Unleashing the Power of Earth Observations: Barbara Ryan

Unleashing the Power of Earth Observations

 Jan 21, 2014 • In December 2013, the Secretariat Director of the Group on Earth Observations gave a TEDx talk in Barcelona, Spain making the case that all Earth-oberservation data collected from governments and institutions should be open and available to everyone. She illustrates how this could reduce hunger and improve the quality of life of all Earth’s inhabitants. Ryan emphasizes that Earth observation data show Earth without political boundaries, as an entire system. See: The Landsat Program

Atlantis?

View Larger Map

Atlantis and Plato Seamounts 33 28'N, 29 39'W

***

Plato's TIMAEUS :Atlantis against Athens

;Many great and wonderful deeds are recorded of your state in our histories. But one of them exceeds all the rest in greatness and valour. For these histories tell of a mighty power which unprovoked made an expedition against the whole of Europe and Asia, and to which your city put an end. This power came forth out of the Atlantic Ocean, for in those days the Atlantic was navigable; and there was an island situated in front of the straits which are by you called the Pillars of Heracles; the island was larger than Libya and Asia put together, and was the way to other islands, and from these you might pass to the whole of the opposite continent which surrounded the true ocean; for this sea which is within the Straits of Heracles is only a harbour, having a narrow entrance, but that other is a real sea, and the surrounding land may be most truly called a boundless continent. Now in this island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful empire which had rule over the whole island and several others, and over parts of the continent, and, furthermore, the men of Atlantis had subjected the parts of Libya within the columns of Heracles as far as Egypt, and of Europe as far as Tyrrhenia. This vast power, gathered into one, endeavoured to subdue at a blow our country and yours and the whole of the region within the straits; and then, Solon, your country shone forth, in the excellence of her virtue and strength, among all mankind. She was pre-eminent in courage and military skill, and was the leader of the Hellenes. And when the rest fell off from her, being compelled to stand alone, after having undergone the very extremity of danger, she defeated and triumphed over the invaders, and preserved from slavery those who were not yet subjugated, and generously liberated all the rest of us who dwell within the pillars. But afterwards there occurred violent earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea. For which reason the sea in those parts is impassable and impenetrable, because there is a shoal of mud in the way; and this was caused by the subsidence of the island.

***

So you have google earth and your looking at a specific location, "Atlantis and Plato Seamounts 33 28'N, 29 39'W". Now if you look closely from above, there is a long fracture down the center of the Atlantic, but what is interesting, now that your looking at this expanse of water, is having the question in mind, what would happen if lets say the bottom dropped just below the azores and Pico, that waves would wash over a plain and leave indication, that such a drop is recorded in the terrain?

If the water was going in one direction, what would that terrain look like as the water swept over it?
What do dunes look like if the winds flow over them, the dunes would point in which direction?

 It is interesting that as you get closer to the surface of the ocean, the water now indicates movement and motion.

***

See Also:

•  Sarah Parcak: Archeology from space and more
• Comparison of different translations of Plato's Atlantis by Benjamin Jowett, R.G. Bury and Sir Desmond Lee

Glast to Music

What does the universe look like at high energies? Thanks to the FermiLarge Area Telescope (LAT), we can extend our sense of sight to “see”the universe in gamma rays. But humans not only have a sense of sight,we also have a sense of sound. If we could listen to the high-energy universe, what would we hear? What does the universe sound like?The Sound of a Fermi Gamma-ray Burst

Putting a Fermi Gamma-ray burst to music. Made by Sylvia Zhu

Propulsion Thruster

Gridded Ion Thruster

 ***

See Also:

• Space Travel and Propulsion Methods  
• Spacecraft propulsion  
• NEXT Provides Lasting Propulsion and High Speeds for Deep Space Missions

Gravitational Collapse and the Horizon

It has been suggested [1] that the resolution of the information paradox for evaporating black holes is that the holes are surrounded by firewalls, bolts of outgoing radiation that would destroy any infalling observer. Such firewalls would break the CPT invariance of quantum gravity and seem to be ruled out on other grounds. A different resolution of the paradox is proposed, namely that gravitational collapse produces apparent horizons but no event horizons behind which information is lost. This proposal is supported by ADS-CFT and is the only resolution of the paradox compatible with CPT. The collapse to form a black hole will in general be chaotic and the dual CFT on the boundary of ADS will be turbulent. Thus, like weather forecasting on Earth, information will effectively be lost, although there would be no loss of unitarity. See: Information Preservation and Weather Forecasting for Black Holes

***

$$r_0=\frac{GM}{c^2}$$

The critical radius $r_0$ where the energy of $m$ changes sign is called the horizon radius. The region inside this critical radius is called a black hole. See: Can we make objects of zero mass?

