Friday, May 31, 2013
Moon's Extra Gravity (Fact Revealed: Mascons)
Revealed: The Awesome Explanation for the Moon’s Extra Gravity
In 1968, just a year before the historic Apollo 11 Moon landing, NASA scientists discovered something that could have sent astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins plunging to their deaths: an unexpected gravitational force—one so strong it caused the unmanned Lunar Orbiter spacecraft to violently shake up and down as it orbited Earth’s neighbor.
The cause, NASA determined, was the presence of “mascons,” or mass concentrations of especially dense rock just below the surface of the Moon, with much stronger pulls than the rock that surrounds them. Scientists adjusted accordingly to land the Apollo. But for decades, a pressing question lingered: how could these mascons—not found anywhere on Earth—even exist in the first place?
Today, as published in Science, we finally have an answer. In short: blame the asteroids—and the make-up of the Moon itself.
Mascons are always found within impact basins, the huge, roughly circular depressions created when asteroids smashed into the Moon billions of years ago. Since the depressions are lower than the surrounding surface, and therefore hold less rock, you’d naturally expect less gravity in these locations. But there’s actually more.
That’s because the Moon is made like lemon-meringue pie. No, really. As Science paper co-author and planetary scientist Jay Melosh explains, the crustal rock on the surface has a relatively low density, like meringue. And the mantle underneath is like lemon filling—it’s denser than what’s on top, and warm enough to flow under pressure (even though it’s technically solid). When asteroids strike, they blast through the Moon meringue and drill deep into its lemon filling.
At that point, according to the basic principles of physics, the filling is supposed to rush into the hole, rising to the surface while it’s hot, then sinking back down as it cools—effectively restoring the normal density-gravity balance. But that doesn’t happen on the Moon. Why?
Because—and this is the big breakthrough—on the Moon, the top cools much more quickly than we thought. So when the uber-dense lemon filling (a.k.a. the mantle rock) wants to sink back into the hole, it can’t. Instead, says Melosh, it glues itself to the meringue (a.k.a. the crustal rock). And—presto!—a mascon is born.
Of course, Melosh, who’s been researching mascon origins since the 1970s, didn’t work alone. One of his biggest clues came in the ’90s from MIT’s Maria Zuber (a co-author of the Science paper), who used gravity measurements from the Lunar Prospector spacecraft to show that the mascons were sitting higher up in the lunar crust than they should be. “I didn’t really believe it at first,” Melosh recalls. “All of us were very uncertain.”
The crucial data came from last year’s Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory lunar mission, which allowed Melosh’s team to run two sets of computer code—one that simulated an asteroid impact, the other that modeled the far more drawn-out process of mantle flow and cooling—with enough authority to confirm their mascon theories.
But that information came at a cost. In order to get the best measurements of lunar gravity, controllers sent GRAIL down to perilously low altitudes. To compensate for the mascon pull, says Melosh, “they had to fire their thrusters three times a week. They didn’t want to crash before the mission was over.”
Once the data was gathered, however, the thrusters went dry. And the mascons, which had been forced at last to expose the secrets of their origin, exacted their revenge.
Common Core Standards Michigan Funding Legislation (State Superintendent Mike Flanagan)
State superintendent calls on senators to reject defunding Common Core education standards
ByFollow on Twitter
on May 29, 2013 at 12:42 PM, updated May 29, 2013 at 12:59 PM
LANSING -- With Senate approval of a new budget pending, State Superintendent Mike Flanagan called on lawmakers Wednesday to reject a provision already approved by the state House of Representatives barring funding for implementation of the National Common Core State Standards for mathematics and English/language arts instruction.
Flanagan's statement came in response to accusations made by Republican lawmakers in the House that legislators and Michigan residents had not had an opportunity to comment on the standards, which were formally adopted by the State Board of Education in June 2010.
