the smell of rodents living in the downside of the bridge lured the canine for a fatal jump. No cause-effect relationship has been established till date and dogs leaping to death from bridge remain a mystery. In stressful situations, scorpions sting their own selves and die. Sceptics say that a fearful scorpion goes sting-stabbing recklessly, and swirling at the same time. And, in an error of judgement, stings its own body and dies. A case of self-defence gone haywire. Were the dogs jumping off the Overtoun bridge doing so in some kind of self-defence?

Can one life use another for its own survival?

Could there be something that programmed the canines, in the above example, to go for daredevil jumps? Can a parasite programme the host animal to go daredevil? There is one interesting case. The infection of a protozoan, Toxoplasma gondii, in the brain of rat. It programs rat to go daredevil and for a purpose. The protozoan parasite needs the body of a cat to complete its life cycle. Because it can reproduce sexually only in a cat’s biosystem. So, what does it do to reach to a cat which a normal rat will always avoid? The parasite hijacks the rat’s neuro-mechanism which helps it remain away from the cat. The infected rat, so to say, is reprogrammed to be attracted to a cat. That obviously makes it easy prey for its natural predator, and the parasite thus gains access to the cat’s body. Could there be more such cases of one life driving another to the path of self-destruction?

Overall, suicide in animals remains an enigma

What is crystal clear is this that sentience is part of animal psychology, like it is of a human being. Both are aware of life, pain and crisis situations. Both may choose death over life in a particular set of circumstances. But suicide is not the same thing as dying for one’s community or fellow beings. It ought to be a closure for a suffering or an unacceptable status of life. Such closure is clear in human suicides as it is communicated by the subject before dying or inferable from cogent circumstantial evidences. No such so closure can be inferred in animal suicides as animal-human communication is extremely limited. Moreover, the metaphysical side of suicide makes it a subject beyond the reach of scientific investigation. Therefore, it is hard to prove, as well as to disprove, that animals commit suicide. Doubtless, there are radical differences in the thought process of humans and non-humans. Suicide, seemingly, is not one of those differences. Or, maybe, we should wait till a standard definition of suicide is drafted.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Overtoun Bridge: A Mysterious Site from Where Dogs Leap to Their Deaths“.

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VHF Russian mobile air defence radar. (Vitaly V. Kuzmin / Wikimedia Commons)

The concept of sending out pulses of radio waves to detect the presence of an object or measure the distance of the reflected signal is called radar technology. Radar is simply an acronym for Radio Detection And Ranging.

The principle of radar technology is based on an electromagnetic system and it works when energy is radiated into space. It monitors the reflected signal or an echo from an object.

Simply speaking, it works best in the low-frequency range like the microwave, UHF, VHF or HF range. Meaning, it works in frequencies like 1 GHz.

Some of the factors that could affect radar’s performance include maximum power, the sensitivity of the receiver, the pulse width or rate and probably the antenna size.

Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt. (UK Gov)

Pioneers in the radar technology

Several engineers and scientists from across the world can be credited for the development of the radar technology system. 

One such pioneer in the radar technology was none other than the Scottish scientist Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt. The British Royal Air Defense granted him the patent for the radar system in April of 1935.

Sir Watson-Watt became the first person in developing the original and practical radar system, which helped Britain to defend itself during WWII. Sir Watson-Watt’s radar system was able to use radio pulses in detecting planes from as far as 129 km.

Radar network in Britain during WWII

As a result, before WWII even began, the British government established a network of radar stations along the British coast using Sir Watson-Watt’s system. The stations, identified as Chain Home, successfully helped Britain to defend itself against the German planes during WWII.

Chain Home radar, Sussex. (Royal Air Force official photographer)

Sir Watson-Watts’s system depended on long wavelengths, which restricted the ability to accurately pinpoint German aircraft during night attacks. To overcome this anomaly, the British government roped in engineers John Randall and Harry Boot to invent cavity magnetron for developing a shorter wavelength radar system in 1940. Such a radar system happened to be compact and could be installed in planes. 

Before that in 1915, Sir Watson-Watt, while working in the Meteorological Office, he developed systems to detect thunderstorms.

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz. (Robert Krewaldt)

Heinrich Hertz

Before that German physicist, Heinrich Hertz was one of the early pioneers in producing and transmitting radio waves in his laboratory. Hertz found that invisible radio waves were one form of electromagnetic radiation. He further detected that while materials just transmit radio waves, while others actually reflect the waves.

The German physicist established this basic principle of the radar system in the late 19th century. Following this discovery, further experiments took place by putting the radio waves to practical use.

Basic radar system

Guglielmo Marconi. (Library of Congress)

For the first time in 1901, Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi transmitted a wireless radio communication to America. Three years later, German engineer Christian Huelsmeyer developed a basic system that helped trains and boats to use radio waves to prevent collisions during foggy conditions.

In the US and elsewhere, scientific work continued on early radar detection systems for two decades from 1920. However, the technology’s value was felt more in Britain as it effectively used it against the German air attacks.

Since the 1930s, radar technology underwent rapid development to meet both defence and civilian applications. Today, there are nine different types of radar systems in the world today.

Types of radar systems

The types of radar systems include bistatic radar, continuous wave radar, Doppler radar, monopulse radar, passive radar, instrumentation radar, weather radars, mapping radar and navigational radars.

These radars are increasingly being used in applications like air traffic control, remote sensing, weather observation, space surveillance and even planetary observation.

The basic parts of the radar system include a transmitter, an antenna (transducer), duplexer and a receiver.

The transmitter generates a high-power signal, which the antenna radiates into space acting as a transducer. With the help of electromagnetic energy, a duplexer transmits and receives signals from the same antenna.

It is then the receiver amplifies the radar echo. In order to remove the unwanted clutter from the signal, a signal processor separates the signals. Only then can engineers or a computer decide whether a target is present or not.

When the target’s presence is detected, its location can be ascertained and tracked over a period of time.

Radar technology in the digital age

Since the early digital age of 1970s, radar technology made significant advances under the Doppler radar system, which enhanced its ability to spot an aircraft in spite of heavy clutter.

An example of this system is the airborne-warning-and-control-system (AWACS) of the US Air Force. Another example of this principle is its use in spacecraft for the purpose of remote sensing environment.

Boeing E-3 Sentry, an Airborne early warning and control aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Over the years newer radar methods evolved in the areas of air defence, airborne bomber, and ballistic missile detection.

Some of the key future capabilities of the radar technologies included in the areas of Agile Beam Techniques and faster volume scans.

As the technology evolves, there should be further investigation and analysis of the benefits, risks and costs that can drive the future advanced radar architecture decision.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Lockheed Blackbird SR-71: The Fastest, High-Altitude Reconnaissance Aircraft in the World“.

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Scientist mounting Golden Records on Voyager spacecraft. (JPL / NASA)

It would be a Red Letter Day if alien life is contacted. Motions have been set in place to make this happen but at the very dawn of space exploration it is thought to be hundreds of thousands of years from happening… if at all.

Carl Sagan. (JPL / NASA)

One such motion took place in 1977 when the Voyager Golden Records were launched into the cosmos, two vinyl records which are aboard two spacecraft which launched under the same name. Within the records is a variety of media based on the history of civilization including sounds and images. It is considered a Time Capsule in the sense that it is more likely that humans from the future rather than aliens will find them. Like a message in a bottle, Astronomer Carl Sagan explains it as sending a “…bottle into the cosmic ocean.”

The two spaceships are not destined for anywhere in particular but the most notable of stars – a Goldilocks zone – known as Gliese 445 will be passed in 40,000 years. Needless to say, it is a mission for the future.

Each record is encased in an aluminium casing with a cartridge to play it and a needle. Also, there are instructions on how to use it.

The two sides of the disc 

The Sounds of Earth Record Cover. (NASA on The Commons / Flickr)

Illustrations

• The two circles on the top left show states of the Hydrogen atom and the movement of the proton and electron.
• The Square below is to do with rendering. If the record is correctly rendered then this should match the first image.
• An image frame with vertical lines.
• Vertically staggered lines.
• A diagram illustrating how pictures are made. Showing video signals and binary codes.
• Binary arithmetic explaining how the record should be played.
• Overall play time of record.
• Pulsar map showing the location of our Sun and the frequency of some pulsars.

The information is very technical, related to the actual playing of the record which holds the majority of the content.

There is also a clock – in a sense – electroplated onto the cover of the record. An extremely clever clock built to last billions of years. It is the element Uranium-238 which has a radioactivity of 0.00026 microcuries to be precise. The Uranium will decay to half of its original radioactivity value in 4.5 billion years meaning this can show the time since launch. Because scientifically speaking, Uranium-238 has a half-life of 4.468 billion years.

However, the pulsar map should also be able to show this.

Within the record are images selected by a NASA committee. The aforementioned Carl Sagan chose 115 images in Analog form.

There are some beautiful and bizarre photos on the vinyl. All 116 are in this link.

Also, there are many sounds, music and greetings from fifty-five languages including 5 archaic languages. There is Akkadian, a dead language spoken in the Middle East about six thousand years ago and Wu, a modern Chinese dialect. Here is a translation to English of every greeting:

• Akkadian– “May all be very well”
• Amoy (Min dialect)– “Friends of space, how are you all? Have you eaten yet? Come visit us if you have time.”
• Arabic – “Greetings to our friends in the stars. We wish that we will meet you someday.”
• Aramaic– “Peace”
• Armenian – “To all those who exist in the universe, greetings.”
• Bengali – “Hello! Let there be peace everywhere.”
• Burmese – “Are you well.”
• Cantonese – “Hi. How are you? Wish you peace, health and happiness.”
• Czech – “Dear Friends, we wish you the best.”
• Dutch – “Heartfelt greetings to everyone.”
• English – “Hello from the children of planet Earth.”
• French – “Hello everybody.”
• German – “Heartfelt greetings to all.”
• Greek – “Greetings to you, whoever you are. We come in friendship to those who are friends.”
• Gujarati – “Greetings from a human being of the Earth. Please contact.”
• Hebrew – “Peace.”
• Hindi – “Greetings from the inhabitants of this world.”
• Hittite– “Hail.”
• Hungarian (Magyar) – “We are sending greetings in the Hungarian language to all peace-loving beings in the Universe.”
• Ila (Zambia)
  “We wish all of you well.”
• Indonesian
  “Good night ladies and gentlemen. Goodbye(,) and see you next time.”
• Italian – “Many greetings and wishes.”
• Japanese– “Hello? How are you?”
• Kannada (Kanarese)
  “Greetings. On behalf of Kannada-speaking people, ‘good wishes.'”
• Kechua (Quechua) – “Hello to everybody from this Earth, in Kechua language.”
• Korean– “How are you?”
• Latin– “Greetings to you, whoever you are; we have good will towards you and bring peace across space.”
• Luganda (Ganda) – “Greetings to all peoples of the universe. God give you peace always.”
• Mandarin Chinese– “Hope everyone’s well. We are thinking about you all. Please come here to visit when you have time.”
• Marathi– “Greetings. The people of the Earth send their good wishes.”
• Nepali– “Wishing you a peaceful future from the earthlings.”
• Nguni (Zulu)– “We greet you, great ones. We wish you longevity”
• Nyanja– “How are all you people of other planets?”
• Oriya– “Greetings to the inhabitants of the universe from the third planet Earth of the star Sun.”
• Persian– “Hello to the residents of far skies.”
• Polish– “Welcome, creatures from beyond the outer world.”
• Portuguese– “Peace and happiness to all.”
• Punjabi– “Welcome home. It is a pleasure to receive you.”
• Rajasthani– “Hello to everyone. We are happy here and you be happy there.”
• Romanian – “Greetings to everybody.”
• Russian – “Greetings! I Welcome You!”
• Serbian – “We wish you everything good from our planet.”
• Sinhalese – “Wish You a Long Life.”
• Sotho (Sesotho)– “We greet you, O great ones.”
• Spanish– “Hello and greetings to all.”
• Sumerian – “May all be well.”
• Swedish – “Greetings from a computer programmer in the little university town of Ithaca on the planet Earth”
• Telugu – “Greetings. Best wishes from Telugu-speaking people.”
• Thai – “We in this world send you our goodwill”
• Turkish – “Dear Turkish-speaking friends, may the honors of the morning be upon your heads.”
• Ukrainian – “We are sending greetings from our world, wishing you happiness, goodness, good health and many years.”
• Urdu– “Peace on you. We the inhabitants of this earth send our greetings to you.”
• Vietnamese – “Sincerely send you our friendly greetings.”
• Welsh– “Good health to you now and forever.”
• Wu – “Best wishes to you all.”

There are 90 minutes of music, Eastern and Western classics, as well as traditional songs from all corners of the world, are included. Here is a list of all of the music on the record:

• Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F. First Movement, Munich Bach Orchestra, Karl Richter, conductor. 4:40
• Java, court gamelan, “Kinds of Flowers,” recorded by Robert Brown. 4:43
• Senegal, percussion, recorded by Charles Duvelle. 2:08
• Zaire, Pygmy girls’ initiation song, recorded by Colin Turnbull. 0:56
• Australia, Aborigine songs, “Morning Star” and “Devil Bird,” recorded by Sandra LeBrun Holmes. 1:26
• Mexico, “El Cascabel,” performed by Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi México. 3:14
• “Johnny B. Goode,” written and performed by Chuck Berry. 2:38
• New Guinea, men’s house song, recorded by Robert MacLennan. 1:20
• Japan, shakuhachi, “Tsuru No Sugomori” (“Crane’s Nest,”) performed by Goro Yamaguchi. 4:51
• Bach, “Gavotte en rondeaux” from the Partita No. 3 in E major for Violin, performed by Arthur Grumiaux. 2:55
• Mozart, The Magic Flute, Queen of the Night aria, no. 14. Edda Moser, soprano. Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor. 2:55
• Georgian S.S.R., chorus, “Tchakrulo,” collected by Radio Moscow. 2:18
• Peru, panpipes and drum, collected by Casa de la Cultura, Lima. 0:52
• “Melancholy Blues,” performed by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven. 3:05
• Azerbaijan S.S.R., bagpipes, recorded by Radio Moscow. 2:30
• Stravinsky, Rite of Spring, Sacrificial Dance, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, conductor. 4:35
• Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, Prelude and Fugue in C, No.1. Glenn Gould, piano. 4:48
• Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, First Movement, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, conductor. 7:20
• Bulgaria, “Izlel je Delyo Hagdutin,” sung by Valya Balkanska. 4:59
• Navajo Indians, Night Chant, recorded by Willard Rhodes. 0:57
• Holborne, Paueans, Galliards, Almains and Other Short Aeirs, “The Fairie Round,” performed by David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London. 1:17
• (The) Solomon Islands, panpipes, collected by the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service. 1:12
• Peru, wedding song, recorded by John Cohen. 0:38
• China, Ch’in, “Flowing Streams,” performed by Kuan P’ing-hu. 7:37
• India, raga, “Jaat Kahan Ho,” sung by Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar. 3:30
• “Dark Was the Night,” written and performed by Blind Willie Johnson. 3:15
• Beethoven, String Quartet No. 13 in B flat, Opus 130, Cavatina, performed by Budapest String Quartet. 6:37

A message from the US President at the time Jimmy Carter and UN Secretary are also included. The former President reads:

“This Voyager spacecraft was constructed by the United States of America. We are a community of 240 million human beings among the more than 4 billion who inhabit the planet Earth. We human beings are still divided into nation states, but these states are rapidly becoming a single global civilization.

We cast this message into the cosmos. It is likely to survive a billion years into our future, when our civilization is profoundly altered and the surface of the Earth may be vastly changed. Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, some–perhaps many–may have inhabited planets and spacefaring civilizations. If one such civilization intercepts Voyager and can understand these recorded contents, here is our message:

This is a present from a small distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts, and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations. This record represents our hope and our determination, and our good will in a vast and awesome universe.”

Already by 1990 the Voyagers had gone further than Pluto and ultimately outside our solar system. The mission is extremely romantic and symbolic in the sense that it is extremely hopeful that aliens will be able to decipher it. Even for them to even have the correct anatomy and perceptions to operate the device. At this stage it is perhaps better to view the Golden Records as a Time Capsule rather than an attempt of contacting (the) other life. The director of the project Carl Sagan admits that also. But who knows how the future will pan out.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “The Mysterious Wow! Signal: Aliens? A Comet? Or Just a Glitch?“.

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Artistic impression of Aurora Space Station interior, a concept design of the world’s first luxury space hotel by Orion Span. (© Orion Span)

More than 100 years ago, Russian scientist Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky helped the erstwhile USSR’s space programme. Thus, deaf Tsiolkovsky is a pioneer in rocket science.

After years of rejection, Tsiolkovsky became an inspiration to later Soviet scientists in the areas of space travel and space colonization.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the idea of space travel was unthinkable except in scientific papers. To make space travel possible, the Soviets developed a spacecraft that flew around the Earth in outer space sometime in 1957. The first living creature to orbit the Earth was Laika, a 2-year-old terrier mutt. The terrier mutt flew into Earth’s orbit and paved the way for modern space exploration.

Commercial activities

In 1961, a 27-year-old Soviet cosmonaut named Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first human to travel in space aboard spacecraft Vostok 1. Since then humans set their foot on the Moon, sent spacecraft to planets like Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto and even landed a rover on Mars.

Till recently, all orbital spacecraft with human passengers have been developed as governmental ventures. But in the past few years, private participation has seen significant growth. Corporate entities like Virgin Galactic, SpaceX and Blue Origin have taken quick strides in spacecraft development for commercial activities.

With the result, taking a trip to outer space is no longer the matter of science fiction for humans. However, space travel or space tourism continues to be an expensive affair. But, soon it could become a viable scientific and holiday destination thanks to organizations promoted by Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

These and other companies are today offering to take space tourists for astronomical fares. And, there is no need for such tourists to be savvy with scientific knowledge. They, however, need to undergo fitness tests under and get trained under the guidance of NASA officials before the lift-off.

What is space tourism?

The term refers to travelling into space by humans for leisure or recreational purposes. As of now, there are three types of space tourism, i.e. lunar space tourism, orbital and suborbital tourism.

Lunar space tourism

Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX is planning to send two space tourists around the Moon in its reusable Big Falcon Rocket (Starship). The space travel, known as a Moon Loop, is expected to take place sometime in 2023.

While identifying the passenger on this trip, Elon Musk said Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa is the lucky tourist on the Moon mission. It may be recalled that the last human Moon mission was in 1972 – the Apollo mission.

Orbital space tourism

Till today, the Russian Space Agency is the only organisation to offer orbital space tourism. In all, seven private persons paid their way to take part in orbital space tourism to date. This kind of tourism became possible in 2001 when the Russian company called MirCorp entered into a pact with a US firm named Space Adventures Ltd.

In April 2001, American businessman Dennis Tito flew into space to become the world’s first orbital space tourist. He paid $20 million to the Space Adventures for the flight and a 7-day stay on the International Space Station (ISS).

Dennis Tito (left), Talgat Musabayev (middle), and Yuri Baturin (right), the crew of Soyuz TM-32. (NASA)

Speaking after Dennis’ space journey, President of Space Adventures Tom Shelley said six others spent time on ISS. They included South African computer millionaire Mark Shuttleworth, American businessman Gregory Olsen, and Iranian-born American entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari.

The remaining orbital space tourists were American billionaire Charles Simonyi and American video game developer Richard Garriott. This tourism programme was, however, cancelled in 2010.

Suborbital space tourism

Spacecraft under this category fly up to an altitude of 100–160 km. At that height, passengers experience weightlessness for 3 to 6 minutes and they can get a view of the star field and that of the Earth’s curve.

Till the beginning of 2019, not one suborbital space tourism flight took off in spite of being affordable. The flight cost is projected in the range of $200,000 per passenger. Meanwhile, Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft known as ‘SpaceShipTwo’ is likely to achieve supersonic speed and take its first passengers on suborbital space tourism.

‘SpaceShipTwo’ is expected to be launched from an altitude of 50,000 feet. It is, then, likely to get a forward thrust from a jet aircraft known as WhiteKnightTwo. SpaceShipTwo is scheduled to carry six tourists and to two pilots on the trip. When? Branson is yet to decide the date. It is, however, confirmed is that Branson will be aboard the flight.

SpaceShipTwo. (Virgin Galactic / Mark Greenberg)

Zero gravity

In May 2018, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo achieved supersonic speed in its second test run. When humans travel at such speeds, a lot of pressure will be exerted on their bodies. Interestingly though, when humans enter the zero gravity zone there is absolutely no pressure on their bodies making them weightless.

Also in the zero-gravity zones, there is a danger for humans to lose their bone density. Their bones could become brittle and there are chances of their bones breaking when they return to Earth.

Health risks

Similarly, human muscles and heart don’t work as required in zero gravity conditions. They, therefore, turn weak. To counter these and other health issues, NASA prepares the tourist recruits with hard workouts before, during, and after the space journey.

In spite of NASA’s training, experts believe that space tourists should be prepared to accumulate a high dose of radiation during the trip.

In addition to health risks, the tourists should be prepared for an inevitable accident in outer space. If the inevitable happens it will be extremely traumatic to the kith and kin of the tourists. Therefore, space tourism should be bracketed as a dangerous sport.

Space settlement

Al Globus writes in his article titled ‘Space Tourism Leads to Space Settlement’, space tourism could ensure low-cost and safe transportation for space settlements in future. Stating that space tourism could spur the market for cheaper space transport, Al Globus writes space tourism market will become larger than expected.

Futurists are already predicting settlements on Moon, Mars or asteroids. They hope that humans could have larger living spaces, improved resources and energy.

Futurists like Patrick Colins predicted that millions of tourists could fly into space very soon if the travel cost drops to $10,000 per person. Within 25 years from today, they feel orbital tourism will be much cheaper.

Reusable space vehicles

For this to happen, private companies need to manufacture passenger launch vehicles at drop-down prices.

According to Vice-president at Spaceport America Bill Gutman, reusable space vehicles are the key to the future of space tourism. Such vehicles will surely cut down overall manufacturing costs and slash travelling costs.

Cost of space tourism

With space vehicle manufacturing and travelling costs down, the focus of newer entrants will be on positioning space hotels in Earth’s orbit. Russia’s Orbital Technologies has already prepared a blueprint for building a space hotel that can accommodate seven guests. They are also preparing a blueprint for Lunar Colonies with a focus on leisure.

If California-based start-up Orion Span’s plans come true then the company is proposing to position its luxury space hotel in Earth’s orbit by 2021. The affordable orbital leisure destination named “Aurora Station” could begin to accommodate guests by 2022.

Orion Span’s Frank Bunger reveals that it could cost a guest at least $9.5 million for a 12-day stay on Aurora Station. Bunger disclosed that the space hotel, which is being built in the Bay Area, can accommodate two crew members and four guests. Bunger says that if demand grows, additional modules called space condos can be attached to the space hotel.

But with costs still astronomical, what could be the future of space tourism? It could be similar to the history of the airline industry. Initially, only wealthy people, politicians and government officials could afford to fly. With ticket costs crashing and potential passengers growing, the airline industry’s business prospects soared.

Therefore, recognising the imminent potential in space tourism, the government and private sectors should solve the problem of astronomical manufacturing costs and boost space travel.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Space Advertising: The Race to Advertise in Outer Space“.

Reserve Now:
Orion Span

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Wallace Line. (Altaileopard / Wikimedia Commons)

The Wallace Line is an invisible and imaginary line that stretches across the Indonesian islands to demarcate the evolutionary differences of the fauna in that region. It gives us an interesting insight on the biogeographical history of the area.

Alfred Russel Wallace. (London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company)

Alfred Russel Wallace, a 19th-century British naturalist, travelled throughout the Malay Archipelago from 1854 to 1862 in order to study the natural history of that area. While exploring the Indonesian islands, he discovered that the fauna on some of the islands was different from that found to the east of those islands. In fact, the islands such as Sumatra, Borneo, Java, and Bali had animal life that was similar to other parts of Asia. They had tigers, rhinoceroses, tarsiers, and tapirs. On the other hand, the Lombok, Sulawesi, and Timor islands had marsupials, monotremes, tree kangaroos, and racquet-tailed kingfishers that were similar to the animal life in Australia.

The Wallace Line

In 1859, Wallace drew a hypothetical line to demarcate this difference in the fauna. This line started from the Indian Ocean and passed through the Lombok Strait between the islands of Bali and Lombok. It then turned northwards through the Makassar Strait between the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi, passed to the south of the island of Mindanao, and ended in the Philippine sea.

Later, the English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley named this imaginary line the Wallace Line.

The Indonesian islands to the east of the line are referred to as belonging to the biogeographical realm of Wallacea. They are separated from Australia and New Guinea by another imaginary line called Lydekker’s Line, which was delineated by the naturalist Richard Lydekker in 1885. Between these two lines is another line called the Weber Line along which both Asian and Australian fauna and their hybrid species are equally present.

Explanation – The Wallacea biogeographical realm

Starting in the 19th century, European naturalists developed the field of biogeography which is the study of how fauna came to be distributed around the earth over time. Using the presence of fauna as the main indicator, the naturalists divided the earth’s surface into biogeographical realms. Furthermore, they subdivided these realms into ecoregions containing different biomes and habitats. In each realm, the fauna more or less evolved in isolation, completely separated from the fauna of the other realms by natural barriers that prevented them from migrating. The largest natural barriers are the oceans, followed by deserts and mountain ranges. Islands, being isolated, are an easier and more convenient ecosystem for studying biogeography.

Biogeographers use the continental drift theory to explain the distribution of fauna. Until 140 to 175 million years ago, the continents of Asia and Australia were connected. During this period, the indigenous animals could move all across the huge landmass and reproduce. Then the continents started to drift apart, the ocean levels rose up, and the islands of the Malay Archipelago were formed on the continental shelves between the Asian and Australian continents.

A continental shelf is a part of a continent which has sunk under water.

The Sunda Shelf connects Asia with Borneo, Bali, Java, and Sumatra. Australia and New Guinea are connected by the Sahul Shelf to these islands. So, the ocean separated the land masses and this led to the evolution of different animal species on the two continents and on the islands between them over a period of some 50 million years.

During the last ice age, between 70,000 to 40,000 years ago, the ocean levels fell dramatically and opened up land bridges between Asia and the islands and between some of the islands and Australia. At this time, various fauna crossed these land bridges to the islands and roamed across them. However, the ice age soon ended, and the ocean levels rose up to 25 to 125 meters, effectively closing off the land bridges between the islands and the continents. The fauna were thus isolated on the islands that they happened to be on at that time, and, thereafter, they evolved in unique ways by adapting to the environment on these islands. Eventually, they became distinguishably different. These islands form the Wallacea biogeographical realm, and a very large number of endemic species of fauna now live on them.

Wallace’s great discovery

Over 500 islands lie to the east of Bali across the Lombak Strait and these are known to the Indonesians as Nusa Tengagara. From the northern islands of Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, and Alor, these islands stretch over 1,300 km to the southern islands of Sumba, Savu, Roti, and Timor.

While studying and collecting birds in the area, Wallace noticed that the birds on some of the islands that were close to each other were very different and that the birds on some of the islands that were far from each other were of the same species. This was particularly noticeable on the island of Bali, which had 50 percent different birds from those on the island of Lombok, despite the fact that they were separated by a distance of just 25 km of water. But 97 percent of birds on Bali were present on Java. Also, 75 percent of the birds on Lombok are Asian species, while 14 percent of the birds on Bali are from Australia. Wallace was perplexed by this discovery. What was it that had made the birds that were capable of migrating to and from the islands remained on their respective islands, and why had they evolved in such distinctly different ways over the centuries?

The explanation for this goes back to the ice age when there was a land bridge between Java and Bali, whereas, in the same period, there was a water channel between Bali and Lombok. Some of the birds, being good flyers, crossed the water channel to Lombok and flew further to settle on the eastern islands. Similarly, birds flew from Sumbawa across the Sape Strait to Komodo and from Alor across the Ombai Strait to Timor.

After the ice age ended, when the water channels between the islands deepened and widened, these isolated birds became distinct from those that had remained on Java.

Of the 564 bird species in Nusa Tenggara, 144 are endemic. On the other hand, the island of Sulawesi’s endemic population includes 62 percent of mammals and reptiles, 27 percent of birds, and 76 percent of amphibians. Possums, and marsupials, which are related to kangaroos, crossed the land bridges from Australia to Sulawesi during the ice age. However, these animals could not cross the Makassar Strait to reach Borneo from Sulawesi.

Although there are differences in flora as well along the Wallace Line, they are not as distinctive as the fauna.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Kármán Line: The Hypothetical Line That Delineates the Earth’s Atmosphere from Outer Space“.

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NASA astronaut Dale A. Gardner jokingly holding a “For Sale” sign for the satellites behind him. (NASA)

Outer space begins from just over 80 km above the earth’s surface. For advertisers, it is the final frontier for capturing and holding consumer attention. People around the world have grown accustomed to and jaded about seeing or hearing advertisements in all the usual places – television, radio, movies, roadside banners, billboards, magazines, books, and so on. They may even ignore these advertisements with repeated viewing.

Advertisers hope that it won’t be the same case if they start advertising in outer space. Although, if you really think about it and consider human nature, there is no reason why the outcome should be any different. It is true that an advertisement spread out in outer space will have a wider reach. It may be seen by billions of potential consumers, no matter where they are located on the planet, no matter if they have digital or electronic devices or not.

Advertising attempts in outer space

There were plans to put up lights on a formation of satellites in the low earth orbit to mimic a billboard, but these were shelved for various reasons. The illumination from the advertisements would have shone as brightly as the moon, obstructing astronomical observations. There would have been an on-going risk of collision with other satellites, spacecraft and also the risk of being hit by meteorites. Such collisions could lead to the adding problem of space debris.

There were objections from the public as the advertisements would have been too obtrusive to avoid, being always visible high above to the naked eye. Such advertisements would also be very expensive to create and launch and technologically difficult to change often.

In 1993, the United States-based company Space Marketing Inc. attempted a space billboard project that flopped. Since then, no other company has attempted what many people consider to be a ludicrous idea. Even so, the US government has banned all billboard advertisements in outer space that can be seen without the aid of telescopes and other devices. There are also several international organizations that are campaigning to put limits on obtrusive space advertising.

Some outlandish outer space advertising

The French Ring of Light project, meant to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower, would have competed with the moon for sheer brightness. The project was to have an inflatable ring with a circumference of 24 km and this ring would have had reflective Mylar balloons attached to it at various points. If the project had been carried out, the organizers would have launched the ring to a height of over 800 km. Fortunately, the project was abandoned and will not be ruining our view of the moon.

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola and Google proposed to use the moon itself as a billboard. They planned to use high-powered lasers to beam their logo onto to the moon’s surface. Technological and legal challenges ended those plans.

Then there was the Znamya project that many people considered to be an advertisement for the Russian space agency. The project launched satellites to direct sunlight to the Arctic area and these satellites also to lit up some areas of Europe. The Znamaya 2.5 project, which could have lighted up areas in the US, was abandoned after it failed to launch.

Outer space advertising successes

Advertising by product placement and publicity stunts have seen some success in the outer space advertising arena.

