By demonstrating laws of physics through an experiment that used a lone cooking bowl as its apparatus, Fox, a primary school student from Queensland has just been awarded the first ever Young Einstein award.

The competition was run by ABC Coast FM which sought two minute video entries of students conducting quirky science experiments.

The catch was that not only did the experiment have to be scientifically sound, the student conducting it had to explain the result in an entertaining, clear fashion.

Fox’s experiment (complete with safety goggles) demonstrated Newton’s third law of physics -- that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.  

When his ‘charming assistant’ dipped his fingers into the slime slowly, it was a liquid. But when he did it with force, it was a rubbery solid.

“When you hit the slime, it transfers energy to the molecules,” Fox said.

Chief Scientist for Australia, Professor Penny Sackett presented the award to Fox at the Gold Coast Science Fair as part of the 2010 National Science Week.

 

Chief Scientist for Australia Professor Penny Sackett with the two Young Einstein winners Fox Cassidy and Clare McMath

Runner up Clare McMath also received a prize for her video ‘Bouncing Sultanas’ which demonstrated the release of carbon dioxide in a chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar.

“When sultanas drop into the jar they initially sink but then they become covered in bubbles of carbon dioxide,” Clare said.

“Because the bubbles are lighter than the liquid, the sultanas float to the top and then sink because the bubbles pop when they reach the surface.”

Clare’s experiment showed that the sultanas would continue to bounce as long as the reaction continued to release carbon dioxide.

Watch Fox’s video:

Watch Clare’s video:

To view all other entries, visit the ABC Coast FM website

Imagine for a moment that the globe is inhabited by a single individual who roams free across outback plains, through rainforests, across pure white beaches — living off the resources available. Picture the immensity of the world surrounding this one person and ask yourself, what possible impact could this single person have on the planet?

Now turn your attention to today’s reality. Almost 7 billion people inhabit the planet and this number increases at an average of a little over one per cent per year.  That’s about 2 more mouths to feed every second. 

Do these 7 billion people have an impact on the planet? Yes. An irreversible impact? Probably. Taken together this huge number of people has managed to change the face of the Earth and threaten the very systems that support them. We are now embarked on a trajectory that, if unchecked, will certainly have detrimental impacts on our way of life and to natural ecosystems. Some of these are irreversible, including the extinction of many species.

But returning to that single individual, surely two things are true.  A single person could not have caused all of this, nor can a single person solve all the associated problems. 

The message here is that the human-induced global problems that confront us cannot be solved by any one individual, group, agency or nation. It will take a large collective effort to change the course that we are on; nothing less will suffice. 

Our planet is facing several mammoth challenges: to its atmosphere, to its resources, to its inhabitants. Wicked problems such as climate change, over-population, disease, and food, water and energy security require concerted efforts and worldwide collaboration to find and implement effective, ethical and sustainable solutions. These are no longer solely scientific and technical matters.  Solutions must be viable in the larger context of the global economy, global unrest and global inequality.  Common understandings and commitment to action are required between individuals, within communities and across international networks.

Science can play a special role in international relations. Its participants share a common language that transcends mother tongue and borders.   For centuries scientists have corresponded and collaborated on international scales in order to arrive at a better and common understanding of the natural and human world. 

Values integral to science such as transparency, vigorous inquiry and informed debate also support effective international relation practices. Furthermore, given the long-established global trade of scientific information and results, many important international links are already in place at a scientific level. These links can lead to coalition-building, trust and cooperation on sensitive scientific issues which, when supported at a political level, can provide a ‘soft politics’ route to other policy dialogues. That is, if nations are already working together on global science issues, they may be more likely to be open to collaboration on other global issues such as trade and security.

Many countries have recognised the value of science diplomacy. In March this year, the US passed a bill to fund a Global Science Program for Security, Competitiveness and Diplomacy. Earlier, President Obama used his speech in Cairo to announce an expanded team of science envoys in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia.

In April, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband made the case for research as a political bridge.  In Australia, there are two science envoy posts, one in Brussels and the other in Washington DC.

In my own role as Chief Scientist, I engage with researchers and agency heads of other nations to improve Australia’s scientific relations. For example, my recent trip to the United States included a visit with Professor Daniel Kammen, Clean Energy Envoy of the US State Department, and previous trips have established a connection with Chief Scientists and Scientific Academy Presidents in Britain, China, India, New Zealand, and the United States.

