Egyptian protractor

The architect Kha helped to build pharaohs’ tombs during the 18th dynasty, around 1400 BC. His own tomb was discovered intact in 1906 by archaeologist Ernesto Schiaparelli in Deir-al-Medina, near the Valley of the Kings. Among Kha’s belongings were measuring instruments including cubit rods, a levelling device that resembles a modern set square, and what appeared to be an oddly shaped empty wooden case with a hinged lid.

Amelia Carolina Sparavigna...

Kha was an architect at Deir El-Medina, Egypt, supervisor of some projects completed during the reigns of three kings of the 18th Dynasty (approximately 1440-1350 BC). Buried with his wife Merit, the items of their tomb are exposed at the Egyptian Museum, Torino. After a description of some devices of the ancient Egypt masonry (cubits, cords, plumb, levels and squares), that Kha used during his activity, I discuss an object among those found in his tomb, which, in my opinion, could be used a protractor.

"The architect Kha’s protractor" by Amelia Carolina Sparavigna

Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory demolished

"Quabbin telescope gone"

LONG-USED COLLEGE OBSERVATORY SCRAPPED

by

Bradford L. Miner

July 30st, 2011

TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

When ET phoned home, he might have checked with the staff at the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory on Prescott Peninsula to see if help was on the way.

Off limits to the general public, the 12,300 acres of Prescott Peninsula divide virtually the entire length of Quabbin Reservoir and because of its special status has always generated its share of speculation and tall tales.

The vast majority of research on Prescott Peninsula focused on watershed forest management, wildlife and related topics, such as the toll an overabundant white-tailed deer population was taking on forest regeneration.

The radio astronomy site on Prescott, established in 1969, was something of an anomaly, as researchers here were looking light years beyond the Quabbin Reservation.

William E. Pula, regional director of the Quabbin and Ware River watersheds for the state Department of Conservation and Recreation said yesterday the original 1969 contract with the Five College Radio Astronomy consortium — the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst College, Smith College, Hampshire College and Mount Holyoke College — called for the removal of all equipment and infrastructure if the site was ever decommissioned.

“Now that they're transitioning to a new site in Mexico with a larger telescope, the site has been demolished, and graded, with plans for two markers and the planting of sugar maples, oaks, and other trees this fall,” Mr. Pula said.

Professor Mark C. Hemeon-Heyer, associate director of the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory, said the site had been dormant since 2008 and from 2006 to that date had been used to test instruments that will be used at the new 50-meter radio astronomy telescope in Mexico, due to be fully operational a year from September.

Mr. Heyer said UMass. had been looking for a buyer to dismantle and remove the 14-meter telescope from Prescott, but when that didn't happen, the university lived up to its obligation to restore the site, despite serious fiscal constraints.

“They were true to their word. First the equipment was removed, and the building was checked for any hazardous materials like asbestos or lead paint. At that point that brought in an excavator and started pulling apart the dome,” Mr. Pula said.

“I was surprised just how tough the skin of the dome was. They took it apart piece by piece and it didn't collapse. They took a wrecking ball to the concrete base of the building, removed the demolition debris and graded the site,” Mr. Pula said.

He explained that along with the planting of mixed hardwoods, granite markers would be placed there, one similar to the marker on Dana Common, acknowledging the displaced village. "The other marker would recognize that the site had been used for four decades for astronomical research,” he said.

Mr. Pula said the white dome in the clearing was something of a landmark for aircraft and occasionally prompted speculation of just what kind of research was taking place at the facility in the middle of “the accidental wilderness” that is the 58,000-acre Quabbin Reservation.

In fact, detailed scientific data, reports of ongoing research and an explanation of the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory project was as close as the website.

The website described the first telescope as a customized low frequency antenna to search for pulsars in the galaxy. The subsequent development of instrumentation within the labs contributed to the discovery of the binary pulsar system by Joe Taylor and Russel Hulse for which the two men received the 1993 Nobel Prize in physics.

Mr. Pula said Quabbin was originally looked at as a site for the observatory because of its distance from electromagnetic radio transmissions that could cause interference and corrupt the data that was being collected.

Mr. Heyer said in 1976 when the 14-meter domed radio telescope was built, it operated at much higher frequencies, and could have been located on the University of Massachusetts campus in Amherst, but because there was an established site on Prescott Peninsula it was built there.

“At the Quabbin site, back in the 1970s we were at the forefront of very early research into molecules in interstellar space. Space is not a vacuum, but is filled with gas and dust and in the coldest, densest phase of that gas, atoms combined to form molecules,” the professor said.

The Quabbin antenna was able to pick up radio emissions coming from molecules that come in very discreet frequencies, Mr. Heyer said, adding that through spectroscopy, astronomers were not just looking at the emissions coming from clouds of gas, but the velocity and internal motion of that cloud of gas.

