Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Technobabble

Back to the Bang

Scientists believe the Big Bang occurred because of an observed “cosmological background radiation” seen in all directions from the vantage point of Earth. Since June, 2001, a space-based instrumented observation platform called the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) has been collecting data that allows scientists to literally look back in time and space to virtually witness the birth of the universe.

In the video below, you will see a journey back through space/time starting from the WMAP probe in it’s orbit and continuing outward past Mars, the Asteroid Belt, Jupiter, Saturn, through the Oort cloud and into interstellar space. The journey continues through a “local” nebula in Orion and thence out of the Milky Way and past thousands of galaxies back into the time of primordial blue giant stars and ultimately past the “dark ages” and into the afterglow of the Big Bang. Then, brilliant light and, finally, darkness at “before the beginning of time.”

Please take this thrilling journey back to the beginning of time: (press to play)

Video courtesy NASA’s WMAP website
Audio — “Visions” from Distant Spirits — Scott August

Some history about WMAP:

WMAP was launched on June 30, 2001 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base aboard a Delta II rocket.

WMAP completed its prime 2 years of mission operations in its L2 orbit by September 2003. Meanwhile, the 2002 and 2004 Astronomy and Physics Senior Review granted WMAP mission extensions, endorsing the proposed 8-years of mission operations, to end September 2009.

In February 2003 the WMAP Team released a set of 13 papers (241 journal pages) along with flight data from the first year of observations of the CMB. In March 2006, the WMAP Team released 3-year data, including full polarization data, and papers describing the data processing, systematic error analyses, calibration, and other critical aspects of the experiment.

And, finally, a schematic diagram of the trip you just took back over more than thirteen and a half billion years in about a minute!

Schematic of the cosmic chronology

Images and video courtesy of NASA

30 Jun 2006 by Astronomy Rocket Science Technobabble

Hope Floats

No, not a romance story, but a good one nonetheless. Since terrorists in Iraq have taken to the sewers and canals like the rats they are, the Multi-National Forces have been equipping and preparing troops to deal with getting wet, staying afloat and protection from small arms fire — the latest accessory is floating body armor.

Operation.Iraqi.Freedom — Body armor protects, floats

Story and photo by Pfc. Paul J. Harris
3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

BALAD, Iraq – In Iraq the insurgents have begun using the canals and waterways of the Tigris River as a means to move weapons caches while avoiding Coalition Forces patrolling the streets.

Image: 1st Lt. Sean Craig, a Chicago native and a 3rd Battalion platoon leader, swims a 16-yard distance in his body armor system during a drown proofing class.

With the battle being taken to the rivers of Iraq, the command group of 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers, developed training to help Soldiers survive in full combat gear if they fall in water.

With river boat patrols increasing, Command Sgt. Maj. Dean Keveles, 3rd Battalion’s top enlisted soldier and a team of his senior noncommissioned officers decided to test the buoyancy of the interceptor body armor system at the outdoor swimming pool at Logistical Support Area Anaconda.

A Soldier going out on patrol wears about 40 to 50 pounds of gear. With the weight of the gear there was concern the Soldier would sink to the bottom of a canal.

It turns out body armor will float and support the weight of the Soldier. It is like having a bulletproof life vest. Keveles said.

From what they learned at the pool, Keveles and his sergeants were able to put together a training exercise they could teach Soldiers. The exercise has Soldiers in full Army Combat Uniform wearing armored vests without ammo pouches.

The instructor gave a Soldier a kick in the back to simulate the surprise of falling into the water. Once in the water Soldiers had to swim 16 yards before coming out of the pool.

We don’t have a way to simulate river current in the training but at least the Soldiers can build their confidence by training, said Keveles.

1st Lt. Sean Craig, 3rd Battalion platoon leader, felt no discomfort after hitting the water.
“I am a pretty strong swimmer so it felt fine, felt like I normally swim,” said Craig. “It felt like a life jacket, a secure feeling because as soon as you get in it pops you back up.”

