My mom is having some major health issues...so much so that I'm not going to be able to post here for another couple of days while we get it straightened out.
Note to all my readers: If you have high blood pressure, make damn sure you take your medication or 20 years later you'll have congestive heart failure and wham, bam goes your quality of life.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Irishwoman who discovered the 'lighthouses of the universe'
From the Irish Times: Irishwoman who discovered the 'lighthouses of the universe'
Heroes of Irish Science In the first of an occasional series on the life and work of outstanding individuals in the world of science, RONAN McGREEVY looks at Jocelyn Bell-Burnell, who discovered pulsar stars
THE ASTRONOMER Jocelyn Bell-Burnell is one of Ireland’s most accomplished scientists. While still a research student she discovered pulsars and went on to become a distinguished scientist who made important astronomical discoveries.
She is a true hero of Irish science for her many accomplishments and for her ongoing contribution to a better public understanding of science. Her discovery of pulsars is one of the famous stories in science and it is also one of the most infamous.
In 1967 Jocelyn Bell was a 24-year-old PhD student from Belfast, reading radio astronomy at Cambridge University and examining newly-discovered quasars (quasi-stellar radio sources), incredibly bright and incredibly compact structures of light and energy at the centre of galaxies. She spent months reviewing print-outs from a radio telescope when she noticed small rhythmic blips on the paper one night in July.
The blips turned out to be signals from a radio source which had never been conceived before, let alone discovered. At first it was called – half in jest, half with a nod to the remote possibility that they might be signals from intelligent alien life forms – Little Green Man 1 (LGM-1).
On December 21st that year, Bell, as she was then, discovered a similar pulse, this time radiating from a different part of the galaxy. There couldn’t be two alien life forms radiating similar but different frequency pulses from opposite ends of the universe. It had to be a natural phenomenon.
The signals turned out to be pulsars (pulsating radio stars). The announcement was made to an astonished scientific world in Nature magazine in 1968. Six years later Prof Bell-Burnell (she married fellow scientist Martin Burnell in 1968), was denied a Nobel Prize for the discovery. Instead, her supervisor, Prof Antony Hewish, became the first astronomer to be awarded the Nobel Prize in physics, which he shared with Martin Ryle, the then Astronomer Royal and pioneer of radio telescope technology.
It remains a cause célèbre of modern science. Here was a young scientist and a woman in a male-dominated profession, denied the ultimate prize in science. Though many took up the cudgels on her behalf, Bell-Burnell has always been admirably philosophical about it. Research students do not usually win Nobel Prizes, however noteworthy their discoveries.
Hewish himself described it as crediting the discovery of the New World to the look-out who first spotted land on Christopher Columbus’s expedition, though Bell-Burnell had a part in designing the experiment.
The decision was not fair, she says, but a lot of things in life are not fair and besides, she has had a successful career, Nobel Prize or No-Bell Prize, as it was deemed at the time. “It is an awful waste of time and energy to be grieving over something that you can’t do anything about,” she says.
Bell-Burnell had already moved several times after leaving Cambridge by the time the Nobel Prize was awarded in 1974. After a spell at the University of Southampton, she joined the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London working on the Ariel 5 satellite which was launched in 1974 to study X-ray astronomy. “I was very, very lucky. It ( Ariel 5 ) was hugely successful. I found myself wishing somebody would invent a Lord’s Day observant satellite so we could get a day off. It was phenomenally exciting.”
There have been many compensations, not least a slew of honours, most notably when she was made a Dame in 2008 for her work in science.
It was followed by her becoming the first female president of the Institute of Physics, which operates in the UK and Ireland. She has been a recipient of the Oppenheimer Prize and the Michelson Medal and holds several honorary doctorates.
She is also known for her championing of women in science and for her Quaker faith, which remains unmoved by the appliance of science. She has always been an advocate for the idea that science and faith can, as she put it, sit “lightly with each other” and it is part of the Quaker faith to believe that you can get closer to God by observing his creation.
She is critical of the well-known atheistic scientist Richard Dawkins saying he has a “fundamentalist view” of the subject.
“He believes science can prove anything. If it is not amenable to scientific proof, it doesn’t exist. If you care for a young child, for instance, is that science?”
Before Christmas she gave a lecture in Trinity College Dublin about the former planet Pluto. By her admission she was no expert on the subject of this cold and remote world when she was asked to chair a meeting of the International Astronomical Union in 2006 at which Pluto was downgraded to a minor planet.
Several hundred people turned up to hear her recount the often farcical circumstances in which delegates made the decision on the last day of the conference when many of the planetary scientists had gone home. However, with the benefit of hindsight, she still believes it was the right decision taken for the wrong reasons.
As perhaps the most famous living Irish astronomer, Bell-Burnell has been invited to chair several events at the Euroscience Open Forum 2012 meeting taking place next July in Dublin. She will host discussions on exoplanets and black holes, a subject very close to that of pulsars. She will also give a keynote address on a topic yet to be decided.
Pulsars: Strange small stars that weigh the same as the Sun
Pulsars are some of the strangest objects in the universe. They are a reminder of the often quoted saying that the universe is not queerer than we suppose, but is queerer than we can suppose.
Every star has a life. Moderately-sized stars like the Sun become small white dwarves, about the size of a planet, at the end of their lives. At the other end of the scale, super-red giants become supernovae.
If the original star had a mass more than 25 times the mass of our Sun then the core will collapse to a density so great that it may form a black hole which is usually located at the centre of a galaxy.
In between there is a class of star between eight and 25 times the mass of the sun. At the end of their lives they condense into an incredible entity called a neutron star.
The extreme pressure at the centre of this star forces the electrons and protons together to form neutrons. The resulting star is mind-blowingly compact. The entire mass of the star, which could be several million miles in diameter, is condensed into an area no bigger than the island of Manhattan.
“‘Incredible’ is the word I used to describe them,” says Bell-Burnell who discovered them. “They are terribly hard to comprehend with the human brain, but somehow we’ve got to believe them,” she said.
“They are stars that are about 10 miles about, they weigh the same as the Sun which does not make a lot of sense. My analogy for that is that you take a sewing thimble and you jam the population of the world into the sewing thimble. It weighs the same as the stuff that is from one of those stars.”
They spin at the same rate as the original star though they are infinitesimally smaller and some can spin hundreds of times a second. These are known as milli-pulsars and some are as regular as atomic clocks.
They also have incredibly strong magnetic fields and as they spin, they emit a radiation beam across the universe at precise intervals. It is this that is detected by Earth telescopes.
They are known as the “lighthouses of the universe” because the signal is only detected when the radiation beams point towards the Earth, like a lighthouse beacon visible to a ship at sea.
Since the first were discovered in 1967, nearly 1,000 have been found, predominantly in our Milky Way galaxy.
Heroes of Irish Science In the first of an occasional series on the life and work of outstanding individuals in the world of science, RONAN McGREEVY looks at Jocelyn Bell-Burnell, who discovered pulsar stars
THE ASTRONOMER Jocelyn Bell-Burnell is one of Ireland’s most accomplished scientists. While still a research student she discovered pulsars and went on to become a distinguished scientist who made important astronomical discoveries.
She is a true hero of Irish science for her many accomplishments and for her ongoing contribution to a better public understanding of science. Her discovery of pulsars is one of the famous stories in science and it is also one of the most infamous.
In 1967 Jocelyn Bell was a 24-year-old PhD student from Belfast, reading radio astronomy at Cambridge University and examining newly-discovered quasars (quasi-stellar radio sources), incredibly bright and incredibly compact structures of light and energy at the centre of galaxies. She spent months reviewing print-outs from a radio telescope when she noticed small rhythmic blips on the paper one night in July.
The blips turned out to be signals from a radio source which had never been conceived before, let alone discovered. At first it was called – half in jest, half with a nod to the remote possibility that they might be signals from intelligent alien life forms – Little Green Man 1 (LGM-1).
On December 21st that year, Bell, as she was then, discovered a similar pulse, this time radiating from a different part of the galaxy. There couldn’t be two alien life forms radiating similar but different frequency pulses from opposite ends of the universe. It had to be a natural phenomenon.
The signals turned out to be pulsars (pulsating radio stars). The announcement was made to an astonished scientific world in Nature magazine in 1968. Six years later Prof Bell-Burnell (she married fellow scientist Martin Burnell in 1968), was denied a Nobel Prize for the discovery. Instead, her supervisor, Prof Antony Hewish, became the first astronomer to be awarded the Nobel Prize in physics, which he shared with Martin Ryle, the then Astronomer Royal and pioneer of radio telescope technology.
It remains a cause célèbre of modern science. Here was a young scientist and a woman in a male-dominated profession, denied the ultimate prize in science. Though many took up the cudgels on her behalf, Bell-Burnell has always been admirably philosophical about it. Research students do not usually win Nobel Prizes, however noteworthy their discoveries.
Hewish himself described it as crediting the discovery of the New World to the look-out who first spotted land on Christopher Columbus’s expedition, though Bell-Burnell had a part in designing the experiment.
The decision was not fair, she says, but a lot of things in life are not fair and besides, she has had a successful career, Nobel Prize or No-Bell Prize, as it was deemed at the time. “It is an awful waste of time and energy to be grieving over something that you can’t do anything about,” she says.
Bell-Burnell had already moved several times after leaving Cambridge by the time the Nobel Prize was awarded in 1974. After a spell at the University of Southampton, she joined the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London working on the Ariel 5 satellite which was launched in 1974 to study X-ray astronomy. “I was very, very lucky. It ( Ariel 5 ) was hugely successful. I found myself wishing somebody would invent a Lord’s Day observant satellite so we could get a day off. It was phenomenally exciting.”
There have been many compensations, not least a slew of honours, most notably when she was made a Dame in 2008 for her work in science.
It was followed by her becoming the first female president of the Institute of Physics, which operates in the UK and Ireland. She has been a recipient of the Oppenheimer Prize and the Michelson Medal and holds several honorary doctorates.
She is also known for her championing of women in science and for her Quaker faith, which remains unmoved by the appliance of science. She has always been an advocate for the idea that science and faith can, as she put it, sit “lightly with each other” and it is part of the Quaker faith to believe that you can get closer to God by observing his creation.
She is critical of the well-known atheistic scientist Richard Dawkins saying he has a “fundamentalist view” of the subject.
“He believes science can prove anything. If it is not amenable to scientific proof, it doesn’t exist. If you care for a young child, for instance, is that science?”
Before Christmas she gave a lecture in Trinity College Dublin about the former planet Pluto. By her admission she was no expert on the subject of this cold and remote world when she was asked to chair a meeting of the International Astronomical Union in 2006 at which Pluto was downgraded to a minor planet.
Several hundred people turned up to hear her recount the often farcical circumstances in which delegates made the decision on the last day of the conference when many of the planetary scientists had gone home. However, with the benefit of hindsight, she still believes it was the right decision taken for the wrong reasons.
As perhaps the most famous living Irish astronomer, Bell-Burnell has been invited to chair several events at the Euroscience Open Forum 2012 meeting taking place next July in Dublin. She will host discussions on exoplanets and black holes, a subject very close to that of pulsars. She will also give a keynote address on a topic yet to be decided.
Pulsars: Strange small stars that weigh the same as the Sun
Pulsars are some of the strangest objects in the universe. They are a reminder of the often quoted saying that the universe is not queerer than we suppose, but is queerer than we can suppose.
Every star has a life. Moderately-sized stars like the Sun become small white dwarves, about the size of a planet, at the end of their lives. At the other end of the scale, super-red giants become supernovae.
If the original star had a mass more than 25 times the mass of our Sun then the core will collapse to a density so great that it may form a black hole which is usually located at the centre of a galaxy.
In between there is a class of star between eight and 25 times the mass of the sun. At the end of their lives they condense into an incredible entity called a neutron star.
The extreme pressure at the centre of this star forces the electrons and protons together to form neutrons. The resulting star is mind-blowingly compact. The entire mass of the star, which could be several million miles in diameter, is condensed into an area no bigger than the island of Manhattan.
“‘Incredible’ is the word I used to describe them,” says Bell-Burnell who discovered them. “They are terribly hard to comprehend with the human brain, but somehow we’ve got to believe them,” she said.
“They are stars that are about 10 miles about, they weigh the same as the Sun which does not make a lot of sense. My analogy for that is that you take a sewing thimble and you jam the population of the world into the sewing thimble. It weighs the same as the stuff that is from one of those stars.”
They spin at the same rate as the original star though they are infinitesimally smaller and some can spin hundreds of times a second. These are known as milli-pulsars and some are as regular as atomic clocks.
They also have incredibly strong magnetic fields and as they spin, they emit a radiation beam across the universe at precise intervals. It is this that is detected by Earth telescopes.
They are known as the “lighthouses of the universe” because the signal is only detected when the radiation beams point towards the Earth, like a lighthouse beacon visible to a ship at sea.
Since the first were discovered in 1967, nearly 1,000 have been found, predominantly in our Milky Way galaxy.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Introducing the Miss Atom Bomb blog
I just found this today. It's not available on the Kindle, but it is available on the Web.
http://missatomicbomb.blogspot.com/
Here's the bio of the woman who writes the site - an actual nuclear scientist.
http://missatomicbomb.blogspot.com/
Here's the bio of the woman who writes the site - an actual nuclear scientist.
I'm a postdoc in low energy nuclear astrophysics, currently doing research in collaboration with groups across the northern hemisphere. I have a PhD in Applied Physics and a BS in Engineering Physics from well-renowned college in Colorado, have performed with several semi-professional orchestras, once was a park ranger, and read voraciously. Oderint dum metuant (did I mention I also studied Latin?).
Tracing a Nobel venture
From the HIndu: Tracing a Nobel venture
The Nobel Museum in Stockholm, Sweden, is located in the former Stock Exchange Building in Gamla Stan. This museum stands testimony to Nobel laureates and their achievements as well as to Alfred Nobel.
Early October last year saw Sweden erupting in joy as the Nobel Prize for Literature was conferred on a Swedish poet. After nearly three decades, the coveted gold medallion had found its way back to the homeland of the man who started it all.
Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) was a cosmopolitan Swede and an innovative inventor, who had lived in St Petersburg, Stockholm and Paris. As the story goes, he was appalled by the destructive utilisation of his invention, dynamite. He wished instead that his enduring legacy be a celebration of the innovation and genius of humankind. In his will, Nobel wrote that physics, chemistry, physiology/medicine, literature and peace would each year receive a part of the revenues of his fortune.
This original will, among other things, can be found at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm.
To reach Nobelmuseet (as it is called in Swedish) you need to find your way through the Old Town of Gamla Stan, a delightful maze of cobbled paths lined with quaint shops selling Swedish knick-knacks and souvenirs (Potter fans, think Diagon Alley).
From the moment you pass through the glass doors frosted with the Nobel medallion, you realise the truth of the museum's stated aim to “spread knowledge as well as to create interest and discussion around the natural sciences and culture through creative learning and exhibition techniques, modern technology and elegant design.” The reception area has a huge image of the Nobel medallion on the floor, radiating in all directions.
Further ahead, a multimedia timeline maps ten decades of development through the Nobel Prizes, against the backdrop of history. Touchscreens take you through the winners in each category in each year of the decade. On the floor, screens project historic visuals from those times.
The winners were truly products of their times: the scope and focus of achievements and discoveries being driven by the spirit of the age. The 2000's have been titled the ‘Decade of Globalisation and Terrorism': one wonders what the current decade will be remembered for.
The spirit of Nobel literally pervades from top to bottom — a unique cableway in the ceiling presents each Laureate in a random order through a portrait and Prize citation. We spotted Rabindranath Tagore, C.V. Raman and Amartya Sen, our national Nobel Laureates.
Fact file
Location: Stortorget, Gamla Stan, Stockholm
www.nobelmuseum.se
Life and tools of Laureates
One of the most exciting areas of the Museum features articles used by Nobel Laureates in their prize-winning efforts. These include Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen's X-ray machine (Physics, 1901), Joseph Brodsky's typewriter (Literature, 1987), Alexander Fleming's penicillin samples (Medicine, 1945), first insulin needles used by Frederick G. Banting and John Macleod (Medicine,1921) and the famous Nansen passports introduced for WWI refugees by Fridtjof Nansen(Peace, 1938). Also occupying pride of place: Amartya Sen's bicycle, which he used to travel around in Calcutta to get data, and Tagore's slate.
Besides the permanent installations, there was also a special exhibition on the life, times and discoveries of Madame Marie Curie. Mme Curie's story has features common to all Nobel Laureates — hard work, persistence and a dash of genius.
The exhibition area recreates the scientific lab of the Curies, including some real instruments used by them. Also exhibited is radium in its ore form, an element central to their work on radioactivity. Radium was apparently first thought of as a beauty-enhancing element, until its hazardous nature was confirmed. Cosmetics with radium and advertisements promoting the same are also exhibited here. Being a woman in the male-dominated area of scientific research did not make things easy. There is a telling exhibit of Mme Curie at work in her lab, with her young daughter Irène (who later won the Nobel herself), tugging at her skirts demanding attention. Also featured are anecdotes on how she almost didn't receive her first Nobel — because it was unheard of for women to win such honours; Pierre Curie refused to accept the Nobel unless his wife was awarded the same — and how she was almost denied her second one — because the widowed Mme Curie was reportedly having an affair with a younger, married assistant, something the Swedish academy found unpalatable. What shines through nevertheless is the indomitable spirit of genius and hard work, triumphing over the hurdles placed by social and cultural limitations.
The nature of genius
What does it take to win the coveted Nobel medallion? You can watch footage on the process of choosing a Laureate, carried out by the Swedish Academy. Or else, head to the two film rooms that flank the central area. One features eight-minute long films on the Laureates. Notable biographies included that of a Japanese Physics laureate, whose grandfather was a Samurai. You can watch footage of Nobel Peace Laureate, the 14th Dalai Lama, being welcomed into India by then-President of India S. Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. A proud moment, reflecting India's inclusiveness. The second room screens films about milieus that foster Nobel winners. Along with Paris, Cambridge and a few others, is Shantiniketan. It was a thought-provoking film that juxtaposed Tagore's visions and ideals, with shots of contemporary Shantiniketan. There are some tongue-in-cheek moments: a teacher waxes eloquent on how Tagore would doodle or scribble continuously on any piece of paper available; the next shot features placid cows chewing their way through swathes of paper.
The Nobel Museum in Stockholm, Sweden, is located in the former Stock Exchange Building in Gamla Stan. This museum stands testimony to Nobel laureates and their achievements as well as to Alfred Nobel.
Early October last year saw Sweden erupting in joy as the Nobel Prize for Literature was conferred on a Swedish poet. After nearly three decades, the coveted gold medallion had found its way back to the homeland of the man who started it all.
Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) was a cosmopolitan Swede and an innovative inventor, who had lived in St Petersburg, Stockholm and Paris. As the story goes, he was appalled by the destructive utilisation of his invention, dynamite. He wished instead that his enduring legacy be a celebration of the innovation and genius of humankind. In his will, Nobel wrote that physics, chemistry, physiology/medicine, literature and peace would each year receive a part of the revenues of his fortune.
