SFA News

• All lab instructors should meet with Mr. Piran on Wednesday, September 1st, at 2:00 PM.   See Mr. Piran in Room 327 if you would like to teach a lab this semester.
• Drop by room 322 if you need to be advised. You can, of course, register online. You may want to consider, HIS 304, Western Science and Society if you are unable to find an open course.
• The Student/Faculty Social for our department has been set for Thursday, September 16th, at 4pm.
• Weekly Physics, Astronomy, and Engineering Seminars will begin shortly.
• There is a new building on campus for Telecommunications and Human Services Building at SFA. [Press Release]
• New logos for SFA?
• The 2004 Nacogdoches Red River Radio Americana Music Festival is next Friday.

A R T I C L E S
Glare	GPS	Computer Health	Weird	Physics	Astronomy	Entertainment	Movies	Employment

Lighting and nighttime visibility go hand-in-hand, right? Well, not necessarily. In this article I'd like to explain why there may be a difference. Much of our nighttime lighting produces glare, that is, any light source where the lighting element itself is visible. In order to see the difference, compare the street lighting along University Drive. As the drive passes the SFA Johnson Coliseum the lighting is the standard cobrahead fixtures as on the left below. North of Austin Street the lighting has been converted to the newer full cut-off cobrahead fixture, as in the picture on lower right. A drive along University in the evening will reveal the difference. Since you can see the filament on the standard fixture, glare is produced. Like moths attracted to lights, we humans have developed a reflex to stare at bright light sources. The glaring light source not only ruins our night vision and takes our attention away from the road, but also is an especially bad problem for people with glaucoma. Both fixtures illuminate the same amount of highway, but the standard fixture also sends light upward and into your eyes, where we don't want it.

Because glare reduces your night vision, it can blind drivers to hazards such as other vehicles and pedestrians. Glare also produces stark shadows, making it very easy for those with criminal intent to hide. I will address lighting and crime in a future article. I want to highlight in each article examples of good lighting around town and also examples of poor lighting. The good lighting award this time goes to Medical Center Hospital. The parking lot is well lit with full cut-off, non-glaring fixtures. The signs have dark backgrounds with illuminated lettering, very easy to read and producing no glare. The bad lighting black eye goes to Exxon-Mobil gas stations. They have adopted a standard design of many, very intense lamps hanging below the canopy. This may be a company objective, taking advantage of the human reflex to stare at bright light sources. The objective here is to attract attention. But the glare produced is a definite traffic hazard. Had they simply recessed the lights into the canopy, there would be no glare and the same amount of illumination would reach the ground. The lighting is also overkill for the application. By actual measure, the area under the canopy is brighter than a hospital operating room. Please send examples of good and bad lighting to me at nmarkworth@sfasu.edu.

Geocaching

http://www.geocaching.com/

It is mostly for individuals with GPS systems, but there are many caches hidden around town apparently. I usually go exploring around the creek every day, and I find cool things all the time, but not like this! I though that you could put the site on the newsletter for anybody with a GPS in the department.

Here are a few links that may help keep your computer running well.

• Windows Update
• Office Update
• Sygate Personal Firewall
• TweakUI
• Adaware
• Spybot - Search & Destroy
• Antivirus Housecall
• Panda Free Online Scan
• AVG Free Antivirus Software
• SpamFighter
• Download.com
• Linux - When Windows fails

A young monkey at an Israeli zoo has started walking on its hind legs only aping humans after a near death experience, the zoo's veterinarian said Wednesday.
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040721_1839.html

Vacation Sites for Astronomers
http://www.starhillinn.com/StarHillInn.html
http://www.nmskies.com/
http://www.observersinn.com/

Altered gravity plays an unexpected role in obesity and weight loss
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/27aug_fatrat.htm?list1065276

Tattooing robot unveiled at hi-tech trade fair
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_718442.html?menu=

Eventually, all of Newton's work -- about 10 million words -- will be on the Web
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040807/NEWTON07/TPScience/

The Newton Project
http://www.newtonproject.ic.ac.uk/

Teleportation goes long distance
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3576594.stm

Soldering onboard the International Space Station - Movie
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/16aug_solder.htm?friend

NASA has pulled another set of photographs, this time of Apollo 11's trip, out of the freezer and digitized them
http://www.apolloarchive.com/apollo_gallery.html
Here are some nice ones. Be sure to view them full sized. They are VERY clean and sharp.
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a11/as11-40-5903.jpg
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a11/as11-40-5924.jpg
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a11/as11-40-5905.jpg

Search the Gallery for Nasa Images
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/index.html

Gravitational anomalies: An invisible hand?
http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3104321

Build a Rollercoaster in the Backyard
http://www.nextbigthing.org/archive/episode.html?07092004

The Lamar University Electronic Journal of Student Research
http://dept.lamar.edu/lustudentjnl/

SCHOLARSHIP - for Hispanic, African American, & Native American
http://www.aps.org/educ/com/scholars/index.cfm

Que the Danger Music:
At the outer limits of our solar system, a solar shock wave is about to overtake NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/13jul_solarblast.htm?list1065276

Don Quixote to Ride Again on Cosmic Rescue Mission
http://www.inreview.com/archive/topic/23569.html

A cutting-edge Apollo 11 science experiment is still running today, 35 years after astronauts left it behind in the Sea of Tranquility
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/21jul_llr.htm?list1065276

STRINGY HOLES: HAWKING CONCEDES DEFEAT
http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/current/article_1308_1.asp

Hawking cracks black hole paradox
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996151

"There is no truth value to a question." - M.L.J.