In 2000, Pizza Hut bought advertising space on the unmanned Proton rocket that Russia launched to carry the Zvezda module to the International Space Station. The new 30-foot Pizza Hut logo was painted on the side of the rocket and got the company noticed by a lot of people around the world. The next year, Pizza Hut delivered a 6-inch salami pizza in a vacuum-sealed container to the International Space Station. The first pizza to be eaten in space had to undergo several rounds of testing to meet space food standards. The free press coverage of the event and the details of all the planning and preparation for it was worth millions of advertising dollars to Pizza Hut. Plans to develop an outer space food delivery service are, however, nowhere in sight. 

Other famous publicity stunts involved Kodak having their logo and a slogan painted on the durability testing material on the outside of the International Space Station and Pepsi having a cosmonaut float a replica of their soda can outside the Russian Mir space station. The cost of these stunts varied from half a million dollars to over five million dollars.

The Japanese reporter, Toyohiro Akiyama, was the first journalist to go on a spaceflight in 1990. The Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) paid around $10 million to the Russian space agency to send him on the Soyuz TM-11 expedition to the Mir Space Station. TBS also had their logo painted on the Soyuz rocket. Aware that TBS would receive enormous publicity from this, other companies like Sony, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, and Unicharm also availed of the opportunity to place their logos on the launch shroud of the rocket.

Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster in space. (SpaceX)

In February 2018, Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster was selected as a dummy payload on the Falcon Heavy rocket when SpaceX launched it for a test flight. The rocket put the car into a heliocentric orbit. The onboard camera provided a livestream of the event for over four hours and millions of people viewed it. It turned out to be a great marketing stunt for Tesla’s cars as well as publicity for SpaceX’s space exploration ventures.

Advertising related to outer space

The 1960s and 1970s saw brands like Pillsbury and Tang promoting their products as being used by astronauts in outer space.

In 2015, the South Korean carmaker, Hyundai, released an online video showing 11 Genesis cars making an image with their tire tracks on the Delamar dry lake bed in the Nevada desert. The image spanning 5.5 square kilometres was filmed by the company to be a message from a daughter to her father who saw it from the International Space Station. The millions of views that this emotional story got increased Hyundai’s brand value.

The Axe brand of Unilever SA, assisted by the astronaut Buzz Aldrin, held a contest in 2013 to give people a chance to book seats on commercial space flights organised by the Netherlands-based Space Expedition Corp.

Legality of advertising in outer space

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty states that activities planned in outer space, which includes the moon and other bodies in space, should not cause any harm or interfere in the peaceful exploration of outer space. There are no specific laws regarding using satellites or the moon or anything else in outer space for advertising purposes. Other than the US ban on obtrusive billboards, there are no national laws regulating advertising in the space industry. The advertising business has laws relating to how true the claims made by advertisers about their products are, but there are no laws about how true the stories used to sell the products can be. It may be possible for companies to use laws about unfair competitive advantage to prevent other companies from using outer space as an advertising medium.

Future of outer space advertising

Individuals and institutions, who participate in competitions for developing space vehicles such as Google Lunar X PRIZE, plan on getting the necessary funding from sponsorship deals with large international brands. Private space exploration companies, as well as national space programs with increasingly limited budgets, are also looking at ways to raise funds. The success of some of these publicity stunts may encourage them to get funding from consumer product companies willing to pay for delivering their own branded products into outer space.

Other companies can pay to have their logos placed on equipment used on spacecraft and satellites. Companies can also launch their own branded payloads into the International Space Station, film the launch and distribute the video online to get publicity for their experiments and research. This type of advertising is still very expensive, however, and is not likely to become ubiquitous anytime soon.

Advertisers are always on the lookout for unique and entertaining ways to market products and services, and no one can predict what forms of advertising could become possible in outer space.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Space Burial: Making Skies Our Cemetery“.

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Vantablack on an aluminium foil. (Surrey NanoSystems / Wikimedia Commons)

What is colour, one may ask? To put it in simpler words, colour is what the human eye perceives when a ray of light falls on an object and reflects from it into the surroundings. It is basically a certain wavelength of the ray of light that is absorbed and then emitted from the object that makes up a particular colour, which we see eventually. Black, for instance, is a colour that absorbs most of the light, which when cannot be reflected, makes us see the dark colour. But a few years ago, scientists in the United Kingdom created a substance that was so devoid of colour that it became the blackest material to be ever produced by man. Meet Vantablack, the blackest of the black.

What is Vantablack?

Early in the year 2007, several scientific players were in a bid to outdo each other in creating the blackest material man had ever known; but only Surrey NanoSystems succeeded in getting theirs trademarked first. Initially, the work on creating a super-black material began at the National Physical Laboratory in the UK. Surrey NanoSystems in association with NPL worked on ideas to create the blackest substance which could revolutionize many frontiers. And so from the lab-grown experimental substance, the already existing super-black coating underwent several improvisations and Surrey NanoSystems came up with the name for their new material. An acronym of ‘Vertically Aligned carbon NanoTubes Array’, VANTA was prefixed to the colour ‘black’ to get the name of the darkest material ever – Vantablack.

Vantablack was made under a modified vacuum procedure called chemical vapour deposition process and was artificially grown on a substrate, in this case, on an aluminium foil. Millions and millions of carbon nanotubes vertically aligned close together and arranged in an order on a foil, under very high temperatures gave Vantablack its physical properties. Carbon nanotubes are microscopic, rod-like cylindrical structures that are almost five thousand times thinner than a human hair. When these densely packed minute tubules make up a substance, they help in making any material even stronger. When Vantablack was finally created, scientists found out that the new substance could absorb 99.96 percent of the visible light, which made an object coated with Vantablack almost impossible to discern even against a lighter background. It was so black in the absence of light bouncing back off that it felt like looking into a deep pit of nothingness.

Physical properties of Vantablack

Quite ironic as one may call it, Vantablack, the blackest substance ever synthesized, was created using carbon nanotubes, which were made to withstand a temperature of around 450 degrees Celsius emitted from several lamps. Scientists are of the opinion that its colour is the closest match to a black hole humans can ever see. It has ultra low levels of reflectance, meaning its surface does not give out any incident light that falls on a substance coated with Vantablack. It not just absorbs all the light in the visible human spectrum but also other radiations of all wavelengths that the human eye cannot perceive – right from ultraviolet to infrared radiation. Any form of light that enters a material coated with Vantablack gets almost totally absorbed into it and does not find a way out to escape from the tightly packed forest of carbon nanotubes. This trapped light then dissipates and gets converted into heat.

The colour is also super-hydrophobic, which means it does not allow water to have an impact on it or its physical properties. An aluminium material, for example, when coated with Vantablack would float on the surface of the water rather than sink to the bottom, like it usually would. Vantablack is resistant to high thermal exposures and also highly resistant to extreme shocks and vibrations. Vantablack can absorb such high amounts of light, without reflecting it further, that three dimensional objects, when seen from a certain angle, can appear to be two-dimensional to the human eye. Due to its rare physical properties that not many materials possess, Vantablack has found a wide range of applications.

Uses of Vantablack

The lab-grown, super black material has so many potential benefits that its application can revolutionize avenues such as space exploration, defence technologies, architecture and even art to name a few. Originally designed for use onboard space satellites, Vantablack found many takers eventually. Recently, the colour made its space debut on board Kent Ridge 1, a low earth orbit microsatellite, which is a conjunction between German and Singaporean organizations. Vantablack helped the satellite in improving its star-tracker control system and also helped in reducing the interference of stray light in the imaging systems while on the mission.

Thermal camouflage in defence technologies could also be one of the options that can find Vantablack at the helm of things. Due to its heat dissipating quality, Vantablack can also be used in solar power technology. A lens coated with Vantablack can prevent lens flares in powerful telescopes, thus reducing stray light to enter into it, which will allow space researchers to see some of the faintest and most distant objects in the universe. Due to its low reflectance properties, it can be used in infrared sensors, cameras and other imaging and mapping devices. Also, since its conversion of energy is huge, it can be used to power up electronics and other scientific instruments.

While ocular uses of Vantablack stay on top of the list of its potential applications, artists and architects are making use of this super black material to create designs that provide optical illusions for a viewer. At the recently concluded Winter Olympics in South Korea, a British architect Asif Khan unveiled a building called The Hyundai Pavilion in Pyeongchang, which was designed by coatings of Vantablack, and it came to be termed as the darkest building on Earth. British artist Sir Anish Kapoor, who is the exclusive licensee of the spray paint version of Vantablack called Vantablack S-VIS, dabbles in black colour in his artworks – which are mostly hypnotic and disorienting – and he now plans to use the new non-reflective colour in his select works. As far as military uses of Vantablack go, the super black material could mask off aircraft and hide them in stealth mode and can also be used to block out military equipment during the time of warfare.

This blackest of a black substance, which is touted to be even more expensive than diamonds or gold has so many probable uses in countless fields that working with it, will have endless possibilities. While a lot of agencies dealing in products for all walks of life are trying desperately hard to lay their hands on Vantablack, it is only a matter of time, before we get to know how Vantablack starts bending reality in the days to come.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Eigengrau is the Dark Gray Colour That Most People See in the Absence of Light“.

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Znamya satellite. (QSI / MIR)

The Russian scientists planned to capture the sunlight on the space mirrors and deflect the same onto Earth during the night. The idea was to increase daylight hours in the Arctic regions of Russia and northern Europe. Also, the idea was to provide solar energy to people in these regions.

Znamya is the Russian word for a banner. It was a Russian satellite. The Space Regatta Consortium (SRC) had developed Znamya series under the Russian Space Mirror Project. A corporation named Energia was behind the SRC project.

The experiment with Znamya was not successful. That is why, SRC successfully deployed Znamya-2 on the night of February 4, in 1993. It carried a payload of space mirrors that had a 20m diameter. They were circular in form and had 5mm thickness. The space mirrors were made of aluminized PETF (Mylar) film that had an areal density of 22 g/2cm.

The mirrors were split into eight sections with gaps between them. The mirrors had an unfolding mechanism inside Progress M-15, a cargo space vehicle. Before deploying the space mirrors, Progress M-15 disengaged from MIR space station.

Znamya Satellite: Idea was to increase daylight hours

Znamya-2’s deployment of space mirrors was a success. True to its purpose, the space mirrors succeeded in deflecting the sunlight and lighted up the night sky for a brief moment. The redirected beam appeared brighter than the moon. The brightened area was 5 to 6 km wide.

Interestingly, the redirected beam passed across regions like the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, and Russia. How did the deflected sunlight appear to people on Earth? For some, it appeared like a bright star. For astronauts orbiting the Earth, it appeared like a pale light.

The experiment lasted a few days

The success of the Znamya-2 experiment can be looked from the feasibility of illuminating the earth during night time. However, the experiment lasted for a few days as the giant mirrors deorbited and went up in flames while re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere.

Following the partial success of Znamya-2 experiment, SRC conceived and developed Znamya-2.5. The idea was to deploy reflectors of 25m diameter. The design and materials used in Znamya-2.5 were similar to Znamya-2.

Znamya-2.5 had three chief goals

Znamya-2.5 had three chief goals: a) to validate improvements made in the film structure, b) to test the new light (Novy Svet) illumination capability, and c) to examine the stability of the film structure and the system.

SRC deployed Znamya-2.5 on February 4 of 1999. But, sadly, there was an error in the software and the mission operations due to which the whole reflector apparatus plunged into the ocean.

Ever since then neither Russia nor any other country experimented with solar mirrors. Had the Znamya experiment succeeded in all respects, the Russians planned to send dozens of space mirrors into Earth’s orbit.

Origins

The foundation for the Znamya experiment was laid in the 1980s, especially during the Cold War period. The Soviet Union military conceived of a new technology to wage space war against its enemies. At the same time, the Soviets desired to boost productivity in the cities and in farmland.  

Znamya’s lead engineer was the maverick Vladimir Syromyatnikov, who was behind the spacecraft that propelled Yuri Gagarin into space in 1961. Syromyatnikov had a brilliant space engineering mind.

It was Syromyatnikov’s passion for solar sails that led to the Znamya experiment. But, after the Znamya experiment’s partial failure Syromyatnikov returned to the drawing board to improve the docking mechanisms for Znamya 3. But with no fresh funding forthcoming, his plans remained on the drawing board.

The costs involved in the Znamya experiment were sky high. The hardware costs alone of Znamya 2 were in the region of $10 million. For the Znamya 3 experiment, Syromyatnikov wanted funds in the region of $100 million. He believed that the Znamya experiment would turn profitable in three years only.

While Russia’s Znamya experiment was on, there were worldwide protests from diverse communities like environmentalists, scientists, astronomers and humanitarian groups.

Controversies

Astronomers slammed the experiment saying it would hinder space observation from Earth. Environmentalists said the absence of nighttime could cause physiological disorders like sleep deprivation among humans and animals.

Syromyatnikov’s Znamya experiment was a path-breaking one. Today, it’s near impossible for us to visualise the vision behind the experiment. The vision was to have multiple space mirrors in Earth’s orbit to regulate nightlife in a sleepless world. 

Sadly, Vladimir Syromyatnikov, one of the greatest astronautical engineers in the world passed away in September 2006.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Lost Cosmonauts of USSR: Did the Soviet Union Cover up its Secret Cosmonaut Casualties?“.

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Photo of earth from International Space Station. (NASA / ISS043-E-86375)

The Kármán line is a hypothetical boundary located 100 km above sea level, designating the end of the earth’s atmosphere and the beginning of outer space. It is named after the Hungarian scientist Theodore von Kármán. He suggested its creation for the clear-cut separation of the fields of aeronautics and astronautics.

Theodore von Karman. (Theodore von Karman / Flickr)

Understanding the Earth’s atmosphere

The earth’s atmosphere is what we commonly call air, a dense mixture of gases whose physical properties affect everything moving within it. As you move up from the earth’s surface, the density of the air progressively decreases to eventually meld into the vacuum of outer space. There is no definite boundary where this happens. Experts estimate the distance to be between 100,000 km and 190,000 km above the earth’s surface. This area is the last layer of the atmosphere and is called the exosphere. The layer below this is called the thermosphere, which is between 500 km and 1,000 km above the earth’s surface. The mesosphere extends from a height of 50 km to 85 km; the air here is too thin to breathe. The stratosphere extends from 10 km to 50 km above the ground. The lowest layer with a height of about 10 km is called the troposphere. We live in this layer and the formation of clouds occurs here. Scientists defined the boundaries of these spheres at the points where there are discernible changes in the temperature of the air.

Satellites in the Earth’s atmosphere

Satellites orbit the earth at distances ranging from 160 km to 36,000 km above the earth’s surface. The International Space Station orbits at around 400 km. The Hubble Space Telescope orbits at 569 km. All these distances are within the earth’s atmosphere, but we talk about them orbiting in space as the atmospheric conditions at those distances have a negligible effect on their operation. So, the vehicles used to travel to the International Space Station and to repair satellites are called spacecraft and the people travelling in these vehicles are called astronauts. 

Hubble Space Telescope. (NASA Hubble Space Telescope / Flickr)

Airplanes flying in the Earth’s atmosphere

An aircraft moves relative to the air and that movement is what enables its wings to generate the lift necessary to keep it flying forward. Passenger jets usually fly in the lower part of the stratosphere as the airflows there are less turbulent than in the troposphere. If they fly higher up into the mesosphere, they have to increase their speed to generate the necessary wing lift in the thinning air. Above the mesosphere, there is not enough air to provide any lift to an aircraft’s wings and it is pulled downwards by gravity. To stay aloft, the aircraft would have to increase its speed to touch orbital speed and then would have to follow the earth’s curvature.

The Kármán line

So, the highest distance above the earth’s surface where there is enough air for an aircraft to get the wing lift to fly in a straight line is considered by some people to be the end of the atmosphere.

Theodore von Kármán calculated this distance to be around 83 km and suggested that the value be rounded up to 100 km to make it easier to remember. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the governing body for air sports, maintains separate records for air sports and space flights. It uses the Kármán line to differentiate between the two. However, not all countries and organizations are in unanimous agreement on the location of the Kármán line. Some countries consider the distance to be 50 km above the earth’s surface and other countries consider the distance to be 80 km. 

The importance of the Kármán Line

Just as a country’s territorial rights extends for about 22 km in the surrounding seas and oceans, beyond which distance oceans are considered international waters, a country’s territorial rights also extend upward into the atmosphere. Hence, it is necessary to have something like the Kármán line to delineate airspace governed by each country from outer space over which no country can claim sovereignty. All countries have rules and regulations for passenger aircraft flying in their airspace.

Private space exploration companies, who are developing passenger spacecrafts, would have to know the distance above which they can fly to avoid this jurisdictional area. Another issue is whether these passengers can call themselves astronauts. There are countries that are opposed to defining a boundary for military reasons, and there are some countries that want a definite boundary for the same reason. Fighter aircrafts and missiles, which can travel higher than passenger aircrafts, could fly through sovereign airspaces, provoking military aggression.

There are satellites in low elliptical orbits whose distance from earth varies, based on their position. The closest distance is called perigee, and, for some satellites, this distance is below 100 km. Are the satellites sometimes orbiting in space and sometimes in the atmosphere?

National space institutions as well as private research institutions launch satellites for various purposes. What are the laws that should be applied if there are any disputes over the use of satellites while passing through national airspace?

There are some international rules and regulations for operating in what is considered outer space, and, so far, there have been no problems because of the lack of a definite boundary where this outer space begins. But that does not preclude issues from arising in the future as there is an increase in space exploration and space utilization activities.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “The Wallace Line: The Invisible Line of Bio-Diversity in the Indian Ocean“.

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Space food presentation at Space Food Systems Laboratory in Johnson Space Center. (NASA)

Going out in space is one tough task that astronauts have to face. They are given rigorous training for months before their journey. They are meticulously prepared for a mission, man once only dreamt of. Although it may seem easy to us, but the moment a space explorer steps into the area of zero gravity, nothing is easy anymore.

Zero gravity not only hampers an astronaut’s psychological state but also disturbs their regular physiological functions. And to maintain a strict balance between both, it is necessary that the ones going in space make sure they eat the right kind of food. But did you know that those who travel in space pack special kind of foods with them, lest it becomes a major cause of concern for them and their space shuttle?

The need for space food

Long before freeze-dried and processed foods packed in small tubes were carried on space flights, scientists did not know that a procedure as simple as eating would cause trouble to astronauts. It was only when Russian cosmonaut Gherman Stepanovich Titov experienced space sickness for the first time and vomited his entire stomach’s contents, did researchers realize that food was one of the major factors that needed careful planning before men and women were sent out. A celebrated figure across the globe today, Titov travelled in space on August 6, 1961 following in the footsteps of his fellow countryman Yuri Gagarin. It was this ‘rare event’ that he experienced on Vostok II that brought on the need for special space food for astronauts.

A regular helping of routine food, which resulted in upset tummies, was completely done away with to avoid astronauts falling sick in space in the future. Bite-sized, dehydrated foods that were not just nutritious but also tasty, light-weight, able to be refrigerated and eaten as and when required, specially packaged space foods became the norm. This heralded a new era of supplying meals to astronauts that neither meddled with human physiology in space nor did it affect the astronaut’s psychological condition, deviating him/her from the task at hand.

First food in space

Learning from previous experience, John Glenn, an American astronaut, onboard Friendship 7 in 1962, was issued foods in compact tubes, from which he could easily eat while in a state of zero gravity. He became the first American to eat food in space on board a space shuttle. A combination of applesauce with sugar tablets in water was considered the first space food that Glenn carried with him.

Scientists found out that astronauts could easily ingest, swallow and even digest food while experiencing total weightlessness and so special meals that did not hamper with the natural process of eating began to be issued to astronauts from then on. Some packaged meals issued to Glenn also contained pureed meat and vegetables, which he could directly ingest from a tube, without spilling it around or letting it float away in a gravity-less environment.

Preparing food for space

Before packed meals are sent on board a space vehicle, it is carefully prepared by specially trained chefs, who know what it takes to transport food out of the Earth’s orbit. There are a variety of procedures that are undertaken before packaging and sending food in space. It is either freeze-dried, irradiated or thermo-stabilized, along with a host of other processes that make meals edible in space.

In the freeze-drying procedure, the food is first cooked and then quickly frozen in very low temperatures before putting it inside a vacuum chamber, where the water from it is dried off. This process does not compromise on the taste or the quality of the food. Some foods are also preserved before they are freeze-dried. Irradiated foods are packed in foil pouches before being exposed to gamma radiation to kill off the bacteria dwelling inside them. Irradiated foods do not pose a threat to human life. Thermo-stabilizing foods mean completely destroying the germs and microorganisms from certain food items so that they can be stored for a longer period of time before eating. Fish and most fruits undergo thermo-stabilization before being packed for space delivery.

Nuts and cookies are carried as they are, only that they are coated with gelatin so they don’t end up in crumbs that could float inside the pod. Some dried fruits like apricots, peaches, plums and pears are stripped of some of their moisture and issued to astronauts to be carried outside the Earth’s atmosphere.

Long before gourmet meals, just the way we eat on Earth were sent out in space for astronauts’ consumption, less appetizing and almost flavorless meals were issued to them. Packed in tubes, which had to be squeezed out like toothpaste, along with powdered granules of fruit juices or beverages were supplied to them. Astronauts then had to directly add hot water to the powder to rehydrate them before they could enjoy a hot cup of coffee or add cold water to have a sip of their favourite orange juice.

Russian space food. (Wikimedia Commons)

Ramen with an inlet to add hot water before consumption. (Tnk3a / Wikimedia Commons)

Before sophisticated methods like refrigerating and thermo-stabilizing were introduced onboard a spaceship, which are hassle-free methods of food preparation, freeze-drying was one of the most trusted ways of preparing food in space. Astronauts made use of hot or cold water guns, which injected water directly into the zip-locked pouches of food or plastic packets to rehydrate them so as to be eaten. Some space suits also had in-suit drinking devices, which were to be used in case of emergencies. These in-suit devices provided liquid foods in special ports, which were fitted in their helmets so that when things went wrong in their shuttle, they could live in space for a while with food stored in their suits.

Introduction of luxury space food

After John Glenn had the good fortune of eating pureed meat and vegetables, space food saw many alterations to suit the human physiology. More and more sophisticated, comfort foods were introduced, which were not only palatable but healthy as well. Squeeze tubes were discarded and thermo-stabilized pouches or wetpacks came into the picture. These packs made out of flexible aluminium foil or sterilized plastic kept food moist for a longer period of time and didn’t need rehydrating before consumption. These wetpacks allowed astronauts to enjoy bites of turkey, bacon and shrimp, helpings of chicken soup, tuna salad and even have cornflakes or beef sandwiches for breakfast, along with chocolate and butterscotch pudding for dessert.

Food trays provided in space shuttle have straps to help secure them on walls or platforms before using them. (RadioFan / Wikimedia Commons)

The Apollo crew was the first to be provided with utensils, including a spoon bowl, which was a plastic container with dehydrated food already packed inside. Hot water needed to be injected into the bowl to rehydrate the meal, which the astronauts could eat with a spoon. The wetness of the food allowed it (to) stick easily to the spoon and not float away in the shuttle. Luxury foods like chocolate brownies, rice cereals, scrambled eggs, macaroni and cheese, stews, along with apple ciders began getting more preference. Later during the 70’s the crew on board the Skylab mission was even provided with tables to sit down on and enjoy their meals together.

Food grown in space

Growing food grains or crops in space is not an easy task since the atmosphere is very different from what it is on Earth. Space is not a conducive environment to grow plants for consumption, yet a group of astronauts cultivated their own vegetables and ate them too. The astronauts of the Expedition 44 mission on board the International Space Station were successful in harvesting food in microgravity, which included some leafy vegetables.

The first space-grown vegetable was the red variety of lettuce, which the crew members cleaned with citric-based sanitized wipes before consuming it. Produced under the Veggie plant growth system, astronauts harvested half of the red and green lettuces, along with mustard, which they ate as salads. These crops were collected by a technique called cut-and-come-again harvesting, which allows the crew to reap more of the same plant after it grows again.

Photo of the first Zinnia flower in space. (NASA / Wikimedia Commons)

On the ISS, a special unit is dedicated entirely for growing plants, where in the near future, astronauts would be able to grow food for consumption as well as pursue gardening activities for recreational purposes. These space plants grow under red, blue, white and green LED lights in a fully-enclosed, environmentally-controlled chamber. This secure chamber allows the crops to grow in an almost natural surrounding with the correct amount of oxygen, moisture and right kind of temperature. If the Veggie system goes as planned, NASA hopes to broaden the spectrum, by adding a variety of foods that can be grown in space. Work on wheat, cabbage and a few fruits is already underway, as space travellers get to eat their test crops.

Plants growing in Veggie unit on ISS. (NASA / Wikimedia Commons)

When an astronaut smuggled food in space

Astronauts posing with a hamburger and tomato in space. (NASA)

Although the meals provided to the space travelers have come a long way, with many improvements made in the last five decades, there was one astronaut, who would have caused a major catastrophe for being disobedient. NASA’s second human spaceflight named the Gemini Project was underway in 1962 and John Young, an aeronautical engineer and test pilot, who later went on to become the Commander of Apollo 16 mission and also the ninth person to walk on the surface of the moon, smuggled a corned beef sandwich in space.

During his four-hour-long journey, he along with his colleague Gus Grissom were provided foods in plastic bags to consume. Not happy with the quality and taste of the freeze-dried space food, Young hid a sandwich in his spacesuit from a restaurant, which he later pulled out in space to eat only to realize what a huge mistake he had made. The crumbs of bread began floating in the space shuttle and there was a risk of those getting wedged between vents or parts of the equipment that kept the spaceship up and running. Grissom and Young could have died due to a major disaster or ended up being fatally wounded. Though both the crew members remained unharmed, he was reprimanded for his careless actions.

Young passed away at the age of 87 in January 2018, but his historic stunt is still etched in the minds of people. A replica of his corned beef sandwich remains preserved in the resin at the Grissom Memorial Museum in memory of the sandwich scandal in space.

A lot has already been done in the field of aeronautics and a lot more has to be accomplished; but the procedure of sending food in outer space remains the same with possibly a few changes being made in the quality, quantity and variety of foods that astronauts can enjoy in the confines of their space shuttle, thousands of miles away from their planet.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “A Glimpse into the Exciting World of Space Tourism“.

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An illustration of space debris. (David.Shikomba / Wikimedia Commons)

Space debris is debris that occurs 250 to 36,000 km above the Earth’s surface and which orbits around the Earth. It is also known as space trash, space or orbital debris, space junk, or space litter. There are two types of space garbage: natural and artificial. Natural space garbage is the dust and fragments left by meteorites, asteroids, and comets. Artificial space garbage is pieces of man-made objects. Usually, when we talk about space garbage, it is in reference to artificial garbage. There is apparently 7,500-ton of it in space.

Garbage in space

Most of the space garbage floating in space consists of non-functional satellites, sent rocket stages, fragments from the disintegration and collisions of satellites and rockets, and other mission-related debris. Since 1957, many countries have launched more than 8,000 satellites, and, of these, only about 1,900 are still operational.

The satellite management ground control can slow some of the discarded satellites in lower orbits. After slowing, these satellites fall out of orbit into the earth’s atmosphere and burn up. Some satellites may remain in orbit for decades while others may disintegrate into fragments after exploding due to leakage of the remaining fuel. Another cause of satellite breakage is the collision of the satellite with other satellites and with rockets. Meteorite strikes can also destroy satellites.

1998: Photo of a thermal blanket in orbit taken during Space Shuttle mission STS-88. (NASA / STS088-724-66)

The extreme ultraviolet radiation and the impact of microparticles in space erode the surfaces of space objects, creating minuscule fragments of debris. There is debris such as metal particles from solid rocket-motor firings, droplets of reactor coolant liquid from ejected reactor cores from decommissioned satellites, and thin copper wires from radio communication experiments and anti-satellite weapon testing. Space debris also consists of tools and stuff that astronauts lost while doing repair work on the International Space Station.

The space debris varies in size from micrometre-sized particles to fragments weighing tons. Various government agencies have space surveillance programs that track over 22,000 objects of varying sizes from 5 centimetres in diameter in low Earth orbit to about 1 meter in geosynchronous orbit. However, there are too many, possibly millions of pieces, and it is not feasible to track all of these.

Travelling at high speeds of over 17,000 miles per hour, even small pieces of debris can be catastrophic to satellites, spacecraft and space station.

Space garbage and space collisions

To avoid colliding with the debris floating about in space, most satellites and space shuttles must carry out collision avoidance manoeuvres. These are expensive both in terms of fuel usage and time requirement, and constant manoeuvring reduces the lifetime of the spacecraft. Also, the spacecraft can manoeuvre and avoid only the debris that is being tracked. It is not possible to track and avoid the rest of the space debris, given that it exists in such large amounts. The viable option is to avoid mid-sized to large debris that can potentially damage and destroy the spacecraft.

Since many countries are launching satellites and space vehicles at a rapid rate, the chances of space collisions are increasing. The debris created by these collisions will cause further collisions. If this continues, the Earth’s orbit may become littered with fragments and as a result may very soon become impassable. To prevent such a scenario, it is essential that countries with space programs create international regulations aimed at limiting space debris.

At present, various government space centres, universities, aerospace companies, and other groups are carrying out research to find workable ways of handling the space debris problem. They compile detailed data on the size, shape, and location of the debris. In addition, they gather information on reducing the creation of more debris and on removing as much of the existing debris as is possible.

Using Whipple shields to protect spacecraft from colliding particles

To protect spacecraft from the unavoidable bombardment of small high-velocity particles, the outer surfaces of spacecraft are covered with meteor bumpers called Whipple shields. These shields are made of aluminium, woven ceramic fibres, or multi-layer flexible fabric. When the striking particles collide with the spacecraft, the Whipple shields vaporize the particles into plasma. While the plasma may quickly spread over the spacecraft surface, it is too diffused to cause any real harm to the spacecraft.

Preventing fuel explosions in space

It is possible to prevent the random explosions from discarded upper stage rockets by slowly depleting the unused fuel. The prevention of these explosions reduces the creation of more fragments. However, all rockets do not have the fuel depletion technology built-in.

Reducing the creation of space debris

A space debris removal technique under consideration by the UK-based Surrey Satellite Technology and Airbus is deploying a satellite with nets or harpoons to catch the debris. The deployed satellite, known as RemoveDEBRIS, will drag the snagged debris low enough so that it can burn up harmlessly in the earth’s atmosphere. The European Commission and 10 countries are jointly funding this program for an estimated cost of $18.5 million. If the program works, the next step is launching the $400 million e.deborbit mission in 2024 to get rid of the Envisat spacecraft.

Artistic impression of RemoveDEBRIS in action. (ESA / 290476)

Researchers are in the process of developing a technique which will allow a spacecraft to collect debris into its flexible plastic body and then ferry the collected debris back to earth.

With these techniques, it will be possible to eliminate the large sized debris in low-Earth orbit. Removing the smaller bits in entirety, however, is likely to be technologically very challenging and, perhaps, even impossible.

A RemoveDEBRIS satellite by NanoRacks after being deployed. (NASA Image: ISS056E025423)

The biggest challenge in eliminating space garbage, however, is not so much technological as political. All the countries that currently have space programs would have to cooperate to provide enough funds for the space garbage disposal technology and the debris removal program. They would also have to work jointly to organize, implement, and administer the debris removal program. In addition to government programs, there are now increasing numbers of privately-owned space exploration companies. These can be incentivized to contribute to the space debris removal programs.