According to the Michigan Department of Education, more than 600 comments on the standards were received during a public comment period held prior to adoption, and the MDE also solicited input from legislators in March 2010.
“Based on these insights, we are hopeful that the legislature realizes that the public has been involved already and schools are working diligently to implement the Common Core State Standards,” Flanagan said, "so I hope the legislature will do the right thing and not approve this provision in the state budget.”
Rep. Tom McMillin (R-Rochester Hills) said yesterday after the budget passed the House that education department officials were using "the sky is falling rhetoric" to describe the potential effects of blocking funding for the standards.
"It is unfortunate that the Michigan Department of Education has used 'the sky is falling' false rhetoric applied to a pause in the budget on implementing Common Core. This pause will allow Michigan citizens to weigh in, for the first time, on whether we should hand over authority on standards taught in all our public schools to a private trade association (NGA) or not," McMillan said.
The standards were developed over several years by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers with input from teachers, principals, administrators and business leaders.
Martin Ackley, director of MDE's public and government affairs office, countered McMillin's statement on Wednesday, saying the language of the budget provision was not a "pause," but a full stop.
"This is an outright prohibition ('shall not'), with no guarantee that the prohibition will be lifted," Ackley said, quoting the provision's language. "This is a flight that local schools have been on for three years and now they will be forced to shut down the engines at 10,000 feet. It’s not the sky that is falling – it’s the airplane."
Rep. Sam Singh (D-East Lansing), who spoke in opposition to the provision prior to the House vote, said he was "surprised and disappointed" that the standards have become controversial.
"This is something that's been discussed for years," Singh said. "The concern I have is there's a lot of misinformation going around."
Opponents of the standards have decried them as a federal takeover of curriculum decisions, and several witnesses at a House Education Committee meeting on the standards expressed concern about their adoption.
"It doesn't dictate a national curriculum," Singh said. "I'm baffled this has turned into such an issue."
School districts across Michigan have been implementing the standards in their classrooms since their adoption by the state education board, a fact Ackley cited in support of the guidelines.
"Local school districts have been working for three years, and spent hundreds of hours in planning and implementing the high-quality Common Core State Standards for their students to be career- and college-ready. This provision in the bill will leave school boards, administrators, teachers and parents with no clear direction on how they continue planning their locally-developed curricula to meet the state standards," Ackley said.
The Senate adjourned Wednesday without taking up the budget measure. Lawmakers are not expected to return to the Capitol until next Tuesday as legislators attend theMackinac Policy Conference.
Brian Smith is the statewide education and courts reporter for MLive. Email him atbsmith11@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.
Mackinac Policy Conference 2013 (Thursday: Governor Snyder "Let's Do Some Stuff")
Governor encourages young leaders: 'Let's Do Something, Michigan!'
CHRIS GAUTZ / CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
Gov. Rick Snyder meets with a group of entrepreneurs on Mackinac Island to announce the launch of "Let's Do
MACKINAC ISLAND — Surrounded by a group of young emerging leaders Thursday morning, Gov. Rick Snyder announced the launch of a new campaign to help connect people to volunteer opportunities, share good news and become ambassadors for the state.
"We're a great state, we've just got to tell people," Snyder said during the meeting in the presidential suite at the Grand Hotel on the second day of theDetroit Regional Chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference.
Snyder encouraged the group to begin spreading the message of the "Let's Do Something, Michigan!" campaign. To become involved, sign up atDoSomethingMichigan.com, text "ACTION" to 25827 or call (855) 440-6424.
Once signed up, participants they can learn about volunteer opportunities near them and receive positive information about the state that they can share with their friends on social media sites.
Snyder said he was excited about the new effort.
"We've had enough talk; let's do some stuff," he said.
EAA (Update: Mackinac Policy Conference 2013)
Nearly $60M raised to help Detroit students
MACKINAC ISLAND — The Michigan Education Excellence Foundation announced Thursday that it had raised $59.7 million of its $100-million goal and garnered two $10-million challenge grants that not only will fund the Educational Achievement Authority school system, but will pay for community college scholarships for every Detroit child who graduatesthis year.
