Date: Wed, 12 May 93 05:08:05 From: Space Digest maintainer Reply-To: Space-request@isu.isunet.edu Subject: Space Digest V16 #556 To: Space Digest Readers Precedence: bulk Space Digest Wed, 12 May 93 Volume 16 : Issue 556 Today's Topics: Life on Earth (2 msgs) Life on Mars. (2 msgs) Math?? (Was US govt & Technolgy Investment McElwaine FAQ (3 msgs) Soyuz and Shuttle Comparisons SSTO Alert Update Vandalizing the Sky Viewing Jupiter's Galilean Moons - EJASA Article Yoo hoo, White Sands? (was Re: DC-X Status?) Welcome to the Space Digest!! Please send your messages to "space@isu.isunet.edu", and (un)subscription requests of the form "Subscribe Space " to one of these addresses: listserv@uga (BITNET), rice::boyle (SPAN/NSInet), utadnx::utspan::rice::boyle (THENET), or space-REQUEST@isu.isunet.edu (Internet). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 11 May 93 12:24:52 +0100 From: Adam McCormack Subject: Life on Earth Newsgroups: sci.space In article , 18084TM@msu.edu (Tom) writes: >>>>The sky was never intended to be a billboard (if it >>>>was intended at all!) and hopefully it never shall be. > >>> How do you know ??? Do you have a direct line to God ??? >>>Perhaps the sum purpose of life on Earth is to evolve a species >>>who can paint pictures in the sky ... > >>No, the sum purpose of life on Earth is to ensure that there continues >>to be life on Earth. > > Sorry. The sum purpose of life on Earth is to evolve to the point where > life can leave Earth and live elsewhere as well. And we're it. Who says ??? Are you the definitive sourse of information on what we shall and shall not do with our planets resources. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying hold on development, but what gives Tommy Mac the right to say what we shall and shall not do. Adam -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This song is very silly, it makes no sense at all, Because it's wierd. - Jeff Waters (Annihilator) - "Brain Dance" from the album "Set the World on Fire" JANET: AESBL1AJM@UK.AC.DUNDEE-TECH.CC.CLUSTER INTERNET: AESBL1AJM@UK.AC.DCT =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 May 1993 15:17:09 GMT From: James Davis Nicoll Subject: Life on Earth Newsgroups: sci.space In article 18084TM@msu.edu (Tom) writes: > >Sorry. The sum purpose of life on Earth is to evolve to the point where >life can leave Earth and live elsewhere as well. And we're it. Evolution isn't a directed process and doesn't proceed towards a specific goal. James Nicoll ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 May 1993 15:30:10 GMT From: Eric H Seale Subject: Life on Mars. Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.bio stgprao@st.unocal.COM (Richard Ottolini) writes: >New experiments by an international consortium of scientists are planned >for the 1994 Russian "lander". > ..... >P.S. The term "lander" might be more accurately called "bouncer". >To save costs, both the Russian and 1997 American probes are not >going to have landing rockets, but drop the probes in airbags from >a parachute a couple hundred meters up. (Can't have the parachute >fall ontop of the lander.) No, they really are landers. Landers are generally categorized as either "hard" or "soft" landers (here, "hard" and "soft" are somewhat subjective definitions, as you might imagine). The Vikings, and Surveyors (Moon) were soft landers -- used retro-rockets to set them down relatively-gently on the surface. Other landers (some early Soviet lunar landers come to mind) are hard landers -- rockets or (for Mars) parachutes slow them down at some altitude above the surface. Then they drop to the surface in a fairly ungraceful way. I can't speak for the Russian probes, but the last I heard, the 1997 US probe is planned to have air-bags on it (seriously!) to cushion the impact. Hopefully, it won't be a "bouncer" (should just hit and go "thud"). Eric Seale seale@pogo.den.mmc.com #include ------------------------------ Date: 11 May 1993 18:04 UT From: Ron Baalke Subject: Life on Mars. Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.bio In article <1993May11.153010.438@den.mmc.com>, seale@possum.den.mmc.com (Eric H Seale) writes... >I can't speak for the Russian probes, but the last I heard, the 1997 US >probe is planned to have air-bags on it (seriously!) to cushion the >impact. Hopefully, it won't be a "bouncer" (should just hit and go >"thud"). > The MESUR spacecraft's landing system consists of an aeroshell, parachute and air bags. The aeroshell will absorb the heat from atmospheric entry and slow the lander from 14,000 to 560 mph. The parachute will then pop out and further slow down the descent rate to 78 mph. At 1 second prior to impact, air bags will inflate to cushion the landing. The air bags can absorb energies up to 35 meters/second. ___ _____ ___ /_ /| /____/ \ /_ /| Ron Baalke | baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov | | | | __ \ /| | | | Jet Propulsion Lab | ___| | | | |__) |/ | | |__ M/S 525-3684 Telos | Once a year, go someplace /___| | | | ___/ | |/__ /| Pasadena, CA 91109 | you've never been before. |_____|/ |_|/ |_____|/ | ------------------------------ Date: 11 May 1993 15:29:09 GMT From: Gregory McColm Subject: Math?? (Was US govt & Technolgy Investment Newsgroups: sci.space,talk.politics.space,sci.research,talk.politics.misc,talk.politics.libertarian,misc.education In article jeg5s@faraday.clas.Virginia.EDU (ellis of lemuria) writes: >greg mccolm suggested that math is a good example of the inertia >(silver age) of current science..... > >is math really a science? what new has math "told" us recently? >please dont flame me... ive taken no math since 11th grade... >completed BC calc early and go the hell out... is there really >NEW stuff going on?? (im not flaming, but honestly durious...) > > >-- >----keep gliding, smiling, and riding that train! >------Ellis of Lemuria * jeg5s@virginia.edu >-------- P.O. Box 3240, Charlottesville, VA 22903 >** "Sophisticated technology makes the superstitious There has been a lot of "new" math. The calculus you've seen goes into the 19th century (the uses of limits by Cauchy and Weierstrass's epsilon-delta stuff). During the 19th century, people also started working on "abstract algebra", ie, performing arithmetic-type operations on non-numbers, eg, functions (remember that you can add, subtract, compose functions, and these operations resemble arithmetic operations in many ways); they also started trying put Humpty-Dumpty together again after the appearance of non-Euclidean geometries (recall your plane geometry: if you did it on a sphere, it wouldn't work, eg, the sum of the angles of a triangle would be greater than 180 degrees). During the 20th century, there has been a lot of work done with algebras called groups (these are very useful in quantum mechanics) and vector/tensor fields (ditto for non-quantum and relativistic mechanics). An abstract sort of geometry, called topology, has become very fashionable (there is a sort of fashion group, called Nicholas Bourbaki, which has been selling topology as the most "with it" mathematics). Meanwhile, a very ancient branch of philosophy, logic (my own field), has produced some surprising results (eg, if you assume enough axioms to do arithmetic, then you cannot use those axioms to prove that those axioms are consistent: in essence, you can never be sure of the legitimacy of your mathematics [this is the Godel-Rosser theorem]), as well as becoming one of the driving forces of computer science. Speaking of which, combinatorics, which started as counting problems and questions like "is it possible to construct a map so that you need 5 colors to color the provinces (so that no two providences are of the same color)?" has become another major field and driving force of computer science. (The answer is no: this is the Four Color Theorem). This is only a small sample. For more, see Edna Kramer's History of Modern Mathematics, Ivar Pederson's recent books on modern mathematics, the Scientific American's collection of essays on Modern Mathematics (edited by Morris Kline), books by Morris Kline and his archenemy, Eric Bell. The puff book Time-Life Mathematics is not particularly good. As for mathematics being a science, well, it is more of a meta-science (in a Kantian view), and some claim that it is an art. The David Report called it The Science of Order, but that's probably pomposity. -----Greg