This original will, among other things, can be found at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm.
To reach Nobelmuseet (as it is called in Swedish) you need to find your way through the Old Town of Gamla Stan, a delightful maze of cobbled paths lined with quaint shops selling Swedish knick-knacks and souvenirs (Potter fans, think Diagon Alley).
From the moment you pass through the glass doors frosted with the Nobel medallion, you realise the truth of the museum's stated aim to “spread knowledge as well as to create interest and discussion around the natural sciences and culture through creative learning and exhibition techniques, modern technology and elegant design.” The reception area has a huge image of the Nobel medallion on the floor, radiating in all directions.
Further ahead, a multimedia timeline maps ten decades of development through the Nobel Prizes, against the backdrop of history. Touchscreens take you through the winners in each category in each year of the decade. On the floor, screens project historic visuals from those times.
The winners were truly products of their times: the scope and focus of achievements and discoveries being driven by the spirit of the age. The 2000's have been titled the ‘Decade of Globalisation and Terrorism': one wonders what the current decade will be remembered for.
The spirit of Nobel literally pervades from top to bottom — a unique cableway in the ceiling presents each Laureate in a random order through a portrait and Prize citation. We spotted Rabindranath Tagore, C.V. Raman and Amartya Sen, our national Nobel Laureates.
Fact file
Location: Stortorget, Gamla Stan, Stockholm
www.nobelmuseum.se
Life and tools of Laureates
One of the most exciting areas of the Museum features articles used by Nobel Laureates in their prize-winning efforts. These include Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen's X-ray machine (Physics, 1901), Joseph Brodsky's typewriter (Literature, 1987), Alexander Fleming's penicillin samples (Medicine, 1945), first insulin needles used by Frederick G. Banting and John Macleod (Medicine,1921) and the famous Nansen passports introduced for WWI refugees by Fridtjof Nansen(Peace, 1938). Also occupying pride of place: Amartya Sen's bicycle, which he used to travel around in Calcutta to get data, and Tagore's slate.
Besides the permanent installations, there was also a special exhibition on the life, times and discoveries of Madame Marie Curie. Mme Curie's story has features common to all Nobel Laureates — hard work, persistence and a dash of genius.
The exhibition area recreates the scientific lab of the Curies, including some real instruments used by them. Also exhibited is radium in its ore form, an element central to their work on radioactivity. Radium was apparently first thought of as a beauty-enhancing element, until its hazardous nature was confirmed. Cosmetics with radium and advertisements promoting the same are also exhibited here. Being a woman in the male-dominated area of scientific research did not make things easy. There is a telling exhibit of Mme Curie at work in her lab, with her young daughter Irène (who later won the Nobel herself), tugging at her skirts demanding attention. Also featured are anecdotes on how she almost didn't receive her first Nobel — because it was unheard of for women to win such honours; Pierre Curie refused to accept the Nobel unless his wife was awarded the same — and how she was almost denied her second one — because the widowed Mme Curie was reportedly having an affair with a younger, married assistant, something the Swedish academy found unpalatable. What shines through nevertheless is the indomitable spirit of genius and hard work, triumphing over the hurdles placed by social and cultural limitations.
The nature of genius
What does it take to win the coveted Nobel medallion? You can watch footage on the process of choosing a Laureate, carried out by the Swedish Academy. Or else, head to the two film rooms that flank the central area. One features eight-minute long films on the Laureates. Notable biographies included that of a Japanese Physics laureate, whose grandfather was a Samurai. You can watch footage of Nobel Peace Laureate, the 14th Dalai Lama, being welcomed into India by then-President of India S. Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. A proud moment, reflecting India's inclusiveness. The second room screens films about milieus that foster Nobel winners. Along with Paris, Cambridge and a few others, is Shantiniketan. It was a thought-provoking film that juxtaposed Tagore's visions and ideals, with shots of contemporary Shantiniketan. There are some tongue-in-cheek moments: a teacher waxes eloquent on how Tagore would doodle or scribble continuously on any piece of paper available; the next shot features placid cows chewing their way through swathes of paper.
That Time Some Chauvinists Rejected Marie Curie’s Application to the French Academy of Sciences
From The Mary Sue: That Time Some Chauvinists Rejected Marie Curie’s Application to the French Academy of Sciences
It’s probably hard to believe that a two-time Nobel Prize winner for her work in both physics and chemistry, a person who discovered and created the word “radioactivity,” was rejected for membership by the French Academy of Sciences on this date [Jan 23] in 1911. We are talking about the one and only Marie Skłodowska-Curie, pioneer for not just women in science, but in the field of radioactivity. And when she applied for membership, she was rejected by a margin of two votes — because she was Polish, maybe-Jewish (not that it matters, but she wasn’t), and a woman. Yup. Marie Curie — rejected by the French Academy of Sciences for having a vagina. If they weren’t already dead, they’d probably be kicking themselves in the most French way imaginable.
Let’s review what Curie had achieved leading up to her application in 1911:
Discovered the new elements polonium (named after her native country, Poland) and radium.
One Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903 (shared with her husband, Pierre Curie) for isolating radium. She was the first female winner of the prize.
Head of the physics laboratory in Sorbonne.
Obtained a doctorate in science and a professorship at the Faculty of Sciences (the first woman to do so).
Seemed like a lock, doesn’t it? But alas, the men in charge of accepting her application for membership into the French Academy of Sciences were not interested in having a woman as a peer. As Academy member Emile Hilaire Amagat put it, “Women cannot be part of the Institute of France.” (Which is adorable, considering his name looks so much like “Emily Hilary.”) Instead, they inducted radio pioneer Edouard Branly, because the French were really annoyed by another popular and successful Italian radio guy you may have heard of: Guglielmo Marconi. But mostly, Branly was a devout Catholic with the endorsement of the Pope himself. And also a dude.
While the religious factor is dirty enough by itself, the possibility of Curie being Jewish as an excuse for not accepting her application sounds like just that — an excuse. (In fact, her mother was also Catholic and her father was not religious at all.)
As Wired notes, this snub by the Academy did not go over well with everyone in France; the progressive press stood up for Curie, putting a spotlight on the sexist, bigoted decision. However, it being 1911 and all, there was plenty of conservative support for Branly (and opposition to Curie) that the decision stood.
So in response, Curie did what any of us would have done — she threw herself into her work on radioactivity and won a second Nobel Prize for Chemistry later that same year. (This one was all hers.) That made her the only person to date — let alone the first woman — to have been recognized for her achievements in more than one field of science.
Curie was never inducted into the French Academy of Sciences, and it took them until 1962 to finally induct a woman — Marguerite Perey, a French physicist who discovered the element francium, and a student of none other than Marie Curie.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Radioactive: A graphic novel about Marie Curie
From KTVQ.com: http://www.ktvq.com/news/5-graphic-novels-you-ll-love/
Radioactive
Though National Book Award nominee "Radioactive" is ostensibly a biography of Madame Curie, its real allure is romance. Twenty-four-year-old Marie Sklodowska travels to Paris from Warsaw and finds work in the laboratory of Pierre Curie, studying the relationship between heat and magnetism. The attraction is not just between molecules, however, and soon the scientists fall in love and marry. They go on, of course, to make incredible leaps and bounds in the world of science, discovering the elements polonium and radium.
In this poignant tale of discovery and passion, Lauren Redniss also examines the greater question of nuclear proliferation through the lens of the couple's work, proving that their research is more than relevant today. A collage of different media, the artwork in the book includes drawings, as well as an electric blue background wash created by a process called cyanotype printing, in which light-sensitive chemicals soaked into paper become intensely bright when subjected to UV rays from the sun. Redniss feels the technique "captured on the page what Marie Curie called radium's 'spontaneous luminosity.'"Rad
Radioactive
Though National Book Award nominee "Radioactive" is ostensibly a biography of Madame Curie, its real allure is romance. Twenty-four-year-old Marie Sklodowska travels to Paris from Warsaw and finds work in the laboratory of Pierre Curie, studying the relationship between heat and magnetism. The attraction is not just between molecules, however, and soon the scientists fall in love and marry. They go on, of course, to make incredible leaps and bounds in the world of science, discovering the elements polonium and radium.
In this poignant tale of discovery and passion, Lauren Redniss also examines the greater question of nuclear proliferation through the lens of the couple's work, proving that their research is more than relevant today. A collage of different media, the artwork in the book includes drawings, as well as an electric blue background wash created by a process called cyanotype printing, in which light-sensitive chemicals soaked into paper become intensely bright when subjected to UV rays from the sun. Redniss feels the technique "captured on the page what Marie Curie called radium's 'spontaneous luminosity.'"Rad
CDC study: Many teen moms didn’t think they could get pregnant, didn’t use birth control
This is not a story specifically about Girl Scientists, but rather presents one of the reasons why there are so few women scientists - percentage wise - is because they're not too bright. (Harsh, I know, but come on! How can girls these days not know that if they don't use birth control they'll get pregnant? Or at the very least, use condoms so they don't get AIDS or a sexually transmitted disease?) Of course, any survey has to allow for the fact that the respondents don't tell the truth. Perhaps these girls did know they'd get pregnant, but didn't want people to believe that????? Or is it because they see so many women having unprotected sex on TV without getting pregnant?)
CDC study: Many teen moms didn’t think they could get pregnant, didn’t use birth control
ATLANTA — A new government study suggests a lot of teenage girls are clueless about their chances of getting pregnant.
In a survey of thousands of teenage mothers who had unintended pregnancies, about a third who didn’t use birth control said the reason was they didn’t believe they could pregnant.
Why they thought that isn’t clear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey didn’t ask teens to explain. [And this is ridiculous. WHY didn't they ask??? That's the most important question!]
But other researchers have talked to teen moms who believed they couldn’t get pregnant the first time they had sex, didn’t think they could get pregnant at that time of the month or thought they were sterile.
“This report underscores how much misperception, ambivalence and magical thinking put teens at risk for unintended pregnancy,” said Bill Albert, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
Other studies have asked teens about their contraception use and beliefs about pregnancy. But the CDC report released Thursday is the first to focus on teens who didn’t want to get pregnant but did.
The researchers interviewed nearly 5,000 teenage girls in 19 states who gave birth after unplanned pregnancies in 2004 through 2008. The survey was done through mailed questionnaires with telephone follow-up.
About half of the girls in the survey said they were not using any birth control when they got pregnant. That’s higher than surveys of teens in general, which have found that fewer than 20 percent said they didn’t use contraception the last time they had sex.
“I think what surprised us was the extent to which they were not using contraception,” said Lorrie Gavin, a CDC senior scientist who co-authored the report.
Some of the teen moms were asked what kind of birth control they used: Nearly 20 percent said they used the pill or a birth control patch. Another 24 percent said they used condoms.
CDC officials said they do not believe that the pill, condoms and other forms of birth control were faulty. Instead, they think the teens failed to use it correctly or consistently.
Only 13 percent of those not using contraception said they didn’t because they had trouble getting it.
Another finding: Nearly a quarter of the teen moms who did not use contraception said they didn’t because their partner did not want them to. That suggests that sex education must include not only information about anatomy and birth control, but also about how to deal with situations in which a girl feels pressured to do something she doesn’t want to, Albert said.
The findings are sobering, he added. But it’s important to remember that the overall teen birth rate has been falling for some time, and recently hit its lowest mark in about 70 years.
Albert said it would be a mistake to come away from the report saying, “They can’t figure this out?” ‘’Most of them are figuring it out,” he said.
CDC study: Many teen moms didn’t think they could get pregnant, didn’t use birth control
ATLANTA — A new government study suggests a lot of teenage girls are clueless about their chances of getting pregnant.
In a survey of thousands of teenage mothers who had unintended pregnancies, about a third who didn’t use birth control said the reason was they didn’t believe they could pregnant.
Why they thought that isn’t clear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey didn’t ask teens to explain. [And this is ridiculous. WHY didn't they ask??? That's the most important question!]
But other researchers have talked to teen moms who believed they couldn’t get pregnant the first time they had sex, didn’t think they could get pregnant at that time of the month or thought they were sterile.
“This report underscores how much misperception, ambivalence and magical thinking put teens at risk for unintended pregnancy,” said Bill Albert, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
Other studies have asked teens about their contraception use and beliefs about pregnancy. But the CDC report released Thursday is the first to focus on teens who didn’t want to get pregnant but did.
The researchers interviewed nearly 5,000 teenage girls in 19 states who gave birth after unplanned pregnancies in 2004 through 2008. The survey was done through mailed questionnaires with telephone follow-up.
About half of the girls in the survey said they were not using any birth control when they got pregnant. That’s higher than surveys of teens in general, which have found that fewer than 20 percent said they didn’t use contraception the last time they had sex.
“I think what surprised us was the extent to which they were not using contraception,” said Lorrie Gavin, a CDC senior scientist who co-authored the report.
Some of the teen moms were asked what kind of birth control they used: Nearly 20 percent said they used the pill or a birth control patch. Another 24 percent said they used condoms.
CDC officials said they do not believe that the pill, condoms and other forms of birth control were faulty. Instead, they think the teens failed to use it correctly or consistently.
Only 13 percent of those not using contraception said they didn’t because they had trouble getting it.
Another finding: Nearly a quarter of the teen moms who did not use contraception said they didn’t because their partner did not want them to. That suggests that sex education must include not only information about anatomy and birth control, but also about how to deal with situations in which a girl feels pressured to do something she doesn’t want to, Albert said.
The findings are sobering, he added. But it’s important to remember that the overall teen birth rate has been falling for some time, and recently hit its lowest mark in about 70 years.
Albert said it would be a mistake to come away from the report saying, “They can’t figure this out?” ‘’Most of them are figuring it out,” he said.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
SQU woman scientist wins prestigious Unesco fellowship
From the Times of Oman: SQU woman scientist wins prestigious Unesco fellowship
MUSCAT: Rayhanah Abdul-Munim Mohammad Al Mjeni, a senior biomedical scientist at the Genetics Department of College of Medicine & Health Sciences at the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), has won the Unesco-L’Oreal Pan Arab Regional Fellowship for Young Women in Life Sciences.
This prestigious fellowship programme was instituted to encourage young women to select scientific careers. The fellowship is aimed at celebrating the achievements of the region’s women scientists, including their contributions to the advancement of science and, empowering Arab women scientists. The programme extends to 17 Arab countries.
First Omani scientist
Rayhanah Al Mjeni is the first Omani scientist to win this fellowship. She is currently pursuing a PhD at SQU, and is currently researching the genetics of glaucoma in adults and pediatric stages.
This disorder affects the optic nerve, which is usually undetected until more than 40 per cent of the peripheral vision is impaired and eventually leads to irreversible blindness. It is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness.
It has a prevalence of about 5 per cent in individuals aged 30 years and above within the Omani population.
A family history of the disorder puts the members at a risk ranging from 7-10 times higher than that of the general public. The cause of the deterioration of the optic nerve is not known.
The current treatment management does not stop the degeneration but reduces the rate at which it occurs. Therefore, in order to preserve and maintain sight for glaucoma-affected individuals, treatment should be initiated during the earlier stages of optic nerve damage.
Considering that vision loss is not noticed until more than 40 per cent of peripheral sight is affected, the disorder needs to be diagnosed earlier and individuals at risk need to be identified.
According to Rayhanah, the genetic knowledge of this disease in Oman will allow for better diagnosis and prognosis of the disorder along with an impact on the prospects of therapy.
MUSCAT: Rayhanah Abdul-Munim Mohammad Al Mjeni, a senior biomedical scientist at the Genetics Department of College of Medicine & Health Sciences at the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), has won the Unesco-L’Oreal Pan Arab Regional Fellowship for Young Women in Life Sciences.
This prestigious fellowship programme was instituted to encourage young women to select scientific careers. The fellowship is aimed at celebrating the achievements of the region’s women scientists, including their contributions to the advancement of science and, empowering Arab women scientists. The programme extends to 17 Arab countries.
First Omani scientist
Rayhanah Al Mjeni is the first Omani scientist to win this fellowship. She is currently pursuing a PhD at SQU, and is currently researching the genetics of glaucoma in adults and pediatric stages.
This disorder affects the optic nerve, which is usually undetected until more than 40 per cent of the peripheral vision is impaired and eventually leads to irreversible blindness. It is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness.
It has a prevalence of about 5 per cent in individuals aged 30 years and above within the Omani population.
A family history of the disorder puts the members at a risk ranging from 7-10 times higher than that of the general public. The cause of the deterioration of the optic nerve is not known.
The current treatment management does not stop the degeneration but reduces the rate at which it occurs. Therefore, in order to preserve and maintain sight for glaucoma-affected individuals, treatment should be initiated during the earlier stages of optic nerve damage.
Considering that vision loss is not noticed until more than 40 per cent of peripheral sight is affected, the disorder needs to be diagnosed earlier and individuals at risk need to be identified.
According to Rayhanah, the genetic knowledge of this disease in Oman will allow for better diagnosis and prognosis of the disorder along with an impact on the prospects of therapy.
NASA's Kepler finds Earth-size worlds orbiting another star
See bolded sentence about 2/3rd of the way down for two female scientists in this story.
From C-Net: NASA's Kepler finds Earth-size worlds orbiting another star
NASA's Kepler space telescope has found the first confirmed Earth-size planets orbiting another star, astronomers announced Tuesday, a major milestone in an ongoing project aimed at finding out how commonplace--or rare--Earth-like worlds may be across the cosmos.
In a solar system 1,000 light years away with at least five planets, the newly confirmed Earth-size worlds orbit too close to their star to support life. But proving the Kepler observatory can, in fact, spot worlds as small as Earth across the vast reaches of interstellar space gives astronomers confidence many more such planets are awaiting discovery among the 2,326 planet candidates found by the telescope to date.
"The first of these two planets has a diameter just 3 percent larger than the Earth, which makes it the closest object to the Earth in terms of size in the known universe," Francois Fressin of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told reporters during a teleconference. "The second planet is 13 percent smaller than the Earth, with a diameter of around 7,000 miles. It is also smaller than Venus, and this is, in fact, the smallest planetary body ever discovered in orbit around an Earth-like star.
"Most importantly, it is the first time we've crossed the Earth-size threshold. In other words, December 2011 could be remembered as the first time humanity has been able to detect a planet of Earth-size or smaller around another star."
On Dec. 5, the Kepler team announced the discovery of a world twice the size of Earth orbiting in its star's habitable zone, where liquid water can exist, the first time a relatively Earth-size world had been found at the right distance to possibly support life.
Kepler-20e and 20f share their parent star with at least three other Neptune-class planets, all of them orbiting closer than Mercury orbits the sun. Kepler-20e completes a trip around the star every 6.1 days and is believed to have a temperature of around 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt glass. Kepler-20f completes a "year" every 19.6 days and has a surface temperature of around 800 degrees. The masses of the two planets, and thus their density and general composition, remain a mystery.
