Mountain Views News          Saturday, April 14, 2012

2

THE WORLD AROUND US

 Mountain Views News Saturday, April 14, 2012 


What Would Your Voice Sound Like on Mars and Venus?

“As a scientist, I reckon the most exciting thing to work 
on is a completely new idea, something that’s never been 
done before.

—Tim Leighton

 Despite many years of space exploration, we have 
no evidence of what things would sound like on other 
planets. While most planetary probes have focused 
on imaging with cameras and radar and a couple have 
carried microphones, none of them successfully listened 
to the sounds of another world.

 Now, a team from the University of Southampton (UK), 
led by Professor Tim Leighton, has an answer. Using 
the tools and techniques of physics and mathematics, 
the team has created the natural sounds of other worlds, 
from lightning on Venus to whirlwinds on Mars and 
ice volcanoes on Saturn’s moon, Titan. In addition to 
these natural sounds, they have modeled the effects of 
different atmospheres, pressures and temperatures on 
the human voice on Mars, Venus and Titan (Saturn’s 
largest moon). They have developed unique software 
to transform the sound of a voice on Earth to one that’s 
literally “out of this world.”

 Professor Leighton, of the University’s Institute 
for Sound and Vibration Research, says: “We are confident 
of our calculations; we have been rigorous in our use of 
physics taking into account atmospheres, pressure and fluid 
dynamics.”

 “On Venus, the pitch of your voice would become 
much deeper,” he adds. “That is because the planet’s dense 
atmosphere means that the vocal cords vibrate more slowly 
through this ‘gassy soup’. However, the speed of sound in the 
atmosphere on Venus is much faster than it is on Earth, and 
this tricks the way our brain interprets the size of a speaker 
(presumably an evolutionary trait that allowed our ancestors 
to work out whether an animal call in the night was something 
that was small enough to eat or so big as to be dangerous). 
When we hear a voice from Venus, we think the speaker is 
small, but with a deep bass voice. On Venus, humans sound 
like bass Smurfs.”

 These sounds were added to the “Flight Through 
the Universe” shows this month at the Astrium 
Planetarium at INTECH near Winchester (UK); it is 
thought to be a world first.

 “At present, planetariums show great images but 
there is no real extra-terrestrial sound to accompany 
them,” says Leighton. “Some use classical music or 
make up sound. This is the real deal—it’s as close as 
we can get to the real sound of another world until 
a future probe or astronaut actually goes there and 
listens to what it really sounds like.”

Leighton and his colleague Professor Paul White 
hit the headlines in 2004 when they speculated that 
the Cassini-Huygens probe to Titan might land 
splashdown on a methane/ethane lake, at a time when 
the very existence of such lakes was conjecture. They 
also calculated what a “waterfall” of methane would 
sound like and produced the sound electronically.

 Leighton, who has been working on the sounds of 
space for the last ten years, adds: “I’m interested in 
what music would sound like in space. If astronauts 
are based on Mars for several months, they might just 
take musical instruments along, or build one there. What 
would they sound like?

 “As a scientist, I reckon the most exciting thing to work on 
is a completely new idea, something that’s never been done 
before.”

 You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@MtnViewsNews.
com.


RAID!

 

It’s not always easy coming 
up with topics for articles. 
Most weeks, I’ll ask my 
“core” proof readers (my 
husband and parents) if 
they have any burning 
ideas to suggest. Sometimes this pays off in 
humorous articles. And sometimes I politely 
listen to a suggestion without any intention 
of actually writing about it. (e.g., 
My parents think their pet birds are 
hilarious, which they are. But you’d 
have to be there to appreciate them. I 
shouldn’t talk too fast, I may need to 
write about them if I get desperate!) 
Anyway, my husband has had this 
idea for a topic for some time.

 You’ve seen the commercials. A 
placid kitchen suddenly goes dark 
and a legion of cockroaches appear 
from the shadows. “You might try 
sprays that only kill a few bugs,” an 
authoritative male voice says. “But 
Raid pest blocks attract roaches to 
the poison. From there they return 
to the colony and wipe them all out!” 
A roach crawls into the sleek poison 
compartment and exits with a green 
glow (special effects for commercial use 
only). It then enters the wall and spreads the 
green glow of death to its colony mates. Yes, 
buy Raid and “Kill Roaches Dead!” Not just 
“dead” or “somewhat dead” as with other 
products-- but DEAD-dead!

 There is a point to all of this. And no, I 
don’t have any stock in the Raid company. 
My husband’s question is: why do roaches flip 
over and extend their legs skyward when they 
croak? I don’t like to dwell on the postures 
of dead things, so this realization had never 
occurred to me. But apparently not only 
in TV, but in real, roach life, cockroaches 
consistently assume this position when they 
kick the bucket. I tried to think of other 
insects that have a characteristic death pose. 
I suppose most spiders draw their legs in 
like a scrunched little ball, except the ones I 
drown in the toilet. They seem to splay out 
their legs as if hoping to float to safety. Ha 
ha! Are they ever wrong!