Implications for the black hole problem:Recall that vacuum fluctuations near the horizon had lead to the creation of particle pairs See: The Black Hole Information Paradox

***

Ahmed Almheiri, Donald Marolf, Joseph Polchinski, James Sully

We argue that the following three statements cannot all be true: (i) Hawking radiation is in a pure state, (ii) the information carried by the radiation is emitted from the region near the horizon, with low energy effective field theory valid beyond some microscopic distance from the horizon, and (iii) the infalling observer encounters nothing unusual at the horizon. Perhaps the most conservative resolution is that the infalling observer burns up at the horizon. Alternatives would seem to require novel dynamics that nevertheless cause notable violations of semiclassical physics at macroscopic distances from the horizon. Black Hole: Complementarity vs Firewall

See Also:

• The Black Hole Information Paradox
• Bizarre Hawking: black hole work was my biggest blunder 
• If it quacks like a black hole 
• Did Hawking Say “There Are No Black Holes”?
• Black Hole Information Paradox: An Introduction
• Learning Lessons From Black Holes
• Hawking an Old Idea

Helioseismology and Gravitational Waves

The universe is expected to be permeated by a stochastic background of gravitational radiation of astrophysical and cosmological origin. This background is capable of exciting oscillations in solar-like stars. Here we show that solar-like oscillators can be employed as giant hydrodynamical detectors for such a background in the muHz to mHz frequency range, which has remained essentially unexplored until today. We demonstrate this approach by using high-precision radial velocity data for the Sun to constrain the normalized energy density of the stochastic gravitational-wave background around 0.11 mHz. These results open up the possibility for asteroseismic missions like CoRoT and Kepler to probe fundamental physics. See: An upper bound from helioseismology on the stochastic background of gravitational waves

***

The heart-shaped vibrations for the star KIC12253350.

The search for distant planets starts with the vibrations of their stars, and in those vibrations lies a kind of music.

See: Listening to the Stars

***

This page has links to sound files that are "sonification of light curves" of Kepler stars. The light curves contain certain frequencies of brightness variation that are akin to sound waves, but the frequencies are not audible to the human ear. In the sonification process, those inaudible frequencies are analyzed by a mathematical technique called fourier analysis and then scaled to frequencies that the human ear can hear. See: Kepler Star Sounds

9700322

Particle Fever Release

"Particle Fever succeeds on every level" - The Hollywood Reporter.  See: http://particlefever.com/

Gravitational Waves, as Quantum Flunctuations

"According to modern understanding, even if all matter could be removed from a volume, it would still not be "empty" due to vacuum fluctuations, dark energy, transiting gamma- and cosmic rays, neutrinos, along with other phenomena in quantum physics. In modern particle physics, the vacuum state is considered as the ground state of matter." See: Vacuum

Bold added by me for emphasis.

While covering long distances(cosmic particles) what is examined that differences could have been determined in AMSII Calorimeter devices have been implored to be defined in configuration spaces. See Glast/Fermi. Use of calorimeter devices against the backdrop of LHC.


When cosmic particle meet earth's boundary with space, forward faster then light effects are generated. It is important to me that space be given it proper context in relation too, what is actually being transmitted across distances. Speed of light is medium dependent. So energy depenence value is necessary for those forward measure faster then light measure, exemplified in ICECUBE.

The idea then, that these space fluctuation as vacua are in expression and are sensitive aside what else is also being transmitted across those long distances. This, in relation with cosmic particles that were also created in events.

The most important thing is to be motivated by your own intellectual curiosity.

KIP THORNE

Dr. Kip Thorne, Caltech 01-Relativity-The First 20th Century Revolution

In my mind Kip Thorne's determinations as to the length of measure and value of LiGO arms, also seen as beam of light very sensitive to those vacuum fluctuations.

