Questions & Answers

Maintenance Silver

2006-12-09T12:00:00.000-06:00

You thought it was OK to put your sterling flatware in the dishwasher, but oh dear, look at it now. Take some tips from metal restorer Paul Karner.

Everybody must ask you this question first: What's the best polish?
Hagerty Silver Foam. It's not too abrasive, and it's water-soluble. For really bad black tarnish, Simichrome Polish. It's made in Germany. It costs more, but it's very good, and it's good for nickel, chrome, and brass, too. But it's not water-soluble. Make sure you get it out of the crevices. Use a toothbrush, otherwise it cakes on and is hard to remove. And don't use dips, they take off all the patina. If you take out all the black, you can't see the pattern. We see a lot of cases where someone took off too much patina, even the wonderful matte surface on Tiffany bronze pieces--when you make those shiny, it can destroy the value. We do have chemicals to put back or match patina, even on the lead for glass lampshades, and we can protect patina on bronze with a hot-wax finish.

Next I bet you're going to tell me never to put my silver in the dishwasher.
I don't recommend it. Especially if you're washing stainless in the machine too--that discolors silver. Knives aren't dishwashable anyway because the handles are full of pitch, the material that binds it to the silver, which softens in the heat. And you should always rinse off your silver right after the meal; some salty foods, and coffee and tea, will discolor it.

How should I store different kinds of metal?
Hagerty and other companies sell anti-tarnish cloth bags for silver. Chrome and nickel rarely tarnish, and you can store brass anywhere dark, in sealable plastic bags you squeeze the air out of. If air and sun don't get to a piece, it won't tarnish. Just don't use plastic wrap--it sticks on very bard. And don't use rubber bands either, they stain silver. Any contact with rubber can be dangerous for silver.

Do you get many surprises here?
All the time. I've seen sterling silver, 925, plated over for some reason--maybe because there was a repair to hide, or somebody thought it needed to be resilvered when really it was only tarnished. The plating can bubble when we work on it. People cut corners, they destroy beautiful things. The worst is when soft solder is used, in lead or tin, instead of silver solder. I have to take off 100 percent of the soft solder, or else when I start the repair and apply heat, the silver around it will literally vanish. You'd end up with a big gaping hole. And I don't like to work on very thin pieces. They usually show wrinkles in the end. Sometimes a weighted base that people think is solid silver is a thin sheet on wood or pitch that could melt in hot water.

So what do you like to work on?
Quality pieces I can do justice to. But I'll treat anything, even if it has value to you only because it was your grandmother's.

By Eve M. Kahn, House Beautiful, Dec2006

Ask The Dog Shrink

2006-12-09T11:55:00.000-06:00

We know you mean well, but let her pick out her own dog … he just loves decorations!

Q My mother has always said she wants a dog, and I want to surprise her with a puppy for Christmas. Any recommendations?

A JUST ONE. DON'T. Besides Christmas being one of the most chaotic times on the calendar, the fact that your mother isn't going to be in on the decision--one that she'll have to live with for the next ten or more years of her life--makes your gift a potential nightmare. I've heard hundreds of stories about people who were positive that someone in their life would love to have a dog as a gift, only to find out after the dog was bought that they were wrong. The "gift" ends up in a local animal shelter. And even if you are right about your mother wanting a dog, you may be wrong about her desire to actually acquire one. Sometimes the idea of something is more exciting than the reality of owning it. Still 100 percent certain that she wants to have a dog? Fine, but how do you know what type of dog she would like? Size, temperament, energy level, grooming requirements, puppy vs. adolescent, purebred vs. shelter dog--all of these things are very personal and essential pieces of information to know when picking the right dog. In my opinion, the best Christmas gift that you could give your morn would be a book about dogs and a certificate for "The Dog of Your Dreams." That way, if she's onboard with the idea, the two of you could have a wonderful adventure searching for her perfect four-legged companion.

How do I keep my dog from destroying our holiday decorations? We decorate our family room extensively, and he always chews up something.
The holidays can bring extra challenges to all relationships, not the least of which involve canine members of the family. The big question is why he would choose the holiday as his time to explore his inner decorator. The answer, I think, is tied directly to how your life changes during this time of year. Maybe your dog doesn't get the amount of attention and exercise he's used to, so his boredom drives him to find another outlet. Dogs can't read magazines to entertain themselves, but they derive great pleasure in shredding them. The decorations that he only sees on holidays make a particularly enticing target, hence his penchant for them vs. the furniture that he sees year-round. And let's not forget the extra family or social commitments that cause you and your family to be abnormally excited and stressed out. Dogs are accurate barometers of our emotions; they feel, and become confused by, the stress and chaos that ensues. Although you can take a warm bath to decompress, your dog's options are usually of the oral variety, so be sure to offer him plenty of new (durable!) toys and monitor him closely whenever he's near the decorations. As dog owners, it's our responsibility to provide them with the opportunity to engage in activities that serve their minds as well as their bodies. And when the basics are met --a healthy diet, proper training, affection, exercise and toys that are appropriate for your dog--then everyone will have a happy holiday season.

By Kathy Santo, House Beautiful, Dec2006

PW TALKS WITH JOANNA SCOTT

2006-11-11T14:43:00.000-06:00

In Joanna Scott's new story collection, Everybody Loves Somebody (Reviews, Sept. 11), characters search for love across the 20th century.

The book's title had me humming Dean Martin's 1960s hit. Is that the soundtrack you heard when you were writing these stories?
I'm finding more and more I'm humming as I'm writing. Old songs, new songs, they find their way into fiction.