It will not be possible to eliminate the space garbage problem entirely, but mitigating it to a large extent could be done. Removing a large amount of hazardous waste would make it safer to launch and maintain satellites and would also make space travel safer than it is at present.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Truth Behind The Black Knight Satellite Conspiracy Theory“.

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Oscar (Astronotus ocellatus), in a sleep-like state. (Jón Helgi Jónsson / Wikimedia Commons)

Certainly not one of life’s most pondered questions but never-the-less an important subject is whether fish, sleep or dream. After all, this is an animal who has been surviving since not long (relatively) after the Cambrian Explosion – 510 million years ago – and who with some, we share 70% of genes with (Zebrafish). Ergo, understanding the way in which fish sleep could possibly unlock sleeping disorders in humans.

What is sleep?

In mammals, sleep is defined as electrical activity within the neocortex of the brain as well as the closure of eyelids. This is more difficult to attribute to fish because they have neither. It has always been perceived that because many fishes constantly keep moving (many mainly to keep water passing through their gills for respiratory functions) or that some are blind that they never sleep. It is fair to say that it has never been as much studied as today yet the study into sleep is still in its infancy, and much of it still remains unknown.

The criteria for sleep in fish have understandably been extended,

(1) Prolonged inactivity,

(2) Typical resting posture, often in a typical shelter,

(3) Alternation with activity in a 24-h cycle,

(4) High arousal thresholds. (AKA difficult to wake)

Traditional sleep patterns

Many species, like the before mentioned Zebrafish completes a regular sleep cycle (human-like) in the sense that they are unresponsive when the sun goes down – diurnal. If they are sleep deprived they will react in the same way as humans in the sense that they will not be able to function efficiently and will catch up with sleep in the future.

“When we humans don’t have enough sleep, it starts to impact our ability to function properly, a similar thing has been observed in fish. In a 2007 study, a group of zebrafish were sleep deprived during their normal 6 hour period of rest, the next day the zebrafish were much harder to arouse and their mouth and gill movements were reduced. The study also showed that they have slower breathing cycles in sleep, take naps and are governed by melatonin – very similarly to us as humans.”

Others such as the Brown Bullhead will lie in a seemingly relaxed position, with its fins stretched out and the body at an angle. This will include less respiratory functions and sensitivity. Requiem sharks, for example, can be handled by a human without a response when asleep. There are many reports of fish finding shelters in various conditions, an evolutionary trait in order to not be disturbed.

Less than traditional sleep patterns

Many species, including sharks, show no obvious signs of sleep such as swimming continuously and therefore have been assumed to never sleep. This is suggested to be a wrong assumption now after research showing that some fish have a sleep function which causes the brain to repeat processes from memory. This is common in pelagic fish who swim for days, even months without anything happening in their surroundings. In the kilometers they travel they can essentially shut down most of their sensors, surviving and travelling on memory cells. This is a form of sleep swimming as they do not response to stimuli or predators in cases.

Sleep in fish is extremely different to humans but this does not mean it is not sleeping. At times they are conserving energy which must be linked to a sleep-like activity. Not all sleep like us, and some use extremely dissimilar techniques.

“The Parrot fish has a very interesting sleeping ability. It secretes mucus which surrounds its body providing it with a cocoon-type outer layer. This protects them from predators while they are resting.”

It has been observed that schools of fish will form a testudo in the sense that sleeping fish will travel in the middle while those at the edges will be the eyes and ears of the shoal, so to speak.

Other dozing water-dwellers

Outside of fish, there are other types of animals that have to rest in water. Whale and Dolphins are actually mammals (give birth to live young, produce milk and breath air) so their sleep function differs from the fish we have looked at previously. They will show more traditional (human for the purposes of this article) ways of sleeping such as resting in the water and taking less respiratory breaths. Dolphins will also use the tactics that many species of fish use. This includes the memory function, swimming slowly, usually next to another animal (this is more like napping). Additionally, dolphins will inhibit a method called ‘logging’ in which they sleep by floating on the surface of the water. Yet species such as the bottlenose will remain alert when using these practices. It will only close half of its brain and one eye. It has to, because every few hours a dolphin needs to surface to take a breath of air. They will do vice-versa with the other side once rested. Seals also exhibit this behaviour which many scientists would say is not sleeping in the true sense because parts of the brain are still active.

An amazing method in these two species is called Echelon Swimming where the young will sleep while their mother swims. The young do not need to move themselves because they are deliberately caught in their dependent’s slipstream. Mothers of whales have to continuously swim for the first few weeks of a newborns life, to keep them from sinking as at this stage they do not have enough blubber or fat to float.

A humpback whale with her calf. (Pxhere)

Dreamers?

While REM (Rapid Eye Movement) – the stage of sleep when dreams are reported in humans and other animals – have not been recorded in dolphins, they have briefly in whales.

“…a pilot whale was noted as having six minutes of REM in a single night.”

It is common knowledge that mammals such as dogs and cats dream, so the idea of a dolphin and whale dreaming is definitely not a far-out concept. It is a surreal thought, thinking of what a dolphin must dream about.

 The conclusion

It is unconceivable to many of us that fish sleep because their restless states differ so much from the conventional methods that we humans use, yet it is completely apparent that they do. In fact, out of the predicted eight million species of animals, in the whole of the animal kingdom, it is only the Bullfrog that is thought to never sleep, but even they exhibit signs of resting.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Animal Suicide: Do Animals, Like Humans Resort to Ending their Own Lives?“.

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Skylab space station. (NASA)

Wernher von Braun. (NASA)

If well-begun means half done, shoddy beginning implies poor result. And that’s what happened with Skylab, America’s first and last space station. The idea of a midway stopover in space missions to the moon and other celestial bodies came from the German-American Scientist Wernher von Braun in the 1950s. The idea found expression in a hugely popular Hollywood movie ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, released in 1968. The cold war to dominate earth’s outer space, unfortunately, compelled President John F. Kennedy for straight-to-moon- mission rather than work on a protracted project of the space station. Hence the trust in Apollo program. Yet Skylab remained on the back burner, to be picked up in the future. It indeed was picked up, but only to be closed down for good.

The concept was cornered by cold war considerations

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), to begin with, deliberated that space station should be created in space itself. The empty fuel tank of the old and spent space craft floating in space could be converted into a fully staffed and equipped research lab.

The idea was given up to give priority to military reconnaissance over space research. With man landing on the moon in 1969, budgetary constraints propped up. The incumbent President Richard M. Nixon curtailed NASA’s space program. Only one space station, the Skylab, was given a go-ahead signal.

A multitasking behemoth

Skylab, a prefabricated laboratory, weighing 170,000 pounds (heaviest spacecraft till date) consisted of 4 major parts: 1. The Orbital Workshop (OSW), 2. The Airlock Module (AM), 3. The Multiple Docking Adapter (MDA) and 4. The Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM). OWS was the main living compartment of the crew. It was supplied with 12.4 kW of electrical power by 2 large solar plates attached to it. AM helped cosmonauts walk in space. MDA carried docking port for the Apollo spacecraft and experiment package of earth resources. ATM carried Telescopes and solar plates for supplementary power.

Diagram of Skylab and its components. (NASA)

Inside Skylab Orbital Workshop. (NASA)

Running into trouble soon after takeoff

Skylab was put into space by the launch vehicle, Saturn V on May 14th, 1973. Just 63 seconds into the air post blast off, the first problem cropped up. Micrometeoroid shield, the protective cover and the thermal insulation of Skylab, came off. One of the two solar panels too broke loose. Nevertheless, the Skylab was ferried to space and put into orbit within 10 minutes of the takeoff.

Herculean efforts were made to repair the damage

As programmed by the mission control, solar plates/assemblies and ATM were set in order. However, in OWS, these assemblies were unkempt and could generate only 25 watts of power. Thermal protection already crippled with the ripping of micrometeoroids, temperature inside the lab rose alarmingly. Shorn of required electric power and temperature-control, Skylab was heading for disaster. Initial damage control efforts either restored the power, or the temperature; not both simultaneously. Luckily, the problem was solved with a workable compromise.

In view of the impaired status of Skylab, now orbiting the earth, visit of the first crew to it was deferred by 10 days. The 3-man crew comprising of Charles ‘Pete’ Conrad (commander), Paul J. Weitz (Pilot) and Joseph P. Kerwin (Science Pilot) geared-up to make the Skylab fit and functional. They carried an improvised thermoregulatory system and installed it in the lab.

Installing the system was an act of daring spacewalk; a laudable achievement indeed. Marshal Space Flight Centre, Huntsville, and Johnson Space Centre, Houston, worked in tandem with the crew. Micrometeoroid shields, ostensibly, were damaged by supersonic air currents. The scientists felt that more should have been done for the aerodynamics of Skylab before its launch. It was a daring spacewalk and laudable achievement.

Visiting crew enjoyed their space jaunt but work suffered

Skylab workshop, orbiting in space, was visited by 3 different space flights, each carrying 3-men crew. Visiting astronauts were veterans as well as rookies. They spent 171 days and 13 hours in the lab conducting hundreds of experiments on subjects including human adaptability to zero gravity, solar energy and resources on earth. A record stay of 84 days in orbit was achieved by the third crew.

Life on Skylab was easier than what popular perception may hold for space travellers. Astronauts could eat, drink, bathe and attend to call of nature with the same felicity as on earth. They dressed in casuals and worked on exercise equipment for fitness. But there was a flip side too. The last crew was all-rookie and didn’t jell with mission control. The work targets couldn’t be achieved as zero gravity proved more cumbersome than anticipated. The misunderstanding reached to the point of no communication, which was widely perceived as the incumbent astronauts going on strike.

NASA astronaut Jack R. Lousma taking shower in Skylab. (NASA)

Ergometer bicycle for exercise in the Orbital Workshop. (NASA / 7030269)

What led to the perception that the 3rd Crew of Astronauts was on (space) strike?

A 90-minute no-response from 3 rookie astronauts to the Mission Control in Texas on December 28, 1973, led to hullabaloo in NASA. Were the astronauts defying command, and resorting to strike in space?

Not really, as transpired that no-response was on account of a technical glitch because just as the Skylab completed a circle around the earth, communication Astronauts was re-established. The 90 minute disconnect on that fateful day, said one Astronaut on board, was an unintended technical error on their part.

Apart from technical problems time and again, the crew was clearly ill at ease with mission control on earth. Their discomfiture began on the very first day of their arrival on Skylab. They found mannequins carrying their nameplates, a way of their predecessor, Skylab 3 crew, pranking them. Add to this the huge workload assigned to them, as it would be the last lap of Skylab mission, and the mental pressure on the rookie crew can be understood.

Mannequins left by the Skylab 3 crew of Skylab to be discovered by the Skylab 4 crew. (NASA)

The crew, unlike other missions, had no space-veteran. It was snubbed time and again, and denied encouragement and feedback by the mission control. Work overload seemed a natural reaction of NASA as the mission was supposed to be called off shortly, and the mission control wanted to draw maximum work from the men in space. The crew worked overtime to their threshold capacity. Their dress and accessory were a misfit and the irritation showed in their body language. Their bosses construed it as indiscipline and called them lazy and careless. That, surely, heightened misunderstanding. By no stretch of imagination was it a ‘strike in space’, as the very idea of such strike was untenable and foolhardy. NASA too finally relented that the Astronauts were indeed overworked and stressed out.

Falling Skylab created commotion all over the world

The consistent efforts of NASA notwithstanding, Skylab suffered delays and derelictions. Nature too seemed unfriendly. The hot and expanding atmosphere messed with lab’s orbit around the earth. Scientists anticipated putting Skylab into a higher orbit. But doing so would take time, and the lab had already tipped to fall on earth by 1979. That put a stop to prospective salvage operations, and the people world over waited for the fall with fear and anxiety.

The D day arrived on 11th July 1979. The debris of Skylab fell over the Indian Ocean and Western Australia. There were fears that it could fall in South India. There were reports of people sporting a metallic hat to guard against the debris of the free-falling Skylab. Tragicomic reports of people hurrying up with their important assignments, well before the lab could come in their way, appeared in newspapers. Thankfully, the falling of Skylab didn’t harm any life or property on earth.

Skylab project surely didn’t end on a planned and positive note, yet the repertoire of knowledge and space experience it generated can’t be ignored. Especially so because the project parried several cliff hanger situations in spite of the low downs of the budget and the human resource.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “A Glimpse into the Exciting World of Space Tourism“.

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Deep Space Network: An antenna at Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex. (NASA / JPL-Caltech)

The Deep Space Network or DSN is a network of radio antennae, owned by American Space Agency NASA and in particular, a division of theirs called the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Spread across three continents, the DSN antennas act as middlemen to transfer data between spacecraft from Outer Space interplanetary missions as well as other satellites which orbit Earth.

History of Deep Space Network

1963 brought about the launch of the DSN under the JPL which was originally an institution of the U.S Army. They used it for mapping and reconnaissance. NASA saw great value in the program and had it transferred when the opportunity arose, knowing that an isolated hub for communications would be more effective than each craft or mission having to create its own. The Californian location was made headquarters, with Canberra joining the program in 1965 and Madrid later in the same year.  At this time it serviced only three crafts yet just half a century later the number had increased to thirty-three. This includes vessels from organisations outside NASA including the European Space Agency, Japanese Space Agency and their Indian counterpart.

The sites of DSN

At any given DSN site there are four antennas. Each site sits 120 degrees apart in longitude, in Canberra (Australia), Madrid, (Spain) and in Goldstone, (California). They are evenly spaced meaning that the rotation of Earth will not affect signals as it disappears under the horizon. In this regard, one might say that the sun never sets on NASA’s empire.

Deep Space Communications Complex in Canberra, Australia. (NASA / JPL-Caltech)

They are situated on Earth as a means of space saving. They are too large and too heavy to be usefully implemented on spacecraft which traditionally only have small devices. They also deliver weak signals back to Earth but it is a secure delivery. The strength of signal the antennas receive is ridiculously low,

“…20 billion times weaker than the power level in a modern digital wristwatch battery.”

It is still effective in receiving data none-the-less. Once the DSN centers receive the data they send it to the Operations Facility at the JPL, In Pasadena, California. Then the data is processed and the pictures come to life.

1993 photo of Deep Space Network Operations Center at JPL in Pasadena, California. (NASA / JPL-Caltech)

Deep Space Network antenna

According to the DSN website, they are “…the largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications system in the world.” Their goal is to “…improve our understanding of the solar system and the larger universe.” They provide the crucial connection for commanding our spacecraft and receiving their never before seen images and scientific information on Earth, propelling our understanding of the universe, our solar system and ultimately, our place within it.

Most correspondence is among the Voyager missions. Both set off in 1977 to monitor planets inside our solar system with Voyager II launching 16 days before Voyager I. At the time of writing, both have made it outside of the solar system – monumentally the only two crafts in history to do so. Exactly what this means,

“For the second time in history, a human-made object has reached the space between the stars. NASA’s Voyager 2 probe now has exited the heliosphere – the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields created by the Sun.”

To give a glimpse of the important of DSN, here are some of their accomplishments. They provided the images of Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk, helped in the rescue of the Apollo 13 astronauts when they couldn’t access the main communications sector of NASA. 1965 brought the first close up images of Mars, 1974 – Mercury and in later years: Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune as well as their rings and moons. And of course the Voyager missions, which have documented their maiden move into interstellar space.

Amazing facts about Voyager

“Launch: Voyager 2 launched on August 20, 1977, from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard a Titan-Centaur rocket. On September 5, Voyager 1 launched, also from Cape Canaveral aboard a Titan-Centaur rocket.

Between them, Voyager 1 and 2 explored all the giant planets of our outer solar system, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune; 48 of their moons; and the unique system of rings and magnetic fields those planets possess.”

Both Voyagers carry The Golden Record which we have spoken about before.

Problems with Deep Space Network

Alas, not all is sweetness and star-light with DSL. There have been mistakes made which it would seem are inevitable in such a complicated type of environment and distance. However, a prestigious organisation such as NASA strives to make sure that errors do not happen as the cost can be extreme as well as time-consuming to find and bring a replacement.

One example is of Cassini, a spacecraft which was orbiting Saturn’s equator and planned to move into the atmosphere after thirteen years dancing around the rings. When the time came, the uplink from DSL failed and so Cassini was unable to make the plunge which had to be done in a certain moment for favorable conditions. The dive was made a day later but it showed a chink in the seemingly impenetrable armour of DSL.

It is not the first fault made by DSL and while some criticisms have been admonished it retains support from many major players in the astronomy game. For example, astronomer Brad Peterson states, “As NASA launches increasingly complex and data-hungry missions… the need for DSN is only going to increase.”

Upgrades have been made to keep the technology ticking over and eliminate errors yet it is said that the recent blips actually occurred because of the newest antenna installed. None-the-less, DSL have never dropped below “…95% of both outbound and incoming signals, its minimum goal.” This is according to Pete Vrotsos, program manager at NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation office. And moreover, this is with reported annual budget cuts from NASA. Similar initiatives seem to be having more investment in European missions: Rosetta, Gaia and Mars from the ESA are receiving consistent support.

They are furthermore trying to implement updated techniques such as laser systems opposed to radio transmissions but this comes with its own problems. They are lighter and more energy efficient than older style systems which would help proceedings in the long run.

The future of DSN

Investing money in ventures like this is a controversial topic. Many will say why not invest in our planet instead of planning wild goose chases into the dark unknown. The counter of that would be to reprise the famous Oscar Wilde quote,

“We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking to the stars.”

Millions of years of nomadic culture mean that the human race is destined to explore and so space missions will forever be part of the fabric of life. Outward thinking and exploring space is an unexplainable necessity. We believe that Outer Space has the key to solving many problems on Earth but we just don’t know where to look. For this reason, NASA’s DSL program is a much-needed commodity, one which can hopefully get through this apparent time of austerity and conquer the test of time.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Did Man Really Land on Moon? The Dilemma of Apollo 11’s Missing Tapes“.

Official Website:
Real-time status of communications with NASA’s deep space explorers

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Kola Superdeep Borehole superstructure. (Andre Belozeroff / Wikimedia Commons)

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you kept digging into the Earth? How far down could you go? Could you dig right to the Earth’s core? What would happen if you did? The United States and the former Soviet Union separately attempted to find out from the 1960s to the 1990s. The result, on the Soviet side, was the Kola Superdeep Borehole that, at 40,230 feet (12,262 meters), remains the deepest artificially-made hole in the world.

The subterranean superpower race

The Earth has a rocky crust that goes down to around 50 km from the surface while the Earth’s core is at least 6730 km from the surface. Geologists from both the United States and the Soviet Union were eager to understand the geological composition of this crust and the Earth’s core beyond that, and, as in the case of the Space program, they embarked on a race to be the first to discover the mysteries that lay underneath.

CUSS I drillship used by the US for underwater drilling. (US Gov)

The United States took the lead in 1960 by starting Project Mohole under the sea off the Pacific Coast of Mexico. As compared to the crust on the Earth’s surface, the crust on the seafloor is thinner and the US Americans thought it would be easier to drill down from there. They began by sinking six large buoys underwater to a depth of 200 feet and positioning them into a circle. Then, using a sonar, they moved a Navy barge directly over the buoy circle and fixed an enormous rig in the centre of the circle.

Once the rig was in place, they began digging at 11,700 feet on the sea floor and dug under the crust until they reached a depth of 601 feet. At the point, in 1966, the US Americans ran out of funding and had to give up on the project.

On the Soviet side, they began their drilling project later in 1965, but they had the good fortune of having the project planned at least five years in advance. The Ministry of Geology of the USSR established the Interdepartmental Scientific Council for the Study of the Earth’s Interior and Superdeep Drilling for this specific purpose. Their detailed planning ensured that the project didn’t run out of funds at any time in the course of its duration and that they were able to carry out the drilling in the most feasible area.

The Council spent a long while in surveying various areas until they decided upon the site in the Pechengsky District in the Murmansk Oblast on the Kola Peninsula as the most appropriate one. They then took their time in constructing a proper rig for the drilling and building a protective rig enclosure; this enclosure was 200 feet tall, incidentally. They also prepared the right drilling machinery and invented new devices to facilitate deep drilling.

Regular deep-drilling rigs make use of a rotating shaft drill, but the Soviets perceived that this wouldn’t work as well at the very great depths they expected to go down to. Instead, they came up with a drill in which the shaft remained steady and only the drill bit at its end rotated. The Soviets designed the shaft to allow the pumping of drilling mud down its length and this mud put pressure on the drill bit and made it rotate and drill into the crust.

The Soviets called their borehole the Kola Superdeep Borehole and worked on it until 1994.

The Kola Superdeep Borehole

The drilling on the Kola Superdeep Borehole began on 24 May 1970. Rather than one borehole, the Kola Superdeep Borehole consisted of one main hole with several others branching off from it. The Soviets were to use two drilling rigs in the course of the project, the Uralmash-4E and the Uralmash-15000. They planned to dig through the Baltic Shield continental crust down to a depth of 49,000 feet.

By 1983, the drillers had dug down to 39,000 feet. They then stopped drilling until 1984 and, in the fallow period, Soviet scientists and politicians visited the site and there was much nationwide publicity about the borehole. Ordinary Soviet citizens followed news about the borehole and were proud that their country had succeeded where the United States had failed.

Resuming drilling in 1984, the drillers went down to 39,587 feet. At this point, on 27 September 1984, a drill string section fell off at 16,000 feet. They stopped the drilling and then restarted it at 23,000 feet.

In 1989, the deepest borehole, SG-3, went down to 40,230 feet. The SG-3, by the way, is only nine inches in diameter. The drillers then, perforce, had to stop drilling as the temperatures at that depth were incredibly high and adversely affected the drilling. By their calculations, the drillers had expected to encounter a 100 °C temperature, but, instead, it turned out to be 180 °C.

This very high temperature rendered the rock at that depth into a porous, permeable, and plastic-like state. This made drilling almost impossible as every time the drillers withdrew the drill bit for replacement, the plasticky rock flowed over and closed the drilled hole. The researchers attempted to get around the heat issue by pumping down ice-cold drilling mud, but that didn’t have the required effect.

With no solution apparent around this problem, the drillers had no other alternative than to stop further drilling. They were still 9,000 feet away from their early stated goal of reaching 49,000 feet.

Geological discoveries from the Kola Superdeep Borehole

In the course of the drilling, the Soviets were able to collect an enormous amount of geological data that shed an illuminating light on what we know about the Earth. Geologists had to abandon many previously held theories in face of the new factual data.

Before delving deep into the Earth’s crust, geologists collected necessary information from studies and surveys on the Earth’s surface and by recording seismic activities. From previous data, they noticed that the speed of seismic waves became faster at three to six kilometres below the Earth surface. The geologists assumed that this was on account of a change in the rocky crust, with the upper granite changing into a layer of basalt rock.

They called this presumed rock transition the Conrad discontinuity and discovered that it occurred beneath all the continents. At the Kola Superdeep Borehole, however, the drill failed to encounter it and they found that the granite rock extended down to 12 km and more. The geologists then came to the realization that the rock underwent metamorphic changes from the great heat and pressure at that depth and these changes were what caused the seismic-reflection results they had obtained. In short, the granite rock remained granite but underwent a structural change due to heat and pressure.

Plankton in the Kola Superdeep Borehole

On reaching the depth of six km, to the amazement of the Soviet geologists, they found microscopic fossils of planktons in the samples they extracted. There were 24 plankton species and test results pointed out that the fossils were at least two billion years old. Nitrogen and oxygen layers encased the fossils. It was incredible that they survived unscathed in the tremendous heat at that depth.

Underground water in the Kola Superdeep Borehole

Another incredible find at the Kola Superdeep Borehole was the discovering of water at the depth of 7 km. It seeped in the cracks of the granite rock. Where had the water come from though? The geologists surmised that mineral interaction probably produced it and that it remained there underground since it could not pass through the impermeable rock surface overhead.

The geologists also found hydrogen gas in the mud that they extracted from the borehole.

End of the Kola Superdeep Borehole

After drilling halted in 1989, the workers left and never returned to resume the work. The Soviet Union disintegrated in 1995, but the authorities took until 2005 to officially announce the scrapping of the project. In 2008, they dismantled the rig and buildings and fitted a steel cap over SG-3.

A photo of Kola Superdeep Borehole site from 2012. (Bigest / Wikimedia Commons)

The borehole, as of 2018, is the deepest artificially-made hole on Earth. To understand how deep it goes, compare it to the 10.91 km of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the deepest natural point on Earth, and the 8.9 km high Mount Everest. The measurement of SG-3’s depth exceeds the Challenger Deep’s depth and Mount Everest’s height.

If you want to see samples extracted from the Kola Superdeep Borehole, you can see them in Zapolyarny, a town located some 10 km from the site and known for its nickel mines. It is in the Pechengsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. You can also visit the site of the borehole itself and see the building ruins.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Bingham Canyon Mine: The Largest Copper Producing Mine in the United States“.

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Dr. Thomas Midgley Jr. (Library of Congress)

When we think of people who have done great harm to the world we inevitably think of tyrannical dictators who led merciless regimes and gave the orders of mass genocide. But what about the inventors of the world, scientists who contributed to devastating developments that killed, kills, and will kill, for generations to come. In this sense – like dictators – they are ultimately killing from beyond the grave with the death tolls from other causes etc. pale in comparison.

Of course, this is excusable if the inventor did not know the evils their patents could cause but in some cases they did. Arguably, one such inventor is named Thomas Midgley Jr. While many consider him a great scientist, others believe he is one of the worst for the chaos his creations brought about. Midgley is most known for four main developments: Tetraethyl lead for automobile fuel improvements, the extraction of Bromine from water, adapting fluorine to refrigerators and advancements in rubber-making.

The early life of Thomas Midgley Jr.

Brought up in a nice part of the world called Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, Thomas studied machinery under the tutelage of his father who was an inventor and – as common for the time – general handyman. Inventions ran in the family, not just with his father but his mother was the daughter of James Emerson who most famously invented the inserted-tooth saw.

It is claimed that Midgley’s ancestor was an important employee of James Watt also (the Scotsman who improved the steam engine). His talent as an inventor shone through early while playing one of his hobbies – baseball. Although only a teenager he implemented the balls to have more curve by using the slippery bark of an Elm tree. This practice became commonplace throughout association baseball in later years.

Modern gasoline

The prodigy would graduate in 1911 with a degree in mechanical engineering from the prestigious Cornell University. Inventions were not just part of his family but part of his state’s blueprint as he worked at the National Cash Register Company where Charles F. Kettering designed the first electric register. Kettering saw more than enough aptitude in Thomas Midgley Jr.– an unyielding determinism and confidence – to keep him on at the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company. It would become a branch of an automobile company called General Motors.

Kettering’s confidence and the natural talent of Thomas Midgley Jr. soon came to the fore when he started working on a solution to stop engine-knocking. This is a sort of improper combustion when the engine sparks. Instead of the spark combusting, a pocket of combined air and fuel will ignite. It can damage the engine and produce nasty sounds. This can be combatted by high octane fuels for example and there was actually already a solution in place before Midgley – adding ethanol to gasoline. However, because this is natural, companies could not make money from it.

His research was postponed during World War I when his country called upon him to develop an aerial torpedo as well as airplane fuel. It took another six years to finalise his solution, systematically testing different elements and compounds. He found success with a substance Ethyl lead but it was not the only thing needed, with Bromine imperative to the solution, in terms of eliminating lead-oxide formed deposits. Bromide needed to be found in large amount and when they found extraction from seawater was possible, that was a game-changer. Ethylene Bromide became the compound causing the lead to expel through the exhaust. This leaded alternative – the type we all know today – had various benefits but also pitfalls. It became a standard in almost every gasoline in the world.

The dangers of gasoline

The discovery was not met with widespread satisfaction. Reports spread across the United States of problems with the mixture, including workers dying in various GM factories.

“Controversy erupted in October 1924, when workers in a Standard refinery in Bayway, New Jersey, went violently insane after making leaded gasoline. Seven men died and 33 were hospitalized there; meanwhile, ten more were killed at a DuPont facility, and at least two died and 40 were hospitalized in Dayton, Ohio…”

This was not a new notion but as is the case with human nature, occupational hazards are easily forgotten if it means making money and potentially advancing the human race. For even Midgley was no different. Despite coming down with lead poisoning – he argued that it would not cause damage to public health in small amounts.

“In addition to the private warnings, an official letter from the U.S. Public Health Service asked whether leaded gasoline might not be a “serious menace to public health.” Midgley responded that the problem “has been given very serious consideration . . . although no actual experimental data has been taken.”

Author and PhD Bill Kovarik speaks in great length about the dangers of lead.

“…Lead poisoning is one of the most frequently observed causes of occupational disease. From Roman antiquity through the industrial revolution, the cumulative effects of lead had become well known through painful experience. Roman engineer Vitruvius noted that lead fumes “rob the limbs of the virtues of the blood.”…. Bernardo Ramazzini, one of the first physicians to study occupational health, said around 1700 that: “The skin [of lead workers] is apt to bear the same color of the metal. . . . Demons and ghosts are often found to disturb the miners.”…. Charles Dickens wrote about the terrifying effects of lead poisoning on London workers who could find no other employment…”

More deaths followed in the 1920’s,

“Seven workers died between September 1923 and the fall of 1924 in GM’s Dayton, Ohio and DuPont’s southern New Jersey factories, but no one outside the Ethyl partnership understood the significance of these apparently disconnected industrial accidents… Then, as Standard Oil started up a new and even more hazardous TEL refining operation in northern New Jersey five workers died in one week from lead poisoning so severe that it was not initially recognized by occupational health experts…”

As most people know now but few knew then, Lead is extremely poisonous, especially for children. Less transparency, communication and media coverage back then can be the only explanation for more not being done to ban it. It is only relatively recently that leaded solutions have been banned worldwide.

Destroying the ozone layer

Dangerous chemical production didn’t stop there for the American. General Motors asked Thomas Midgley Jr. to create a coolant for refrigerators. One which was non-flammable, non-toxic and odor-free. Author Bill Bryson writes:

“Refrigerators in the 1920s were often appallingly risky because they used dangerous gases that sometimes leaked. One leak from a refrigerator at a hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1929 killed more than a hundred people. Midley set out to create a gas that was stable, nonflammable, noncorrosive and safe to breathe.”

Midgley thought he was developing a beneficial solution but again it was more dangerous than the predecessor. He settled on a mix of Chlorine, Flourine and Methane – a type of Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) – which is extremely harmful to the environment and cannot be broken down. For Freon is a CFC and when released, they are impossible to break down by any natural process. In the atmosphere, once cosmic rays hit these molecules they destroy the O-Zone layer. As the O-Zone contains the Oxygen we need to breath – this is a potentially life threatening practice to increase.  Without it, UV light will react harmfully with our soil, killing the bacteria we need to survive.

Alas, it is probable that Midgley had no idea of this. Afterall, at an American Chemical Society meeting in 1930, he inhaled some of the gas, then blew out a candle flame to demonstrate its properties.

With his increasing success, Thomas Midgley Jr. became vice president of the Ethyl Gasoline Corp. in 1923 as well as the vice president of the Ethyl-Dow Chemical Company. He petitioned that both lead and bromine were safe enough to use, however, that he would strive to make safer solutions also He received many accolades for his work, including four medals from the American Chemical Society and being instilled into the National Academy of Sciences. Again, he gave service to his nation in World War II, honoured as the head of the National Defense Research Committee concentrating on rubber production, greatly developing vulcanization which hardens the material. Thomas Midgley Jr. also gave outstanding service to chemistry through the American Chemical Society, in which he was active as a member of the Board of Directors for twenty-five years.