Central to these diplomatic efforts, is the establishment and continued nurturing of collaboration. Scientific collaboration operates best as a network of individual researchers supported by corporate and government policy and investment.  The keys then are forging links at the ground level and providing clear and consistent bi-national and multi-national policy and funding frameworks to sustain these links.

In Australia, we are in a unique position for international collaboration. Our relative geographical isolation and small world fraction has, from the beginning, necessitated self-reliance and native capacity-building on one hand and the need for strong couplings to the bulk of the world’s research overseas on the other hand.  This means that we have strong and unique capabilities to bring to the table and also experience in sharing with and learning from others.

Our vast continent stretches from the tropical north to temperate and semi-desert areas, and includes the Southern Ocean and Antarctic territories, a remarkable diversity of environments that are fundamental to understanding the diversity of ecosystems and interconnectedness of the Earth system.   Medical research, dryland agriculture, climate science, water management, and tropical and marine ecosystems are just some of the areas in which the world relies disproportionately on Australian expertise.  Increasingly, Australia is seen as an important player in the Asia-Pacific region and a link between the cultures of the Occident and the Orient, a powerful role in world diplomacy. 

As one single individual or one single nation, Australians and Australia is neither the sole cause nor the sole solution to global challenges.  But by nurturing existing scientific collaborations and building new ones, we can build bridges of trust and cooperation that will allow a freer flow of knowledge and expertise to the benefit of our nation and our partners, benefit that would not accrue from unilateral action.  This, coupled with supportive policies, goodwill, and a desire to use the strengths of our nation for the benefit of humanity will place us, as Australians, as leaders in international scientific diplomacy, and multiply our greater diplomatic efforts on the global stage.

This article was written by Professor Sackett and published in the Forum for Australian-European Science and Technology cooperation magazine in August 2010.

The team is researching the effects of ocean acidification on tiny marine snails, known as pteropods, and planktonic, single-celled, shell-forming organisms called foraminifera. Pteropods are an important food source for marine predators in the Antarctic food web and sometimes replace krill as the dominant zooplankton group in parts of the Southern Ocean. Foraminifera are prey for many small marine invertebrates and fish. Both organisms are indicators of changes in the ecosystem that could have profound implications for commercial fish species, seals and whales.

About 40% of man-made carbon dioxide is absorbed by the Southern Ocean and forms a weak acid (carbonic acid) when it mixes with water. This acid readily releases hydrogen ions, and as acidity is determined by the concentration of hydrogen ions (measured on the pH scale), the more acidic a solution, the more hydrogen ions are present and the lower the pH. Increasing hydrogen ions affect the ability of pteropods and foraminifera to form shells, resulting in thinner, lighter, and pitted or etched shells. As colder water absorbs more carbon dioxide than warmer water, the effects of ocean acidification will be seen first in the Southern Ocean.  According to Dr John Baxter, a scientific advisor to government from the Scottish Natural Heritage who has joined ‘Team Acid’ on the ship, ocean acidity has increased by 30% (a pH change of 0.1) since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and is already affecting shell-forming marine organisms. Observed effects include thinner shells, fewer pteropods in areas where they were previously common, and an increase in gelatinous organisms such as jellyfish and salps.

Team Acid is undertaking the first study of the effects of ocean acidification on pteropods and foraminifera in their natural environment (previous studies have been conducted in the laboratory or through modelling). ACE CRC pteropod biologist, Dr Donna Roberts, says the team want to establish a baseline of the health of these organisms in the ocean now, so that they can detect changes in the future.

Team Acid leader Dr Donna Roberts (right) and engineer Alex Pentony Vran

To do this they are deploying a ‘rectangular midwater trawl’ (RMT) – a pair of rectangular mesh nets – at different latitudes, from 47– 54°S, along a line from Hobart to Casey. They hope to catch larger pteropods with a 4 mm mesh net, but the main species they’re looking for is the tiny (0.5–1 mm) Limacina helicina antarctica, which will be caught in a 150 micron mesh net. The microscopic foraminifera will also be sieved from the water brought up in the trawl and preserved for later shell integrity analysis.

Team Acid will conduct seven trawls; three in subantarctic waters (45–49°S), two in polar waters (54–56°S) and one in the narrow channel of water where the subantarctic and polar waters meet (51°S). They expect to see a change in the shell weight, size and species of pteropods as we move further south into the colder and more acidified water, and hope to collect a good sample of the common Limacina helicina antarctica.