Dino's hit is sentimental, unlike your stories. What gives?
The struggle to find love, to break out of isolation, is tough. I don't mean the title ironically. It's a beautiful phrase. I just want to say, "Yes, we do, we do."

Your first story takes place in 1917, the last in 2000. Is this collection meant to be a brief history of the 20th century?
I had it in mind all along. These stories were written over the last decade. I was determined to be patient. I waited until I stumbled on the next story, which I would, then write with this grab bag of a theme in mind.

What was the inspiration?
I happened to be reading through an old New York Times. At the bottom of the front page was a personal ad from a brother beseeching his sister to get in touch. I'm always struck, reading old journals, letters, newspapers, how intensely people lived their lives and the abruptness with which they disappear. I explore the meaning of their lives, I guess, in order to explore the meaning of our lives.

You've written seven novels and two short story collections. Do you prefer one form over the other?
I felt frustrated by my early short story efforts. Then I fell into a novel that excited me, and I thought, "That's it--I'm a novelist." I started writing stories again when I had my first child because I didn't have time to sustain the kind of concentration needed for a novel. Because I love changing form, I will always return to the short story. But I love being absorbed, waking each morning and knowing I have work to do. Otherwise, I feel unemployed.

You say that after you've published nine books?
I know, I'm obsessed--everybody tells me. Writing keeps me from biting my nails. It's what I've chosen as the career for my hands.

By Therese Eiben, Publishers Weekly, 10/16/2006

Scientists are Finding Life in Earth's Coldest, Hottest, Weirdest Places

2006-10-26T11:57:00.000-05:00

How five big questions about life on our planet are shaping the search for it on other worlds

THERE ARE MANY STRANGE landscapes in the solar system, but perhaps none stranger than that of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Deserts blanket Titan for hundreds of miles, rippling with wind-sculpted dunes that rise more than 300 ft. Images taken by the Cassini spacecraft over the past two years also reveal riverbeds sculpted by liquid methane, canyons, and what appear to be a volcano and a shoreline. When Cassini dropped the Huygens probe onto Titan's surface in 2005, the 701-pound craft landed in a substance with the consistency of wet sand. Shrouding it all is a smoggy, orange-hued atmosphere 10 times thicker than Earth's and made up of complex organic molecules.

"Titan is so cool," says Peter Ward, who leads NASA-funded astrobiology research at the University of Washington. "Titan is the most exciting place in the solar system astrobiologically. It has the most exciting chemistry set in our solar system by far. If there's life on Titan, it's alien life — really alien life."

But finding microorganisms on Titan — or anywhere in the universe — is no easy task. Titan has carbon-based molecules, for example, which is one of the necessary ingredients for life as we know it. But the recipe may be different there than it is here on Earth.

"Methane plays the same meteorological role on Titan as water does on Earth. So what would life look like if it drank a glass of methane in the morning, rather than a glass of Florida orange juice?" asks molecular biologist Steven Benner, a distinguished fellow at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution. No one knows, but it is one of many questions intriguing astrobiologists.

Over the past few years, spacecraft such as Cassini have provided an unprecedented look at alien landscapes, boosting the search for life throughout the solar system to new levels. But according to Benner and other scientists, some of the most insightful research is taking place right here on Earth. Life has been found in the unlikeliest of habitats, from South Pole snow to hot springs in Yellowstone. "I've always been amazed that it's so hard to go any place on this planet where there's energy and water and not find life," Benner says. "It's everywhere."

Understanding the conditions in which life can thrive here helps to shed light on where it might survive elsewhere. Just how dry, cold, hot, ancient and unorthodox can life get? The answers will help determine whether we have extraterrestrial neighbors — and just where in the solar system, or beyond, they might be.

How Did Life Begin on Earth?
On July 3, 2005, the Deep Impact spacecraft released an 820-pound probe into the path of the comet Tempel 1, which was traveling at 23,000 mph. Upon collision, the probe blasted a crater into the comet's surface, sending a stream of debris flying through space. Deep Impact's cameras snapped pictures of the carefully choreographed event, and scientists have been poring over the images ever since. They hope to find in the cosmic crash some clues about how life first formed on Earth. A better understanding of how microbes got a foothold here may help scientists identify other planets with the right mix of conditions.

There is one common thread to life on Earth that scientists know for certain: All life here is composed of the same basic building blocks. All proteins are made of compounds known as amino acids. All genes are made of molecules known as nucleotides, which are attached to a backbone made of phosphate and a sugar called ribose.

The big unknowns are when and how those compounds got here in the first place. Life must have emerged after the planet's birth 4.55 billion years ago and before the oldest indisputable evidence of fossilized microbes, which date back about 3.45 billion years. Sometime during that billion-year window, some of life's ingredients may have been carried to early Earth by comets like Tempel l. The scientists studying Deep Impact have already found that the plume of material ejected from the crater contains an abundance of organic molecules — suggesting the comet carries a substantial amount of these critical substances.

The raw materials necessary for life could also have emerged on Earth. Two years ago, Benner and his colleagues produced ribose, which helps form the backbone of DNA, under the sort of chemical conditions that might have existed in deserts on the young planet.

The final piece of the puzzle is how the building blocks became organized into simple living things. Some researchers think that ocean waves may have delivered water rich in organic compounds to tidal flats, where the pounding surf and baking sun acted as a biochemical reactor. Others suspect that life arose in the muck surrounding midocean ridges, where minerals and other energy-rich chemicals spew out of cracks in the Earth's crust.

