Volume 1, Number 2
September, 2000
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(C) Crockett Grabbe, September 1, 2000
In July a storm from the Sun dealt a blow to the Japenese Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA) satellite. As reported in the magazine Science in August, ASCA, the mainstay of the Japanese X-ray astronomy program after the ASTRO-E that was launched in February was lost, began spinning out of control. It was remotely switched into a safe mode in which the experiments are on hold. It is still not known whether it can be saved, but a try is expected in early September.
The importance of developments on the Sun on both vulnerable satellites and power stations on the Earth provides the motivation for the modern scientific field called "space weather". The importance of this field was demonstrated 2 years ago when AT&T launched their satellite Telstar 401. Their launch happened to be close in time to the arrival of a solar storm, and the expensive satellite ended up a complete failure because of that timing.
Developing means of predicting conditions around the Earth from advanced knowledge of changing conditions on the Sun is a major goal of space weather research. I speak of the development of space weather, along with our ever-increasing dependence on the SuperGlobal area around Earth, in addresses I have given to groups on "Earth's Dynamic Neighborhood." Information on my speaking on that topic is presented at www.SeeLane.com/speak .
A delightful site referred to by Tom Antion (whose website is at www.antion.com) in his newsletter on Great Speaking is at www.switchboard.com. The site is a great source for finding people, finding businesses, finding directions, finding locations, and finding E-mail addresses. Millions of people every month find this site to find, and it is one of the most visited sites on the web.
If you are fascinated by space, astronomy, and/or the universe, a rich site to keep in contact with is at www.universetoday.com. This site is regularly updated with space news, beautiful photographs, and many links.
Both of these great sites can be readily accessed, along with other resources like a web encyclopedia and both medical science & technology dictionaries, and legal libraries at www.SeeLane.com .
I have taken a few lines written by Patricia Bright (quoted by Sandra@schrift.com in her newsletter Monday Morning Mindfulness) on why you should travel in style, and spruced them up with a bit of editing:
Debating a cruise, and flying first class to boot Might invite an extravagant bill. But if you wimp out and fail to spend the loot, Be certain that your heirs surely will.
With the advent of the world-wide web, often good deals on travel that cut down on this "extravagant bill" are easier to obtain than before. To check some of them out, go to www.SeeLane.com and click on Worldwide Travel in first table (the Network for Business Development Resources table).
We all have an interest in food, so many of the icons developed from the food industry have been around for years, simply updated for the information age. I was thinking of one such icon when I wrote this humorous poem 2 years ago, entitled THE DOUGH HOBO [(C) Crockett Grabbe 1998]:
For those luscious pumpkins seeking to be baked with joy, Harken to the tale of a sweet potato, peels-berry dough-boy. Because he was intended to be baked as Dough-Over-Sauce, Or as binary biscuits better know it, simpy DOS, Along with a gravy chosen for a delicious dine with fine wine, In the fabulous feast featuring a beast boding on the brine. With knack for knowledge, he was kneaded on that knoll, So his good-luck streak just seemed on a roll, But he ran off to a recipe where beautiful flours fear to tread, Because, after all, that's the way he was bread. Joining a menu that originated well away from the coast, One that required very little dough with the roast, It was designed to be cooked -- well, the most, So after broiling was done -- man, he was Toast!
An old saying is that "curiosity killed the cat". However, every Joe also needs to know that the show does not go blow by blow with all the does in a row after the dough hobo yo-yo's to and fro. Ho ho ho!
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