Tough Composite Materials

Papers and working group summaries are presented which address composite material behavior and performance improvement. Topic areas include composite fracture toughness and impact characterization, constituent properties and interrelationships, and matrix synthesis and characterization

Understanding insect foraging in complex habitats by comparing trophic levels: insights from specialist host-parasitoid-hyperparasitoid systems

Insects typically forage in complex habitats in which their resources are surrounded by non-resources. For herbivores, pollinators, parasitoids, and higher level predators research has focused on how specific trophic levels filter and integrate information from cues in their habitat to locate resources. However, these insights frequently build specific theory per trophic level and seldom across trophic levels. Here, we synthesize advances in understanding of insect foraging behavior in complex habitats by comparing trophic levels in specialist host-parasitoid-hyperparasitoid systems. We argue that resources may become less apparent to foraging insects when they are member of higher trophic levels and hypothesize that higher trophic level organisms require a larger number of steps in their foraging decisions. We identify important knowledge gaps of information integration strategies by insects that belong to higher trophic levels

Gaia on-board metrology: basic angle and best focus

The Gaia payload ensures maximum passive stability using a single material, SiC, for most of its elements. Dedicated metrology instruments are, however, required to carry out two functions: monitoring the basic angle and refocusing the telescope. Two interferometers fed by the same laser are used to measure the basic angle changes at the level of $\mu$as (prad, micropixel), which is the highest level ever achieved in space. Two Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors, combined with an ad-hoc analysis of the scientific data are used to define and reach the overall best-focus. In this contribution, the systems, data analysis, procedures and performance achieved during commissioning are presentedComment: 18 pages, 14 figures. To appear in SPIE proceedings 9143-30. Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wav

International round-robin experiment for angle-resolved light scattering measurement

International audienc

Exoplanet Characterization and the Search for Life

Over 300 extrasolar planets (exoplanets) have been detected orbiting nearby stars. We now hope to conduct a census of all planets around nearby stars and to characterize their atmospheres and surfaces with spectroscopy. Rocky planets within their star's habitable zones have the highest priority, as these have the potential to harbor life. Our science goal is to find and characterize all nearby exoplanets; this requires that we measure the mass, orbit, and spectroscopic signature of each one at visible and infrared wavelengths. The techniques for doing this are at hand today. Within the decade we could answer long-standing questions about the evolution and nature of other planetary systems, and we could search for clues as to whether life exists elsewhere in our galactic neighborhood.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Astro2010 Decadal Revie

Aeroelastic and Aerothermoelastic Behavior in Hypersonic Flow

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/77151/1/AIAA-36711-537.pd

En route to resources: Foraging strategies of plant‐associated insects to identify resources in complex dynamic environments

Abstract In plant‐associated communities, foraging insects aim to find different resources of interest. Herbivores look for the most nutritious plant tissues, pollinators for sweet nectar and protein‐rich pollen, and carnivores for their preferred prey. Although these foragers look for different resources, they face similar problems: resource cues are often highly variable and need to be detected in complex environments among non‐resources. Search templates—a subset of stimuli that is likely correlated with the occurrence of a particular resource—help foragers across trophic levels to find their resources. However, search‐template‐based foraging can also cause perception errors. Here, we synthesize knowledge on foraging by insects from functional groups belonging to different trophic levels to reveal common problems experienced by foragers and strategies to solve such problems. We focus mostly on volatile‐based foraging because this searching strategy is best studied across functional groups. We argue that search templates are both multimodal (including multiple trait types, e.g. odour and visual) and hierarchical (including multiple foraging steps). Search templates are plastic and updated by experience to match the dynamic foraging environment over time. By comparing insects from different functional groups spanning multiple trophic levels, we have identified important missing gaps on cue use and foraging strategies which should be addressed in the future in order to reduce knowledge asymmetries among functional groups about search‐template‐based foraging. We propose a way to achieve this goal arguing that studies on less well investigated functional groups can advance rapidly by borrowing, testing and adjusting already available hypotheses and theories formulated for other insect groups. Knowledge of search‐template‐based foraging across functional groups will give new insights into the evolution of foraging behaviour in complex ecological communities, help predict ecological consequences of large‐scale human‐made disturbances and help optimize insect‐delivered ecosystem services (pollination and biological control) in cropping systems. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog

The thermal regime of the Northeastern-German Basin from 2-D inversion

Copyright © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Hans-Dieter Vosteen, Volker Rath, Andreas Schmidt-Mumm and Christoph Clauserhttp://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/503362/description#descriptio