Recent statistics on Marriage

According to the PBS news, based on 2010 U.S. census bureau, 30% of Americans have never been married, the largest percentage ever recorded. More people in their thirties and forties are single and never married, not divorced or widowed. Also, people in southern and western regions have the highest rate of divorces in the U.S. The southern region surprised me.

The hottest and driest summer

According to NPR radio this morning, this summer has been the hottest and driest summer on record in the United States, and the drought has cost the agriculture industry more than 5 billion dollars and counting.

Related:
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/26/139947317/drought-puts-texas-ranchers-and-cattle-at-risk
http://www.ktul.com/story/15176316/2011-on-pace-for-hottest-driest-summer-on-record

Hurricane 101

After being surprised with the largest earthquake in our region this past week, now we have time to prepare for the next natural disaster: Hurricane Irene. What should you do and have before, during, and after a major Hurricane.

I know I have to do grocery shopping, have flash lights, battery powered radios, enough water and food to last you days, but is that it?

Here is Red Cross's Checklist for Hurricane readiness:

http://www.redcross.org/www-files/Documents/pdf/Preparedness/checklists/Hurricane.pdf

Stay safe!

WISE Eyes: Coolest Stars

Not long after detecting the darkest planet ever by the Kepler mission, now we have the news of seeing the coldest class of stars via WISE eyes!

How cold are they? As cold as our bodies or cooler. You think that is not cold enough? It is very cold for a star, just compare it with our own Sun! Well, technically they belong to a star-like class of celestial bodies called brown dwarfs, believed to be failed stars.  They just did not make it even though they were well on their way of becoming a star.

Reference:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/news/wise20110823.html

Earthquake 101

Today Washington D.C. area experienced the largest earthquake (5.8 magnitude) known to ever hit this region!*  Apparently we east coast people are not well-educated about what to do or not to do during an earth quake.  Everyone evacuated their buildings.  Now we know earthquake protocol is to find a safe place inside the building: (e.g. under the table/desk, etc).  I knew this but at the moment when it happened, I reacted like I would to fire alarms and other emergencies:  evacuate!  Maybe because we are so used to other threats and hazards in this region requiring us to evacuate once in a while.  I was not alone, everyone came out, and everyone was wrong.  However, to our credit, the quake did trigger our fire alarms. So, we were responding to that as well!  Besides, we did not have much choice.  We were not allowed inside the building and were told to stay out!  In fact we were sent home so that all buildings be inspected and cleared by structural engineers!.  Here is Red Cross' Check List of what to do or not to do during an earthquake.

Next, in any emergency, if everyone calls each other, as you might have realized today, the lines get congested and cannot handle the communications traffic when it is needed the most.  So try just texting or not using the lines as much as possible so that emergency response personnel and those more in  need be able to use the lines.

Finally, on a personal note, it is good to have cash, extra car, home keys in different places.  We were not allowed to get back to our offices until all buildings were cleared and inspected. I had my keys and cell phone but my purse with my credit cards and money are all inside the office!

* http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/08/23/washington-area-has-history-earthquakes/

p.s. Many west-coasters or those on other major earthquake lines may think we are making a huge deal out of nothing since they constantly deal with such earthquakes.  However, please keep two points in mind: 1) our building codes are not designed for enduring earthquakes and yours are.  2)  The earth crust in those regions is fragmented so earthquakes are felt locally, whereas here the earth crust is all one huge connected piece and that is why the waves traveled to many states including NY, NC, and even Toronto, CA.

Space Weather

It was only 51 years ago, on April 1, 1960, that NASA's first weather satellite, TIROS-1,  was launched.  Back then, weather satellite technologies, weather forecasting models, ...were at their infancy. I would imagine scientists having a hard time convincing politicians about the importance of weather satellites, get budget for it, etc.  Now, so many industries such as agriculture, tourism, aviation, and navigation all rely on these satellites' data, weather models and forecasts for their day-to-day business.  We take the convoluted process of designing, building, testing, launching, and operating weather satellites, processing their data, and improving existing models all for granted.

Now, space weather is as new to us as weather forecasting business was 50 years ago.  Understanding atmospheres and weathers of the celestial bodies in our solar system and their effects on the Earth's atmosphere and our satellites and spacecrafts there are as vital and necessary for us as weather modeling and satellites are.  For example, solar flares and eruptions can disrupt our communication and navigation satellites*.  Imagine a day when your cell phones and GPS devices do not work, and nor does the communications and navigation of the airline and navigation industry.  That is a doomsday scenario, one that Solar Dynamics Observatory and Stereo are trying to understand better and help us prepare for.

Today the news of a major milestone was announced: 
For the first time we have been able to track a space storm!**

You can learn more about space weather and look at current space weather and forecasts via
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/SWN/ , or
http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/weather.html.

You can also install Space Weather Apps developed by NASA on your smart phone, even though they may not work during an bad space storm!

*   http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/sftheory/spaceweather.htm
** http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stereo/news/solarstorm-tracking.html

گعده

امروز اين كلمه رو در پست يكى از دوستان در فيسبوك ديدم.  به روايت ويكى پيديا، گعده در عربى قعده است و به معناى دور هم نشستن و شب نشينى و خوش و بش كردن هست. من نميدانم چرا با وجوديكه من عاشق اين كارم و اين همه هم ما ايرانى ها اين كار را ميكنيم تا به حال اين كلمه را نشنيده بودم؟  آيا اين كلمه خيلى رايج و جا افتاده است؟

Reference:
http://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DA%AF%D8%B9%D8%AF%D9%87