60 Minutes: Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array

Earlier this summer 60 Minutes re-aired a nice segment on the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) located in Chile.  The show, titled ALMA: Peering into the Universe's Past, discussed the role of this $1.3 billion radio telescope in finding stars and planets as they are being born.  It is worth watching the show and learning that 19 countries are funding this science, which is a very positive sign in this time of shrinking budgets and fewer large projects. 

On particularly interesting exchange between Bob Simon and a scientist related to what the earlier residents of Chile saw in the sky:

The scientists at ALMA aren't the first people to gaze at the skies from this desert. For generations, the indigenous people of the Atacama were fascinated, not by the brilliance of the stars, but by the very same dark corners of space. Chilean physicist Eduardo Hardy, ALMA's director of North American Operations showed us how they saw the universe.

Eduardo Hardy: They saw the equivalent of constellations. But instead of looking at stars to draw the shapes of the constellations, they used the dark patches to do that.

Bob Simon: The Greeks used the stars.

Eduardo Hardy: The Greek used the stars. The local populations used the dark patches, which is precisely what ALMA is looking at.

And in these dark patches, they saw reflections of their daily lives...llamas, for example. They spun a whole mythology around them.

Sounds like a terrific nighttime view when it is the dark patches that are the oddity rather than the stars and galaxies. 

You can find more on ALMA at this site. You can also read about earlier findings, such as the presence of carbon monoxide in a nearby solar system that may relate to planetary or comet collisions.

Image Credit:  60 Minutes (top image) and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/ Aki Roberge (bottom image).

Beware the City-Busters from On High

Don Yeomans from the Near Earth Object Program Office in NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been in the news discussing the risk of asteroid strikes here on Earth.  Back on June 9th he was the featured scientist in Time magazine's "The Man Who Guards The Planet," and more recently he has interviewed on 60 Minutes by Anderson Cooper in an episode titled Cosmic Roulette.  The story accompanying the 60 Minutes piece notes:

Though scientists are keeping an eye on most of the large asteroids and comets capable of causing global destruction by colliding with Earth, they have been able to track only one percent of the smaller ones that are capable of destroying an entire city, Anderson Cooper reports this Sunday on 60 Minutes. Cooper's story also reveals that NASA scientists first learned about the asteroid that exploded in Russia in February from Twitter and YouTube. There was no advance warning.

The issue is getting attention, but it is getting funding?  Barely, at about $40 million in 2013.  We are not too good about self-preservation unless the danger is clear and present, which is unlikely on the cosmic scale we need to deal with here.  And few nations have the luxury of peering into the heavens while man is so capable of creating a hell here on Earth, the latest being Ukraine, Syria, and Iraq.  With the U.S. carrying about 98 percent of the burden, it would be nice to have a few more nations on board. 

You can visit the NEO website if you want to learn more about the asteroid detection process and even learn about the next near approaches by the monitored asteroids.  As you can see from the table below, two were scheduled to make near passes today (2014 HN178 and 2007 FY20). 

I'm glad someone is tracking these items, though I am not so sure we will have the necessary 20-30 years warning to properly prepare. 

Crater Image and Table Credit:  http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/images/meteorcrater.html

Don Yeomans Image Credit:  Time magazine

Elon Musk on 60 Minutes - More Than Rockets

Sunday night's 60 Minutes had a nice piece on Elon Musk's efforts as a carmaker and rocket builder.  The uncertain nature of his initial ventures and astounding success in the face of critics is impressive.  We have all heard of the success of SpaceX, but his efforts with Telsa are also impressive.  It is amazing that $60,000 to $100,000 electric cars are selling so well, but the real story is his attempts to do something new, change perceptions, and then bring down the price for the average American.

Here is part of the conversation on Sunday night, which shows Mr. Musk's willingness to learn but may make investors wary:

Scott Pelley: How did you figure you were going to start a car company and be successful at it?

Elon Musk: Well, I didn't really think Tesla would be successful. I thought we would most likely fail. But I thought that we at least could address the false perception that people have that an electric car had to be ugly and slow and boring like a golf cart.

Scott Pelley: But you say you didn't expect the company to be successful? Then why try?

Elon Musk: If something's important enough you should try. Even if you -- the probable outcome is failure.

The Telsa Model S was the Motor Trend 2013 Car of the Year, with the magazine noting:

The 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year is one of the quickest American four-doors ever built. It drives like a sports car, eager and agile and instantly responsive. But it's also as smoothly effortless as a Rolls-Royce, can carry almost as much stuff as a Chevy Equinox, and is more efficient than a Toyota Prius. Oh, and it'll sashay up to the valet at a luxury hotel like a supermodel working a Paris catwalk. By any measure, the Tesla Model S is a truly remarkable automobile, perhaps the most accomplished all-new luxury car since the original Lexus LS 400. That's why it's our 2013 Car of the Year.

Even with this success, Mr. Musk still faces problems distributing his cars in some states. For instance, New Jersey may take away Telsa's license to sell cars directly to customers and bypass dealerships.  Then again, he has faced even greater challenges in the past and won.