I recently finished up reading "The Cuckoo's Egg" by Cliff Stoll. It was a fascinating story that details some of the first examples of computer hacking and computer forensics.

This post isn't a review of his book, however! It's more to document some adventures that resulted after reading it.

First, a quick summary:

In 1986, Cliff Stoll was an astronomer working at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory when he was tasked to look into a $0.75 discrepancy in compute time billed to physicists and other scientists who remotely connected to their machines.

What resulted was a year long wild-goose chase that ended up in the arrest of a KGB operative in Germany who remotely connected to university computers in the United States in order to gain access to military networks through ARPANET (precursor to the Internet of today).

Cliff wrote a book about his experience that went on to become a best seller. For fans of esoteric computer history, this was one of the first documented examples of hacking and marked the beginning of computer forensics. This book was published 35 years ago and deals with (now) antiquated technology that the young ones around here know nothing about -- but oh wow, did I thoroughly enjoy this!

Anyway! That's not why I'm here. I'm here, because I keep seeing his name pop up in various places (more recently Hacker News). A post mentioned his TED talk in 2008. It's a hoot -- and pretty inspiring, too!

[embed]https://youtu.be/Gj8IA6xOpSk?si=ctLMhSQRAUV12vVZ[/embed]

One person mentioned that he makes Klein Bottles (an interesting manifold that ends up being a container with zero volume, as it only has a single surface) out of his home in... North Oakland. Oh, he also enjoys visitors.

Oh, really?!

The Klein Bottles are a really interesting object and have been a fun talking point with friends. I ended up purchasing a Klein Bottle from Cliff and asked if I could pick it up, since I live nearby. He happily obliged.

I ended up bringing our oldest kiddo and we had an absolute blast. He spent an hour with us, showing some of the artistic stuff he's been working on (mathematical quilts!), showing off various gadgets he's made (a fun device that draws images on his shipping boxes using Sharpies -- an automated personal touch), and letting my kiddo drive the remote controlled robot he built that runs under his crawl space (!).

Just an absolutely memorable time. Thanks so much, Cliff!

"Uh, what?" you say.

A few weeks ago, I read a post on Hacker News about something called "the coastline paradox." Despite my geology background, I hadn't heard of this before.

The measured length of the coastline depends on the method used to measure it and the degree of cartographic generalization. Since a landmass has features at all scales, from hundreds of kilometers in size to tiny fractions of a millimeter and below, there is no obvious size of the smallest feature that should be taken into consideration when measuring, and hence no single well-defined perimeter to the landmass.

Essentially, the smaller unit of measurement you use to try and measure something with a fractal pattern, the longer it becomes.

So, I'm currently reading a book called "Reading the Rocks" by Marcia Bjornerud and there is an entire section devoted to the coastline paradox, which I just learned about.

Mandelbrot's point was simple: If you use a very long stick to measure a coastline, you will capture the broadest arcs but miss the fjords, firths, and coves, and you will conclude that the coastline is not terribly long. As you use shorter and shorter rulers, however, the coast actually stretches. Mandelbrot named such stretchy features fractals...

Neat!

This brings up the second TIL: What is the phenomenon called when you hear something for the first time and then suddenly start seeing or hearing it everywhere?

It's the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, also known as the frequency illusion:

The frequency illusion (also known as the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon) is a cognitive bias in which a person notices a specific concept, word, or product more frequently after recently becoming aware of it.

Well, here's to seeing more coastline paradoxes.

The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes captured my attention from start to finish. Going into it, I was fascinated by the idea of understanding the convergence of minds that led to the creation of one of history's most powerful and controversial weapons. And of course, the recent buzz about the Oppenheimer movie contributed to this interest as well.

Rhodes doesn’t just delve into the technicalities of the bomb's construction, which, on its own, would have been captivating. He masterfully presents the lives, backgrounds, and motivations of the characters involved.

A large part of the first third or so of the book digs into nuclear chemistry and the intense research going on to figure out these chain reactions. It was just absolutely fascinating.

What I found particularly interesting were the insights into the parallel efforts in Japan and Germany. It provided a unique view of the global race that was underway, further elevating the stakes and suspense of the story.

Throughout the book, there was this compelling juxtaposition: the brilliance of the minds at work against the backdrop of the impending devastation their creation would bring. It's a testament to Rhodes's storytelling that he managed to weave these narratives seamlessly.

"The Making of the Atomic Bomb" was a stellar read, and it easily gets a 5 out of 5 from me. For anyone curious about the people and the drama behind the science, this is a must-read.