McColm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 May 1993 23:48:08 GMT From: blaster@syzygy.DIALix.oz.au Subject: McElwaine FAQ Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space,rec.arts.drwho McElwaine Frequently Asked Questions. *** PLEASE *** Please Read and then place in your Kill File. Please do not post this to newsgroups without asking me first. Multiple posts of this will be as bad as McElwaine's postings. Please feel free to mail this to your friends and associates. ************** Hi - welcome to the McElwaine FAQ, Version 1.5 by Master Blaster (blaster@syzygy.dialix.oz.au). March/April/May 1993 SUMMARY ======= Information on who and what McElwaine is, McElwaine postings, frequented newsgroups, use of CAPITALISATION, cited references, what you should and shouldn't do in response, ftp sites. ****** ********* <0.0> who is Robert E. McElwaine? <1.0> how do I know it's a McElwaine post? <1.1> what is his method of distributing information? <1.2> when did the postings start? <1.3> what newsgroups have been targeted? <1.4> what topics have been covered? <1.5> what should I do after reading a McElwaine posting? <1.6> what references do the postings use? <1.7> is McElwaine an official representitive of his university? <1.8> how do I get in touch with McElwaine? <1.9> What is wrong with the postings? <2.0> If he is such a problem, why doesn't his university do something? <2.1> FTP sites. * * * <0.0> who is Robert E. McElwaine? Robert E. McElwaine from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire is an "Internet Legend". He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Eau Clair and spends a lot of his time posting articles to the network. He is somewhere between 40 and 45 years of age and has apparently done tutoring at the university. He is not a server program or a group of people as some have suggested. His use of the Net. is only one channel for his information. He apparently posts it up around his campus and pushes it in many other ways. He apparently believes and feels very strongly about everything he posts. He claims to be a 2nd Initiate of Eckankar - an "advanced" spiritual path. <1.0> how do I know it's a McElwaine post? McElwaine postings have a distinct flavour. To identify one you don't even need to look at the header. The following article attributes will help identify a McElwaine posting: i) A header mentioning how this article relates to the newsgroup OR how the author has been "persecuted" in past years for posting it. ii) CAPITALISED WORDS spread amongst the text for emphasis. iii) The following signature: UN-altered REPRODUCTION and DISSEMINATION of this IMPORTANT Information is ENCOURAGED. Robert E. McElwaine iv) The use of $ to replace the letter S, as in BAR-CODE-$CANNER$ or Jew$. <1.1> what is his method of distributing information? McElwaine posts to many newsgroups. Mostly he posts to groups that have some sort of connection with the contents of the posting. Occasionally he posts an article to a group with a name which appears in the contents of his article; for example, an article on SDI (Star Wars defence) was posted to rec.arts.sf.starwars. His postings are all individual - almost never cross-posted. In this respect alone he is taking up a lot of network bandwidth. Usually he posts articles with a "header" targeted at the particular group the article is in. The header points out IMPORTANT information contained in the article of interest to readers of that newsgroup. <1.2> when did the postings start? McElwaine started posting at or before August 1991. Since then his postings have become more frequent. He now posts at least once a week to some groups. <1.3> what newsgroups have been targeted? Numerous groups have been the target of McElwaine postings: sci.space alt.atheism rec.arts.sf.starwars sci.astro alt.religion.computers rec.arts.sf.tv sci.energy alt.consciousness rec.arts.movies sci.space.shuttle alt.magick rec.arts.startrek.