Earth-like planet discovered 50 light-years away
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/08/26/new.planet/index.html

Astronomy Picture of the Day
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

MESSENGER - MErcury Surface, Space, ENvironment, GEOchemsitry, and Ranging
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/

Opportunity's Shadow on Mars!
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0408/shadow_opportunity_big.jpg

Both rovers are still roving on Mars
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html

MARS ROVERS FIND MORE EVIDENCE OF WATER
http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1304_1.asp

Cassini - Images from Saturn
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm

"The attraction is known as the Casimir Effect, named for its discoverer, who, 50 years ago, was trying to understand why fluids like mayonnaise move so slowly."
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040801.html
(I had no idea that thoughts of mayonnaise would one day "provide evidence that the universe will expand forever". - Dr. B)

TINY TELESCOPE FINDS BIG PLANET
http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1330_1.asp

SEDNA'S ORIGIN SOLVED?
http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1326_1.asp

PERSEIDS PEAK AS PREDICTED
http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/meteors/article_1329_1.asp

Lingering effects
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/08/23/jupiter.impact/index.html

New Software Puts Space on Your Desktop
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/fits_liberator_040708.html

Funding for New NEO Research
http://planetary.org/news/2004/shoemaker-grants0714.html

COMET SHOEMAKER-LEVY 9: A DECADE LATER
http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1305_1.asp

Crazy Interactive Drawing Page
http://www.zefrank.com/dtoy_vs_byokal/

Ever have a hard time trying to get what you want from a contractor?
social115.gif

Abbott & Costello at the PC Store
http://www.strangecosmos.com/content/item/25013.html

Mindstretchers Quiz
http://www.mensa.org/workout.php

Digital Photo of the Day
http://www.steves-digicams.com/daily_dpotd.html

Web Puzzle
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/mathswk.html

30 years of changes
http://www.hftonline.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-14616.html

Yam's Story
http://www.popculturemadness.com/Trivia/March/21.html

Young Preacher
http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/Humor/posts/616.html

Angry Alien - Funny Movies
http://www.angryalien.com

Honda Engineering Ad - Cool Movie
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/honda-ad.html

Spinning Brains - Coriolis Effect Movies
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/23jul_spin.htm?list942833

Troops - Online Movie
http://www.theforce.net/theater/shortfilms/troops/

"The Dark Side of the Universe" - Watch this Online
http://www.pbs.org/saf/1405/video/watchonline.htm

Nova Online - "Death Star"
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/gamma/

Employment Opportunities

1. Rex Isham, Chair at SHSU, is looking for some temp faculty. He has two astronomy and two conceptual physics courses to cover. Four in all at $2500 per course. http://www.shsu.edu/~phy_www/
2. "We are looking to hire a Lab-coordinator with a MS (Phys or Phys ED). We will have to do a full search starting in the fall, but are looking for a temp person for Aug 23 through December. The temp would be eligible to apply for the permanent position. The position is staff 40 hr/wk at about $30+. Teach experience at the college or high school level would be good, as would computer-physics experience. If you know of someone for consideration have them e-mail me or Bagdana Bahrim at bahrimbm@hal.lamar.edu." - Dr. Cruse Melvin, melvincd@HAL.LAMAR.EDU
3. Goodwin-Lasiter, Inc., Lufkin Texas http://www.goodwinlasiter.com/aboutus.htm#employment
4. Freelance Programming, Web Page Building, etc. http://www.guru.com
5. Teaching Jobs http://www.academiccareers.com/Applicants.htm
6. Jobs for SFA Students and Graduates http://www.engineering.sfasu.edu/jobs.html
7. Posting Your Resume Online http://www.Resumes2Work.com
8. Prove This, Win $1,000,000! Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Mathematician? http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/WhosCounting/whoscounting000401.html

Thanks to Dr. T, Ryan Williams, Andy Wagers, Andrew Beal, Chris Dahl, Andrew Beal, Tommy Gober, Larry Luther, Lucas Rader, Kellie Fletcher, Dr. Trikosko, Jeannie Kim and others for the links and information above. Feel free to send any interesting links that you find. This email message is sent to students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the department. If you would like to be removed from the emailing list or are getting multiple copies of these newsletters, then feel free to reply to this message with your request.

Clear skies,
Dan Bruton
astro@sfasu.edu