“For the past 15 years the Five College group became known for making these wide field-imaging studies of the molecular component of the Milky Way galaxy and other galaxies as well. What came out of this research was an understanding of how turbulent and complex these regions are,” he said.

Mr. Heyer said the Prescott site drew astronomers from across the country and around the world, until the last five years of operation, where the vast majority of it was remote where astronomers could log in to the telescope via the Internet.

“When we stopped operations at Prescott and began the transition to the 50-meter telescope in Mexico, our Prescott telescope was still at the peak of its scientific usefulness, but because of budget cuts it made sense to phase out its operation, and focus all of our resources on the Mexico project.“

"That site has much better climate and atmospheric conditions with a telescope of much greater sensitivity,” the professor said

Based on successful funding and startup protocols, Mr. Heyer said, he hopes the Mexico site is fully operational a year from September.

At that point, it will be one of the premier astronomical sites in the world for looking at how galaxies formed, and how they evolved.

The official website offered this...

The Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory

The FCRAO was founded in 1969 by the University of Massachusetts, together with Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College and Smith College. From its inception, the Observatory has emphasized pioneering research, the development of state- of-the-art technology and the training of students -- both graduate and undergraduate. The initial telescope of FCRAO was a customized low frequency antenna to search for pulsars in the Galaxy. The development of instrumentation within the FCRAO labs contributed to the discovery of the binary pulsar system PSR 1913+16 by Joe Taylor and Russel Hulse and for which they received the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics.

The original low frequency telescope was superseded in 1976 by a 14-m diameter radome-enclosed antenna for use at high radio frequencies (mm wavelengths), built primarily to study the physics and chemistry of interstellar clouds, circumstellar envelopes, planetary atmospheres, and comets.

The history of scientific research at the FCRAO 14m telescope has paralleled the evolution of millimeter-wave astronomy. Initially, the science was in a period of discovery, triggered by the remarkable detection of CO in 1970 and the follow-up work which defined the nature of the molecular interstellar medium. Today, we focus our effort on the study of objects which are now familiar and attempt to learn their secrets. We found that stars are formed in molecular clouds, but today we seek to understand how this occurs. We discovered an incredible chemical complexity and diversity in these clouds, and today we seek to explain the origin of this chemistry and understand its implications. We learned that molecular clouds are an important phase of the interstellar medium in our own galaxy and in external ones, but today we seek a better understanding of the role that these clouds play in galactic evolution.

A key aspect of ``understanding'' the nature and role of objects that define the molecular interstellar medium is to place them in a temporal context. For example, the field of stellar astronomy significantly advanced when it was recognized that different types of stars are actually stars at different stages in their evolution. This knowledge did not come about by studying the brightest stars in the sky, or the stars with the most obvious spectral lines, or the stars that were the closest to the Earth. The knowledge resulted from the development of instrumentation that allowed broad surveys of the stars and enabled stars in all evolutionary states to be characterized. Evolutionary questions about the molecular ISM require a similar treatment. The research program at the FCRAO 14m telescope has emphasized the development of focal plane array instrumentation and observing programs that address these issues.

The operation of the 14m telescope with a strong scientific focus and a commitment to key survey projects allows unique scientific investigations and provides excellent research opportunities for students in astronomy and instrumentation. Thus, we believe that our focus on evolutionary questions is aligned with the traditional objective of FCRAO for excellence in three major areas: astronomical research, instrumentation and education of students. We believe that the commitment to excellence in all three areas is vital to the success of university-based observatories like our own and that the achievements of such facilities are crucial to the future of American science.

Funding for the Quabbin facility comes from the NSF and from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

While the 14 meter telescope is the current platform for research and instrumentation efforts, the future platform is the Large Millimeter Telescope/Gran Telescopio Milimetrico (LMT/GTM). The LMT/GTM is a joint project between the University of Massachusetts and the Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica in Puebla, Mexico to construct and operate a 50 meter telescope between 1 and 3mm. This new facility will enable observational studies of protogalaxies, the cosmic background radiation, and detailed studies of the molecular interstellar medium and star formation in the Milky Way.

Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory [Wikipedia]

Deceased--M. Mouse

Mickey Mouse [Wikipedia]

Marlice Van Der Merwe's stupidity

It's a good thing that the cheetahs had water buffalo for lunch. Marlice Van Der Merwe isn't too bright. I suppose the overall question is why do people engage in dangerous events knowing that they could die. And too, all of this could have been staged.

Charlaine Karalus at Dartmouth College in 1959

[Click all images for enlargement.]