Beneficiaries of the Michigan Education Excellence Foundation funds
• The 15-school Educational Achievement Authority, which teaches children by learning level rather than grade.Fiat & Chrysler (Buy-out Conversation)
May 30, 2013 at 7:21 am
Report: Fiat in talks to get $10B in financing to buy Chrysler
Fiat SpA is in talks for as much as $10 billion in financing from a pool of banks to buy the Chrysler Group LLC stake it doesn’t own and refinance the two automakers’ debt, people familiar with the matter said.
The banks, which include Bank of America Corp., Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and BNP Paribas SA, are discussing loaning Fiat the money to purchase the 41.5 percent of the American carmaker held by the United Auto
Workers’ retiree health-care trust, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Other banks could also take part in the financing, one of the people said.
Workers’ retiree health-care trust, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Other banks could also take part in the financing, one of the people said.
Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne, who runs both Fiat and Chrysler, has spent the last four years remaking the two regional automakers into one worldwide carmaker that can better compete with Toyota Motor Corp., General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG. A full combination of the two would create a group with the mass-market Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands, along with the Maserati and Ferrari high-end marques.
Motor Corp., General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG. A full combination of the two would create a group with the mass-market Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands, along with the Maserati and Ferrari high-end marques.
“The merger is the right choice for Marchionne and the only possible option to avoid Fiat being marginalized or bought by a competitor in the medium term,” said Emanuele Vizzini, chief investment officer of Investitori Sgr in Milan. “I see it as likely that they will get favorable financing by the end of the summer and then list in the U.S.”
The shares gained as much as 17 cents, or 3 percent, to 5.91 euros and were up 2.8 percent as of 12:50 p.m. in Milan trading. The stock has climbed 56 percent this year, valuing the Turin, Italy-based manufacturer at 7.38 billion euros ($9.58 billion).
Fiat, which has accumulated a 58.5 percent holding since taking control of Chrysler in 2009 as it emerged from bankruptcy, aims to complete the purchase of the remaining stake by the end of the summer, the people said. Marchionne is waiting to move forward pending the results of a legal dispute between Fiat and the health-care trust over the value of its Chrysler stake, the people said.
Fiat has received verbal agreements at this point from some of the banks, while no final deal has been signed, the people said. Representatives for Fiat, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank declined to comment.
Fiat is planning a two-step deal, with the Italian carmaker first buying the stake, and later refinancing the debt of both companies at lower interest rates, the people said. Italy’s biggest manufacturer may pay as much as $3.5 billion for the rest of Chrysler, UBS estimates. The two together had 7.1 billion euros of net industrial debt at the end of March.
“It seems discussions are progressing on Fiat’s plan to buy Chrysler, and Marchionne is getting closer to his plan of merging the two carmakers and forging a global player,” said Philippe Houchois, an automotive analyst with UBS AG in London. “Debt alone can help provide short-term financing, but something other than pure debt will be needed to improve the capital structure.”
One option being explored is to create a new company in the U.S., merge Fiat and Chrysler into it and issue shares in the combined entity, one of the people said. Current Fiat owners would exchange their shares for a stake in the new company, the person said.
Exor SpA, the investment vehicle that holds the founding Agnelli family’s 30 percent Fiat stake, would end up with a minority holding in the merged company, the person said.
“Exor is absolutely convinced that Fiat and Chrysler will have a future together,” Chairman John Elkann, who heads the family’s businesses, said today at Exor’s annual meeting, adding that it was premature to comment on the future structure.
Marchionne has already begun operating the two carmakers as one entity, integrating the management teams and sharing technology and production capacity among the various brands.
Future models will cut costs by sharing parts that comprise up to two-thirds of a vehicle’s value.