Later life

The dangerous discoveries would eventually catch up with the inventor when in 1940 lead poisoning contributed to him being diagnosed with Polio. Losing his legs, the patient was forced to invent a pulley device to help him in and out of bed. Alas, it would eventually strangle him on one fateful eve.

Thomas Midgley Jr. was possibly too blinded by success, or by thinking he was helping the world too much to notice the devastation he was causing. There is a fine line between how much harm should be done to benefit mankind. How many lives are worth the sacrifice for something that will save many more?

In Midgley’s case however, it seems his inventions did more harm than good. One silver lining may be that he finally made the world realize how destructive those chemicals are. Just in time for us to make a difference.

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Astronaut Jan Davis and Mark Lee, the only married couple to have travelled together in outer space. (The U.S. National Archives)

Sex of course, needs no introduction. A fundamental building block of life and evolution as well as a popular past-time would be extreme understatements. It is inherent in the human genus and more and more everyday plays a large role in all aspects in the fabric of life – advertising, movies, and nightlife etc. For this reason, we assume that people are having sex everywhere: houses, hotels, colleges, beaches, farms, roller coasters, boats and hot-air balloons.  One would expect in spaceships and stations also, but it turns out that it’s not so easy to have Outer Space intercourse.

According to NASA,

“Former and current astronauts don’t like to talk about space-shuttle sex, and NASA says that if it’s ever happened, the agency doesn’t know anything about it. (NASA has never conducted official experiments on animal reproduction in space, says a spokesman.)”

This was back in 2007 but explains the lack of practice or even consideration before that year. It is more and more becoming a necessary topic to discuss as plans to colonise other planets and space has entered the goals of the human race. NASA officially began preparatory missions in 2009 but presumably had feelers out way before then along with other organisations and personnel.

Many would agree, that NASA is simply reserved about making information like this public. For example scientific writer Pierre Kohler,

“The issue of sex in space is a serious one… The experiments carried out so far relate to missions planned for married couples on the future International Space Station, the successor to Mir. Scientists need to know how far sexual relations are possible without gravity.”

The problem with Sex in Space

The primary problem with intercourse in space arises from weightlessness and factors from Newton’s Third Law which means an easy process on Earth is much more difficult in space. For every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction but not when something is connected.

This is universal law so it remains the same anywhere in the universe. It means that if the couple remain attached they will not be able to exert force upon one another and unless there is another object to counter, their velocity cannot change. Along with this, anti-gravity prohibits any real movement, however slight. All our evolution has all taken place under Earth’s atmosphere and conditions, in space means a completely new environment for our bodies to process. Gravity has a hand in a number of our functions from the basic principles of cells and organs so we cannot just use a device which creates gravity. Beyond that, pregnancy and birth could cause problems in other environments so difficulty with conception initially may not be a bad thing – like a warning from nature. Scientists have already tried it with rats and while they were able to breed, the litter were unable to survive long.

Lack of gravity can cause a lot of problems if a person is expending too much energy, extreme perspiration and nausea can occur. Muscles and bones can become extremely brittle and risk injury with the slightest mishap or accident. Circulation changes also, a pulse rate which can swell your heart and slow down circulation.

Things we take for granted in 1G – our gravitational atmosphere. Human behaviour is greatly affected also, with astronauts reporting extreme changes in mood which could cause complications in highly charged emotional situations.

Attempts

There has been nothing official from NASA and their counterparts but here are some examples of individual parties looking to complete the task. Multimillionaire astronaut Dennis Tito owns a foundation who announced a two-person crew would flyby Mars and back to Earth. The Inspiration Mars Foundation was set for a 501 day trip but it has yet to be completed.

Porn site Pornhub even plans to make a pornographic film in space – which would be the first. A crowdfunding campaign which relies on donations is called Sexploration. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic was said to reject a $1 million offer to shoot a film, and while the company was not named it could possibly be the streaming website.

Testing 2suit in a reduced-gravity aircraft during a parabolic flight. (Steve Boxall / Wikimedia Commons)

Solutions

There have been creations to solve the problem including an invention called 2suit. A type of apparel designed by a famous astronaut and novelist Vanna Bonta which generated much publicity and discussion. A documentary described how a couple tested the suit in a zero-gravity airport yet even kissing proved a challenge and more time was reportedly needed.

The future

With more and more talk about colonising other planets, sex in space is an important topic as it is the fundamental operation needed to do so. And reaching hospitable, goldilocks planets could take generations which is why it is not just sex, but sex in the confines of a space-saving spacecraft that has to be negotiated. It is an exciting experiment for the future in terms of the logistics. That is without taking into consideration whether it is something mankind should or should not do.

From a science fiction standpoint, it is a subject which has been covered many times over. From many male perspectives, there is one scenario which could be appealing. Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins wrote a tongue-in-cheek possibility in his autobiography. Time magazine posted it,

“Imagine a spacecraft of the future, with a crew of a thousand ladies, off for Alpha Centauri, with 2,000 breasts bobbing beautifully and quivering delightfully in response to every weightless movement … and I am the commander of the craft, and it is Saturday morning and time for inspection, naturally.”

[It should be noted that author Arthur.C Clarke informed the editor of Time that he was first to write this in his novel Rendezvous with Rama (1983)]

The human race has achieved so much that sex in space will without a doubt become a mainstay, it is just a question of when.

Recommended Read:
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth | By Chris Hadfield

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Photo of Soyuz 11 crew. (USSR Post / Wikimedia Commons)

Travelling to where no man has ever gone before sounds glamorous in theory, but comes fraught with all manners of dangers and even fatalities in practice. In space travel, where we are confronting the unknown, it can be difficult and even downright impossible to predict how things are going to turn out, despite the most stringent preparations. The Soyuz 11 tragedy is an example of this, and the very first instance of humans dying in space.

Soyuz 11 and the first space station in earth’s history

The Salyut 1, which the Soviet Union launched into the earth’s lower orbit on 19 April 1971, became the first space station in our planet’s history. Now all that remained was to get people on this space station. The Soviets succeeded with this as well on 7 June 1971, when the Soyuz 7k-OKS, a spacecraft designed for space station flights, docked the Soyuz 11 capsule at the space station. An earlier space mission, Soyuz 10, had docked but failed to properly latch on and the cosmonauts had therefore been unable to enter the space station.

There were three cosmonauts onboard Soyuz 11: The Commander, Georgy Dobrovolsky, the Flight Engineer, Vladislav Volkov, and the Test Engineer, Viktor Patsayev. It was a first space flight for Georgy Dobrovolsky and Viktor Patsayev, and the second for Vladislav Volkov. As it turned out, unfortunately, it was also to be the last flight for all three.

Record-setting stay at the Salyut 1 space station

Nobody had ever stayed in space on a space station, so it was a very big event when the Soyuz 11 crew not only docked successfully but also managed to latch on and enter it. They did encounter an immediate problem of a smoky interior due to a faulty ventilation system, but they soon fixed that problem. They had to retreat to their capsule and wait until the air cleared, but they were able to go into the space station and remain there after that. They stayed at the station for almost 23 days and, during this period, a large percentage of the public in the Soviet Union assiduously watched the televised broadcasts that the cosmonauts made. There was great curiosity about what it was like to live in a space station and the cheerful cosmonauts helped their audience experience it second-hand. In addition, the Pravda newspaper, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, published regular updates of the cosmonauts. They became very popular with the general public.

There were some problems at the space station, but the crew managed to deal with these. They put out a fire on the eleventh day of their stay and allayed the fears of the ground crew that they might have to abandon the station. The crew discovered that station vibrated from end to end when they used their treadmills. They postponed the launch of an N1 rocket. They remained healthy and in good spirits till the end of their stay and set the very first record for human endurance in space.

Soyuz 11’s return to earth

After what seemed to have been a very successful and illuminating space mission, everyone eagerly awaited the return of the cosmonauts. The Soyuz 11 capsule re-entered the earth’s atmosphere on 30 June 1971 and made a good landing on a flat, uninhabited plain in Kazakhstan.

The recovery team approached the capsule, which had landed on its side, and found it to be remarkably undamaged on the outside, without even a dent anywhere. They knocked on the capsule exterior, but there was no answering knock from within. Filled with foreboding, they forced open the hatch and found themselves confronting an unexpected and horrifying sight. The three cosmonauts were lying on their couches, seemingly unconscious, with blood streaming from their noses and ears and vivid blue marks on their faces. Commander Dobrovolsky’s body was still warm, which gave the rescuers some hope. They hurriedly removed all three from the capsule and performed CPR to try and revive them. It was to no avail. The three cosmonauts were already dead.

Death on the Soyuz 11

The ground crew had become concerned after losing audio contact with the cosmonauts as the Soyuz 11 capsule re-entered the earth’s atmosphere. They had come prepared for emergencies, but finding the crew dead in this manner was a shock. It seemed inexplicable too, given that the capsule was undamaged.

According to the doctors who performed the CPR, the crew had died from asphyxiation. Later, pathologists at the Burdenko Military Hospital carried out autopsies on the bodies and discovered that the cosmonauts had died from blood vessel haemorrhaging that occurred mainly in the brain, but also to an extent in the nose, ears, and skin. The haemorrhaging resulted from a sudden drop in pressure in the capsule’s interior; the blood vessels ruptured when the nitrogen and oxygen in the bloodstream bubbled from the pressure drop. The pathologists also found inordinately high amounts of lactic acid in the blood, signalling extreme stress before death occurred.

Data from the biomedical sensors on one of the cosmonauts showed that the cosmonaut had a cardiac arrest within 40 seconds of the pressure drop. The capsule’s interior pressure had dropped to zero within 15 minutes of the retrofire.

What had caused the pressure to drop though?

Cause of the decompression on the Soyuz 11

Investigators examined the capsule thoroughly to discover the cause of the decompression and finally found that it was due to the inadvertent opening of a breathing ventilation valve.

These ventilation valves were between the orbital module and descent module and the spacecraft engineers had designed them to shut automatically during descent. Alexei Leonov, the Commander of the original crew, had expressed doubts about this automatic shutting of the valves. He had advised the Soyuz 11 crew to not trust the automatic function and, instead, to close the valves manually. They had, unfortunately, either forgotten or disregarded this advice.

He had been right, it turned out. The automatic closure failed when the explosive bolts holding the orbital and descent modules fired simultaneously, instead of, as expected, firing sequentially. With the force of the simultaneous firing, the valve seal loosened and opened the valve when the capsule was at an altitude of 168 kilometres. The pressure inside the capsule dropped instantaneously. Since the position of the valve was in between the seats, the cosmonauts were unable to find and block it to prevent the air escaping from the capsule.

During the examination of the capsule after the tragic flight, Leonov tried closing the valve manually and discovered it took him up to a minute to do that. In an emergency situation, such as the one that the Soyuz 11 crew had encountered, a minute was too long.

If the cosmonauts had worn space suits, they might have survived. After the Soyuz 11 tragedy, the Soviets redesigned the Soyuz aircraft to hold only two crew members with space suits. A later redesign in 1981 allowed space for three crew members with space suits.

The funeral of the Soyuz 11 crew

The mood of the nation turned from expectant joy to sombre grieving. Nobody had expected the events to take such a tragic turn. The Soviet government organized a massive state funeral for the three cosmonauts and the burial took place in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in the Red Square in Moscow. They later received posthumous medals as Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Soyuz 11 Memorial in Kazakhstan, built exactly where the module had been found. (Vikkom0203 / Wikimapia)

The Soviet state media did not announce the cause of their deaths until almost two years later.

The Soyuz 11 tragedy alarmed the US Americans who were preparing for their Skylab program. They assumed that the Soviet cosmonauts had died from their extended stay in a zero-gravity environment, and, of course, they did not want to risk the same thing happening to their astronauts. Charles Berry, a NASA doctor, discounted this theory. It was more likely, he said, that the cosmonauts had died from toxic inhalation. The space program authorities found this explanation more to their liking and continued with the space program.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Lost Cosmonauts of USSR: Did the Soviet Union Cover up its Secret Cosmonaut Casualties?“.

Optional Visit:
Soyuz 11 Memorial | Kazakhstan

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Ultima Thule. (NASA / Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute, National Optical Astronomy Observatory)

Space is no longer a figment of humans’ imagination. With so many new aspects being unfolded each day by space explorers and government agencies, there is hardly any scope for denial now. Space is real. And the knowledge of events and occurrences that take place millions of kilometers away from our planet are nothing but man’s tireless endeavours to find out new things that lie in darkness, well beyond our solar system. One such discovery that has come across as yet another major achievement in the field of space research is the recent photographs of ‘Ultima Thule’. A first of its kind finding, Ultima Thule is considered to be the most distant object in space to have been captured on camera by a space probe.

The New Horizons mission

The US space agency’s New Horizons Mission in accordance with John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, was launched in the year 2006 with a view to perform the primary operation of a flyby (where a probe is sent in outer space to only fly past a planet so that it can be studied in detail) to Pluto. In a bid to research and learn more about the dwarf planet of our solar system, the probe performed its task successfully in the year 2015. The interplanetary spacecraft New Horizons was also assigned another task, which was to fly by and gather more scientific information about objects in the Kuiper Belt, farther away from the minor planet Pluto. And ringing in the New Year, the probe did send back good news after all.

New Horizons in 2005. (NASA)

What is the Kuiper Belt?

An area that belongs to our solar system, which is believed to be very frigid, lying beyond the orbit of planet Neptune, where hundreds of thousands of dwarf planets, comets, asteroids and many other small celestial bodies are contained is the Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is the icy band where the dwarf planet of Pluto was first discovered in the year 1930. Initially given the status of a planet in 1992, Pluto’s standing came under the scanner when other objects of similar sizes were discovered floating in the Kuiper Belt. Pluto’s status was then stripped of and it came to be termed as a dwarf planet ever since. Similarly, many more objects in the Kuiper Belt known as KBOs (Kuiper Belt Objects), including Ultima Thule, have been discovered in the icy ring consisting of dwarf bodies, among which the discovery of Ultima Thule is of prime importance.

Our solar system representation with the asteroid belt and Kuiper belt. (Rursus / Wikimedia Commons)

What is Ultima Thule?

Long before New Horizons space probe made a flyby beyond Kuiper Belt’s gatekeeper Pluto, it had sent over a picture of a hazy, single dot that was named 2014 MU69. But tired of using the official designation every time, scientists immediately gave it the nickname Ultima Thule, for two reasons. Firstly, it was the ultimate discovery that a manmade spacecraft had ever come across (which explains Ultima) and secondly, during the fourth century Europe, an icy cold, mythological, distant land, lying far away in the north was termed Thule, which also stuck with the nickname of NASA’s newest finding. Out of the thirty-six names that were compiled and posted online, Ultima Thule gathered the most votes and so by majority, in 2014 MU69 came to be known as Ultima Thule.

Ultima Thule is also considered a fossil celestial body that holds the secret to the birth of our solar system. It is a trans-Neptunian object in the Kuiper Belt, which is a contact binary body, approximately 32 by 16 kilometres in dimension. It is composed of two distinctly separate objects fused together, also called lobes, which explain its contact binary nature. The two lobes of the almost spherical body might have been moving towards each other over several years until they touched and together came to be known as Ultima Thule. The larger body was named Ultima, while the smaller one was termed Thule. Scientists are also looking into the possibility that the two objects could be orbiting each other.

Formation of Ultima Thule. (NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI / James Tuttle Keane)

As per NASA’s data, the picture of Ultima Thule resembles a huge snowman adrift in space; of which, the duration of rotation period is yet to be ascertained correctly. The larger body is three times the size of the smaller body and its brightness did not change as it made a rotation. Ultima Thule spins end to end like a propeller and its axis was found to be pointing outwards. Like most other dwarf planets and regular ones, Ultima Thule has been found to be moderately cratered. The newly found celestial object is considered to be an icy world that is some 6.5 billion kilometers away from the Earth. It is believed to be a building block of planets and its study might offer clues into how the Earth, its neighbouring planets and the solar system formed in the first place.

Artistic impression of a non-contact version of Ultima Thule. (NASA)

As per a statement issued by the lead scientist of the mission Dr. Alan Stern, the probe will travel behind the Sun, the outer surface of which will interfere with the transmission of photographs back to the Earth. It takes around six hours one way for data to be sent back to the Earth, which is why more information can only be relayed back on January 10, once the link to the spacecraft is restored.

First discovered by astronomers through the Hubble Space Telescope on June 26, 2014, Ultima Thule became clearer as New Horizons spacecraft made a flyby beyond Neptune in the solar system and then went further past Pluto into the Kuiper Belt on January 1, 2019.

Now scientists are keeping a close watch on this newly-discovered object in space and waiting for more information to be transmitted from the New Horizons spacecraft in a bid to find out more not just about the happy snowman Ultima Thule but also about the formation of planets inside the solar system and outside ones contained within the Kuiper Belt. It is only a matter of time before we get to know more about the farthest object in space that man has ever literally laid his eyes on.

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Vomit Comet: Astronauts experiencing weightlessness on a reduced-gravity aircraft. (NASA)

A Vomit Comet is a type of airplane that helps astronauts experience weightlessness for a short period of time to help them train for their journey into deep space. These planes are generally known as reduced-gravity aircraft and are sometimes also used while making science-fiction movie shots. Although, the reason they are most commonly known as Vomit Comets is due to the experiences of the astronauts during the flight.

These airplanes were first introduced by German engineers Fritz Haber and Heinz Haber, who were brought to the US after the Second World War, as a way to simulate weightlessness as part of Operation Paperclip. Operation Paperclip existed to hire German scientists to give American’s an advantage in the Cold War that followed. Humans have been the most common fliers of the Vomit Comet, but the planes have also been used to experiment on other animals such as cats and pigeons.

How do they work?

The way these planes work is by giving the fliers a sense of feeling in a zero-gravity environment. Although these environments aren’t always zero gravity, they are just micro-gravity where the force of gravity is not zero, but just so small that it’s almost undetectable. An actual micro-gravity environment would require an extensive journey into deep space that is far away enough that the force of gravity is reduced to almost negligible. This journey isn’t impossible but inadvisable, because the few probes that have achieved this have never returned back to Earth.

Inside a zero-gravity aircraft. (Alex Beltyukov collection)

Since it is an expensive and almost impractical event to fly into deep space for testing purposes, scientists have found ways to recreate the same environment on Earth. The NASA Reduced Gravity Program in Houston, Texas provides a weightless environment for space flight testing and training purposes through a reasonable reimbursement funding process. The flight of the plane follows a projectile trajectory, called a parabolic path that is relative to the centre of our planet. On this path, the plane is at free fall at certain points and does not have exertion from any force originating from the ground. This absence of ground reaction force causes the feeling the weightlessness.

The trajectory of zero gravity flight to achieve weightlessness. (NASA)

To go more in detail about the exact science, the precise moment of weightlessness occurs after the plane has climbed the parabolic path, reaches a neutral or ‘zero-lift’ state, before falling back down into its trajectory. During its zero-lift state, the thrust of the plane is reduced and its tip is lowered, causing a 25-second experience of zero gravity during one parabolic flight. In one astronaut training session, they fly anywhere between 40-60 parabolic paths consecutively during which about 60% of the fliers vomit due to airsickness. This common event during weightlessness experiences has earned the plane its notorious nickname of Vomit Comet.

According to research, anxiety is the most important cause of airsickness. Their body realizes a sense of panic which makes it (them) feel ill and hence, they end up (with) projectile vomiting.

NASA’s KC-135A during the reduced-gravity flight. (NASA)

What happened to the Vomit Comet?

After a decade-long journey starting in 1994, the Vomit Comet was retired for use on October 31, 2004. The Vomit Comet has flown more than 140,000 flights in over 8 planes over the Gulf of Mexico. According to the lead test director of NASA’s Reduced Gravity Research Program, even though the plane provided a unique environment to give astronauts the most realistic training, it was getting increasingly harder to maintain the plane and its costs.

The plane was very useful for astronauts-in-training, engineers and scientists to do various testing and research on board. Currently, there are educational programs that let college students participate in the weightlessness experience, and more than 2000 students have flown these flights. This is a great initiative as it helps to prepare the next generation of space explorers.

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The Vaimanika Shastra is a Sanskrit text about ancient Indian flying machines or vimanas. While many ancient Indian scriptures mention vimanas and give elaborate descriptions of their workings, this is a more recent text that describes the ancient flying machines in detail. Yes, the Vaimānika Shāstra is not an ancient text. Or, at least, it is supposed to be by an ancient author, but comes to us through a modern medium. An Indian mystic Pandit Subbaraya Shastry claimed he had received the book as a divinity from the ancient sage Maharshi Bharadwaja and he then dictated it to his associate Shri G. Venkatachala Sharma. The dictation and transcription of the book lasted from 1918 to 1922. It was translated into Hindi in 1959 and into English in 1973.

The Vaimanika Shastra

Vaimanika Shastra means the science of aeronautics. To understand aeronautics, we need to understand aerodynamics, propulsive devices, materials, and metallurgy. In Vaimanika Shastra, there is much about propulsive devices, but next to nothing about aerodynamics.

The book’s focus is on the vimanas that were mentioned in many ancient epics like the Rigveda, Mahabharata, Ramayana, and others. According to the Vaimanika Shastra, these vimanas were not flights of fantasy of the ancient authors, but actual and aerodynamically viable flying machines. The ancient Indians not only knew how to fly, they also flew in highly sophisticated machines with many capabilities. Using mercury vortex engines, these vimanas could become motionless in mid-air and could make themselves invisible. When used in war, they could render the enemy forces unconscious and spy into the insides of enemy crafts.

The text includes information about piloting these vimanas and the aerial routes that could be taken. It mentions the food that could be eaten and the clothes that could be worn aboard the vimanas. It states the metals that were used to manufacture the vimanas and explains how these metals were produced. It describes mirrors fitted on the vimanas and their use in wars. It talks about different airplane machineries as well as different plant categories like mantrik, tantrik, and kritak. It also lists four planes – Shakuna, Sundara, Rukma, and Tripura – from the kritak category.

Origins of the Vaimanika Shastra

According to Pandit Subbaraya Shastry, Maharshi Bharadwaja is the real author of the work; it is indeed written as such. Apparently, Panditji was only the conduit for presenting the book to humankind. The verses would come to him in sudden flashes of inspiration and his associate Shri G. Venkatachala Sharma would then immediately transcribe them. This continued over a long period until the entire book was written. Sometime between 1900 and 1919, Panditji asked Ellappa, a draughtsman from an engineering college, to illustrate the manuscript with technical drawings of the vimanas.

Shri Shivkar Bapuji Talpade, who was a technical instructor at the J.J. School of Art in Bombay, became acquainted with Pandiji and created models of the planes with Panditji’s direction. He was unable to make them fly, however. Incidentally, Talpade was first modern Indian to build a flying machine that he named Marutsakha and flew on the Chowpatty beach in Bombay in 1895.

Panditji’s son, Shri Venkatrama Shastry, kept the original, illustrated manuscript after his father’s death in 1941, but Panditji’s followers distributed copies of the book amongst themselves and their circles. An Indian air force officer, Air Commander Goel, first read it in 1944, and apparently gave it to the Baroda University Library.

In 1951, a certain Shri Josyer founded the International Academy of Sanskrit Research and organized an exhibition of rare Sanskrit manuscripts at its inaugural event. Shri M.C. Krishnaswamy Iyengar, who knew Panditji, provided a copy of the Vaimanika Shastra for this exhibition and it generated a good deal of interest. Shri Josyer then contacted Shri Venkatrama Shastry and acquired the original manuscript. He translated it into English and made it available to the wider public.

Pandit Subbaraya Shastry

Pandit Subbaraya Shastry was born in Hosur taluka in Madras District in an impoverished family. He was married by the age of eight, as was the custom in those times, and several years afterwards, his parents died and the responsibility of supporting his many siblings fell upon his young shoulders. The only way he could do this was by begging. For a brief while, his father-in-law took in the family, but then they had to leave and fend for themselves once again. In these dire circumstances, they contracted smallpox and Panditji lost his sisters and one of his brothers to this disease. He himself became gravely ill and his surviving brothers abandoned him.

He would probably have died if he hadn’t been rescued and treated by a certain Guruji Maharaj near Kolar in Karnataka. Under the Guruji’s care, he recovered from the illness and took his first steps in the realms of spiritualism and mysticism. He never received any formal schooling, but learned to read and write Telugu and Kannada while he was with Guruji.

When he had completed recovered, he went to Anekal and lived there with his wife and the son they adopted some years later.

It should be mentioned that Panditji was an individual with an unassuming and unpretentious disposition. Over the years, he developed a wide circle of acquaintances, including the Indian scientist Jagdish Chandra Bose, and none of these people ever cast a doubt on his intrinsic sincerity.

He never took personal credit for the Vaimanika Shastra but insisted all the while that the real author was Maharshi Bharadwaja. He did not claim to understand the shlokas that he was divinely inspired to quote, nor did he claim to understand the practicalities of the flying machines in the Vaimanika Shastra.

The problems with the Vaimanika Shastra

While it would be a stretch to call Panditji a trickster or a charlatan – since he never showed any such traits in his entire life and the people who knew him appear to have regarded him with nothing but respect – there are several problems with the Vaimanika Shastra that cannot be disregarded. In the first place, if it had really been an ancient text, it would have used ancient Sanskrit. The text, however, is in modern Sanskrit with a sprinkling of ancient terms.

According to many aeronautic experts, there are several practical problems with the planes depicted in the Vaimanika Shastra. Let us look at some of the planes:

Shakuna Vimana

A reproduced page from Vaimanika Shastra of Shakuna Vahana. (T.K. Ellappa / Wikimedia Commons)

It is shaped like a bird and is made up of a floor board, a hollow mast, three hinges, four heaters, air suction pipes, heat engine, cylinder, piston gear, pumps, two wings, and one tail portion. The latter is apparently essential for lift-off. It is made of ‘raja loha’, an alloy made of several different materials, and has an 80-foot height and 56-foot length. The exact principles of operation are not mentioned, but the height and width dimensions of the vimana are likely to make it unstable.

Sundara Vimana

Section of Sundara Vimana. (T.K.Ellappa / Wikimedia Commons)

This is a cylindrical cone, three-tier vimana possessing a ground plate and an outer cover. It has a heater, an electricity generator, and five gas engines. There is also a metal pipe wind blower.

The electricity generator produces electricity by means of friction, heat, solar power, and water power; the text also mentions 16 ‘drona’ of donkey urine for electricity generation. The electricity vaporises oil. The vimana also generates steam. The steam and the oil vapor mix to produce 500 ‘kaksha’ heat which passes through a ‘shundala’ or elephant trunk pipe and creates propulsion forces.

The plane is supposed to lift off by sucking hot air from the bottom and releasing it from pipes at the top, which contradicts Newton’s Laws of Motion. If it manages to fly, however, it can, according to the text, cover 400 yojanas in one ghatika.

Rukma Vimana

Vertical section of Rukma Vimana. (T.K.Ellappa / Wikimedia Commons)

A five-tier vimana, with passenger facilities on the third tier, the Rukma vimana comes in a cylinder cone shape, with a 100 or 1000-foot base dimension, a 20-foot height, and an 80-foot cone height. It is made of raja loha and various other materials and has electrical tube wheels and lifting fans. Its power generator operates on solar power. It can attain a speed of 105 krosha per ghatika.

Tripura Vimana

Vertical section of Tripura Vimana. (T.K.Ellappa / Wikimedia Commons)

Along with flying in the air, the Tripura vimana can move on land and water. It has wheels for land travel and these wheels are retracted when it moves in the water. The text does not provide its exact operational principles, but its power generator utilizes solar energy. It is an oval-shaped vimana, with a 100-foot length, 24-foot width, and 30-foot height. It is made of a light, fire resistant alloy.

So, can the Vimanas fly?

The researchers from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, who carried out a study of the Vaimanika Shastra in 1974, expressed scepticism about the flying abilities of these planes. According to them, the geometries and the propulsion principles of the planes are too bizarre to make flying a possibility. At least, not by any currently known flying methods. Who knows, maybe the ancient Indians had advanced methods that we haven’t yet discovered. It is a pity that these weren’t clearly delineated in the text of the Vaimanika Shastra.

The Vaimanika Shastra in popular culture

In 1878, Dayananda Saraswati wrote a commentary on the Rigveda, which was published in 1929 as “Rigveda Bhashya Bhumika”. In this, he describes how flying machines operate and these descriptions are more in line with Newton’s Law of Motions.

In January 2015, the Vaimanika Shastra was mentioned in presentations made by a pilot Anand J. Bodas and Ameya Jadhav, a researcher with an M.Tech and an M.A. in Sanskrit at the 102nd Indian Science Congress at the Mumbai University. Shri Bodas informed the news media that, in Vedic times, huge-sized vimanas could fly in a variety of modes from country to country as well from planet to planet. This declaration riled the NASA scientist, Ram Prasad Gandhiraman, and he started an online petition to throw out this ‘pseudo-science’ presentation.

The Vaimanika Shastra is mentioned in ‘Prapaatha’, a 2015 Kannada film, and in ‘Hawaizaada’, a 2015 Hindi film.

Enrico Baccarini, an Italian journalist, has written several articles and books on ancient Indian vimanas.

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Ceres, dwarf planet. (Justin Cowart / Ceres – RC3 – Haulani Crater)

All through a major portion in the elaborate and intricate realms of history, astronomers, stargazers and celestial object experts have put their extensive focus on the principal stellar bodies like the Sun, Moon, Planets and Comets. They happened to be the extraterrestrial objects located in the easy nearness to Earth and were effortlessly spotted in the sky.

With gradual advancements in technology and research, other intriguing objects hovering around the solar system came into the limelight. They were anything but planets, comets or moons. They were small and compact objects orbiting in a plain-sailing manner amid the cosmos. They came to be known as “minor planets”.

What is a minor planet?

A minor planet is a celestial object that revolves around the Sun and does not fall into the category of either a planet or a comet. The origin of the term minor planet dates back to the 1800s. Several other nomenclatures like asteroids and planetoids have been used in a perplexing blend with minor planets.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) committee made this situation even more complicated when they came up with another round of classification with the inclusion of more celestial bodies like “dwarf planets” and “small solar system bodies”. Simultaneously the IAU redefined the planet with amendments and Pluto was demoted to the rank of a dwarf planet.

The scientists from IAU assert that it is hydrostatic equilibrium which measures the capacity of a heavenly object to maintain a nearly spherical shape. It is also this distinctive feature that differentiates dwarf planets from the asymmetrically outlined small solar system bodies.

The labelling adds to further confusion as the IAU still maintains to recognise and use the term minor planet. Thus to be branded as a dwarf planet, the heavenly object should have enough mass to mould itself into a spherical form through a gravitational pull.

How are minor planets grouped?

Minor planets can be classified into several major categories namely asteroids, Trans-Neptunian objects, Trojans and centaurs. The asteroids reside within the asteroid belt which is the spatial territory between Mars and Jupiter. Astronomical bodies which are found to be orbiting beyond Neptune fall into the Trans-Neptunian class. Trojan is also a minor planet that ideally co-orbits with a planet or a moon and keeps up a stable and steady axial position at a definite place in relation to the larger object. And finally, centaurs are stellar objects that rotate in unsteady orbits between Jupiter and Neptune.