"Think of it like a big jigsaw puzzle. We've emptied all the pieces out of the box, and we've put a few together," says Bruce Runnegar, scientific director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute. "We've got a few pieces of the sky and bits along edges, but we don't have the whole picture."

As the pieces come together, they will help direct the search for life elsewhere in the solar system. Mars seems to have had warm, watery conditions some 4 billion years ago, which may mean that life could have formed there. On the other hand, if all life needs to get started is a mix of ingredients and an energy source, then it may have started on less hospitable worlds, such as Titan. Insight into the role of comets may help determine which planets in other solar systems are likely to harbor life. If comets turn out to deliver key compounds, astronomers may need to look for solar systems surrounded by healthy clouds of them.

Does Life Need Water?
Life, as we know it, needs some kind of liquid. "There can't be life in a solid, and there can't be life in a gas," Ward says. In a gas, molecules are flying around so quickly that they can't carry out the complicated chemical reactions necessary for life. In a solid, they can barely move at all. Liquid is the Goldilocks solvent for life: It's just right, allowing molecules to wiggle and slide past each other.

Earth is a soggy place. It is covered with oceans, lakes and rivers. Its air is speckled with clouds and loaded with vapor. Water even penetrates miles into the Earth's crust, lubricating the movements of continental plates. All life here uses water as its liquid solvent, even in deserts and deep inside rocks. But does that mean water is the only liquid capable of supporting life, or did life on this planet just take advantage of the most abundant liquid it could find?

This question lies at the most speculative edge of astrobiology. It is possible — in theory at least — that liquid natural gas or other hydrocarbons could support an exotic kind of carbon-based life. And if life were based not on carbon but on some other element, such as silicon, it could exist in still other types of liquid,

For now, the search for life is focused on finding places where liquid water exists or once existed. But, Benner thinks that astrobiologists shouldn't narrow their sights. "How do you know this 'follow the water' strategy isn't going to miss the weirder forms of life that don't require water?" he asks. Mars is the only planet with any clear-cut evidence of liquid water; Jupiter's moon Europa has liquid water and it seems likely that Saturn's moon Enceladus does as well. But other bodies may have different liquids capable of supporting life. Liquid ammonia forms clouds on Jupiter. Sulfuric acid blankets Venus. Cassini has taken images of what maybe lakes of liquid methane on Titan.

Can Life Exist Without Sunlight?
Most of the people who travel down into the mines of South Africa go in search of gold and diamonds. Tullis Onstott, a geomicro-biologist from Princeton University, goes for another treasure: life fueled by nuclear power.

Onstott and his colleagues gather samples of the water that leaks into drill holes and take them back to the lab, where they isolate microbes. The organisms they've found have been thriving more than 3 miles below ground in a habitat uncontaminated by surface water. "Our environment is extremely isolated," Onstott says. "It's been isolated from the surface for tens of millions of years."

The microbes appear to survive without sunlight by feeding on organic carbon, created by the reaction of carbon monoxide and water. For energy, they use the hydrogen produced when radioactive particles from the rocks split apart water molecules. "You've got nuclear power sustaining organisms down there indefinitely," Onstott says.

This discovery increases the odds that life can exist on — or, more accurately, in — Mars or the icy moons of Saturn or Jupiter. Life on Mars could have retreated deep underground when the temperature plummeted. The outer moons were probably too cold ever to have supported surface life. Yet, scientists can't rule out the possibility that organisms formed deep underground and survive there today.

How Hot or Cold Can Life Get?
Earth may seem hostile if you're lost at sea or caught in a blizzard. But compared to other planets, it is wonderfully comfortable. The temperature stays relatively stable, so liquid water is available over most of its surface. A high-altitude blanket of ozone protects it from dangerous cosmic rays, yet enough sunlight reaches the surface to make photosynthesis possible. This energy allows forests and prairies to grow on land, and for billions of tons of algae to grow at sea.

In the search for extraterrestrial life, all of Earth's luxuries can be discouraging. After all, our home planet's particular sort of tranquility is far from the norm — at least in our solar system. Just consider our closest neighbors. Mars has no known supply of liquid surface water, no protection from cosmic rays, dust storms thousands of miles across and temperatures that drop to minus 125 F. Venus, meanwhile, is choked by carbon dioxide and can reach 864 F during the day. You wouldn't look for mushrooms or mountain goats on either planet.

But in recent years, scientists have discovered that life can exist in remarkably extreme environments. Heat-loving organisms, known as thermophiles, can thrive in water as hot as 250 F. They can be found in hot springs, such as the ones that burble to the surface in Yellowstone National Park, and in the water surrounding ridges on the floor of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, where molten rock pushes up from the planet's interior. Their chemical makeup is adapted to withstand high temperatures. A special set of enzymes, for example, prevents heat from pulling apart carefully folded proteins.

Life can tolerate brutally cold conditions, too. Jean Brenchley, a microbiologist at Pennsylvania State University, melted a chunk of ice that came from the base of a 3000-meter-thick ice pack in Greenland, where it had been sitting for at least 120,000 years. A close look with a microscope revealed organisms swimming around in the meltwater. "There were a lot of different things in there," Brenchley says. "It was a very high population of cells and it was very diverse."

The variety of cold-loving organisms also includes microbes that thrive in Antarctic sea ice at minus 49 F, in rock glaciers high above the Rocky Mountain tree line, and in a lake deep under Siberian permafrost. Called psychrophiles, these creatures have their own challenges and their own remarkable solutions. To keep from turning into solid ice, some produce antifreeze-like compounds that stop water molecules from linking together into crystals.