College hasn't changed too much...only the wrapping. Charlaine Karalus [changed by Hugh Hefner to Janet Pilgrim] was Playboy magazine's first playmate and in 1959 visited Dartmouth College.

Janet Pilgrim [Charlaine Karalus]

June 13th, 1934

Wikipedia...

In 1955 Playboy was in its second year of production and had previously used professional models as Playmates. Karalus worked for Hugh Hefner in the subscription department and agreed to pose for the July 1955 episode in exchange for a new addressograph for the office. Hefner reportedly chose the name "Janet Pilgrim" as to make fun of sexual puritanism.

Karalus appeared topless with a tuxedo clad man reported to be Hefner in the background with his back to the camera. The caption read in part: "We found Miss July in our own circulation department, processing subscriptions, renewals, and back copy orders. Her name is Janet Pilgrim and she's as efficient as she is good looking."

Response:

Readers responded well to her appearance as Miss July and sent in letters asking for more Janet Pilgrim. Despite getting offers to model for outside agencies, Janet chose to appear twice more as a Playmate and was listed on Playboy's masthead as head of reader's services department for the next 10 years. Hefner at one point offered a personal phone call from Pilgrim in exchange for enrollment in a lifetime subscription to his magazine.

Pilgrim is said the be the prototype of the "girl next door" approach to Playboy Playmates from that time onward.

Hugh Hefner on Janet Pilgrim

Here are the three centerfolds for Playboy...all rather tame by today's standards.

July 1955

December 1955

October 1956
[Click all images for enlargement.]

Mark your calendar...2020...ISS scuttled

"ISS to be sunk after 2020: Russian space agency"

July 27th, 2011

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Russia and its partners plan to plunge the International Space Station (ISS) into the ocean at the end of its life cycle after 2020 so as not to leave space junk, its space agency said Wednesday.

"After it completes its existence, we will be forced to sink the ISS. It cannot be left in orbit, it's too complex, too heavy an object, it can leave behind lots of rubbish," said deputy head of Roskosmos space agency Vitaly Davydov.

"Right now we've agreed with our partners that the station will be used until approximately 2020," he said in comments released on Wednesday.

Space junk is becoming an increasingly serious headache.

A piece of space debris narrowly missed the space station last month in a rare incident that forced the six-member crew to scramble to their rescue craft.

The ISS, which orbits 350 kilometres (220 miles) above Earth, is a sophisticated platform for scientific experiments bringing together space agencies from Russia, the United States, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Launched in 1998, the ISS was initially expected to remain in space for 15 years until an agreement was reached to keep it operating through 2020.

By going into a watery grave, the ISS will repeat the fate of its predecessor space station Mir, which Russia sank in the Pacific Ocean in 2001 after 15 years of service.

Moscow this month proclaimed the beginning of "the era of the Soyuz" after the US shuttle's last flight left the Russian system as the sole means for delivering astronauts to the ISS.

Russia is currently developing a new space ship to replace the Soyuz capsule which is single-use, except for the section in which spacemen return to Earth, said Davydov.

Tests of the ship will begin after 2015 and it will have "elements of multi-use whose level will be much higher than they are today," he said, adding that Russia will compete with the United States in building the new-generation ship.

"We'll race each other."

Davydov said it remains unclear what will come after the ISS and whether mankind will see the need for a replacement orbiting close to Earth.

"Lots of our tasks are still linked to circumterrestrial space," he said, while adding that a new space station could be used as a base for building complexes that will explore deeper into space.

"I cannot rule out that it will be used to put together, create the complexes that in the future will fly to the Moon and Mars," he said, stressing that "a serious exploration" could not be done without manned flights.

International Space Station [Wikipedia]

Books are not dead

This is Not the End of the Book: A Conversation Curated by Jean-Philippe De Tonnac

by

Umberto Eco and Jean-Claude Carriere

Jean-Philippe de Tonnac [Introduction]

Polly McLean [Translator]

ISBN-10: 1846554519
ISBN-13: 978-1846554513

"Open Book: This is Not the End of the Book"

by

Philip Marchand

July 15th, 2011

National Post

Fear not, bookworms and library rats. Two fellow bibliophiles, novelist (The Name of the Rose) and critic Umberto Eco, and playwright and screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere, have collaborated on a volume whose title says it all: This is Not the End of the Book: A Conversation Curated by Jean-Philippe de Tonnac.

Eco lays out his argument very early in this “conversation.” (Don’t ask me what “curated” means.) “There is actually very little to say on the subject,” Eco states. “The Internet has returned us to the alphabet … From now on, everyone has to read. In order to read, you need a medium. This medium cannot simply be a computer screen.” The implication of Eco’s logic is clear. E-books have their place in the world of letters, but not necessarily one of total dominance. “One of two things will happen,” Eco continues in his march of logic. “Either the book will continue to be the medium for reading, or its replacement will resemble what the book has always been, even before the invention of the printing press. Alterations to the book-as-object have modified neither its function nor its grammar for more than 500 years. The book is like the spoon, scissors, the hammer, the wheel. Once invented, it cannot be improved.”