Minor planets are commonly prevalent orbiting at their own pace within the boundless expanse of the solar system. As of 2018, nearly 757626 minor planets have been identified and registered, 516386 have been officially numbered and 21264 minor planets have formal names.

Ceres – the smallest dwarf planet

Ceres is one of the dwarf planets and is the only celestial body of its kind to be situated within the innermost ranges of the solar system. The other siblings of Ceres are located on the exterior peripheries inside the Kuiper Belt (the extraterrestrial region beyond the orbit of Neptune). Although Ceres is considered to be the smallest of all the discovered dwarf planets, it is the biggest entity within the asteroid belt. Ceres is devoid of any resident moons.

Our solar system representation with the asteroid belt and Kuiper belt. (Rursus / Wikimedia Commons)

Discovery and early history of Ceres

Sometime in the latter half of the 18th century, some astronomers predicted the mere existence of a tiny planet between Mars and Jupiter through mathematical computations. On 1st January 1801, Giuseppe Piazzi, a Sicilian astronomer stumbled on what was then used to be appraised as a planet. It was named Ceres after the Roman deity of corn cultivation and harvests.

Although Ceres was downgraded to an asteroid years later because of its minuscule size and unworthy gravitational features, in 2006, Ceres was again promoted and it attained the ranking of a dwarf planet. It could not touch the full planetary status as it failed in clearing its surrounding debris through gravitational effects. However, it is oftentimes categorised as an asteroid as well.

Being the largest asteroid and the smallest dwarf planet, the expanse of Ceres is a paltry 590 miles. The radius of Ceres is 296 miles. The duration of a typical day in Ceres is 9 Earth-hours. The planet takes 1,682 Earth-days or 4.6 Earth-years to complete one revolution around the sun.

The marked nearness and tiny mass have prompted a few scientists to recommend Ceres as a prospective serving site for operated landings and a launch pad for the profound utilization of space missions.

What is a Dwarf Planet? (Jelly / NASA / JPL-Caltech)

Ceres is an oblate spheroid just like Earth

Ceres has the distinctive shape of an oblate spheroid unlike most of the different rocky objects existing in the asteroid belt. Ceres also has a convoluted protrusion all over its equator. Researchers profess that Ceres also has a lodged ocean and an intrinsic wafer-thin atmosphere primarily formed of water vapour.

The water vapour supposedly gets generated either by ice volcanoes or by ice in the vicinity of the sublimating surface when a conversion from solid to gaseous form takes place. The latest findings have uncovered some of the underlying facts about Ceres. However, many other secrets still lie unravelled.

All about luminous spots and lonesome mountains

A total number of 130 identical spots of wavering brilliance were found on the planet’s surface. Ceres has an inherent reflective surface that reminds of layers of fresh asphalt. The luminance of the spots varied from anything between the dull and dreary to the sparkle and shine. The most irradiant portion, called the Occator Crater, having a width of almost 56 miles, houses the most prominent and stunning assembly of beaming spots on the celestial surface.

Occator Crater on Ceres. (NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / PSI)

Initial conjectures centering on the spots hinted at the probability of the existence of ice volcanoes covering large-scale portions of the dwarf planet. However, Dawn’s probe unearthed a solitary and lonely mountain shooting directly upwards from the surface. The mountain takes the contour of a pyramid and has an altitude of 6,437 metres. The mountain surprisingly exhibits no sign of any volcanic or geological activity that could at least offer some clues about its origin.

Ceres is found to contain hydrated minerals carrying ammonia, carbonates, water, ice and the recently revealed organic specimens. Therefore, this fresh finding suggests that Ceres has all the indispensable components to generate and preserve life.

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Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) site. (Nick Russell / Light & Noise, Inc. / Used With Permission)

The Superconducting Super Collider was a gargantuan ring particle accelerator to facilitate high-energy proton collisions that the US government undertook to build in a massive underground complex in Waxahachie, Texas. If political and public opinions hadn’t forced the project to fold up midway, it would have been the largest accelerator in the world with the unsurpassed energy capacity of 20 trillion electron volts per proton. It is likely that, with the Superconducting Super Collider, the US scientists would have discovered the much-vaunted Higgs boson particle long before the European scientists did.

The Superconducting Super Collider

To understand what a ring particle accelerator is, we must take a look at particle physics which uses what the physicists call the Standard Model to explain the constitution of the universe. According to the Standard Model, leptons and quarks make up the observable matter in the universe and these particles act on each other due to gravitational force, electromagnetic force, strong force, and weak force. The physicists developed the idea of the Higgs boson to explain a major theoretical problem in this Standard Model about how the massless leptons came to acquire mass.

To observe these particles in action, it is necessary to have them collide with one another at high speeds. Such collisions can only take place in a high energy accelerator using superconducting magnets.

Cyclotron, the world’s first particle accelerator invented by Ernest O. Lawrence at the University of California in 1930. (Department of Energy. Office of Public Affairs / NAID)

Building the Superconducting Super Collider

The idea of building the Superconducting Super Collider came when the USA was still at the height of its economic power and taking on the biggest, best, and most ambitious projects was a matter of national pride. The Soviet Union had disintegrated, the Cold War was over, and the USA remained as the World’s self-described sole superpower. The Reagan administration greenlighted the accelerator project in 1987 – design on the project had already begun earlier in 1983 – and encouraged the scientists and administrators involved in it to ‘be greedy’. That is, to spare no pains and costs in spending the taxpayers’ money on this massive undertaking.

The US government and the scientists all hoped that building the biggest accelerator in the world would aid them in discovering the yet undiscovered mysteries of the universe. The theory of the Higgs particle had been put forward. The physicists assumed that building the Superconducting Super Collider would lead the way in its actual discovery. It would propel the USA and US scientist to the forefront of physics, and cement the USA’s place as the most scientifically advanced nations in the world.

The Accelerator Project Start

The project began with gusto under President Ronald Reagan. Once the government and the scientists had agreed that it was to be the biggest project ever, cost no bar, the organisers looked around the country for a suitable location and zeroed on to Waxahachie in Texas. It was a charming, small town of a few thousand inhabitants, and it had the perfect geology for digging tunnels. This was a very important criterion for an underground accelerator. Another plus point was that Waxahachie also had a stable climate with no danger of any natural disasters.

Drawing of the SSC campus area. (U.S. Department of Energy / Flickr)

Cost Escalations

Several foreign countries had initially agreed to help finance the project, but that was under the assumption that it would be a joint international venture. The tendency of the US Americans to speak about the project as a wholly US American enterprise that would benefit US interests in the main started to put off the would-be investors. Also, the Europeans already had the CERN laboratory in Switzerland – which had helped them discover the W and Z bosons in 1983 – and they were planning to build a new accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, and it didn’t make sense for them to invest in the US American project instead of in their own.

In the end, none of the countries contributed anything. The USA tried to rope Japan in, but that plan collapsed after a trade dispute with Japan regarding selling its automobiles in the USA.

The US Department of Energy and the Texas state ended up shouldering most of the financial burden.

The initial financial estimates for the Superconducting Super Collider project amounted to $4.4 billion. According to a report that the Department of Energy published four years after the project’s shelving, this estimate failed to include several crucial costs, such as the financing required for purchasing the land for the project, for the project management, and for many other requirements. After the project was underway, the scientists decided that the ring magnet design needed an overhaul, with the addition of 10,000 magnets, and this ended up hiking costs further. In total, the project was going to need $12 billion for its completion. 

Superconducting Super Collider magnets at National Museum of American History. (Ryan Somma / Flickr)

In 1992, the US House of Representatives voted against continuing the project, but, with the US Senate’s intervention, the project continued, albeit with a $100 million funding cut that had a serious impact on its construction. Costs continued to increase.

Project Abandoned

Bill Clinton, who followed George W. Bush as the President of the United States, was not particularly interested in continuing with the project. Also, the project found itself competing for funds with NASA’s space programs. Public opinion favoured space exploration over atomic exploration. The country was in a recession, moreover, and the public wasn’t enthusiastic about approving an unlimited governmental budget for science projects that didn’t offer any tangible results.

After the United States had spent $1.6 billion, with the state of Texas adding $279 million, on constructing the Superconducting Super Collider project and drilled several kilometres of tunnels and erected several buildings, constituting about 20% of the entire project, the axe fell. The US Congress decided it was no longer feasible to pour more money into the project, and the work came to a halt in October 1993.

Superconducting Super Collider tunnel under construction. (US Department of Energy)

The project had engaged around 2,000 people at its building stage and the management had planned on hiring more than 13,000 people on project completion. With the ignominious end of the project, the hired personnel all departed and the new jobs, of course, never materialized. The management abandoned the buildings and the tunnels.

A poster of the tunnel during construction. (Nick Russell / Light & Noise, Inc. / Used With Permission)

Aftermath

A millionaire from Arkansas, Johnnie Bryan Hunt, bought the abandoned site in 2006 for $.6.5 million and planned to build a data storage centre there. Six months later, however, he died in an accident, and his family was not interested in continuing with the project.

Inside the abandoned SSC facility. (Nick Russell / Light & Noise, Inc. / Used With Permission)

Then Magnablend, a chemical manufacturer, stepped in. They had a chemical factory in the area, and when a fire destroyed this factory, the company needed urgently to move to a new site. They bought the land from the Hunt family for $5 million and set up their new factory there. They had to face protests from the local farmers who were not happy to have a chemical factory smack bang in the centre of their farming community.

The main things that stand out with the abandonment of this project are the incredible mismanagement of taxpayers’ money, the lack of adequate project planning, and the ego-driven, politicized conflicts between the scientists, the US Department of Energy, and the politicians.

Instead of joining hands to build the biggest scientific marvel of our times, they ended up creating the most expensive hole in history. It was also a turning point for the USA’s scientific hegemony. With the new Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the Europeans beat them to discovering the Higgs particle on 4 July 2012.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Duga Radar: Unravelling of the Mystery Behind the Soviet Woodpecker“.

Recommended Visit:
National Museum of American History | Washington, D.C., USA

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A man about to be executed by beheading. (Australian War Memorial)

The question of what constitutes consciousness and for how long a decapitated head remains consciousness is something that has long interested researchers and regular folks alike. Stories abound of decapitated heads showing eye movements and emotive facial expressions, but are they true or apocryphal? Exact verification of such instances is, of course, impossible.

Decapitation as a capital punishment

“Off with their heads!” cried the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland, whenever someone displeased her. She was a fictional character, of course, but many real-life characters in the past shared her passion for separating people from their heads for actual crimes, perceived crimes, alleged crimes, and political crimes.

Beheading was a common form of capital punishment in the past centuries, and it is still practised in some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, and Qatar. Executions often took place in public squares and huge crowds gathered to view these grisly spectacles, jeering, screaming, and even applauding the unfortunate fates of their fellow human beings. Sometimes, with hawkers calling out their wares and stalls set up to cater to the public, these events even took on a rather festive garb, and people even brought their children along. There are many stories of people knitting, eating, and gossiping as people were being guillotined during the French Revolution.

Around 40,000 people lost their lives to the guillotine in this period, and the bloodbath gives us some of the most gruesome anecdotes about the consciousness capacity of decapitated heads.

Notable incidents of decapitated retaining its consciousness

A famous example is of Charlotte Corday, the woman who assassinated Marat. After her execution, the executioner lifted her head up for public display and then proceeded to win some public acclaim for himself by insulting the dead woman with a couple of slaps. Onlookers claimed that, upon this, her cheeks flushed red and a look of anger crossed over her features.

In another instance, two members of the Committee for Public Safety, who had no liking for each other, got a taste of the guillotine blade one after the other. When the people assigned to clean-up checked the basket later, they found that the two enemies had not made peace with each other in death. Far from it, one of the heads had bitten the other and so severely that it wasn’t possible to separate them and they, perforce, went to the grave together.

The French scientist, Antoine Lavoisier, faced the guillotine in 1794 and apparently, he retained his scientific spirit to the last, informing his assistant to keep a close watch, he would try to wink at him, and then the world would know if a decapitated head really did retain its consciousness. In the end, though, he lost his head and forgot to wink. Of course, nobody knows if this story is true.

In 1905, a certain Dr. Beaurieux recounted his personal experience after the execution of a criminal named Henri Languille. The doctor called out to the executed man and Languille opened his eyes and looked straight at the doctor. This happened not once, but twice, and for around 30 seconds after decapitation, and the doctor claims that, in these few moments, Languille seemed perfectly conscious of what had happened to him.

Another hair-raising story involves a US marine, who was driving with a friend when they had an accident and the car overturned. The friend’s head decapitated right away in the crash. The marine saw his friend open his eyes and look towards his body and back at his friend with an expression of anguish and grief before he died.

In the case of animals, people have reported chicken heads remaining conscious for a few seconds after being decapitated.

The decapitation of Baba Deep Singh

A famous case of decapitation from India is that of Baba Deep Singh, who lived from 1682 to 1757. He was the leader of the Shaheedan Misl Tarna Dal, a Khalsa military unit that was part of 12 Misls that the Sikh Confederacy formed to counter the Mughals and protect the Sikh faith.

In 1757, the Sikhs clashed with the Afghan invader Ahmad Shah Durrani during his fourth invasion of the Indian subcontinent. Baba Deep Singh and the Misl Shaheedan attacked the Afghan army near Kurukshetra as they were returning to Kabul with prisoners and plundered loot from Northern India. The Sikhs successfully freed the prisoners and appropriated the loot. Enraged, Ahmad Shah Durrani ordered his forces to destroy the Harmandir Sahib in retaliation. They demolished the temple and polluted its holy water tank with slaughtered animals.

Portrait of Baba Deep Singh. (Wikimedia Commons)

Baba Deep Singh took it upon himself to avenge this desecration even if he fell at the Darbar Sahib, as he declared to the congregation at the Damdama Sabib. He started out with an army of 500 men and by the time they reached Amritsar the army had grown to over 5000 well-armed Sikhs.

In the fierce battle that ensued with the Afghans, Baba Deep Singh was decapitated. There are two accounts regarding this. In one, he was completely decapitated, but he didn’t let that stop him. Buoyed on by the shouted reminder from a fellow Sikh that he had pledged to reach the Harmandir Sahib shrine, he held his decapitated head in one hand and continued slaying the enemy with the sword in the other hand. He continued thus right up to the Harmandir Sahib and died when he reached there. In the second account, he was partially decapitated and, holding his head with one hand, continued battling until he reached the temple. As he had pledged, it was here that he let his head fall.

How credible are these decapitation accounts?

Many scientists scoff at and dismiss these stories as unreliable or as outright fabrications. They argue that it isn’t the last dying gasp of consciousness that produces the observed or claimed reactions, but the last reflexes of the dying brain.

But this too is an extraordinary claim to make given the lack of exact evidence and no real way to prove it. Facts are the cornerstones of science, or so we always hear, but we don’t know what the real facts are here. There is much about the brain and human consciousness that we have still to discover.

What happens after decapitation?

It is necessary to understand a bit about how the brain works to get a handle on this whole matter. What we know as brain activity is due to the electrical activity of the neurotransmitter chemicals in our brains that help neurons to communicate with each other and form neural networks. Everything we think about and feel is due to the pathways and activities of our neural networks.

The brain requires a constant supply of blood and oxygen to remain functional and keep the neural networks working. If these supplies are cut off, the brain will die. Decapitation severs the blood and oxygen supplies to the brain, and the inevitable happens. The person dies. The question is, how soon does death occur? Immediately? After a few seconds or after a few minutes? And, if it is after some seconds or minutes, does the brain retain its ability to think and feel in this time? Does the person experience grief and pain?

Electroencephalogram (EEG) test on mice 

In 2011, four Dutch scientists carried out an experiment on lab mice to see how long they retained consciousness after being decapitated. They attached electroencephalography (EEG) wires to the brains of the mice and monitored the electrical activity in their brains. They discovered that the brains of the mice show electric activity in the range of 13–100 Hz for about 4 seconds after being decapitated. This is the frequency range for cognitive activity. The scientists observed a further wave activity 50 to 80 seconds after decapitation. The 13-100 Hz ranges come within what we recognize as consciousness, and this might signify that the mice experienced some form of consciousness after decapitation.

This is quite an extraordinary finding. Since labs use mice to test issues that are compatible with humans, we might surmise that it might be a similar case for humans.

It is certainly a difficult matter to verify. Beheadings are not as in vogue as they once were and not even the most scientific-minded purist is going to volunteer himself or herself for the sake of enlightening the world on this matter. In the end, we are not likely to find what the verifiable truth is in this matter.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “21 Grams Experiment by Duncan: A Glorious Attempt to Measure Human Soul“.

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Luigi Galvani: A galvanised corpse art. (Henry Robinson / N.Y. ; Washington, D.C)

Death is inevitable. And no living organism – whether big or small – can escape it. After a human being dies, rigor mortis sets in and the dead body starts to stiffen, as all physiological functions start to shut down one by one. But once a person passes away and his bodily functions stop, does the corpse have the capability to move on its own or by applying an external force to it?

Luigi Galvani was one such physician and biologist, who through his experiments on animal corpses reached the conclusion that when electricity is passed through a dead body, it twitches, thus giving rise to the term bioelectromagnetics.

Painting of Luigi Galvani with frog legs. (Wikimedia Commons)

Born in Italy to a physician father in 1737, it was but natural for young Luigi Galvani to have an inclination towards medicine. He obtained his degree of medicine in 1759 from the University of Bologna, Italy, where he also started delivering lectures in the field of anatomy. He was also appointed as a professor of obstetrics at the Institute of Arts and Science.

In the year 1762, Galvani married Lucia, daughter of his mentor Professor Gusmano Galeazzi, where post the death of his father-in-law, he carried forward the former’s research works. Galvani had developed a keen interest in animal anatomy while delivering lectures at college, which led him to start his investigative work in the same field.

Luigi Galvani’s experiments on dead animals

If legends are anything to go by, Lucia is once said to have developed tuberculosis in 1780. With her condition deteriorating, she asked her cooks to prepare frog soup, which would cure her of the disease soon.

While the servants struggled to find a place to start preparing soup in a large quantity for her, Lucia ordered them to keep the frogs and other ingredients in her husband’s lab. One servant placed a skinned frog close to an electrical machine and Lucia, who was supervising her cooks, witnessed something out of the ordinary.

When the cook picked up a knife, a spark flew from the electrical machine and touched it. And when the knife touched the frog in turn, the dead animal’s legs twitched and that is how Luigi Galvani is said to have come across the phenomenon. Social scientists argue that it was Lucia Galvani, who deserves to be credited with the theory of bioelectromagnetics, for her desire to have frog soup, but loyalists think otherwise.

Although the frog soup theory is debated, the twitching of a dead frog’s legs, however, is part of the original experiment that Galvani carried out in his laboratory. Facing tough competition from his contemporaries like Alessandro Volta and Benjamin Franklin, Galvani became the first scientist to discover that electricity had the capability to alter physiological actions in a dead body.

He observed that muscles and tissues in animal corpses contained bioelectric forces and they contracted when electricity touched them with a metal conductor. His ten years of extensive research in the field eventually led him into a controversy with his competitors, even though they admired him for his work.

Galvani’s experiments on dead animals led common people to believe that the biologist had come to know the hidden meaning of life and that he had received the extraordinary power to bring the dead back to life. Although nothing of that sort happened, his subsequent invention of the galvanometer and the entire process known as Galvanism has now become a part of the modern science curriculum all over the world. Also, the modern techniques of application of electric shocks to cure an array of medical conditions like paralysis and rheumatism, stemmed from Luigi Galvani’s experiments back in the 1700s.

Luigi Galvani’s experiment on stimulation of muscle in a dead frog. (ITU Pictures / Flickr)

Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft

Renowned English novelist Mary Shelley, who wrote the cult classic Frankenstein, Or The Modern Prometheus is said to have been inspired by Luigi Galvani’s experiments and written the spooky story of the famous re-animated corpse. While on a holiday in Geneva, the process of galvanism gave her the idea to write her most famous book in 1818. It told the story of a mad scientist, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, who creates a grotesque monster by joining together parts of a dead human body and passing an electric current through it to bring it back to life.

Shelley is also said to have acknowledged her source of inspiration and written about the term Galvanism in one of the paragraphs of her bestselling novel.

How his works influenced others

After Volta coined the term galvanism in his honour, Galvani went on to carry out research work in the field of bioelectromagnetics for a long time, while also working on his experiments simultaneously. But in the year 1790, Luigi Galvani’s health began to decline post his wife’s death due to TB. This came as a setback to him and his work began getting affected too. In 1796, Napoleon invaded Bologna, which forced the biologist to quit working finally. Galvani moved into his ancestral home with his brother, where he breathed his last, two years later in 1798, leaving behind a legacy that is more than two centuries old.

After Galvani died, his nephew decided to carry forward his legacy and so in the year 1803, Giovanni Aldini pioneered the art of reanimation of human corpses. In London, a twenty-six-year-old George Forster was executed for murdering his wife and child and the freshly decapitated body of the criminal was brought to Aldini, who was on a Europe tour, demonstrating his skills.

Aldini attached copper and zinc batteries to the dead body and passed current through it. Bystanders saw that the cadaver’s jaw and facial muscles began twitching and one eye opened due to the quivering. A little while later, when Aldini reattached the poles of the battery to other parts of the body, the entire corpse began to move as if dancing in a reanimated form, leaving audiences spellbound as well as spooked out. He carried out his experimental shows in different parts of the continent and also began working on carcasses publically.

Luigi Galvani dedicated his entire life to studying the effects of electricity on dead animals after discovering it by chance at his lab, but the need to feed people’s curiosity to know more in the field gave his nephew a grisly opportunity to work on human cadavers. Common people might not understand what galvanism or a galvanometer would mean, but Mary Shelley’s story of Frankenstein surely gives them a peek into his fruitful and rich heritage.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Dr. Robert E. Cornish’s Controversial Experiments to Revive a Dog’s Decapitated Head“.

Recommended Read:
An Account of the Late Improvements in Galvanism: With a Series of Curious and Interesting Experiments Performed Before the Commissioners of the French National Institute, and Repeated Lately in the Anatomical Theatres of London | By Giovanni Aldini, Hooper Robert 1773-1835

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The International Space Station. (NASA / Crew of STS-132)

Everyone is aware of a vast, limitless zone, several hundred kilometers outside the Earth’s atmosphere, where celestial objects orbit around giant stars and many unknown astronomical events take place. This boundless zone, known as space, is intriguing and there have been a host of government bodies and individual agencies that have spent billions in research and exploration of this area of nothingness. And to add to it all, there’s one major recent feat in the field of computing that a private info-tech company has achieved, which will change the way astronauts transmit their data back to the Earth. But before we get there, here are a few basics we must know of first.

What is the International Space Station?

In simple terms, the International Space Station (ISS) is a home away from home. It is a huge spacecraft orbiting the Earth, where astronauts live and carry out scientific researches for specific periods of time. Launched in the year 1998 by a Russian rocket, the International Space Station was built by a group of nations, where the first crew, comprising of astronauts from different countries of the world, arrived in the year 2000. Over a period of time, more nations added their own modules to the space station, finally making the ISS as big as an entire football field, as we know it today.

Weighing approximately half a million kilograms, the ISS is huge enough to accommodate six astronauts at a time, with all necessary living facilities, which also includes a gymnasium. With research labs from countries like Japan, USA, Russia as well as some European nations including Germany, France and The Netherlands; the ISS is where space research and exploration is carried out, which otherwise could not have been done on the Earth.

What is Cloud Computing?

We all know that a computer is a device that receives information, processes it; stores it and recalls it as and when instructions are fed into it. A remote server is a computing term, which is a device that is not attached to the client’s keyboard but it can be accessed from any part of the world from anywhere over a shared network. And cloud computing is a term, which means the delivery of a host of Internet services like databases, applications, networking, analytics and storage to a client on demand in any part of the world. In short, cloud computing means a shared pool of computer resources and services, which can be accessed remotely over the Internet by a lot of clients.

Cloud Computing and International Space Station

In the year 2017, when a space cargo capsule called SpaceX Dragon was sent into orbit to deliver cargo to the astronauts at ISS, little did the space researchers know that they were in for a pleasant surprise. Developed by tech giant Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), a supercomputer known as Spaceborne Computer was delivered to the International Space Station after it was thoroughly tested for over a year to check if it would sustain in outer space. The supercomputer (a network of computers working together) was examined to see if it could withstand the harsh space atmospheres, radiation flares, frequent power outages, zero gravity and vacuum; and only then it was delivered to its destination aboard the ISS in August.

Basically, the idea behind delivering this supercomputer to the ISS was to cut down on time that the astronauts required to send research data to and fro from space. HP Enterprise developed cloud computing techniques in Spaceborne Computer and made it easier for the experimenters in orbit to store their own data and use it when necessary. Till now, astronauts transmitted data back to the Earth first to get it checked, while waiting for results to come back. Now, researchers can directly run their analyses in space instead of sending it back for insight. And so, with the help of cloud computing, communication between Earth and space can become a lot quicker, more real-time and much more efficient.

How cloud computing could ease challenges at the ISS

The connection and bandwidth between space and Earth is slow and intermittent and there could be problems regarding communication for a few minutes. With cloud computing, the unreliability can be done away with and there can be no chances of data loss, while it is being sent back to the Earth, as opposed to before. Testing supercomputers in space can make way for more research studies on an advanced level in the future, where astronauts are eyeing other planets for habitation such as Mars. The Spaceborne Computer will also help scientists to carry out their research work without making use of bulky, overly expensive and time-consuming computing devices.

As the one-of-a-kind, first-ever cloud experience, which is set to make communication between Earth and space easier, makes its way into the International Space Station; it gives us one more reason to rejoice, as mankind takes another giant leap in the field of space communication.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “NASA’s Deep Space Network: How We Communicate with Space Probes Billions of Miles from Earth“.

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Photo of bullfighting used for illustration. (pxhere)

Jose Manuel Rodríguez Delgado also known as “the pioneer of electric brain stimulation” was born on August 8, 1915 in Ronda, Spain. He was a physiology professor at the prestigious Ivy League Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

Delgado was prominently known for his tests administering electric stimuli to the brain to control the mind. His renowned experiment in 1964 with a bull in Cordoba, Spain earned him the phrase – “The man who fought a bull with mind control“.

Jose Delgado’s obsession with the brain

Jose Delgado wanted to follow his ophthalmologist father’s footsteps and proceeded to study medicine and physiology at the University of Madrid in 1933. Whilst studying medicine, he became greatly intrigued by the ‘Father of Neuroscience’ Santiago Ramon y Cajal (1906 Nobel Laureate).

Santiago Ramón y Cajal. (Clark University)

With the onset of the Spanish War in 1936, Delgado still a medical student, served the Republicans as a medical corpsman. Unfortunately, the war ended in March 1939 with the defeat of the Republicans, and Delgado was put in a concentration camp for five months which compelled him to think about the neurons that lead to violent behaviour.

After being released, he went back to complete his medical studies and earn a PhD in physiology from the Ramón y Cajal Institute in Madrid.

Jose Delgado was captivated in particular, by the experiments that the Swiss physiologist Walter Rudolf Hess was conducting. Hess had established that electrodes could be effectively used to stimulate a particular part of the brain in order to extract responses. His tests had proved that an element of the brain, the hypothalamus, could be stimulated to bring out various reactions.

Hess went on to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, in 1949 for his work. Meanwhile, in 1946, Delgado won a fellowship for a year at Yale. He later went on to accept a position in the physiology department at the same university, headed by Dr John Farquhar Fulton, in 1950.

John Farquhar Fulton. (Wellcome Collection)

Fulton was a Sterling Professor of Physiology at Yale since 1929, having been appointed at the young age of 30. It is a premier university rank at Yale, given to a tenured faculty member who is considered the best in their field. Fulton was a pioneer in psychiatry.

The era of lobotomy

Fulton and his colleague Dr Carlyle Ferdinand Jacobsen presented a paper on the brain experiments they had conducted on chimpanzees at an international forum. These experiments described at the Second International Neurological Congress in London, held in July 1935, gave the idea of psychosurgery to Portuguese neurologist, Dr Antonio Egas Moniz.

Fulton and Jacobsen removed a part of the frontal lobe of chimpanzees. Though there was no change in the level of intelligence, the chimpanzees had become aggressive. They then proceeded to completely remove the prefrontal lobe and again saw a change in the temperament. The chimps had become docile and submissive. Thus, implying the significance of the frontal lobe in determining temperament or behaviour.

Moniz thought of performing a similar surgery on patients with mental illnesses. Inspired by Fulton’s paper, Moniz directed the first prefrontal leucotomy on a human being, performed by his associate Almeida Lima at the Hospital Santa Marta in Lisbon on November 12, 1935. This was the beginning of leucotomies on patients with psychosis, which Moniz asserted, gave the desired results.

Fulton was initially upset that a test conducted on chimpanzees had lead to surgeries on humans. Moniz was constantly in touch with him to refine the procedure and later on, Fulton became a sceptical supporter. Moniz also received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, in 1949 for his leucotomy procedure. Walter Jackson Freeman II and James Winston Watts modified the procedure in the United States. It was made less invasive and renamed, lobotomy.

By 1951, United States alone reported of the maximum number of lobotomies performed, but by mid-1950s, lobotomy was renounced with the development of successful psychiatric medicines.

The groundbreaking invention

1902: Early attempts to use the brain for receiving radio waves by US radio engineer Archie Frederick Collins. (Archie Frederick Collins “The effect of electric waves on the human brain“)

Jose Delgado was horrified at the idea of lobotomy and completely against the thought of obliterating a section of the brain. His ideas were more in accordance with the experiments of Walter Rudolph Hess. Delgado was well known as someone who would improve technology for getting the desired result with minimum or no damages. So much so, that he came to be known as a “technological wizard“.

He believed in electrical implants in the brain that would pass small currents to control the behaviour of the patient. His primitive experiments consisted of implanted electrodes with wires connecting to electronic devices. This, unfortunately was a risky procedure as it curtailed the movements of the subject, and left the brain susceptible to infections.

Delgado went on to design the stimoceiver, a small implanted electrode that was radio controlled to send electric impulses into the specific area of treatment. Delgado wanted to completely eliminate the butchering of the brain with this invention. After experimenting on animals, he extended his research to patients of schizophrenia and epilepsy, and implanted electrodes in nearly 25 such patients.

Delgado co-authored his first ever peer-reviewed paper in 1952 on the effects of electrode implantation in humans. He further designed the chemitrode, an implant that would administer a precise amount of drug straight into the desired portion of the brain. He is also credited for developing the early version of the cardiac pacemaker.

Taming bulls and other animals

Dr Jose Manuel Rodríguez Delgado’s most prominent experiment is with a Spanish fighter bull, Lucero in 1964 in Cordoba, Spain on the La Alamirilla ranch owned by Don Ramón Sánchez. Lucero had been sedated and implanted with electrodes that were remote-controlled by Delgado. In the bullfighting ring, with the red cape in his right hand and the wireless control in his left, Delgado turned the stimulation on as soon as Lucero was a couple of metres away from him.

The result was an aggressively charging bull coming to a screeching halt. The animal lowered its tail and seemed to have lost its violence. However, when Delgado stopped the stimulus after exiting the ring, the bull went on to ram the enclosure. On May 17 in 1965, the New York Times published his experiment on the front page with the headline “Matador With a Radio Stops Wired Bull“.

