Very Low Thrust Gaseous Oxygen-hydrogen Rocket Engine Ignition Technology

An experimental program was performed to determine the minimum energy per spark for reliable and repeatable ignition of gaseous oxygen (GO2) and gaseous hydrogen (GH2) in very low thrust 0.44 to 2.22-N (0.10 to 0.50-lb sub f) rocket engines or spacecraft and satellite attitude control systems (ACS) application. Initially, the testing was conducted at ambient conditions, with the results subsequently verified under vacuum conditions. An experimental breadboard electrical exciter that delivered 0.2 to 0.3 mj per spark was developed and demonstrated by repeated ignitions of a 2.22-N (0.50-lb sub f) thruster in a vacuum chamber with test durations up to 30 min

Elliptic Flow Measurements with the PHENIX Detector

Two particle azimuthal correlation functions are presented for charged hadrons produced in Au+Au collisions at RHIC ($\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=130$ GeV). The measurements allow for the determination of elliptic flow without event-by-event estimation of the reaction plane. The measured correlation functions indicate elliptic flow values ($v_2$) which show significant sensitivity to both the collision centrality and the transverse momenta of emitted hadrons.Comment: Contribution to Quark Matter 2001, Long Island, New York, January 15-20, 200

Republican Party of Minnesota v. White: Should Judges Be More Like Politicians?

The Supreme Court\u27s decision in Republican Party of Minnesota v. White shows how unrealistic five justices can be about what happens in judicial election campaigns, and also - ironically - about how much judges differ from legislators and others who run for office. This reality was captured concisely by Robert Hirshon, immediate past president of the American Bar Association (ABA) in his statement following the Court\u27s ruling: This is a bad decision. It will open a Pandora\u27s Box.... The decision will change judicial election campaigns in such a way that the quality of the pool of candidates for the bench will likely diminish, good judges will be less willing to seek reelection, and the public\u27s cynical view that judges are merely another group of politicians will gain further impetus. This will directly hurt state courts and indirectly hurt all our courts. After noting the majority and separate opinions - which, unsurprisingly, raise many questions - this article will predict what litigation lies ahead, then describe the current judicial election environment and prospects for reform

Recent results for source function imaging from AGS through CERN SPS to RHIC

Recent femtoscopic measurements involving the use of an imaging technique and a newly developed moment analysis are presented and discussed. We show that this new paradigm allows robust investigation of reaction dynamics for which the sound speed $c_s \neq 0$ during an extended hadronization period. Source functions extracted for charged pions produced in Au+Au and Pb+Pb collisions show non-Gaussian tails for a broad selection of collision energies. The ratio of the RMS radii of these source functions in the out and side directions are found to be greater than 1, suggesting a finite emission time for pions.Comment: Proceedings, XXXVI International Symposium on Multiparticle Dynamics/Workshop on Particle Correlations and Femtoscopy, Brazil, 200

Judges\u27 Pay: A Chasm Far Worse than Realized, and Worsening

For our state judges today, let us put aside what might be thought their appropriate reward compared to the reward for private-sector lawyers. Of course judges earn less than they would in private practice, and of course judges enjoy rewards other than salaries. What is surprising is how severe the gap is between the pay for judges and for the private bar-and, strikingly, the gap between the pay for judges and for other public employees. What is deeply disturbing, indeed dangerous, is how the gaps are worsening. Our compensation for judges is so low, that by reducing the caliber and stature of those who are in the pool... willing to serve, this treatment is the most widespread, persistent, and damaging attack on judicial independence-as Chief Justice Roberts said