The Future is Now: Indoor Lighting

     One of the downsides to living underground, or on the floor of a light-less alien ocean, is the lack of natural lighting. Most anyone who has spent a significant amount of time in a windowless office, worked in a basement - even a well lit one, or stayed in one of those new windowless bargain hotel rooms knows the close feeling of no windows and the fishbowl depression induced by faux lighting. Most of this effect can be alleviated by the addition of an artificial window. However, the major flaw in merely placing a television screen on a wall - even a high definition model - is that it is still lacking a significant element; sunlight.
     The clear solution to this problem would be an artificial window that could simulate natural light. Fortunately, a new company calling themselves CoeLux has developed an artificial skylight that can simulate natural sunlight. The innovation is quite a leap in technology and has dozens of applications. I, for one, want one in in my future home; assuming they can drop the price a bit below the current $68,000 in the next twenty years...


CoeLux Artificial Skylight Video

Ceres - The Dwarf Planet

As NASA's Dawn spacecraft approaches the dwarf planet Ceres - the largest body in the asteroid field between Mars and Jupiter - it continues to send an impressive array of photos back to Earth. Dawn will pass nearest Ceres sometime in February (probably around the 25th) and we will finally get to see detailed photos of this fascinating dwarf planet. After Dawn passes Ceres, NASA will compile the data and map the planet.

Below is the latest composition of photographs:
Ceres spinning!

Regenerative polymer self heals...

     A 2013 article in Chemistry World (Terminator Polymer) described a polymer that could heal a broken bond with itself after about a two hour recovery period. Not too bad but a little slow. More recently, a research team at the University of Illinois has designed an experimental polymer system that can heal itself much like human body uses blood to clog and fill a minor wound. Using two gel filled "capillaries" this polymer is able to fill a wound up to 9mm in circumference with a two stage gel, probably something like an epoxy mixture, and harden to about 62% strength retention. No mention about how long the process takes but this seems like a better method of repair since damage to soft substances often comes in the form of tears or punctures.
     The existence of regenerative polymer materials was posited in Europa, giving Jonas Black's submarine, Manta, the the ability to heal her hull when damaged. Seeing science fiction becoming science fact is always an exciting prospect...with the exception of Skynet becoming self aware, of course.

For the full article see link below:

Regenerative polymer self heals after injury

NASA E-Mails Wrench?

When Commander Barry Wilmore (of the ISS) needed a wrench the team at Made In Space delivered, via email. The wrench was designed - in CAD - on the ground, emailed to NASA and transmitted to the International Space Station. Commander Wilmore was then able to build the wrench on site using a 3D printer; it may not be rocket science per se, but it's pretty darn cool.

For the full article at Gizmodo see link below:
NASA E-Mails Wrench - Article

Gyroscopic Precession

An interesting concept I stumbled across the other day is Gyroscopic Precession. I am familiar with this concept, not by name but by experience with cycling and motorcycling. The faster the wheels on your cycle of choice are spinning the more difficult it is for that cycle to tip over. I cannot explain it better than the guy on YouTube so I am providing a link to two videos that cover the topic quite well.
Flywheel Experiment
Gyroscopic Precession

Dropping Cats and Blowing Bubbles With an AK-47

Learning new things is occasionally dull, but not when those things involve stunt cats and machine guns.
There have been other videos done on the physics of how cats land on their feet; this one is a bit more fun and the explanation is well put.
Cat Flipping - YouTube Video
The second video is a bit more in depth than the first and involves shooting a rifle, specifically an AK-47, under water. As you watch, note the strange behavior of the bubbles as the gas expands and contracts after exiting the barrel. Bubble bounce is a phenomenon one can observe while scuba diving when bubbles the diver exhales briefly undulate before "stabilizing" on their shaky rise to the surface. The gas of the gunpowder explosion illustrates this phenomenon to the extreme. The host also explains cavitation; something that happens to the hull of a submarine
Underwater Gunfire - YouTube

Mantabot

The University of Virginia has been working with robotic manta, aptly named "Mantabot", in an effort to further their research in the realm of bio-mechanics. I do not know how I missed this article last year but I like the fact the little guy looks a bit like my book cover...

Mantabot Article
Mantabot Video

Voyager 1

Here's the latest update on the furthest man made object from Earth:
www.space.com

Website Trouble

I'm not sure what is going on with my publisher's website, but Google is currently warning that there may be malware on it. The publishing company is aware of the problem, although they are unsure why it has occurred several times in the past month, and they are currently trying to correct it. Until then, be wary of following my JASanderlin.com or JASanderlin.tatepulishing.net addresses to my main site.

JAS

Great Product Review

A colleague sent this link to me. It is a hilarious, and somewhat practical, review of the 'blood rayne' sword on Amazon:
the-single-greatest-amazon-product-review-ever-written

Christmas List

It's a little late in the season for me to be compiling a Christmas wish list, but hey, it's a WISH list. Besides, for the benefit of all the other guys out there who like to be prepared for anything, and who may have trouble putting their hearts desire into words, here are some helpful suggestions to pass on to your significant other; or if all else fails Santa:

1. Stargate SG1 fans, and anyone else with a penchant for great firearms, will love the FN P90 Rifle.

2. You will be ready for the zombie apocalypse, alien invasion or chaos in general with the Gerber Apocalypse Kit and Benelli M2 Shotgun.
3. In the event all of our wonderful technology is wiped out by an EMP attack and we are sent back to the iron age I recommend a purchase from Albion Swords...Just in case you run out of ammo for your P90. I recommend a curved blade if lopping off zombie heads is what the situation requires.

