Type-Directed Program Transformations for the Working Functional Programmer

We present preliminary research on Deuce+, a set of tools integrating plain text editing with structural manipulation that brings the power of expressive and extensible type-directed program transformations to everyday, working programmers without a background in computer science or mathematical theory. Deuce+ comprises three components: (i) a novel set of type-directed program transformations, (ii) support for syntax constraints for specifying "code style sheets" as a means of flexibly ensuring the consistency of both the concrete and abstract syntax of the output of program transformations, and (iii) a domain-specific language for specifying program transformations that can operate at a high level on the abstract (and/or concrete) syntax tree of a program and interface with syntax constraints to expose end-user options and alleviate tedious and potentially mutually inconsistent style choices. Currently, Deuce+ is in the design phase of development, and discovering the right usability choices for the system is of the highest priority

A Roadmap to Interstellar Flight

In the nearly 60 years of spaceflight we have accomplished wonderful feats of exploration that have shown the incredible spirit of the human drive to explore and understand our universe. Yet in those 60 years we have barely left our solar system with the Voyager 1 spacecraft launched in 1977 finally leaving the solar system after 37 years of flight at a speed of 17 km/s or less than 0.006% the speed of light. As remarkable as this, to reach even the nearest stars with our current propulsion technology will take 100 millennium. We have to radically rethink our strategy or give up our dreams of reaching the stars, or wait for technology that does not currently exist. While we all dream of human spaceflight to the stars in a way romanticized in books and movies, it is not within our power to do so, nor it is clear that this is the path we should choose. We posit a path forward, that while not simple, it is within our technological reach. We propose a roadmap to a program that will lead to sending relativistic probes to the nearest stars and will open up a vast array of possibilities of flight both within our solar system and far beyond. Spacecraft from gram level complete spacecraft on a wafer (wafersats) that reach more than c and reach the nearest star in 20 years to spacecraft with masses more than 105 kg (100 tons) that can reach speeds of greater than 1000 km/s. These systems can be propelled to speeds currently unimaginable with existing propulsion technologies. To do so requires a fundamental change in our thinking of both propulsion and in many cases what a spacecraft is. In addition to larger spacecraft, some capable of transporting humans, we consider functional spacecraft on a wafer, including integrated optical communications, imaging systems, photon thrusters, power and sensors combined with directed energy propulsion. The costs can be amortized over a very large number of missions beyond relativistic spacecraft as such planetary defense, beamed energy for distant spacecraft, sending power back to Earth, stand-off composition analysis of solar system targets, long range laser communications, SETI searches and even terra forming. The human factor of exploring the nearest stars and exo-planets would be a profound voyage for humanity, one whose non-scientific implications would be enormous. It is time to begin this inevitable journey far beyond our home

Circular polarization of the CMB: Foregrounds and detection prospects

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is one of the finest probes of cosmology. Its all-sky temperature and linear polarization (LP) fluctuations have been measured precisely at a level of deltaT/TCMB ~10^{-6}. In comparison, circular polarization (CP) of the CMB, however, has not been precisely explored. Current upper limit on the CP of the CMB is at a level of deltaV/TCMB ~10^{-4} and is limited on large scales. Some of the cosmologically important sources which can induce a CP in the CMB include early universe symmetry breaking, primordial magnetic field, galaxy clusters and Pop III stars (also known as the First stars). Among these sources, Pop III stars are expected to induce the strongest signal with levels strongly dependent on the frequency of observation and on the number, Np, of the Pop III stars per halo. Optimistically, a CP signal in the CMB due to the Pop III stars could be at a level of deltaV/TCMB ~ 2x10^{-7} in scales of 1 degree at 10 GHz, which is much smaller than the currently existing upper limits on the CP measurements. Primary foregrounds in the cosmological CP detection will come from the galactic synchrotron emission (GSE), which is naturally (intrinsically) circularly polarized. We use data-driven models of the galactic magnetic field (GMF), thermal electron density and relativistic electron density to simulate all-sky maps of the galactic CP in different frequencies. This work also points out that the galactic CP levels are important below 50 GHz and is an important factor for telescopes aiming to detect primordial B-modes using CP as a systematics rejection channel. Final results on detectability are summarized in Fig (11-13)

Persons with Disabilities Seeking Employment and Public Transportation: Findings from a New Jersey Survey

Over a seven month period in 2010-2012, the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey conducted a survey of persons with disabilities in New Jersey who were actively searching for employment. The purpose of the survey was to identify key transportation-related issues -- with an emphasis on those related to public transit use -- hindering respondent job search and employment opportunities. The brief discusses how transportation is a prominent factor in the job search process and presents an overview of survey findings as they relate to public transit availability, usage, importance, and satisfaction among the approximately 500 survey respondents