Einstein's class
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Delhi woke up with Bomb Blast and slept with Earthquake
An earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter Scale shook the Indian capital for 5-6 seconds at around 11.30 p.m. Wednesday, the Met department said, scaling down its intensity from the initial 6.6. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage to property.
The epicentre of the quake was in Sonepat in Haryana, about 90 km from Delhi, and its aftershocks were also felt in northern states like Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.
"It is not 6.6 intensity, it is 4.2 on the Richter," an IMD official told IANS.
The IMD website described the quake as "slight" and the timing as 23:28:18 hours.
Fire officials and Delhi Police said they had not received any report of damage or building collapse.
The temblor was particularly felt in east Delhi where thousands of people left their homes and came out on the streets.
"All the furniture in my house started shaking just as we finished dinner," said Vinod Kapoor, a resident of east Delhi.
In other parts of the capital too, people ran out of their homes in fright when their furniture started rattling alarmingly and cupboards and fans started swaying.
"A lot of panic here... my network is gone. People came out of their homes. Children started crying and everyone was on the roads," said an IANS correspondent who lives in a women's hostel in south Delhi.
Throughout the city, people called up relatives and friends, and asked after their well-being.
"At first I heard a muffled sound - like a subdued explosion in a tin - and then felt the quake for about 10 seconds," said Gurgaon resident Gulshan Luthra.
The quake had residents in Faridabad running out of their homes too.
The epicentre of the quake was in Sonepat in Haryana, about 90 km from Delhi, and its aftershocks were also felt in northern states like Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.
"It is not 6.6 intensity, it is 4.2 on the Richter," an IMD official told IANS.
The IMD website described the quake as "slight" and the timing as 23:28:18 hours.
Fire officials and Delhi Police said they had not received any report of damage or building collapse.
The temblor was particularly felt in east Delhi where thousands of people left their homes and came out on the streets.
"All the furniture in my house started shaking just as we finished dinner," said Vinod Kapoor, a resident of east Delhi.
In other parts of the capital too, people ran out of their homes in fright when their furniture started rattling alarmingly and cupboards and fans started swaying.
"A lot of panic here... my network is gone. People came out of their homes. Children started crying and everyone was on the roads," said an IANS correspondent who lives in a women's hostel in south Delhi.
Throughout the city, people called up relatives and friends, and asked after their well-being.
"At first I heard a muffled sound - like a subdued explosion in a tin - and then felt the quake for about 10 seconds," said Gurgaon resident Gulshan Luthra.
The quake had residents in Faridabad running out of their homes too.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Typhoon Talas disaster in Japan
The typhoon is located south of Osaka, Japan, moving at 12 km/h [4.5 mph] in a north-northwest direction. “Talas is a large storm, with tropical storm force winds extending up to 650 km [406 miles] from its center,” said AIR’s report. “Maximum 10-min sustained wind speeds are 120 km/h [75 mph] (with gusts up to 175 km/h [110 mph]), making it a weak Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.”
Dr. Peter Sousounis, principal scientist at AIR Worldwide, indicated that the “storm is expected to maintain its present slow north-northwest movement toward the south coast of Japan. Little change in intensity is currently forecast prior to landfall, which is expected to occur late Friday or early Saturday, local time.
“Talas is currently forecast to make landfall on Shikoku Island and then cross into Honshu Island during the day on Saturday. Because of the storm’s large size, the duration of damaging winds will likely be more than 24 hours in many coastal locations.”
He then forecast that Talas would probably “exit into the Sea of Japan, where it will pick up speed as it interacts with an eastward moving trough and recurve towards the northeast as it crests the subtropical ridge, currently located east of Japan. A second landfall is possible on Sunday anywhere from the Primorsky Krai region of far eastern Russia to west coast of Hokkaido Island.”
In addition AIR explained that as Talas approaches landfall, Japan’s mountainous coast will enhance precipitation on the north and east sides of the storm, creating flood and landslide hazards. This occurs because “as the counterclockwise flow of air comes onshore, it is forced over the mountainous terrain, cooling in its ascent and forming clouds and precipitation. According to current measurements from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellites, total accumulated precipitation of 200–300 mm [app 0.78 to 1.18 inches] is likely in coastal locations, while higher amounts are expected in the mountains.”
AIR also pointed out that Japan has “strict and well-enforced construction codes and modern structures are expected to withstand Talas’ forecast wind speeds with minimal structural damage. More than 50% of residential structures and 95 percent of commercial and industrial structures are insured for wind damage in Japan.
“The primary concern from Typhoon Talas is flood damage, which is not automatically included in wind policies. In typical flood policies in Japan, a specified payout is made only when the actual damage falls within a specified range.
“Much like for wind, the vulnerability of buildings to flood damage varies by construction type. For a given flood depth, a residential wood-frame building is expected to sustain more damage than a residential masonry building. Concrete construction is less vulnerable to flood than steel (which may experience surface corrosion and rust-induced expansion) or masonry structures (whose weak connections between building elements makes it permeable to water). Concrete buildings have a strong frame structure, but may suffer from cracking and rebar expansion. Commercial and apartment buildings usually have stronger foundations than residential buildings, and are thus better able to resist flood loads.
