Space junk is out of control, scientists say

by Sean McLachlan on

It’s a dilemma faced by every adventure traveler: to find the perfect remote spot untouched by modernity, free from cell phones, television, and trash. Of course there is no such place, not even in space. In fact, the orbital detritus of modern life can be downright dangerous, scientists warn.

A new report from the National Research Council says there are so many bits of trash in orbit, ranging from defunct satellites to fragments like nuts and bolts, that they’re bumping into each other, breaking apart, and making more trash. Around 22,000 large pieces of space junk are tracked from the ground, occasionally prompting the International Space Station to maneuver out of the way, and there are hundreds of thousands of more pieces too small to be detected. It amounts to a cloud of trash surrounding the earth, as this NASA image shows.

This puts current astronauts and future space tourists in peril. With the high velocities objects achieve in orbit, it’s like having hundreds of thousands of bullets flying around the Earth.

And it’s getting worse. The BBC reports two satellites crashed in 2009 and broke apart. Also, the Chinese tested a satellite killer in 2007 that successfully smashed up its target into more than 150,000 pieces larger than a centimeter. The U.S. and Soviet Union tested similar weapons back in the 1960s and 1970s, creating their own clouds of debris.

Several manned spacecraft have been hit by space debris. Two Shuttle missions have had radiator panels in the cargo bay punctured by debris. The International Space Station and Mir have both suffered numerous impacts. Sometimes the damage is caused by natural micrometeorites.

One certain impact by space debris was in 1983 when a fleck of paint smacked into the space shuttle Challenger’s front window and left a crater, as you can see in this NASA image.

If a fleck of paint can do this to the Space Shuttle, imagine what an old rocket booster could do.

20 Reasons to travel by train

by Kim Mance on

While I truly appreciate the technological miracle of human flight, I’d altogether avoid flying if it were possible to do that and still indulge my serious case of wanderlust. And I love a good road trip, but who would want to drive everywhere? So until teleportation devices are invented I’ll continue to travel by train whenever possible…and here’s why.

1) Bells and Whistles – No other form of transportation has sounds as exciting for kids and inexplicably nostalgic for adults to hear than the ones a train uses to announce its presence. Those who live next to railroad tracks excepted, there’s something a little wrong with people who don’t like the sound of a train whistle, or the clanking bells as it approaches a station.

2) Downtown to Downtown – Saving on cab fare, rental cars or time spent commuting from airports on the outskirts of a city is a definite train travel perk. Whether headed somewhere for work or pleasure, arriving downtown saves time and lessens the likelihood you’ll succumb to the tempting smell of an airport Cinnabon.

3) Leg Room – Tall people sometimes have to pay extra to bring their legs along while traveling. On a 13-hour flight from the States to Tokyo my legs literally touched the seat in front of me the entire way. I paid an additional fee for United’s Economy Plus on the way home to try and avoid significant back pain. In contrast, regular economy class on a train comes with space for my legs to happily accompany me at no extra cost.4) Unrestricted Tech & Comfort – Smart phones, iPods, laptops, DVD players and other electronic devices are unrestricted from the time you step foot on a train until you get off. No getting yelled at by flight attendants to turn stuff off. The same goes with seatbacks and tray tables. So settle in, recline with outstretched legs and listen to your own playlist while typing a list of reasons to ride trains.

5) Conductor’s Hats – When having your ticket collected, it’s always nice to see a neat hat.

6) Scenery – Peering into the downtown of various stops, and lakes, mountains or the permafrost landscape of destinations is something that just can’t really be done by plane. Some train journeys themselves are even UNESCO World Heritage sites, like Switzerland’s Bernina Express and the Himalayan Darjeeling Express in India. Amtrak’s Adirondack train from NYC to Montreal even offers historical and nature information by the National Parks Service in the café car. Riders can get a free ‘tour’ and ask questions from two expert volunteer guides there just for the fun of it.

7) No Groping – Besides not having to trek out to an airport, you don’t get put through the metal detectors, baggage x-ray, grope-tastic pat-downs, shoe removal, and restrictions on liquid and other items in your luggage.