29 Jun 2006 by Islamic Terrorism Military Technobabble

Server Problems

Our Internet Service Provider (ISP) is in the throes of upgrading their MySQL Server this week. I have been advised that the one currently in service is experiencing high demands on it’s capabilities and often will be slow to respond. This supposedly will be resolved by Thursday, 22 June 2006. Please be patient with occasional slow response times until then. Thanks.

UPDATE: Just got this from the ISP:

We have been experiencing some issues with MySQL performance. We
discovered a user with a packaged PHP program causing unusual load to
MySQL. Service to the offending account has been suspended and you
should no longer experience trouble.

Should be OK for now. They are still proceeding with installation of the new server.

UPDATE: Still seems to be some slowness in spite of the message.

20 Jun 2006 by Cyberspace Technobabble

Toto, We’re not in Barstow Anymore

Finally! The Mars Rover “Opportunity” returned an image of the Martian Landscape that doesn’t look like it was taken in the Mojave Desert. The eerie textures and coloring lend an other-worldliness appearance to this image, unlike the images that comedian Dennis Miller asserts “Looks like Barstow!”

Photo Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

Click here for a Larger Image.

As NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity continues to traverse from “Erebus Crater” toward “Victoria Crater,” the rover navigates along exposures of bedrock between large, wind-blown ripples. Along the way, scientists have been studying fields of cobbles that sometimes appear on trough floors between ripples.

They have also been studying the banding patterns seen in large ripples.This view, obtained by Opportunity’s panoramic camera on the rover’s 802nd Martian day (sol) of exploration (April 27, 2006), is a mosaic spanning about 30 degrees. It shows a field of cobbles nestled among wind-driven ripples that are about 20 centimeters (8 inches) high.

This is a false-color rendering that combines separate images taken through the panoramic camera’s 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer and 432-nanometer filters. The false color is used to enhance differences between types of materials in the rocks and soil.

OK — I admit that this is a “false color” image and isn’t representative of the natural sunlight on Mars, but if you were to pump sunlight up to the amount the Earth gets, you just might get a picture like this.

25 May 2006 by Aerospace Astronomy Rocket Science Technobabble

Moving to New Server

Cap’n Bob & the Damsel will be transitioning to a new server this week. I expect there to be some period where access is not available, and a period where restoration to full functionality will be taking place. I apologize in advance to users of our blog and users of our Never Forget 9/11 Tribute. I hope to have most functionality restored quickly.

Note: if you are displaying the tribute on your site, you won’t have to do anything special. I have tested this using Firefox™ and IE6™ and both browsers handle the missing resource gracefully.

This will be the last post until after the transition.

15 May 2006 by Blogosphere Technobabble

The Morse Code

Samuel F. B. Morse (1791 – 1872), artist, inventor, politician and professor, is credited with the invention of the telegraph in 1844; at that time, he sent a telegraphic message from the Supreme Court in Washington, D. C., to his assistant in Baltimore, MD. The message, “What hath God wrought?” a Biblical quotation from Numbers 24:23, was sent in the code that Morse devised. Morse Code (International) is still used today by the Military, amateur radio operators, and Boy Scouts. Some traditionalist ham operators still use the original American Morse Code.

Right: Portrait of Samuel F. B. Morse by Mathew Brady

While Morse had a tendency towards eccentricity and had some heretical religious views, there is one “Morse Code” which no American should ever forget:

“If you beat your sword into a plowshare, you will probably end up plowing for someone who kept their sword.” — Samuel F.B. Morse

02 May 2006 by Culture People Technobabble

Server Problems Persist

I have been in contact with the ISP on our access speed problems. They seem to be overwhelmed with issues, and I am still waiting for them to get the speed problem resolved.

UPDATE: It seems like the problem has now been fixed. I still have not heard from the ISP administrator regarding the resolution, but I will pass that along when I do.

UPDATE II: Apparently, the server they have me on is an older one where the bandwidth is limited and the processor time as well. Since WordPress and my other applications use PHP scripting, the server limited the number of scripts that could run simultaneously. They have increased my script allotment, but warned that I ought to upgrade to the new servers. This will require that I shut the site down for 12-24 hours, with the possibility of having to restore lost items — I need to think about this and plan accordingly. More on it later.

02 May 2006 by Blogosphere Cyberspace Technobabble

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