At first glance, this book seems to be a biography of Jennifer Doudna, a biochemist and one of the pioneers of CRISPR research.

While there is some focus on her upbringing and the things that may have driven her to become a fantastic scientist, the book is really about the wide range of characters who helped discover CRISPR DNA sequences and their potential applications in modern medicine.

I've heard CRISPR and CRISPR-based technology mentioned in various things I've read and how it is something that could potentially revolutionize medicine. But that's really all I know about it.

This book digs into how Jennifer and her team of researchers discovered the CRISPR process -- essentially duplicating the way that bacteria has fought off viruses for eons -- and how it could ultimately be used for various therapies, treatments and even diagnoses.

The book briefly mentions its use in the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for COVID-19 as well as some of the more controversial and ethically questionable uses -- editing the genes of a fetus, for example, to choose certain traits (which will then be passed down to its own children).

This was an enjoyable and informative read and it covered all sorts of things from the science of CRISPR, legal issues related to patents, and the use cases for CRISPR based technologies today.

Use this handy eclipse simulator to find out.

San Francisco, CA. :(Casper, WY. :)

Did I mention that I'm so excited for this? I'm really excited. So excited. So excited.

STS-134 NASA Tweetup and the final flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour

On April 28th and April 29th, 2011, I was fortunate enough to participate in the NASA Tweetup for STS-134. It was to be the final flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour and the second to last mission in the Space Shuttle program. I traveled to the Space Coast from San Francisco and spent three fantastic days with fellow Twitter users and enthusiastic space geeks at Kennedy Space Center. Things didn't always go as planned (you'll see), but it was an experience that I'll cherish and never forget. Godspeed, Endeavour.

En Route

As I write this, I'm currently en route to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to participate in the STS-134 NASA Tweetup. If all goes as planned, we'll be watching the final launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour at 3:47pm on Friday, April 29th, 2011. It's only a few short days from now.

Watching a space shuttle launch has always been something of a long shot dream for me. Growing up in California, it wasn't very convenient nor easy for our family to travel across the country for a launch. It turns out that my best chance to see a launch would be canceled before I could even comprehend what the Space Shuttle was -- NASA scrubbed plans to launch Space Shuttles from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California after the Challenger accident in 1986.

(To be fair, Shuttle launches from Vandenberg were originally intended for Air Force / Department of Defense purposes, so it may have been unlikely the public would have been informed of upcoming launches. Interestingly enough, we've been able to observe rocket launches and missile tests from Vandenberg at my parents' house, located 220 miles away.)

Fortunately, we had something else available to us on the West Coast -- the flat, expansive playas of the Mojave Desert and NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. Because of this, we were able to partake in a number of Space Shuttle landings while growing up. We'd often find ourselves venturing out to the dry lake beds around NASA Dryden and Edwards Air Force Base, usually on short notice. Once there, we'd patiently wait under sunny blue skies and rising temperatures until the shuttle announced its arrival with distinctive twin sonic booms.

Ka-Boom! Ka-Boom!

Everyone would crane their necks in all directions, looking for the tiny speck that would eventually grow into a space ship right in front of our eyes. Inevitably, someone would spot it in the distance. It almost appeared to be falling rather than gliding.

Photo courtesy of Randy Walker.

We had front row seats as it silently flew over our parents' cars, trucks, and motor homes. The silence was periodically broken by the cackle of radios, as amateur radio enthusiasts tuned into NASA's communications channels. As it approached and landed on a runway, located only a few miles from us, the crowd would start cheering and clapping.

During one landing in the early 1990's, we raced to Dryden before sunrise to catch an early morning landing. After the shuttle touched down (which specific shuttle it was escapes me), we drove the two hours back to our town, where my parents dropped me off for school. When I entered the classroom, my third grade teacher asked me to explain my tardiness and threatened me with a detention -- it would have been my first.

"I was watching the Space Shuttle land!" Coolest kid in class? You bet.

The NASA Tweetup

On March 14th, NASA announced that it would begin accepting applications for a new tweetup event -- to watch the final launch of Endeavour. The event was originally scheduled to take place on April 18th and April 19th, culminating with the final launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour (and representing the second to last flight of the Space Shuttle program).

The application process was pretty straight forward and simple. Where are you from? What are your favorite NASA Twitter accounts? And most importantly, what is your Twitter username?

Over 4,100 Twitter users responded to NASA's call for applications in 24 hours. A week later, they selected 150 lucky people to participate. The event would feature an exclusive behind the scenes tour of NASA facilities at Kennedy Space Center that included NASA's press site near the famous Countdown Clock, the Vehicle Assembly Building, Apollo / Saturn V Center, the Shuttle Landing Facility, an up close look of Endeavour at Launch Pad 39A, and of course, the launch of Endeavour itself.