8) Private Cabins – On a long train it’s splendid to curl up in bed and sleep like you mean it instead of getting whiplash from nodding head syndrome in a seat. Plus, it’s fun for a little hanky panky when traveling with a significant other and much easier to deal with than the logistics of joining the Mile High Club.

9) Smelling the Roses – Aside from great scenery, sometimes the trip is in the journey. Being on a train can be a great time to unwind and relish the travel part of traveling.

10) Cool Names – Unlike most planes (with a few exceptions), trains often have cool names, which adds a little extra magic to the ride. Some are even named for folk songs, like The City of New Orleans. But even when they’re named simply for their destination like the Narita Express, it somehow seems cooler.

11) More Luggage, Less Fees – You’d have to bring a startling amount of luggage to be charged extra for it on a train, while fees for even one checked bag has become the norm for most airlines. And overhead storage spaces are larger on trains, so heaving it up there is a bit easier. This often also helps make boarding faster because the guy in front of you doesn’t have to try and deny the laws of physics by insisting his puffy oversized carry-on “always fits” for what feels like an our before the eventual walk of shame to gate check it.

12) Meeting People – When a creepy guy or freakishly chatty person is your seatmate on a flight, the only hope for getting away is to slyly slip your earbuds in and avoid eye contact at all costs. But on a train, not only can you get up and walk to grab a beer and sit at a table, people are generally friendlier and in a better mood (you included), so it can be fun to talk with people – especially locals along the train route in a foreign country who are happy to offer destination advice.

13) Affordable Upgrades – In most developed countries there’s not a huge difference between train classes, or if there is, the second-class accommodations are comfortable enough not to care. And the difference between upgrading to business or first-class is nowhere near as traumatizing as jumping from a $300 airfare to an $8,000 airfare to do so.

14) Fewer Crying Babies – When my kids were babies, I dreaded the rolling eyes and sighs of other passengers just because we were boarding a plane. And when I’m traveling alone, no amount of motherhood could make me want to listen to someone else’s kid wailing in my ear the entire flight. Trains offer a bunch of ways to beat this conundrum. First off, parents can walk around as much as they want, or take a little tyke to the cafe car for a snack. Similarly, you can seek respite in another train car until the crying has ended. Bonus: since trains don’t have huge altitude changes, children’s ears don’t get the dreaded ear pressure problem that often sets up a chain reaction of crying the entire flight.

15) It’s Green – Some experts say traveling by train can cut a passenger’s carbon emissions by up to 90 percent versus flying. Combine that with reason #2 on this list and deduct the amount of non-renewable energy used while commuting to the train itself.

16) Less Carnage – There is some debate on how to calculate the percentage of injuries and fatalities on planes versus trains. But unless you’re a drunk guy parked on the tracks, it seems you’re less likely to die maimed and incinerated when a train derails, than when a plane crashes.

17) No Speeding Tickets – Not only do trains help travelers avoid traffic jams and tolls, you can hop on high speed lines like the European InterCityExpress (ICE), or Japan’s Shinkansen which both regularly travel over 180 mph. Try to do that in a car on I-80.

18) Less Barfing – For those of us afflicted with being prone to motion sickness, a train ride is often far less nausea or headache inducing. In fact I can read, watch a movie, or happily type away on a computer, which would be impossible in a car without blowing chunks. Maybe it’s the large windows, or the consistent rhythm, but riding the rails can even be comforting, especially on overnight journeys when it feels like you’re being rocked to sleep.

19) Wheelchair Accessible – One of my kids uses a wheelchair and it’s exponentially easier to travel by train than go through the hassles of an airport’s invasive security screening (since he can’t walk through the detectors), not to mention the sheer logistics of getting on and off a plane. Plus, passenger services often offer a porter who will help with luggage and a little ramp to get on and off the train.

20) Compensation for Delays – It would be unheard of with airlines, but you can sometimes get a partial refund (in the form of a voucher) for severe train delays. I often take the Acela Express train from New York City to Washington DC and on a recent trip was delayed due to mechanical failure for an extra 1.5 hours on a route that normally takes only 3 hours. I called customer service afterward and a friendly fellow sent me a $75 voucher.