4. The LifeStraw can filter just about anything out of up to 1,000 liters of nasty amoebic dysentery filled water; making it a necessary addition to any survival kit.
5. There are several choices for emergency rations from MREs to freeze dried hiking fare but for the minimalist don't forget Mainstay or (the tastiest) Datrex bar.
6. Until then the Razer Blade gaming laptop: 6.6lbs, 17" monitor, 8GB DDR3 Ram, Nvidia GEForce GPU and 'Switchblade UI' (an on board auxiliary display and touch screen interface) from Razer Gaming Gear should keep you adequately entertained.


Merry Christmas To All

J.A.S.

Eye Tracking

     The Swedish tech firm Tobii appears to have a new spin on the use of eye tracking to interact with the PC. 
"An eye tracker estimates the point of gaze with extreme accuracy using image sensor technology that finds the user’s eyes and calculates the point of gaze with mathematical algorithms. In other words, the eye tracker works much like you would if you face another person and estimate at what they are looking just by observing their eyes." 
     Eye tracking has been around for awhile, but it has yet to gain widespread popularity; possibly due to its inaccuracy. Most systems use either the 'bright pupil' or 'dark pupil' method of the tracking the eye and both have minor flaws such as not working outdoors or not tracking well with certain eye colors. This new system uses both tracking methods in an attempt to eliminate some of the bugs and eliminates some the accessory problems, like the need to wear a headset. The Tobii eye tracking system is in its infancy so whether or not it proves a viable option for the disabled, and a nice performance enhancement for those who are not, remains to be seen. 


Tobii Website
Fox News Story - Eye tracking useful to wounded warriors

Recent Inactivity

Posts have been rather scant lately and will probably remain so until after December. I am currently studying a dizzying array of procedural manuals for a test at work and, although they are extremely dull and I would much rather be writing here or working on my books, their analysis is consuming most of my free time. I will finish editing my second book after the test is over (I was nearly finished when I had to drop it for studying) and begin seeking publishing options sometime in the spring.

For now I thought I would plug teefury.com. They produce one t-shirt per day and you can get it for $10: http://www.teefury.com/ 

Rocket Video

Hey everyone! Here's a great video of a recent rocket launch from Black Rock Desert in Nevada. It reached an altitude of 121,000 feet (22.9 miles)!
If you are prone to motion sickness I would advise against watching the descent.
Rocket Video
Below is the link to the Derek Deville's website, the rocket's designer, which has some great pictures and schematics.
http://ddeville.com/derek/Qu8k.html

Lasers and Orora...Aroruh...The Northern Lights

NASA is gearing up to test their new laser communications system. The test will last for several years and will, hopefully, lead to the implementation of a system that will enable the transmission of a much larger data stream between mission control and mission locations. It will be a complicated process with a lot of links in the technical chain that will have an opportunity to fail. The test platform will contain "telescopes, lasers, mirrors, detectors, a pointing and tracking system, control electronics, and two different types of modems." What does all this mean? It will give them much faster data downloads from probes and rovers: "It currently takes 90 minutes to transmit high-resolution images from Mars, but NASA would like to dramatically reduce that time to just minutes." It  Read the complete article at the NASA website: laser-comm


Also, here are a couple of nifty videos featuring the Aurora Borealis:
As seen from the ISS: Northern Lights from the ISS
Aurora explained: Earth's Aurora

That's what I said!

The space probe that NASA launched recently has sparked some interesting comments.  And I'm not saying I always knew that but srsly, I always knew that.  See also, "Europa" by J.A. Sanderlin.

I tweeted this one when I got it the first time but I think it bears re-blogging the tweet.  This is just cool stuff and I'm putting it out there so maybe one more person can take a peek.  

The Kennebec Journal printed an opinion post about that which I have been raving about for some time now.  And since I agree with it, I'm posting the link here so you can read and agree as well.  And let me just say once more AMEN.

Another upside to brown outs (can't remember what any of the other positives might be just now) is that you can see the night sky better.  

I wonder if they'll ask me what I think?  Doubt it.  But hopefully it will bring more press to the book & to space exploration in general.

Live pictures of Europa you say?  Got em right here!  You have to look pretty hard though but beggars ... etc.

Happy News Day folks!  

Random Bears

I thought this 'mini-Jawa track looking vehicle' camera with Preditor'esque mirror camouflage was pretty awesome. It is similar in concept to the passive black-mirrored camouflage on the Venutian Witch in Europa ...The bears are just a bonus.

http://www.innovationnewsdaily.com/magi-cam-mirror-bears-2074/

Chicago Comic Con

Chicago Comic Con is next week and I will be there signing books! I still have some 'BeAMantaFan' t-shirts left and I decided to give one to everyone who buys a book...until they are gone. So drop by and say hi, hallo, hej, hola or ko ni chi wa!


http://www.wizardworld.com/chicago.html

Trojan

Earth has a Trojan...asteroid that is. Trojans are asteroids that reside in the Lagrangian points of a planet's gravitational field. A Lagrange point is a point around a planet where the gravitational pull of the planet and the Sun allow an object to stay in a fixed position; a bit like geosynchronous orbit. There are six Lagrange points around a planet, L1-L6, and Earth's Trojan is located at the Lagrange point forward of her orbit known as the L4. I was very excited when I found this because I studied Trojans over a year ago and have been wondering ever since whether Earth had any. If you notice the illustration (on the link below) of the object's orbit it is obvious why it was difficult to spot the 1,000' wide object 50 million miles away...

www.space.com/earth asteroid discovered

Apocalyptic News - House Fortress

I saw this a few weeks ago and thought it was pretty cool; one might even go so far as to say it's nifty. A great house for the inevitable zombie apocalypse:

http://www.modernman.com/the-best-house-to-own-when-zombies-attack/