Even though this event created a lot of interest in Delgado’s work, he was of the belief that his experiments with simians and apes were of more significance. In a trial with a female chimpanzee, Paddy, Delgado fitted a stimoceiver in the chimp’s amygdala and hooked it up to a computer. Every time a signal was detected from that part of her brain, the computer generated a punishing stimulus to her central gray area.

As this went on, Paddy’s amygdala produced fewer signals over the hours, thus making her quieter and less aggressive. Jose Delgado conjectured that this method could probably be used in humans to stop seizures and other disorders generated by signals within the brain.

Jose Delgado was obsessed with that portion of the brain which was responsible for aggression and the area that held back the aggression. In an effort to study this, Delgado implanted a stimoceiver in a monkey that was prone to bullying. The electrode was to generate a stimulus in the caudate nucleus of the brain, which controls voluntary movements. This would send an electrical impulse to pacify the animal. The lever that would pacify the bully, was installed in the same cage in which the monkeys were. A female monkey realised the power of the lever that controlled the stimoceiver and every time she was threatened by the belligerent bully, she would press the lever.

Comparing the monkey’s traits to humans, Jose Delgado wrote: “The old dream of an individual overpowering the strength of a dictator by remote control has been fulfilled, at least in our monkey colonies“.

The end of an era and of a pioneer

Jose Manuel Rodríguez Delgado wrote a134 scientific papers that were published between 1950 to 1970 on the electrical stimulations he performed in cats, monkeys and humans. In his book “Physical Control of the Mind: Toward a Psychocivilised Society“, Delgado talks about the taming and civilisation of the inner being. Not only was the book shrouded in controversy but so was Delgado’s work.

He was blamed for trying to control the minds of his patients. During this time, he was requested by Villar Palasi, the Education Minister of Spain to help in the setting up of a medical school at the Autonomous University of Madrid. Delgado accepted the offer and, moved to Spain with his family, in 1974. Delgado and Caroline, daughter of a Yale administrator, married in 1965.

They had two children, and Caroline often assisted Jose Delgado in his trials and study. Delgado became the world’s most renowned and controversial scientist. It was his vision to rid humanity of psychological turmoil and hostile behaviour. His cutting-edge work on brain stimulation remains unrecognised and unappreciated.

In 2005, they moved from Spain to San Diego in California in order to be close to their children who were settled in the United States. He passed away on September 15 2011, at the age of 96. After decades of research, the human brain is still an enigma. Though much is known now than before, research on electrical implants has restarted in an effort to treat patients with a crippling neurological disorder.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Project MKUltra: CIA’s Cold War Conspiracy to Secretly Control Human Mind Goes Wrong“.

Fact Analysis:
STSTW Media strives to deliver accurate information through careful research. However, things can go wrong. If you find the above article inaccurate or biased, please let us know at [email protected].

The post Jose Delgado, the Pioneer of Electric Brain Stimulation Tamed a Raging Bull with Radio Control appeared first on .

HeroRATs: Rats trained by APOPO on field detecting landmines. (© APOPO)

APOPO which stands for “Anti-Personnel Landmines Removal Product Development” is a world-renowned non-governmental organisation founded by Bart Weetjens, a Belgian rat-enthusiast. The Tanzanian based NGO is involved in several humanitarian pursuits; one of the most noteworthy being the training offered by them to giant-sized pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) to detect spots of landmines and outbreak of tuberculosis (TB). These are the two primary menaces that have plagued the African landscape since long.

There are more than 60 countries where gruesome disasters and accidents take place because of life-threatening landmines and other explosives in war-torn areas. These occurrences impede the nation’s progress and development besides precipitating untold casualties and injuries.

On an absolutely different spectrum, inaccurate and time-consuming methods to detect tuberculosis make it one of the world’s most infectious and lethal diseases. Statistics show an average annual TB contraction of 10 million people out of which around 1.8 million succumb to the disease whereas approximately 3 million cases remain undiagnosed.

The APOPO rats which are extremely sensitive to smell have earned the much-deserving byname ‘HeroRATs’. These rats give back a safe and secure land to the communities congenial for growth and development.

The inception of APOPO

Founder Bart Weetjens stood firm in looking for an all-encompassing resolution of a local problem with the help of locally generated resources. His prime objective was to fix on an agreeable and affordable solution which communities could put to use rather than taking recourse to expensive techniques with integrated foreign technology.

According to Weetjens, the principal advantage of using rodents lies in the fact that they can be trained and procured aplenty in a cost-effective manner.

Each sniffing Apopo rat comes at an average price of $7,600, inclusive of administrative and operating expenses. On the contrary, a sniffer dog might cost more than three times as much only to train.

Advantages of employing the southern giant pouched rat

HeroRats undergoing field training. (© APOPO)

Feather-weight to tread on the landmines: The pouched rats have an average lifespan of 8 years. So they turn up as a pretty good investment. Furthermore, the critters are excessively lightweight to walk over the landmines without triggering them. They apply their nasal hunch to find out the precise location of the explosive. As of date, Apopo has amassed the goodwill of zero casualties.

Rapid detection of landmines: On the counter, one giant pouched rat can forage an area of more 2000 square feet in a time span of 20 minutes. A similar human action would take up to four days to accomplish.

Attuned to climatic variations: The rats are native species of the Sub-Saharan tropical zone of Africa. They are accustomed to the prevailing weather and resilient to pandemic diseases. Minimal resources are required to train and raise a rat to its adulthood.

Lightning fast pace to check Tuberculosis (TB) bacteria: In the case of detecting TB, the major advantage is the speed at which the rats execute the task. Standard examining procedures at public clinics involve the use of a microscope to detect TB, which is slow and sometimes incorrect. As per records set by APOPO, a trained rat can assess 40 samples in 7 minutes.

Training the rats

Training the rats to detect landmines is not an easy process. Firstly, the rodents, just at their infancy, need to pick up the learning acumen to be in the vicinage of humans. Secondly, these gnawing animals do not possess the ability to fling back to verbal instructions. Hence, the trainers uniquely teach them with a clicking sound which implies their earnings in the form of food rewards (usually peanuts or bananas). Finally, the rats are trained to cling on to trappings and harnesses and walk over tight ropes suspended between two handlers across the fields.

Rats intended for mine-detection are initially shifted to a sandbox where they are made accustomed with the scent of explosives by sniffing out TNT-suffused tea balls. Ultimately, they are drilled on a test field that accommodates both active and inactive mines.

At the time of discovering a potential landmine, the trained skilful rats break off and scratch the TNT-scented location. The human de-miners then put a mark on the spot and later return to excavate the area. If they discover a landmine underneath the spot, they detonate it immediately.

The overall training takes nearly nine months for each rat. Since the animals live for only eight years, it becomes burdensome for an animal with a fairly short lifetime to receive this elaborate training and perform to the finest standards of excellence.

It is to be noted that rats only form a component of an integrated demining operation. Pieces of equipment like metal detectors and mechanical demining gears still remain indispensable. Till 2016, the HeroRATs surveyed over 270 square miles of farmlands in Mozambique. The rodents’ uncovered 13,826 mines, discovered 29,031 small-sized ammunitions and 39,601 unexploded ammunition.

Training rats to diagnose tuberculosis

HeroRats undergoing training to detect TB. (© APOPO)

In this scenario also, the rats undergo nine months of training. The rats are given lessons to recognise the odour of typical molecules that indicate the existence of the tuberculosis germs. Sputum samples that are already examined through conventional tests are rechecked by the rats. They sniff through a series of holes in an enclosed glass chamber that houses the sputum samples. When a rat becomes aware of TB, it signals by brushing its nose against the particular sample aperture or scratching on the floor of the cage.

Future prospects of HeroRATs

At the present time, the United States is analyzing the usage of the rats to curb unlawful trafficking of wildlife. Detection of commonly occurring cancer ailments and other degenerative neurological maladies such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s can be accomplished with the help of these smart rodents. In disaster-struck zones, HeroRATs can serve to locate and save victims buried under the rubble.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Insects from Hell: Mecoptera, the Fly with a Scorpion Tail“.

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Halley research station. (Forgemind ArchiMedia / Flickr)

Antarctica is an amazing and distinct continent. As per the records, this windiest, coldest, driest and harshest place is the last one to have been discovered on our planet. The average temperatures in this continent in the southern hemisphere can sometimes dip to as low as minus 90 degrees Celsius. But that does not make it so peculiar. One of the world’s first floating research facilities on this continent is what makes it even more unusual.

The British Antarctic Survey’s scientific research centre called Halley Research Station is one of the several peculiarities in Antarctica, which is nothing short of a wonder. The construction work of Halley Research Station began in the year 1956 and it was built on the 150 metre-thick Brunt Ice Shelf, which is a large floating sheet of ice attached to the mainland.

Over all these years, the one-of-a-kind research station, now called Halley VI, has become a mix of several facilities all rolled into one. It monitors the ozone activity, studies the Earth’s atmosphere; it houses a meteorological centre and also has its own space weather observatory. But what is so fascinating about this research centre is that it is built on a floating sheet of ice and can be relocated as separate modules or as a single unit during times of crisis.

The facility

Portrait of Emond Halley. (Richard Phillips / Wikimedia Commons)

The research station was named after English astronomer and mathematician Edmond Halley. In the year 1957, after construction work of the station was completed, the research centre underwent quite a few changes and came to be officially known as ‘Halley VI’ in February 2013.

Halley VI was the first research centre that discovered the ozone layer way back in 1985. The colourful structure, built on hydraulic skis is also the world’s first ground research station that can be completely relocated from time to time. The futuristic facility is fully equipped with state-of-the-art housing areas and modern labs, where scientists brainstorm on issues related to global climate change and rising sea levels.

Out of the total eight interlinked, relocatable modules, the central unit is for socializing, while the other pods house laboratories, offices and dwelling spaces. The research station also has its own magnetometer, weather balloons, mechanical workshops and radars.

Weather balloons being released near the Halley Research Center. (NASA)

A GPS receiver constantly monitors the movement of the ice shelf on which the research facility sits, for fear of it floating away from the main landmass. There are dangers of the ice sheet calving off as a drifting iceberg into the ocean but the tracker can quickly notify before disaster strikes.

Halley VI roughly accommodates 70 scientists and staff members in Antarctic summer, which lasts from January to March. On the contrary, there are approximately only 15 to 16 scientists to carry on with the research work during the harsh winter months on the continent.

The staff members include cooks, doctors that monitor health during the extreme conditions, engineers to look after the logistics of the facility and scientists that are all experts in their respective fields. Being one of the most isolated places on the earth, the inhabitants of Halley VI only have each other for company, with a few Antarctic animals outside the pod.

Although residing inside a module for scientific studies can be a tough day in and day out, the best part of staying during winter months for scientists is the Aurora Australis that is on display at nights. With prolonged darkness for a period of over 105 days together, the natural display of colours keeps the inhabitants going.

One of the modules of Halley VI Research Station with aurora australis in the background. (Richard Burt / Flickr)

Apart from studying ozone depletion and producing accurate weather forecasts, Halley VI doubles up as a natural lab, which provides an exceptional environment to look into human behaviour on test flights. In collaboration with the European Space Agency, Halley VI is also equipped with a cockpit simulator, similar to Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft, which helps in testing human behaviour on manned international space flights on lunar missions or future manned missions to Mars.

Life at Halley Research Station

Emperor penguin. (Christopher Michel / Flickr)

A typical week at Halley VI consists of scientists engaging in research work related to the changing climate, rising sea levels and atmospheric weather mapping by day. Apart from hectic schedules, they also take part in relaxation activities like playing games, building igloos, throwing parties, celebrating Christmas, watching the Milky Way on a clear night and spotting colonies of Emperor penguins that keep them entertained.

The RRS Ernest Shackleton – a transport ship – visits the research station every once in a year in December to supply cargo and ferry research passengers to and fro from the base. Stopping by for almost a week, the vessel equipped with its own small research facility, loads and unloads necessary goods and commodities at the station.

Researchers at the unit are also provided with heavy snowmobiles called Sno-Cats and light snow vehicles like Challenger 756B that speed up ferrying work from the coast towards the facility in the thick snow.

Halley research station. (Forgemind ArchiMedia / Flickr)

In cases of emergencies, inhabitants are taken to safer places, the weather labs keep functioning automatically inside, collecting data from the pre-installed solar batteries. But during extremely harsh winter weather, all experiments are suspended and Halley VI comes to a standstill.

Recently in December 2017, satellite images showed a 17-km-deep fissure in the north and east side of the ice sheet. Since it was spotted on October 31, it came to be known as “Halloween Crack“. Because of this developing fissure in the ice sheet, the 200-tonne hi-tech pods were immediately shifted and staff members were sent away. The heavy glacial activity also suspended work on the station. The relocation to the new site was successful but the deteriorating weather and snow storms only forced the shutdown of the systems. The facility is expected to begin work in November 2018, which will be the onset of summer in Antarctica.

Despite all the hurdles, Halley VI has overcome all obstacles and has relentlessly worked in the environmental and space research fields for over six decades, and has given us many new insights into the Earth’s southernmost polar region.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “McMurdo Station: The Largest Research Centre in the Antarctic“.

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Apollo 11 slow scan television photo. (NASA)

When the first human, Neil Armstrong, walked on the moon on 21st July 1969, America as a nation was facing multiple challenges on several fronts. With more than 15 thousand soldiers killed, over a lakh wounded, and 5 lakh soldiers deserting US army till 1973, anti-Vietnam-war sentiments were at a peak. Credibility, as well as the Economy of American state, was in bad shape.

A domino effect, NASA began to dismantle ALSEP’s (Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package) network of Scientists and Engineers in 1974. By 1977 there was a total shutdown of stations receiving radio data from lunar instruments put on the moon by Apollo missions. But an exploration of the moon was too significant to be stalled abruptly. The body of knowledge it created required refining and updating for space research.

Apollo 11’s missing tapes

Dr. Marcus. G. Langseth, Scientist at Columbia University had studied the flow of heat through Earth’s upper layer between 1966 and 1975. Seiichi Nagihara, a geophysicist at Texas Tech University wanted to analyse Langseth’s data with upscale analytical techniques which were not available in Langseth’s time. But he was shocked to find that half of the ALSEP data was lost following project shut down. Search for the missing files being a top priority; two dozen scientists joined him and formed ‘ALSEP Data Recovery Focus Group’ in 2010. The Group, funded and supported by NASA, recovered 450 tapes at National Records Centre in Maryland. But 4550 archival tapes, which would go bad in a decade’s time, remained untraced giving agonists fodder for calling the moon missions a hoax.

Impact of the missing tapes

Rumour Mills worked overtime, right since the day Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, to say that no man ever landed on the moon. What was flashed on television worldwide, they said, was a film made in a studio. Those who couldn’t send even a chimp into space in 1961, argued wags, now claim 2 men have landed on the moon; how come? Where has the huge $25 billion Apollo budget gone? Bickering found a base in a book “We never went to the moon: America’s $30 billion swindles” self-published in 1974.

Author, Bill Kaysing said Apollo program was a subterfuge for the secret militarization of space by America and that moonwalk was stage show passed as space odyssey. Author’s association with Atlas V (a rocket used for interplanetary missions and military payloads to International Space Station) gave him some credibility but the book had little in the name of scientific approach and investigative journalism.

Another sceptic, Bart Winfield Sibrel asked Buzz Aldrin, the Astronaut on Apollo 11, to swear on Bible that he walked on the moon. Enraged Aldrin hit him on the face. Time and tide being against the American government, naysayers had a field day and remained in news. Vietnam War and Watergate scandal had seriously eroded people’s faith in State Administration which appeared on the back foot in defending the veracity of Apollo expeditions.

Apollo 11, as a matter of fact, is easy to understand. Let’s begin with the missing tapes. Though only 450 tapes could be found and 4550 remained untraced, bona fides of NASA and the American government can’t be doubted. For, if there were a mala fide attempt at destroying them, even 450 wouldn’t have been found, and the state wouldn’t have supported team searching for the missing tapes.

Is moon landing just a hoax?

Why no stars were visible in lunar photos? Well, just as they are not visible on earth in daytime. How did Astronauts survive radiations of Van Allen Belts? Simple, they took care to avoid hotspots of this belt and navigated through a safe zone. That apart, Apollo 11 was fairly insulated against radiations.

Videotapes of men walking on the moon are fuzzy and indistinct; why? The answer is the underdeveloped technology of that time. Cameras captured images on a slow scan format so that space on Broadcast Spectrum could be saved for important communications. Sceptics laughed saying shadows in photographs were bizarre. That, they said, indicated shifting of arc lights for on-stage photo-shoot. Scientists explained that objects photographed on snow-covered hills, rough and uneven surfaces are bound to have shadows of varying dimensions.

How did flag flutter when no wind blew on moon surface? Well, flag fabric was supported with metallic wire to keep it spread, in flying shape. Astronauts jumped in the air supported by thin wires, said, sceptics. The scientists argued that this was impossible calling attention to dust that rose with movement. Were it earth, rising dust would mingle in atmospheric air, creating a dusty cloud. But that being moon, the dust didn’t rise, but fell back on the moon surface.

The cameraman was nowhere seen in footages, how was the videography done then? Actually, the Astronauts had cameras tucked in their suite. The moon lander vehicle too was equipped with the camera. With the passage of time, problems faced by America were sorted out, the credibility of state restored and Apollo rumours petered out in face of consistent and logical rebuttal from state agencies.

Presently Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is circling around the moon, collecting images and scientific data, and collating it with findings of Apollo Mission. This project of NASA has put to rest many misgivings about man’s landing on the moon. Though doubts are still raised off and on, general opinion favours the stand of the scientific community. Man, doubtless, landed on the moon, claims to the contrary notwithstanding.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Lost Cosmonauts of USSR: Did the Soviet Union Cover up its Secret Cosmonaut Casualties?“.

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Scanned copy of the original document that detected the Wow! signal. (Big Ear Radio Observatory and North American AstroPhysical Observatory (NAAPO))

Volunteer astronomer Jerry R. Ehman was going through the recorded data of the Ohio State University‘s radio telescope, Big Ear and discovered a 72-second irregularity in the charts. Big Ear was being used to detect possible signals from intelligent life in outer space, and on August 15, 1977, it received a very strong signal from outer space, that lasted for a good 72 seconds.

Ehman was startled at this discovery and wrote “Wow!” in red on the printout, after encircling the reading. Pretty much the first word that any of us would say after knowing that there is probable proof of intelligent life beyond Earth. Needless to say, the signal since then has been called the Wow! Signal.

Evidence

Big Ear observatory relied on the Earth’s rotation to scan the skies. Estimations were made keeping in mind the speed of rotation of the Earth and the spatial width of the telescope, Big Ear was able to observe a given point for 72 seconds only.

Any constant extraterrestrial signal in such a case could be recorded for not more than 72 seconds, with the signal increasing gradually for 36 seconds as the telescope approached the point. The intensity would be at its peak, marking the centre of the observation window and then, start dropping as the telescope moved away from the point.

That is exactly what was depicted in the recording of the Wow! Signal. The signal was a narrowband continuous radio signal with no break in modulation and had supporting data to prove that it indeed came from interstellar space. The source of the signal was narrowed down to a space in the constellation Sagittarius, south of the 3-star cluster called Chi Sagittarii. 

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)

SETI was established in the early 1900s for collective scientific study and search for extraterrestrial intelligent life in outer space. It was conducted by examining the electromagnetic radiations from other planets and stars for any signs of communication.

With the arrival of radio, it was believed that the radio could be used to contact Martians after Guglielmo Marconi declared that his radio had been able to detect signals from Mars which could be a possible message.

August 21 to 23 in 1924, Mars was closest to Earth and visible almost all night. During those 3 days, the United States embarked on a programme to detect and decode any potential Martian communication.

In March 1995, American physicist, John Daniel Kraus explained an idea of how the universe could be searched for any emitted radio signals. This was published in the issue of a popular American science magazine, Scientific American.

According to Kraus, this could be achieved by using a flat-plane radio telescope with a parabolic reflector. His concept was approved within 2 years and went underway with construction by the Ohio State University on a 20-acre plot in Delaware, Ohio. This Ohio State University radio observatory telescope named ‘Big Ear‘ started operating by 1963 and on August 15, 1977, was instrumental in the major breakthrough by Ehman.

Waiting for the recurrence of the signal

Ehman and several other astronomers tried to search for another emission from the same location using Big Ear but were unsuccessful in doing so.

The curiosity of the scientists in the Soviet was piqued during 1960s leading to innumerable searches for picking up radio signals from space. In 1962, a ground-breaking book on SETI, ‘Universe, Life, Intelligence’, by Iosif Shklovsky, a Soviet astronomer formed the basis for an expanded explanation in American astronomer Carl Sagan’s book, ‘Intelligent Life in the Universe‘ in 1966.

American astronomer Robert H. Gray tried to look for the Wow! Signal with the META array of Oak Ridge Observatory in 1987 and 1989, but was unable to find it.

In July 1995, American scientist and SETI League Executive Director H. Paul Shuch scanned the coordinates which were the origin of the Wow! Signal, with a 12-metre radio telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia, but to no avail. Robert H. Gray attempted yet again to search for the signal in 1995 and 1996, using the radically sensitive Very Large Array. The Wow! Signal or anything like it could not be found again.

Very Large Array observatory in New Mexico. (John Fowler / Flickr)

Wow! Signal: An alien communication or miscommunication by the Big Ear

Astronomer Professor Antonio Paris of St. Petersburg College in Florida, was taken in by the Wow! Signal phenomena and wanted to come to a conclusion. The more he thought about the source of the signal, the more it came to him that probably the signal was emitted from a comet or an asteroid. He started going through the archives to find all possible comets that had not been discovered in 1977 but may have been in the surrounding area of the constellation Sagittarius.

He published his findings in January 2016 in the Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. According to him, Comet 266P/Christensen that was discovered in 2006 and Comet P/2008 Y Gibbs discovered in 2008, were somewhere within the constellation Sagittarius in August 1977. Paris stated that comets, sometimes, give out radio waves from the gases surrounding them.

Paris used a radio telescope to check the radio signals emitted from comets and found these to be at 1,420 MHz frequency, the frequency of the Wow! Signal.

On 25 January 2017, radio telescopes were positioned towards the area of the sky where the Wow! Signal had come from, as Comet 266P/Christensen was to pass through the area again. The comet however, went above the Wow! Signal location by 2 degrees.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Bloop: Large Mysterious Animal of the Deep Sea? or Ice quakes?“.

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Tesla Tower in 1904. (Marc Seifer Archives)

Wardenclyffe Tower (1901– 1917), otherwise called the Tesla Tower, was an ancient but novel exploratory remote transmission station that was envisioned and established by Nikola Tesla in New York between 1901 and 1902.

Tesla’s prime intent was to put on the air telephony, messages and facsimile images to England across the Atlantic Ocean and to ships adrift. This was in the light of his speculations to conduct signals utilizing the Earth.

The genesis of Tesla Tower or Wardenclyffe tower

Nikola Tesla. (Napoleon Sarony / Wikimedia Commons)

Nikola Tesla made a dramatic and triumphant entry in the twentieth century, at the zenith of his career. Through his sojourn, still, at his acme, he aspired to bring to fruition, the Tesla Tower, the behemoth of all his historic inventions.

The tower promised to be a cutting-edge universal telecommunication system. His avant-garde theory was eventually shown the go-ahead in 1901. Yet in under a year’s time, the project ran into gloom and doldrums that ultimately wrecked Tesla both scientifically and economically. What really transpired during the year?

Financing of Tesla Tower

The splendid inventions of Tesla between 1856 and 1943 had ushered in the technology of alternating current. It made supplying power and illuminating big cities conceivable.

His experimental nerve centre at the high altitudes in Colorado Springs bears testimony to his countless entrancing achievements, which he had the privilege and resources to accomplish.

Tesla returned to New York in January 1900. There, he made several rounds trying to woo investors at the Waldorf-Astoria’s Palm Garden (where he then was put up), The Players Club and Delmonico’s whilst wining and dining with them.

He initially approached friend George Westinghouse who declined to put money into the project as he had a remarkable mind for business. He, however, lent Tesla $6,000. Westinghouse advised Tesla to pursue some wealthy venture capitalists.

Tesla consequently engaged in multiple talkfests with rich investors like Thomas Fortune Ryan, John Jacob Astor, and Henry Havemeyer. However, nothing worthwhile fructified.

American banker J.P. Morgan. (Pach Brothers / LOC)

In November 1900, Tesla picked up the attention of financing mogul J. P. Morgan. Tesla seduced him to sign a contract valued at $150,000 to build and develop the wireless station of the mammoth, futuristic and stupefying Tesla Tower in March 1901.

Morgan was actually fascinated by the grand slam of Guglielmo Marconi, Tesla’s rival that sent reports from America’s Cup yacht at Long Island to New York City by dint of wireless radio. Morgan had early doubts about the viability and patent priority of Tesla’s plan.

However, through several rounds of conversations, Tesla assured and convinced Morgan about the superiority of his proposed plan and how it superseded the patent of Marconi. He asserted that his wireless project would far outsmart Marconi’s.

Construction of Tesla Tower

After acquiring Morgan’s investment, Tesla began his work immediately. He purchased a 200-acre plot in Long Island. Large electrical transformers and generators were commissioned as was needed by the Westinghouse Electric Company.

Tesla promptly employed the prominent architect Stanford White who too was taken with Tesla’s idea. Both of them took to designing a gigantic wooden tower with a height of 187 feet and a metal hemispherical dome (known as cupola) of 68 feet diameter.

Nikola Tesla’s Wardenclyffe wireless station. (Arthur B. Reeve / Tesla and his Wireless Age)

The architecture of the telecommunication station, inspired by the Italian Renaissance, housed the main premise, research laboratories and several other facilities.

In July 1901, Tesla briefed Morgan on some more prospective modifications in the project to generate an enhanced, awe-inspiring plan, a virtual quantum leap ahead of his competitors to garner significant profits. This was primarily to pick up a high ground over Marconi.

He professed that he would be able to dispatch Morse code messages transatlantic alongside simultaneously transmitting long-distance wireless electricity.

With Tesla essentially inviting a breach of contract, Morgan, point blank denied lending surplus funds. He rather demanded an explanation for the capital already expended.

Regardless of Morgan doling out no extra funds, Tesla proceeded with the venture. He broached upon the idea to build numerous smaller towers or a tower with a height range of 300 feet to 600 feet.

This would have transmitted the low-frequency waves which Tesla believed were necessary for resonance in the Earth. Then, White estimated that the proposed revamp of 600 feet would cost $450,000. The plan instantly was written off.

In September 1901, Tesla needed to commence the tower construction remaining consistent with the original plan. After two months, the project suffered another major setback.

Marconi by then had figured out how to send the alphabet “S” in Morse code over the ocean between England and Newfoundland in Canada. Tesla protested against the Italian’s alleged utilization of 17 of Tesla’s licenses.

However, finally, the prosecution supported Marconi and by that time the commercial damage was already rendered. In those times of financial vulnerability, funders preferred investing in the Marconi system, which being less resourceful had made notable progress.

Dereliction of Tesla Tower

In 1906, Tesla suffered a series of nervous breakdowns because of the mounting financial problems. He was exhibiting signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder and later became a potential high-functioning autistic.

Tesla’s chief manager, who supervised Wardenclyffe, left the job to find other employment opportunities. The neighbours around the tower found it to be deserted without any intimation.

In 1904, Tesla put the Wardenclyffe property on mortgage, for covering his staying expenses to George C. Boldt, the owner of Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. In 1908, Tesla secured another mortgage to further meet his expenses.

Around 1911, the facility was partially forsaken and the structure of the tower started disintegrating. From 1912 to 1915, Tesla’s financing details were disentangled. Much to their dismay and displeasure, when the financers enquired about the ways to recover their investments, Tesla was not able to give acceptable answers.

Demolition of Tesla Tower

Tesla’s total cumulative debt to Waldorf-Astoria was close to $20,000 by mid-1915. Because of severe negligence and financial setbacks, Tesla became completely incapacitated to make repayments for the mortgages.

It was Boldt who then decided to foreclose the Wardenclyffe property. Boldt found the property totally useless and ultimately made up his mind to demolish the tower and sell it as scraps. It was the Smiley Steel Company who began dismantling the tower by dynamite explosions on July 4, 1917.

The work was completed in the month of September and the razed tower was sold off as scrap at an estimated value of $1750. The main facility was breached and vandalized. It turned out to be a manufactory of photographic material, down to AGFA closing it in 1992.

Malicious rumour of German spies

However, in course of the World War I, a vicious rumour spread like a wildfire in most newspapers and different publications. It was conjectured that Wardenclyffe was decimated after receiving orders from the then US government.

The officials had apprehensions that German undercover agents were putting the tower to work as an observation post, a radio transmitter or as a marker for German submarines.

Tesla was highly dejected when he learnt about this rumour that questioned his layers of patriotism. But he avoided speaking out to the press and revealing the genuine reason for the demolition. This was because he kept his association with Boldt and the related accounts about the mortgage off from the public.

What happened after the dismantling?

Between 1980 and 2000, the hazardous wastes from the photographic age were cleaned up. The site was disposed of and green-lighted for a new development.

IndieGogo, a grassroots campaign by two Russian physicists, managed to succeed in purchasing and saving the property with the sole aim to build a museum in the memory of Nikola Tesla. In 2018, was site was registered as a heritage spot in the National Register of Historic Places.

Resurrection of Wardenclyffe

As per last reports from Reuters available in the records, in 2014, two Russian physicist brothers Leonid and Sergey Plekhanov started to raise funds for the revival of Tesla’s progressive project.

Subsequent to investigating Tesla’s journals and plans, the Plekhanovs believed that with the help of ultra-modern solar panels, lighter building construction materials and $800,000, they can reconstruct the Tesla Tower.

The Plekhanovs have conducted basic research and analysis, executed the computational models and composed every part of the test. They trusted that with the proposed architecture in place, they have the ability to transmit energy and measure the results.

The Plekhanovs’ exploration appraises that around 38,000 square miles construction of solar panels amid a desert close to the equator could produce adequate power to supply the world’s electricity requirements.

Tesla’s pinnacle could deliver electricity to the consumers, but the only means to accomplish this concept is to rebuild it and discover. As of the latest publication, they have successfully raised assets worth over $40,000 through crowdfunding, for the venture through the IndieGoGo kick starter campaign.

End of the line

Tesla’s ultimate wish was to generate electricity from the gigantic resources of the Power Plant adjoining the Niagara Falls and distribute all over the world. The project was sheer magnificence. But, sadly it never saw the light of the day.

Pioneering concepts of telegraph and telephone communications were spearheaded by Tesla at Long Island. They are still considered to be the bedrock of the present day’s rapidly developing advancements in the domain of wireless communications across nations and continents alike.

Had the Tesla Tower been completely constructed without any interruption, Tesla might have managed to change the pathway of history once again.

The facets of instant availability of information, power, pilfered phonograph cylinders and lascivious photographs of floozies with bare ankles might have inundated the “TeslaNet” ushering in the Information Age nearly a century ahead of its schedule.

It definitely would have made the world, in the present times, a different place to live in. Now is the time to appreciate the future that Tesla had envisaged, albeit somewhat behind the calendar.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Optical Telegraph: Communication Before the Internet“.