On the trawl deck the ship’s crew winch the two RMTs into the heaving seas. Each net has a ‘cod end’ attached to it – cylindrical canisters to contain the sample. The nets remain closed until they reach the required depth, between 20 and 200 m below the surface, at which time the team can remotely open the net to collect the sample.

Up in a control room above the trawl deck, the team hover around a pair of monitors displaying information about the temperature, depth, salinity and biomass as the nets descend. This information is relayed from a ‘CTD’ (conductivity, temperature, depth) instrument attached to the nets, and the ship’s acoustic echosounders, which can detect organisms in the water, such as swarms of krill or phytoplankton. When an area of high biomass is reached, dots and blobs appear on the screen and the team open the nets up.

Large Pteropod Clio Recurva

The team has chosen to sample between 20 and 200 m as this is the region where scientists think the pteropods construct their shells. This hypothesis is based on an analysis of pteropod shells collected in ocean sediment traps. These shells contained isotopes (different forms of molecules such as carbon and oxygen) typical of the water column at these depths.

Fifteen minutes after deployment, the RMTs are retrieved.  Team Acid and their accompanying paparazzi crowd into the ship’s ‘wet lab’ and begin bucketing and sieving through the samples. Both cod ends contain a glutinous mass of salps – ‘another bucket of snot’ as one crew member describes it – but this subantarctic sample also yields some surprises – about 12 large pteropods (Clio recurva) and six of the smaller Limacina helicina antarctica. A tiny squid, a large selection of amphipods (small crustaceans) and some translucent predatory worms called chaetognaths, also appear. The huge abundance of salps and other gelatinous creatures is typical of these waters. Some theories suggest an increase in salps is occurring, creating a ‘jellyfish ocean’.

Dr Roberts is surprised at the catch, saying she expected more of the smaller pteropods and less of the larger ones. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues.

At the seventh RMT site at 54°S, Team Acid hit the jackpot. One large Clio recurva shell and a whopping six small Clio pyramidata antarctica shells are captured. Dr Roberts wears a huge grin as she preserves the impressive specimens in ethanol.

The final RMT goes in at 58°S – inside waters managed by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) – and pulls up an amazing array of species – a magnificent pelagic polychaete (worm), lots of amphipods, juvenile krill, ctenophores (small jellyfish-like creatures), two naked (shell-less) pteropods, small salps and some mysterious, gelatinous, eyeball-like spheres, which someone suggests could be fish eggs.  The naked pteropods are particularly interesting.  Scientific theory suggests that these may become the dominant pteropods in the ocean as ocean acidification increases.

Clio Pyramidata Antarctica

When they return to Australia, team member Alex Pentony Vran, an engineer from the Australian National University, will examine the mechanical properties of the captured pteropod shells to provide definitive evidence that they are becoming more fragile. Previous work has focussed on changes in shell weight and the use of optical microscopy to examine shell thickness. In contrast, Vran will take the shells captured on this trip, apply force to them with an extremely fine diamond-tipped probe, and measure their response to this force.  This will allow him to put a figure on how strong or weak the shells are.

The team has plenty of work ahead of them, but after five days of frenetic activity, they can now enjoy the voyage at a snail’s pace. 

Written by Wendy Pyper, editor of the Australian Antarctic Magazine
For more information, go to: www.aad.gov.au/magazine
Photos supplied by Keith Martin-Smith

For further research on ocean acidifcation, the references below are a great starting point.

For a summary of the issue of ocean acidification for policy makers:

• Howard W Sandford R Haward M Trull T (2008) ‘Position Analysis: CO2 emissions and climate change: ocean impacts and adaptation issues’ ACE CRC 16pp. http://www.acecrc.org.au/uploaded/117/797619_20pa02_acidification_0805.pdf

To read the first paper to demonstrate in nature (not a lab experiment or model) that ocean acidification is already having an impact on marine biota: 

• Moy, A.D., Howard, W. R., Trull, T. W., Bray, S., 2009. Reduced calcification in modern Southern Ocean planktonic foraminifera, Nature Geoscience, v. 2, p. 276-280, doi: 10.1038/ngeo460; http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v2/n4/abs/ngeo460.html

To read an analysis of the policy challenges presented by ocean acidification, how they overlap and how they differ from climate change policy:

• Howard, W. and Sandford, R., 2008, Developing Ocean Acidification Policy, Australian Antarctic Magazine, Issue 15.
  

By altering water temperature or current in a pool, bath or shower, the human body responds in a variety of ways – including fluctuations in core temperature, heart rate and metabolism and the widening (dilation) or constriction of blood vessels.