Perhaps more important than finding two confirmed Earth-size worlds, the Kepler-20 solar system is at odds with current theories about how planetary systems form.
Kepler-20e, which has a radius of 0.87 times that of Earth, orbits its parent star every 6.1 days. The surface temperature is believed to be about 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit.
(Credit: NASA)
"Today, we are announcing five planets all orbiting this star, Kepler-20," said David Charbonneau, professor of astronomy at Harvard University. "However, the architecture of that planetary system is crazy."
In Earth's solar system, he said, there are two major types of planets: small, rocky worlds close to the sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) and large gas giants farther from the sun (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune).
"In Earth's solar system, these two different kinds of planets don't mingle, they remain neatly separated from each other," Charbonneau said. "In fact, all four of the rocky planets in the solar system lie relatively close to the sun and the four gas giants lie outside of this. This separation of rocky planets and gas giants in the solar system really drives our understanding of planet formation and is one of the key features that we try to explain when we try to understand the formation of the solar system."
In the case of Kepler-20, a Neptune-size gas giant is the innermost of the five known worlds, followed by Kepler-20e, another Neptune-like world, Kepler-20f, and then another gas giant.
Kepler-20f, with a surface temperature of about 800 degrees Fahrenheit, is 1.03 times that of Earth and completes a "year" every 19.6 days.
(Credit: NASA)
"I really want to dare my fellow astronomers to try to explain how this system could have formed and I think it's fair to say I need help," Charbonneau said. "As a professor of astronomy, I'm actually teaching a course in the spring on planet formation and you can bet the freshman in my class are going to be quick to point out how the model of the formation of the solar system is deeply challenged by the discovery that's being presented today."
Kepler, equipped with a 95-megapixel digital camera, was launched from Cape Canaveral on March 6, 2009. The camera is aimed at a patch of sky in the northern constellation Cygnus the size of an outstretched hand that contains more than 4.5 million detectable stars.
Of that total, some 300,000 are believed to be the right age and to have the right composition and the proper brightness to host Earth-like planets. More than 156,000 of those, ranging from 600 to 3,000 light years away, will be actively monitored by Kepler over the life of its mission.
To find candidate planets, the spacecraft's camera monitors the brightness of target stars in the instrument's wide field of view, on the lookout for slight changes that might indicate a world passing between the star and the telescope. By studying the slight dimming, and by timing repeated cycles, computers can identify potential extra-solar worlds even though the planets themselves cannot be seen.
Before a candidate planet can be confirmed, the data must be reviewed by other astronomers and results compared to findings by other telescopes and satellites. As of today, Kepler has found 33 confirmed planets and 2,326 candidates. Astronomers expect many more confirmations as data analysis continues.
"In the cosmic game of hide and seek, finding planets with just the right size and just the right temperature seems only a matter of time," Natalie Batalha, Kepler deputy science team lead and professor of astronomy and physics at San Jose State University, said in a NASA statement. "We are on the edge of our seats knowing that Kepler's most anticipated discoveries are still to come."
Linda Elkins-Tanton, director of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism in Washington, D.C., told reporters the big question underlying the Kepler research is "are we alone in our universe? And so we ask, how are planets made, and when do they end up like the Earth, both in size and also in climate? This new Kepler finding has made a really big step in our understanding of these questions."
She said astronomers believed solar systems likely followed the model seen in Earth's system, with small, rocky worlds orbiting close to their parent star and large gas giants orbiting much farther away, beyond the so-called "ice line." Based on earlier observations that found multiple examples of Jupiter-class planets orbiting close to their parent stars, scientists believed such worlds could migrate inward over time, kicking out smaller planets closer in.
"But now, with this new Kepler finding comes a solar system that doesn't fit any mold we have," Elkins-Tanton said. "The planets alternate big and little and are all so close to their star, this system forces us to change our ideas about how the planets are formed and how they reach stable orbits and where, indeed, there could be Earth-size rocky planets."
Whether Earth's solar system is the exception or the rule remains to be seen.
From C-Net: NASA's Kepler finds Earth-size worlds orbiting another star
NASA's Kepler space telescope has found the first confirmed Earth-size planets orbiting another star, astronomers announced Tuesday, a major milestone in an ongoing project aimed at finding out how commonplace--or rare--Earth-like worlds may be across the cosmos.
In a solar system 1,000 light years away with at least five planets, the newly confirmed Earth-size worlds orbit too close to their star to support life. But proving the Kepler observatory can, in fact, spot worlds as small as Earth across the vast reaches of interstellar space gives astronomers confidence many more such planets are awaiting discovery among the 2,326 planet candidates found by the telescope to date.
"The first of these two planets has a diameter just 3 percent larger than the Earth, which makes it the closest object to the Earth in terms of size in the known universe," Francois Fressin of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told reporters during a teleconference. "The second planet is 13 percent smaller than the Earth, with a diameter of around 7,000 miles. It is also smaller than Venus, and this is, in fact, the smallest planetary body ever discovered in orbit around an Earth-like star.
"Most importantly, it is the first time we've crossed the Earth-size threshold. In other words, December 2011 could be remembered as the first time humanity has been able to detect a planet of Earth-size or smaller around another star."
On Dec. 5, the Kepler team announced the discovery of a world twice the size of Earth orbiting in its star's habitable zone, where liquid water can exist, the first time a relatively Earth-size world had been found at the right distance to possibly support life.
Kepler-20e and 20f share their parent star with at least three other Neptune-class planets, all of them orbiting closer than Mercury orbits the sun. Kepler-20e completes a trip around the star every 6.1 days and is believed to have a temperature of around 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt glass. Kepler-20f completes a "year" every 19.6 days and has a surface temperature of around 800 degrees. The masses of the two planets, and thus their density and general composition, remain a mystery.
Perhaps more important than finding two confirmed Earth-size worlds, the Kepler-20 solar system is at odds with current theories about how planetary systems form.
Kepler-20e, which has a radius of 0.87 times that of Earth, orbits its parent star every 6.1 days. The surface temperature is believed to be about 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit.
(Credit: NASA)
"Today, we are announcing five planets all orbiting this star, Kepler-20," said David Charbonneau, professor of astronomy at Harvard University. "However, the architecture of that planetary system is crazy."
In Earth's solar system, he said, there are two major types of planets: small, rocky worlds close to the sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) and large gas giants farther from the sun (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune).
"In Earth's solar system, these two different kinds of planets don't mingle, they remain neatly separated from each other," Charbonneau said. "In fact, all four of the rocky planets in the solar system lie relatively close to the sun and the four gas giants lie outside of this. This separation of rocky planets and gas giants in the solar system really drives our understanding of planet formation and is one of the key features that we try to explain when we try to understand the formation of the solar system."
In the case of Kepler-20, a Neptune-size gas giant is the innermost of the five known worlds, followed by Kepler-20e, another Neptune-like world, Kepler-20f, and then another gas giant.
Kepler-20f, with a surface temperature of about 800 degrees Fahrenheit, is 1.03 times that of Earth and completes a "year" every 19.6 days.
(Credit: NASA)
"I really want to dare my fellow astronomers to try to explain how this system could have formed and I think it's fair to say I need help," Charbonneau said. "As a professor of astronomy, I'm actually teaching a course in the spring on planet formation and you can bet the freshman in my class are going to be quick to point out how the model of the formation of the solar system is deeply challenged by the discovery that's being presented today."
Kepler, equipped with a 95-megapixel digital camera, was launched from Cape Canaveral on March 6, 2009. The camera is aimed at a patch of sky in the northern constellation Cygnus the size of an outstretched hand that contains more than 4.5 million detectable stars.
Of that total, some 300,000 are believed to be the right age and to have the right composition and the proper brightness to host Earth-like planets. More than 156,000 of those, ranging from 600 to 3,000 light years away, will be actively monitored by Kepler over the life of its mission.
To find candidate planets, the spacecraft's camera monitors the brightness of target stars in the instrument's wide field of view, on the lookout for slight changes that might indicate a world passing between the star and the telescope. By studying the slight dimming, and by timing repeated cycles, computers can identify potential extra-solar worlds even though the planets themselves cannot be seen.
Before a candidate planet can be confirmed, the data must be reviewed by other astronomers and results compared to findings by other telescopes and satellites. As of today, Kepler has found 33 confirmed planets and 2,326 candidates. Astronomers expect many more confirmations as data analysis continues.
"In the cosmic game of hide and seek, finding planets with just the right size and just the right temperature seems only a matter of time," Natalie Batalha, Kepler deputy science team lead and professor of astronomy and physics at San Jose State University, said in a NASA statement. "We are on the edge of our seats knowing that Kepler's most anticipated discoveries are still to come."
Linda Elkins-Tanton, director of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism in Washington, D.C., told reporters the big question underlying the Kepler research is "are we alone in our universe? And so we ask, how are planets made, and when do they end up like the Earth, both in size and also in climate? This new Kepler finding has made a really big step in our understanding of these questions."
She said astronomers believed solar systems likely followed the model seen in Earth's system, with small, rocky worlds orbiting close to their parent star and large gas giants orbiting much farther away, beyond the so-called "ice line." Based on earlier observations that found multiple examples of Jupiter-class planets orbiting close to their parent stars, scientists believed such worlds could migrate inward over time, kicking out smaller planets closer in.
"But now, with this new Kepler finding comes a solar system that doesn't fit any mold we have," Elkins-Tanton said. "The planets alternate big and little and are all so close to their star, this system forces us to change our ideas about how the planets are formed and how they reach stable orbits and where, indeed, there could be Earth-size rocky planets."
Whether Earth's solar system is the exception or the rule remains to be seen.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
MP Women Science Congress concludes
From the Free Press Journal: MP Women Science Congress concludes
The two- day Madhya Pradesh Women Science Congress- II titled 'Role of Women in Sustainable Development of Madhya Pradesh'sponsored by the MP Council of Science and Technology, Bhopal concluded here on Friday at Government Madhav Science College. Vikram University, Vice- Chancellor Prof TR Thapak chaired the valedictory ceremony.
Addressing on this occasion Thapak mentioned the valuable contribution of women in the development of several fields of the nation.
It is the duty of Indian society to empower women for their social, economical and scientific development.
Collector M Geetha in her address on the concluding day said that the Congress has given a wide dimension to participation of women of this state. It has provided a firm platform to congregate women and girl students.
Women should be empowered for the nations overall development.
Chief guest chairman, MP Pollution Control Board Dr NP Shukla said that women have a natural ability to scientific approach.
It makes a powerful impact on the development of human beings if the mothers of the families are literate. An attractive exhibition was held during the Congress in which School Education Department, Health Department, Energy Development Corporation, Women and Child Development and MP Pollution Control Board participated.
Women scientist Dr Sudha Mall was felicitated with the women innovation award. Young Women Scientist award was presented to Tripti A Dwiwedi. Dr Ulka Yadav was awarded for poster presentation.
Dr Anubha Gag, Dr Neeta Tapan, Dr Smita Bhawalkar, Dr Vandana Gupta, Dr Meenal Gupta were awarded for the best research paper presentation.
The guest introduction was given by Dr Pinki Dwiwedi. Dr Shobha Shoche conducted the programme, while the organising secretary Dr Chitralekha Kadel proposed a vote of thanks.
The two- day Madhya Pradesh Women Science Congress- II titled 'Role of Women in Sustainable Development of Madhya Pradesh'sponsored by the MP Council of Science and Technology, Bhopal concluded here on Friday at Government Madhav Science College. Vikram University, Vice- Chancellor Prof TR Thapak chaired the valedictory ceremony.
Addressing on this occasion Thapak mentioned the valuable contribution of women in the development of several fields of the nation.
It is the duty of Indian society to empower women for their social, economical and scientific development.
Collector M Geetha in her address on the concluding day said that the Congress has given a wide dimension to participation of women of this state. It has provided a firm platform to congregate women and girl students.
Women should be empowered for the nations overall development.
Chief guest chairman, MP Pollution Control Board Dr NP Shukla said that women have a natural ability to scientific approach.
It makes a powerful impact on the development of human beings if the mothers of the families are literate. An attractive exhibition was held during the Congress in which School Education Department, Health Department, Energy Development Corporation, Women and Child Development and MP Pollution Control Board participated.
Women scientist Dr Sudha Mall was felicitated with the women innovation award. Young Women Scientist award was presented to Tripti A Dwiwedi. Dr Ulka Yadav was awarded for poster presentation.
Dr Anubha Gag, Dr Neeta Tapan, Dr Smita Bhawalkar, Dr Vandana Gupta, Dr Meenal Gupta were awarded for the best research paper presentation.
The guest introduction was given by Dr Pinki Dwiwedi. Dr Shobha Shoche conducted the programme, while the organising secretary Dr Chitralekha Kadel proposed a vote of thanks.
Leading women pledge to battle against gender segregation
An article about how orthodox religions make a practice of excluding women. We mostly hear about how Muslim women have to obscure their faces and bodies behind veils and robes to ensure that they incite no lust in men, but it would appear that in Israel, a supposedly modern-day country, women have the same problems.
From the Jerusaleum Post: Leading women pledge to battle against gender segregation
Livni: We must increase struggle and wake up those who are asleep
Top female leaders vowed Friday to step up the battle against any attempts by ultra- Orthodox factions to exclude women from public life.
“We must increase this struggle and wake up all those who have fallen asleep or become numb to this problem,” said opposition leader Tzipi Livni during the one-day conference that included MKs from across the political spectrum, journalists, professionals and academics.
“This is not only a struggle for the place of women in society but also a struggle for the State of Israel.”
Livni said Israel’s democracy and the freedoms women have here should never be taken for granted because the situation can change in an instant.
“Anyone who thinks all these things are not connected is out of touch with reality,” she said, highlighting a recent Health Ministry ceremony where a female scientist was honored for her work but not allowed on stage to accept the prize.
“If we do not stand at the front of the stage today, then it’s possible at some point we will not be able to stand on the stage at all,” Livni said. “We must immediately challenge this situation and make sure things change.”
She said this was a struggle over the country’s core values, and “anyone who believes Israel’s Jewish and democratic values should be connected but not collide with each other, should join the struggle.”
Over the past few weeks, media reports have highlighted the growing frequency of gender-segregated bus lines, supermarkets, as well as public events – both military and civilian – where women were barred from attending or their appearance caused uproar among male ultra-Orthodox attendees.
Livni was joined at the event by Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich, Likud MK Gila Gamliel, who currently serves as deputy minister for the Advancement of Young People, Students and Women, MK Tzipi Hotovely, chairwoman of the Knesset Committee on Status of the Woman and television journalist Orly Vilna’i.
Also included in the roster of speakers was Adina Bar- Shalom, the eldest daughter of Sephardi Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
Bar-Shalom has been extremely vocal in recent weeks against attempts to “eliminate” women from public life. On Friday, she said it was haredi (ultra-Orthodox) women who had built the world of Torah and it was women who had worked hard to allow their husbands to study full-time.
“According to the Torah, the women hold a very high status, and if we were following the words of the Torah like they are written then there would be no need for us to be at this meeting at all,” said Bar-Shalom, highlighting that not one haredi rabbi has advocated gender-segregation on buses although she did theorize that the practice stemmed mainly from the overcrowded public buses that go between the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of Jerusalem to the Western Wall.
However, she said, the problem was not about the buses or the segregation, rather the issue is about the respect that is being given to women.
“If it was not for us, then our men would not be allowed to sit and study and become knowledgeable,” Bar- Shalom said.
From the Jerusaleum Post: Leading women pledge to battle against gender segregation
Livni: We must increase struggle and wake up those who are asleep
Top female leaders vowed Friday to step up the battle against any attempts by ultra- Orthodox factions to exclude women from public life.
“We must increase this struggle and wake up all those who have fallen asleep or become numb to this problem,” said opposition leader Tzipi Livni during the one-day conference that included MKs from across the political spectrum, journalists, professionals and academics.
“This is not only a struggle for the place of women in society but also a struggle for the State of Israel.”
Livni said Israel’s democracy and the freedoms women have here should never be taken for granted because the situation can change in an instant.
“Anyone who thinks all these things are not connected is out of touch with reality,” she said, highlighting a recent Health Ministry ceremony where a female scientist was honored for her work but not allowed on stage to accept the prize.
“If we do not stand at the front of the stage today, then it’s possible at some point we will not be able to stand on the stage at all,” Livni said. “We must immediately challenge this situation and make sure things change.”
She said this was a struggle over the country’s core values, and “anyone who believes Israel’s Jewish and democratic values should be connected but not collide with each other, should join the struggle.”
Over the past few weeks, media reports have highlighted the growing frequency of gender-segregated bus lines, supermarkets, as well as public events – both military and civilian – where women were barred from attending or their appearance caused uproar among male ultra-Orthodox attendees.
Livni was joined at the event by Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich, Likud MK Gila Gamliel, who currently serves as deputy minister for the Advancement of Young People, Students and Women, MK Tzipi Hotovely, chairwoman of the Knesset Committee on Status of the Woman and television journalist Orly Vilna’i.
Also included in the roster of speakers was Adina Bar- Shalom, the eldest daughter of Sephardi Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
Bar-Shalom has been extremely vocal in recent weeks against attempts to “eliminate” women from public life. On Friday, she said it was haredi (ultra-Orthodox) women who had built the world of Torah and it was women who had worked hard to allow their husbands to study full-time.
“According to the Torah, the women hold a very high status, and if we were following the words of the Torah like they are written then there would be no need for us to be at this meeting at all,” said Bar-Shalom, highlighting that not one haredi rabbi has advocated gender-segregation on buses although she did theorize that the practice stemmed mainly from the overcrowded public buses that go between the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of Jerusalem to the Western Wall.
However, she said, the problem was not about the buses or the segregation, rather the issue is about the respect that is being given to women.
“If it was not for us, then our men would not be allowed to sit and study and become knowledgeable,” Bar- Shalom said.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
More young people see opportunities in farming
From USA Today News: More young people see opportunities in farming
MILWAUKEE – A Wisconsin factory worker worried about layoffs became a dairy farmer. An employee at a Minnesota nonprofit found an escape from her cubicle by buying a vegetable farm. A nuclear engineer tired of office bureaucracy decided to get into cattle ranching in Texas.
While fresh demographic information on U.S. farmers won't be available until after a new agricultural census is done next year, there are signs more people in their 20s and 30s are going into farming: Enrollment in university agriculture programs has increased, as has interest in farmer-training programs.
Young people are turning up at farmers markets and are blogging, tweeting and promoting their agricultural endeavors through other social media.
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MORE: Farmers markets go year-round as eat-local trend grows
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MORE: U.S. farmers out to bring back homegrown olive oil
The young entrepreneurs typically cite two reasons for going into farming: Many find the corporate world stifling and see no point in sticking it out when there's little job security; and demand for locally grown and organic foods has been strong enough that even in the downturn they feel confident they can sell their products.
