Farpoint's Creative Team. Roger Lindley Helps Former Space Center Director. New Farpoint Cadets. DSC Gets Desk. Ms.Warner and her Red Rose. The Imaginarium.

Farpoint's Creative Team at Work

Tomorrow morning, Farpoint's creative team will meet again in my new classroom at Renaissance Academy.  You know we're a dedicated lot when we're willing to forgo sleep to meet at 8:00 A.M.
Last week's meeting focused on the simulator stations.  We discussed the shape and design of the simulators, the individual computer stations and did a bit of serious imagineering on a possible turbolift elevator-like device to transport our guests from simulator to simulator, and from engineering to sick bay and to the public corridor linking the outside world of Lehi Utah to the Farpoint Station orbiting planet Kepler 62e, six hundred light years away (wow, what a sentence).

Brent did a presentation on on Farpoint's communication system.  He took my initial thoughts on the station's functionalily and, using his superior intelligence (he makes the rest of us feel like hampsters running on a stationary wheel), fleshed the concept out.  Farpoint's stations will not be easy to operate.  I'm insisting on real science in their design and function, and using science fiction when necessary to complement for the future and light year distances.

Tomorrow's discussions will center on the remaining simulator stations we didn't get to last week.  We've invited our young cadets from the programming class to listen in if they arrive early.  Designing a futuristic starship, its controls and the universe it operates in is not easy work if you want it done right and as realistic as possible.

One of the reasons I post links to space and science news on The Troubadour is to share my research with you.  Please take time to read the news section, then put yourself in my place and try to imagine how I might take that information and use in as I imagine the Universe of Farpoint.

Mr. W.

Roger with Cart outside Renaissance Academy.

The last load of my life's work waiting in the back of his pickup truck

Retired Central School Custodian Resurfaces to Debunk Rumors of his Demise.

Roger Lindley, former custodian extraordinaire of Central Elementary School, was called back into active duty on Thursday, faithfully responding to the 'reactivation' clause of his Space Center Contract.  Unbeknown to most, anyone who ever volunteered or worked at the Space Center at Central can be reactivated at any time to active duty.  This clause is implied as a term of volunteering and / or employment.  Roger was surprised to learn about the clause when I talked to him at my retirement open house.
"I can be WHAT?" he bellowed.
"You can be reactivated to active duty when the need arises," I answered as I watched him enjoy one  of the delicious cinnamon rolls.
Roger looked confused.  "I wasn't a Space Center employee, I was Central's custodian.  How can I be reactivated?"
"Ah, but the Space Center is part of Central."  He surrendered the point and accepted his fate.
"What do you need?"
"I need your help to move all my stuff from Central to Renaissance.  You've got a truck."  I offered him another cinnamon roll to sweeten the deal.  He agreed.

Just like the trooper he is, Roger shown up on Thursday to help me move 30 years worth of stuff from my home to Renaissance Academy.  My classroom is on the school's second floor, that means we got to use the elevator; how cool is that?  If anything, working in a school with an elevator was well worth the move.  Put me in any environment with buttons and you've lost me for hours, and an elevator has buttons.  Let me predict the future - the school's director will restrict me to two elevator trips per day after the first two days of school (maybe even sooner when I start pushing the alarm button).

There's something even cooler, my classroom is called the London Room.  Almost everyone who knows me knows that I'm an honest to goodness Anglophile.  I go absolutely potty over all things British.  You know I'm going to have some fun with this.  I think I'll covert my classroom door into a replica of the Doctor's Tardis.

  

Then a good old fashioned English call box in one of the classroom's corners.  A good place to put a misbehaving child.

Special Announcement.  Three Farpoint Cadets Complete Their Mission Observations.  Exclusive Photos of Their First Missions as Volunteers.   

The Farpoint Cadet Club is please to announce that three of our cadets have completed their mission observations and are now eligible to volunteer at the CMSEC and the Discovery Space Center.

Meet Orion (Cool name for a Farpoint Cadet).

Meet Michael (Standing in the Galileo's doorway)

Meet Bryan (at Discovery)

Let's get to know our Farpoint Cadets.  Memorize their faces and greet them by name the next time you see them.  

Visit Farpointinstitute.org  for information on how you too can become a Farpoint Cadet.

Space Center Director Receives a Red Rose.  Rumors Running Rampant Throughout Space Center Community. 

   

Pictured above is Megan Warner, the new Space Center Director.  Megan is seen enjoying her new office, having successfully disposed of the former Space Center dictator is a bloodless, cordial, and surprising friendly Coup d'état.  General Williamson was ceremoniously sent into retirement, where he enjoys his days on his hillside deck overlooking the beautiful and picturesque Murdock Canal and Utah Valley.    
 