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A still from American television series “Lost in Space” where people are placed in suspended animation before spaceflight. (CBS Television / Wikimedia Commons)

Between life and death, there are shades of morbid existence recognizable as disease and disability of body and mind. These intermediary stages, in their most serious forms, may not allow sufficient time for a dedicated medical care. Is there a way out to buy more time for intensive care?

Yes, we can buy more time by putting an organism/man into a state suspended animation, a life-friendly freeze. The organism is shifted into zones of calibrated cooling where life just ticks, and death just remains at arm’s length, and critical care gets full play at saving the life.

Imagine a person ridden with bullets, breathing heavily, probably his last. He is rushed to hospital in-time and medical intervention begins. There are 2 challenges before doctors in this case. First, to keep the blood circulating in the body for the continuous supply of oxygen and nutrients to all organs. (The brain is the most vulnerable, it can’t remain without oxygen for more than 4 to 5 minutes.)

Second, speedy surgery within the golden period (a critical period in which life can be saved). The second challenge is manageable/controllable with a team of expert doctors and top end equipment kept in absolute readiness.

However, the first challenge, till date, is not under human control and needs to be made manageable. Reasons are as follows. Loss of huge quantity of blood deprives the patient’s body of oxygen. Doctors try to maintain the supply of oxygen, especially to the brain, by infusing cold saline solution. But all of the oxygen required for trillions of body cells can’t be supplied in this manner. If the need of living cells of (food and) oxygen can’t be met this way, logical alternative would be to somehow reduce the demand for oxygen (and nutrients) to a level which can be met with therapeutic infusions. Then, and then only, the patient’s life can be kept ticking during emergency operation (the golden period).

How can the cellular demand for oxygen and nutrition be reduced to a safe and manageable level?

This is possible by lowering the temperature of cells to a threshold, i.e. 15°C or 10°Celsius, in 15 minutes, by way of cold intravenous infusions. This will put the patient into a state of Suspended Animation (SA), wherefrom it can be warmed back to normal (37°C or 99°F) after the emergency operation. This procedure is currently being experimented on animals for its final application on human beings.

American toad. (Jarek Tuszyński / Wikimedia Commons)

The idea of SA is inspired from hibernating animals as well as instances of humans surviving cold conditions. Hibernation of toads in winters and their prop in monsoon is a good example of suspended animation during unfavourable weather (the equivalent of the golden period for a human patient). Toad is a cold-blooded animal whose body temperature varies directly as the temperature of its environment, i.e. body temperature rises with the rise and falls with fall of the ambient temperature.

Obviously, winters can kill this arthropod by dangerously lowering its body temperature. Hibernation obviates this possibility. Toad draws on falling ambient temperature to slow down its own life activities to a minimum, a verisimilitude of Suspended Animation which Scientists would like to create on human subjects.

With the rise of the ambient temperature, toad’s bio-system reverts to normal, and toad comes out of its hiding. Scientists would want the same for man: to be able to return to normal function from the state of suspended animation.

Bulked up hazel mouse hibernating. (Internet Archive Book Images / Flickr)

Chill induced dormancy is also seen in some hot-blooded animals (whose body temperature, unlike the toad, is independent of environmental temperature) as well. This is encouraging, as man himself is ‘hot-blooded’. Arctic ground squirrel and lovelock hamsters slip into dormancy to tide over the harsh weather.

One species of Madagascar Lemur, a primate, hibernate at regular intervals. Humans share 98% of their genes with Lemur. This indicates a strong possibility for humans too, to hibernate (be in suspended animation) at will.

Real-life incidents

Apart from inspirations from animals, real-life incidents of humans healing better in cold conditions support the idea of hypothermia (low temperature) in preserving and nurturing life.

A Russian survived winter famine with abstemious eating and forced sleep/inaction. A lady survived 80 minutes of an icy grave with careful warming. Indeed icy temperatures tend to preserve life for ‘some time’ beyond which the harm sets in. That ‘sometime’ can be tapped to the advantage of the living organism.

What happens to your body during Suspended Animation?

Physiological changes associated with SA/hibernation include the disappearance of blood platelets – the cells responsible for clotting of blood. The absence of platelets is good for dormant life because if clot forms in quiescent blood, death will follow.

Platelets reappear in blood as soon as the organism thaws back to normal, as then the fast-flowing bloodstream needs to check and balance clotting cells. White blood cells (WBCs) also disappear from the bloodstream as the organism slips into hibernation. WBCs are responsible for neutralizing disease-causing agents and situations. These too reappear in blood after the quiescence period (where the threat of disease was negligible), to guard and protect the newly awakened life.

The absence of WBCs in blood during hibernation leaves some organisms vulnerable to fungal infections. For example ‘white-nose syndrome’ in American Bats. To counter this problem bat interrupts hibernation with periodical rewarming. But that strains the flying mammal and proves fatal to it in the long run.  

How Suspended Animation can benefit the human race?

Experiments are being conducted to study cell behaviour in cryogenic (extreme cold) conditions and how the knowledge could be used for the welfare of non-hibernating organisms.

Researchers have found that an enzyme Cystathionine Beta Synthase (CBS) helps in cryopreservation of life. This enzyme catalyses the production of various amino acids (building blocks of proteins) including cysteine and methionine. If secretion of CBS is inhibited, the subject fails to cryopreserve/hibernate and thaw back to normal thereafter.

Another compound which aids freezing of cells is Rokepie. It enables cells to survive refrigeration. Thus, cells which demand 37°C temperature for viability, can remain in cold chain for fairly long, all thanks to Rokepie.

Applications of a hypothermic state are numerous. A life lulled to cool stupor can be minded as desired and then switched safely to a ‘better’ or ‘as-before’ status. An astronaut may be put into sleep/dormancy during space travel and woken up at the destination. Vital functions of space traveller will tick in suspended animation till ‘station arrives’. Not a farfetched idea considering rapid strides being made in cryopreservation.

The bullet-ridden patient described in the beginning would be cryopreserved, operated upon, sutured and then thawed back to normal life with the infusion of blood at 37°C temperature. Reaching this landmark would indeed be a giant leap for medical science. It would be of immense use in medicine, in ensuring longevity and improving the quality of life.

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1998 photo of an unidentified object by NASA taken during Space Shuttle mission STS-88. (NASA / STS088-724-66)

Developed in the year 1899, the Black Knight Conspiracy theory is something that has taken everyone aback with its mystery game. If the alien technologies and source materials are to be believed, this theory stands perfectly true.

Discovered by Tesla, the Black Knight satellite is an unidentified object captured on camera by NASA astronauts. The theory states that the satellite is around 13000 years old and is orbiting the earth surface in the adjacent polar orbit. The first instance of its origin can be dated back to 1899 when Nikola Tesla performed some radio experiments.

However, in 1954, once again a UFO researcher named Donald Keyhoe reported that two satellites have been traced to be revolving around the earth’s surface (the first man-made satellite was launched only in 1957).  In 1998, a space debris was photographed by NASA which appeared to be the same unidentified satellite. With so many speculations being rife about this conspiracy theory, you certainly might be curious to reach the truth. Here are all the facts we know about this theory.

Discovery of black knight debris

In the year 1901, Nikola Tesla talked about his experiments with electric current. He stated that while carrying out those experiments, he encountered some interferences in electric signals. He further concluded that these disturbances could be from an extraterrestrial source for establishing a communication.

After this incident, again a radio operator from Norway named Jorgen Hals detected long delayed echoes. However, the radio operator was unsure about the cause and reason of these echoes. If some theories are to be believed, these echoes were the same as discovered by Tesla.

Clyde Tombaugh’s ambiguous claim

During the Black Satellite appearance, the discoverer of Pluto, Clyde Tombaugh was at the University of New Mexico along with Lincoln Lapaz. Both of them were doing research on few unexplained phenomena and credibility of alien satellites. Though the discoverer denied any reports of seeing the Black Knight Satellite, his statement was reportedly quite cryptic.

Was it a Bracewell probe?

Both Tesla and Hals talked about signals which were supposedly coming from an intelligent source in space. In the year 1960, another theory was bought into the picture by Ronald Bracewell. Bracewell said that in order to establish a communication with earth, other life would likely feed a satellite with all the necessary information and then launch it into space.

Such probes should be capable of covering larger distances and hence can reach the planet it has been trying to communicate. If the facts are linked to each other, these transmissions could be the same as that discovered by Tesla and Hals.

The heated speculations

In February 1960, newspapers and magazines got flooded with yet another report of an anonymous satellite which was detected by the US military troop with unknown origin.

The popular TIME magazine came up with a news that the object was merely a retrorocket from a previously launched satellite. The year 1963 started with new claims about the satellite, astronaut Gordon Cooper saw a UFO cross the sky while he was orbiting Earth. Later, such reports continued to entangle the mystery of Black Knight satellite.

In the year 1974, Duncan Lunan, a Scottish science fiction writer claimed that LDE (long-delayed echoes) heard by Hals was from a star system Epsilon Boots. However, the only issue with this claim was that one of the stars from the Bootes constellation was said to be in the wrong place. He further claimed that the probe was nearly 13,000 years old.

STS-88 encounter-recent evidence

Though most of the evidence of black Knight Satellite has been dated back to the early 90’s. There has been a recent evidence from 1998 where the crew members of space shuttle named Endeavour captured an unusual object moving along the lower orbit of the earth.

These snapshots are considered as the most valid proof of the satellite presence. However, on the closer observation, the structure also bears an uncanny resemblance with space debris.

When the mission was conducted by Colonel Ross and Dr James Newman, they attempted to install some thermal blankets for storing the energy. However, as the blankets were linked to the spacesuit, one among them was gone. In actual, these objects are most supposedly a thermal blanket that got lost.

Close up photo of the space debris. (NASA)

Conclusion

Even after numerous claims about the Black Knight Satellite, there has been a major lack of evidence that can connect the LDE’s discovered by Tesla to the other discoveries made in 50’s and 60’s. However, it has become quite common for the conspiracy theorists to relate any unidentified object to the popular Black Knight satellite.

While some reports claim that the STS-88 sightings and UFO bear a striking resemblance with each other. Some other reports negate this claim and call it a mix of different reports about the Black Knight.

These myths about Black Knight Satellite is so confusing that it is now regarded merely a collection of random tales.

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Artistic work of Charles Temple depicting the Flying Dutchman. (Wikimedia Commons)

The Flying Dutchman refers to a ghost ship that sails the oceans and has been sighted by many sailors throughout history. Legend has it that the ship was cursed to never be able to reach land and sail endlessly in the oceans.

The vast oceans that surround us are deep, dark and mysterious; much like the superstitions and myths attached to marine travels. There are many unexplained phenomena while traversing the waters that have led to false notions and weird beliefs being fostered. The Flying Dutchman is one such story, so strongly believed in, that it is said to be an omen of disaster for those who sight it.

Another theory states that the captain and the crew of the ship were involved in devious and reprehensible activities onboard, for which they did not ever come out of the storm and were cursed to sail indefinitely.

Sailors have reported of these sightings for years claiming to see the creepy apparition of the ship which sometimes forces other ships astray or leading them to a collision. Others have spoken of tales of being contacted by Captain Hendrick Van der Decken upon nearing his ship, to send letters or messages to people on land who are long dead.

The man, the myth

According to folklore, the ghost ship belonged to Captain Hendrick van der Decken, which sank in 1641. The Dutch captain had embarked upon a dangerous voyage from Holland to East Asia for procurement of exotic spices and other profitable goods. After acquiring the merchandise to his heart’s desire, he set course to Amsterdam. As the ship approached Africa, the captain thought of docking near the Cape of Good Hope and establishes an outpost for his employers, the Dutch East India Company, to break journey during their oceanic travels. 

The ship encountered a dreadful windstorm as it rounded the Cape which was infamous for oceanic storms and perilous rock formations. The strong winds lashed at the ship ominously with the threat of overturning it. The fear of drowning at sea compelled the sailors to implore with their captain to turn around.

Based on hearsay, the captain was an adamant man full of arrogance. That night, he was either drunk or in his idiocy paid no heed to the pleas of his crew and ordered them to stay on course. As the water got into the ship and with a disaster looming, the terrified crew rebelled. The undeterred Captain Van der Decken killed the man in charge of the uprising and threw his body into the turbulent waters.

It is said that as soon as the mutineer’s body hit the water, the ship asked the captain if he wished to end up at the bottom of the ocean as well. Some say that it was the voice of the Devil that spoke to the captain that night. Van der Decken however, answered that he would be damned if he ended up there and was willing to ride the tempest till the end of the world.

The result of which was the captain being cursed to sail the oceans till the end of time with a crew of dead men becoming the harbinger of doom to all those who sight the ship. The captain unflinchingly cried, “Amen to that!” Since then, the captain has been sighted sailing his phantom ship with a dead crew and given the moniker, the Flying Dutchman.

Coining of the term, Fata Morgana

Legendary King Arthur’s half-sister, was a sorceress, renowned for causing trouble by creating illusions on water, especially in the Strait of Messina between Reggio di Calabria in Italy and Messina in Sicily. She would confuse sailors and sea travellers by creating multifaceted mirages over water bodies and was popularly known as Morgan Le Fey in Italian, meaning Morgan, the Fairy. As a result, the name Fata Morgana was given to optical illusions over water and is sometimes also used to describe a mirage.

A Fata Morgana can throw up the inverted image of an object, or project an upright image hanging in the air from a distance. The Fata Morgana can be of a ship, water, islands or sometimes even the coastline. Sometimes, the image seems to be floating in the sky.

An example of Fata Morgana: A ship appears to be floating. (Timpaananen / Wikimedia Commons)

The science behind it

Fata Morgana is a scientific phenomenon which is the result of ‘Refraction of Light’. The laws of refraction state that when light passes through a matter of different densities, it refracts or bends as per the characteristics of that layer. Refraction of light causes optical illusions known as an ‘Inferior Mirage’ or a ‘Superior Mirage’. An inferior mirage is one where the illusion is created under the actual object.

Misleading illustration of mirage from the 19th century. (Frank R. Stockton / Round-about Rambles in Lands of Fact and Fancy)

It is what is known as a mirage in the desert, where there seems to be a body of water which is actually the reflection of the sky creating a false impression of a blue coloured water body. A highway mirage is another example of an inferior mirage, when light from the sky is refracted by the hot air above a road, giving the false notion of a puddle of water.

A superior mirage is what is referred to as a Fata Morgana, experienced in a condition of thermal inversion when there is a layer of warm air on top of cold air. It is common in cold air zones and is the deduced possibility of the Titanic disaster.

During calm weathers at sea, the different layers of air above the waters recreate the formation of an object far away, floating above the line of the horizon. It can cause the image of a ship to be floating inside the waves or hanging upside down above the real ship.      

Another famous Fata Morgana was near Greenland, where a ghost island was first spotted in 1907. After several failed attempts to find this island, it led to the conclusion of a Fata Morgana of the Tobias island, just north of the Nioghalvfjerd Fjord in Greenland.

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Artistic rendering of Gliese 581c discovered before Gliese 581g which was also regarded as a potentially habitable planet in 2007. (Kobol / Celestia)

Recently, a probe has been sent in space that will, for the first time, get a closer look at the Sun’s surface and bring back information related to the massive ball of fire. Anything space-related immediately becomes a hot topic of discussion back on our planet, yet it happens to be one of the most intriguing subjects.

After space explorers discovered the presence of water beneath the surface of Mars a couple of weeks ago, this was not the first time humans found a potential source of life on another planet outside our solar system. However, newer claims could not be completely confirmed and the more-than-a-decade-old discussion of a habitable extrasolar planet might only be a case of wishful thinking.

Ten years ago in 2008, a group of researchers and astrophysicists at the University of California and Carnegie Institution of Washington together came up with an astonishing discovery outside our planetary system. Weighing about three times more than the Earth and falling into a habitable zone, a planet was located approximately 20 light-years away that could possibly sustain life just like the Earth can.

Orbiting a dim red dwarf star, the planet was named “Gliese 581g” or Zarmina (named after the lead discoverer’s wife) by the researchers. The solar system named Gliese 581 is made up of a lesser hot (as compared to the Sun) star, around which four or more planets, including Gliese 581g circle in a gravitationally-locked position.

The lead astronomer Dr. Steven Scott Vogt and co-researcher R. Paul Butler theorized the presence of habitable conditions on Zarmina for more than a decade, which came as good news to many. By the year 2012, more researches confirmed its existing status, but observations and reanalysis put its existence in jeopardy once again in 2014. Now, as recently as 2015, when Dr. Steven Vogt presented some more substantial findings, a consensus was reached that the new planet could still exist in another solar system.

About Gliese 581g

Lying right in the middle of its planetary system, Zarmina has a rocky surface, beneath which there could be the presence of streams of water. It has a dense atmosphere, which could make it possible for life to sustain in hospitable conditions. As per Dr. Vogt’s research findings, the idea of human habitation on Zarmina is too far-fetched for now, but if the planet is potentially habitable, liquid water could possibly be the source of supporting life on its surface.

Comparison between our solar system and Gliese 581 planetary system. Where g indicates Gliese 581g. (Zina Deretsky / National Science Foundation Press Release 10-172)

Gliese 581g has temperatures ranging between minus 24 degrees Celsius to 10 degrees Celsius, which is not too hot and not too cold as far as harbouring life matters. The exoplanet orbits its star in a nearly-circular motion in around 37 days and is in a gravitationally-locked position with its parent star. It can be best described as people seeing only one side of the Moon from Earth from any part of the world, while the far side always remains in the dark.

Its surface gravity is 1.1g as compared to the Earth’s, which is 1.7g. Since its parent star is a lot cooler than our Sun, the planets in Gliese 581 are clustered closely together to obtain energy and warmth, so that water can be maintained in its liquid state on its surface.

Doubts over its existence

While researchers from Washington and California were quite positive about their results, which they had gathered from the HIRES or High-Resolution Echelle Spectrometer – an astronomical observatory in Hawaii; research team led by Dr. Michael Mayor of Geneva Observatory maintained that their extensive study did not detect any such exoplanet and thus cast a long shadow of doubt on Gliese 581g’s existence.

Another astronomer Francesco Pepe, who worked on The HARPS or High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher situated in Chile, came up with 6 years of research, which contradicted with Dr. Vogt’s findings, thus questioning his claims of a potentially hospitable extrasolar planet in the already long list. Also, Dr. Mayor suggested that they could only collect data material on planets Gliese 581a, b, c, d and e on their systems, and the proof of Gliese 581g’s existence could never be gathered, thus brushing aside his discovery.

The number of Dr. Vogt’s non-supporters only kept increasing, with many of them presenting their own facts, opposing the lead scientist. A former student of Dr. Vogt, Artie P. Hatzes, currently associated with Thuringia State Observatory in Germany, challenged his mentor’s research, yet had his own doubts. He stated that based on his own findings, there may or may not be a Gliese 581g in the first place, which makes the theory of its habitability almost uncertain.

Another researcher, Rene Andrea from the Max Planck Institute of Astronomy in Germany, also raised questions over Dr. Vogt’s study, stating that when his team ran simulations, they found that Dr. Vogt’s team had incorrectly drawn conclusions regarding Gliese 581g’s circular orbit.

Philip Gregory from the University of British Columbia submitted his papers that hinted at the new solar system having only four planets and ruled out Gliese 581g’s existence altogether. His team also wound up their research mentioning that Gliese 581g may not be a real planet after all.

A postdoctoral research student at Penn State University, Paul Robertson also disregarded Dr. Vogt’s study stating that the presence of Gliese 581g was based on the orbital activity of 581d. He also stated that sunspots sometimes act like planetary signals and that could have altered Dr. Vogt’s findings.

While Dr. Steven Vogt kept defending his celestial investigation, with media and other researchers holding on to the hopes highly, the fate of Gliese 581g, gaining status of a habitable world, is yet to be sealed.

Researchers are keeping a close watch on the skies as more information keeps coming in regarding the newly-found planet, the existence of which has become a matter of dispute. There is still so much to explore in the deep outer space and it is only a matter of time before we get to know whether Gliese 581g makes the cut in the hospitable exoplanet list or not.

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Artist rendering of Solar Storm striking earth’s magnetic field. (NASA)

Sun, the furiously spinning fireball in cosmos is central to the survival of planet earth. It is made up of plasma, the fourth state of matter, formed when atoms get broken down to protons and electrons. These charged particles make plasma an extremely good conductor of electricity and sun, on the whole, a warehouse of electromagnetic radiations. Corona, the least dense and outermost layer of Sun has a temperature of 500,000°C. Imagine this hot ring spinning off (coronal mass ejection or solar flare or solar storm) and hitting a part of planet earth. This happened on September 1, 1859; on May 23, 1967 and can happen again any time in future.

Solar Storm of 1859

Foreshadow of 1859 electromagnetic whiplash (sun strike) was caught by English Astronomer Richard Carrington on his telescopes on September 1, morning time. He saw 2 bright white blobs emerge from sunspots and disappear in 5 minutes. By night time the impending calamity manifested physically with a strange play of bright lights, of various colours, sequencing one after the other in the sky. This blaze of light was beguiling, weird and frightening.

That night, telegraphic communications went bust. Sparks flew from operating machines, burning paper loads. Sky illuminated so brightly, it looked like sunrise. Many started their morning chores thinking it was dawn. Others thought the world was coming to an end. Birds started chirping as they do when the day begins. It was on-earth manifestation of billions of tons of electromagnetic particles hitting earth, foreshadow of which Richard Carrington had seen through his telescope in his private observatory near London. It was a solar storm, backed by the power of 10 billion atomic bombs; electrified gas and subatomic particles bombarding earth. Aptly named ‘Carrington Event’, this is the largest such event recorded in the history of astronomy. Information systems of those days may be archaic compared to today’s internet era, nonetheless, damage caused to them was sanguine, significant and shocking.

Trailing the above ‘Carrington Event (CE)’ were the 2 solar storms hitting America on the night of 28^th August. Recalling event, E.W.Culgan, telegraph manager in Pittsburgh said that current in wires was so high that it could melt platinum joints in the communication system. Ground circuits spewed fire relentlessly. In Washington, a telegraph operator singed his forehead from sparks flying off the cable.

The solar eruption which leads to coronal mass ejection. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

CE continued well into 2nd September 1857. At 8 AM employees of American Telegraph Company found it hard to send or receive messages. On the flip side, some messages (to Portland, Maine) could be transmitted intermittently even as circuit batteries were turned off, all thanks to currents produced when charged particles from sun interacted with particulate matter in earth. It wasn’t before 10 AM that disturbances subsided and the batteries were again switched on.

People in France to Australia saw flashes of crimson red, bright enough to turn night into daytime. Many thought that blazing fire somewhere near had caused it. Northern lights (Aurora Borealis-green electric flashes that generally seen in the northern hemisphere) showed an unusual shift to the equator and became visible in Cuba and Jamaica. In Abbeville, South Carolina, construction workers got up from the bed and began working thinking it was sunrise, but went back to sleep realizing light in night time was freak of nature. In Bealeton, Virginia, birds chirped and fluttered at 1 AM. People across America came out on street to watch the brightly lit sky. In Boston, people were seen reading newspaper in the burst of unusual light.

What if such an event was to occur today?

Investigations have revealed that Carrington Event was twice the magnitude of any other solar storm happening in the past 500 years. If such an event happens now in today’s internet age, consequences are bound to be several times more devastating. In fact, it would be a complete disruption of communication systems and services leading to a long-lasting disorder and chaos worldwide. GPS systems, Satellite Communications and power grids would be smothered by waves of plasma waves surging from sun surface.

In terms of money total loss world over maybe to the tune of 2 trillion. Quebec blackout of March 13 1989, makes a good case study for such possibility in future. Even though only one third as strong as CE of 1859, it smashed a power grid of 6 million consumers in just 2 minutes. Storm as powerful as CE can destroy an entire lot of transformers in power company godowns. This would mean a death knell for most civic and telecommunication facilities till new transformers manufactured and pushed into service.

Confusion during Solar Storm

As for solar storm of 1967, it almost became a flashpoint of nuclear war between America and Russia. On May 23, 1967, US military’s Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS), meant to detect incoming Soviet missiles, was disrupted by a solar storm. Those were the days of cold war between these 2 super powers and US aircrafts routinely carried out sorties with aircrafts loaded with nuclear weapons.

Glitch in the system, caused by Coronal Mass Ejection was tentatively viewed as wanton sabotage by Russia Forces. By implication, it was an act of war and prompted American air force to deploy more of nuclear weapon aircrafts in ‘ready to strike’ mode.

Thankfully, North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) detected the problem timely and informed all concerned that the BMEWS disruption caused was caused by solar storm, and not the Russian forces. But for this information conveyed to Air Force Commanders in the nick of time, US nuclear aircrafts would have taken off for hit and it would have been very difficult to communicate with them mid-air because of solar flare.

A counter from Russia would have inevitably followed throwing the world into nuclear war with wide-ranging tragic consequences. This geomagnetic storm began 40 hours after solar bursts and played havoc with U.S. radio communications for one entire week. Rated top-notch geomagnetic disturbance in record books, it is still no match to CE 1859 that failed telegraph communication in entire North America and Europe and stretched the reach of Northern Lights right up to the Caribbean.

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Antielectron, the antimatter counterpart of the electron. (Anderson, Carl D. / The Positive Electron)

Unlike me, if you ever paid attention in your science class, you would probably remember your teacher stating that ‘everything around us is made up of matter’. It’s true; literally everything from me to your cars to pins to the dog barking across the street, everything no matter how seemingly simple or complex it is, is made up of matter. However, matter isn’t the only thing that makes our universe. There is also matter’s ‘evil’ twin known as antimatter. The existence of antimatter was first claimed in research papers published by Paul Dirac from 1928 onwards. On 2nd August 1930, Carl Anderson successfully discovered antielectron or ‘positron.’

What is antimatter?

Antimatter is quite similar to matter. It has the same mass and structure of the matter. However, differences arise when we look at its configuration. For example, a hydrogen atom has a proton with a negatively charged electron revolving around it whereas; an atom of antihydrogen has an antiproton with a positron revolving around it. When matter and antimatter meet, it’s not a joyous reunion, rather the two counterparts neutralize each other and release energy in the process called ‘annihilation’.

If a kilogram of antimatter annihilates with a kilogram of matter, the energy released will be equivalent to that of the massive Soviet thermonuclear bomb ‘Tsar Bomba’, which was 1500 times more powerful than the combined power of bombs dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki (fat man and little boy). According to the physicists, the big bang that created our universe should have created both matter and antimatter in equal amount.

What happened to all the antimatter and why all we see around is matter?

The Center for European Nuclear Research (CERN) has tried to explain this asymmetry by saying that one in a billion particle of matter somehow managed to survive. With all these vague theories and the way logic comes in the way, it is hard to believe if ‘antimatter’ really exists. But, be assured, scientists have been able to create, store and study antimatter.

Scientists at Center for European Nuclear Research (CERN) have been successful in producing Antimatter atom using the famous ‘Large Hadron Collider.’ More intriguing is the way these particles are stored. Any antimatter particles would annihilate as soon as it hits matter and as result, the scientists at CERN use a magnet based trap named ‘Penning-Malmberg trap’ to trap and study antimatter atoms. Magnets are used to create a magnetic field that acts as a bathtub for the antimatter particle. This ‘magnetic field bathtub’ ensures that the antimatter particles do not hit the walls of the trap and annihilate.

Large Hadron Collider at CERN where antimatter was produced in a controlled environment. (Maximilien Brice / Wikimedia Commons)

Use of Antimatter

Antimatter is an extremely useful material. The PET scan is just short for Positron Emission Tomography scan. Millions of people go through PET scans every year. With further knowledge, we could be one day able to efficiently cure cancer. It also offers the possibility of being used in the nuclear reactors or power plants. For all those science-fiction enthusiasts out there, antimatter could possibly fuel our space crafts as they do in ‘Star Trek.’ 

In late 2009, antimatter triggered the biggest explosion we have ever witnessed. According to DailyGalaxy, a star of size more than 200 times our own was annihilated due to ‘runaway thermonuclear reactions triggered by gamma ray-driven antimatter production.’ The result? A blast, that was visible for months, releasing radioactive content fifty times our ‘Sun.’

The cost to produce antimatter

It has been about 90 years since the discovery of antimatter; however, the research is still in its baby steps. Antimatter seems deadly, able to destroy anything composed of matter, even human beings. However, don’t be scared of being annihilated. It is by far, the most costly material to produce. In fact, CERN has only been able to produce 10 nanograms of antimatter in total. 10 nanograms of antimatter are not even capable of even boiling a cup of tea. In 1999, NASA estimated the cost of producing one gram of antihydrogen atoms to cost about 62.5 billion dollars. In 2006, NASA again estimated the cost of producing 10 milligrams of positron, the minimum amount required to power a mission to Mars, to be 250 million dollars. Money is not the only restriction; CERN has claimed that with current technology in use, making a gram of antimatter would take us 100 billion years!

So any possible use of antimatter in any significant field would require a major technological breakthrough. While we still don’t know a lot about antimatter itself, scientists have been reported to find about a particle that is both, antimatter and matter. Physics theory has been implying the existence of ‘Majorana particle’, however, we have not been able to find them till date.  

The laws of the physics are said to have a different effect on antimatter. Some scientists believe that the study of it could help us know how it ‘all’ began. Some people bestow their faith in the theory that there is a parallel universe made up of antimatter. More research is needed. But ‘possibly’, there might be an ‘anti-you’ reading an article about ‘matter.’ Who knows?

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Physics of the Impossible | By Michio Kaku

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Biosphere 2 campus. (Martijn Nijenhuis / Flickr)

The Earth is one amazing planet that is home to a variety of animals, birds, plants and organisms, which live harmoniously with each other. Various natural habitats are spread across all the continents that have their own peculiarity; for example, Antarctica is covered in snow, while Africa is known for its hot deserts. South America stands out for its wet Amazonian rainforests, while Europe is famous for its ancient human history. Wouldn’t you be surprised if we told you that a place called Biosphere 2 housed part of almost every section just mentioned, all under one roof?

Biosphere 2, Arizona

Biosphere 2, also dubbed as “Planet in a bottle” – a huge research facility located in Tucson, Arizona in the United States – is spread across a sprawling 40-acre campus, with at least 7 acres reserved for state-of-the-art research labs, administrative offices, classrooms, housing centres and conference halls. Built between the years 1987 and 1991 and named after the natural biosphere of the Earth, Biosphere 2 was originally constructed as an artificial, enclosed ecological system, which is considered to be the largest, completely self-sufficient, man-made structure to have ever been built.

With its very own coral reef-lined ocean, complete with a variety of fish, a tropical rainforest that had a wide range of trees, savanna grassland, mangroves, a fog desert and an agricultural system, the fully-sealed structure was built as a forerunner to an enclosed space colonization program, which unfortunately did not succeed eventually. 

Ocean and coral reef inside Biosphere 2. (Martijn Nijenhuis / Flickr)

During the first experiment that lasted two years from 1991 to 1993, eight volunteers, including founding members Taber MacCallum and Jane Poynter, medical doctor Roy Walford, ecologist Mark Nelson and researchers Sally Silverstone, Abigail Alling, Linda Leigh and Mark Van Thillo, entered Biosphere 2 to test if humans could run their very own world, which had all the facilities at their beck and call. But sadly, the self-sufficient controversial mini-world ran into hot water as soon as the program began.