Thermophiles and psychrophiles offer different lessons to astrobiologists. Some scientists argue that thermophiles played a key role in the emergence of life on Earth. If that's true, it is possible that life emerged on planets where hot water was present. Mars seems like a particularly good candidate because it has rock formations that geologists think were created in a hydrothermal system.

But today Mars is a cold planet, and the farther from the sun you go, the colder environments get. "There's a whole lot more cold real estate than hot out there," says the University of Washington's Peter Ward. "Cold life is the new frontier."

Right now all eyes are on Saturn's moon Enceladus. In March, NASA released images of geysers on the moon's surface spewing ice crystals into space — enticing evidence that the orb may have a reservoir of liquid water. In light of this discovery, some scientists suggest that other icy moons of Saturn and Jupiter may be promising homes for psychrophiles.

Does Life Need DNA?
Once scientists decide where to look for life, they must decide what to look for. It would be handy if Martians could walk up to a rover, knock on its camera and wave to scientists back at NASA. But chances are that if life exists outside of Earth in our solar system, it will be microscopic. Recognizing this probability, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have engineered a way to detect organisms on the molecular level.

"Our idea was to build an instrument that could confirm that, in a single location, there were carbohydrates, proteins, DNA and maybe other, more complex biomarkers," says the project's team leader, David Wettergreen, who was given a PM Breakthrough Award last November (popularmechanics.com/breakthrough). "If you find all of those in one spot, they're probably associated with one organism."

For three years, Wettergreen's team has been testing a rover, named Zoë, in Chile's Atacama Desert. One of the driest places on Earth, the Atacama supports only a smattering of bacteria, algae and lichens. Zoë goes about finding them by spraying the ground with dyes that bind to biological molecules, and then illuminating the dyes with high-intensity light.

So far Zoë has been performing well. Wettergreen is optimistic that this technology would function on Mars. However, as currently configured, Zoë has a weakness: It can recognize only organisms made of the same chemicals as life on Earth. And Earth's recipe for life may not be the only magic formula.

Some scientists have been trying to create primitive life using RNA, which is the single-stranded version of DNA — the double helix that holds cells' genetic information. Life today may have evolved from RNA-based organisms that eventually went extinct. Some scientists have speculated that such primordial organisms may still be around, finding refuge in habitats, such as extremely small pores in rocks, that have not yet been fully explored. "We don't know if DNA-based life is indeed the only life on the planet," Ward says. "It has not been demonstrated that there are not aliens lurking on Earth."

Some researchers are using even more exotic molecules, such as peptide nucleic acid (PNA), to store genetic information. DNA and RNA carry their genetic information on backbones of ribose. PNA has a backbone made from peptides, the nitrogen-bearing building blocks for protein.

If fife forms only using DNA, it can emerge only on planets with phosphorus, nitrogen and certain kinds of sugar. Some planets, such as Mars, may have had those ingredients at one point, while others, such as Jupiter, probably did not. If scientists can successfully create an alternative to DNA, the range of planets worth studying for life could be open wide.

Benner admits that speculating about alternative life-forms is more what you'd expect from a screenwriter for Star Trek than from a biologist. (In fact, the Enterprise crew did bump into a silicon-based creature in the original series.) But "as long as NASA is going to have a mission to boldly go," he says, "we really do need to think about where we are going and what we are likely to encounter there."

That analysis is already well under way. Meanwhile, the fact that our own planet's strangest places have yielded life is raising scientists' hopes for the existence of life on other worlds. Their mission now is to go out and find it.

THE SEARCH IS ON
Life on Earth has turned up in surprising places: thousands of feet below the surface of ice sheets, in rock pores acidic enough to dissolve nails, and in the superheated water of deep-sea vents. By studying the extremes that organisms can survive here, scientists hope to pinpoint where life might thrive elsewhere in the solar system. — Alex Hutchinson

JUPITER'S MOONS
Jupiter's fourth largest moon, Europa 1, is minus 260 F at the surface. But, scientists believe that beneath its icy crust lie vast oceans heated by tectonic processes in the moon's core, raising the possibility of hydrothermal vents like those in the Earth's oceans. Two other moons, Callisto and Ganymede, have similar rocky cores and outer ice layers; electromagnetic evidence suggests they, too, may have saltwater oceans. In 1995, organic molecules were detected on all three moons by NASA's Galileo spacecraft. Another mission, Juno, is slated for launch by 2010.

MARS From mythical canals to fossilized bacteria in a meteorite found on Earth, claims of life on Mars 2 have been dogged by controversy. But evidence mounts that conditions there may once have made life plausible: Riverbeds indicate that liquid water once flowed on the surface, and polar ice caps still hold water in frozen form. The surface temperature averages an almost tolerable minus 67 F. Since January 2004, two Mars rovers have been beaming back their findings, such as rocks sculpted by liquid water.

VENUS With surface temperatures averaging 800 F, Venus 3 is too hot for our liking. But that wasn't always the case: Scientists believe pleasant temperatures and refreshing oceans — two key ingredients for life — may have persisted on Venus for 2 billion years. Some think that microbes may survive there even now, floating in clouds high enough to escape the planet's heat, but low enough to be sheltered from the sun's ultraviolet rays. The European Space Agency's Venus Express should soon reveal more. The craft reached the planet's orbit on April 11, 2006.