This use of water to improve body recovery is known as hydrotherapy and is becoming one of the most widely used practices in elite sport. Here, we find out how it works.

Dr Jo Vaile is only 28 years old but has already established a strong career as a Senior Recovery Physiologist for the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). She uses a wide range of recovery techniques with AIS athletes such as hydrotherapy, compression and stretching to help elite Australian athletes perform the best their bodies are capable of.

Dr Jo Vaile of the AIS

“Exercise physiology is about understanding the complexities of how the body responds and adapts to the stress of exercise and how we can push the human body to new limits to enhance the likelihood of success,” Dr Vaile said.

“In sport, we constantly need to be ahead of the competition in order to succeed at an elite level where that one percent advantage over the opposition will make a difference between gold and silver,” she said.

In her day to day job, Dr Vaile individually assesses athlete’s physiological recovery requirements to ensure they can compete and train at their best one hundred per cent of the time.

“I love the challenge of creating a gold medal environment for each of the athletes I work with, while assessing and monitoring the body’s response to exercise to maximise their performance,” she said.

She is also responsible for conducting research, mainly into the effective use of hydrotherapy, explained below.

The human body responds to water immersion with changes in heart rate, blood pressure and blood flow.

Exposure to cold water causes a decrease in core body and tissue temperature which results in a reduction in blood flow to the extremities (muscles, hands, feet) because the body is trying to protect itself and conserve ‘body heat’.  To minimise the blood returning to the extremities the blood vessels constrict, heart rate slows down and blood pressure increases due to the constricted blood vessels.

At the AIS, athletes use cold water immersion in pools between 10-15 degrees Celsius, using the cold water to help decrease muscle inflammation, spasm and pain.

The 'ice-bath', normally kept at 10 degrees Celcius

In warm water, the body is exposed to heat which causes dilation of the blood vessels near the surface of the skin. The core body temperature starts increases and redirects more blood to the extremities. The dilation of blood vessels lowers blood pressure by allowing the blood to flow more freely with less resistance.

At the AIS however, hot water is rarely used on its own. In fact, one of the most effective athlete recovery systems to date is alternating immersion in hot and cold water.

According to Dr Vaile, ‘contrast water therapy’ can reduce swelling and muscle pain through a pumping action which is created by alternating blood vessel constriction and dilation. The pumping action helps to flush out waste products from the muscles that build up during exercise, such as lactic acid and minimises muscle tear.

“Contrast water therapy may bring about changes to tissue temperature, blood flow, blood flow distribution, may reduce muscle spasm, hyperaemia of superficial blood vessels and inflammation, as well as improving the range of motion and flexibility,” she said.

The hot-cold walk through showers of the AIS

In one recent study of twelve elite male cyclists, the athletes were put through rigorous training with the only difference being their recovery strategy. Over five days, the athletes completed four experimental trials differing only in recovery intervention: cold water immersion, hot water immersion, contrast water therapy, or passive recovery.

The study found that both sprint and time trial performance were enhanced when athletes utilised both cold water immersion and contrast water therapy, in comparison to hot water immersion and passive recovery. 

“Overall, the study found that cold water immersion and contrast water therapy improved recovery from high-intensity cycling when compared to hot water immersion and passive recovery, with athletes better able to maintain performance across a five-day period,” Dr Vaile said.

Dr Vaile is fascinated by hydrotherapy and after completing her Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science, and went on to complete her PhD in the area.

“So many athletes implement hydrotherapy for recovery in the hope of assisting the recovery of muscle damage or fatigue and I think its fascinating that hydrotherapy has the potential to be beneficial, not only in terms of recovery, but also in improving  subsequent performance,” she said,

Dr Vaile is currently in the UK with the Rollers and Gliders – the Australian Men’s and Women’s wheelchair basketball team who are competing in the World Championships.

“Paralympic athletes are truly elite, they train and compete like any other athlete, but on top of that they face challenges every day in both sport and life due to their specific disability.”

Dr Vaile’s research into hydrotherapy earned her the European College of Sports Science Young Investigator Award and the John Sutton Best New Investigator Award at the Sports Medicine Australia Conference.