Nearly a century after Einstein first predicted the existence of gravitational waves, a global network of Earth-based gravitational wave observatories1–4 is seeking to directly detect this faint radiation using precision laser interferometry. Photon shot noise, due to the quantum nature of light, imposes a fundamental limit on the attometre-level sensitivity of the kilometre-scale Michelson interferometers deployed for this task. Here, we inject squeezed states to improve the performance of one of the detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) beyond the quantum noise limit, most notably in the frequency region down to 150 Hz, critically important for several astrophysical sources, with no deterioration of performance observed at any frequency. With the injection of squeezed states, this LIGO detector demonstrated the best broadband sensitivity to gravitational waves ever achieved, with important implications for observing the gravitational-wave Universe with unprecedented sensitivity. A fundamental limit to the sensitivitySee: Enhanced sensitivity of the LIGO gravitational wave detector by using squeezed states of lightPUBLISHED ONLINE: 21 JULY 2013 | DOI: 10.1038/NPHOTON.2013.177

Quantum Tunnelling

Quantum tunnelling or tunneling (see spelling differences) refers to the quantum mechanical phenomenon where a particle tunnels through a barrier that it classically could not surmount. This plays an essential role in several physical phenomena, such as the nuclear fusion that occurs in main sequence stars like the Sun.[1] It has important applications to modern devices such as the tunnel diode,[2] quantum computing, and the scanning tunnelling microscope. The effect was predicted in the early 20th century and its acceptance, as a general physical phenomenon, came mid-century.[3]

ABSTRACT Surprisingly robust quantum effects have been observed in warm biological systems. At the same time quantum information technology has moved closer to physical realization. This one day workshop will examine the significance of mesoscopic quantum coherence, tunneling and entanglement in biomolecular membranes, proteins, DNA and cytoskeleton, with particular attention to recently discovered megahertz ballistic conductance in microtubules. Potential utilization of biomolecular quantum information in regulation of cellular activities will be addressed, along with implications for disease and therapy as well as the future development of quantum computation and artificial intelligence.Google Workshop on Quantum Biology, Welcome and Introduction, Presented by Hartmut Neven

See Also:

• Discovery of quantum vibrations in 'microtubules' corroborates theory of consciousness
• Are microtubules macroscopic quantum systems?
• Flatland in Expression?

Flatland in Expression?

Professor Konstantin Novoselov talks about his Nobel Prize winning discovery graphene, and what the future holds for it in the 2012 Kohn Award Lecture SEE: Graphene: materials in the flatland

See Also:

• 2012 : WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DEEP, ELEGANT, OR BEAUTIFUL EXPLANATION?
• Two Paul Steinhardt Projects: "Cyclic Universe" and "Quasicrystals"
• Nobel laureate Andre Geim visits Chalmers

Raphael Bousso & Carlo Rovelli Reverse Debate

Raphael Bousso & Carlo Rovelli Reverse Debate introduced by Max Tegmark @ FQXi conference FQXi's 4th International Conference, "The Physics of Information" January 5-10, 2014 Vieques Island, Puerto Rico

It had me scratching my head( how do you walk in another person's shoes).....and really quite humorous. If they tried to exchange shoes that would have been funny too?

Is Reality a Virtual Simulation?

	To my mind there must be, at the bottom of it all, not an equation, but an utterly simple idea. And to me that idea, when we finally discover it, will be so compelling, so inevitable, that we will say to one another, “Oh, how beautiful ! How could it have been otherwise?” From a personal notebook of Wheeler circa 1991

	This symbol was used to demonstrate in a global sense that everything is derived from bits. Taken from a speech given by John Archibald Wheeler in 1999. Also from, J. A. Wheeler: Journey into Gravity and Spacetime (Scientific American Library, Freeman, New York, 1990), pg. 220

The Last Question. Of course in science fiction we like to popularize things. As if, the model itself, has yet to become the real thing? Can one say that there model is better, while they say all other models are insufficient? They have to be speaking from a framework right? In that sense Asimov was a visionary, that brought the dream of, to become something real?

As I was reading I got this impression of the "they( as some grand designer)" as if the designer of the monolith, and those without freewill, apes. I know it's just a story, but the first story to me that somehow as story tellers, we'd given the impression that Hal, was imbued with something more then we had come to know in the beginning days of computer intelligence. In another sense still, moon dwellers, with no freewill.

So in that sense there was this drive to apply human capabilities to a machine, and thus all humanity expression in terms of this machinist attribute of being? So at some point the Frankenstein(a biological design robot) becomes alive through our efforts to construct this live emotive thing we call a robot.