Laura Frerichs, 31, of Hutchinson, Minn., discovered her passion for farming about a year after she graduated from college with an anthropology degree. She planned to work in economic development in Latin America and thought she ought to get some experience working on a farm.
She did stints on five farms, mostly vegetable farms, and fell in love with the work. Frerichs and her husband now have their own organic farm, and while she doesn't expect it to make them rich, she's confident they'll be able to earn a living.
"There's just this growing consciousness around locally grown foods, around organic foods," she said. "Where we are in the Twin Cities, there's been great demand for that."
Farming is inherently risky: Drought, flooding, wind and other weather extremes can all destroy a year's work. And with farmland averaging $2,140 per acre across the United States. but two to four times that much in the Midwest and California, start-up costs can be daunting.
Still, agriculture fared better than many parts of the economy during the recession, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts record profits for farmers as a whole this year.
"People are looking at farm income, especially the increase in asset values, and seeing a really positive story about our economy," said USDA senior economist Mary Clare Ahearn, citing preliminary statistics. "Young people are viewing agriculture as a great opportunity and saying they want to be a part of it."
That's welcome news to the government. More than 60% of farmers are over the age of 55, and without young farmers to replace them when they retire the nation's food supply would depend on fewer and fewer people.
"We'd be vulnerable to local economic disruptions, tariffs, attacks on the food supply, really, any disaster you can think of," said Poppy Davis, who coordinates the USDA's programs for beginning farmers and ranchers.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has called for 100,000 new farmers within the next few years, and Congress has responded with proposals that would provide young farmers with improved access to USDA support and loan programs.
One beginning farmer is Gabrielle Rojas, 34, from the central Wisconsin town of Hewitt. As a rebellious teen all she wanted to do was leave her family's farm and find a career that didn't involve cows. But she changed her mind after spending years in dead-end jobs in a factory and restaurant.
"In those jobs I'm just a number, just a time-clock number," Rojas said. "But now I'm doing what I love to do. If I'm having a rough day or I'm a little sad because the sun's not shining or my tractor's broken, I can always go out and be by the cattle. That always makes me feel better."
Rojas got help in changing careers from an apprenticeship program paid for by the USDA, which began giving money in 2009 to universities and nonprofit groups that help train beginning farmers. The grants helped train about 5,000 people the first year. This year, the USDA estimates more than twice as many benefited.
One of the groups that received a grant is Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service, or MOSES. The Spring Valley, Wis., chapter teaches farming entrepreneurs how to cope with price swings and what to do in cases of catastrophic weather.
MOSES also organizes field days, where would-be farmers tour the operations of successful farms to learn and share tips. Attendance is up 20% this year, director Faye Jones said, and some outings that used to attract 30 or 40 people have drawn as many as 100, most between the ages of 18 and 30.
"I think for many people, farming has been a lifelong dream, and now the timing is right," she said. Among the reasons she cited: the lifestyle, working in the fresh air and being one's own boss.
If farming is beginning to sound like an appealing career, there are downsides. The work involves tough physical labor, and vacations create problems when there are crops to be harvested and cows to be milked.
In addition, many farmers need second jobs to get health insurance or make ends meet. As the USDA notes, three-fifths of farms have sales of less than $10,000 a year, although some may be growing fruit trees or other crops that take a few years to develop.
None of those factors dissuaded 27-year-old Paul Mews. He left a high-paying job as a nuclear engineer last year to become a cattle rancher in Menard, Tex. His wife's family has been ranching for generations, and Mews decided he'd much rather join his in-laws and be his own boss than continue shuffling paperwork at the plant.
"When you're self-employed, it's so much more fulfilling. You get paid what you're worth," he said. "It's really nice that what you put into it is what you're going to get back out."
MILWAUKEE – A Wisconsin factory worker worried about layoffs became a dairy farmer. An employee at a Minnesota nonprofit found an escape from her cubicle by buying a vegetable farm. A nuclear engineer tired of office bureaucracy decided to get into cattle ranching in Texas.
While fresh demographic information on U.S. farmers won't be available until after a new agricultural census is done next year, there are signs more people in their 20s and 30s are going into farming: Enrollment in university agriculture programs has increased, as has interest in farmer-training programs.
Young people are turning up at farmers markets and are blogging, tweeting and promoting their agricultural endeavors through other social media.
*
MORE: Farmers markets go year-round as eat-local trend grows
*
MORE: U.S. farmers out to bring back homegrown olive oil
The young entrepreneurs typically cite two reasons for going into farming: Many find the corporate world stifling and see no point in sticking it out when there's little job security; and demand for locally grown and organic foods has been strong enough that even in the downturn they feel confident they can sell their products.
Laura Frerichs, 31, of Hutchinson, Minn., discovered her passion for farming about a year after she graduated from college with an anthropology degree. She planned to work in economic development in Latin America and thought she ought to get some experience working on a farm.
She did stints on five farms, mostly vegetable farms, and fell in love with the work. Frerichs and her husband now have their own organic farm, and while she doesn't expect it to make them rich, she's confident they'll be able to earn a living.
"There's just this growing consciousness around locally grown foods, around organic foods," she said. "Where we are in the Twin Cities, there's been great demand for that."
Farming is inherently risky: Drought, flooding, wind and other weather extremes can all destroy a year's work. And with farmland averaging $2,140 per acre across the United States. but two to four times that much in the Midwest and California, start-up costs can be daunting.
Still, agriculture fared better than many parts of the economy during the recession, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts record profits for farmers as a whole this year.
"People are looking at farm income, especially the increase in asset values, and seeing a really positive story about our economy," said USDA senior economist Mary Clare Ahearn, citing preliminary statistics. "Young people are viewing agriculture as a great opportunity and saying they want to be a part of it."
That's welcome news to the government. More than 60% of farmers are over the age of 55, and without young farmers to replace them when they retire the nation's food supply would depend on fewer and fewer people.
"We'd be vulnerable to local economic disruptions, tariffs, attacks on the food supply, really, any disaster you can think of," said Poppy Davis, who coordinates the USDA's programs for beginning farmers and ranchers.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has called for 100,000 new farmers within the next few years, and Congress has responded with proposals that would provide young farmers with improved access to USDA support and loan programs.
One beginning farmer is Gabrielle Rojas, 34, from the central Wisconsin town of Hewitt. As a rebellious teen all she wanted to do was leave her family's farm and find a career that didn't involve cows. But she changed her mind after spending years in dead-end jobs in a factory and restaurant.
"In those jobs I'm just a number, just a time-clock number," Rojas said. "But now I'm doing what I love to do. If I'm having a rough day or I'm a little sad because the sun's not shining or my tractor's broken, I can always go out and be by the cattle. That always makes me feel better."
Rojas got help in changing careers from an apprenticeship program paid for by the USDA, which began giving money in 2009 to universities and nonprofit groups that help train beginning farmers. The grants helped train about 5,000 people the first year. This year, the USDA estimates more than twice as many benefited.
One of the groups that received a grant is Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service, or MOSES. The Spring Valley, Wis., chapter teaches farming entrepreneurs how to cope with price swings and what to do in cases of catastrophic weather.
MOSES also organizes field days, where would-be farmers tour the operations of successful farms to learn and share tips. Attendance is up 20% this year, director Faye Jones said, and some outings that used to attract 30 or 40 people have drawn as many as 100, most between the ages of 18 and 30.
"I think for many people, farming has been a lifelong dream, and now the timing is right," she said. Among the reasons she cited: the lifestyle, working in the fresh air and being one's own boss.
If farming is beginning to sound like an appealing career, there are downsides. The work involves tough physical labor, and vacations create problems when there are crops to be harvested and cows to be milked.
In addition, many farmers need second jobs to get health insurance or make ends meet. As the USDA notes, three-fifths of farms have sales of less than $10,000 a year, although some may be growing fruit trees or other crops that take a few years to develop.
None of those factors dissuaded 27-year-old Paul Mews. He left a high-paying job as a nuclear engineer last year to become a cattle rancher in Menard, Tex. His wife's family has been ranching for generations, and Mews decided he'd much rather join his in-laws and be his own boss than continue shuffling paperwork at the plant.
"When you're self-employed, it's so much more fulfilling. You get paid what you're worth," he said. "It's really nice that what you put into it is what you're going to get back out."
Tom Corbett: Stand By For Mars Ch 22
"Eeeeeeoooooooow!" Astro's bull-like roar shattered the silence of the desert. "There—up ahead, Tom—Roger—a building!"
Tom and Roger stopped and strained their eyes in the bright sunshine.
"I think you're right," said Tom at last. "But I doubt if anyone's there. Looks like an abandoned mining shack to me."
"Who wants to stand here and debate the question?" asked Roger, and started off down the side of the canal at a lope, with Astro and Tom right behind him.
During the last three days the boys had been living off the contents of the last remaining food container and the few lichens they found growing along the canal. Their strength was weakening, but with an abundant supply of water near at hand and able to combat the sun's heat with frequent swims, they were still in fair condition.
Tom was the first to reach the building, a one-story structure made of dried mud from the canal. The shutters and the door had long since been torn away by countless sandstorms.
The three boys entered the one-room building cautiously. The floor was covered with sand, and sand was [Pg 210]piled in heaping drifts in front of the open windows and door.
"Nothing—not a thing," said Roger disgustedly. "This place must be at least a hundred and fifty years old."
"Probably built by a miner," commented Tom.
"What do you mean 'nothing'?" said Astro. "Look!"
They followed Astro's pointing finger to the ceiling. Crisscrossed, from wall to wall, were heavy wooden beams.
"Raft!" Tom cried.
"That's right, spaceman," said Astro, "a raft. There's enough wood up there to float the Polaris. Come on!"
Astro hurried outside, with Tom and Roger following at his heels. They quickly climbed to the roof of the old building and soon were ripping the beams from the crumbling mud. Fortunately the beams had been joined by notching the ends of the crosspieces. Astro explained that this was necessary because of the premium on nails when the house was built. Everything at that time had to be hauled from Earth, and no one wanted to pay the price heavy nails and bolts demanded.
One by one, they removed the heavy beams, until they had eight of them lined up alongside the edge of the canal.
"How do we keep them together?" asked Roger.
"With this!" said Tom. He began ripping his space cloth into long strips. Astro and Roger tugged at the first beam. At last they had it in the water.
"It floats," cried Astro. Tom and Roger couldn't help but shout for joy. They quickly hauled the remaining beams into the water and lashed them together. Without hesitation, they shoved the raft into the canal, climbing aboard and standing like conquering heroes, [Pg 211]as the raft moved out into the main flow of the canal and began to drift forward.
"I dub thee—Polaris the Second," said Tom in formal tones and gave the nearest beam a kick.
Astro and Roger gave a lusty cheer.
Steadily, silently, the raft bore them through the never-changing scene of the canal's muddy banks and the endlessness of the desert beyond.
Protecting themselves from the sun during the day by repeated dunkings in the water, they traveled day and night in a straight course down the center of the canal. At night, the tiny moon, Deimos, climbed across the desert and reflected light upon the satin-smooth water.
The third day on the raft they began to feel the pangs of hunger. And where during their march through the desert, their thoughts were of water, now visions of endless tables of food occupied their thoughts. At first, they talked of their hunger, dreaming up wild combinations of dishes and giving even wilder estimates of how much each could consume. Finally, discovering that talking about it only intensified their desire, they kept a stolid silence. When the heat became unbearable, they simply took to the water. Once Tom's grip on the raft slipped and Roger plunged in after him without a moment's hesitation, only to have Astro go in to save both of them.
On and on—down the canal, the three boys floated. Days turned into nights, and nights, cooling and refreshing, gave way to the blazing sun of the next day. The silent desert swept past them.
One night, when Astro, unable to sleep, was staring ahead into the darkness, he heard a rustling in the water alongside the raft. He moved slowly to the edge of the raft and peered down into the clear water. [Pg 212]
He saw a fish!
The big cadet watched it dart around the raft. He waited, his body tense. Once the fish came to the edge of the raft, but before Astro could move his arm, it darted off in another direction.
At last the fish disappeared and Astro sank back on the timbers. He trailed one hand over the side in the water, and suddenly, felt the rough scales of the fish brush his fingers. In a flash, Astro closed his hand and snatched the wriggling creature out of the water.
"Tom—Roger—" he shouted. "Look—look—a fish—I caught a fish with my bare hands!"
Tom rolled over and opened his eyes. Roger sat in bewilderment.
"I watched him—I was watching him and then he went away. And then I held my hand over the side of the raft and he came snooping around and—well, I just grabbed him!"
He held the fish in the viselike grip of his right hand until it stopped moving.
"You know," said Tom weakly, "I just remembered. When we were in the Science Building in Atom City, one of their projects was to breed both Earth and Venus fish in the canals."
"I am going to shake, personally, the hand of the man who started this project when we get back to Atom City," said Astro.
Suddenly Roger gripped Tom's arms. He was staring in the direction the raft was going. "Tom—" he breathed, "Astro—look!"
They turned and peered into the dusk. In the distance, not a mile away, was the huge crystal-clear dome of the atmosphere booster station, its roaring atomic motors sending a steady purring sound out across the desert. [Pg 213]
"We made it," said Tom, choking back the tears. "We made it!"
"Well, blast my jets," said Astro. "We sure did!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"And you mean to tell me, you walked across that desert?" asked Captain Strong.
Tom glanced over at Astro and Roger. "We sure did, sir."
"With Astro doing the last stretch to the canal carrying me and dragging Tom," said Roger as he sipped his hot broth.
The room in the chief engineer's quarters at the atmosphere station was crowded with workers, enlisted Solar Guardsmen and officers of the Solar Guard. They stood around staring in disbelief at the three disheveled cadets.
"But how did you ever survive?" asked Strong. "By the craters of Luna, that blasted desert was hotter this past month than it has ever been since Mars was first colonized by Earthmen. Why—why—you were walking through temperatures that reached a hundred and fifty degrees!"
"You don't have to convince us, sir," said Roger with a smile. "We'll never forget it as long as we live."
Later, when Tom, Roger and Astro had taken a shower and dressed in fresh uniforms, Strong came in with an audioscriber and the three cadets gave the full version of their adventure for the official report back to the Academy. When they had finished, Strong told them of his efforts to find them.
"We knew you were in trouble right away," said Strong, "and we tracked you on radar. But that blasted storm fouled us all up. We figured that the sand would have covered up the ship, and that the chances of finding you in a scout were very small, so I got permission from Commander Walters to organize this ground [Pg 214]search for you." He paused. "Frankly we had just about given up hope. Took us three weeks finally to locate the section of desert you landed in."
"We knew you would come, sir," said Tom, "but we didn't have enough water to wait for you—and we had to leave."
"Boys," said Strong slowly, "I've had a lot of wonderful things happen to me in the Solar Guard. But I have to confess that seeing you three space-brained idiots clinging to that raft, ready to eat a raw fish—well, that was just about the happiest moment of my life."
"Thank you, sir," said Roger, "and I think I can speak for Tom and Astro when I say that seeing you here with over a hundred men, and all this equipment, ready to start searching for us in that desert—well, it makes us feel pretty proud to be members of an outfit where the skipper feels that way about his crew!"
"What happens now, sir?" asked Tom.
"Aside from getting a well-deserved liberty, it's back to the old grind at the Academy. The Polaris is at the spaceport at Marsopolis, waiting for us." He paused and eyed the three cadets with a smile. "I guess the routine at Space Academy will seem a little dull now, after what you've been through."
"Captain Strong," said Astro formally, "I know I speak for Tom and Roger when I say that routine is all we want for a long time to come!"
"Amen!" added Tom and Roger in unison.
"Very well," said Strong. "Polaris unit—Staaaaand TO!"
The three boys snapped to attention.
"You are hereby ordered to report aboard the Polaris at fifteen hundred hours and stand by to raise ship!"
He returned their salutes, turned sharply and walked from the room.
Outside, Steve Strong leaned against the wall and [Pg 215]stared through the crystal shell of the atmosphere station into the endless desert.
"Thank you, Mars," he said softly, "for making spacemen out of the Polaris crew!" He saluted sharply and walked away.
Tom suddenly burst from the room with Roger and Astro yelling after him.
"Hey, Tom, where you going?" yelled Roger.
"I've got to get a bottle of that water out of the canal for my kid brother Billy!" shouted Tom and disappeared down a slidestairs.
Roger turned to Astro and said, "That's what I call a real spaceman."
"What do you mean?" asked Astro.
"After what we've been through, he still remembers that his kid brother wants a bottle of water from a canal as a souvenir!"
"Yeah," breathed Astro, "Tom Corbett is—is—a real spaceman!"
Tom and Roger stopped and strained their eyes in the bright sunshine.
"I think you're right," said Tom at last. "But I doubt if anyone's there. Looks like an abandoned mining shack to me."
"Who wants to stand here and debate the question?" asked Roger, and started off down the side of the canal at a lope, with Astro and Tom right behind him.
During the last three days the boys had been living off the contents of the last remaining food container and the few lichens they found growing along the canal. Their strength was weakening, but with an abundant supply of water near at hand and able to combat the sun's heat with frequent swims, they were still in fair condition.
Tom was the first to reach the building, a one-story structure made of dried mud from the canal. The shutters and the door had long since been torn away by countless sandstorms.
The three boys entered the one-room building cautiously. The floor was covered with sand, and sand was [Pg 210]piled in heaping drifts in front of the open windows and door.
"Nothing—not a thing," said Roger disgustedly. "This place must be at least a hundred and fifty years old."
"Probably built by a miner," commented Tom.
"What do you mean 'nothing'?" said Astro. "Look!"
They followed Astro's pointing finger to the ceiling. Crisscrossed, from wall to wall, were heavy wooden beams.
"Raft!" Tom cried.
"That's right, spaceman," said Astro, "a raft. There's enough wood up there to float the Polaris. Come on!"
Astro hurried outside, with Tom and Roger following at his heels. They quickly climbed to the roof of the old building and soon were ripping the beams from the crumbling mud. Fortunately the beams had been joined by notching the ends of the crosspieces. Astro explained that this was necessary because of the premium on nails when the house was built. Everything at that time had to be hauled from Earth, and no one wanted to pay the price heavy nails and bolts demanded.
One by one, they removed the heavy beams, until they had eight of them lined up alongside the edge of the canal.
"How do we keep them together?" asked Roger.
"With this!" said Tom. He began ripping his space cloth into long strips. Astro and Roger tugged at the first beam. At last they had it in the water.
"It floats," cried Astro. Tom and Roger couldn't help but shout for joy. They quickly hauled the remaining beams into the water and lashed them together. Without hesitation, they shoved the raft into the canal, climbing aboard and standing like conquering heroes, [Pg 211]as the raft moved out into the main flow of the canal and began to drift forward.
"I dub thee—Polaris the Second," said Tom in formal tones and gave the nearest beam a kick.
Astro and Roger gave a lusty cheer.
Steadily, silently, the raft bore them through the never-changing scene of the canal's muddy banks and the endlessness of the desert beyond.
