Paper Session III-B - The Prospector\u27s Proposal: Research Advancing Survivability Through Resource Options

As a group of nine Astronautical Engineering majors, we have identified a problem of great concern. It involves the scarcity of strategic materials and the possibility that our supply will be cut off. The Prospector\u27s Proposal is our solution. This proposal involves a prospecting mission to the asteroid belt, specifically Ceres. Using heavy lift vehicles, we will put our spacecraft into orbit where it will be assembled. A nuclear drive will provide propulsion for the unmanned probe. A landing craft will transport a mobile unit to the surface. This unit will collect samples that may contain sufficient quantities of the necessary materials to justify future mining. We have set a launch date for Spring 2001

aCGHViewer: A Generic Visualization Tool For aCGH data

Array-Comparative Genomic Hybridization (aCGH) is a powerful high throughput technology for detecting chromosomal copy number aberrations (CNAs) in cancer, aiming at identifying related critical genes from the affected genomic regions. However, advancing from a dataset with thousands of tabular lines to a few candidate genes can be an onerous and time-consuming process. To expedite the aCGH data analysis process, we have developed a user-friendly aCGH data viewer (aCGHViewer) as a conduit between the aCGH data tables and a genome browser. The data from a given aCGH analysis are displayed in a genomic view comprised of individual chromosome panels which can be rapidly scanned for interesting features. A chromosome panel containing a feature of interest can be selected to launch a detail window for that single chromosome. Selecting a data point of interest in the detail window launches a query to the UCSC or NCBI genome browser to allow the user to explore the gene content in the chromosomal region. Additionally, aCGHViewer can display aCGH and expression array data concurrently to visually correlate the two. aCGHViewer is a stand alone Java visualization application that should be used in conjunction with separate statistical programs. It operates on all major computer platforms and is freely available at http://falcon.roswellpark.org/aCGHview/

Catching Element Formation In The Act

Gamma-ray astronomy explores the most energetic photons in nature to address some of the most pressing puzzles in contemporary astrophysics. It encompasses a wide range of objects and phenomena: stars, supernovae, novae, neutron stars, stellar-mass black holes, nucleosynthesis, the interstellar medium, cosmic rays and relativistic-particle acceleration, and the evolution of galaxies. MeV gamma-rays provide a unique probe of nuclear processes in astronomy, directly measuring radioactive decay, nuclear de-excitation, and positron annihilation. The substantial information carried by gamma-ray photons allows us to see deeper into these objects, the bulk of the power is often emitted at gamma-ray energies, and radioactivity provides a natural physical clock that adds unique information. New science will be driven by time-domain population studies at gamma-ray energies. This science is enabled by next-generation gamma-ray instruments with one to two orders of magnitude better sensitivity, larger sky coverage, and faster cadence than all previous gamma-ray instruments. This transformative capability permits: (a) the accurate identification of the gamma-ray emitting objects and correlations with observations taken at other wavelengths and with other messengers; (b) construction of new gamma-ray maps of the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies where extended regions are distinguished from point sources; and (c) considerable serendipitous science of scarce events -- nearby neutron star mergers, for example. Advances in technology push the performance of new gamma-ray instruments to address a wide set of astrophysical questions.Comment: 14 pages including 3 figure

Catching Element Formation In The Act

Gamma-ray astronomy explores the most energetic photons in nature to address some of the most pressing puzzles in contemporary astrophysics. It encompasses a wide range of objects and phenomena: stars, supernovae, novae, neutron stars, stellar-mass black holes, nucleosynthesis, the interstellar medium, cosmic rays and relativistic-particle acceleration, and the evolution of galaxies. MeV gamma-rays provide a unique probe of nuclear processes in astronomy, directly measuring radioactive decay, nuclear de-excitation, and positron annihilation. The substantial information carried by gamma-ray photons allows us to see deeper into these objects, the bulk of the power is often emitted at gamma-ray energies, and radioactivity provides a natural physical clock that adds unique information. New science will be driven by time-domain population studies at gamma-ray energies. This science is enabled by next-generation gamma-ray instruments with one to two orders of magnitude better sensitivity, larger sky coverage, and faster cadence than all previous gamma-ray instruments. This transformative capability permits: (a) the accurate identification of the gamma-ray emitting objects and correlations with observations taken at other wavelengths and with other messengers; (b) construction of new gamma-ray maps of the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies where extended regions are distinguished from point sources; and (c) considerable serendipitous science of scarce events -- nearby neutron star mergers, for example. Advances in technology push the performance of new gamma-ray instruments to address a wide set of astrophysical questions

Catching element formation in the act

Gamma-ray astronomy explores the most energetic photons in nature to address some of the most pressing puzzles in contemporary astrophysics. It encompasses a wide range of objects and phenomena: stars, supernovae, novae, neutron stars, stellar-mass black holes, nucleosynthesis, the interstellar medium, cosmic rays and relativistic-particle acceleration, and the evolution of galaxies. MeV gamma-rays provide a unique probe of nuclear processes in astronomy, directly measuring radioactive decay, nuclear de-excitation, and positron annihilation. The substantial information carried by gamma-ray photons allows us to see deeper into these objects, the bulk of the power is often emitted at gamma-ray energies, and radioactivity provides a natural physical clock that adds unique information. New science will be driven by time-domain population studies at gamma-ray energies. This science is enabled by next-generation gamma-ray instruments with one to two orders of magnitude better sensitivity, larger sky coverage, and faster cadence than all previous gamma-ray instruments. This transformative capability permits: (a) the accurate identification of the gamma-ray emitting objects and correlations with observations taken at other wavelengths and with other messengers; (b) construction of new gamma-ray maps of the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies where extended regions are distinguished from point sources; and (c) considerable serendipitous science of scarce events -- nearby neutron star mergers, for example. Advances in technology push the performance of new gamma-ray instruments to address a wide set of astrophysical questions

Chemically reacting plumes, gas hydrate dissociation and dendrite solidification

Chemical transport by natural convection is a common occurrence in environmental and industrial settings, and in many cases a reaction occurs between the source fluid and the fluid entrained by the ambient. This process is particularly important in the case of ventilated spaces, especially when the chemical is hazardous to the occupants. We explore analytically, numerically and experimentally the physics involved when a chemically reacting plume enters a ventilated space in order to determine the species distribution in time. We compare our results to traditional ventilation strategies that rely on well-mixed spaces and discuss the main differences. Furthermore, there are many case in which the chemical reaction is endothermic or exothermic, such as in dilution reactions, pool fires and others. In this case the buoyancy force depends on the heat of reaction as well as the ambient density distribution and we develop a model to take into account this extra source/sink applying methods based on traditional plume models. This thesis also presents a separate investigation on gas hydrate decomposition in porous media due to an increase in ocean water temperature. The problem is essentially broken up into two parts, depending on the system conditions in relation to the phase diagram. In the first case the hydrate dissolves at warmer temperatures at a rate that scales with species diffusion. In the second case the hydrate dissociates into water and gas, which requires a special treatment for the two-phase flow through the sediment. Here we determine methane gas flow rates into the ocean from the sea bed as a function of thermal forcing and sediment properties. Finally, we present a related project on dendrite solidification in super-cooled binary liquids (e.g. hydrate and alloys). Slender body theory is applied to a steady state dendrite and solved analytically using the Wiener-Hopf technique. We examine the interface shape as a function of temperature, concentration, and kinetic under-cooling and compare this to the classic similarity solutio