So it is as if the simulation had taken on this elevation of sorts, as to say, that the machine had graduated once having realized that such a robot could dream, and thus a culmination of all things possible for a human being, had somehow now become that simulation of reality? A Second Life?

So we have this godlike power now. And in place of sending machines to distant planets to gather information and to do our bidding in an effort to gather information, some "they" beyond the parameters of our seemingly capable world of science found out, that the biological robot had already been designed? Say what?

SCOAP3 to start on 1 January 2014

Geneva 5 December 2013. After intense preparations and consensus building, CERN^[1] has today confirmed that the SCOAP³ Open Access publishing initiative will start on 1 January 2014. With the support of partners in 24 countries^[2], a vast fraction of scientific articles in the field of High-Energy Physics will become Open Access at no cost for any author: everyone will be able to read them; authors will retain copyright; and generous licenses will enable wide re-use of this information.

Convened at CERN this is the largest scale global Open Access initiative ever built, involving an international collaboration of over one thousand libraries, library consortia and research organizations. SCOAP³ enjoys the support of funding agencies and has been established in co-operation with leading publishers. See: SCOAP3 to start on 1 January 2014

See Also:

• Open Access publishing initiative, SCOAP3, to start on 1 January 2014
• 10 journals to go open-access in 2014

It is important to see the efforts of this Open Access in action,  so look there to see what has come of it.

Nima Arkani-Hamed Speaks with Ian McEwan

You Might like to move ahead to 12:45 on sliding scale....somewhat of an improvement from 15:45 of about 3:00 seconds. Nima acknowledges in speaking,  about the introduction of this video,  of a metaphor considering the Higg's Boson,  and of course speaks to the metaphors limitations.  So along with 3 seconds savings,  you also get to enjoy that introduction.

I could not help but think of Leonard Susskind,  Raphael Bousso, Juan Maldacena  and  Joseph Polchinski when talking about Falling into a Blackhole, when Nima was speaking. What Nima is saying is important to me. I understand what he is saying about what drives people to that wonder, and how to science people,  this is a fundamental feeling which is expressed across many of those who have had this mystery about the world at heart. Creatively expressed,  as to get to the source of things whether by the science, or,  with regard to the creation of artistic endeavor whether it be music or writing.

Nima speaks about Truth and that's with a capital "T,"  so I am not lost on the importance of this meaning, but like things of wonder and creativity,  the message of Truth is fundamental as well to people.

When Nima spoke about Stephen Weinberg's first three minutes this sent me back to the ideas regarding how our views have changed,  to ask, what the microseconds might have in store for us.  This becomes fundamental when we learn to see what models can apply them self too,  what we may be looking at the universe. This disturb me somewhat as some spoke ill of conceptual fundamentals of model theories when they did not understand this simple fact and were chorusing. Beauty and deep take on their true meaning.

Ian McEwan at 29:55 approximately spoke about the types of maths, and with his list I believe he failed to see the significance of what was sitting before him as Nima the mathematician. One has to see that the Theoretical was an accomplishment above all the maths to which included,  all these rigid structures Nima was talking about. It is not as if you can take a step and make an pronouncement without leveling the structure in some way without regarding the maths involved. This is what I have learn as a researcher within the subject of the sciences being spoken too, as I have come to know it. A White rectangle was simple in its description but we know what he meant right(LHC)?

Ian started to lose me when the significance of the conversation about commonality now became the race to become a known scientist.  Of course thoughts about publishing in the Arxiv as to the substance and work to establish credibility crossed my mind. But that timing was ill supported to the movement of this conversation to me. While Nima did professed to not understanding the creativity aspect of the work involved he was very aware of the structure ability to get to results being explained in science as his job done well. There could not have been a better discription of the creative process to me then how Nima logically explained it.

See Also:

Nima Arkani-Hamed debates a novelist

Russian Space Walkers

Two Russian cosmonauts in Orlan spacesuits wrapped up a 8-hour, 7-minute spacewalk to attempt the installation of photographic equipment on the exterior of the International Space Station at 4:07 p.m. EST Friday. See: ISS Russian Space walkers Run Into Snag With Camera Installation

Genius Materials

Researchers working with magnetic fluids on the International Space Station are taking "smart materials" to the next level. With proper coaxing, molecules can assemble themselves into "genius materials" with surprising properties. This is opening a new frontier in material science. ScienceCasts: Genius Materials on the ISS

Higg's Boson Explained

CMS p-value