By some sort of sheer luck and fortunate coincidence, I was one of the 150 people who were lucky enough to be selected to participate in the event. I was in Austin, Texas, attending South by Southwest on behalf of gdgt -- the previous night we had thrown one of our gdgt live events. As I was heading back to the venue that next morning to help finish the tear down and clean up, I decided to stop for some coffee and a quick breakfast. While standing in line for coffee, I pulled out my phone and started checking Twitter (as usual). The first tweet in my stream was from NASA, reminding everyone that there was only an hour left to register for the STS-134 tweetup.

What?! I quickly grabbed my coffee, ran outside and sat down on a curb, and frantically filled out the application form on my phone -- all while cursing my AT&T connection as the form took forever to load and submit. But it finally went through! It was time to let the waiting games begin.

A week later, I opened up my email client and saw a new message waiting for me. My heart skipped a few beats when I read the subject line: "STS-134 NASA Tweetup CONFIRMATION." It went on to read, "Congratulations, your registration has been selected to attend the NASA Tweetup at space shuttle Endeavour's targeted launch April 18-19 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida!"

Yes! I now had my golden ticket and I would finally see a launch! It was impossible to hide how ecstatic I was and judging from fellow NASA Tweetup attendees I began to follow on Twitter, I wasn't alone.

The Vehicle Assembly Building

The size and scale of the Vehicle Assembly Building (in NASA's acronym happy world, it's more commonly known as the VAB) is nearly incomprehensible. It was built in 1966 and stands at a height of over 500 feet. It's the largest single story building on Earth. In fact, you can even see the VAB when flying out of Orlando International Airport, 40 miles away!

A few minutes after passing through the employee entrance and security checkpoint at Kennedy Space Center, the structure looms large in front you. Incredibly, it's still 4 miles away. It steadily grows to consume an ever larger percentage of your field of vision.

We entered the VAB on Thursday and tried to take it in. It was huge, giant, gargantuan, and monstrous. There isn't an appropriate adjective to describe just how immense this building is. You basically walk in, look up and then keep looking up some more. It never seems to end.

As if there wasn't enough to comprehend, you finally began to realize the amazing history of this building. For one, this is where they put together the powerful machines that took men to the Moon. The Moon! Machines that were in this building brought humans to another heavenly body and back. For a space geek, this is nearly as hallowed ground as it gets. And not many people get to see this.

Nowadays, this building is used to stack the Space Shuttle (e.g., mate it with the solid rocket boosters and the external tank). NASA was already hard at work prepping for STS-135, which will mark the end of the Space Shuttle program with the final flight of Atlantis. We were able to see a small portion of the immense solid rocket boaters and external tank in an adjacent gallery.

Someone from our group pointed up to the SRBs and ET and asked a NASA official who was with us how they got the whole shuttle stack to the launch pad.

"How do you get to it the launch pad?" He asked. "That is the launch pad!"

The Tweetup Tent

One hundred and fifty of us were gathered underneath a white tent at NASA's press site, located only a few meters away from the world famous Countdown Clock.

We were listening to astronaut Clay Anderson describe his experiences in space, such as acclimating to Earth's gravity after spending nearly 5 months aboard the International Space Station. Clay is a veteran of 3 previous shuttle missions as well.

When asked what he was thinking the first time he stepped out of an airlock (Clay actually says you don't step so much as gracefully fall) was that, "I was meant to be right here, doing this."

Thunderstorms

On Thursday evening, less than 24 hours before Endeavour was set to lift off, we were tentatively scheduled to take a trip to Launch Pad 39A and get up close and personal. We would be only 600 meters away from the Space Shuttle and watch as the rotating service structure retracted to reveal the Space Shuttle.

At least that was the plan. Only 20 minutes before we were supposed to leave, we found out that NASA was postponing the RSS retraction by at least an hour, due to dangerous incoming thunderstorms.

It was a beautiful sight to behold -- an ominous, large storm front bearing down on Kennedy Space Center. Every 10 to 15 seconds, the sky would flash and faint sounds of thunder would soon reach us. Suddenly, riding out the storm in a seemingly flimsy tent supported by aluminum poles didn't sit very well.

Everyone packed up their gear and we ran for cover to a nearby building. There, we rode out the storm in NASA's John Holliman Auditorium. This is where they hold many of their mission briefings with members of the press.

