Back to the Moon.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is returning its first images of our planetary companion. Also, the June 2009 issue of IEEE's Spectrum is devoted to a manned voyage to Mars.

The Pope Salutes Astronomy.

Pope Benedict XVI praised the work of scientists in commemoration of the International Year of Astronomy:

...If the heavens, in the beautiful words of the psalmist, 'tell of the glory of God', the laws of nature, which many scientists have studied over the years giving us an ever-better understanding of them, are a great incentive to contemplate the works of the Lord with gratitude".

We would not doubt that John Paul II and Galileo are now in a smiling embrace.

Space is Becoming Redder.

The Chinese are advancing very quickly in space technology; their current manned mission included a brief spacewalk, developing essential skills for a future lunar landing. Funded by the massive transfer of wealth from the United States for the past two decades.

The Politically Correct Mutation.


A&E presented a remake of The Andromeda Strain, the groundbreaking techno-thriller by Michael Crichton. This book has a very special place in our hearts here at Deaddrifts. We were given the book by our 7th-grade English/Social Studies (AKA "Block") teacher, the beloved Miss Wallace. It was the most captivating work of fiction that we had read, and remained so for many years. The book gives one a glimpse into the world of Apollo-era molecular biology, epidemiology, and space technology with a credible plot and engaging characters. It inspired science hobbies that lead to a career in science.


The original movie based on the novel (1971) was a quite satisfying and reasonably faithful adaptation, and achieved cult status in geekdom. A&E's promotional trailers promised an exciting update with forty years of advancement in the biological sciences, the birth and growth of "astrobiology", the maturation of computer technology, and the directorial mastery of Ridley Scott.


The remake of The Andromeda Strain does have all of that, but alas also carries such an immense weight of politically correct and conspiratorial baggage that it is a chore to watch, like a mandatory requirement of a platoon's political officer. The principal characters are so deliberately diverse (very, very diverse) it's as if A&E Market Demographics had dictated the makeup of the Wildfire Team (guys, you did miss putting a "little person" in the story somewhere). There is also the evil - really evil - invisible hand of the United States Government, working to the detriment of humanity, which appears to be a current requirement for the story of this film genre. Finally, there is the Hero Newsman, of course, fighting to Get The Truth Out.


These political ormanents are lethal to the enjoyability of this movie, because one is always being clubbed over the head by them, while precious little is shown of the process of scientific discovery, a central theme of the book. One never sees this highly talented team of scientists actually do some real science...the computer just gives them the answers. Otherwise they spend a lot of time hollering and hurling accusations, and spilling the beans to the outside world on their cell phones (or catching up with the family). What little "science" is portrayed with the typical Hollywood mangling into a grand game of "I've Gotta Hunch". The politics drags the film's pace so that any tension is anesthetized (and stretching the story into a four-hour, two-evening miniseries was a dose of Vallium on top of that).


The original movie has aged rather well, and is certainly more to the point without the ponderous ideology. Go rent it, or better yet, read the book. One observation is that there is no mention of the remake on Michael Crichton's website, and he is only credited in the remake as the author of book on which the film is based. I wonder if Dr. Crichton approved of the re-telling of his story in this manner.

Touchdown!

The Phoenix Mars Lander has landed on the polar plains of Mars! The first images of the landscape show polygonal network of depressions that are similar to arctic regions on Earth, perhaps indicating freezing and thawing cycles. Truly awe-inspiring!

This Year's Templeton Prize.

...is awarded to Michael Heller, the Polish priest-cosmologist; the award committee noted his invention of "the theology of science". The New Scientist magazine recently interviewed him.

More on the Templeton Prize can be found here.

The Moon on a Shoestring.

Google has teamed with the X-Prize Foundation to form "The Google Lunar X Prize" whose goal is the first NGO lunar exploration: "...[an] international competition to safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters over the lunar surface, and send images and data back to the Earth". The prize: $30,000,000, about 4% of the cost of a single Shuttle launch. It's an interesting question: how much space, electronics, control, and computing technology is now generic and cheap enough to assemble into a Moon probe?

Meanwhile, NASA's Orion/Ares program continues a good pace.

So Much For That Critical Priority.

Much hot gas has been expelled by both parties on the need to research and develop alternative energy and fuel sources. However, the Congerscritters decided that punishing the Administration for holding firm on the spending ceiling had higher priority, and one of their targets was the White House science budget (which was planned to see generous increases in R&D). As a result, the Department of Energy has been forced to curtail research on solar energy, hydrogen, and advanced nuclear energy technology. Also cut was Bush's "American Competitiveness Initiative", a program to invigorate US tech leadership. (Source: Physics Today, Feb 2008)

Datapoint.

At the conclusion of a recent public lecture on cosmology at the University of Michigan, the lecturer conducted an anonymous poll of the 200+ attendees as to whether they believed that (1) God created the universe and is still active in guiding it, (2) God created the universe but is now absent from it, or (3) God does not exist. The result of the poll was about 30% of the responding attendees chose (1), 10% chose (2), and 60% chose (3). There may be a sampling bias - the population consisted of people getting up on a Saturday morning to attend a physics lecture - but it's an interesting result nevertheless.

In Their Own Voices.

The American Institute of Physics has a great oral history site, "Moments of Discovery", featuring the discovery of nuclear fission, pulsars, and superconductivity. Featured are the voices of Rutherford, Einstein, Hahn, and others describing events that altered our understanding of the universe.

Science Debate 2008.

Vern Ehlers is co-sponsoring a group to promote discussion of issues of science and technology policy during the 2008 presidential campaign:

"Given the many urgent scientific and technological challenges facing America and the rest of the world, the increasing need for accurate scientific information in political decision making, and the vital role scientific innovation plays in spurring economic growth and competitiveness, we call for a public debate in which the U.S. presidential candidates share their views on the issues of The Environment, Health and Medicine, and Science and Technology Policy."

A Truly Golden Anniversary.

50 years ago today the Soviet Union launched the first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite, Sputnik. The event changed human existence forever, joining a handful of other events in the 20th Century, such as the discovery of nuclear fisson, the invention of the transistor, and the description of DNA.