EARTH'S MOON There's no life on the moon 4; we've already checked. But that doesn't mean it can't survive there. In 1969, the Apollo 12 crew found a common Earth bacterium had survived for three years inside Surveyor 3's stranded camera — with no atmosphere, temperatures at minus 400 F, and a complete lack of water, energy and nutrients. Japan's SELENE mission will collect more Information about the moon in 2006; China and India plan similar missions later in the decade. NASA's next lunar mission is not slated until at least 2010.

SATURN'S MOONS
The Huygens probe gave us the first close glimpse of Titan 5 in January 2005, revealing dry, river-like channels and a volcano that appears to be spewing frozen methane. With a thick, nitrogen-rich atmosphere and organic molecules, Titan may resemble Earth back when life was first forming — only much, much colder. Because of Titan's distance from the sun, life there would have to be fueled by chemical reactions. The Cassini spacecraft, which has been orbiting Saturn since June 2004, also found a water-vapor atmosphere on Enceladus.

COMETS/ASTEROIDS
No one expects to find life on comets or asteroids, but the basic building blocks may exist there. NASA's Deep Impact mission slammed into the 9-mile-long comet Tempel 1 6 on July 4, 2005, looking for carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen. The mission marked the first time water Ice had been detected on the surface of a comet.

Extremes On Earth
The Atacama Desert in western Chile (far left) receives intense solar radiation and just millimeters of rain per decade, yet a life-detecting rover discovered microorganisms in many areas. Single-celled microbes living in deep-sea hydrothermal vents (left) withstand temperatures of 250 F and respire iron instead of oxygen. The average temperature in Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys (below) is minus 68 F. Photosynthetic cyanobacteria thrive there in pockets of water 6 ft. below the surface of ice-covered lakes.

THINKING OUTSIDE THE ELLIPSE
Beyond our solar system, more than 10 billion sun-like stars beckon to astronomy buffs who believe the best way to confirm the existence of alien life is to eavesdrop on it. In hopes of picking up a signal, teams have been borrowing time from some of the world's most powerful radio telescopes for nearly five decades. Now the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute, which has led the effort for the past 20 years, is building an array of 350 satellite dishes In California. Beginning with the first 42 dishes this year, the Alien Telescope Array (below) will allow a more sensitive search to be performed more quickly than in the past, expanding the number of stars examined from 800 to upward of a million.

Astronomers are also combing the galaxy for "extrasolar" planets. So far, more than 170 have been detected. Traces of sodium observed by the Hubble telescope In 2001 showed that at least some of these planets have atmospheres. In June 2005, a team at Hawaii's Keck Observatory reported the most Earth-like planet yet, Just over seven times heavier and twice as big, orbiting a star 15 light-years away. The Kepler Mission, scheduled for launch In 2008, will search for Earth-size planets In the "habitable zone" — the distance from stars that allows liquid water to persist. "Our present theory predicts that we should find things that look like our solar system," says Harvard astrophysicist Alan Penny. "But 'present theory' just means 'what we guess.'" — A.H.

By: Zimmer, Carl, Popular Mechanics, Sep2006

Why Your Cellphone Is So Lame

2006-10-15T23:03:00.000-05:00

Want a cellphone on which you can seamlessly listen to music, watch TV, manage your social life, surf the Web--do everything short of wash laundry? To get it, you'll have to move to South Korea, where mobile technology is years ahead of the U.S. Not for long, though, if the implausibly named Sky Dayton has his way. The 34-year-old founder of EarthLink is hip-deep into his latest venture, Helio, a partnership between EarthLink and South Korean phone giant SK Telecom that aims to deliver South Korea's hottest handsets to Americans. Helio connects its customers by leasing spectrum from phone giants too busy serving the masses to bother with the niche needs of technophiles. We caught up with Dayton (on his cellphone, of course) to chat about the sorry, yet hopeful, state of cellphones in the U.S.

Q: First things first: Why does South Korea get art the cool phone stuff years before we do?
A: Geographically, we're much more spread out, which presents a greater challenge to our networks. In South Korea, 45 percent of the population lives in Seoul, so it's easy to wire, or un-wire, as it were. The U.S. just hasn't had a broadband wireless network until now.

Q: So what are we missing out en?
A: I was in Seoul watching these kids with their devices, and they were watching videos, videoconferencing, finding their friends Oh maps, pressing a button to feed the dog at home--and, by the way, they were also calling people. Flash to the U.S., where the experience is about calling and maybe downloading a ringtone or two.

Q: Have U.S. cellphone giants underestimated Americans' techno-lust?
A: It's a little bit like you don't know how dirty your windshield is until you clean it. Going into places like South Korea and seeing how they use mobile is starting to make people say, "Wow, there's a different possibility here."

Q: So tell us about your cellphones.
A: We have a saying around here: Don't call them phones. Call them mobile devices.

Q: OK, tell us about your mobile devices.
A: All of them are fully loaded with incredible speakers and an extra processor chip inside to manage heavy graphics. They play music and video really well, and they connect to MySpace, an online community of 75 million users. We literally went over to Korea, grabbed a bunch of hardware and software, and brought it over here. Then we plugged it all into the high-speed 3G networks that are finally reaching much of the U.S.

Q: Won't carriers just want your customers for themselves eventually?
A: That's highly unlikely. It's a great symbiotic relationship because of the scale it gives them. They focus on the general market, on one-size-fits-all. We're more like Mini Cooper, as opposed to Toyota. We're not for your mom and dad.

Q: …Who wouldn't pay $275 for a phone, anyway. Tell us your vision for the future.
A: It's a handheld computer. It will know where you are all the time, for instance, and it will have the ability to connect you with information from the real world. I could pop open my device in a movie theater and say, "Who do I know in this theater?" Chances are there are people who you know who you can connect to. It's pretty amazing how that will transform human relationships.

