Find My iPhone

I was having lunch with our project team yesterday in a Beltsville, MD restaurant Saturday and got a phone call on my personal iPhone. After taking the call, we finished lunch and drove back to the project site. I then realized I did not have my iPhone. I began calling my iPhone with my work iPhone to listen for the ringtone. I searched the vehicle I used, looked around the site, and had not luck. I concluded that I must have left the iPhone at the lunch location.

I was fortunate to have my work iPhone with me, so I could use the 'Find My iPhone' app. Sure enough, I located the phone at the restaurant. I drove back, spoke to the manager and went right to the table where I had been sitting. The people at the table were unaware, but my iPhone was laying face down, under the table. It was too loud in the restaurant for anyone to hear the ringtone in that position. I picked it up and showed the folks at the table how the app was used to find the phone. They were amazed. I was happy and relieved out the outcome of this adventure.

Today, I found a story in the New York Times about the potential danger of chasing down a stolen iPhone. This was something that crossed my mind as I drove back to the restaurant. What would I do if I noted that my iPhone was moving away from the restaurant? My first inclination was to follow it. I also thought about calling the police, but was not sure about how much of a priority they would put on it's recovery. How would I confront the thief?  Would I be putting myself in danger?  I'm glad it didn't come to that.  Next time I need to be more mindful of what I do with the iPhone after a call in a public place.

Trinity Test Site Tours Yesterday

The annual tour of the Trinity Test Site near Alamagordo, NM was conducted yesterday. Up until just a few years ago the tour was conducted on the anniversary date of July 16, 1945, but the heat in the desert was at times a bit too much for the particpants, so it was changed to a more comforatable time of the year. The Trinity Test verified that the "Fat Man" plutonium bomb design was usable to attempt to have Japan unconditionally surrender during World War II. Radioisotopes with half-lives in excess of 20 years (i.e., Cesium-137) or so are still detectable in the reminants of glazed sand surrounding the test tower.

The two central figures inspection one of the test tower footings in this photo are Dr. Robert Oppenheimer wearing the Pork Pie hat and dark suit on the left and Gen. Leslie Groves (tallest person) on the right.

Cosmic Radiation and the New Frontier

Aside from propulsion, one of the biggest challenges to the exploration of deeper space by humans is dealing with radiation exposure.  At this point in our technical development, a trip to Mars might cause astronauts to receive substantial doses (far exceeding regulatory limits for nuclear workers in the USA) of radiation by the time they return home to earth.  This article found a The New Papyrus website gives a great primer on what mankind is up against concerning radiation protection in space exploration.

An Animated Look at the Size of the Universe

Total Solar Eclipse in North American August 21, 2017

I just watched a historical documentary last night on the challenges endured by Albert Einstein as he awaited confirmation of his General Relativity Theory by astronomers photographing stars near the sun during a total solar eclipse between 1916 and 1919.  I was struck by the emotional description by an astronomer who recently witnessed a total solar eclipse.  She described the sensation of having her breath taken away.  That made me want to experience this amazing phenomenon more than ever.  I had not though about this in a while so I thought I would look up when the next total solar eclipse would come across North America.  To my absolute amazement, it will happen over my home on August 21, 2017 at 1:34 pm.

Radiation Dose Chart

This chart has been around for a few years, but with the recent news articles about increased background levels on the west coast of the USA, we need to keep things in perspective.

Nuclear Power's Future

Here is an article out of UC Berkeley on an assessment of nuclear power by Per Peterson, the chair of Berkeley's Department of Nuclear Engineering. If the global nuclear industry applies new designs, we can have safe, affordable, and abundant energy.