What do you love most about physics and aerodynamics?
All the fun stuff we can do with them! If you think about it, the laws of physics are responsible for everything you see around you – the reason why your coffee cup doesn’t float away when you set it down (gravity), the reason sunsets are beautiful (Rayleigh scattering), the way a grandfather clock keeps time (pendulum motion), the reason airplanes don’t fall out of the sky (pressure differential over wing), and the list is endless.  Aerodynamics is just a small subset, but to me, it’s one of the most fascinating, as it can be applied to anything from the flight of insects to birds, from airplanes to rockets, from blood flow through your heart to air through your lungs, from rivers to weather, and so much more!

Did you always know you wanted to study aeronautics and explore space? How did you decide to pursue this path? 
No!  In middle and high school, I knew I loved my science classes (chemistry was my favorite) and math (except for geometry), but I didn’t even really know what engineering was until I joined a school team for  the National Engineering Design Challenge and realized that engineering was a means of putting all my science and math knowledge to practical use!! 

At the final competition, I met some judges from Pratt and Whitney, an aircraft engine manufacturing company, and decided to shadow them at their work for a week.  They were doing research on a hypersonic vehicle called X-43 capable of flying about Mach 9 (9 times faster than the speed of sound!).  Imagine being able to fly from New York to Paris in less than an hour!  I think that’s when I got hooked on aeronautics.

The X-43

I have always been fascinated with space though – star watching at night, reading about astronomy stuff like formation of solar systems, star life cycles, SETI, exoplanets… The problem is that there’s no air in space, so no aerodynamics!!! Finding a research topic which combined my love of both was a little difficult – until I learned more about the current problems in Mars entry, descent, and landing.

Why do you think we should explore Mars? 
It’s what’s next!  It’s been 50 years since humans have walked on the Moon, and we’ve had people in orbit around the Earth since the 70’s (Salyut, Skylab, Mir, and ISS). 

Although Venus is the closest planet to us (when in line with Earth and on our side of the Sun), its surface is at temperatures higher than 400C, with atmospheric pressures about 100 times higher than on Earth, and sulfur dioxide clouds – sounds like a fun place to visit, huh?  By comparison, Mars seems a lot like Earth. 

We know a lot more about Mars as well, since the U.S. alone has sent several flyby missions, 8 orbiter missions, and 6 successful landers.  We’ve photographed every part of Mars and have data on the Martian climate, weather, atmosphere, and geology.  Plus, data from several missions including Mars Global Surveyor, several rovers, and the Phoenix lander have given good evidence of past and present water in all forms (ice, liquid, vapor).  This is exciting because water is widely believed to be one of the conditions necessary for the formation of life.

I think it’s time to send humans to Mars – there’s a limit to the capabilities of robots and rovers (the recent rovers have been traveling at speeds of only 2 inches per second).  More importantly, I believe that the “history of man is hung on a timeline of exploration, and this is what’s next.” [1]

Do you think humans will ever walk on Mars?  
Absolutely. We’ve seen that when people believe in something enough, it tends to get done.  And there are a lot of smart people who want this to happen.  I just hope it happens in my lifetime!

What obstacles do you face in trying to land something on Mars?      
Mars entry, descent, and landing is challenging for many reasons, the most critical of which are probably the atmospheric effects.  To land safely, the capsule or entering body needs to decelerate from speeds of up to 10 kilometers per second (depending on the trajectory) as it travels through the atmosphere. [2]

Some acceleration naturally occurs due to the drag on a body as it enters a planetary atmosphere and encounters air resistance.  At hyper- and supersonic speeds, a bow shock forms around the blunt body, which serves to dissipate energy and slow the vehicle down.  The problem is that this energy is converted into heat, meaning that the air surrounding the vehicle and the vehicle itself are subjected to extremely high temperatures, necessitating thermal protection systems (heat shields, etc). 

A space capsule entering the Earth's atmosphere

We’ve had plenty of experience landing on Earth (re-entering from Earth-orbit, from the Moon missions, and even from a comet-encounter), and have successfully done so using lifting bodies (Space Shuttle), skipping reentry and parachutes (Apollo, etc). 

Landing on the Moon and other bodies lacking atmospheres (like asteroids and small moons), there’s no heating problem because there is no air to cause friction in the air, but there is also no means of drag to slow the vehicle down, so deceleration needs to come from thrusters.

Unfortunately, landing on Mars falls somewhere between these two extremes. The Martian atmosphere is about 100 times less dense than Earth’s atmosphere, meaning there is less air to resist the falling motion of the vehicle, but still enough to cause heating issues.