By: Carbonara, Peter, Popular Science

Where Do I Go With Geometry?

2006-10-08T22:19:00.000-05:00

How can you decide which provides the biggest meal-two small pizzas or one extra-large? OK, so this may not be the most vital application of geometry, even if you do need to calculate the area of a circle to answer the question. On a more serious level, this branch of mathematics can take you in a number of challenging directions. Start with geometry, and add in …

ART
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS work with lines and shapes to create visually compelling designs and illustrations.

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS use geometry to plan the layout and locations of parks, campuses, walk, ways, trees, plants, and flowers.

DIGITAL ANIMATORS use computer technology to create moving shapes and images for games, cartoons or other types of animation.

MORE MATH
MATHEMATICIANS conduct theoretical research and projects in business, industry, and government and teach at the elementary, secondary or college level.

STATISTICIANS collect, analyze, and interpret data to understand trends and make decisions in business, education, government, and other areas.

ACTUARIES help insurance companies or other businesses assess risks, determine probabilities for the occurrence of certain events, and address complex financial questions.

SCIENCE
MEDICAL-IMAGING SPECIALISTS visually reconstruct the shapes of bones, organs, and tissues from information provided through CAT scans, sonograms, and other measurements.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTISTS use geometry to develop models and analyze data that help them understand a variety of ecosystems.

AEROSPACE MATHEMATICIANS develop conceptual models of spacecraft systems or of natural systems such as Earth's atmosphere or field of gravity.

CONSTRUCTION
CONSTRUCTION WORKERS employ the basic principles of geometry in preparing materials and in building.

ARCHITECTS use angles, shapes, and other geometric elements in designing buildings and homes.

ENGINEERING/COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN TECHNICIANS draft architectural plans and other types of technical drawings.

FLOORING INSTALLERS determine angles and other measurements while installing carpet, tile, and other flooring materials.

TECHNOLOGY
CIVIL ENGINEERS use geometric principles to develop designs for roads, bridges, water systems, or other projects.

COMPUTER ENGINEERS use geometric modeling in developing and refining software programs.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS employ a precise understanding of spatial relationships of different aircraft to help pilots navigate a specified area of the sky and landing areas.

Source: Career World, Sep2006

Why the kiwi has a very long beak?

2006-09-29T02:49:00.000-05:00

The kiwi's beak is long and thin because it is used for searching in the ground and under dead leaves for the caterpillars, worms and insects on which it feeds. The kiwi hunts only at night and remains hidden during the daytime in thick bushes or in holes in the ground. Alone among birds the kiwi has a fine sense of smell. It is perhaps, the last descendant of the large wingless bipeds, which lived on the Earth in very remote times. The only living examples of these birds are to be found in the forest of New Zealand.

Why do migrating birds bother to fly back north?

2006-09-29T02:48:00.001-05:00

The primary reason that our feathered friends migrate South in the Fall, or North in the Spring, does not solely lie in the cold of winter, as most are well-equipped to survive in extreme temperatures, but instead lies with the upcoming shortage of food. Mother Nature endowed birds with an internal clock that warns them to get out-of-town, or to face possible starvation. Because birds can detect seasonal changes.

How the earthworm digs its tunnel?

2006-09-29T02:48:00.000-05:00

The Earthworms spend most of their lives digging tunnels in to soil. They can burrow their way in to even hard ground simply by using strength of the muscles. They contract and expand in a rhythmic manner to force an aperture in the ground and then they push on with their head. The earthworm swallows some of the soil he moves through. The earthworm then expels the digested soil and leaves it as a worm cast. It has been estimated that the yearly deposition above the ground of soil by earthworm is between 7 and 16 tons per acre in England.

How the ant-eater feeds?

2006-09-29T02:47:00.002-05:00

The body of the ant eater is covered in long hair that prevents ants from reaching its skin. For this reasons it has no cause to fear insect bites when it tears the home of ants apart with its strong claws. The ant eater makes its meal by shooting out its long, sticky wormlike tongue and scooping up the ants that swarm all over the ground after their home has been destroyed. It has highly developed salivary glands, which secrete the sticky substance that coats its tongue and traps the insects.

What is acid rain?

2006-09-29T02:47:00.001-05:00

Vehicles exhausts produce fumes that contain nitrogen oxides. The coal we burn in power stations produced nitrogen oxides. The coal we burn in power stations produced sulphur di oxide. When these two substances mix with water in the air, they turn into acids, then fall as acid rain. Acid rain damages trees and kills wild life in rivers.

Why is the sky blue?

2006-09-29T02:47:00.000-05:00

When the rays of sunlight travel through atmosphere. The atmosphere scatters mainly blue light; this is why the sky looks blue. The other colors of light are less scattered much less than blue so that they come to earth directly.

How the rainbow is formed?

2006-09-29T02:46:00.000-05:00

If the sunshines on a shower of rain, you may see a rainbow if you are looking towards the rain and the Sun is behind you. The raindrops in the shower reflect the Sun's light back to you. As the sunlight passes through the raindrop, it slips into circular band of colors. You see the top part of this circle as a rainbow.

How is a cloud formed?

2006-09-29T02:45:00.000-05:00

The moisture in the air is the result of the evaporation of water by the heat of the Sun. The amount of evaporation depends on the quantity of water and the intensity of sun's heat. When these water vapors rises from the surface of sea and land, they are condensed in the atmosphere and form the cloud of different types.

Can dogs only see in black and white?