In compact cars, around 20 models will be based on the same technology, including the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, the Fiat Viaggio sedan produced at a new factory in China and the fuel-efficient Dodge Dart for U.S. buyers. Fiat is also planning to build a small Jeep SUV at an Italian plant starting in 2014.
Marchionne, who has said an automaker will need to sell 6 million vehicles annually to be viable in the long term, aims to increase production at under-used Italian factories by building 16 new high-end cars. Fiat and Chrysler together sold 4.2 million vehicles in 2012. That compares with 9.07 million at VW, 9.2 million at GM and 9.75 million at Toyota.
annually to be viable in the long term, aims to increase production at under-used Italian factories by building 16 new high-end cars. Fiat and Chrysler together sold 4.2 million vehicles in 2012. That compares with 9.07 million at VW, 9.2 million at GM and 9.75 million at Toyota.
Marchionne also has a goal of boosting revenue to as much as 98 billion euros in 2014 from 84 billion euros last year.
Fiat and the health-care trust are in court disputing the price for a portion of the shares Fiat is seeking to buy by exercising options. The Italian carmaker may end up paying more than it is currently offering, the Delaware judge overseeing the case suggested last month.
The judge has until late July to make a ruling in the case, according to the court’s guidelines, which stipulate a decision should come within 90 days of oral arguments.
Marchionne is considering moving Fiat’s headquarters to the U.S. from Italy after the merger as the main revenue and profit sources shift to North America, three people familiar with the matter said earlier this month.
No final decision on the headquarters has been made and other options are being examined, the people said. Fiat said the headquarters issue is not on its agenda at the moment.
Marchionne said last month that he favored a primary listing in New York for the company.
The CEO, who has suggested in the past that he may leave the automaker after 2015, said last month that he’d like to complete the merger of the two companies in June of next year, when he completes his 10th year at the helm.
“Having spoken with Marchionne, I know he will stay with us for many years to come,” Elkann said today when asked if Marchionne would step down two years from now.
Elkann named executives such as Richard Tobin, Fiat Industrial SpA’s chief operating officer; Lorenzo Sistino, head of Iveco trucks; Alfredo Altavilla, Fiat’s European chief; Mike Manley, head of the Jeep brand; and Cledorvino Belini, head of Fiat in Brazil, as managers who have been groomed by Marchionne and could eventually run the company.
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130530/AUTO0101/305300040#ixzz2UrTCzOV5
Mackinac Policy Conference 2013 (Thursday Keynote: Michelle Rhee Video)
Education reformer puts focus on teachers, bipartisan collaboration, rising above mediocrity
By Crain's Detroit Business
Education reformer Michelle Rhee told the Mackinac Policy Conference on Thursday to focus on three issues to improve education in the United States.
Rhee came to national attention as chancellor of public schools in Washington, D.C. Today, she runsStudentsFirst, a nonprofit that pushes policies to promote education reform at the state level.
The first issue: Honor the teaching profession. Michigan has adopted some measures, but needs to enact merit pay statutes for teachers, she said.
Second, recapture the American competitive spirit. The U.S. spends millions on education, but the country ranks 14th, 17th and 25th internationally in reading, science and math.
Too much time is spent on activities to build self-esteem. She urged an end to "celebrating mere mediocrity and participation." That is not what they celebrate in Korea, she said.
When people criticize such things as federally dictated "common core standards," she says the focus is on the wrong thing. "We should be upset that China is kicking our butt" and our kids are not competing.
Finally, education has to be a bipartisan issue. Education has become polarizing. "I am a lifelong Democrat," she said. "I was raised to be supportive of unions."
Rhee said she had opposed vouchers in education for years. But Washington had a voucher program for low-income children, and it was up for renewal. She met with parents, mostly single mothers, who were desperate to get their children in a high-performing school but the "out-of-boundary" lottery was swamped by applications. So the alternative was a voucher to attend high-performing private schools.