Another view of the ocean inside the Biosphere 2. (Windell Oskay / Flickr)

The mega glass and steel spaceframe structure, which had an inbuilt oxygen supply in the form of natural ecosystems that were designed inside, it worked like an airtight container with no supply of oxygen from the outside world. The best breeds of livestock were brought in from various parts of the world, which would help the artificial biosphere function similarly to the real one. Trees, to continuously provide oxygen to living things were planted, which would keep the massive bio-dome running smoothly. Special planning and construction techniques took care of the heating and cooling systems of the facility, while accurate engineering went into making sure the enormous glass house functioned perfectly. Despite the best of everything that went into the making of this self-contained world, there came a point when Biosphere 2 had become almost inhabitable, with volunteers desperately wanting to make it outside.

But what had actually gotten wrong?

While some call it a multi-million dollar glorious debacle, Biosphere 2’s failure was a result of a lot of significant technical flaws. Some months inside the facility and volunteers began noticing that oxygen levels had started to dip sharply. Although trees in the savanna and rainforests were taking in all the carbon dioxide from humans and animals, tiny microbes present in the soil in the marshlands were metabolizing and using up oxygen at such a fast rate that hardly anything was left for those on top of the chain. As a result, carbon dioxide was released in high quantities, which the trees couldn’t exchange so quickly. Later with unethical practices, oxygen was pumped in from outside sources, which no longer made Biosphere 2 a miniature self-contained world in the first place.

Also, one of the major reasons for the facility’s failure was the psychological problems that started to creep up between the crew members as days and months passed in isolation. The members were not trained professionals in specific fields and had to make decisions based on consensus. Another major factor was that since they were completely alienated from the outside world, they couldn’t get the expert technical advice they needed to run the biosphere all by themselves. The crew members were not agronomists, who despite bringing in best crop seeds for plantation and food, generate enough to sustain for a long period of time. Some “Biospherians” (as the crew called themselves) were also accused of sneaking into the outside world, citing emergency family issues and bringing back outside items for use, that put the entire Biosphere 2 scheme under heavy scrutiny.

The rain-forest section inside Biosphere 2. (Jesuiseduardo / Wikimedia Commons)

After the first test group returned with little success, a second 10-month-long mission with seven members onboard begun and a lot of technical flaws were rectified, hoping for accomplishment the second time round in 1994. But merely two months into it and the company – Space Biospheres Ventures – which owned and managed Biosphere 2, was dissolved and the mission was abruptly aborted within six months. In December of 1995, Colombia University took up the management of Biosphere 2 and ran it successfully for research purposes for 8 years until 2003, when it ran into legal issues. In 2005, the new owners, Decisions Investments Corporation, put the site up for sale for housing and retail reasons, until Arizona University acquired its ownership, management and research rights in the year 2007.

The savanna grassland section. (Martijn Nijenhuis / Flickr)

Currently, Biosphere 2 pulls in as many as twenty thousand visitors each year and aims at advanced research and understanding of global scientific issues. It also aims at researching more about the Earth and its future by ways of technical and methodological progress. But what remains towards the end is a major technical fiasco, which was originally intended to be a self-sustaining miniature version of the earth, eventually turning into one of the thousands of research facilities that run across the world. Thankfully, Biosphere 2 still remains the biggest artificial vivarium man has ever created.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Amazon Spheres: An Unexpected Rainforest in the Amazon HQ at Seattle“.

Recommended Read:
Dreaming the Biosphere: The Theater of All Possibilities | By Rebecca Reider

Recommended Visit:
Biosphere 2 (Science Museum) | Arizona, USA

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Photo of the first Zinnia flower in space. (NASA / Wikimedia Commons)

Space outside of Earth’s gravitational field has been explored so intensively and extensively that now the next logical step is human habitation in space. That obviously can’t happen without plants; which are required fresh food, visual euphoria and life-sustaining oxygen pool in the environment. The International Space station (ISS) was launched in orbit in 1998 by National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), USA for space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.  

Soviet Salyut 7 space station, 1982, conducted the first successful experiment in growing plants in space up to flowering and was successful in harvesting next-gen seeds from seeds grown in space. By 2003 the Russian Cosmonauts were not only experimenting on space crops but also consuming them as food. Allan H Brown, had already proved in 1983 that growth in plants/seeds was innately controlled, not environmentally influenced/dictated.

Establishment of Vegetable Production System (Veggie) by ISS in 2012 was a milestone development. Veggie unit is a container with in-built mechanisms, plant pillows, to guide plant growth. Plant Pillows include bags of manure, dirt, nutrients and a water absorbing wick. Seeds are glued to wick in a way their roots grow towards the bottom of the bag and the stem upwards. LED lights above the arrangement provide energy for plant growth and the growing leaves are cushioned by the flexible and expandable walls of Veggie. This system has focussed on salad vegetables like lettuce, Swiss chard, radishes, Chinese cabbage and peas which could be easily plucked and eaten as-such by the Cosmonauts.

Plants growing in Veggie unit on ISS. (NASA / Wikimedia Commons)

On August 10th 2015, American Astronauts ate their self-grown Red Romaine Lettuce. Blooming of sunflower in 2012, and Zinnia in 2016 were landmark achievements. Zinnia’s success was significant as it paved way for long-duration and fruit-bearing crops like tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, beans and peanuts. Growth duration of 60-80 days and upscale sensitivity to the environment made space cultivation of Zinnia extremely challenging. Just 2 weeks into their growth, zinnias showed curling of leaves and droplets of water on leaf margins; typical stress symptoms. High-speed fans were used to control humidity that caused mold outbreak. Dedicated efforts of the crew, Scott Kally in particular, bailed plants out of the problem creating a milestone in space agricultural technology.

Observations and disproving Darvin’s hypothesis

Formation and orientation of plants in zero gravity situation was an interesting observation. Skewing root growth hypothesis of Charles Darwin held that gravity and environment decided plant growth on earth. With seeds showing skewing growth patterns in space as well, Darwin’s hypothesis was disproved. Studies finally concluded that plants changed their gene expression in the no-gravity situation. It is like plants can sense departure in their environment and adjust accordingly.

An extra-terrestrial environment can stress plants in many ways. Apart from temperature, light and available nutrients, plants are impacted by changes in gravity, radiations and gaseous exchange. These factors trigger reprogramming of gene expression to adjust to the hostile environment. An understanding of this genetic programming, courtesy Biological research in Canister (BRIC) is a giant step towards space agriculture as well as the life on earth.

How are earthlings benefiting from the research?

A related program of ISS, Lada Validating Vegetable Production Unit – Plants, Protocols, Procedures and requirements uses a chamber, like a greenhouse, with auto control for water and light. It is an on-earth research lab for assessing food value of space crops, identifying and controlling microorganisms that harm these crops, sanitization of crop produce post-harvest and optimization of plant production in space conditions. Interestingly research applies as well to life on earth as on space.

Air purification technology designed primarily for space stations is also being used to keep air in household clean and healthy. A leaf sensor developed for long-duration space missions is being used by farmers to conserve water, as it indicates the right time when plants are `thirsty’. A common problem both on earth and space is ethylene, a gas emanating from plants which speeds up the ripening of fruits and vegetables. Hastened ripening leads to faster decay. The solution lays in neutralizing ethylene and came by way of ethylene scrubbing technology.

But technology did much more than just destroy ethylene. It simultaneously destroyed many airborne bacteria, fungi, molds, mycotoxins, viruses and undesirable odours. Now, these scrubbers are being used widely in food preservation and processing plants, wineries, restaurants, refrigerators, and deodorants. Doubtless, research at NASA is not just for space exploration. Its importance for life and business on earth is as sanguine. Robotic surgery is a gift of space research. So also telemedicine and medical intervention through remote control.

Can breathe analysis be a way to detect dormant/insidious disease processes?

Yes, thanks to the technique of calibrating Nitric Oxide in air exhaled by Astronauts. Men in space and elderly on earth, both suffer from weakening of bones. Use of bisphosphonate, low sodium diet and exercise has proved useful for both. The study of plasma (charged gases which can permeate matter quickly and even spread evenly) has proved as effective in medical treatment as in plant growth. Studies on microgravity have given important leads for treatment of immunosuppression.

Development of microencapsulation for targeted treatment of cancerous growth and dry immersion technology for early diagnosis of neurological disorders, oedema, sports medicine and rehabilitation of premature babies are all thanks to space research. Study of cardiovascular system on space flight has guided us on how to examine health parameters of motor vehicle drivers and civil aviation pilots. Studies on motor disturbances in zero gravity is being used to treat patients with cerebral palsy, stroke, spinal cord injury and age-related motor disturbances.

With plants as company on the space mission, it is safe to assume that crew would feel more comfortable in staying for months, even years and wouldn’t tax their physical and mental health as is likely without such company. Space research in the meanwhile is extending a yeoman service to humankind, even before the dream of colonising space for human dwelling becomes a reality.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Space Food: What Do Astronauts Eat Outside the Earth’s Atmosphere?“.

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Dr. Robert Cornish with one of the Lazarus pups. (Source: www.madscientistblog.ca)

Tales of Mad Scientists have been in existence for centuries now. And while many are criticized for being wacky, inhumane and downright psychopathic many can also be celebrated for making breakthroughs within various scientific fields. This is none more so than within the field of medicine where procedures today have origins from millennia ago; in medieval times and before them in prehistory. One such tale with a more modern spin comes from the 1930s in Berkley, California where an American called Robert Cornish attempted to bring the dead back to life.

Background of Dr Robert Cornish

Cornish was a medical phenomenon, graduating at 18 from the University of California and gaining a Doctorate at 22. He was a handsome chap but his eccentricity was soon apparent as one of his invention concept was a pair of spectacles to allow the reading of newspapers underwater. This may illustrate his intelligence; however as to gain a patent in those times was considered very noteworthy and could propel a person to fame. Cornish worked at the Department of Experimental Biology at a University when he began to get notoriety for something of a darker nature than underwater specs.

Revivification experiments

Dog-lovers read no further. Cornish began an experiment to cure the undead but not permitted to use human beings he had to operate on dogs. The doctor organized a public demonstration which Time magazine witnessed. He named his patients – five fox terriers – Lazarus after the mythical figure brought back to life by Jesus.

Robert Cornish tried many different techniques before gaining moderate success with the following. He would suffocate the animals first with either Nitrogen or ether. He would wait no more than five minutes after the heart had stopped to try and resuscitate. To do this he found a way to keep the blood circulating by using a piece of wood called a teeterboard, a type of see-saw to rock the patient up and down to maintain the circulation of blood.

Before re-animation, he would inject the creature with a concoction of saline, oxygen, adrenaline, blood as well as anti-coagulants and coagulants. Oxygen would be blown into the mouth via a rubber tube. Bear in mind this was in the 1950s when CPR and techniques of the sort were in their infancy meaning his methods were extremely right-field.

Outcome, criticism and dismissal

The first three dogs were revived but showed little signs of life after. The best result was Lazarus II who was in a coma for eight hours before passing again. The fourth dog – Lazarus IV – came back to life albeit blind and brain-damaged, Cornish reported that she recovered to near full strength in a matter of months. Lazarus V was the same but returned to normality in shorter time. These are the words of Doctor Cornish only however and were not confirmed by Time or anyone else it appears. Despite these factors, Cornish hailed his experiments a success.

The mad-cap doctor was heavily criticized and eventually fired from the UCLA Laboratory when protestations about the canine killings reached their ears. He was forced to do his experiments in the confines of his own abode and with pigs rather than dogs.

Attempts to secure fund and human subjects

Requiring funding Robert Cornish tried to clear his name by convincing people that his work was vital. This was through a movie titled ‘Life Returns’. Cornish played himself as does one of the Lazarus dogs. It uses a familiar aspect to pull at the heartstrings of the audience, with the doctor attempting to resurrect his son’s dead dog. It was the only way his son would love him again after all. The film was far from a success and ergo did nothing to improve the reputation of the doctor.

His next plan was to find a human patient. He searched the jails and found a willing convict called Thomas McMonigle, an inmate of San Quentin prison, convicted of killing a fourteen-year-old girl. The government declined the request on compassionate grounds. There is another rumour however which seems to be justified by newspaper reports from the time. This relates to the courts fearing a ‘double jeopardy’ clause. Death by the gas chamber which would have released the convict from his conviction and therefore he would have been a free man.

The experiments of Cornish continued and certainly will continue but at least now with more humane conditions we can hope. For it is a persistent quest of mankind to be eternal and although a scary thought it is one which will be pursued until completion. This is looking ever more likely and sooner rather than later with such incredible advances in medical science.

While Doctor Robert Cornish committed some very cruel acts can it be said that experiments like this are necessary in order to advance? To benefit the world in the long term? Is it worth the life of an animal, or a human to potentially increase the lifespan of another?

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Jose Delgado, the Pioneer of Electric Brain Stimulation Tamed a Raging Bull with Radio Control“.

Not Recommended Watch:
Life Returns (1935)

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The post Dr. Robert E. Cornish’s Controversial Experiments to Revive a Dog’s Decapitated Head appeared first on .

Space Burial: Photo of Earth from Space. (NASA)

As kids, most of us have thought of becoming an astronaut, floating in zero gravity, operating complex space shuttles and looking at our beautiful big blue planet from a distant. But most of us gave up on that thought as we grew up. While we can still take a trip to outer space to fulfill our dream, it will cost us a few million dollars. But, don’t lose hope yet, there are several companies that are willing to take you to space for as low as $1295, the only criteria is that you have to be dead.

Space burial or space funeral involves carrying of cremated ashes of a person to outer space. However, the ashes aren’t scattered in space, rather they are encapsulated into a specially designed capsule container which is integrated into a spacecraft taking them to space.

Space burial package and services

Amongst the private companies that offer the space burial service, two giants, Celestis and Elysium Space form a duopoly. They offer several packages to choose from. These packages start from $1295 for basic outer-space experiences providing five to six minutes of weightlessness and go as high as $12000 for an everlasting deep space experience. These packages also include a live broadcast of the rocket countdown and the service to effortlessly track the satellite while it orbits our planet.

Apart from the above experiences, people can choose two other experiences as well. These are the “Earth Orbit Service”- in which the remains of the deceased, orbit our planet for a limited duration before returning to earth as a shooting star and the “Luna Service”- in which the cremated remains are laid on the surface of our closest neighbour – the Moon.

People buried in space

Two Celestis mission satellites, “Celestis 03, The Ad Astra Flight” and “Celestis 04, The Millennial Flight” which were launched in 1998 and 1999 respectively are still in orbit and are expected to remain so for another 220 years. While there are several notable personalities including James Doohan (well-known for his role as Scotty in ‘Star Trek’) and Gene Roddenberry (creator of ‘Star Trek’) orbiting earth, there are only two people who have made it beyond the orbit.

The ashes of Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, a prominent astronomer, were carried by Celestis’s  Luna Service 1 and rests on the surface of our natural satellite. The second person to make it beyond the orbit is Clyde Tombaugh, an American astronomer who discovered Pluto in 1930. His ashes are aboard the NASA’s “New Horizons” which passed Pluto in July 2015.

The history of space burial can be traced back to the early 1930s when the idea was first circulated in a novel by Neil Ronald Jones. In 1965 movie, ‘The Loved One’, this idea was commercially projected for the first time. While several developments were made in the 1980s, the first space funeral was conducted in 1992 when NASA’s space shuttle Columbia carried few portions of Gene Roddenberry’s ashes into space.

Celestis became the first company to conduct private space funeral in 1997. Named ‘Celestis’ Earthview: The Founders Flight’, the mission carried remains of twenty-four people including Gene Roddenberry, Timothy Leary, Gerard O’Neill, Krafft Ehricke in a ‘Pegasus’ rocket which orbited the earth for 5 years before returning to Earth.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Neptune Memorial Reef: An Eco-Friendly Underwater Graveyard Off the Florida Coast“.

Official Websites:
1. Celestis: Memorial Spaceflights – Space Funeral Ashes Burial
2. Elysium Space | Ashes into Space | Memorial Spaceflights

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Dvorak Technique: A chart demonstrating Dvorak-assigned intensities on common development pattern observed during a tropical cyclone. (Vernon F. Dvorak / NOAA)

As a critical, forecasting tool, the Dvorak technique is useful for monitoring and estimating the intensity of tropical cyclones, typhoons, and hurricanes. To get a fairly accurate measurement, weather forecasters refer to visible and infrared satellite images.

The Dvorak technique and its evolution

Vernon Dvorak developed the Dvorak technique between 1969 and 1984, using polar orbital satellite images of tropical cyclones from the Atlantic and the northwest Pacific Ocean. Initially, the technique consisted of systematically matching patterns of cloud features with a development and decay model. Over the years, the technique has improved further.

In the Dvorak technique, the common procedure is to find the center of a developing cyclone and assign it a primary developmental pattern associated with tropical cyclones like a curved band, a shear, a central dense overcoat, a central cold cover, a banding eye, and an eye. The next step is measuring the cloud features from satellite imagery and established guidelines. 

By using infrared satellite imagery, weather forecasters are able to evaluate the strength of tropical cyclones with eyes in a more objective manner. They measure the temperatures at the top of the clouds in the eyewall and also the temperatures within the cyclone eye. They can then contrast and compare the two temperature measurements.

Along with defining the intensity of tropical cyclones, the measurements are used to find out what the central pressure is in the low-pressure area of the tropical cyclone. Weather forecasters have had to modify the central pressures that were previously assigned to tropical cyclones. This is because their estimated measurements turned out to be inaccurate. They were 5-10 hPa (0.15-0.29 inHg) too low in the Atlantic and up to 20 hPa (0.59 inHg) too high in the northwest Pacific. To resolve this inaccuracy, Atkinson and Holliday devised and developed an independent wind-pressure relationship for the northwest Pacific in 1975 and 1977.

The above image shows the development of tropical cyclone in five days. (Vernon F. Dvorak / Wikimedia Commons)

The cyclone intensity estimates that come from the statistical system are known T-numbers, and they range from T1 to T8 on the Dvorak scale of measurement, with one representing cyclones of minimum intensity and eight representing cyclones of maximum intensity. After assigning a T-number, weather forecasters may modify it to maintain continuity with past estimates. The final value they arrive at is known as current intensity or CI. The T-number and CI value is same for all cyclones except those that are weakening. For these, the CI value is higher than the T-number.

Nowadays, weather forecasters use constraints on short term intensity change less frequently than they did in the 1970s and 1980s.

The main issue with the initial Dvorak technique was that the human analysts that used it were prone to subjective biases and that led to inaccuracies in measurements. To ensure more objective estimates, weather forecasters now use more powerful computers, specialized computer programs, and higher-resolution satellite imagery. The computer-automated techniques use an averaging period of six hours, which takes into account the natural fluctuations of the satellite patterns of tropical cyclones. It is, thus, possible to get a more reliable estimate of the tropical cyclone intensity.

Weather forecasters first used the objective Dvorak technique in 1998 and found it worked best for measuring the intensity of tropical cyclones with eyes. Of course, since it was still necessary to manually detect the centre of the cyclone using subjective analysis, the technique wasn’t entirely objective.

A more advanced and objective Dvorak technique came about in 2004. In this, the weather forecasters began using banding features to find out the centre of a tropical cyclone. They also use them for cyclones that are below hurricane intensity.

Using the Dvorak technique

Cyclones that are similar in intensity tend to have certain similar characteristic features. Also, as they gain in strength, they have a tendency to change their appearance in a foreseeable way. The Dvorak technique utilizes these facts when monitoring the intensity of a developing cyclone.

To determine if a tropical cyclone is weakening, maintaining its intensity, or gaining in strength, the weather forecasters track its structure and organization for over 24 hours. They make note of various central cloud and banding features and compare these with models created from compiled data from infrared satellite images of visual patterns and intensity of storms.

In the case of cyclones with visible eye patterns, the weather forecasters may make use of any available infrared satellite imagery. They will note the respective temperatures of the cyclone eye and the cloud tops around it. The cyclone eye usually has a warmer temperature than that of the cloud tops. The difference between the warm temperature of the cyclone eye and the cold temperature of the cloud tops determines the intensity of the cyclone. For instance, if the temperature of the cloud tops is colder, the tropical cyclone will be of higher intensity.

According to the National Hurricane Centre, the CI value for six hours gives a reasonably accurate measurement of the intensity of a weakening tropical cyclone. As per the Dvorak technique, a tropical cyclone can vary in strength only up to 2.5 T-numbers in 24 hours.

Benefits of the Dvorak technique

In certain areas and under certain weather conditions, it is not possible to use aircraft reconnaissance to observe a developing tropical cyclone. Instead, weather forecasters can use the Dvorak technique to measure and get a reasonably accurate estimate of the intensity of maximum sustained winds. The measurement taken using the Dvorak technique is in the close neighbourhood of the measurement taken from an aircraft, within an eight kilometres per hour estimate.

Disadvantages of the Dvorak technique

The intensity measurements of tropical cyclones with moderate and weak strengths are less reliable.

While the Dvorak technique allows only 2.5 T-numbers per day, all tropical cyclones don’t necessarily adhere to this rule. Given that cyclones tend to fluctuate in strength, some may easily exceed the allowed 2.5 T-numbers.

The Dvorak technique is only applicable to tropical cyclones and is not effective in determining the intensity of subtropical cyclones. It also underestimates the intensities of cyclones that are losing their thunderstorm activity and undergoing extratropical transition.

The leading weather agencies that use the Dvorak technique to record the intensity of tropical cyclones include the Air Force Weather Agency, the Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch of the National Hurricane Centre and the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre at the Hawaiian-based Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command. The NOAA/NESDIS Satellite Analysis Branch also utilizes the Dvorak technique.

By monitoring developing tropical cyclones, typhoons, and hurricanes and providing authorities with information to take advanced action, the Dvorak technique has helped to save scores of lives in vulnerable regions.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Radar Technology’s Early Detection System Revolutionised the World and Made it a Better Place to Live in“.

Fact Analysis:
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Segments of Einstein’s Brain in Mütter Museum. (The Mütter Museum Of The College Of Physicians Of Philadelphia)

Albert Einstein, the renowned scientist who formulated several theories that are crucial in the field of science perished on April 18, 1955, in Princeton Hospital. One would imagine the curiosity of scientists all across the world to have a closer look at the brain of a genius. However, one person named Thomas Harvey took this matter into his own hands. Thomas was the pathologist on duty the day Einstein expired. He took full advantage of his position and stole Einstein’s brain.

Whether or not Einstein wanted his brain to be studied after his death still remains a mystery. Regardless, Thomas Harvey preserved bits and pieces of his brain for several years and passed some on to his fellow pathologists. According to Brian Burrell, author of the book “Postcards from the Brain Museum”  Thomas obtained a “retroactive and reluctant blessing”  from his son Hans Albert. After he moved from Princeton Hospital to Philadelphia, Thomas preserved the 240 pieces of the brain which he carved out in celloidin, another form of cellulose and put these pieces into two jars and placed them in the basement of his house.

Thomas’s wife was not too pleased with someone’s brain being stored in their basement and pressurized him to discard it, which forced him to carry the pieces along with him to the Midwest. While he worked in Wichita, Kansas he placed the brain in a cider container and kept it beneath the beer cooler. His career tumbled and he moved to Missouri and lost his medical license following his failure in competency examinations in 1988. He finally settled in Lawrence, Kansas, where he worked in an assembly-line job in a factory of plastic-extrusion, all the while sending bits and pieces of Einstein’s brain to researchers all over the world.

Elbert Einstein in 1921. (Ferdinand Schmutzer / Wikimedia Commons)

Research and findings

True to Thomas’s intentions, researchers across the world worked on Einstein’s brain and published several papers. In 1985, Thomas, with his California collaborators, published a paper claiming that his brain had unusual amounts of two types of cell structures, namely neurons, and glia. Some other scientists refute those claims. That study was followed by five more similar studies, with one being published as recently as April 2014, which are considered to be flawed in a number of ways by a fraction of scientists.

Author Brian Burrell in his book studies the brains of famous personalities including Einstein, Lenin, and Walt Whitman. He remarked that nothing of scientific value came out from the study of Einstein’s brain, rather it became something that Einstein himself was terrified: a pop-culture icon. Thomas stole Einstein’s brain without his prior permission compromising Einstein’s dignity and did not follow what were said to be specific instructions given by Einstein about his remains; cremate them and scatter the ashes in secret.

It may be argued that Einstein wanted to discourage his idolaters with that move. Perhaps Thomas was inspired by Oskar Vogt’s study of Lenin’s brain, yet it must be noted that he had no expertise in understanding a brain. All his life after the incident had shades of a media circus.

The fate of Einstein’s brain

In 1997 Thomas embarked on a cross-country road trip with a freelance magazine writer called Michael Paterniti in a quest to meet Einstein’s granddaughter. They met her and intended to leave the brain with her. When she disclosed that she didn’t want it, they tried to leave the brain accidentally. Finally, the brain and the two men parted ways and the brain ended up in the lab where it all started some 40 years ago. Michael, however, published a book called “A drive with Mr. Albert”.

One of the largest collections of his brain is available at the Mutter Museum, Philadelphia to be seen by the public. But, Einstein’s brain isn’t the only organ that has been preserved. Dr. Henry Abrams, Einstein’s optometrist, is believed to have taken the possession of Einstein’s eyes from Dr. Thomas. It is considered that his eyes are sealed up in an NYC Safety Deposit case. Abrams asserts that the eyes will never be sold, whenever the talk of an auction gains mileage.

Enjoyed this article? Also, check out “Trepanation: Unusual Medical Procedure of Drilling Hole in the Skull“.

Recommended Read:
1. Einstein: His Life and Universe | By Walter Isaacson
2. Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything | By Joshua Foer

Recommended Watch:
 Inside Einstein’s Mind: The Enigma of Space and Time (2015) | BBC

Recommended Visit:
Mütter Museum | Philadelphia, USA

Fact Analysis:
STSTW Media strives to deliver accurate information through careful research. However, things can go wrong. If you find the above article inaccurate or biased, please let us know at [email protected].

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Laika training for her expedition. (NASA)

We all know the names Buzz Aldrin and Yuri Gagarin for being – conspiracies aside – some of the first people into outer space. Gagarin from Russia is considered the first man to orbit Earth in 1961 and in 1969 the Americans: Aldrin and co-pilot Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. They paved the way for what is now a golden age for space travel with ideas hatching for passenger flights and plans to colonize other planets. But who paved the way for them?

Less is known about their counterparts, animal astronauts who have also voyaged – albeit forced – into the unknown, many in the name of the Space Race between the aforementioned countries. The most famous of these was a little Russian dog called Laika. In a time when conditions in space were unknown, Laika was chosen as a Guinea Pig before any human had made the jump. She was picked from the streets of Moscow to join the Russian space mission Sputnik II in 1961.

Why Laika?

According to the crew, Laika was around three years old, a mongrel female and unlike her name suggests [Barker] remained very quiet. Found in the Russian capital, her exact breed is unknown but almost certainly a cross between a terrier and some type of husky. Stray dogs were commonly used in previous preparatory missions because they can handle severely cold conditions and are ultimately less demanding.

The program picked a small female in terms of space-saving (for a spacecraft about the size of a washing machine, even leg-lifting was a factor). The good-natured mutt was quickly loved, birthing several Russian nicknames including Kudravka meaning Curly, Damka – Little Lady and Limonchik for Little Lemon. Muttnik would be her catchy handle in the English speaking world.

Read more: The story of the first primate in space that paved the way for manned spacecrafts.

The spacecraft Sputnik II would launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in modern-day Kazakhstan to test various cosmic conditions as well as the effects of space travel on an animal. The first Sputnik mission proved a success in orbiting the Earth and the second vowed to go further with a living creature in tow. Ultimately, Laika was a precursor to Yuri Gagarin, whose mission was already in the pipeline. Previous missions had also included dogs but they only reached suborbital conditions, this was to be a major step up. Veteran pups of those missions including a hound called Albina were to be backups. (Rumours say the crew got too attached)

Model of Sputnik 2 in which Laika travelled to space. (Laika ac / Flickr)

Preparation for launch

As launch day approached the darkness of the voyage soon began to sink in and there were protests around the world regarding the lack of humanity in proceedings. Such a mission today would cause an uproar, especially with the training which was brutal and by modern terms completely inhumane.

However, it was a different time back then, especially behind the Iron Curtain, with fewer objections aided by Cold War secrecy, Space Race obsession and a lack of Red Tape. Presumably, there would have been more protestation if people knew the truth. The truth that returning to Earth was never planned for Laika (a secret kept until 2002).

The crew have spoken more about this in recent times. They claim that the Soviet Union leader at the time, Nikita Khrushchev urged them to speed up the mission to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution. It made several plans impossible to complete but Khrushchev was not a man to deny. In what was a cruel mission it is clear to see that the crew came to love the dog, whilst having to remain professional. They made a plan to euthanize her with a poisoned last meal if she suffered too much. They also made her a window. One scientist and trainer, Dr.Yazdovsky wrote that he took Laika home to play with his children on the night before launch.

“Laika was quiet and charming… I wanted to do something nice for her. She had so little time left to live.” he said.

Laika in space

The next morning was a Red Letter Day as the crew lamented and said their goodbyes. Sputnik II launched. Everything on board was monitored including Laika. At the start of the expedition, her heart understandably raced as the craft left Earth’s atmosphere but soon after, she started to calm. Her heart slowed and she continued to relax once reaching weightlessness. For the first time ever, a living being was orbiting Earth. She had made history. Within her harness, floating in Zero Gravity, Laika would have seen the blue and green of Planet Earth the way no-one had seen it before.

Perhaps she knew it was trees and water. Of course, the dog would be oblivious to the incredulity of events, and there is no doubt it was a traumatic experience but at least Laika felt some relief shown by her breathing. She even had some food before disaster finally struck. Her little heart started to race again and as temperatures rose, her panic took over. Eventually, there was no pulse detected and she was at peace.

The technicalities of her death are varied, it is simply claimed that overheating due to certain machine failures occurred approximately five hours into the flight. Laika’s death would have been a relief, also to many of the scientists once problems arose. The capsule became her coffin and after five months and over 2,000 orbits, they disintegrated upon reentry to Earth in 1958.

Later developments

Her death did not go unnoticed. Future space missions carrying animals were immediately made to be recovered after Laika’s death weighed heavy on the national conscience. As time went on more reforms took place and the callousness of the mission has forced many people to look back with regret none more so than the crew. Oleg Gazenko explains,

“Work with animals is a source of suffering to all of us. We treat them like babies who cannot speak. The more time passes, the more I’m sorry about it. We shouldn’t have done it … We did not learn enough from this mission to justify the death of the dog.”

Making such a difference for the greater good of the world would have been lost on Laika but she contributed more than most to the development of our world. Perhaps not in terms of aeronautics or space exploration but for animal rights and awareness, the little terrier became a martyr.

Laika on a Romanian stamp from 1959. (Wikimedia Commons)

She made the world remember that whatever we can achieve, we must do so humanely. She lives on in Star City, Russia, at the Russian Cosmonaut facility. There, a statue has been erected while all around the world Laika has been immortalized on items from posters to stamps.

Read more: Sex in space – is it possible? and why it is important

Recommended Read:
Soviet Space Dogs | Olesya Turkina

Recommended Watch:
Soviet Space Dog | BBC

Recommended Visit:
Science Museum | London

Fact Analysis:
STSTW Media strives to deliver accurate information through careful research. However, things can go wrong. If you find the above article inaccurate or biased, please let us know at [email protected].

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