2006-09-17T12:09:00.000-05:00

No, but there is a limit to the colors they can see. To see colors, dogs — and people — rely on special cells (the most basic units of structure and function in an organism) in their eyes. These cells are called cones. Humans have three types of cones, which allow them to see a rainbow of colors. But dogs only have two types of cones. These allow them to see shades of blue and yellow the best. But they are unable to tell the difference between certain greens and reds.

Source: Scholastic SuperScience, 2006

How do astronomers determine the ages of stars?

2006-09-14T10:53:00.000-05:00

As stars age, a variety of observational characteristics naturally change. Some are dramatically obvious, while others are subtle. The calculated age's accuracy depends on the star's mass, its state of evolution, and whether or not it has a companion.

Astronomers obtain the most precise age estimate when the star is in a cluster. Main sequence stars are supported by nuclear fusion in their cores. The higher the mass, the faster a star uses its fuel and the shorter its lifetime on the stable main sequence is. By combining theory and observation, we can derive the age of a cluster -- and hence the ages of its stars, because they were all born at almost the same time -- from the lowest-mass star that is still fusing hydrogen. Higher-mass stars would have already become dying giants and supergiants.

Some cluster stars may even be further along on the evolutionary track, setting into a long, slow decline as compact white dwarfs. The ages of the dimmest, hence oldest, white dwarfs give good results as well (although these objects are more difficult to observe).

When we plot a duster's stars on a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (luminosity versus temperature), we then "age" the cluster by computer analysis to try to replicate the observations. To computationally age a cluster, we must know the cluster's distance and metal content (which partially controls luminosity and temperature).

While single stars are more difficult to deal with, we can still derive ages (and masses) by locating each star on temperature and luminosity plots (HR diagrams). Because stable main sequence stars change slowly, the results are more approximate than those for stars still forming, or those in the later stages. Once the giant (or supergiant) stages commence, during which time a star changes quickly, ages are more precise.

We can identify newborn stars by observing their surrounding birthplaces. Infant stars emit powerful winds in opposing jets.

Astronomers also look at stellar rotation speeds. Stars rotate fastest when they're first born. Lower-mass stars, those with outer convection layers (in which the stellar gases rise, radiate and cool, and then fall), generate magnetic fields that are pulled outward by stellar winds. Because the field lines are still anchored at the star, they consequently brake the rotation. The older the star, the slower is its spin, with the rate of decline depending on stellar mass. Because stellar activity (starspots and related effects) depends on rotation speed, it too can give some idea of stellar age.

Convection also has a subtle effect on a star's chemical composition. Nuclear reactions at relatively low temperatures easily destroy lithium. As convection cycles the outer stellar gases up and down, the amount of lithium declines. Young stars have lots of it; older ones have very little.

While the various methods often give different results, combining them gives astronomers a reasonably good age. The most accurate result is reserved for our star. Radioactive dating (in which we compare the amounts of radioactive isotopes with their final daughter products) of the oldest rocks -- meteorites -- gives the solar system's age as 4.6 billion years. Because we have every reason to believe the Sun and planets formed together, the Sun must also be 4.6 billion years old. -- JIM KALER, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

What is meant by the term "flat universe"? How is this flatness supported by measurements of the cosmic microwave background?

2006-09-14T10:52:00.000-05:00

Space is flat if the three angles of o any triangle add up to 180 degrees. For example, Earth's surface is a positively curved two-dimensional space. When you go from the North Pole to Ecuador to Congo and back to the North Pole, you make a triangle whose angles add up to about 270 degrees. All other triangles on this spherical surface also give more than 180 degrees. A saddle-shape surface is negatively curved. Draw a triangle on it, and the angles will sum to less than 180 degrees.

Cosmic microwave background (CMB) researchers using data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) have measured the angles of the longest triangle you can imagine. One corner is on Earth, and the other two are so far away that light has traveled about 13.3 billion years to reach us. Scientists found the angles of this triangle add up to 180°, to within small measurement uncertainties.

The far edge of this distant triangle corresponds to the size of a typical spot on the CMB map -- each splotch has an angular size similar to the Moon's. The spots are hot and cold areas in the hydrogen plasma that filled the infant universe, and have been imaged with sensitive microwave cameras aboard WMAP. -- MAX TEGMARK, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, CAMBRIDGE

Is it a Coincidence that most Of the planets fall within the Titius-Bode law's boundaries?

2006-09-14T10:50:00.000-05:00

In 1766, Johann Daniel Titius of Wittenberg discovered a numerical progression that roughly matched the orbital distances of the known planets -- Mercury through Saturn. In 1772, Johann Elert Bode of Berlin published the progression. When William Herschel discovered Uranus in 1781, the planet fit in the number series. This addition provided further evidence for the Titius-Bode law, which was widely accepted in the astronomical community until Neptune's discovery in 1846. Neptune broke the "law" So, yes, it's just a coincidence that most of the planets fall within the Titius-Bode law distances.

Titius discovered the relation after playing with number sequences and finding one that worked. Yet, scientists have long sought deeper explanations for the Titius-Bode progression. In fact, so many ideas have been advanced that Icarus, a leading journal of planetary science, no longer accepts papers that allege to explain the series.

In our solar system, the major planets' spacing is likely an outcome of the chaotic processes involved in forming planets through the collisional accumulation of progressively larger orbiting bodies. Also, our planets seem to have stayed close to the orbits in which they formed. The gas and dust disk that produced our solar system had a relatively short life span, which didn't allow enough time for planets to migrate elsewhere. This is different from many of the extrasolar planetary systems known.