Our Troubadour reporter noticed something on Ms. Warner's desk, a beautiful red rose with card.  When questioned, Ms. Warner turned as red as the rose and insisted the rose was a loving gift from her brother BJ, who happens to be the new director of the Discovery Space Center (it makes you wonder just who the Warners really are.  What kind of connections does this family have?)

The reporter focused in on the single rose and snapped the photo above.  Could the note be written by her brother?  Possibly, or is there something Ms. Warner is not sharing with her staff, volunteers, friends, family and admirers?

The Troubadour will stay on this story until the truth is revealed.

Breaking News:  The Discovery Space Center Has a New Reception Desk  

The Troubadour is the first to bring you this breaking news.

The Discovery Space Center has a new reception desk.  Skyler Carr, asst. director, is seen enjoying the new desk and providing engaging conversation while Jon Parker and Bradyn Lystrup experience a good lean.  Everyone knows that a good reception desk provides visitors amble room for a good lean AND intelligent conversation with a charming receptionist. Discovery met both requirements with this new desk.  Be sure to stop by and have a lean of your own, Skyler will engage you in excellent conversation, and be sure to book a mission or two before leaving (no charge for leaning if you book at private mission, otherwise the learning only charge is $5.00 per hour.  $10.00 per hour if you want conversation).

The Imaginarium
Make the ordinary, extraordinary (I think I met this requirement with the stories above).

A Bedroom You'll Never Want to Leave

An Olympic Sport I'd Pay Good Money to See

Those Germans

 IBM's Brilliantly Creative Billboards with Purpose

Shall we let the customers decide that?

What's the purpose?

According to these instructions, you must first stand and stare before drying your hands

What???

A student's math book creation

R2D2 has hit rock bottom and needs an intervention

I guess it works, if you use your imagination

Pray these two never darken your classroom's door

I'd get off on the next stop if I were you

My First Bike Trek to Work. Do You Suffer from Eye Floaters? Science News. The Imaginarium.

Former Space Center Director Nearly Cashes in His Chips On Bike Trek to Renaissance!

I bought a new bike yesterday.  The salesman tracked me down in the junior bike section.
"Can I help you find something?" the pimpled youngster asked.  He looked barely old enough to drive.
"I'm looking for a bike," I replied.  I had my hand resting on a bike clearly too small for someone of my height and well fed appearance.
"You'll need something bigger than that."He nodded toward the bike.  I couldn't tell if his comment was meant to be sarcastic or humorous.  "What do you plan on using it for?"
"To ride."  I wanted him to know I could give as well as take.  He looked puzzled.  I could tell the cogs were spinning but not locking into place.  I continued, not wanted to drag the purchase to ridiculous lengths.  "I'm going to ride it to work."
"Where do you work?"
"I start at Renaissance Academy in August."
"Where is that, how many miles?"
"Lehi and I don't know."  The presalesman looked confused, as if his bike recommendation completely depended on the exact number of miles from my home to Renaissance.  "Ten miles maybe, oh and comfort is my number one criteria.  I'll be on the bike for nearly two hours a day.  I need a bike seat designed for someone who has spent ten years driving a Lincoln Town Car."
"No racing seat then."
"No, I need something able to support a pampered backside."

The boy thought for a moment before deciding on a recommendation.  He pulled out a nice looking blue bike with a seat wide enough to land a 747.

"That will do," I said.  I did the obligatory test ride in the parking lot.  I couldn't figure out the multiple gears, so I looked like a real idiot trying to navigate the parking lot with the bike's gears set for climbing Mt. Everest.  My legs were pedaling fast enough to cause a mini cyclone.  I gave up, got off the bike, pulled up my drooping pants and told him to ring it up.

"Do you need anything else with that?" he asked.  I told him that as a young LDS missionary in England in the late 1970's, I quickly learned the importance of bike fenders to keep the rain and mud from painting a mucky stripe down my back.  I got the fender upgrade.  I was set.

I am the proud owner of a new bike.

I got up at 5:45 this morning to time how long it would take me to ride my new bike from my home, along the canal, to Renaissance Academy in Lehi.   I live on the Murdock Canal.  Renaissance Academy is on the Murdock Canal.  Me, a bike and the new canal trail made a perfect partnership.

I had the gears figured out 30 minutes into the ride.  45 minutes into the ride I was wore out, my backside begged for a pillow.   It took one hour to get to Renaissance,  several minutes longer than I anticipated.  I got lost in the Highland Glenn Park spaghetti junction of roads, trails and parking lots.

The long trek home was difficult.  Everyone but the walkers and joggers passed me along the way.  I had this vision in my head of what I must have looked like....

  
I finally gave up and walked the bike up the last long hill up to my house above the canal.   I'm determined to make this work, so I'll try it again in the morning.  If it doesn't, then I'll trade in the bike  for a different model.  What do you think?

Mr. W.