Protecting themselves from the sun during the day by repeated dunkings in the water, they traveled day and night in a straight course down the center of the canal. At night, the tiny moon, Deimos, climbed across the desert and reflected light upon the satin-smooth water.
The third day on the raft they began to feel the pangs of hunger. And where during their march through the desert, their thoughts were of water, now visions of endless tables of food occupied their thoughts. At first, they talked of their hunger, dreaming up wild combinations of dishes and giving even wilder estimates of how much each could consume. Finally, discovering that talking about it only intensified their desire, they kept a stolid silence. When the heat became unbearable, they simply took to the water. Once Tom's grip on the raft slipped and Roger plunged in after him without a moment's hesitation, only to have Astro go in to save both of them.
On and on—down the canal, the three boys floated. Days turned into nights, and nights, cooling and refreshing, gave way to the blazing sun of the next day. The silent desert swept past them.
One night, when Astro, unable to sleep, was staring ahead into the darkness, he heard a rustling in the water alongside the raft. He moved slowly to the edge of the raft and peered down into the clear water. [Pg 212]
He saw a fish!
The big cadet watched it dart around the raft. He waited, his body tense. Once the fish came to the edge of the raft, but before Astro could move his arm, it darted off in another direction.
At last the fish disappeared and Astro sank back on the timbers. He trailed one hand over the side in the water, and suddenly, felt the rough scales of the fish brush his fingers. In a flash, Astro closed his hand and snatched the wriggling creature out of the water.
"Tom—Roger—" he shouted. "Look—look—a fish—I caught a fish with my bare hands!"
Tom rolled over and opened his eyes. Roger sat in bewilderment.
"I watched him—I was watching him and then he went away. And then I held my hand over the side of the raft and he came snooping around and—well, I just grabbed him!"
He held the fish in the viselike grip of his right hand until it stopped moving.
"You know," said Tom weakly, "I just remembered. When we were in the Science Building in Atom City, one of their projects was to breed both Earth and Venus fish in the canals."
"I am going to shake, personally, the hand of the man who started this project when we get back to Atom City," said Astro.
Suddenly Roger gripped Tom's arms. He was staring in the direction the raft was going. "Tom—" he breathed, "Astro—look!"
They turned and peered into the dusk. In the distance, not a mile away, was the huge crystal-clear dome of the atmosphere booster station, its roaring atomic motors sending a steady purring sound out across the desert. [Pg 213]
"We made it," said Tom, choking back the tears. "We made it!"
"Well, blast my jets," said Astro. "We sure did!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"And you mean to tell me, you walked across that desert?" asked Captain Strong.
Tom glanced over at Astro and Roger. "We sure did, sir."
"With Astro doing the last stretch to the canal carrying me and dragging Tom," said Roger as he sipped his hot broth.
The room in the chief engineer's quarters at the atmosphere station was crowded with workers, enlisted Solar Guardsmen and officers of the Solar Guard. They stood around staring in disbelief at the three disheveled cadets.
"But how did you ever survive?" asked Strong. "By the craters of Luna, that blasted desert was hotter this past month than it has ever been since Mars was first colonized by Earthmen. Why—why—you were walking through temperatures that reached a hundred and fifty degrees!"
"You don't have to convince us, sir," said Roger with a smile. "We'll never forget it as long as we live."
Later, when Tom, Roger and Astro had taken a shower and dressed in fresh uniforms, Strong came in with an audioscriber and the three cadets gave the full version of their adventure for the official report back to the Academy. When they had finished, Strong told them of his efforts to find them.
"We knew you were in trouble right away," said Strong, "and we tracked you on radar. But that blasted storm fouled us all up. We figured that the sand would have covered up the ship, and that the chances of finding you in a scout were very small, so I got permission from Commander Walters to organize this ground [Pg 214]search for you." He paused. "Frankly we had just about given up hope. Took us three weeks finally to locate the section of desert you landed in."
"We knew you would come, sir," said Tom, "but we didn't have enough water to wait for you—and we had to leave."
"Boys," said Strong slowly, "I've had a lot of wonderful things happen to me in the Solar Guard. But I have to confess that seeing you three space-brained idiots clinging to that raft, ready to eat a raw fish—well, that was just about the happiest moment of my life."
"Thank you, sir," said Roger, "and I think I can speak for Tom and Astro when I say that seeing you here with over a hundred men, and all this equipment, ready to start searching for us in that desert—well, it makes us feel pretty proud to be members of an outfit where the skipper feels that way about his crew!"
"What happens now, sir?" asked Tom.
"Aside from getting a well-deserved liberty, it's back to the old grind at the Academy. The Polaris is at the spaceport at Marsopolis, waiting for us." He paused and eyed the three cadets with a smile. "I guess the routine at Space Academy will seem a little dull now, after what you've been through."
"Captain Strong," said Astro formally, "I know I speak for Tom and Roger when I say that routine is all we want for a long time to come!"
"Amen!" added Tom and Roger in unison.
"Very well," said Strong. "Polaris unit—Staaaaand TO!"
The three boys snapped to attention.
"You are hereby ordered to report aboard the Polaris at fifteen hundred hours and stand by to raise ship!"
He returned their salutes, turned sharply and walked from the room.
Outside, Steve Strong leaned against the wall and [Pg 215]stared through the crystal shell of the atmosphere station into the endless desert.
"Thank you, Mars," he said softly, "for making spacemen out of the Polaris crew!" He saluted sharply and walked away.
Tom suddenly burst from the room with Roger and Astro yelling after him.
"Hey, Tom, where you going?" yelled Roger.
"I've got to get a bottle of that water out of the canal for my kid brother Billy!" shouted Tom and disappeared down a slidestairs.
Roger turned to Astro and said, "That's what I call a real spaceman."
"What do you mean?" asked Astro.
"After what we've been through, he still remembers that his kid brother wants a bottle of water from a canal as a souvenir!"
"Yeah," breathed Astro, "Tom Corbett is—is—a real spaceman!"
Friday, January 13, 2012
Tom Corbett: Stand By For Mars Ch 21
"How much water left?" asked Astro thickly.
"Enough for one more drink apiece," Tom replied.
"And then what happens?" mumbled Roger through his cracked lips.
"You know what will happen, Roger—you know and I know and Tom knows," muttered Astro grimly.
For eight days they had been struggling across the blistering shifting sands, walking by night, sweltering under the thin space cloth during the day. Their tongues were swollen. Scraggly beards covered their chins and jaws. Roger's lips were cracked. The back of Tom's neck had suffered ten minutes of direct sun and turned into a large swollen blister. Only Astro appeared to be bearing up under the ordeal. There was no sign of their being close to the canal.
"Wanta try marching during the day?" asked Astro. They had broken camp on the evening of the eighth day and were preparing to move on into the never-changing desert.
"If we don't hit the canal sometime during the night, there might be a chance it's close enough to reach in a couple of hours," replied Tom. "Either that, or we've miscalculated altogether."
"How about you, Roger?" asked Astro.
"Whatever you guys decide, I'll be right in back of you." Roger had grown steadily weaker during the last three days and found it difficult to sleep during the hours of rest.
"Then we'll keep marching tomorrow," said Astro.
"Let's move out," said Tom. Roger and Astro shouldered the remaining slender food packs, with Tom carrying the water and space cloth, and they started out into the rapidly darkening desert.
Once again, as on the previous eight nights, the little moon, Deimos, swung across the sky, casting dim shadows ahead of the three marching boys. Tom found it necessary to look at the compass more often. He couldn't trust his sense of direction as much as he had earlier. Once, he had gone for two hours in a direction that was fifty degrees off course. The rest stops also were more frequent now, with each boy throwing his pack to the ground and lying flat on his back, to enjoy the cool breeze that never failed to soothe their scorched faces.
When the sun rose out of the desert on the morning of the ninth day, they stopped, ate a light breakfast of preserved figs, divided the juice evenly among them, and, ripping the space cloth into three sections, wrapped it around themselves like Arabs and continued to walk.
By noon, with the sun directly overhead, they were staggering. At two-thirty the sun and the heat were so overpowering that they stopped involuntarily and tried to sit on the hot sand only to find that they couldn't and so they stumbled on.
Neither Roger nor Astro asked for water. Finally Tom stopped and faced his two unit-mates wobbling on unsteady legs.
"I've gone as far as I can without water. I—I don't think I can go another step. So come on, we'll finish what we've got."
Astro and Roger nodded in quiet agreement. They watched with dull eyes as Tom carefully opened the plastic container of water. He gave each a cup and slowly, cautiously, measured out the remaining water into three equal parts. He held the container up for a full minute allowing the last drop to run out before tossing the empty bottle to one side.
"Here goes," said Tom. He wet his lips, placed a wet finger on his temples and sipped the liquid slowly, allowing it to trickle down his parched throat.
Roger and Astro did the same. After he had wet his lips, Astro took the full amount in his mouth and washed it around, before swallowing it. Roger brought the cup up slowly to his mouth with trembling hands, tipped it shakily, and then before Astro or Tom could catch him, fell to the ground. The precious water spilled into the sand.
Tom and Astro watched dumfounded as the dry sand sucked away the water until nothing remained but a damp spot six inches wide.
"I guess—" began Tom, "I guess that about does it!"
"We'll have to carry him," said Astro simply.
Tom looked up into the eyes of his unit-mate. There he saw a determination that would not be defeated. He nodded his head and stooped over to grapple with Roger's legs. He got one leg under each arm and then tried to straighten up. He fell to the sand and rolled to one side. Astro watched him get up slowly, wearily, his space-cloth covering remaining on the ground, and then, with gritted teeth, try once more to pick Roger's legs up.
Astro put out his hand and touched Tom on the shoulder. His voice was low, hardly above a whisper. "You lead the way, Tom. I'll carry him."
Tom looked up at the big Venusian. Their eyes locked for a moment and then he nodded his head and turned away. He pulled out the pocket compass and through blurred vision read the course beneath its wavering needle. He waved an arm in a direction to the right of them and staggered off.
Astro stooped down, picked Roger up in his arms and slowly got him across his shoulders. Then steadying himself, he walked after Tom.
Suddenly a blast of wind, hot as fire, swept across the sandy plains, whipping the sand up and around the two walking figures, biting into exposed hands and faces. Tom tried to adjust his goggles when the sand began to penetrate around the edges but his fingers shook and he dropped them. In a flash, the sand drove into his eyes, blinding him.
"I can't see, Astro," said Tom in a hoarse whisper when Astro staggered up. "You'll have to guide."
Astro took the compass out of Tom's hand and then placed his unit-mate's hand on his back. Tom gripped the loose folds of the space cloth and uniform beneath and struggled blindly after the big cadet.
The hot sun bore down. The wind kept blowing and Astro, with Roger slung across his back like a sack of potatoes and Tom clinging blindly to his uniform, walked steadily on.
He felt each step would be his last, but with each step he told himself through gritted teeth that he could do ten more—and then ten more—ten more.
He walked, he staggered, and once he fell to the ground, Tom slumping behind him and Roger being tossed limply to the scorching sand. Slowly Astro recovered, helped Tom to his feet, then with the last of his great strength, picked up Roger again. This time, he was unable to get him to his shoulder so he carried him like a baby in his arms.
At last the sun began to drop in the red sky. Astro felt Roger's limp body slipping from his grip. By now, Tom had lost all but the very last ounce of his strength and was simply being pulled along.
"Tom—" gasped Astro with great effort, "I'm going to count to a thousand and then—I'm going to stop."
Tom didn't answer.
Astro began to count. "One—two—three—four—five—six—" He tried to make each number become a step forward. He closed his eyes. It wasn't important which way he went. It was only important that he walk those thousand steps, "five hundred eleven—five hundred twelve—five hundred thirteen—"
Involuntarily he opened his eyes when he felt himself climbing up a small rise in the sand. He opened his eyes and ten feet away was the flat blue surface of the canal they had been searching for.
"You can let go now, Tom," said Astro in a voice hardly above a whisper. "We made it. We're on the bank of the canal."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey, Roger," yelled Astro from the middle of the canal, "ever see a guy make like a submarine?"
Tom and Roger sat on the top of the low bank of the canal drying off from a swim, while Astro still splashed around luxuriating in the cool water.
"Go on," yelled Roger, "let's see you drown yourself!"
"Not me, hot-shot," yelled Astro. "After that walk, all I'd have to do is open my mouth and start drinking."
Finally tiring of his sport, the big Venusian pulled himself up onto the bank of the canal and quickly dressed. Pulling on his space boots, he turned to Tom and Roger, who were breaking out the last two containers of food.
"You know, Astro," said Roger quietly, "I'll never be able to repay you for carrying me."
Tom was quiet for a moment, and then added, "Same here, Astro."[
Astro grinned from ear to ear. "Answer me this one question, both of you. Would you have done it for me?"
The two boys nodded.
"Then you paid me. As long as I know I'm backed up by two guys like you, then I'm paid. Carrying you, Roger, was just something I could do for you at that particular time. One of these days, when we get out of this oven, there'll come a time when you or Tom will do something for me—and that's the way it should be."
"Thanks, Astro," said Roger. He reached over and put his hand on top of Astro's, and then Tom placed his hand on top of theirs. The three boys were quiet for a moment. There was an understanding in each of them that they had accomplished more than just survival in a desert. They had learned to respect each other. They were a unit at last.
"What do we do next?" asked Roger.
"Start walking that way," said Tom, pointing to his left along the bank of the canal that stretched off in a straight line to the very horizon. "If we're lucky, we might be able to find something to use as a raft and then we can ride."
"Think there are any fish in this canal?" asked Astro, gazing out over the cool blue water.
"Doubt it. At least I've never heard of there being any," replied Tom.
"Well," said Roger, standing up, "you can go a lot farther without food than you can without water. And we still have that big container of ham left."
"Yeah, as soon as it gets hot, we just swim instead of walk," said Astro. "And, believe me, there's going to be a lot of swimming done!"
"Think we might strike anything down that way," asked Roger. He looked down the canal in the direction Tom had indicated.
"That's the direction of the nearest atmosphere booster station. At least that was the way it looked on the chart. All of them were built near the canals."
"How far away do you think it is?" asked Astro.
"Must be at least three hundred miles."
"Let's start moving," said Roger, "and hope we can find something that'll float us on the canal."
Single file, wearing the space cloths once more as protection against the sun, they walked along the bank of the canal. When the heat became unbearable, they dipped the squares of space cloths into the water and wrapped themselves in them. When they began to dry out, they would repeat the process. At noon, when the sun dried the fabric nearly as fast as they could wet it, they stopped and slipped over the edge of the bank into the cool water. Covering their heads with the cloths they remained partly submerged until the late afternoon. When the sun had lost some of its power, again they climbed out and continued walking.
Marching late into the night, they made camp beside the canal, finished the last container of food, and, for the first time since leaving the ship, slept during the night. By the time Deimos had risen in the sky, they were sound asleep.
"Enough for one more drink apiece," Tom replied.
"And then what happens?" mumbled Roger through his cracked lips.
"You know what will happen, Roger—you know and I know and Tom knows," muttered Astro grimly.
For eight days they had been struggling across the blistering shifting sands, walking by night, sweltering under the thin space cloth during the day. Their tongues were swollen. Scraggly beards covered their chins and jaws. Roger's lips were cracked. The back of Tom's neck had suffered ten minutes of direct sun and turned into a large swollen blister. Only Astro appeared to be bearing up under the ordeal. There was no sign of their being close to the canal.
"Wanta try marching during the day?" asked Astro. They had broken camp on the evening of the eighth day and were preparing to move on into the never-changing desert.
"If we don't hit the canal sometime during the night, there might be a chance it's close enough to reach in a couple of hours," replied Tom. "Either that, or we've miscalculated altogether."
"How about you, Roger?" asked Astro.
"Whatever you guys decide, I'll be right in back of you." Roger had grown steadily weaker during the last three days and found it difficult to sleep during the hours of rest.
"Then we'll keep marching tomorrow," said Astro.
"Let's move out," said Tom. Roger and Astro shouldered the remaining slender food packs, with Tom carrying the water and space cloth, and they started out into the rapidly darkening desert.
Once again, as on the previous eight nights, the little moon, Deimos, swung across the sky, casting dim shadows ahead of the three marching boys. Tom found it necessary to look at the compass more often. He couldn't trust his sense of direction as much as he had earlier. Once, he had gone for two hours in a direction that was fifty degrees off course. The rest stops also were more frequent now, with each boy throwing his pack to the ground and lying flat on his back, to enjoy the cool breeze that never failed to soothe their scorched faces.
When the sun rose out of the desert on the morning of the ninth day, they stopped, ate a light breakfast of preserved figs, divided the juice evenly among them, and, ripping the space cloth into three sections, wrapped it around themselves like Arabs and continued to walk.
By noon, with the sun directly overhead, they were staggering. At two-thirty the sun and the heat were so overpowering that they stopped involuntarily and tried to sit on the hot sand only to find that they couldn't and so they stumbled on.
Neither Roger nor Astro asked for water. Finally Tom stopped and faced his two unit-mates wobbling on unsteady legs.
"I've gone as far as I can without water. I—I don't think I can go another step. So come on, we'll finish what we've got."
Astro and Roger nodded in quiet agreement. They watched with dull eyes as Tom carefully opened the plastic container of water. He gave each a cup and slowly, cautiously, measured out the remaining water into three equal parts. He held the container up for a full minute allowing the last drop to run out before tossing the empty bottle to one side.
"Here goes," said Tom. He wet his lips, placed a wet finger on his temples and sipped the liquid slowly, allowing it to trickle down his parched throat.
Roger and Astro did the same. After he had wet his lips, Astro took the full amount in his mouth and washed it around, before swallowing it. Roger brought the cup up slowly to his mouth with trembling hands, tipped it shakily, and then before Astro or Tom could catch him, fell to the ground. The precious water spilled into the sand.
Tom and Astro watched dumfounded as the dry sand sucked away the water until nothing remained but a damp spot six inches wide.
"I guess—" began Tom, "I guess that about does it!"
"We'll have to carry him," said Astro simply.
Tom looked up into the eyes of his unit-mate. There he saw a determination that would not be defeated. He nodded his head and stooped over to grapple with Roger's legs. He got one leg under each arm and then tried to straighten up. He fell to the sand and rolled to one side. Astro watched him get up slowly, wearily, his space-cloth covering remaining on the ground, and then, with gritted teeth, try once more to pick Roger's legs up.
Astro put out his hand and touched Tom on the shoulder. His voice was low, hardly above a whisper. "You lead the way, Tom. I'll carry him."
Tom looked up at the big Venusian. Their eyes locked for a moment and then he nodded his head and turned away. He pulled out the pocket compass and through blurred vision read the course beneath its wavering needle. He waved an arm in a direction to the right of them and staggered off.
Astro stooped down, picked Roger up in his arms and slowly got him across his shoulders. Then steadying himself, he walked after Tom.