The progression also doesn't apply to extrasolar planetary systems, discovered in the past decade. Scientists suspect gravitational interactions between forming planets and the dusty disk explain how some gas- giant planets become "hot Jupiters" orbiting a star well inside the distance of Mercury's orbit. This observed planetary migration limits the applicability of simple numerical progressions to extrasolar systems. -- ALAN BOSS, CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON

The sequence Titius and Bode came up with is based on the following equation:

a = (n + 4) over 10

where n = 0,3,6,12,24,48,96,192,384 (each number, except for 3, is double the preceding number)

a is the average distance measured in astronomical units (1 AU is the Earth-Sun distance)

Everest Puzzlers

2006-09-11T04:54:00.000-05:00

1. Why is there more oxygen at low altitudes?

Earth is surrounded by an atmosphere, or blanket of air. Gravity--the force that pulls everything toward the center of the Earth--holds the atmosphere in place. At low altitudes, the atmosphere is pulled down strongly by gravity, and pushed down by the air above it. This packs down the oxygen, so you get more oxygen per breath than you would at high altitudes.

2. Why is Everest's air so dangerous?

The higher you climb, the less oxygen you get in each breath. Too little oxygen to the brain makes climbers weak and dizzy. Climbers may also get sick. Why?

Blood carries oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body. Climbers hearts pump fast to spread the limited oxygen around

Extra blood flowing to the brain can lead to swelling. Brain swelling causes headaches, and sometimes blindness and death. Blood can also leak into the lungs, making it hard to breathe.

3. Why does it get colder the higher you climb?

The air and the ground absorb (soak up) rays from the sun. The air and ground warm up, then send out heat that warms you up.

On Everest, there's less air to trap the sun's heat. Also, light, shiny surfaces like ice reflect (bounce back) sunlight before it can soak in. The result: Less warmth for mountain climbers!

Source: Scholastic SuperScience

Why Employees Leave Organizations

2006-09-10T06:34:00.000-05:00

Every company faces the problem of people leaving the company for better pay or profile.

Early this year, Mark, a senior software designer, got an offer from a prestigious international firm to work in its India operations developing specialized software. He was thrilled by the offer.
He had heard a lot about the CEO. The salary was great. The company had all the right systems in place employee-friendly human resources (HR) policies, a spanking new office, and the very best technology, even a canteen that served superb food.

Twice Mark was sent abroad for training. "My learning curve is the sharpest it's ever been," he said soon after he joined. Last week, less than eight months after he joined, Mark walked out of the job.

Why did this talented employee leave? Arun quit for the same reason that drives many good people away.

The answer lies in one of the largest studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization. The study surveyed over a million employees and 80,000 managers and was published in a book called "First Break All The Rules".

It came up with this surprising finding:

If you're losing good people, look to their immediate boss. Immediate boss is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he's the reason why people leave. When people leave they take knowledge, experience and contacts with them, straight to the competition.

"People leave managers not companies," write the authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.

Mostly manager drive people away...

HR experts say that of all the abuses, employees find humiliation the most intolerable. The first time, an employee may not leave, but a thought has been planted. The second time thought gets strengthened.

The third time, he looks for another job.

When people cannot retort openly in anger, they do so by passive aggression. By digging their heels in and slowing down. By doing only what they are told to do and no more. You don't have your heart and soul in the job."

Different managers can stress out employees in different ways – by being too controlling, too suspicious, too pushy, too critical, but they forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents. Think of employees as their assets not liabilities. When this goes on too long, an employee will quit - often over a trivial issue.

Talented men leave. Dead wood doesn't.

What car will get you laid?

2006-09-08T00:43:00.000-05:00

Public relations representative for Scan Connery: We have received your letter requesting an answer from Scan Connery to the question, "What kind of car will get you laid?" Mr. Connery has declined to respond, although frankly, I don't believe that he needs a car to accomplish the act.

How can you make your car last 500,000 miles? Irv Gordon, owner of the world's highest-mileage car, a 1966 Volvo with 1,753,000 miles:

2006-09-08T00:41:00.001-05:00

Change the oil every 3,000 miles.
Check the tire pressure weekly.
Switch to 15W-40 oil in the winter.
Inspect the belts and hoses for cracks every single time you buy gas.
Keep it clean. If you take pride in your car, you're going to do a better job of keeping it up mechanically.
Powerwash the undercarriage to clean off the road salt in the winter. That stuff will corrode the body if it stays on too long.
Degrease the engine once a year.

What is the future of cars?

2006-09-08T00:41:00.000-05:00

John DeLorean: There are some exciting things going on with hybrid technology (an internal-combustion engine combined with a second energy source). But don't count out gasoline as the main fuel--because of the multi-jillion dollars that have been invested in its production. The resources for the foreseeable future are out to 60 years. So, I don't think cars are really going to change all that drastically; after all, they've hardly changed at all over the last 60 years. The major innovations have been very few--air-conditioning, power steering, power brakes, and the microchip.

What puts the muscle in a muscle car?

2006-09-08T00:40:00.000-05:00

Carroll Shelby: Unrefined power. Sheer brute force without the frills and trimmings. They're manly cars, not for the ladies. I'm talking about 427 Fords, 427 Chews, Pontiac GTOs, Dodge Super Bees.

What's the most overrated?

2006-09-08T00:39:00.001-05:00

The Rolls Royce. I own one that's 8 years old, and it keeps breaking down on me. It has only about 40,000 miles on it, and I spend more money having it towed than most people spend on repairs. It's gotten to the point that I'll only take it to movie premieres.