* sci.physics alt.pagan rec.gardens sci.physics.fusion alt.folklore.urban rec.sports.olympics sci.math alt.bizarre rec.sports.misc sci.optics alt.dreams rec.running sci.research alt.out-of-body rec.arts.drwho sci.environment alt.politics.perot rec.music.christian sci.skeptic alt.sex rec.arts.tv.uk sci.chem rec.food.cooking misc.misc soc.culture.british talk.rumors comp.ai misc.kids soc.women talk.politics.soviet misc.fitness soc.history talk.religion.misc soc.culture.soviet soc.culture.greek soc.culture.australian soc.culture.french soc.culture.taiwan soc.culture.asian-american soc.culture.usa soc.college <1.4> what topics have been covered? McElwaine covers many topics including religion, science, social issues, political issues, diets, cultural issues and psuedo-science. Recently (April/May '93) McElwaine has been posting Beter Audio Letters as well as his own articles. See <1.6> He has also posted a very biased book "review". Most of the information in the postings is inaccurate and some of it (eg: dieting methods) is dangerous. It is suggested you ignore any advice given in these rantings. The majority of people in the newsgroups disagree with the information given in the articles. <1.5> what should I do after reading a McElwaine posting? You have a number of options including posting a flame, mailing a flame, giving critical comment, or doing nothing. It is suggested that **ignoring** his posting is the best course of action. McElwaine appears to thrive on comments and flames about his articles because he then knows that people have read them. Initially, McElwaine replied to his mail and followups to his postings. He appears to have given up now. Very few people have ever had success with mailing McElwaine. One person mailed him and received a lot of his articles in reply. Abuse or reasoning now meets with a stoney silence. The amount of mail he receives is probably very high. Mail bombing of McElwaine's account is apparently quite frequent and has had no success. As mail bombing is objectional and ineffective is it is suggested that you do not participate in this activity. There is one case, to my knowledge, of McElwaine no longer posting to a group. It was due to the participants in the newsgroup ignoring the posting. <1.6> what references do the postings use? McElwaine uses several references: i) The Peter Beter Audio Letters. ii) The Wisconsin Report. iii) Published books and reports. iv) Other sources not cited. i) Dr Peter Beter's Audio Letters were made between June 21 1975 and November 3 1982. Overall there were 80 made. They contain various "predictions" and other sensationalist reports. Most are based on "conspiracy" theories from the early 1980's. They were classed as dubious back then and certainly have no place in the 90's. ii) The Wisconsin Report is a weekly legislative newspaper containing more of the same types of information that the Beter Tapes do. Most likely because Dr Beter wrote for the Wisconsin Report. iii) Published works include: "The Secret Life of Plants" - P Tomkins & C Bird; Harper & Row [1973] "The Structure of the Physical Universe" - Dewey Larson. "Born to be Magnetic" - Frances Nixon, [1973]. iv) Other sources are probably used by McElwaine but no references are given. <1.7> is McElwaine an official representitive of his university? No, he is not. It would appear that there is even a "standard disclaimer" that is posted if people ask about McElwaine. His ideas and comments are purely his own and not those of his department or university. The system administrator at McElwaine's machine refuses to reply to mail concerning McElwaine. Legal issues are involved. See <2.0> <1.8> how do I get in touch with McElwaine? Send mail to mcelwre@cnsvax.uwec.edu. The chances of a reply are small because of the amount of "mail" he receives. It is strongly suggested that you don't bother. <1.9> What is wrong with the postings? Although Mr McElwaine has every right to post articles to the network, regardless of their content, he is doing it in a continually obnoxious way. The content is not in question. It is the method of distribution that is. <2.0> If he is such a problem, why doesn't his university do something? Apparently McElwaine has taken legal action against individuals and his university in the past. It appears that the University is proceeding with caution on this issue. They are aware of the situation but do not wish to enter into a court battle