Suddenly a blast of wind, hot as fire, swept across the sandy plains, whipping the sand up and around the two walking figures, biting into exposed hands and faces. Tom tried to adjust his goggles when the sand began to penetrate around the edges but his fingers shook and he dropped them. In a flash, the sand drove into his eyes, blinding him.
"I can't see, Astro," said Tom in a hoarse whisper when Astro staggered up. "You'll have to guide."
Astro took the compass out of Tom's hand and then placed his unit-mate's hand on his back. Tom gripped the loose folds of the space cloth and uniform beneath and struggled blindly after the big cadet.
The hot sun bore down. The wind kept blowing and Astro, with Roger slung across his back like a sack of potatoes and Tom clinging blindly to his uniform, walked steadily on.
He felt each step would be his last, but with each step he told himself through gritted teeth that he could do ten more—and then ten more—ten more.
He walked, he staggered, and once he fell to the ground, Tom slumping behind him and Roger being tossed limply to the scorching sand. Slowly Astro recovered, helped Tom to his feet, then with the last of his great strength, picked up Roger again. This time, he was unable to get him to his shoulder so he carried him like a baby in his arms.
At last the sun began to drop in the red sky. Astro felt Roger's limp body slipping from his grip. By now, Tom had lost all but the very last ounce of his strength and was simply being pulled along.
"Tom—" gasped Astro with great effort, "I'm going to count to a thousand and then—I'm going to stop."
Tom didn't answer.
Astro began to count. "One—two—three—four—five—six—" He tried to make each number become a step forward. He closed his eyes. It wasn't important which way he went. It was only important that he walk those thousand steps, "five hundred eleven—five hundred twelve—five hundred thirteen—"
Involuntarily he opened his eyes when he felt himself climbing up a small rise in the sand. He opened his eyes and ten feet away was the flat blue surface of the canal they had been searching for.
"You can let go now, Tom," said Astro in a voice hardly above a whisper. "We made it. We're on the bank of the canal."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey, Roger," yelled Astro from the middle of the canal, "ever see a guy make like a submarine?"
Tom and Roger sat on the top of the low bank of the canal drying off from a swim, while Astro still splashed around luxuriating in the cool water.
"Go on," yelled Roger, "let's see you drown yourself!"
"Not me, hot-shot," yelled Astro. "After that walk, all I'd have to do is open my mouth and start drinking."
Finally tiring of his sport, the big Venusian pulled himself up onto the bank of the canal and quickly dressed. Pulling on his space boots, he turned to Tom and Roger, who were breaking out the last two containers of food.
"You know, Astro," said Roger quietly, "I'll never be able to repay you for carrying me."
Tom was quiet for a moment, and then added, "Same here, Astro."[
Astro grinned from ear to ear. "Answer me this one question, both of you. Would you have done it for me?"
The two boys nodded.
"Then you paid me. As long as I know I'm backed up by two guys like you, then I'm paid. Carrying you, Roger, was just something I could do for you at that particular time. One of these days, when we get out of this oven, there'll come a time when you or Tom will do something for me—and that's the way it should be."
"Thanks, Astro," said Roger. He reached over and put his hand on top of Astro's, and then Tom placed his hand on top of theirs. The three boys were quiet for a moment. There was an understanding in each of them that they had accomplished more than just survival in a desert. They had learned to respect each other. They were a unit at last.
"What do we do next?" asked Roger.
"Start walking that way," said Tom, pointing to his left along the bank of the canal that stretched off in a straight line to the very horizon. "If we're lucky, we might be able to find something to use as a raft and then we can ride."
"Think there are any fish in this canal?" asked Astro, gazing out over the cool blue water.
"Doubt it. At least I've never heard of there being any," replied Tom.
"Well," said Roger, standing up, "you can go a lot farther without food than you can without water. And we still have that big container of ham left."
"Yeah, as soon as it gets hot, we just swim instead of walk," said Astro. "And, believe me, there's going to be a lot of swimming done!"
"Think we might strike anything down that way," asked Roger. He looked down the canal in the direction Tom had indicated.
"That's the direction of the nearest atmosphere booster station. At least that was the way it looked on the chart. All of them were built near the canals."
"How far away do you think it is?" asked Astro.
"Must be at least three hundred miles."
"Let's start moving," said Roger, "and hope we can find something that'll float us on the canal."
Single file, wearing the space cloths once more as protection against the sun, they walked along the bank of the canal. When the heat became unbearable, they dipped the squares of space cloths into the water and wrapped themselves in them. When they began to dry out, they would repeat the process. At noon, when the sun dried the fabric nearly as fast as they could wet it, they stopped and slipped over the edge of the bank into the cool water. Covering their heads with the cloths they remained partly submerged until the late afternoon. When the sun had lost some of its power, again they climbed out and continued walking.
Marching late into the night, they made camp beside the canal, finished the last container of food, and, for the first time since leaving the ship, slept during the night. By the time Deimos had risen in the sky, they were sound asleep.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Tom Corbett: Stand By For Mars Ch 20
"Got everything we need?" asked Tom.
"Everything we'll need—and about all we can safely carry without weighing ourselves down too much," answered Roger. "Enough food for a week, the rest of the Martian water, space goggles to protect our eyes from the sun and emergency lights for each of us."
"Not much to walk a hundred and fifty miles on," offered Astro. "Too bad the sand got in the galley and messed up the rest of that good food."
"We'll have plenty to get us by—if my calculations are right," said Tom. "One hundred and fifty-four miles to be exact."
"Exact only as far as my sun sight told me," said Roger.
"Do you think it's right?" asked Tom.
"I'll answer you this way," Roger replied. "I took that sight six times in a half hour and got a mean average on all of them that came out within a few miles of each other. If I'm wrong, I'm very wrong, but if I'm right, we're within three to five miles of the position I gave you."
"That's good enough for me," said Astro. "If we're going out there"—he pointed toward the desert—"instead of sitting around here waiting for Strong or someone to show up, then I'd just as soon go now!"
"Wait a minute, fellas. Let's get this straight," said Tom. "We're all agreed that the odds on Captain Strong's showing up here before our water runs out are too great to risk it, and that we'll try to reach the nearest canal. The most important thing in this place is water. If we stay and the water we have runs out, we're done for. If we go, we might not reach the canal—and the chance of being spotted in the desert is even smaller than if we wait here at the ship." He paused. "So we move on?" He looked at the others. Astro nodded and looked at Roger, who bobbed his head in agreement.
"O.K., then," said Tom, "it's settled. We'll move at night when it's cool, and try to rest during the day when it's the hottest."
Roger looked up at the blazing white sphere in the pale-blue sky that burned down relentlessly. "I figure we have about six hours before she drops for the day," he said.
"Then let's go back inside the ship and get some rest," he said.
Without another word, the three cadets climbed back inside the ship and made places for themselves amid the littered deck of the control room. A hot wind blew out of the New Sahara through the open port like a breath of fire. Stripped to their shorts, the three boys lay around the deck unable to sleep, each thinking quietly about the task ahead, each remembering stories of the early pioneers who first reached Mars. In the mad rush for the uranium-yielding pitchblende, they had swarmed over the deserts toward the dwarf mountains by the thousands. Greedy, thinking only of the fortunes that could be torn from the rugged little mountains, they had come unprepared for the heat of the Martian deserts and nine out of ten had never returned.
Each boy thought, too, of the dangers they had just faced. This new danger was different. This was something that couldn't be defeated with an idea or a sudden lucky break. This danger was ever present—a fight against nature, man against the elements on an alien planet. It was a battle of endurance that would wring the last drop of moisture mercilessly from the body, until it became a dry, brittle husk.
"Getting pretty close to sundown," said Tom finally. He stood beside the open port and shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun, now slowly sinking below the Martian horizon.
"I guess we'd better get going," said Roger. "All set, Astro?"
"Ready, Roger," answered the Venusian.
The three boys dressed and arranged the food packs on their backs. Tom carried the remainder of the Martian water, two quart plastic containers, and a six-yard square of space cloth, an extremely durable flyweight fabric that would serve as protection from the sun during the rest stop of the day. Roger and Astro carried the food in compact packs on their backs. Each boy wore a makeshift hat of space cloth, along with space goggles, a clear sheet of colored plastic that fitted snugly across the face. All three carried emergency lights salvaged from the wrecked ship.
Tom walked out away from the ship several hundred yards and studied his pocket compass. He held it steady for a moment, watching the needle swing around. He turned and walked slowly still watching the needle of the compass. He waited for it to steady again, then turned back to Roger and Astro who stood watching from the window port.
"This is the way." Tom pointed away from the ship. "Three degrees south of east, one hundred and fifty-four miles away, if everything is correct, should bring us smack on top of a major canal."
"So long, Lady Venus," said Astro, as he left the ship.
"Don't think it hasn't been fun," added Roger, "because it hasn't!"
Astro fell in behind Roger, who in turn followed Tom who walked some ten feet ahead. A light breeze sprang up and blew across the surface of the powdery sand. Ten minutes later, when they stopped to adjust their shoulder packs, they looked back. The breeze had obliterated their tracks and the mountain of sand covering the spaceship appeared to be no different from any of the other small dunes on the desert. The New Sahara desert of Mars had claimed another Earth-ship victim.
"If we can't see the Lady Venus standing still, and knowing where to look," said Astro, "how could a man in a rocket scout ever find it?"
"He wouldn't," said Roger flatly. "And when the water ran out, we'd just be sitting there."
"We're losing time," said Tom. "Let's move." He lengthened his stride through the soft sand that sucked at his high space boots and faced the already dimming horizon. The light breeze felt good on his face.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The three cadets had no fear of running into anything in their march through the darkness across the shifting sands. And only an occasional flash of the emergency light to check the compass was necessary to keep them moving in the right direction.
There wasn't much talk. There wasn't much to talk about. About nine o'clock the boys stopped and opened one of the containers of food and ate a quick meal of sandwiches. This was followed by a carefully measured ounce of water, and fifteen minutes later they resumed their march across the New Sahara.
About ten o'clock, Deimos, one of the small twin moons of Mars, swung up overhead, washing the desert with a pale cold light. By morning, when the cherry-red sun broke the line of the horizon, Tom estimated that they had walked about twenty miles.
"Think we ought to camp here?" asked Astro.
"If you can show me a better spot," said Roger with a laugh, "I'll be happy to use it!" He swung his arm in a wide circle, indicating a wasteland of sand that spread as far as the eyes could see.
"I could go for another hour or so," said Astro, "before it gets too hot."
"And wait for the heat to reach the top of the thermometer? Uh-huh, not me," said Roger. "I'll take as much sleep as I can get now—while it's still a little cool."
"Roger's right," said Tom. "We'd better take it easy now. We won't be able to get much sleep after noon."
"What do we do from noon until evening?" asked Astro.
"Aside from just sitting under this hunk of space cloth, I guess we'll come as close to being roasted alive as a human can get."
"You want to eat now?" asked Astro.
Tom and Roger laughed. "I'm not hungry, but you go ahead," said Tom. "I know that appetite of yours won't wait."
"I'm not too hungry either," said Roger. "Go ahead, you clobber-headed juice jockey."
Astro grinned sheepishly, and opening one of the containers of food, quickly wolfed down a breakfast of smoked Venusian fatfish.
Tom and Roger began spreading the space cloth on the sand that was already hot to the touch. Anchoring the four corners in the sand with the emergency lights and one of Tom's boots, they propped up the center with the food packs, one on top of the other. A crude tent was the result and both boys crawled in under, sprawling on the sand. Astro finished eating, lay down beside his two unit-mates, and in a moment the three cadets were sound asleep.
The sun climbed steadily over the desert while the Polaris unit slept. With each hour, the heat of the desert rose, climbing past the hundred mark, reaching one hundred and twenty, then one hundred and thirty-five degrees.
Tom woke up with a start. He felt as if he were inside a blazing furnace. He rolled over and saw Astro and Roger still asleep, sweat pouring off them in small rivulets. He started to wake them, but decided against it and just lay still under the thin sheet of space cloth that protected him from the sun. As light as the fabric square was, weighing no more than a pound, under the intense heat of the sun it felt like a woolen blanket where it touched him. Astro rolled over and opened his eyes.
"What time is it, Tom?"
"Must be about noon. How do you feel?"
"I'm not sure yet. I had a dream." The big cadet rubbed his eyes and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I dreamed I was being shoved into an oven—like Hansel and Gretel in that old fairy tale."
"Personally," mumbled Roger, without opening his eyes, "I'll take Hansel and Gretel. They might be a little more tender."
"I could do with a drink," said Astro, looking at Tom.
Tom hesitated. He felt that as hot as it was, it would get still hotter and there had to be strict control of the remainder of the water.
"Try to hold out a little longer, Astro," said Tom. "This heat hasn't really begun yet. You could drink the whole thing and still want more."
"That's right, Astro," said Roger, sitting up. "Best thing to do is just wet your tongue and lips a little. Drinking won't do much good now."
"O.K. by me," said Astro. "Well, what do we do now?"
"We sit here and we wait," answered Tom. He sat up and held the space cloth up on his side.
"You get in the middle, Astro," suggested Roger. "Your head is up higher than mine and Tom's. You can be the tent pole under this big top."
Astro grunted and changed places with the smaller cadet.
"Think there might be a breeze if we opened up one side of this thing?" asked Roger.
"If there was a breeze," answered Tom, "it'd be so hot, it'd be worse than what we've got inside."
"It sure is going to be a hot day," said Astro softly.
The thin fabric of the space cloth was enough to protect them from the direct rays of the sun, but offered very little protection against the heat. Soon the inside of the tent was boiling under the relentless sun.
They sat far apart, their knees pulled up, heads bowed. Once when the heat seemed unbearable, Tom opened one side of the cloth in a desperate hope that it might be a little cooler outside. A blast of hot air entered the makeshift tent and he quickly closed the opening.
About three o'clock Roger suddenly slipped backward and lay sprawled on the sand.
Tom opened one of the containers of water and dipped his shirttail into it. Astro watched him moisten Roger's lips and wipe his temples. In a few moments the cadet stirred and opened his eyes.
"I—I—don't know what happened," he said slowly. "Everything started swimming and then went black."
"You fainted," said Tom simply.
"What time is it?" asked Astro.
"Sun should be dropping soon now, in another couple of hours."
They were silent again. The sun continued its journey across the sky and at last began to slip behind the horizon. When the last red rays stretched across the sandy desert, the three cadets folded back the space-cloth covering and stood up. A soft evening breeze sprang up, refreshing them a little, and though none of them was hungry, each boy ate a light meal.
Tom opened the container of water again and measured out about an ounce apiece.
"Moisten your tongue, and sip it slowly," ordered Tom.
Roger and Astro took their share of the water and dipped fingers in it, wiping their lips and eyelids. They continued to do this until finally, no longer able to resist, they took the precious water and swished it around in their mouths before swallowing it.
They folded the space cloth, shouldered their packs, and after Tom had checked the compass, started their long march toward their plotted destination.
They had survived their first twenty-four hours in the barren wastes of the New Sahara, with each boy acutely aware that there was at least a week more of the same in front of them. The sky blackened, and soon after Deimos rose and started climbing across the dark sky.
"Everything we'll need—and about all we can safely carry without weighing ourselves down too much," answered Roger. "Enough food for a week, the rest of the Martian water, space goggles to protect our eyes from the sun and emergency lights for each of us."
"Not much to walk a hundred and fifty miles on," offered Astro. "Too bad the sand got in the galley and messed up the rest of that good food."
"We'll have plenty to get us by—if my calculations are right," said Tom. "One hundred and fifty-four miles to be exact."
"Exact only as far as my sun sight told me," said Roger.
"Do you think it's right?" asked Tom.
"I'll answer you this way," Roger replied. "I took that sight six times in a half hour and got a mean average on all of them that came out within a few miles of each other. If I'm wrong, I'm very wrong, but if I'm right, we're within three to five miles of the position I gave you."
"That's good enough for me," said Astro. "If we're going out there"—he pointed toward the desert—"instead of sitting around here waiting for Strong or someone to show up, then I'd just as soon go now!"
"Wait a minute, fellas. Let's get this straight," said Tom. "We're all agreed that the odds on Captain Strong's showing up here before our water runs out are too great to risk it, and that we'll try to reach the nearest canal. The most important thing in this place is water. If we stay and the water we have runs out, we're done for. If we go, we might not reach the canal—and the chance of being spotted in the desert is even smaller than if we wait here at the ship." He paused. "So we move on?" He looked at the others. Astro nodded and looked at Roger, who bobbed his head in agreement.
"O.K., then," said Tom, "it's settled. We'll move at night when it's cool, and try to rest during the day when it's the hottest."
Roger looked up at the blazing white sphere in the pale-blue sky that burned down relentlessly. "I figure we have about six hours before she drops for the day," he said.
"Then let's go back inside the ship and get some rest," he said.
Without another word, the three cadets climbed back inside the ship and made places for themselves amid the littered deck of the control room. A hot wind blew out of the New Sahara through the open port like a breath of fire. Stripped to their shorts, the three boys lay around the deck unable to sleep, each thinking quietly about the task ahead, each remembering stories of the early pioneers who first reached Mars. In the mad rush for the uranium-yielding pitchblende, they had swarmed over the deserts toward the dwarf mountains by the thousands. Greedy, thinking only of the fortunes that could be torn from the rugged little mountains, they had come unprepared for the heat of the Martian deserts and nine out of ten had never returned.
Each boy thought, too, of the dangers they had just faced. This new danger was different. This was something that couldn't be defeated with an idea or a sudden lucky break. This danger was ever present—a fight against nature, man against the elements on an alien planet. It was a battle of endurance that would wring the last drop of moisture mercilessly from the body, until it became a dry, brittle husk.
"Getting pretty close to sundown," said Tom finally. He stood beside the open port and shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun, now slowly sinking below the Martian horizon.
"I guess we'd better get going," said Roger. "All set, Astro?"
"Ready, Roger," answered the Venusian.
The three boys dressed and arranged the food packs on their backs. Tom carried the remainder of the Martian water, two quart plastic containers, and a six-yard square of space cloth, an extremely durable flyweight fabric that would serve as protection from the sun during the rest stop of the day. Roger and Astro carried the food in compact packs on their backs. Each boy wore a makeshift hat of space cloth, along with space goggles, a clear sheet of colored plastic that fitted snugly across the face. All three carried emergency lights salvaged from the wrecked ship.
Tom walked out away from the ship several hundred yards and studied his pocket compass. He held it steady for a moment, watching the needle swing around. He turned and walked slowly still watching the needle of the compass. He waited for it to steady again, then turned back to Roger and Astro who stood watching from the window port.
"This is the way." Tom pointed away from the ship. "Three degrees south of east, one hundred and fifty-four miles away, if everything is correct, should bring us smack on top of a major canal."
"So long, Lady Venus," said Astro, as he left the ship.
"Don't think it hasn't been fun," added Roger, "because it hasn't!"
