Overview of lunar-based astronomy

The opportunities along with the advantages and disadvantages of the Moon for astronomical observatories are carefully and methodically considered. Taking a relatively unbiased approach, it was concluded that lunar observatories will clearly be a major factor in the future of astronomy in the next century. He concludes that ground based work will continue because of its accessibility and that Earth orbital work will remain useful, primarily for convenience of access in constructing and operating very large space systems. Deep space studies will feature not only probes but extensive systems for extremely long baseline studies at wavelengths from gamma rays through visible and IR out to radio is also a conclusion drawn, along with the consideration that lunar astronomy will have found important permanent applications along lines such as are discussed at the present symposium and others quite unsuspected today

A very low frequency radio astronomy observatory on the Moon

Because of terrestrial ionospheric absorption, very little is known of the radio sky beyond 10 m wavelength. An extremely simple, low cost very low frequency radio telescope is proposed, consisting of a large array of short wires laid on the lunar surface, each wire equipped with an amplifier and a digitizer, and connected to a common computer. The telescope could do simultaneous multifrequency observations of much of the visible sky with high resolution in the 10 to 100 m wavelength range, and with lower resolution in the 100 to 1000 m range. It would explore structure and spectra of galactic and extragalactic point sources, objects, and clouds, and would produce detailed quasi-three-dimensional mapping of interstellar matter within several thousand parsecs of the Sun

The CRaTER Special Issue of Space Weather: Building the observational foundation to deduce biological effects of space radiation

[1] The United States is preparing for exploration beyond low-Earth Orbit (LEO). However, the space radiation environment poses significant risks. The radiation hazard is potentially severe but not sufficiently well characterized to determine if long missions outside LEO can be accomplished with acceptable risk [Cucinotta et al., 2001; Schwadron et al., 2010; Cucinotta et al., 2010]. Radiation hazards may be over- or under-stated through incomplete characterization in terms of net quantities such as accumulated dose. Time-dependent characterization often changes acute risk estimates [NCRP, 1989; Cucinotta, 1999; Cucinotta et al., 2000; George et al., 2002]. For example, events with high accumulated doses but sufficiently low dose rates (/h) pose significantly reduced risks. Protons, heavy ions, and neutrons all contribute significantly to the radiation hazard. However, each form of radiation presents different biological effectiveness. As a result, quality factors and radiation-specific weighting factors are needed to assess biological effectiveness of different forms of radiation [e.g., NCRP 116, 1993] (Figure 1). More complete characterization must account for time-dependent radiation effects according to organ type, primary and secondary radiation composition, and acute effects (vomiting, sickness, and, at high exposures, death) versus chronic effects (such as cancer)

A Vast Neglected Field for Archaeological Research

"The territory roughly included in the area known as 'The Great Plains,' 'The Plateau Region,' and 'The Barren Lands'... offers an extensive field for co-operative archaeological research, since its prehistoric ethnology is practically unknown.

The Empirical Verification of Becker\u27s Theory of Discrimination: What Have We Learned?

For over 30 years now empirical research on racial discrimination in the workplace has been defined by, and focused on, Becker\u27s insight The literature is now extensive, highly technical, and to some extent fragmented-as groups of analysts have concentrated on different aspects of the problem. This paper is intended to be a primer on this work for the nonspecialist who wants to get up to speed on, or possibly begin contributing to, this line of research. In what follows, therefore, I highlight some of the important articles, key methodological advances, and central results that have been obtained to date. More specifically, in the rest of this section I lay out Becker\u27s theory of discrimination and its central predictions. In Section 2 I introduce the reader, in a nontechnical way, to the scope of the research effort that has developed in the wake of Becker\u27s work. I then turn, in Section 3, to studies of racial employment patterns in the airline and trucking industries and highlight the contributions of these studies to our understanding of discrimination in the workplace. Multi-industry studies of discrimination in the setting of wage rates are the focus of Section 4. In conclusion I offer some comments on what we have learned to date, and where do we go from here

Introducing Students to the Competing Schools of Thought in Intermediate Macroeconomics

The article discusses how the intermediate macroeconomics instructor can introduce students to ways of old and new Keynesians and classical theorists addressed the question on why output and employment fluctuate. Keynesian macroeconomics characterizes a school of thought developed around two central prepositions. New Keynesians develop alternative ways of explaining short-run movements in output and employment in the early 1970\u27s. All individuals maximize utility, firm maximizes profits. Recently, new classicals developed an alternative approach in explaining short-run fluctuation in employment and output by redefining the concept of the short run

Planetary astronomy

Lunar-based astronomy offers major prospects for solar system research in the coming century. In addition to active advocacy of both ground-based and Lunar-based astronomy, a workshop on the value of asteroids as a resource for man is being organized. The following subject areas are also covered: (1) astrophysics from the Moon (composition and structure of planetary atmospheres); (2) a decade of cost-reduction in Very Large Telescopes (the SST as prototype of special-purpose telescopes); and (3) a plan for development of lunar astronomy

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A Strategy for Rural Financial Market Reform: Applying the Financial Systems Approach in Ghana

We construct, using methods advocated in one strand of the Financial Systems Approach literature, a reform-and-renewal program for one of Ghana’s struggling Rural Banks--the Kaaseman Rural Bank. Questionnaire results, local informal financial practices, recent institutional innovations in Ghanaian finance, the experiences of successful “Nontraditional” rural finance institutions in developing countries, and the operating structure of the Rural Bank program indicate that this bank can implement a group-lending scheme that will reduce significantly its transaction costs and those of its customers. We thus demonstrate how the Financial Systems Approach can be employed to promote sustainable rural financial intermediation in a specific socioeconomic and institutional setting. The potential for our reform proposals to succeed in the local Ghanaian context is analyzed carefully

Coping with the Senior Thesis Seminar: Some Thoughts for Both Students and Professors

Based on our experiences as professor and student. respectively, in. the undergraduate Senior Thesis Seminar, we offer our thoughts on the fundamental issues facing participants in this class. We speak to students about selecting a topic, choosing a supervisor, working with classmates, delivering the oral presentation, and coping with difficulties. We advise on professors helping students select a topic, monitoring student progress, adjusting to different types of students, approaching the oral presentations, interacting with faculty in the presence of students, and injecting themselves into student work. Consideration of these ideas-presented as a series of lessons--should promote more effective learning experiences in this course