 “Why don’t you just look it up online?” 
I asked my husband. “But that would be 
cheating!” he replied. “That would take 
all the fun out of conjecture.” I have only a 
paltry knowledge of insect death, so here are 
my best guesses. Maybe their equilibrium is 
so disrupted during the throws of death that 
they flip over, unable to stay upright. Perhaps 
their feet are sticky (either from inherent 
stickiness or from those sugary donuts left 
in the break room), and they hope a passing 
object/animal will pick them up. Maybe 
they think that other animals can identify 
them as roaches by their long, shiny backs. 
So when they expose their underside they 
are less recognizable. Sort of a primordial 
self consciousness. Maybe they have the 
ability to imagine others’ perspectives. Okay, 
I think that might be crediting them with a 
bit more intelligence than they actually have. 
Some believe roaches would be the sole 
survivors of nuclear holocaust. But doesn’t 
mean they’re empathetic.

 Well, for the sake of conjecture, I restrained 
myself from google-ing cockroaches and, 
more specifically, their death habits. But as 
soon as I finish this thing I’m going to look 
them up and hopefully find all the answers 
to this intriguing question. And who knows, 
it might just be so fascinating that I write 
about it next week, too!

Speak Into The Lamp

 Once upon a time there 
was an old Cold War joke in 
which one of the protagonists 
tells the other that he wants 
to speak to the authorities 
but he doesn’t know where 
to call them, to which the 
other replies, “Just speak into 
the lamp. They’ll hear you”. 
It was probably funny at one 
time, but only when J. Edgar 
Hoover was alive and only 
if you knew what a snoop 
he was. But if J. Edgar were 
alive today, even he would be 
amazed at the sheer volume 
of information-gathering 
tools and techniques available 
to the modern snoop. Even 
more surprising to him would 
probably be the fact that a 
very large part of our current 
population can not only be 
found online, but engages in 
the daily habit of dumping 
copious amounts of personal 
information about their 
private lives online of their 
own volition. At this point in 
time an entire generation has 
grown up online and living 
out the daily details of their 
lives in social media is as 
natural to them as walking. 

 But to the folks in 
the business of data and 
intelligence gathering, even 
the easy pickings of today 
may not be enough to satisfy 
them. Certain sectors of 
our intelligence community 
appear to be very interested 
in the “Internet of Things”, 
where devices communicate 
with humans and with each 
other, and these intelligence 
folks are simply gushing over 
the surveillance potential 
from the intelligence built 
into these devices. In their 
assessment, the best thing 
about the added intelligence 
available from ordinary 
devices is that they can 
be remotely monitored, 
controlled and used as 
pickups for sound, video and 
wireless data as well as being 
used to pinpoint or locate 
a target of interest, possibly 
without the need for human 
– or legal – intervention. 
Our intelligence-gathering 
agencies have more leeway 
with smart appliances than 
regular computers, due to 
changes in the 2008 Foreign 
Intelligence Surveillance Act 
and court decisions about the 
American Patriot Act, both of 
which make less clear whether 
it’s actually forbidden for 
the CIA to collect geo-
location data from devices, 
collect server-based logs for 
individual cell phones and/or 
other pertinent data

 The CIA isn’t allowed 
to spy on Americans 
domestically under “normal” 
circumstances. It may or may 
not be allowed to spy even 
on our devices; spying on 
and collecting the data about 
the activity of devices, which 
implicitly say quite a lot about 
the activity of the people that 
own them, may be a privacy 
issue. Most privacy advocates 
flag that immediately as a 
complicated problem that has 
to be addressed by defining 
more clearly what right of 
privacy Americans can expect 
from devices that happen 
to include a transmitting 
semiconductor. Just how far 
should the CIA, FBI or other 
agencies be allowed to go in 
collecting data from devices – 
spying by proxy – and under 
what circumstances? Until 
these issues of privacy are 
resolved, you may just want 
to watch what you say around 
those “lamps.”


Happy Tails

by Chris Leclerc

Another Miracle for Molly

 Some of you may remember an article I 
wrote several months ago entitled “Molly’s 
Miracle”, all about a young rescued puppy 
that was adopted by my friend and neighbor, 
Frederick Alfaro. The miracle in that happy 
tale was that Molly recovered from distemper, 
a typically-life threatening canine disease, 
thanks to Frederick’s display of unconditional 
love by getting her the proper treatment in 
a timely manner. Molly is still thriving and 
bringing lots of joy to Frederick as well as 
to myself and everyone else who knows her. 
This week’s story is also about Frederick and 
Molly, but this one involves a miracle that is 
currently underway, and has yet to be fully 
manifested.