Space and Science News
        

Support the people responsible for this material. Go give the artist some love at:

http://dienutza.deviantart.com/art/Supermoon-in-Wonderland-300325119


Do You Have Eye Floaters?

For those who’ve never experienced this phenomenon, eye floaters are little oddly shaped objects that appear in your vision, often when one looks at bright light such as a blue sky.  Their shapes vary greatly, but will often appear as spots, cobwebs, or randomly shaped stringy objects.  These are not optical illusions, but rather something your eyes are actually perceiving.  There are a few different things that can cause this, but in most cases these eye floaters are caused by pieces of the gel-like vitreous breaking off from the back portion of your eye and then floating about in your eye ball.

Read more

What would Earth's Former Super Continent Pangaea look like with Current Geopolitical Borders?

 

What is the Smallest Possible Size for a Star?

What is the smallest possible size for a star? Astronomers finally have an answer to that nagging question that separates a full-blown nuclear life-giving furnace and a much less vibrant “failed star” otherwise known as a brown dwarf.

According to Todd Henry from Georgia State University, while speaking at the American Astronomical Society’s 222nd conference, a star can be no smaller than 8.7 percent the diameter of our Sun as well as having an average brightness no less than 0.00125 percent that of the Sun. In addition, the surface brightness of this slim star should be at least 1,727 degrees Celsius (3,140 Fahrenheit).

To put those numbers in perspective, the Sun has a diameter of about 1,391,000 kilometers – 8.7% of that comes out to be 121,017 kilometers. For those of you who know your planets, you’ll realize that diameter is actually smaller (about 13%) than the diameter of Jupiter. Yes, there are stars out there smaller than Jupiter.
...
In the same way that Pluto was demoted to a dwarf planet, does that mean Jupiter has now been promoted to a star? As cool as that would be, sadly the answer is no.

In order for a star to be a star, it needs to massive enough to ignite nuclear fusion at its core. That is a property of density, not so much of diameter. Case in point, there are ‘hot Jupiter’s’ orbiting very close to their parent stars. Some of these planets are half as massive as Jupiter and yet have ten times its diameter – naturally, the planet is far less dense than Jupiter for those same reasons. It’s no different than our star conundrum, Jupiter simply isn’t massive or dense enough to be a star – sad but true.

OK, back to these uber small red dwarfs. A red dwarf, which is the smallest classification star we have, is the most abundant type of star in the Milky Way. It’s estimated that about 75% of our galaxy’s stars are re dwarfs. That makes studying them very important, as well as one of the greatest candidates for hosting life-sustaining planets. In a study conducted earlier this year using data from the Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers have estimated about 4.5 billion of the Milky Way’s 75 billion red dwarfs host Earthlike planets.

Update on Comet Ison

 

A remote controlled helicopter has been flown through a series of hoops around a college gymnasium in Minnesota. It sounds like your everyday student project; however, there is one caveat… the helicopter was controlled using just the power of thought.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-06-helicopter-power-thought-video.html#j

A University Team Flies a Remote Controlled Helicopter with their thoughts 

A remote controlled helicopter has been flown through a series of hoops around a college gymnasium in Minnesota. It sounds like your everyday student project; however, there is one caveat… the helicopter was controlled using just the power of thought.

There were five subjects (three female, two male) who took part in the study and each one was able to successfully control the four-blade helicopter, also known as a quadcopter, quickly and accurately for a sustained amount of time. Read More

TRAINSPOTTERS attempt the impossible yesterday — a glimpse of the world’s fastest passenger service as it hits 310mph.

The prototype L0 has a snub “nose” and uses magnets to float above the rail.
It will cut the 90min journey from Tokyo to Nagoya to 40min for 1,000 passengers.
But fans gathered for this test run in Tsuru must wait to ride it — the L0 does not come into service until 2027.
China’s CRH380A was the world’s fastest train at 302mph.  Read more

The Imaginarium

Make the ordinary, extraordinary every day 

 

A remote controlled helicopter has been flown through a series of hoops around a college gymnasium in Minnesota. It sounds like your everyday student project; however, there is one caveat… the helicopter was controlled using just the power of thought.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-06-helicopter-power-thought-video.html#jCp

A remote controlled helicopter has been flown through a series of hoops around a college gymnasium in Minnesota. It sounds like your everyday student project; however, there is one caveat… the helicopter was controlled using just the power of thought.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-06-helicopter-power-thought-video.html#jCp

The Cat has met his Nemisis

The New Childhood?

Sushi imagined.  Taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary

The standard for movies these days

A VW Van??? or what

Iron Trooper

You were something if you owned this

 

A remote controlled helicopter has been flown through a series of hoops around a college gymnasium in Minnesota. It sounds like your everyday student project; however, there is one caveat… the helicopter was controlled using just the power of thought.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-06-helicopter-power-thought-video.html#jCp