they may well lose. McElwaine is claiming his "constitutional right to free speech". <2.1> FTP Sites? The Beter Tapes are held on: uglymouse.css.itd.umich.edu A collection of McElwaine articles is stored on: world.std.com: /pub/alt.religion.kibology/mcelwaine [192.74.137.5] Also see the newsgroup alt.fan.robert-mcelwaine (contrary to what Mr McElwaine claims - this is *not* a fan club) * * * The above information was collected by the author of this FAQ from McElwaine postings, followups and mail I have received on McElwaine. All opinions expressed are entirely those of the author. The information is, as far as I know, correct at the time of printing. Thanks to all those readers who have responded with information. Any further information is gladly accepted. This information may be copied and freely distributed by email. Please do not post it. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 May 1993 17:31:20 GMT From: Josh Hopkins Subject: McElwaine FAQ Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space,rec.arts.drwho I'm not sure which amazes me more: the fact that someone would go to all this trouble to write about McElwaine or the fact that someone would post something which repeatedly says it shouldn't be posted. It's all moot anyway. He had is net access privileges revoked last week. -- Josh Hopkins jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu "Find a way or make one." -attributed to Hannibal ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 May 1993 18:03:25 GMT From: "Mary F. Shafer" Subject: McElwaine FAQ Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space,rec.arts.drwho While I won't address his behavior in other newsgroups, Robert McElwaine did stop "posting" to sci.aeronautics after I, the moderator, send him one brief message about it being inappropriate. Obviously, he did change his behavior based on feedback. On the other hand, he lost his Net privileges on 7 May, after appealing to his school's review board, so the entire discussion is moot at this time. Since my posting from cactus is excellent proof that it's not impossible to find alternate accounts, we may yet hear from Mr. (Dr.? I forget) McElwaine again. ------------------------------ Date: 11 May 93 08:39:10 From: David.Anderman@ofa123.fidonet.org Subject: Soyuz and Shuttle Comparisons Newsgroups: sci.space The most revealing comparison between Shuttle and Soyuz is cost. All other comparisons are apples and oranges. --- Maximus 2.01wb ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 May 1993 17:34:49 GMT From: "Allen W. Sherzer" Subject: SSTO Alert Update Newsgroups: sci.space,talk.politics.space A week from tomorrow (May 19), the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Research and Technology will be marking up their authorization. Part of the report language for this bill directs SDIO to spend $100M on design work for a DC-X followon. This vehicle will not be the DC-Y but will likely be a vehicle which can with modification make orbit and return to fly again. This is a key vote. At this time there is only $5M for SSTO work next year. If this isn't increased, the SSTO effort will be setback if not killed. Below is the name, state, phone, and fax number for the Subcommitte members in the House and Senate. If any of these Representatives are in your state, please call and ask them to support the SSRT language in their authorization. If you don't live in one of the states, please call or fax Rep Schroeder (D-CO). House Armed Services Committee - Research and Technology Subcommittee Name Address Phone FAX (AC 202) (AC 202) Patricia Schroeder (D-CO) 2208 RH 20515 225-4431 225-5842 Bob Stump (R-AZ) 211 CH 20515 225-4576 225-6328 Dave McCurdy (D-OK) 2344 RH 20515 225-6165 225-9746 Jane Harman (D-CA) 225-8220 Roscoe bartlett (R-MD) 225-2721 225-2193 Don Johnson (D-GA) 225-4101 Glen Browder (D-AL) 1630 LH 20515 225-3261 225-9020 Earl Hutto (D-FL) 2435 RH 20515 225-4136 225-5785 George Hochbrueckner (D-NY) 124 CH 20515 225-3826 225-0776 Martin Lancaster (D-NC) 225-3415 225-0666 James H. Bilbray (D-NV) 225-5965 225-8808 Chet Edwards (D-TX) 225-6105 225-0350 Duncan L. Hunter (R-CA) 133 CH 20515 225-5672 225-0235 John R. Kasich (R-OH) 