Look at this: imagery training for technology students

This paper outlines a training program based on the regular practised generation and manipulation of neural images that has been used to improve the visual mental imagery (VMI) of design students. Most people can produce mental images, although there is variability in terms of the vividness, detail and control that can be achieved. Research indicates that VMI is an important feature of activities such as inventing and solving complex problems. Perceived images such as sketches or diagrams facilitate creative problem solving and therefore VMI should facilitate problem-solving within design activities. Further research has found that professional designers have varying degrees of imagery generation and manipulation that correlates with their level of expertise. Studies have found that it is possible to improve people’s ability to create mental images and others have improved the control of neural images. This research has developed strategies to concurrently improve design students’ vividness and control of their VMI. The application of the program within the Design and Technology learning environment and the influence on students’ design ability is discussed

Solar Sails : Technology and demonstration status

Solar Sail propulsion has been validated in space (IKAROS, 2012) and soon several more solar-sail propelled spacecraft will be flown. Using sunlight for spacecraft propulsion is not a new idea. First proposed by Frederick Tsander and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in the 1920's, NASA's Echo 1 balloon, launched in 1960, was the first spacecraft for which the effects of solar photon pressure were measured. Solar sails reflect sunlight to achieve thrust, thus eliminating the need for costly and often very-heavy fuel. Such "propellantless" propulsion will enable whole new classes of space science and exploration missions previously not considered possible due to the propulsive-intense maneouvers and operations required

Radiative Forcing Over the Conterminous United States Due to Contemporary Land Cover Use Albedo Change

Recently available satellite land cover land use (LCLU) and albedo data are used to study the impact of LCLU change from 1973 to 2000 on surface albedo and radiative forcing for 36 ecoregions covering 43% of the conterminous United States (CONUS). Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) snowfree broadband albedo values are derived from Landsat LCLU classification maps located using a stratified random sampling methodology to estimate ecoregion estimates of LCLU induced albedo change and surface radiative forcing. The results illustrate that radiative forcing due to LCLU change may be disguised when spatially and temporally explicit data sets are not used. The radiative forcing due to contemporary LCLU albedo change varies geographically in sign and magnitude, with the most positive forcings (up to 0.284 Wm-2) due to conversion of agriculture to other LCLU types, and the most negative forcings (as low as -0.247 Wm-2) due to forest loss. For the 36 ecoregions considered a small net positive forcing (i.e., warming) of 0.012 Wm-2 is estimated

Robert V. Langmuir

Robert V. Langmuir, professor emeritus of electrical engineering at Caltech and a member of the team that first directly observed synchrotron radiation, died of cancer on 7 May 1992, at the age of 80. Langmuir had had a long and productive career as an educator, physicist, engineer and inventor

Radiative Forcing Over the Conterminous United States Due to Contemporary Land Cover Use Change and Sensitivity to Snow and Interannual Albedo Variability

Satellite‐derived land cover land use (LCLU), snow and albedo data, and incoming surface solar radiation reanalysis data were used to study the impact of LCLU change from 1973 to 2000 on surface albedo and radiative forcing for 58 ecoregions covering 69% of the conterminous United States. A net positive surface radiative forcing (i.e., warming) of 0.029 Wm−2 due to LCLU albedo change from 1973 to 2000 was estimated. The forcings for individual ecoregions were similar in magnitude to current global forcing estimates, with the most negative forcing (as low as −0.367 Wm−2) due to the transition to forest and the most positive forcing (up to 0.337 Wm−2) due to the conversion to grass/shrub. Snow exacerbated both negative and positive forcing for LCLU transitions between snow‐hiding and snow‐revealing LCLU classes. The surface radiative forcing estimates were highly sensitive to snow‐free inter-annual albedo variability that had a percent average monthly variation from 1.6% to 4.3% across the ecoregions. The results described in this paper enhance our understanding of contemporary LCLU change on surface radiative forcing and suggest that future forcing estimates should model snow and inter-annual albedo variation

The Future of Education in Georgia : A+ Education Reform Act of 2000

[In 1999] the Governor of the State of Georgia issued a challenge to his newly formed Education Reform Study Commission. He said: I am counting on this group to shake up the educational system as it exists today in Georgia. We have been able to put together a group of people who are both experienced with and devoted to educational issues, and I know that they will be able to develop sound ideas that will help restore public confidence in our schools. And shake up they did. As a result of the Commission\u27s work, House Bill 1187 was introduced to the Georgia General Assembly [in 2000]. A hotly debated bill, the A+ Education Reform Act of 2000 will affect all aspects of the educational system. As a part of this reform the leaders of Georgia\u27s educational institutions will come together to form the Education Coordinating Council. Their purpose will be to improve public education through a seamless coordination among Georgia\u27s public education providers. On March 31, we will have three very important members of this council to discuss their outlook on education in Georgia: Governor Roy Barnes (J.D. \u2772), Chairman of the State School Board Otis Brumby (J.D. \u2765), and Chancellor Stephen Portch

Projected Surface Raidiative Forcing Due to 2000-2050 Land-cover Land-use Albedo Change Over the Eastern United States

Satellite-derived contemporary land-cover land-use (LCLU) and albedo data and modeled future LCLU are used to study the impact of LCLU change from 2000 to 2050 on surface albedo and radiative forcing for 19 ecoregions in the eastern United States. The modeled 2000–2050 LCLU changes indicate a future decrease in both agriculture and forested land and an increase in developed land that induces ecoregion radiative forcings ranging from −0.175 to 0.432 W m−2 driven predominately by differences in the area and type of LCLU change. At the regional scale, these projected LCLU changes induce a net negative albedo decrease (−0.001) and a regional positive radiative forcing of 0.112Wm−2. This overall positive forcing (i.e., warming) is almost 4 times greater than that estimated for documented 1973–2000 LCLU albedo change published in a previous study using the same methods

Home Team (Dis)Advantage Patterns in the National Hockey League:Changes Through Increased Emphasis on Individual Performance with the 3-on-3 Overtime Rule

Past research examining National Hockey League (professional ice hockey; NHL) data from the 4-on-4 overtime era (seasons between 2005-06 and 2013-14) revealed an inconsistent home team (dis)advantage pattern (Hoffmann et al., 2017) such that home teams that were superior to their visiting counterparts had slightly greater odds of winning during regulation play compared to overtime (demonstrating home crowd advantages for team performance during regulation); in contrast, home teams experienced lower odds of winning in the shootout period than in overtime regardless of team quality (thereby demonstrating risks for individual choking from home crowd pressures). In this study, we explored the NHL home (dis)advantage pattern during four more recent seasons (2015-16 through 2018-19) in which the league instituted 3-on-3 play during overtime (perhaps increasing individual pressure for athletes competing in the 3-on-3 overtime period). We used archival data from the regular season (N = 5,002 games) to compare home teams’ odds of winning in regulation (with 5-on-5 skaters per team) to overtime (with 3-on-3) and in the shootout, adjusting for the quality of home and visiting teams. We conducted fixed-effects and multi-level logistic regression modeling. Evenly matched home teams were 1.66 times more likely to win than inferior home teams when games concluded in regulation versus overtime. Superior home teams were 4.24 times more likely to win than inferior home teams when games concluded in regulation rather than overtime. Thus, it is apparently more difficult for superior and evenly matched home teams to win in overtime than during regulation, suggesting that such home teams may be susceptible to choking in overtime. In contrast to the earlier 4-on-4 overtime era, home teams did not have lower odds of winning in the shootout compared to overtime. These results may have implications for NHL coaches’ and players’ tactical decision-making