Astro fell in behind Roger, who in turn followed Tom who walked some ten feet ahead. A light breeze sprang up and blew across the surface of the powdery sand. Ten minutes later, when they stopped to adjust their shoulder packs, they looked back. The breeze had obliterated their tracks and the mountain of sand covering the spaceship appeared to be no different from any of the other small dunes on the desert. The New Sahara desert of Mars had claimed another Earth-ship victim.
"If we can't see the Lady Venus standing still, and knowing where to look," said Astro, "how could a man in a rocket scout ever find it?"
"He wouldn't," said Roger flatly. "And when the water ran out, we'd just be sitting there."
"We're losing time," said Tom. "Let's move." He lengthened his stride through the soft sand that sucked at his high space boots and faced the already dimming horizon. The light breeze felt good on his face.
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The three cadets had no fear of running into anything in their march through the darkness across the shifting sands. And only an occasional flash of the emergency light to check the compass was necessary to keep them moving in the right direction.
There wasn't much talk. There wasn't much to talk about. About nine o'clock the boys stopped and opened one of the containers of food and ate a quick meal of sandwiches. This was followed by a carefully measured ounce of water, and fifteen minutes later they resumed their march across the New Sahara.
About ten o'clock, Deimos, one of the small twin moons of Mars, swung up overhead, washing the desert with a pale cold light. By morning, when the cherry-red sun broke the line of the horizon, Tom estimated that they had walked about twenty miles.
"Think we ought to camp here?" asked Astro.
"If you can show me a better spot," said Roger with a laugh, "I'll be happy to use it!" He swung his arm in a wide circle, indicating a wasteland of sand that spread as far as the eyes could see.
"I could go for another hour or so," said Astro, "before it gets too hot."
"And wait for the heat to reach the top of the thermometer? Uh-huh, not me," said Roger. "I'll take as much sleep as I can get now—while it's still a little cool."
"Roger's right," said Tom. "We'd better take it easy now. We won't be able to get much sleep after noon."
"What do we do from noon until evening?" asked Astro.
"Aside from just sitting under this hunk of space cloth, I guess we'll come as close to being roasted alive as a human can get."
"You want to eat now?" asked Astro.
Tom and Roger laughed. "I'm not hungry, but you go ahead," said Tom. "I know that appetite of yours won't wait."
"I'm not too hungry either," said Roger. "Go ahead, you clobber-headed juice jockey."
Astro grinned sheepishly, and opening one of the containers of food, quickly wolfed down a breakfast of smoked Venusian fatfish.
Tom and Roger began spreading the space cloth on the sand that was already hot to the touch. Anchoring the four corners in the sand with the emergency lights and one of Tom's boots, they propped up the center with the food packs, one on top of the other. A crude tent was the result and both boys crawled in under, sprawling on the sand. Astro finished eating, lay down beside his two unit-mates, and in a moment the three cadets were sound asleep.
The sun climbed steadily over the desert while the Polaris unit slept. With each hour, the heat of the desert rose, climbing past the hundred mark, reaching one hundred and twenty, then one hundred and thirty-five degrees.
Tom woke up with a start. He felt as if he were inside a blazing furnace. He rolled over and saw Astro and Roger still asleep, sweat pouring off them in small rivulets. He started to wake them, but decided against it and just lay still under the thin sheet of space cloth that protected him from the sun. As light as the fabric square was, weighing no more than a pound, under the intense heat of the sun it felt like a woolen blanket where it touched him. Astro rolled over and opened his eyes.
"What time is it, Tom?"
"Must be about noon. How do you feel?"
"I'm not sure yet. I had a dream." The big cadet rubbed his eyes and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I dreamed I was being shoved into an oven—like Hansel and Gretel in that old fairy tale."
"Personally," mumbled Roger, without opening his eyes, "I'll take Hansel and Gretel. They might be a little more tender."
"I could do with a drink," said Astro, looking at Tom.
Tom hesitated. He felt that as hot as it was, it would get still hotter and there had to be strict control of the remainder of the water.
"Try to hold out a little longer, Astro," said Tom. "This heat hasn't really begun yet. You could drink the whole thing and still want more."
"That's right, Astro," said Roger, sitting up. "Best thing to do is just wet your tongue and lips a little. Drinking won't do much good now."
"O.K. by me," said Astro. "Well, what do we do now?"
"We sit here and we wait," answered Tom. He sat up and held the space cloth up on his side.
"You get in the middle, Astro," suggested Roger. "Your head is up higher than mine and Tom's. You can be the tent pole under this big top."
Astro grunted and changed places with the smaller cadet.
"Think there might be a breeze if we opened up one side of this thing?" asked Roger.
"If there was a breeze," answered Tom, "it'd be so hot, it'd be worse than what we've got inside."
"It sure is going to be a hot day," said Astro softly.
The thin fabric of the space cloth was enough to protect them from the direct rays of the sun, but offered very little protection against the heat. Soon the inside of the tent was boiling under the relentless sun.
They sat far apart, their knees pulled up, heads bowed. Once when the heat seemed unbearable, Tom opened one side of the cloth in a desperate hope that it might be a little cooler outside. A blast of hot air entered the makeshift tent and he quickly closed the opening.
About three o'clock Roger suddenly slipped backward and lay sprawled on the sand.
Tom opened one of the containers of water and dipped his shirttail into it. Astro watched him moisten Roger's lips and wipe his temples. In a few moments the cadet stirred and opened his eyes.
"I—I—don't know what happened," he said slowly. "Everything started swimming and then went black."
"You fainted," said Tom simply.
"What time is it?" asked Astro.
"Sun should be dropping soon now, in another couple of hours."
They were silent again. The sun continued its journey across the sky and at last began to slip behind the horizon. When the last red rays stretched across the sandy desert, the three cadets folded back the space-cloth covering and stood up. A soft evening breeze sprang up, refreshing them a little, and though none of them was hungry, each boy ate a light meal.
Tom opened the container of water again and measured out about an ounce apiece.
"Moisten your tongue, and sip it slowly," ordered Tom.
Roger and Astro took their share of the water and dipped fingers in it, wiping their lips and eyelids. They continued to do this until finally, no longer able to resist, they took the precious water and swished it around in their mouths before swallowing it.
They folded the space cloth, shouldered their packs, and after Tom had checked the compass, started their long march toward their plotted destination.
They had survived their first twenty-four hours in the barren wastes of the New Sahara, with each boy acutely aware that there was at least a week more of the same in front of them. The sky blackened, and soon after Deimos rose and started climbing across the dark sky.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Santa Cruz women surf over gender barriers on waves and in the lab
From Mercury News: Santa Cruz women surf over gender barriers on waves and in the lab
SANTA CRUZ -- Between sets of waves, surfer Tanya Novak sits on her board and takes in the world around her. She watches tiny crustaceans swimming in her cupped hands. She speculates about what species they are before setting them free again. When the wind picks up and shifts south, she wonders if a storm is brewing somewhere out to sea.
Most surfers, the good ones, are intimately tuned to their environment, monitoring the swell and searching for the best waves. Novak's attention goes beyond that. She is a graduate student at Moss Landing Marine Lab who this month will earn a master's in physical oceanography from Cal State Monterey Bay.
"I'm picking off pieces of algae and rubbing them in my fingers," she said. "Just constantly noticing my surroundings, constantly in that science brain because that's just a part of who I am." That science brain makes Novak rare among surfers. But couple that with her gender and she's even more unusual.
Both surfing and science are historically male-dominated scenes. So many surfer-scientist women must push against misconceptions and stereotypes in two key areas of their lives. The pressure that results shapes their lives and their attitudes.
"I felt like I was representing all women," the 28-year-old Novak said, recalling the nervousness she felt learning the ropes as a marine sciences researcher and the only woman in a group of technicians securing heavy instruments to moorings. "I thought, I better be able to 'man-up' to these physical requirements."
The feeling of being outnumbered should eventually be a thing of the past for women entering the sciences. Women earned 40 percent of doctorates in science and engineering in 2006, compared with 8 percent in 1958, according to a report by the National Science Foundation. But they are still underrepresented in academia's top echelons, holding fewer than a quarter of tenured professorships in science and engineering.
Surfing faces a similar situation. Just fewer than a third of the 2.6 million American surfers are women, according to Board-Trac, a sports market research company.
Still, their numbers at surfing competitions lag behind men. And although more women in recent years have taken up the sport, Novak said, unless she goes out with female friends she is often the only woman at many surf spots.
The scientist at play The relaxed, hang-loose attitude of surfers might not seem to jibe with the rigor and stuffiness of science. But for Novak and other surfer-scientists, that mix gives them a unique life perspective.
"It gives you a cleansing breath," said Shannon Johnson Williams, a research technician at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. "I work at a lab and work at computers all day, so it is kind of a good break to get outside."
Williams said her adviser lets researchers ride the waves at lunchtime. And she thinks that tolerance might pay off.
"I've been puzzling over a problem many times and walked down to the beach," said Williams, 37, of Santa Cruz. "I get in the water and after a few minutes think: 'Oh yeah! I know what's wrong with that sample. It's backwards!'"
Not all her colleagues approve of the surfer lifestyle. "There's plenty of academic snobbery," Williams said. "But they're just missing out."
She recalls when she was out in a boat in May 2005, collecting samples of creatures such as mussels, crabs and tube worms living near deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the South Pacific. Collecting those organisms took her hundreds of miles from shore. By checking some of her favorite surf websites via satellite, she found out that a huge storm was headed her way.
Like many surfers, Williams is obsessed with faraway storms that affect the local surf breaks. A gale near Fiji will send waves across thousands of miles of ocean toward the California coast, where surfers await. Websites keep track of these events and give a surf forecast of how high the swell will be.
But this time, Williams wasn't thinking of heading toward shore and grabbing a board.
"There's no hiding from these storms when you are that far out," she said. "I kept telling the captain we're going to get hammered by this storm and he scoffed at me. 'We don't get our forecast from surf websites,' he said."
Williams got off the boat before the storm hit but caught up with that doubting captain later in Hawaii when he dropped off samples. He admitted that everyone had been in the bunks during the storm, seasick as waves and wind tossed the ship around.
"He was like: 'Turns out that website was pretty good,' " said Williams with a laugh.
The surfer attitude Surfing and science have a lot in common. Both demand focus and passion. And both, if done well, offer great rewards.
"Surfing can be so empowering and it can be so humbling at the same time," Novak said. "You can catch a wave and feel like 'Oh my God, I can't believe I made that drop.' Or you'll think you can make this wave and you end up falling on your face."
Katie Roberts, a 33-year-old Santa Cruz native and staff researcher in marine sciences at UC Santa Cruz, said: "Surfing helps me step back and think about the bigger world and my place." And, she added, scientists think the same way.
"One thing I love is being part of the scientific community -- a bunch of people creatively trying to think of ways the world is working around them," she said. "They're looking at things you can't necessarily see and understand."
Female surfer-scientist role models include Sarah Gerhardt, the first woman to tackle Maverick's, the legendary big-wave break just north of Half Moon Bay. Gerhardt also holds a doctorate in chemistry from UC Santa Cruz and teaches at Cabrillo College, where she is up for tenure this fall.
As a tenure-track college science teacher, Gerhardt is in a tiny minority. Even after doing the work to get a doctorate, many women don't become professors. For some, that is by choice. None of the three scientific researchers interviewed for this article plans to pursue a degree beyond the master's level or teach at a university. They all said that a job as a lab researcher gives them more time to enjoy life - and keep surfing.
Battling the status quo One of the greatest challenges women face is disapproval from colleagues who think that outside interests indicate a lack of commitment to research. This often makes waves when women scientists think about starting a family.
"Any graduate student has to struggle with that decision," said Zia Isola, the associate director for diversity programs in biomedical sciences and engineering at UC Santa Cruz. "But usually it is more because of economics than how they are going to be perceived by their community."
Isola argued that having more women and minorities in sciences results in a broader diversity of perspectives and insights. And Novak has noticed that the same thing happens when more than one woman joins a group of mostly male surfers bobbing in the ocean, waiting for that day's perfect wave.
"The girls are less competitive and aggressive." she said. "I've noticed that guys change attitudes when there are a lot of girls in the water. They start being goofier. I feel like people have more fun when there are girls in the water."
Searching for what God is made of, nuclear physicist finds the color of quarks
From Chicago Business: Searching for what God is made of, nuclear physicist finds the color of quarks
If there exists a point where religion and science intersect, Kawtar Hafidi may have found it.
Raised a devout Muslim in Morocco's capital, Rabat, Ms. Hafidi showed an early curiosity of the theoretical. “When I was little,” she says, “I used to tell my dad, ‘I want to learn what God is made of. I believe in him, but I don't see him.' “
Now a nuclear physicist at Argonne National Laboratory, Ms. Hafidi, 39, is getting closer to her goal. For the last 11 years, she has worked to advance the study of quantum chromodynamics, which describes how quarks—the most fundamental pieces of the universe—form protons, neutrons and other particles.
Her research, which earned her the 2011 Innovator Award from the Assn. for Women in Science, addresses the “color” of quarks, which essentially indicates how they are “charged.” She and her team of postdoctoral students use data derived from a particle accelerator at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Lab in Newport News, Va., which costs an estimated $9,500 an hour to operate.
Specifically, Ms. Hafidi seeks to capture the moment when quarks become free, or transparent. Adjusting the accelerator's speed and intensity, her team found conclusive evidence of an exotic, short-lived state in which quarks are so small they become invisible to other matter, enabling them to pass through a nuclear medium without interaction.
Nuclear physicist Kawtar Hafidi "We should never forget that the origin of human thinking is curiosity," says Kawtar Hafidi. Photo: Erik Unger
It seems worlds away from the practical advances in nuclear physics that have led to technologies like smoke detectors, MRI scans and radiation therapy, but it helps answer the basic question of how we came to be.
“We should never forget that the origin of human thinking is curiosity,” she says. “We have brains; we can invent. I'm sure we can even surprise God sometimes.”
Ms. Hafidi negotiated an obstacle-laden path to get this far. Her father, a middle-class bureaucrat in the Moroccan government, didn't have the money to send her to college. Luckily, her grandmother and aunts—the youngest of whom is a physician—came up with the funds, in some cases by selling jewelry. “They would say, ‘We cannot let you waste your talent here,' “ she says.
After earning an undergraduate degree, she left Rabat to pursue a doctorate in physics at France's University Paris-Sud before joining Argonne as a postdoctoral appointee in 2000.
Ms. Hafidi dramatically disrupts stereotypes about Muslim women outside science, too. Her husband, Brahim, also an Argonne physicist, is the primary caregiver of their 6-year-old son, Omar. She was a member of the original Moroccan national women's soccer team, in 1992, and has a brown belt in mixed martial-arts fighting.
“There's a common misconception about scientists being these old white men in lab coats,” says Joy Ramos, president of the Chicago chapter of AWIS. “She epitomizes the Renaissance woman.”
Tom Corbett: Stand By For Mars Ch 19
"Tom—Roger!" shouted Astro. "I think I've got it!"
Astro, on his knees, pulled a long file blade away from the hatch and jumped to his feet.
"Did you cut all the way through?" asked Tom.
"I don't know—at least I'm not sure," Astro replied, looking down at the hole he had made in the hatch. "But let's give it a try!"
"Think we can force it back enough to get a good hold on it?" asked Roger.
"We'll know in a minute, Roger," said Astro. "Get that steel bar over there and I'll try to slip it in between the hatch and the bulkhead."
Roger rummaged around in the jumble of broken parts and tools on the opposite side of the power deck and found the steel bar Astro wanted. After several attempts to force the hatch open had proven futile, Tom suggested that they try to file the hinges off the hatch, and then attempt to slide it sideways. After much effort, and working in shifts, they had filed through the three hinges, and now were ready to make a last desperate attempt to escape. Astro took the steel bar from Roger and jammed it between the bulkhead wall and the hatch.
"No telling what we'll find on the other side," said Astro. "If the sand has covered up the ship all the way down to here, then we'll never get out!"
"Couldn't we tunnel through it to the top, if it has filled the ship down as far as here?" asked Roger.
"Not through this stuff," said Tom. "It's just like powder."
"Tom's right," said Astro. "As soon as you dig into it, it'll fall right back in on you." He paused and looked at the hatch thoughtfully. "No. The only way we can get out of here is if the sand was only blown into the deck outside and hasn't filled the rest of the ship."
"Only one way to find out," said Tom.
"Yeah," agreed Roger. "Let's get that hatch shoved aside and take a look."
Astro jammed the heavy steel bar farther into the space between the hatch and the bulkhead, and then turned back to his unit-mates.
"Get that piece of pipe over there," he said. "We'll slip it over the end of the bar and that'll give us more leverage."
Tom and Roger scrambled after the length of pipe, slipped it over the end of the bar, and then, holding it at either end, began to apply even pressure against the hatch.
Gradually, a half inch at a time, the heavy steel hatch began to move sideways, sliding out and behind the bulkhead. And as the opening grew larger the fine powderlike sand began to fall into the power deck.
"Let's move it back about a foot and a half," said Tom. "That'll give us plenty of room to get through and see what's on the other side."
Astro and Roger nodded in agreement.
Once more the three boys exerted their strength against the pipe and applied pressure to the hatch. Slowly, grudgingly it moved back, until there was an eighteen-inch opening, exposing a solid wall of the desert sand. Suddenly, as if released by a hidden switch, the sand began to pour into the power deck.
"Watch out!" shouted Tom. The three boys jumped back and looked on in dismay as the sand came rushing through the opening. Gradually it slowed to a stop and the pile in front of the opening rose as high as the hatch itself.
"That does it," said Tom. "Now we've got to dig through and find out how deep that stuff is. And spacemen, between you and me, I hope it doesn't prove too deep!"
"I've been thinking, Tom," said Roger, "suppose it's as high as the upper decks outside? All we have to do is keep digging it out and spreading it around the power deck here until we can get through."
"Only one thing wrong with that idea, Roger," said Tom. "If the whole upper part of the ship is flooded with that stuff, we won't have enough room to spread it around."
"We could always open the reaction chamber and fill that," suggested Astro, indicating the hatch in the floor of the power deck that lead to the reactant chamber.
"I'd just as soon take my chances with sand," said Roger, "as risk opening that hatch. The chamber is still hot from the wildcatting reaction mass we had to dump back in space."
"Well, then, let's start digging," said Tom. He picked up an empty grease bucket and began filling it with sand.
"You two get busy loading them, and I'll dump," said Astro.
"O.K.," replied Tom and continued digging into the sand with his hands.
"Here, use this, Tom," said Roger, offering an empty Martian water container.
Slowly, the three cadets worked their way through the pile on the deck in front of the hatch opening and then started on the main pile in the opening itself. But as soon as they made a little progress on the main pile, the sand would fall right in again from the open hatch, and after two hours of steady work, the sand in front of the hatch still filled the entire opening. Their work had been all for nothing. They sat down for a rest.
"Let's try it a little higher up, Tom," suggested Roger. "Maybe this stuff isn't as deep as we think."
