Pt/Co scale

One of the measures of water quality, or pollution levels in water, is its color; How is this color measured? The scale for such color measurement for water quality is Platinum-Cobalt (Pt/Co) scale or alpha-Hazen scale introduced by Allen Hazen, a chemist in 1892.   This scale measured how yellow tinted water samples are. One Pt/Co unit is how much 1 milligram of Pt/Co taints/colors 1 liter of water!  How they measure it is another story, and apparently there are standard tests defined for this purpose.

Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pt/Co_scale

Mentor vs Career Coach

I was wondering what is the difference between a mentor and career coach at work. Here is what I learned today:

A mentor is someone more experienced who shows you the way to do something and help you navigate a preexisting, well-defined path. So, if you are a new hire, joined a new program, ... you can ask a more senior person, a veteran in that position, perhaps your predecessor, to be your mentor and show you how things are done.

A career coach is someone who helps you create a new way, find a new path, to better fulfill your professional goals.  If you are an innovator, entrepreneur, leader, wanting to do something for the first time, build a new initiative or program, develop a company or product, you can benefit from a career coach to create that new way of doing things.

Nybble

It amazes me that during all my years of studies and career as a computer scientist, I just came across the term nibble or nybble, meaning half a byte, or 4 bits.

In the Nick of Time

In the Nick of Time: just in time, just before it is too late, the last moment.

Jupiter! We are almost there.

As most Americans get ready to enjoy the fourth of July long weekend with barbeques, fireworks, or traveling to new places, NASA is getting ready for their own celebrations and fireworks, and exploring new worlds! Juno mission is expected to enter Jupiter's orbit after a five year journey! It will then orbit the gassy planet for a year to achieve many scientific objectives like mapping Jupiter's magnetic field, looking for its solid core, understanding its origins and evolution, and as a result origins and evolution of our Solar System.

No spacecraft has ever got this close to Jupiter. Jupiter poses many dangers and risks to Juno among it is the high levels of radiation so deep in the radiation belt. Juno orbit insertion (JOI) is challenging.  In fact, Juno spacecraft will risk Jupiter's fireworks for Science.  Here is our 4th of July movie trailer:

So this 4th of July, when gathered with friends and family, if you want a SciFi thriller movie to watch, watch the real deal!

p.s. I cannot believe I had started this blog exactly 5 years ago on July 5 and even wrote about Juno's launch.


References:

[1] http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/main/index.html
[2] https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/
[3] http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-coverage-media-activities-for-juno-mission-arrival-at-jupiter
[4] http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6538

Starchips!

Finally advances in technology is making it possible for big minds like Stephen Hawking to achieve their big dreams, not by building larger and larger instruments, but by fitting as much technology as possible into smaller and smaller gadgets. For the first time, it is becoming plausible to consider interstellar travel that can happen during one's lifetime not thousands of years. The approach sounds simple: build thousands of small smart chip instruments. starchips, and set them on their way.  Do not worry if many gets lost or do not reach the destination, you can afford this risk. But if only one succeeds, you are unlocking mysteries never known before. And that makes all the difference. Learn more here:

Forget Starships: New Proposal Would Use 'Starchips' To Visit Alpha Centauri

Moral equivalence

Thanks to Facebook discussions, today I learned a new term "moral equivalency":

1. "Moral equivalence is a term used in political debate, usually to criticize any denial that a moral hierarchy can be assessed of two sides in a conflict, or in the actions or tactics of two sides."
   
   
   Reference:
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_equivalence