Heck Week is Upon Us and The Red Blemish

The Red Blemish spotted by one of the Space Center's security Cameras

 Hello Troops,

Today is the eve of Heck Week at the Space Education Center.  In a state of delirium (according to my staff) I squeezed two back to back EdVentures Camps in the second week of July when I mapped out the summer camp season at the beginning of February of this year.

"What were you thinking!?" I'm asked by any member of staff or volunteer with enough guts to question one of my executive decisions as Director of the Space Center. "You realize people have lives?  You realize people have to sleep?  You realize by the end of that week you may be on the receiving end of a revolution.  The Proletariat will rise, there could be rioting through the halls of Central School.  There could be pillaging, looting and the possibly use of questionable language in reference to your dictatorial rule over the starving masses."

I started hearing the mumbling of discontent in the school's hallways on Saturday.  Staff huddled around the water fountains and on the darkened stage, whispering and occasionally shooting poisoned glances in my direction.  The hair on the back of my neck stood erect most of the day.  My senses were quickened, thinking something solid might be hurled in my direction at any moment.

My heart beat faster when a younger volunteer passed me in the hall whistling "La Marseillaise".  A vision clouded my sight.  In the vision I saw the last Bourbon monarch, Louis XVI, being led to Madam Guillotine for the swift removal of his head.  I wanted to stop the youngster and lie that I had nothing to do with the schedule.  I resisted the temptation.  I am Lord Muck of the Space Center.  The masses will do as they are told.  If I say "Work!" they will work.  There will be no revolt.  Are there no workhouses?  Are their no debtors prisons?  Let them think of the consequences.  A revolt will open the door to Kaos and her agents.  A revolution will lead to the collapse of this Bastian of Imagination.  Let the masses think and ponder on that.  At the end of the day they will do their duty unless riled up by someone or something else.

The Red Blemish's scooter spotted late last night.

We know he lays his head at night.

(Thanks to "M, The Destroyer of Worlds" his arch rival)

The Red Blemish. Wanted for Sedition.   

The failed superhero  'Red Blemish' was spotted by one of the Space Center's security cameras during the last Super Overnight Camp.  He arrived by scooter in the darkest hour of the night to hear complaints and help orchestrate a revolt against Heck Week.  

"I'm here to assist the weak and helpless," he said to those gathered for the clandestine meeting.  "I'm here to give voice to the voiceless.  I'm here to fight for the right and vanquish evil.  I'm here to remind Mr. Williamson that the staff and volunteers are people too and they have a right to be normal.  Mr. Williamson must answer for his decision to put two EdVenture Camps back to back but be careful if you try to talk to him about this unprepared.  His look of disappointment may cause your heart to spaz out and skip several beats from ten paces.  Wait until he is distracted if you're going to corner him and demand concessions."  The Red Blemish had everyone's attention.  None more so than Space Center Supervisor Bradyn Lystrup.  

"Mr. Blemish, may I demonstrate?" Bradyn asked from the floor.  

"Go right ahead," The Red Blemish answered.  He stepped away from Mr. Williamson's desk.  Mr. Williamson was unaware of the secret meeting.  He was being responsible and chaperoning the sleeping campers in the gym.  Again, always doing his duty. 

Bradyn sat down in Mr. Williamson's chair, put on his reading glasses and demonstrated what to look for in a distracted Mr. Williamson

"Strike when Mr. Williamson is at his computer.  You'll know he's distracted by how he holds his head.  Look for a 25 to 30 degree angle as he moves his head up and down to get the glasses to focus correctly on the screen,"  Bradyn explained as he demonstrated the correct head angle. 

"The next best time to get Mr. Williamson is when he's on the telephone."  Bradyn took the phone, leaned to one side in the chair and put his hand to his forehead, giving the universal sign for 'I Have a Migraine".  "Don't strike unless he's leaning and his right hand is caressing his forehead.  This tells you he's in an annoying conversation demanding his full attention.  If the signs are there - strike.  If they aren't, step back and wait for the next call."  

"Well Done," The Red Blemish complemented Bradyn for his fine observational skills.  "We all know what we have to do to reclaim our rights against things like Heck Week.  Remember, I'm with you 100%.  I know you can do this!" 

The Red Blemish was ready to make his dramatic escape.  "Look, its Mr. Williamson!" He shouted as he pointed toward the office's door. Everyone turned to look -  there was no Mr. Williamson.  The Red Blemish was gone when they turned back!  Everyone was amazed and wondered how he did it.  The sound of a scooter was heard outside the Voyager's Brig door.  He was gone into the still of the night.

Mr. Williamson is offering a reward for the live capture and delivery of The Red Blemish to him on grounds of sedition.  The Red Blemish should be considered somewhat dangerous when upset (he has a tendency to throw things).  He will not go easily and may attempt hypnosis to escape his captors.