So she endorsed the voucher renewal, earning the enmity of the Democratic Party and teachers union.
Too many opponents of school reform would never accept inferior teachers or schools for their own families, she said. "They want to create policies for other people's children that they would never accept for their own."
Mackinac notebook
U.S. is facing an education crisis, reformer Rhee says
MACKINAC ISLAND — At a time when the nation is spending a record amount of money on public education, the results in student achievement are disappointing at best, education reformer Michelle Rhee said Thursday at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference.
“We are facing a crisis as a nation,” she said. “The children who are in school today will be the first generation who are less well educated than their parents.”
Rhee, who was chancellor of the Washington, D.C., public schools and now heads the StudentsFirst group in California, calls herself a lifelong Democrat; but she’s been a controversial figure in education circles, especially among teachers because of her support for vouchers and the Educational Achievement Authority.
“We have to begin to see education as a bipartisan issue — one that we can all come together on,” she said. “The politics of education have become more polarized than anything else.”
Three things are needed to help boost public education and student achievement, she said: valuing teachers for their performance, not their seniority; developing education policy with children, rather than politics, in mind, and giving children realistic goals instead of rewarding them just for showing up.
“We spend more time trying to make our children feel good about themselves, that we’ve lost sight of actually making them good at anything,” Rhee said.
Michigan has become a leader in education reform, she said, ranging from a recent bill that would base teacher salaries on performance, to turning failing schools over to the state-run Education Achievement Authority.
“As we look across the nation, Michigan has been one of the most aggressive states on education reform,” Rhee said.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
STEAM for an Unfolding Digital Universe
Class of 2013: STEM and the Liberal Arts in a Digital World
When I went to school, a stem was a stem, and it played an important role in supporting a flower.Today, STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. But I am still going to make the case that its primary role is to support flowers, in this case, flowers that come directly from the liberal arts.
My thesis is a simple one. The disciplines of STEM enable the digital universe. The liberal arts activateit. One provides the infrastructure, the other the content that is communicated across it. Both are required to create the digital fabric that makes up an increasing part of our personal, social, political, and economic lives.
In particular, what activates digital culture are stories.They may be told in words, in songs, in images, or in film, but at the end of the day, it is the quality of these stories and their telling that makes all the difference.
Stories are strange and wonderful things. We give them permission to take over our minds, much the way that software takes over a computer, to construct imagined experiences out of our personal data and feelings. It is hard to imagine a more intimate engagement. You would be very cautious about letting a person get this close, but you are quite willing to allow a song or a film or a story to do so.
As consumers of literature we are exceptionally vulnerable to its effects because we allow it to co-opt our most intimate resources. It is critical therefore that we understand its operations. It is also critical that we understand our responses and how they shape our values, our identity, and our behavior. This is the function of literary studies.
At the same time, we are avid consumers of narratives in every walk of life, from the story-telling of advertising, to the use cases that direct product design, to the business plans that pitch venture investment, to the customer support narratives that guide us through a problem solving process. This is the function of creative writers—regardless of what profession they are in. Business needs to create and refresh lots and lots of narratives all the time. The more that STEM graduates expand and proliferate the digital infrastructure, the more liberal arts graduates are needed to weave the digital fabric.
It is not an accident that Steve Jobs ushered in this decade of change. Steve was a liberal arts major. He teamed at the start with Steve Wozniak, who was a STEM guy. That pairing is iconic. It represents the fundamental unit of digital DNA for the foreseeable future.
So my call to action is a simple one. Regardless of whether you are STEM or liberal arts, pair up and mate! The world needs the offspring of your unions. It does not matter what industry or walk of life you pick—digital is pervasive everywhere, and narratives are core to everything. Simply put, digital artifacts are becoming what life itself is all about. As such, they need to draw on the best traditions from our past to deliver the best we have to offer in the present. That is the opportunity of the current day. Seize it.
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