On the Origin of Narrow, Very Long, Straight Jets from Some Newly Forming Stars

Observations have shown the existence of narrow, very long, straight jets emitted by some newly forming stars (1). It is highly likely that stars forming in the plane of a spiral galaxy do so in the presence of an almost uniform magnetic field. In the Strong Magnetic Field model (SMF), gravitational collapse of a highly conducting plasma in the presence of such a field will result in the formation of a stable, highly relativistic current loop (storage ring) around the central object. The concept was first described by Greyber (2-14). In the figures in Mestel & Strittmatter (15), one can see such a storage ring beginning to form. Such an increasing dipole magnetic field (formed temporarily for 10$^4$ to 10$^6$ years) will produce, accelerate and confine a narrow, very long, straight jet. When the density becomes too high, either the loop is destroyed, or the current-carrying plasma ring is buried inside the newly forming star and is the source of primordial stellar magnetism.Comment: 6 pages, LaTeX-AAS styl

Review of: Sharon M. Friedman et al. eds., Communicating Uncertainty

A review of the book Communicating Uncertainty: Media Coverage of New and Controversial Science (Sharon M. Friedman, Sharon Dunwoody & Carol L. Rogers, eds.; Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 1999). Preface, introduction. ISBN 0-8058-2728-5 [261 pp. $32.50. Paperback, 10 Industrial Avenue, Mahwah, NJ 07430-2262]

Modelling and directionally encoding the acoustics of a room

Geometrical methods are often used to model the acoustic properties of a room, but are valid only for high frequencies. At low frequencies. diffraction and the effects of room modes cannot be neglected. A method for modelling the two-dimensional propagation of sound within an enclosed room is presented which encompasses both of these particular properties by making use of a digital waveguide model

Orderly Marketing in Agriculture Revisited

This paper presents a model of economic behavior that explicates the phenomenon known as “orderly marketing,†which was a main objective of the Marketing Orders agricultural program introduced early in the New Deal. Recent analyses of marketing orders start with an implicit assumption that there is no market failure—thus, that price regulation can cause only deviations from the first-best market solution. However, historical evidence suggests that disorderly marketing might refer to a kind of market imperfection. In the model presented here, a monopsonist processor sets a price to be paid, and an aggregate quantity to be purchased. In some states of the world, some farmers are excluded from the market. In other words, nonprice rationing can occur, and changes in consumer expenditure for the final product are absorbed by the processor rather than passed along to the farmer. The classified price and pooling provisions of federal orders can lead to a Pareto improvement in welfare.disorderly marketing, market orders, Marketing,

Role of artesian groundwater in forming Martian permafrost features

Various landforms possibly related to formation (growth), movement, or decay of ground ice have been identified on Mars, including fretted terrain (ft) and associated lobate debris aprons (lda), the chaotic terrain, concentric crater fills (ccf), polygonal ground, softened terrain, small domes that are possibly pingos, and curvilinear (fingerprint) features (cuf). Glaciers may also have been present. Some of these may involve ice derived from artesian groundwater. Topical areas of discussion are: Mars groundwater and the location of permafrost features; the ft, lda, ccf, and cuf; role of artesian groundwater in formation of fretted terrain, lobate debris blankets, and concentric crater fills; sources of glacial ice; and pingos and other pseudovolcanic structures

Overview of NASA's microgravity combustion science and fire safety program

The study of fundamental combustion processes in a microgravity environment is a relatively new scientific endeavor. A few simple, precursor experiments were conducted in the early 1970's. Today the advent of the U.S. space shuttle and the anticipation of the Space Station Freedom provide for scientists and engineers a special opportunity -- in the form of long duration microgravity laboratories -- and need -- in the form of spacecraft fire safety and a variety of terrestrial applications -- to pursue fresh insight into the basic physics of combustion. Through microgravity, a new range of experiments can be performed since: (1) Buoyancy-induced flows are nearly eliminated; (2) Normally obscured forces and flows may be isolated; (3) Gravitational settling or sedimentation is nearly eliminated; and (4) Larger time or length scales in experiments become permissible

Improving a data-acquisition software system with abstract data type components

Abstract data types and object-oriented design are active research areas in computer science and software engineering. Much of the interest is aimed at new software development. Abstract data type packages developed for a discontinued software project were used to improve a real-time data-acquisition system under maintenance. The result saved effort and contributed to a significant improvement in the performance, maintainability, and reliability of the Goldstone Solar System Radar Data Acquisition System

State transition storyboards: A tool for designing the Goldstone solar system radar data acquisition system user interface software

Effective user interface design in software systems is a complex task that takes place without adequate modeling tools. By combining state transition diagrams and the storyboard technique of filmmakers, State Transition Storyboards were developed to provide a detailed modeling technique for the Goldstone Solar System Radar Data Acquisition System human-machine interface. Illustrations are included with a description of the modeling technique