Valles Marineris tectonism: Questions and suggestions

Much has been learned about the Valles Marineris, and stratigraphic relations inside the troughs have been reasonably well established. However, many questions remain, especially questions pertaining to tectonism and origin. The following issues are briefly considered: the age of the troughs; the evidence for tectonic origin; the relation of Valles Marineris to the Tharsis rise; and the additional factors which may have influenced the origin of the Valles Marineris

Comparison of toughened composite laminates using NASA standard damage tolerance tests

The proposed application of composite materials to transport wing and fuselage structures prompted the search for tougher materials having improved resistance to impact damage and delamination. Several resin/graphite fiber composite materials were subjected to standard damage tolerance tests and the results were compared to ascertain which materials have superior toughness. In addition, test results from various company and NASA laboratories were compared for repeatability

Cluster Algorithm Renormalization Group Study of Universal Fluctuations in the 2D Ising Model

In this paper we propose a novel method to study critical systems numerically by a combined collective-mode algorithm and Renormalization Group on the lattice. This method is an improved version of MCRG in the sense that it has all the advantages of cluster algorithms. As an application we considered the 2D Ising model and studied wether scale invariance or universality are possible underlying mechanisms responsible for the approximate "universal fluctuations" close to a so-called bulk temperature $T^*(L)$. "Universal fluctuations" was first proposed in [1] and stated that the probability density function of a global quantity for very dissimilar systems, like a confined turbulent flow and a 2D magnetic system, properly normalized to the first two moments, becomes similar to the "universal distribution", originally obtained for the magnetization in the 2D XY model in the low temperature region. The results for the critical exponents and the renormalization group flow of the probability density function are very accurate and show no evidence to support that the approximate common shape of the PDF should be related to both scale invariance or universal behavior.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures and 3 table

Press Freedom in Singapore and Malaysia: Defamation

This paper focuses on the arguments around restriction on freedom of the press in the Strong States of Singapore and Malaysia. It assesses the presence of constraints on press freedoms in democratic western countries imposed by corporation rather than state and the similar effects that these constraints may have on bias present in publicly accessible news reporting. It argues that independence of the press does not just require protection from legal and executive regulation, but also protection from large media corporations and their political alignments. This report will assess the bias of reporting and news media publication that exists in Malaysia and Singapore due to legislative and regulatory constraints as opposed to bias that exist in the western liberal democratic nations of the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA) due to Media Organisation control

Investigation of wheat coleoptile response to phototropic stimulations

This report provides a summary of the preparations for, and the conduct and post-flight data analysis of, the Spacelab flight investigation FOTRAN, which flew on the IML-1 mission (STS-42) in January, 1992. The investigation was designed to provide data on the responses of wheat seedlings to various blue-light stimuli given while the plants were exposed to orbital microgravity conditions. Before the flight, a number of hypotheses were established which were to be tested by the data from the flight and parallel ground studies. A description of the experiment protocol developed for the mission is provided, and an account of the activities supported during preparations for and support of the flight experiment is given. Details of the methods used to reduce and analyze the data from the flight are outlined

A Program of Photometric Measurements of Solar Irradiance Fluctuations from Ground-based Observations

Photometric observations of the sun have been carried out at the San Fernando Observatory since early 1985. Since 1986, observations have been obtained at two wavelengths in order to separately measure the contributions of sunspots and bright facular to solar irradiance variations. Researchers believe that the contributions of sunspots can be measured to an accuracy of about plus or minus 30 ppm. The effect of faculae is much less certain, with uncertainties in the range of plus or minus 300 ppm. The larger uncertainty for faculae reflects both the greater difficulty in measuring the facular area, due to their lower contrast compared to sunspots, and the greater uncertainty in their contrast variation with viewing angle on the solar disk. Recent results from two separate photometric telescopes will be compared with bolometric observations from the active cavity radiometer irradiance monitor (ACRIM) that was on board the Solar Max satellite

Comparing the performance of baseball players : a multiple output approach

This article extends ideas from the economics literature on multiple output production and efficiency to develop methods for comparing baseball players that take into account the many dimensions to batting performance. A key part of this approach is the output aggregator. The weights in this output aggregator can be selected a priori (as is done with batting or slugging averages) or can be estimated statistically based on the performance of the best players in baseball. Once the output aggregator is obtained, an individual player can then be measured relative to the best, and a number between 0 and 1 characterizes his performance as a fraction of the best. The methods are applied to hitters using data from 1995-1999 on all regular players in baseball's major leagues

Squeezing out the last 1 nanometer of water: A detailed nanomechanical study

In this study, we present a detailed analysis of the squeeze-out dynamics of nanoconfined water confined between two hydrophilic surfaces measured by small-amplitude dynamic atomic force microscopy (AFM). Explicitly considering the instantaneous tip-surface separation during squeezeout, we confirm the existence of an adsorbed molecular water layer on mica and at least two hydration layers. We also confirm the previous observation of a sharp transition in the viscoelastic response of the nanoconfined water as the compression rate is increased beyond a critical value (previously determined to be about 0.8 nm/s). We find that below the critical value, the tip passes smoothly through the molecular layers of the film, while above the critical speed, the tip encounters "pinning" at separations where the film is able to temporarily order. Pre-ordering of the film is accompanied by increased force fluctuations, which lead to increased damping preceding a peak in the film stiffness once ordering is completed. We analyze the data using both Kelvin-Voigt and Maxwell viscoelastic models. This provides a complementary picture of the viscoelastic response of the confined water film

A proposal to determine properties of the gravitropic response of plants in the absence of a complicating g-force (GTHRES)

Gravitropic responses of oat seedlings (Avena sativa L.) were measured on Earth and in microgravity (IML-1). The seedlings were grown at 1 g either on Earth or on 1 g centrifuges. They were challenged by centripetal accelerations for which the intensity and duration of the stimulations were varied. All stimulation intensities were in the hypogravity region from 0.1 to 1.0 g. All responses occurred either in Spacelab microgravity or during clinorotation on Earth. The experiments were carried out with the same apparatus in Spacelab and on Earth. The experiments addressed a series of scientific questions and useful data were obtained to provide answers to some but not all of those questions