NASA technology (8)

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NASA LENDS GALAXY EVOLUTION EXPLORER
TO CALTECH

NASA – NASA is lending the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, where the spacecraft will continue its exploration of the cosmos. In a first-of-a-kind move for NASA, a Space Act Agreement was signed May 14 so the university soon can resume spacecraft operations and data management for the mission using private funds.

“NASA sees this as an opportunity to allow the public to continue reaping the benefits from this space asset that NASA developed using federal funding,” said Paul Hertz, NASA’s Astrophysics Division director at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “This is an excellent example of a public/private partnership that will help further astronomy in the United States.” more> http://tinyurl.com/7vh5usw

Artist’s concept of Galaxy Evolution Explorer
The Galaxy Evolution Explorer was launched on April 28, 2003. Its mission is to study the shape, brightness, size and distance of galaxies across 10 billion years of cosmic history. The 50-centimeter-diameter (19.7-inch) telescope onboard the Galaxy Evolution Explorer sweeps the skies in search of ultraviolet-light sources.

Ultraviolet is light from the higher end of the electromagnetic spectrum, just above visible light in frequency, but below X-rays and gamma rays. While a small amount of ultraviolet penetrates Earth’s atmosphere, causing sunburn, the Galaxy Evolution Explorer observes those ultraviolet frequencies that can only be seen from space.

The Galaxy Evolution Explorer mission is led by the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif., which is also responsible for science operations and data analysis. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., a division of Caltech, manages the mission and built the science instrument. The mission was developed under NASA’s Explorers Program, managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. South Korea and France are the international partners in the mission. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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When Will They Learn?

By Joe Nocera – For much of the last three years, as the Obama administration and Congress have grappled with how to rein in a financial system that had lost both its moorings and its ethical compass, no one has been more vocal in his opposition to a more regulated banking system than Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase. He has consistently flayed the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation, which was ultimately Congress’s attempt to prevent another Lehman Brothers-style meltdown.

Even at a bank as ostensibly well-run as JPMorgan, the incentives still exist for giant, risky bets to be made that can go very wrong. JPMorgan can withstand a $2 billion hit, but not every bank can — and who’s to say that the next derivatives debacle won’t be $5 billion or $10 billion? Jamie Dimon is undoubtedly a very good bank chieftain, but he’s only one man in a large institution; he can’t oversee every trade. The only way to change incentives industrywide — and get bank risk-taking under better control. more> http://tinyurl.com/6nof783

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Swing states: Could Europe decide the U.S. election?

By Andy Sullivan and Peter Apps – Ten clocks on the wall of the plant in Navarre, Ohio, show local time from Norway to New Zealand and tell Miller Weldmaster’s comeback story in a word: exports. Sixty percent of the company’s business now comes from outside the United States.

Already there are warning signs. One in four of Miller Weldmaster’s machines is sold in Europe, and sales are down 5 percent so far this year. A further drop could force the company to consider layoffs.

On condition of anonymity, a senior EU official told Reuters it felt as if the Obama administration wanted the G8 to cooperate in the reelection campaign. “They see the debt crisis as the biggest likely drag on the U.S. economy between now and November,” the official said, “and so they basically want to make sure that we find a way of muddling through.” more> http://tinyurl.com/cjvrpzz

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Internal atomic structure reveals key to pollution-fighting bacteria

R&D Nag – Some remarkable types of bacteria have proven themselves capable of “consuming” toxic pollutants, organically diminishing environmental impact in a process called bioremediation. Enzymes within these bacteria can effectively alter the molecular structure of dangerous chemicals, but the underlying mechanisms and keys to future advances often remain unknown.

Now, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy‘s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have revealed a possible explanation for the superior function of one pollution-degrading enzyme. Using X-ray diffraction techniques at Brookhaven’s National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS), they probed the structure of an enzyme engineered at Stanford University that had been identified as particularly effective in dealing with a carcinogenic pollutant known as hexavalent chromate. They discovered that this mutated enzyme might owe its high performance to its unique structure of intermolecular bonds. The research, published in PLoS ONE. more> http://tinyurl.com/7a6gmaf

DHS cybersecurity official leaves more questions than answers

By Bill Brenner – During lunch at ISSA-LA’s Security Summit IV event here at the Universal City Hilton, we heard a talk from Bruce W. McConnell, senior counselor for cybersecurity at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

I’m particularly puzzled by what he said — and didn’t say — about cybersecurity legislation pending in Congress.

“Europe is very concerned about data privacy,” he said. “Europe wants more power for individuals to control their own privacy.”

He said that like it’s a bad thing. more> http://tinyurl.com/6uqd3au

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