A Note from Mr. Williamson

I know its going to be a rough week Troops.  I know you can do this.  Put on a happy face, roll up our sleeves and get into the trenches.   We are Imagination's army.   Let's do what we are trained to do.              

The Higgs Boson Found. A Major Scientific Breakthrough

Hello Troops,

You may have overhead people on the news talking about a hugh discovery made at the CERN underground atom smasher complex spanning the border between Switzerland and France.  The CERN scientists say they are 99% sure they've found one of science's Holy Grails - the Higgs Boson particle.

"So What?" I hear you thinking.  You've got other things on your mind, like when are you going to get to go to the Space Center again.  While I applaud your priorities, I urge you to take a moment to applaud the work done at CERN and understand the significance to you and the world.

What is the Higgs Boson you ask?  I turn to Nick Collins, The Telegraph's Science Correspondent to help answer your question 

What is the Higgs boson and the Higgs field?

The Higgs field has been described as a kind of cosmic "syrup" spread through the universe.

According to Prof Higgs's 1964 theory, the field interacts with the tiny particles that make up atoms, and weighs them down so that they do not simply whizz around space at the speed of light.

But in the half-century following the theory, produced independently by the six scientists within a few months of each other, nobody has been able to prove that the Higgs Field really exists.

Prof Higgs predicted that the field would have a signature particle, a massive boson.

So, we are talking about a field of energy surrounding everything in the universe.
Subatomic particles slow down from light speed as they move through the field.  This drag gives them mass.  Mass leads to attraction (they're moving slow enough to get a good look at each other and 'hook up'. The particles start clumping together forming atomic neutrons, protons and electrons which in turn form atoms which in turn form molecules which in turn make matter and US.

Nick Collins continues...
 

What would the world be like without the Higgs boson?
According to the Standard Model theory, it would not be recognisable. Without something to give mass to the basic building blocks of matter, everything would behave as light does, floating freely and not combining with other particles. Ordinary matter, as we know it, would not exist.

How long has the search gone on?
Scientists have been looking for the Higgs since the 1960s, but the search began in earnest more than 20 years ago with early experiments at Cern in Europe and Fermilab in the US.

Does finding the Higgs boson mark the end of the search?
It's just the end of the beginning. Confirming the existence of the Higgs would only be the start of a new era of particle physics as scientists focus on understanding how it works and look for unexpected phenomena.

How do you find a Higgs boson?
To find the particle and characterise it, scientists must first try to create it by smashing beams of protons together inside the Large Hadron Collider at close to the speed of light and analysing the debris.
By doing so they will essentially be recreating a very small model of the state of the Universe as it was in the first trillionth of a second after the Big Bang.
Some of the fragments released by the collision should in theory be Higgs Bosons, although they will instantly deteriorate into even smaller, more stable subatomic particles.
Like other heavy particles, the Higgs decays into lighter particles, which then decay into even lighter ones. The process can follow a certain number of paths, which depend on the particle's mass.
Physicists compare the decay paths they observe after a particle collision to predicted decay paths simulated with computers. When a match is found, it suggests that the observed particle is the one being searched for.

How is the Higgs boson related to the Big Bang?
About 13.7 billion years ago, the Big Bang gave birth to the universe and caused an outburst of massless particles and radiation energy. Scientists think that fractions of a second later, part of the radiation energy congealed into the Higgs field.
When the universe began to cool, particles acquired mass from the Higgs field, slowed down and began to bunch up to form composite particles and, eventually, atoms.
Conditions present a billionth of a second after the Big Bang are recreated in the Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator near Geneva.

Expedition 31 Returns to Earth

 

Expedition 31 crew members prepare to close the hatch.

Just after midnight on Sunday July 1st, the three members of the 31st expedition to the International Space Station undocked their Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft and headed for home. Expedition commander Oleg Kononenko, and flight engineers Don Petite and Andre Kuipers had been in space for about 6 months. Later on Sunday, the spacecraft made its final deorbit burn and re-entered the atmosphere. Under parachute, the crew touched down in Kazakhstan on Sunday afternoon.

The Soyuz spacecraft moves away from the ISS.

Great view of the Soyuz from above the Earth.

Russian view of descending crew capsule. Several Mi-8 helicopters circled the capsule as it approached the landing site.

Thrusters fired just before landing to slow the capsule for a softer landing. Touchdown!

With the end of Expedition 31, the remaining crew on the ISS now take over command and begin Expedition 32. Cosmonaut Gennady Pedalka leads the expedition, and marks his 3rd command of the ISS! He is accompanied by Flight engineers Joe Acaba (NASA) and Sergei Revin (Russia). The second half of the crew will arrive on July 17.

Mark Daymont

Space Center Educator