Can you explain the entry, descent, and landing (EDL) systems currently being used to land on Mars?    
The six successful U.S. missions which have landed on Mars, from Viking I and II (1976) to the most recent Phoenix mission (2008), have all basically used the same technology: a sphere-cone aeroshell with a supersonically-deploying parachute system.  Slight variations once the capsule is near the ground have included a variety of subsonic retrothrusters, airbags, and a sky crane concept to be used for the 2011 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission.

EDL methods: a) capsule and supersonically-deploying parachute b) airbags c) sky crane

MSL, with its approximate landing mass of about 1 ton (the rover is about the size of a MiniCooper), is the heaviest things we’ve ever landed on Mars, and its already pushing the limits of our current EDL technology (aeroshell + parachute). 

Mission concepts are becoming more and more complex, though. Proposed missions like the Astrobiology Field Laboratory and Mars Sample Return (bringing science samples back to Earth for further study) would require much more equipment, more infrastructure (an ascent vehicle to leave Mars for example), and thus much heavier payloads. Going one step further, the requirements for a manned mission to Mars is estimated to require payload masses of 40-100 tons, which is a 2-order of magnitude increase over previous landed mass capability. 

With our current EDL technology already maxed out, it’s clear that we will need either improved or totally new technologies to successfully complete future exploration of Mars.  My research is on the development of a new deceleration method for high-mass missions to Mars: supersonic retropropulsion. 

Can you explain what supersonic retropropulsion is?
Well, I think everyone has seen retropropulsion before, at least in fun alien films or Star Wars  – whenever you use thrusters in the direction you’re moving, that’s retropropulsion.  The “retro” just means it’s acting against your motion, so instead of speeding you up, it’s slowing you down.  We’ve had retropropulsion technology for awhile, in fact we’ve used it to safely land people on the Moon and robotic landers on Mars, but supersonic retropropulsion is relatively new. 

Retrothrusters on Phoenix lander

Supersonic retropropulsion means we’re starting the retropropulsive phase when the capsule is still traveling faster than Mach 1, or the speed of sound (for reference,  Mach 1 at ground level on Mars is about 240 meters per second or 540 miles per hour.)  This might not sound like a big deal – we’re just turning on the thrusters a little earlier, right?  But the aerodynamics of an entry vehicle at supersonic speeds is completely different, as we already discussed, so we need to study how supersonic retropropulsion will affect the aerodynamics of the system at entry speeds.

Are there other options being researched? Why do you think supersonic retropropulsion will be better?   
Another big research thrust right now is inflatable aerodynamic decelerators  (IADs).   At reentry, the structure is inflated around the capsule.  This increase in surface area of the vehicle increases the aerodynamic drag and thus the deceleration.  Feasibility is still being determined through studies concentrating on heating and aeroelasticity, the interplay between aerodynamics and the inflated structure. [3]

An inflated decelerator

Is supersonic retropropulsion going to be the best option? I don’t think anyone knows yet!  We’re still in the preliminary stages of studying this new idea, and once feasibility is determined, the EDL community will start comparing options.  It’s not really a questions of either/or, though.  We might end up using a combination of techniques to slow us down!

How much weight do you expect supersonic retropropulsion to be able to manage?
That’s exactly what my research is going to determine, so I’ll let you know in a year!  I’m working on an computational optimization problem using the Cart3D software which will determine the best thruster configuration and optimal trajectory for maximum payload delivery.  

What was it like the first time you saw the NASA supercomputers? Daunting? Exhilarating?
I had no idea what to expect – I knew it was the sixth fastest supercomputer in the world, but had no idea what a supercomputer looks like!  Turns out its a huge room with rows and rows of server racks and miles of wiring connecting them all together.  The room is really loud and has to be kept chilled so the system doesn’t overheat.  It’s mind boggling to consider the research being computed right there by people all over the world.  Daunting? Yes. Exhilarating? Definitely. And Cold!

Wire connections of a NASA supercomputer

Are you just using the NASA internship to conduct more research for your PhD or are you working on a project for them?  Was it competitive to get time to work with NASA?
Because supersonic retropropulsion is a current research interest for NASA’s Mars EDL program, the internship does both!!  I’ve actually been collaborating with researchers based at Ames (one of the 12 NASA centers, located at Moffett Field, California) for the past 3 years of my graduate studies.  I work in the Applications Branch of the Advanced Supercomputing Division.  NASA has myriad opportunities for students at all levels and I highly recommend working at NASA to students interested in anything from astrobiology to rotorcraft to weather predictions to space exploration.

