Far Field Monitoring of Rogue Nuclear Activity with an Array of Large anti-neutrino Detectors

The result of a study on the use of an array of large anti-neutrino detectors for the purpose of monitoring rogue nuclear activity is presented. Targeted regional monitoring of a nation bordering large bodies of water with no pre-existing legal nuclear activity may be possible at a cost of about several billion dollars, assuming several as-yet-untested schemes pan out in the next two decades. These are: (1) the enabling of a water-based detector to detect reactor anti-neutrinos by doping with GdCl$_3$; (2) the deployment of a KamLAND-like detector in a deep-sea environment; and (3) the scaling of a Super-Kamiokande-like detector to a size of one or more megatons. The first may well prove feasible, and should be tested by phase-III Super-Kamiokande in the next few years. The second is more of a challenge, but may well be tested by the Hanohano collaboration in the coming decade. The third is perhaps the least certain, with no schedule for construction of any such device in the foreseeable future. In addition to the regional monitoring scheme, several global, untargeted monitoring schemes were considered. All schemes were found to fail benchmark sensitivity levels by a wide margin, and to cost at least several trillion dollars.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, proceedings for Neutrino Sciences 2005, submitted to Earth, Moon, and Planet

Testing of flat conductor cable to Underwriters Laboratory standards UL719 and UL83

The flat conductor cable (FCC) which was tested consisted of three AWG No. 12 flat copper conductors laminated between two films of polyethylene terephthalate (Mylar) insulation with a self-extinguishing polyester adhesive. Results of the tests conducted on this cable, according to specifications, warrants the use of this FCC for electrical interconnections in a surface nonmetallic protective covering

Solar System Processes Underlying Planetary Formation, Geodynamics, and the Georeactor

Only three processes, operant during the formation of the Solar System, are responsible for the diversity of matter in the Solar System and are directly responsible for planetary internal-structures, including planetocentric nuclear fission reactors, and for dynamical processes, including and especially, geodynamics. These processes are: (i) Low-pressure, low-temperature condensation from solar matter in the remote reaches of the Solar System or in the interstellar medium; (ii) High-pressure, high-temperature condensation from solar matter associated with planetary-formation by raining out from the interiors of giant-gaseous protoplanets, and; (iii) Stripping of the primordial volatile components from the inner portion of the Solar System by super-intense solar wind associated with T-Tauri phase mass-ejections, presumably during the thermonuclear ignition of the Sun. As described herein, these processes lead logically, in a causally related manner, to a coherent vision of planetary formation with profound implications including, but not limited to, (a) Earth formation as a giant gaseous Jupiter-like planet with vast amounts of stored energy of protoplanetary compression in its rock-plus-alloy kernel; (b) Removal of approximately 300 Earth-masses of primordial gases from the Earth, which began Earth's decompression process, making available the stored energy of protoplanetary compression for driving geodynamic processes, which I have described by the new whole-Earth decompression dynamics and which is responsible for emplacing heat at the mantle-crust-interface at the base of the crust through the process I have described, called mantle decompression thermal-tsunami; and, (c)Uranium accumulations at the planetary centers capable of self-sustained nuclear fission chain reactions.Comment: Invited paper for the Special Issue of Earth, Moon and Planets entitled Neutrino Geophysics Added final corrections for publicatio

Brain dehydration and neurologic deterioration after rapid correction of hyponatremia

Brain dehydration and neurologic deterioration after rapid correction of hyponatremia. We made rats severely hyponatremia varying the rate of onset and duration of the disturbance, and then compared rapid correction to slow correction. An acute fall in the plasma Na to 106 mEq/liter within seven hours caused seizures and coma, but these findings resolved and survival was 100%after either rapid or slow correction. A more gradual fall in plasma Na to 95 mEq/liter in three days caused neither seizures nor coma. Measurements of brain water and electrolytes showed that adaptive losses of brain Na and K (maximally depleted within seven hours) and slower losses of non-electrolyte solutes progressively reduced brain edema. After three days of hyponatremia, rapid correction to 119 mEq/liter with 1m NaCl or to 129 mEq/liter by withdrawing DDAVP caused brain dehydration because lost brain K and non-electrolyte solutes were recovered slowly. This treatment was followed by a delayed onset of severe neurologic findings, demyelinating brain lesions and a mortality rate of over 40%. Slow correction (0.3 mEq/liter/hr) avoided these complications and permitted 100%survival. We conclude that the rat adapts quickly to hyponatremia and can survive with extremely low plasma sodium concentrations for prolonged periods. Although rapid correction is well tolerated when hyponatremia is of brief duration, it may cause brain damage in animals that have had time to more fully adapt to the disturbance

Against the Tide. A Critical Review by Scientists of How Physics and Astronomy Get Done

Nobody should have a monopoly of the truth in this universe. The censorship and suppression of challenging ideas against the tide of mainstream research, the blacklisting of scientists, for instance, is neither the best way to do and filter science, nor to promote progress in the human knowledge. The removal of good and novel ideas from the scientific stage is very detrimental to the pursuit of the truth. There are instances in which a mere unqualified belief can occasionally be converted into a generally accepted scientific theory through the screening action of refereed literature and meetings planned by the scientific organizing committees and through the distribution of funds controlled by "club opinions". It leads to unitary paradigms and unitary thinking not necessarily associated to the unique truth. This is the topic of this book: to critically analyze the problems of the official (and sometimes illicit) mechanisms under which current science (physics and astronomy in particular) is being administered and filtered today, along with the onerous consequences these mechanisms have on all of us.\ud \ud The authors, all of them professional researchers, reveal a pessimistic view of the miseries of the actual system, while a glimmer of hope remains in the "leitmotiv" claim towards the freedom in doing research and attaining an acceptable level of ethics in science

The laboratory telerobotic manipulator program

New opportunities for the application of telerobotic systems to enhance human intelligence and dexterity in the hazardous environment of space are presented by the NASA Space Station Program. Because of the need for significant increases in extravehicular activity and the potential increase in hazards associated with space programs, emphasis is being heightened on telerobotic systems research and development. The Laboratory Telerobotic Manipulator (LTM) program is performed to develop and demonstrate ground-based telerobotic manipulator system hardware for research and demonstrations aimed at future NASA applications. The LTM incorporates traction drives, modularity, redundant kinematics, and state-of-the-art hierarchical control techniques to form a basis for merging the diverse technological domains of robust, high-dexterity teleoperations and autonomous robotic operation into common hardware to further NASA's research

On B_s -> mu+ mu- and Cold Dark Matter Scattering in the MSSM with Non-Universal Higgs Masses

We show that present experimental constraints on B_s -> mu+ mu- decay and the CDMS upper limit on the cold dark matter elastic scattering cross section already have significant impact on the parameter space of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) with non-universal supersymmetry-breaking scalar masses for the Higgs multiplets (NUHM). The relaxation of scalar universality in the MSSM allows the possibility of a relatively light mass M_A for the pseudoscalar Higgs boson. The present upper limit on B_s -> mu+ mu- already excludes much of the scope for this possibility in the NUHM, in contrast to the constrained MSSM with universal scalar masses (CMSSM), where B_s -> mu+ mu- decay does not exclude any ranges of parameters not already excluded by b -> s \gamma decay. Cold dark matter scattering is also enhanced for small M_A, but the impact of present upper limit on B_s -> mu+ mu- on the NUHM parameter space is in many cases greater than that of the CDMS scattering limit, particularly at large tanb.Comment: 17 pages, 14 eps figure