“Furthermore, flood vulnerability varies by building height. Because damage is usually limited to the lower stories of a building, high-rise buildings will experience a lower damage ratio—the ratio of the repair cost and the total replacement value of the building—than low-rise buildings because a smaller proportion of the building is affected.”
Source: AIR Worldwide. man, who has not made a mistake, probably never did anything new!
A E.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
NASA brings Solar System on desk top
September 02, 2011
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA is giving the public the power to journey through the solar system using a new interactive Web-based tool.
The "Eyes on the Solar System" interface combines video game technology and NASA data to create an environment for users to ride along with agency spacecraft and explore the cosmos. Screen graphics and information such as planet locations and spacecraft maneuvers use actual space mission data.
"This is the first time the public has been able to see the entire solar system and our missions moving together in real time," said Jim Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division at the agency's Headquarters in Washington. "It demonstrates NASA's continued commitment to share our science with everyone."
The virtual environment uses the Unity game engine to display models of planets, moons, asteroids, comets and spacecraft as they move through our solar system. With keyboard and mouse controls, users cruise through space to explore anything that catches their interest. A free browser plug-in, available at the site, is required to run the Web application.
"You are now free to move about the solar system," said Blaine Baggett, executive manager in the Office of Communication and Education at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "See what NASA's spacecraft see -- and where they are right now -- all without leaving your computer."
Users may experience missions in real time, and "Eyes on the Solar System" also allows them to travel through time. The tool is populated with NASA data dating back to 1950 and projected to 2050.
The playback rate can be sped up or slowed down. When NASA's Juno spacecraft launched on Aug. 5, 2011, users could look ahead to see the mission's five-year journey to Jupiter in a matter of seconds.
Point of view can be switched from faraway to close-up to right "on board" spacecraft. Location, motion and appearance are based on predicted and reconstructed mission data. Dozens of controls on a series of pop-up menus allow users to fully customize what they see, and video and audio tutorials explain how to use the tool's many options. Users may choose from 2-D or 3-D modes, with the latter simply requiring a pair of red-cyan glasses to see.
"By basing our visualization primarily on mission data, this tool will help both NASA and the public better understand complex space science missions," said Kevin Hussey, manager of Visualization Technology Applications and Development at JPL, whose team developed "Eyes on the Solar System."
"Eyes on the Solar System" is in beta release. It has been demonstrated at science conferences, in classrooms and at the 2011 South by Southwest Interactive Conference in Austin, Texas.
Designers are updating "Eyes on the Solar System" to include NASA science missions launching during the coming months, including GRAIL to the moon and the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover.
"Eyes on the Solar System" and an introduction video are available at http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eyes .
Updates on new features are available through the tool's Twitter account: http://twitter.com/NASA_Eyes .
JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-277The "Eyes on the Solar System" interface combines video game technology and NASA data to create an environment for users to ride along with agency spacecraft and explore the cosmos. Screen graphics and information such as planet locations and spacecraft maneuvers use actual space mission data.
"This is the first time the public has been able to see the entire solar system and our missions moving together in real time," said Jim Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division at the agency's Headquarters in Washington. "It demonstrates NASA's continued commitment to share our science with everyone."
The virtual environment uses the Unity game engine to display models of planets, moons, asteroids, comets and spacecraft as they move through our solar system. With keyboard and mouse controls, users cruise through space to explore anything that catches their interest. A free browser plug-in, available at the site, is required to run the Web application.
"You are now free to move about the solar system," said Blaine Baggett, executive manager in the Office of Communication and Education at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "See what NASA's spacecraft see -- and where they are right now -- all without leaving your computer."
Users may experience missions in real time, and "Eyes on the Solar System" also allows them to travel through time. The tool is populated with NASA data dating back to 1950 and projected to 2050.
The playback rate can be sped up or slowed down. When NASA's Juno spacecraft launched on Aug. 5, 2011, users could look ahead to see the mission's five-year journey to Jupiter in a matter of seconds.
Point of view can be switched from faraway to close-up to right "on board" spacecraft. Location, motion and appearance are based on predicted and reconstructed mission data. Dozens of controls on a series of pop-up menus allow users to fully customize what they see, and video and audio tutorials explain how to use the tool's many options. Users may choose from 2-D or 3-D modes, with the latter simply requiring a pair of red-cyan glasses to see.
"By basing our visualization primarily on mission data, this tool will help both NASA and the public better understand complex space science missions," said Kevin Hussey, manager of Visualization Technology Applications and Development at JPL, whose team developed "Eyes on the Solar System."
"Eyes on the Solar System" is in beta release. It has been demonstrated at science conferences, in classrooms and at the 2011 South by Southwest Interactive Conference in Austin, Texas.
Designers are updating "Eyes on the Solar System" to include NASA science missions launching during the coming months, including GRAIL to the moon and the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover.
"Eyes on the Solar System" and an introduction video are available at http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eyes .
Updates on new features are available through the tool's Twitter account: http://twitter.com/NASA_Eyes .
JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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