Now that what little to say on the subject has been said, we can savour what this particular book is really about, the spectacle of two European intellectuals exchanging aperçus. Here are the fruits of a lifetime of reading, stockpiled and readily available to both speakers. At one point, Carriere directs our attention to forgotten French baroque poets. Eco responds with a reference to neglected Italian baroque poets. They move on.

What really drives the conversation, however, is the subject of their book collections. “Not counting my collection of legends and fairy tales, I own perhaps 2,000 ancient books, out of a total of 30,000 or 40,000,” Carriere says. “I have 50,000 books in my various homes,” Eco comments. “I also have 1,200 rare titles.” Both men maintain they are interested in previous owners of their books. “I love owning books that have belonged to others before me,” Carriere says. Eco concurs. “I own some books whose value comes not so much from their content or the rarity of the edition as from the traces left on them by an unknown reader, who has underlined the text, sometimes in different colours, or written notes in the margin.”

Eco’s collection is more focused than Carriere’s. It is a “collection dedicated to the occult and mistaken sciences.” It contains works, for example, by the misinformed astronomer Ptolemy but not by the rightly informed astronomer Galileo. “I am fascinated by error, by bad faith and idiocy,” Eco tells us. He loves the man who wrote a book about the dangers of toothpicks, and another author who produced a volume “about the value of being beaten with a stick, providing a list of famous artists and writers who had benefitted from this practice, from Boileau to Voltaire to Mozart.” He adores the hygienist who recommended, in his treatise, the practice of walking backwards. Eco does not tell us how many of these books he actually owns, or how much he would pay for a first edition in mint condition.

Eco and Carriere exchange insider information about book collecting. You can find the occasional bargain, Eco says. “In America, a book in Latin won’t interest the collectors even if it’s terribly rare, because they don’t read foreign languages, and definitely not Latin.” A Mark Twain first edition is what excites them. De Tonnac asks each man about his dream find. Eco’s response is conventional: “I’d like to dig up and keep, selfishly, a copy of the Gutenberg Bible, the first book ever printed,” he says. Carriere opts for the discovery of “an unknown Mayan codex.”

A more interesting question, posed by de Tonnac, is whether “an unknown masterpiece might still be discovered.” Eco’s response is similar to the comments of the late critic Hugh Kenner. Kenner pointed out that if a copy of the Iliad turned up for the first time today it would arouse an archeological curiosity but little more. Eco agrees. “A masterpiece isn’t a masterpiece until it is well known and has absorbed all the interpretations to which it has given rise, which in turn make it what it is,” he says. “An unknown masterpiece hasn’t had enough readers, or readings, or interpretations.” Shakespeare, in contrast, is getting richer all the time. Disagreeable though it is to admit this, the anti-Western canon agitators have a point — literary masterpieces don’t simply drop from the heavens, or emerge from the brain of an inspired individual. Fate and politics play their roles.

The conversation in this book is full of interesting and sometimes heartening tidbits. “We are living in the first era in any civilization to have so many bookshops, so many beautiful, light-filled bookshops to wander around in, flicking through books,” Eco assures us. It is also salutary to be reminded that the preservation of cultural memory is an ongoing, urgent task. We assume that the contents of libraries and archives are being digitized, for example, without loss of significant printed material. This is not so. Carriere says that a truck arrives at the National Archives in Paris every day, “to take away a heap of old papers that are to be thrown out.”

Of the two conversationalists, I prefer Eco. Carriere is a little bit too cozy with the eminent. “I sometimes visit second-hand bookshops with my friend, the wonderful author and well-known bookseller Gerard Oberle,” he will state, or he will refer to, “My friend, the great Brazilian collector Jose Mindlin,” or he will find occasion to recall scenes with his good friends Luis Buñuel or Jorge Luis Borges or Jean-Luc Godard. I know it is hard for a top drawer French intellectual to avoid this, and I may simply be jealous. But I also notice that when a banality or an outright piece of misinformation pops up, it always comes from Carriere. You would never have Eco stating, for example, that the Gnostic Gospel According to Thomas is “a verbatim account of the words of Jesus,” or repeating an even hoarier canard, that St. Paul was “the real inventor of Christianity.”

Still, Carriere helps Eco keep the conversational ball in the air and free from any taint of theoretical jargon. Three cheers for these two hardy veterans of the cultural industry.

Thanks to POSP stringer Tim.