Summer Pierre

Looking up, Peter Stewart

Space is cold as Hell

Cognitive biases

Using muscle sensors to control a homemade robot arm. - GIF on Imgur

It’s on my bucket list to make on of these.

On Tuesday, July 14, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft will fly past Pluto, providing our best views yet of that much-discussed little orb so loved by many youngsters. 

The New Horizons spacecraft, launched in January 2006 from Cape Canaveral atop an Atlas V rocket, was designed for NASA by the Southwest Research Institute and Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory. Moving away from Earth at a record initial speed over 36,000 miles per hour, it crossed the orbit of Mars that April, then exercised some of its instruments while receiving a gravity-assisted speed boost from Jupiter during a February 2007 fly-by. Saturn’s orbit was crossed the next year. The orbit of Uranus was passed in 2011 and Neptune’s was left behind last August. New Horizons’ circuits are powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator containing plutonium-238 oxide pellets, an essential source out by Pluto, where sunlight is 1,630 times weaker than it is at Earth. A 6’ 7"-diameter dish antenna serves for primary communications with home.

At the heart of the New Horizons mission are instruments to study Pluto’s geology, surface composition, pressure, and temperature of its thin atmosphere, as well as aspects of the interplanetary medium. These devices include: The Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), a long focal length Ritchey–Chretien telescope system with an 8.2-inch aperture designed for high resolution at visible wavelengths. A Plasma and high-energy particle spectrometer suite (PAM) aboard New Horizons comprises a Solar Wind At Pluto (SWAP) electrostatic measuring instrument and Pluto Energetic Particle Spectrometer Science Instrument (PEPSSI). They are used to study solar wind components reaching Pluto.

New Horizons ’ Pluto Exploration Remote Sensing Investigation (PERSI) has two main components: Alice, an ultraviolet imaging spectrometer and Ralph, a 2.4-inch aperture telescope with visual and infrared imaging capability. They will observe Pluto’s thin atmosphere, and may have New York connections. The instruments are said to have been named after Alice and Ralph Kramden, the city bus driver and his wife of Honeymooners fame. Read more on the Sky Reporter blog. 

On Tuesday morning, join the Museum for a Google Hangout, July 14, 7-9 am EDT, for the New Horizons Pluto Flyby. Hosted by Museum Curator Denton Ebel, Astrovisualization Director Carter Emmart, and Neil deGrasse Tyson, Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium, the program will link to New Horizons mission control at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and to science museums and planetariums around the world to view and discuss the latest flyby visualizations.  Learn more about the event. 

Who’s tuning in for the #PlutoFlyBy?

Shhhhhh, Pluto Science.  

Me, this week. 

endeavorist:

If you haven’t heard (or seen) Bill Nye lately, it’s quite possible you have mastered some form of trans-dimensional time warp capability and are currently living in another universe. 

As LL Cool J asserted – “Don’t call it a comeback, [Bill Nye has] been here for years!”

The above image is borrowed from a recent MUCH article that provides fantastic reference resources of Nye’s ubiquitous presence in the media amongst the last few years, such as: 

Bill’s budding relationship with Jack Antonoff of Bleachers, where the term ‘Rollercoastering’ is invented from a skill a creative archive birthed from the mind of the Science Guy himself called ‘Nyebonics.’ The intersection of science, love, and music has never looked like so much fun.

Nye explains the science behind holograms using emojis. Yes, you read that correctly. Click on the info button in this video to indulge in his emoji explanation of evolution, which is even more fantastic. 

Oh, and speaking of holograms, virtual reality (VR) is poised to enhance video gaming and reality itself in the form of Microscoft’s Hololens’ augmented reality tech. Check it out!

And although these are only a sample of the videos shared in the article, Nye’s appearance on ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’ demonstrated what a scientific consensus actually looks like on television in a blunt strategy to reveal how lopsided and biased mainstream media news outlets have portrayed the faux-debate on human-caused climate change. See for yourself: 

Sir William Nye has gone from childhood icon of science communication and space exploration evangelism to pseudoscience gladiator and outspoken environmental steward of our home planet.

William Sanford Nye has had quite the life, with no apparent slowing down in his effort to educate the masses and CHANGE THE WORLD! Born to a mother who was recruited to become a codebreaker during WWII due to her brilliance in math and science, Nye’s father Edwin was imprisoned in a Japanese war camp where he survived without electricity for four years, inevitably becoming a sundial enthusiast to find his way. Our beloved William Nye studied mechanical engineering at Cornell University under Mr. Cosmos himself, Professor Carl Sagan, earning his Bachelor of Science. 

Nye explains his foray into science via Big Think:  

Nye began his career at The Boeing Company in Seattle, WA where he developed a hydraulic pressure resonance suppressor still used in the Boeing 747 (#ThanksNYE). After winning a Steve Martin look-a-like contest, Bill eventually quit his day job to write and perform comedy on the show ‘Almost Live’ (see clip here) where the title “Science Guy” was born. Eventually he earned a show on Seattle’s PBS KCTS-TV show called ‘Bill Nye, the Science Guy’ provided 100 episodes over 5 years on a specific science topic to educate a preteen audience. The show accrued 18 Emmy Awards, and Nye received 7 Emmys for writing, performing, and producing. 

‘Bill Nye, the Science Guy’ went on to work on other television programs, including ‘The Eyes of Nye’ (targeting an older audience); ‘Stuff Happens’ via the Planet Green Network; hosted the ‘100 Greatest Discoveries’ show; became featured in special appearances for attractions at Walt Disney World, Epcot; hosted an educational show about algebra on Disney called ‘Solving for X’; a science teacher in a Disney movie and on the TV crime drama Numb3rs, and although there are others, a guest appearance on The Big Bang Theory, as well. 

As Nye became the sought-after science communicator for the public, Bill appeared many times on Larry King Live and other news media networks to discuss the science of global warming, climate change, and the importance of science literacy as a vaccine against pseudoscience and misinformation peddled by faux-experts benefitting off of public ignorance on critical global matters to which a solid education in STEM, critical thinking, and skepticism revealed their necessary application. After joining The Planetary Society’s Board of Directors (see here to understand what TPS is all about), Nye was the first to become its Vice President, then its first Chief Executive Officer. Has it been mentioned that he surfs as well?

There’s so much more we could discuss regarding Bill Nye’s humanistic contribution to our society, but one thing is for certain…we all would do well to share his continuing legacy with others (especially the children) as we’re going to need many more like him to indeed, change the world. 

Recommended: Bill Nye’s book ‘Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation’

Calling all curious humans! Wondering how you can launch your own world-changing project? Join Endeavorist.org and get started by creating a profile, connecting with others, using our Call To Action feature for assistance, start a Grant Campaign, or take to the crowd with a Research Campaign. Endeavorist was created for everyone. Together, we can democratize and #freescience!

If this gets made, I'll show up in an interview I did at Bill Nye's Book signing in NYC! - GothamKnowledge

The reason I’m likely to be largely useless for the next couple of days.

Pluto is More Intriguing than Ever (annotated)