Eventually, the storm would pass. Unfortunately, it would be too late for us to take a trip out to Launch Pad 39A and get some personal time with Endeavour. The RSS would end up retracting at midnight. But it was good news, because launch was go! We were disappointed to be foiled by Mother Nature, but there was still fun to be had.

Launch Day

Finally, the big day was here. We arrived at Kennedy Space Center early, partly to beat the crowds on the road (750,000 people were expected to descend on Space Coast for this launch) and partly because we wanted to be at KSC for as much time as we could. Many of the other tweetup attendees had the same idea as well. At 9AM, all 150 of us gathered next to the Countdown Clock for a group photo.

The tweetup tent was filled with energy. You could tell many of us didn't sleep too much that night -- and why would we? For the vast majority of us, this would be our first launch! We were ready for this. In fact, someone might say we were born for this moment (though I bet that many of us at the tweetup would trade seats with any of those astronauts inside Endeavour in a heartbeat).

As mid morning approached, some people started whispering rumors.

"NASA is looking into a LOX leak in the ET."

"Something about a heater not working? Supposedly it's not launch critical."

"I hear the wind might kick up later."

Anytime someone shared news that wasn't positive, we all shushed and hissed at them. Nothing was going to come between us and the launch. Nothing was going to happen that would compromise the launch of our dear Endeavour. Call it a self fulfilling prophecy, call it denial, or just naive enthusiasm, but every single one of us in the NASA tweetup tent were ready to will that space shuttle into orbit.

The Astrovan

It was nearly time. At 12PM, roughly 3 and a half hours from launch, we disembarked from the tweetup tent and walked a few hundred meters down hill towards the VAB, where we would wait by the roadside to cheer our heroes on. All 6 Endeavour crew members were inside NASA's Astrovan and set to drive by us on their way to Launch Pad 39A.

While waiting, we could see a helicopter approaching. The deep, distinctive "whomp-whomp-whomp-whomp" sound signaled the arrival of NASA's UH-1 Heuy helicopter. It was tasked with clearing the route and providing aerial protection for the astronauts' trip to the launch pad. Inside the helicopter sat a sharp shooter, keeping watch.

After a brief wait, the NASA motorcade approached, lead by the Astrovan and followed by a fleet of vehicles that included suburbans, armored cars, buses, and unmarked police cars. As the Astrovan slowly made its way past us, we cheered, clapped, and waved.

That's when the Astrovan turned left into the parking lot of the Launch Control Center. Most of the tweetup guests couldn't know anything at the time, but that wasn't supposed to happen.

Stephanie Schierholz, NASA's incredible Social Media Manager (and the person responsible for much of the work putting the NASA tweetups together), turned to a friend and said, "huh, that hasn't happened before."

Something was amiss. The Astrovan turned around in the parking lot and faced us. We all waited. Some people checked Twitter and saw tweets from various NASA personnel. There was a problem with Endeavour. There wasn't much info to go on, and we didn't know what to believe.

The Astrovan and its entourage began to move and approached us. They got to the intersection in front of us. If they went to our right, they were going to Launch Pad 39A. If they turned toward our left, they were headed back to crew quarters and the launch was scrubbed.

They turned left. One hundred and fifty hearts broke at once. We all cried out. There was a collective gasp from everyone watching. Some people yelled out, "You're going the wrong way!" Others pointed in the direction of the launch pad. I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me and was shocked. We were a mere 3 hours from liftoff, and only 3 miles from the launch pad. Something I've been dreaming about seeing my whole life, something that was so close, it was knocked away.

Now, to be fair, this account might paint us all as a selfish bunch, but I don't think that is the case at all. First and foremost, we want the crew and the Endeavour to be safe. There was just so much emotion, hope, and anticipation for the launch that it really affected all of us.

As the Astrovan made its way past us to head back to the crew quarters, a stream of people walked away from the road and back toward the tweetup tent. More solid info began to emerge -- there was an issue with one of Endeavour's APUs. It would take 48 hours minimum to fix. That means the earliest Endeavour could launch would have been Sunday. The day I fly back to California. A press conference was scheduled for later that afternoon. Stephanie Schierholz, Beth Beck, and the rest of NASA's social media and public outreach team hoped to know more by then.

A lot of us in the tweetup tent sat in shocked silence. Some people were quietly talking to family and friends on their phones, or were busy rebooking plane tickets. Others were standing outside, looking at Endeavour in the distance. I did the same. I wanted to tell Endeavour that she was my favorite Space Shuttle, but with an emphasis on was. It was a stupid thought. More than anything, I was disappointed that this happened.

Nearly all of us were disappointed though. But we were going to try to make the best of it and wait for more news. I mean, we were at Kennedy Space Center after all. How many of our friends and family members were jealous that we could actually even see the Space Shuttle at that moment?