1131 LH 20515 225-5355 James V. Hansen (R-UT) 2466 RH 20515 225-0453 225-5857 Frank Tejeda (D-TX) 225-1640 225-1641 Martin Meehan (D-MA) 225-3411 Elizabeth Furse (D-OR) 225-0855 225-9497 Steve Buyer (R-IN) 225-5037 225-2267 Peter Torkildsen (R-MA) 225-8020 225-8037 James Talent (R-MO) 225-2561 225-2563 Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) 2136 RH 20515 225-2661 225-9817 Robert K. Dornan (R-CA) 2402 CH 20515 225-2965 225-2075 Marilyn Lloyd (D-TN) 2406 RH 20515 225-3271 225-6974 John Tanner (D-TN) 225-4714 225-1765 Pete Geren (D-TX) 225-5071 225-2786 Senate Armed Services Committee Name Sam Nunn (D-GA) SD-303 20510 224-3521 224-0072 John McCain (R-AZ) SR-111 20510 224-2235 224-8938 Richard C. Shelby (D-AL) SH-313 20510 224-5744 224-3416 Joseph I. Lieberman (R-CT) SH-502 20510 224-4041 224-9750 Bob Graham (D-FL) SD-241 20510 224-3041 224-6843 Dirk Kempthorne (D-ID) 224-6142 224-5893 William S. Cohen (R-ME) SH-322 20510 224-2523 224-2693 Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) SR-315 20510 224-4543 224-2417 Carl Levin (D-MI) SR-459 20510 224-6221 224-1388 Dan Coats (R-IN) SR-504 20510 224-5623 224-1966 Trent Lott (R-MS) SR-487 20510 224-6253 224-2262 James Exon (D-NE) SH-330 20510 224-4224 224-5213 Bob Smith (R-NH) 224-2841 224-1353 Lauch faircloth (R-NC) SH-716 20510 224-3154 224-7406 Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) SH-524 20510 224-5521 224-1810 John Glenn (D-OH) SH-503 20510 224-3353 224-7983 Strom Thurmond (R-SC) SR-217 20510 224-5972 224-1300 John Warner (R-VA) SR-225 20510 224-2023 224-6295 Charles S. Robb (D-VA) SR-493 20510 224-4024 224-8689 Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) SH-311 20510 224-3954 224-8070 -- +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Lady Astor: "Sir, if you were my husband I would poison your coffee!" | | W. Churchill: "Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it." | +----------------------36 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX-----------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 May 1993 13:17:16 GMT From: Dave Stephenson Subject: Vandalizing the Sky Newsgroups: sci.space kjenks@gothamcity.jsc.nasa.gov writes: >Advertisers buy time on the billboard, whose surface is made up of >tiny mirrors controlled by the avionics package. The avionics can >reconfigure the mirrors to reflect different messages at different >parts of the globe. Clever programming allows different languages >to every country. >During orbital night, the mirrors turn perpendicular to the surface, >and small lights are revealed. The lights spell out messages for all >to see. As I published in 1986 independent orbiting mirrors in high orbit could make long lived, targeted space advertising constelations. One mirror in a high orbit should sell quite well at Christmas time! -- Dave Stephenson Geological Survey of Canada Ottawa, Ontario, Canada *Om Mani Padme Hum 1-2-3* Internet: stephens@geod.emr.ca ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 May 1993 18:21:17 GMT From: Larry Klaes Subject: Viewing Jupiter's Galilean Moons - EJASA Article Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.space,alt.sci.planetary In the July 1990 issue (Volume 1, Number 12) of the Electronic Journal of the Astronomical Society of the Atlantic (EJASA), there is an article by Alan William Paeth on viewing Jupiter's Galilean moons with unaided eyes. It is available from the ASA anonymous FTP site at chara.gsu.edu (131.96.5.29) or via E-Mail by request. Larry Klaes klaes@verga.enet.dec.com or - ...!decwrl!verga.enet.dec.com!klaes or - klaes%verga.dec@decwrl.enet.dec.com or - klaes%verga.enet.dec.com@uunet.uu.net "All the Universe, or nothing!" - H. G. Wells EJASA Editor, Astronomical Society of the Atlantic ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 May 93 14:27:33 GMT From: David Fuzzy Wells Subject: Yoo hoo, White Sands? (was Re: DC-X Status?) Newsgroups: sci.space Actually, the best food is near the northern part of the range in San Antonio at the Owl Bar and Cafe.....best green chile cheeseburgers you ever tasted!! Fuzzy. ------------------------------ End of Space Digest Volume 16 : Issue 556 ------------------------------