-----Forwarded Message-----by Akira Kawasaki >From: What's New <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Jun 15, 2007 2:17 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [BOBPARKS-WHATSNEW] What's New Friday June 15, 2007
WHAT’S NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 15 Jun 07 Washington, DC 1. COLLISION: LHC DELAYS STARTUP - TEVATRON DELAYS SHUTDOWN. It’s now official: the LHC will not attempt a November startup. Because electricity in Geneva is prohibitively expensive in the winter that puts it off until April. Which opened up the possibility of keeping the Tevatron, at Fermilab in Batavia, IL running through 2010, giving the venerable accelerator an additional year to look for evidence of the legendary Higgs boson http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN07/wn033007.html . Perhaps when "the God particle" is confirmed it will inspire a new exhibit at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY - perhaps. 2. CONSTRUCTION: WHY NOT JUST DECLARE THE ISS "FINISHED?" Today was supposed to be the day astronauts would stitch up a rip in a thermal blanket that tore on launch. Atlantis is docked at the ISS on a 13-day construction mission to install new segments of solar panels to enhance the energy supply in preparation for Europe’s Columbus module which is supposed to join the ISS later this year. Plans changed when three Russian computers crashed. The computers maintain orientation of the ISS and control oxygen levels. The Russians think electrical noise from the new solar panels is to blame. They did what you and I would do, they rebooted, but the computers re-crashed. We all have days like this with our computers. In space it leads to scary talk about abandoning the ISS. 3. CLIMATE: CRUCIAL HURRICANE SATELLITE IS AT RISK. The Associated Press this week quoted a letter from the chief of NOAA to a Florida Congressman warning that although the aging QuikScat satellite could fail at any moment, replacement plans have been pushed back to 2016. Loss of QuikScat would seriously degrade predictions of the intensity and path of hurricanes. It was launched in 1999 with a design life of two to three years. 4. CONSERVATION: NEW MEXICO SENATORS DISAGREE ON ENERGY BILL. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) normally work pretty well together, considering the ideological space between them, but Bingaman, who chairs Energy and Natural Resources is chief sponsor of a wide-ranging energy bill that mandates a major increase in automobile and light truck (read SUV) fuel efficiency (to 35mpg) and requires utilities to get 15% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. The Bush administration and many Republican senators want a bill that promotes drilling to push down the price at the pump. In fact, the drop in gas prices for the past three weeks is the really bad news. We need $5 gasoline to begin changing life styles. THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND. Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the University of Maryland, but they should be. --- Archives of What's New can be found at http://www.bobpark.org What's New is moving to a different listserver and our subscription process has changed. To change your subscription status please visit this link: http://listserv.umd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=bobparks-whatsnew&A=1