Galley Gossip: A letter to the producers of Project Runway regarding flight attendant uniforms

by Heather Poole on

Dear Project Runway Producers,

Have I got a challenge for you! With the premiere of the new television show Pan Am airing September 25th on ABC, there’s been a lot of talk about airlines in the news lately. One can’t help but compare stewardesses of yesterday to flight attendants today, and yet the job rarely resembles what it once was so many years ago. Long gone are the days of glamour when stewardesses had strict age, weight and height requirements, and only averaged 18 months on the job. Nowadays flight attendants are allowed to be married, grow old, and gain weight – just like the rest of society!

Image is important to an airline. This is why most airlines have established very strict grooming standards flight attendants must abide by. I’ve been told passengers have more confidence in an airline when its employees look good. That makes sense considering when I look good, I feel good, and that in turn has a positive affect on passengers. But in America we come in all different sizes, shapes, and colors, opposed to our foreign counterparts who are hired because they are a specific size, shape and color. This is why it’s more difficult for US carriers to design a uniform that looks good on everyone.

Since 9/11 airlines have had to reduce expenses to stay in business. I’ve been working as a flight attendant for sixteen years, so I’ve experienced first hand just how much travel has changed in the last decade. Food was the first thing to go, followed by magazines, pillows and blankets. Even a few colleagues and a couple of airlines disappeared. This might explain why our polyester uniforms are no longer quite as impressive as they once were when air travel was considered a luxury and only the wealthy could afford to fly. Needless to say our uniforms have to be cheap enough to outfit tens of thousands of employees.

What most people don’t realize is that flight attendants today work ten times harder than ever before. A 12-14 hour work day followed by an 8 hour layover is not uncommon. Nor is working three back to back trips in a row. This adds up to a lot of wear and tear on a uniform in a short period of time. That being said, durability should play a major factor in our uniform design. Comfort would also be nice. Remember being able to move, stretch, bend and work in a cabin that alternates between hot and cold is very important.

The pencil thin, girdle wearing stewardesses of yesterday have evolved. Even so we, too, would love nothing more than to walk through the airport terminal with the same pride they felt by wearing a distinguished uniform that is fashionable, but also age appropriate and practical to work in. Why not take on this challenge for those of us who work the not so friendly skies and design stylish coordinating uniform pieces that are affordable and comfortable and will look good on your daughter, son, wife, brother, mother or father. Not an easy task, I know. This could be your biggest challenge yet. Think you can do it? Millions of flight attendants would be forever grateful if you could at least give it a try.

Sincerely,

Heather Poole

Photo courtesy of JFithian

How rolling shutter technology can warp your photos

by Grant Martin on

There’s an interesting discussion going on over at Reddit about the concept of rolling shutter photos, and how the technology can limit image acquisition on a smartphone. The image on the right is of an aircraft propeller and was snapped with an iPhone. But because the image is collected from top to bottom (albeit, very quickly), only parts of the blades are captured by the phone. The result is what appears to be an image depicting propeller blades bending away from the engine in some twisted mechanical failure. Rest assured — it’s only an artifact from the camera.

Compare this to a normal camera where the entire image is captured at one time, using a shutter and a CCD (or film!) and one can see the benefits of using a real camera for capturing faster moving objects.

Rolling shutter cameras — or rather, their limitations — also appear to create some interesting effects on video capture. The below video shows a similar propeller blade where the same sort of distortion is apparent. It was also shot on an iPhone.

Workers find grenade near Gatwick Airport

by Sean McLachlan on

Workers digging near Gatwick Airport yesterday uncovered a grenade.

This wasn’t terrorism, though. The grenade is believed to date from the Second World War. Workers uncovered the grenade near the airport’s railway station. Bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion to get rid of it.

While it didn’t pose any great risk except to the poor hardhat who dug it up, rail and flight services were briefly halted until the grenade was destroyed.

This odd event isn’t so rare. Europe is littered with unexploded ordnance from both world wars and other conflicts. In the Balkans, experts are still trying to remove the millions of landmines planted during the Yugoslav Civil War. Bosnia and Herzegovina, for example, has 14,000 known minefields. In France, bomb disposal experts have to deal with huge amounts of unexploded ordnance, some even dating back to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.

[Photo courtesy J-L Dubois]