[1]  “Galileo,” The West Wing, Season 2 , NBC, Written by K. Falls and A. Sorkin, November 29, 2000.
[2]   Wooster, P.D., Braun, R.D., Ahn, J., and Putnam, Z.R., “Trajectory Options for Human Mars Missions,”  AIAA Paper 2006-6308.

[3]  Smith, B.P., Tanner, C.L, Mahzari, M., Clark, I.G., Braun, R.D., and Cheatwood, F.M., “A Historical  Review of Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator Technology Development,”  IEEE Paper 2010-1276.

Special thanks to the following  sources  for providing images:

Kazmar, R.R., “Airbreathing Hypersonic Propulsion at Pratt & Whitney – Overview,” AIAA Paper 2005-3256.

http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/msm_images/ARD189.jpg

http://marsrover.nasa.gov/mission/images/parachute2_medium.jpg

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/images/step14_br350.jpg

http://www.astronomynow.com/images/081120msl3_000.jpg

http://schwehr.org/blog/attachments/2008-05/phx-rockets.png

http://conferences.esa.int/02C06/02c06.jpg

The exhibition, ‘Through the Lens’, features stunning photographs captured through the lenses of microscopes, cameras, DNA sequencing and other scientific equipment by scientists in the course of conducting their medical research.

The winning photo, ‘Hidden Dangers of the Beach’ looks at a sample of skin approximately six strands of hair wide to examine damage to collagen fibres that weakens the overlying skin and can contribute to melanomas.

Scientist, and artist, Dr Ricardo Vilain, one of three responsible for the winning entry, said the image captured the price skin pays when we go out in the sun unprotected.

“When I look at this image as a scientist, I’m looking for a story. I want to know what has happened to the skin in order for it to give rise to a melanoma.  

“Some people with no sun damage can get melanomas and others have a lot of sun damage but don’t develop melanomas. I’m trying to determine the genetic difference between those two groups of people,” Dr Villain said.

“Usually you just look at images like this for numbers for facts, but sometimes you can be taken back by the sheer beauty of science,” he said.

Another artwork by PhD student Belinda Nixon is an image of a section of mouse testes.

The artwork, which will be used as Christmas paper by the exhibiting library later this year, is the result of an investigation into the effects of toxic chemical acrylamide on male infertility.

The exhibition is the result of a competition held by Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) in northern NSW which aims to engage the general public in science through art.

“This is an opportunity for Hunter researchers to share the beauty that they see each day with members of our community who so readily support their research,” Director of HRMI Professor Maree Gleeson said.

“When someone is sick and suffering, illness often leaves us frightened and confused about what is happening to us or someone we love. We don’t usually associate disease with beauty and joy.

“But our researchers have opened up the doors of their laboratories and each of the 10 images selected as finalists take away some of the mystery associated with illness and provide a visual image of mother-nature and why sometimes things go wrong,” she said.

The photos will be available for public viewing at Wallsend District Library in Newcastle until June 29 2010.

Thumbnail image: ”Symmetry in Chaos” by Michelle Wong is a picture of intestinal polyps that could potentially become full-fledged intestinal tumours.

Recently on ABC Newcastle Radio, Professor Penny Sackett was interviewed on a number of important scientific issues, such as the certainty of climate change, the importance of studying science and her role as Chief Scientist for Australia.

After the interview, a few listeners called in with some curly science questions. Not being one to shy away from a challenge, Penny promised to have the answers online as soon as possible. And here they are!

Penny’s team has provided a short answer to each of the questions, an academic reference and a link where you can find out more. If you want to listen to the entire interview you can listen to the podcast below and if you have any more curly questions, save them up for Penny’s next on-air appearance!

    1. Why do mosquitoes bite some people more than others?

It’s all to do with the unique chemistry of our bodies. Scientists have discovered that there are particular chemicals made by the human body, some of which attract mosquitoes, and some that repel them. However, scientists are still unsure what causes these mixtures to be a certain way or to change (such as age or diseases).

Reference:

Logan, J. (2008) Why do mosquitos “choose” to bite some people more than others? Outlooks on Pest Management, 19 (6), pp 280-283.

For more information, check out: http://www.researchinformation.co.uk/pest/sample/S14-1906.pdf

   2. Why does growing broad beans change the level of nitrate in the soil?

Broad beans are part of a group of plants known as legumes. These plants have root nodules in which they host bacteria known as “diazotrophs,” which have the ability carry out nitrogen fixation, taking nitrogen gas (N2) out of the air and converting it to forms of nitrogen usable by plants as fertiliser (nitrate or ammonia). It’s actually quite neat!