Tom nodded and stepped up, feeling around the top of the opening. He began clawing at the sand overhead. The sand still came pouring through the opening.
"See anything?" asked Astro.
"I—don't—know—" spluttered Tom as the sand slid down burying him to his waist.
"Better back up, Tom," warned Roger. "Might be a cave-in and you'll get buried."
"Wait a minute!" shouted Tom. "I think I see something!"
"A light?" asked Astro eagerly.
"Careful, Tom," warned Roger again.
Tom clawed at the top of the pile, ignoring the sand that was heaped around him.
"I've got it," shouted Tom, struggling back into the power deck just in time to avoid being buried under a sudden avalanche. "There's another hatch up there, just behind the ladder that leads into the passenger lounge. That's the side facing the storm! And as soon as we dig a little, the sand falls from that pile. But the opposite side, leading to the jet-boat deck, is free and clear!"
"Then all we have to do is force our way through to the top," said Astro.
"That's all," said Tom. "We'd be here until doomsday digging our way clear."
"I get it!" said Roger. "The storm filled up the side of the ship facing that way, and that is where the passenger lounge is. I remember now. I left the hatch open when we came down here to the power deck, so the sand just kept pouring in." He smiled sheepishly. "I guess it's all my fault."
"Never mind that now!" said Tom. "Take this hose and stick it in your mouth, Astro. Breath through your mouth and plug up your nose so you won't get it all stopped up with sand while you pull your way through."
"I'll take this rope with me too," said Astro. "That way I can help pull you guys up after me."
"Good idea," said Roger.
"As soon as you get outside the hatch here," said Tom, "turn back this way. Keep your face up against the bulkhead until you get to the top. Right above you is the ladder. You can grab it to pull yourself up."
"O.K.," said Astro and took the length of hose and put it in his mouth. Then, taking a piece of waste cotton, he stopped up his nose and tested the hose.
"Can you breathe O.K.?" asked Tom.
Astro signaled that he could and stepped through the hatch. He turned, and facing backward, began clawing his way upward.
"Keep that hose clear, Roger!" ordered Tom. "There's about five feet of sand that he has to dig through and if any of it gets into the hose—well—"
"Don't worry, Tom," interrupted Roger. "I've got the end of the hose right next to the oxygen bottle. He's getting pure stuff!"
Soon the big cadet was lost to view. Only the slow movement of the hose and rope indicated that Astro was all right. Finally the hose and rope stopped moving.
Tom and Roger looked at each other, worried.
"You think something might be wrong?" asked Tom.
"I don't know—" Roger caught himself. "Say, look—the rope! It's jerking—Astro's signaling!"
"He made it!" cried Tom.
"I wonder if—" Roger suddenly picked up the end of the hose and spoke into it. "Astro? Hey, Astro, can you hear me?"
"Sure I can." Astro's voice came back through the hose. "Don't shout so loud! I'm not on Earth, you know. I'm just ten feet above you!"
Roger and Tom clapped each other on the shoulders in glee.
"All set down there?" called Astro, through the hose.
"O.K." replied Tom.
"Listen," said Astro, "when you get outside the hatch, you'll find a pipe running along the bulkhead right over your head. Grab that and pull yourself up. Tie the rope around your shoulder, but leave enough of it so the next guy can come up. We don't have any way of getting it back down there!" he warned. "Who's coming up first?"
Tom looked at Roger.
"You're stronger, Tom," said Roger. "You go up now and then you can give Astro a hand pulling me through."
"All right," agreed Tom. He began pulling the hose back through the sand. He took the end, cleared it out with a few blasts from the oxygen bottle and put it in his mouth. Then, after Roger had helped him tie the rope around his shoulders, he stuffed his nose with the waste cotton. He stepped to the opening. Roger gave three quick jerks on the rope and Astro started hauling in.
With Astro's help, Tom was soon free and clear, standing beside Astro on the jet-boat deck.
"Phoooeeeey!" said Tom, spitting out the sand that had filtered into his mouth. "I never want to do that again!" He dusted himself off and flashed his emergency light around the deck. "Look at that!" he said in amazement. "If we'd kept on digging, we'd have been trapped down there for—" he paused and looked at Astro who was grinning—"a long, long time!" He held the light on the sand that was flowing out of the open hatch of the passenger lounge.
"Come on," urged Astro. "Let's get Roger out of there!"
They called to Roger through the hose and told him to bring two more emergency lights and the remainder of the Martian water. Three minutes later the Polaris unit was together again.
Standing on the deck beside his two unit-mates, Roger brushed himself off and smiled. "Well," he said, "looks like we made it!"
"Yeah," said Tom, "but take a look at this!" He walked across the jet-boat deck to the nearest window port. What should have been a clear view of the desert was a mass of solidly packed sand.
"Oh, no!" cried Roger. "Don't tell me we have to go through that again?"
"I don't think it'll be so bad this time," said Astro.
"Why not?" asked Tom.
"The sand is banked the heaviest on the port side of the ship. And the window ports on the starboard side of the control deck were pretty high off the ground."
"Well, let's not just stand here and talk about it," said Roger. "Let's take a look!" He turned and walked through the jet-boat deck.
Tom and Astro followed the blond cadet through the darkened passages of the dead ship, and after digging a small pile of sand away from the control-deck hatch, found themselves once more amid the jumble of the wrecked instruments.
For the first time in three days, the boys saw sunlight streaking through the crystal port.
"I told you," cried Astro triumphantly.
"But there still isn't any way out of this place!" said Roger. "We can't break that port. It's six inches thick!"
"Find me a wrench," said Astro. "I can take the whole window port apart from inside. How do you think they replace these things when they get cracked?"
Hurriedly searching through the rubble, Tom finally produced a wrench and handed it to Astro. In a half hour Astro had taken the whole section down and had pushed the crystal outward. The air of the desert rushed into the control room in a hot blast.
"Whew!" cried Roger. "It must be at least a hundred and twenty-five degrees out there!"
"Come on. Let's take a look," said Tom. "And keep your fingers crossed!"
"Why?" asked Roger.
"That we can dig enough of the sand away from the ship to make it recognizable from the air."
Following Tom's lead, Roger and Astro climbed through the open port and out onto the sand.
"Well, blast my jets!" said Astro. "You can't even tell there was a storm."
"You can't if you don't look at the ship," said Tom bitterly. "That was the only thing around here of any size that would offer resistance to the sand and make it pile up. And, spaceman, look at that pile!"
Astro and Roger turned to look at the spaceship. Instead of seeing the ship, they saw a small mountain of sand, well over a hundred feet high. They walked around it and soon discovered that the window port in the control deck had been the only possible way out.
"Call it what you want," said Roger, "but I think it's just plain dumb luck that we were able to get out!" He eyed the mound of sand. Unless one knew there was a spaceship beneath it, it would have been impossible to distinguish it from the rest of the desert.
"We're not in the clear yet!" commented Astro grimly. "It would take a hundred men at least a week to clear away enough of that sand so search parties could recognize it." He glanced toward the horizon. "There isn't anything but sand here, fellows, sand that stretches for a thousand miles in every direction."
"And we've got to walk it," said Tom.
"Either that or sit here and die of thirst," said Roger.
"Any canals around here, Tom?" asked Astro softly.
"There better be," replied Tom thoughtfully. He turned to Roger. "If you can estimate our position, Roger, I'll go back inside and see if I can find a chart to plot it on. That way, we might get a direction to start on at least."
Astro glanced up at the pale-blue sky. "It's going to be a hot day," he said softly, looking out over the flat plain of the desert, "an awful hot day!"
Astro, on his knees, pulled a long file blade away from the hatch and jumped to his feet.
"Did you cut all the way through?" asked Tom.
"I don't know—at least I'm not sure," Astro replied, looking down at the hole he had made in the hatch. "But let's give it a try!"
"Think we can force it back enough to get a good hold on it?" asked Roger.
"We'll know in a minute, Roger," said Astro. "Get that steel bar over there and I'll try to slip it in between the hatch and the bulkhead."
Roger rummaged around in the jumble of broken parts and tools on the opposite side of the power deck and found the steel bar Astro wanted. After several attempts to force the hatch open had proven futile, Tom suggested that they try to file the hinges off the hatch, and then attempt to slide it sideways. After much effort, and working in shifts, they had filed through the three hinges, and now were ready to make a last desperate attempt to escape. Astro took the steel bar from Roger and jammed it between the bulkhead wall and the hatch.
"No telling what we'll find on the other side," said Astro. "If the sand has covered up the ship all the way down to here, then we'll never get out!"
"Couldn't we tunnel through it to the top, if it has filled the ship down as far as here?" asked Roger.
"Not through this stuff," said Tom. "It's just like powder."
"Tom's right," said Astro. "As soon as you dig into it, it'll fall right back in on you." He paused and looked at the hatch thoughtfully. "No. The only way we can get out of here is if the sand was only blown into the deck outside and hasn't filled the rest of the ship."
"Only one way to find out," said Tom.
"Yeah," agreed Roger. "Let's get that hatch shoved aside and take a look."
Astro jammed the heavy steel bar farther into the space between the hatch and the bulkhead, and then turned back to his unit-mates.
"Get that piece of pipe over there," he said. "We'll slip it over the end of the bar and that'll give us more leverage."
Tom and Roger scrambled after the length of pipe, slipped it over the end of the bar, and then, holding it at either end, began to apply even pressure against the hatch.
Gradually, a half inch at a time, the heavy steel hatch began to move sideways, sliding out and behind the bulkhead. And as the opening grew larger the fine powderlike sand began to fall into the power deck.
"Let's move it back about a foot and a half," said Tom. "That'll give us plenty of room to get through and see what's on the other side."
Astro and Roger nodded in agreement.
Once more the three boys exerted their strength against the pipe and applied pressure to the hatch. Slowly, grudgingly it moved back, until there was an eighteen-inch opening, exposing a solid wall of the desert sand. Suddenly, as if released by a hidden switch, the sand began to pour into the power deck.
"Watch out!" shouted Tom. The three boys jumped back and looked on in dismay as the sand came rushing through the opening. Gradually it slowed to a stop and the pile in front of the opening rose as high as the hatch itself.
"That does it," said Tom. "Now we've got to dig through and find out how deep that stuff is. And spacemen, between you and me, I hope it doesn't prove too deep!"
"I've been thinking, Tom," said Roger, "suppose it's as high as the upper decks outside? All we have to do is keep digging it out and spreading it around the power deck here until we can get through."
"Only one thing wrong with that idea, Roger," said Tom. "If the whole upper part of the ship is flooded with that stuff, we won't have enough room to spread it around."
"We could always open the reaction chamber and fill that," suggested Astro, indicating the hatch in the floor of the power deck that lead to the reactant chamber.
"I'd just as soon take my chances with sand," said Roger, "as risk opening that hatch. The chamber is still hot from the wildcatting reaction mass we had to dump back in space."
"Well, then, let's start digging," said Tom. He picked up an empty grease bucket and began filling it with sand.
"You two get busy loading them, and I'll dump," said Astro.
"O.K.," replied Tom and continued digging into the sand with his hands.
"Here, use this, Tom," said Roger, offering an empty Martian water container.
Slowly, the three cadets worked their way through the pile on the deck in front of the hatch opening and then started on the main pile in the opening itself. But as soon as they made a little progress on the main pile, the sand would fall right in again from the open hatch, and after two hours of steady work, the sand in front of the hatch still filled the entire opening. Their work had been all for nothing. They sat down for a rest.
"Let's try it a little higher up, Tom," suggested Roger. "Maybe this stuff isn't as deep as we think."
Tom nodded and stepped up, feeling around the top of the opening. He began clawing at the sand overhead. The sand still came pouring through the opening.
"See anything?" asked Astro.
"I—don't—know—" spluttered Tom as the sand slid down burying him to his waist.
"Better back up, Tom," warned Roger. "Might be a cave-in and you'll get buried."
"Wait a minute!" shouted Tom. "I think I see something!"
"A light?" asked Astro eagerly.
"Careful, Tom," warned Roger again.
Tom clawed at the top of the pile, ignoring the sand that was heaped around him.
"I've got it," shouted Tom, struggling back into the power deck just in time to avoid being buried under a sudden avalanche. "There's another hatch up there, just behind the ladder that leads into the passenger lounge. That's the side facing the storm! And as soon as we dig a little, the sand falls from that pile. But the opposite side, leading to the jet-boat deck, is free and clear!"
"Then all we have to do is force our way through to the top," said Astro.
"That's all," said Tom. "We'd be here until doomsday digging our way clear."
"I get it!" said Roger. "The storm filled up the side of the ship facing that way, and that is where the passenger lounge is. I remember now. I left the hatch open when we came down here to the power deck, so the sand just kept pouring in." He smiled sheepishly. "I guess it's all my fault."
"Never mind that now!" said Tom. "Take this hose and stick it in your mouth, Astro. Breath through your mouth and plug up your nose so you won't get it all stopped up with sand while you pull your way through."
"I'll take this rope with me too," said Astro. "That way I can help pull you guys up after me."
"Good idea," said Roger.
"As soon as you get outside the hatch here," said Tom, "turn back this way. Keep your face up against the bulkhead until you get to the top. Right above you is the ladder. You can grab it to pull yourself up."
"O.K.," said Astro and took the length of hose and put it in his mouth. Then, taking a piece of waste cotton, he stopped up his nose and tested the hose.
"Can you breathe O.K.?" asked Tom.
Astro signaled that he could and stepped through the hatch. He turned, and facing backward, began clawing his way upward.
"Keep that hose clear, Roger!" ordered Tom. "There's about five feet of sand that he has to dig through and if any of it gets into the hose—well—"
"Don't worry, Tom," interrupted Roger. "I've got the end of the hose right next to the oxygen bottle. He's getting pure stuff!"
Soon the big cadet was lost to view. Only the slow movement of the hose and rope indicated that Astro was all right. Finally the hose and rope stopped moving.
Tom and Roger looked at each other, worried.
"You think something might be wrong?" asked Tom.
"I don't know—" Roger caught himself. "Say, look—the rope! It's jerking—Astro's signaling!"
"He made it!" cried Tom.
"I wonder if—" Roger suddenly picked up the end of the hose and spoke into it. "Astro? Hey, Astro, can you hear me?"
"Sure I can." Astro's voice came back through the hose. "Don't shout so loud! I'm not on Earth, you know. I'm just ten feet above you!"
Roger and Tom clapped each other on the shoulders in glee.
"All set down there?" called Astro, through the hose.
"O.K." replied Tom.
"Listen," said Astro, "when you get outside the hatch, you'll find a pipe running along the bulkhead right over your head. Grab that and pull yourself up. Tie the rope around your shoulder, but leave enough of it so the next guy can come up. We don't have any way of getting it back down there!" he warned. "Who's coming up first?"
Tom looked at Roger.
"You're stronger, Tom," said Roger. "You go up now and then you can give Astro a hand pulling me through."
"All right," agreed Tom. He began pulling the hose back through the sand. He took the end, cleared it out with a few blasts from the oxygen bottle and put it in his mouth. Then, after Roger had helped him tie the rope around his shoulders, he stuffed his nose with the waste cotton. He stepped to the opening. Roger gave three quick jerks on the rope and Astro started hauling in.
With Astro's help, Tom was soon free and clear, standing beside Astro on the jet-boat deck.
"Phoooeeeey!" said Tom, spitting out the sand that had filtered into his mouth. "I never want to do that again!" He dusted himself off and flashed his emergency light around the deck. "Look at that!" he said in amazement. "If we'd kept on digging, we'd have been trapped down there for—" he paused and looked at Astro who was grinning—"a long, long time!" He held the light on the sand that was flowing out of the open hatch of the passenger lounge.
"Come on," urged Astro. "Let's get Roger out of there!"
They called to Roger through the hose and told him to bring two more emergency lights and the remainder of the Martian water. Three minutes later the Polaris unit was together again.
Standing on the deck beside his two unit-mates, Roger brushed himself off and smiled. "Well," he said, "looks like we made it!"
"Yeah," said Tom, "but take a look at this!" He walked across the jet-boat deck to the nearest window port. What should have been a clear view of the desert was a mass of solidly packed sand.
"Oh, no!" cried Roger. "Don't tell me we have to go through that again?"
"I don't think it'll be so bad this time," said Astro.
"Why not?" asked Tom.
"The sand is banked the heaviest on the port side of the ship. And the window ports on the starboard side of the control deck were pretty high off the ground."
"Well, let's not just stand here and talk about it," said Roger. "Let's take a look!" He turned and walked through the jet-boat deck.
Tom and Astro followed the blond cadet through the darkened passages of the dead ship, and after digging a small pile of sand away from the control-deck hatch, found themselves once more amid the jumble of the wrecked instruments.
For the first time in three days, the boys saw sunlight streaking through the crystal port.
"I told you," cried Astro triumphantly.
"But there still isn't any way out of this place!" said Roger. "We can't break that port. It's six inches thick!"
"Find me a wrench," said Astro. "I can take the whole window port apart from inside. How do you think they replace these things when they get cracked?"
Hurriedly searching through the rubble, Tom finally produced a wrench and handed it to Astro. In a half hour Astro had taken the whole section down and had pushed the crystal outward. The air of the desert rushed into the control room in a hot blast.
"Whew!" cried Roger. "It must be at least a hundred and twenty-five degrees out there!"
"Come on. Let's take a look," said Tom. "And keep your fingers crossed!"
"Why?" asked Roger.
"That we can dig enough of the sand away from the ship to make it recognizable from the air."
Following Tom's lead, Roger and Astro climbed through the open port and out onto the sand.
"Well, blast my jets!" said Astro. "You can't even tell there was a storm."
"You can't if you don't look at the ship," said Tom bitterly. "That was the only thing around here of any size that would offer resistance to the sand and make it pile up. And, spaceman, look at that pile!"
Astro and Roger turned to look at the spaceship. Instead of seeing the ship, they saw a small mountain of sand, well over a hundred feet high. They walked around it and soon discovered that the window port in the control deck had been the only possible way out.
"Call it what you want," said Roger, "but I think it's just plain dumb luck that we were able to get out!" He eyed the mound of sand. Unless one knew there was a spaceship beneath it, it would have been impossible to distinguish it from the rest of the desert.
"We're not in the clear yet!" commented Astro grimly. "It would take a hundred men at least a week to clear away enough of that sand so search parties could recognize it." He glanced toward the horizon. "There isn't anything but sand here, fellows, sand that stretches for a thousand miles in every direction."
"And we've got to walk it," said Tom.
"Either that or sit here and die of thirst," said Roger.
"Any canals around here, Tom?" asked Astro softly.
"There better be," replied Tom thoughtfully. He turned to Roger. "If you can estimate our position, Roger, I'll go back inside and see if I can find a chart to plot it on. That way, we might get a direction to start on at least."
Astro glanced up at the pale-blue sky. "It's going to be a hot day," he said softly, looking out over the flat plain of the desert, "an awful hot day!"
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