 Last Thursday morning, I received a call 
from Frederick, saying he was not feeling 
well, and asking if I could come over. I could 
tell by the tone of his voice, something was 
very wrong, so I ran to his house and found 
him laying on the couch, unable to stand up. 
I immediately dialed 911 and the emergency 
response team arrived within moments. I put 
Molly on a leash and we stood by while the 
paramedics did their job. Within a few short 
minutes, they were rushing Frederick off to 
the hospital for emergency medical attention. 
Just based on my own laymen‘s knowledge 
of what could have caused the problem, I 
assumed Frederick was probably having a 
stroke or something of that nature, but as 
it turned out, it was a lot more serious than 
that. When I called the hospital I was shocked 
to hear the nurse say that Frederick was in 
critical condition and being transferred to 
ICU.

 My first thought was how Molly was going 
to handle Frederick’s absence, not knowing 
how long it would be before he could come 
home. You see, Molly has never been away 
from Frederick, other than walks with me 
around the block or short visits with me on 
rare occasions when Frederick was unable 
to take her with him. Suffice it say that their 
bond is extremely strong! Fortunately, Molly 
is very familiar with me, as I spent lots of time 
with her and Frederick while she was going 
through her own treatment and recovery. She 
and Fred have also visited me on a couple 
of occasions, so she feels comfortable in 
my home. It’s the perfect case scenario for 
a dog whose owner is in the hospital. So far 
Molly is doing pretty good considering the 
circumstances, and she has been a real joy to 
have around. At times she stares out the door 
as if she’s waiting for Frederick to come pick 
her up and take her home, as he always has in 
the past when she visited me. My beloved (yet 
rather bratty) bloodhound, Tater has been a 
real gem about sharing her space with Molly, 
except for a couple of jealous moments, and 
those of you who know Tater know that is, in 
and of itself, quite a miracle!

 Now it is Tuesday, 5 days after Frederick’s 
emergency and he is still in ICU at Methodist 
Hospital. The doctors are not yet able to say 
how long he will be in the hospital, and his 
prognosis is also in question. Because I believe 
in miracles, and the power of positive thinking, 
this seemingly tragic event has brought me to 
my knees in prayer, and caused me to focus 
on what is most important, particularly with 
regard to what needs to be done in order to 
bring Frederick back home. So often when 
I’ve experienced difficult moments in my 
life, I have been tempted to question “Why“, 
but this time I am determined not to waste 
any energy thinking about why, rather I am 
focused on what I can do, and how I can help 
in the process of bringing Frederick back 
home. Molly really needs him, and I truly 
believe that she will be a key to his recovery.

 Since last Thursday, when Frederick was 
taken to the hospital, I have had numerous 
calls from people who have known him for 
years and are very concerned. With each 
conversation, I have been blessed by hearing 
the most beautiful things they have to say 
about Frederick and his precious pup, Molly. 
After I tell them about Frederick’s status, 
they all ask, “Where is Molly, and how is she 
doing?”, and it pleases me to tell them, “She’s 
right here and she’s doing fine!” Molly is on 
medication, so the other question they all ask 
is whether or not she is getting her meds, and 
again I am able to say, “Yes”. It has been such 
an emotional roller coaster for me over the 
past five days, not knowing what Frederick’s 
outcome will be, and not knowing when he 
will be coming home. I miss him waving as 
he passes by my house on his way into to 
town each day, with Molly hanging her little 
head out the window of his vintage red jeep. 
I miss his phone calls to chat about the latest 
software program he is learning, or to share 
about a new favorite flick he‘s seen recently.

 My husband who is also Fred’s close 
friend, has been a true saint in supporting 
me through this difficult time, and so sweet 
about having Molly at the house. He has 
been visiting Frederick almost every day, 
while I tend to the dogs at home. It amazes 
me how trials in our life can bring us closer, 
help us grow and prompt us to acts of random 
kindness if we are willing to respond in a 
positive way. Right now we are keeping good 
thoughts, praying daily, loving on Molly and 
visiting Frederick at the hospital when we 
can. Thankfully, Frederick’s cousin Grace is 
flying in today to spend time with Frederick 
in ICU and communicate with the doctors 
in a way that non-family members cannot. 
She is bringing his favorite classical music 
CD’s to play in his room, which I’m sure will 
help with his recovery. Somehow I can’t help 
but think how Grace’s name fits her well, 
especially right now, at such a crucial time in 
Frederick’s life.

 My dear readers, I am sure some of you 
know Frederick Alfaro from around town, 
but even if you don’t, I am asking you to 
please keep him in your good thoughts, and 
if you do pray, please pray that God will grant 
him a miraculous recovery, just as He did for 
Molly. There is a reason why Molly survived 
her ordeal 2 years ago, and I believe that her 
existence in Frederick’s life will be key to his 
recovery. I am very confident that Molly will 
indeed have herself another miracle! Thank 
you for coming alongside my good friend 
Frederick during his time of need.