Reference:

Vessey JK, Pawlowski, K and Bergman B (2005). “Root-based N₂-fixing symbioses: Legumes, actinorhizal plants, Parasponia sp and cycads”. Plant and soil 274 (1-2): 51–78. doi:10.1007/s11104-005-5881-5

For more information, check out: http://www.ildis.org/Leguminosae/

    3. Do some plastic wraps leak dangerous chemicals into our food?

Food Standards Australia New Zealand acknowledges that, in certain conditions, chemicals in packaging can migrate to the food product but tend to do so in very low levels. One such chemical is Bisphenol A, more commonly referred to as BPA. 

Recent studies have explored the association between BPA build-up and heart disease, diabetes and changes in liver enzymes in adults. This seems to indicate that the smaller the individual the greater the potential health impact of BPA. 

Evaluations conducted by FSANZ indicate that the level of BPA found in commonly occurring Australian food packaging is still safe, however FSANZ continues to liaise closely with national and international regulators and industry to ensure that new evidence is assessed. 

References:

Melzer D, Rice NE, Lewis C, Henley WE, Galloway TS (2010) Association of Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration with Heart Disease: Evidence from NHANES 2003/06. PLoS ONE 5(1): e8673. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008673

Von Goetz N, Wormuth M, Scheringer M, Hungerbuhler K (2010) Bisphenol A: How the Most Relevant Exposure Sources Contribute to Total Consumer Exposer. Risk Analysis 30(1): 473 – 487

For more information, check out: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/scienceandeducation/factsheets/factsheets2010/bisphenolabpaandfood4701.cfm

Listen to the podcast here

On April 24 1990, after almost two decades of design and development, one of the world’s largest and most versatile space telescopes was carried into orbit to begin its life as a vital astronomy research device.

Over the last twenty years, the Hubble telescope has captured some of the most beautiful and important images of the universe, including the famous ‘Ultra Deep Field’ image which is the most detailed visible-light image ever made of the universe’s most distant objects.

The Ultra Deep Field image shows nearly 10 000 galaxies, cuts across billions of light-years and is the deepest visible-light image of the cosmos. Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith and the HUDF Team

These images have led to many breakthroughs in astrophysics and astronomy, including determining the age of the universe, how galaxies are formed and the discovery of dark energy.

During its 20 year life, the Hubble telescope has been serviced four times, and is the only telescope ever designed to be fixed in space by astronauts. The most recent service was in 2009, which is expected to keep the telescope functioning until 2013, when its successor, the infrared James Webb Space Telescope is due to be launched shortly after.

Sadly, it seems impossible for Hubble to be brought back to Earth safely for museum storage, instead it will likely continue to orbit the Earth until it deteriorates and spirals back home.

The Hubble telescope was invented to solve a problem that astronomers had faced since the invention of the original telescope: the atmosphere.

The Earth’s atmosphere distorts the view of even the world’s largest and most advanced telescopes because of continuously shifting air pockets. It also blocks or absorbs some wavelengths of radiation such as ultraviolet, gamma and x rays before they reach the Earth.

Having a telescope in space away from the earth’s atmosphere means there is no atmospheric distortion so pictures can be clear and precise.

The Hubble telescope is a Cassegrain reflector telescope, which means it works by capturing light through a series of mirrors which direct the images into several science instruments that live within the telescope. Then, antennae send the information back to the Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, USA. Astronomers from anywhere in the world can download the data from the internet, which can be enough to fill 18 DVDs every week.

The Hubble telescope completes an orbit of Earth every 97 minutes, mobbing at about 8km per second, fast enough to travel across Australia in about 11 minutes.

The new James Webb Space Telescope that is being created to replace Hubble will have many of the capabilities of Hubble, but also be able to study objects from the earliest universe, whose light has stretched into infrared light, or ‘red shifted’. It is due to be launched in 2014.

To learn more about Hubble or the James Webb Space Telescope, why not search The National Library of Australia’s Trove database. Simply enter the key words ‘Hubble Space Telescope’ or ‘James Webb Space Telescope’ in the box below!  Or to find out more about Australian space activities visit www.space.gov.au.  

Much thanks to NASA for providing images and information for this story. Images are available at http://hubblesite.org/

Click here to view the interview.

Click here to access the report Professor Sackett discussed during the interview, titled Transforming Learning and the Transmission of Knowledge.

Click here to find out more about how Jelly Beans get their flavour!