The Aftermath

NASA's press conference on Friday afternoon confirmed many of our worst fears. The launch was now postponed until Monday at the earliest. It would be at least a day before engineers could get inside Endeavour and take a look. The ET has to be drained and the rotating service structure moved back into a protective position. NASA wouldn't have more definitive information to share until a briefing scheduled for Sunday morning.

It didn't look good. I wound up changing my flight back home and moved it up a day. There was no way I would be able to make a Monday launch due to work commitments. It left me in a melancholy mood. I actually felt depressed!

Many of my fellow tweetup attendees and temporary housemates also changed their flights to leave earlier. Others were going to stay behind, intent to see the launch through. I admire and envy them.

Stephanie Schierholz sent out an email survey to the group to find out how many people would be able to stay behind for a Monday launch. Only around 60 people would be able to make it!

Final thoughts

In hindsight, feeling melancholy or depressed about the situation was ridiculous. We knew exactly what risks we were taking by coming to Florida, and we were all familiar with the sometimes unpredictable nature of a launch.

We participated in an amazing event, seeing things and meeting people that most could only dream of. Just being at Kennedy Space Center and talking to veteran astronauts, or important scientists, or even volunteers was an inspiring experience. I even felt like I could quit everything and try out my hand at being an astronaut.

It really was a great experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything. The aura of KSC and the entire Space Coast is intoxicating. It's hard to see how someone could come to KSC and leave without wanting to be an astronaut, scientist, or engineer.

As I left Kennedy Space Center yesterday, I took a final look at Endeavour sitting at 39A and wished her well. I couldn't say goodbye though, because it wouldn't be true. After STS-134 is over, she'll be processed and eventually sent to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. There would be a Space Shuttle in my neck of the woods after all!

I may not get to see Endeavour launch, but I'll still get to spend some time with her one day.

Godspeed, Endeavour.

Update: As this post went live, NASA announced that Monday's launch was also scrubbed.

You know, just in case you need me the next few days...

[via Carson Skinner on Twitter]

Practicing my Space Shuttle landing skills., originally uploaded by Dave Schumaker.

I figured since I'm heading to Cape Canaveral and all, I should start brushing up on my shuttle landing skills. You never know if a crew member suddenly comes down with an illness and they'll need to replace them with someone from the NASA Tweetup. Yeah... sure. ;)

You can check out the above space shuttle simulator on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod by downloading F-SIM Space Shuttle from the App Store.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtzRAjW6KO0

This is pretty fantastic! Eric Jacqmain built a "solar death ray" using 5,800 mirrors glued to a satellite dish.

The R5800 is my latest and greatest solar creation. Made from an ordinary fiberglass satellite dish, it is covered in about 5800 3/8" (~1cm) mirror tiles. When properly aligned, it can generate a spot the size of a dime with an intensity of 5000 suns! This amount of power is more than enough to melt steel, vaporize aluminum, boil concrete, turn dirt into lava, and obliterate any organic material in an instant. It stands at 5'9" and is 42" across.

Seeing kids and young adults do science experiments and create things like this gives me hope for our future!

[via @papermodelplane on Twitter]

Back in March of 2010, I wrote a post looking at the frequency of earthquakes occurring around the world and examined whether or not there were more earthquakes occuring than normal. Specifically, I chose to look at earthquakes between M6.0 and M6.9, as they are sufficiently large enough to be detected by seismometers around the world and they seem to be well documented in recent history.

So, what were the final numbers for 2010? Using the global earthquake search tool on the USGS website, we can see that there were 151 M6.0 - M6.9 earthquakes detected last year.

FILE CREATED: Mon Jan 3 19:59:37 2011 Global Search Earthquakes = 151 Catalog Used: PDE Date Range: 2010/01/01 to 2010/12/31 Magnitude Range: 6.0 - 6.9 Data Selection: Historical & Preliminary Data

According to recent USGS data, an average of ~134 earthquakes happen in this range every year. Yes, we had 151, but does that mean it's time to freak out?

No!

It falls well within what we would expect. In fact, there were more earthquakes within this magnitude range in 2007 (178) and 2008 (178)! What? Crazy!

A few more data points: M7.0 - M7.9 eq's in 2010: 21 (avg: ~17) M8.0 - M8.9 eq's in 2010: 1 (avg: ~1)

Here's a handy table from the USGS [via]:

So, to sum things up, the world is not ending, despite what crazy folks say, earthquakes are not increasing, and there's probably a number of other things more important to worry about.

Cheers and happy new year!