Internet Debris
A collection by Neal McKenna
McKenna Ink Thesis Editing Service
To add your comments,
click here.
NOTHING posted here is mine!
Internet Debris does not claim rights
to any of the photos or media content posted to the site.
No copyright infringement is intended.
LIE DETECTOR CONFIRMS KEY ROSWELL CRASH WITNESS TOLD THE TRUTH
by Anthony BragaliaWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2011 Copyright 2011, InterAmerica, Inc.
To catch a liar is not easy. Our ability to detect a lie is 50/50. This “no better than chance” ability was improved upon with the advent of the polygraph in the early 1920s. This raised those odds to about 65%, though the polygraph remains “fluky” and the results it produces, controversial. But a new technology has recently emerged that applies software to analyze psycholinguistic cues to indicate truthfulness. This new “lie catcher” software was recently applied to the testimony of a key witness to the Roswell UFO crash in early July of 1947. This witness was Major Jesse Marcel. The new technology confirms that Jesse Marcel had indeed told the truth as a Witness to Roswell.
THE TECHNOLOGY
Two renowned professors at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ have recently stunned the criminal psychology and law enforcement communities with the introduction of a computer program offering an astounding 86%-99% rate of success in lie detection. The creators of this “veracity software” are Dr. Raj Chandramouli and Dr. Koduvayur Subbalakshmi. The two (who have established Instream Media, LLC) are now developing partnerships with insurance companies (to detect against false claims) and other businesses where deception often comes in to play. The software developed by the professors is an extraordinary text analytics program.
Dr. Chandrmouli (who graciously provided the software and instructions for use to this author) explains that their approach to deceptive content utilizes a unique combination of statistical analysis, linguistics and psychology. The software combs for 88 psycholinguistic cues that indicate whether an individual is “covering up” or speaking the truth as he or she understands and believes it to be. Traditional polygraphs examine such things as pulse, sweat and respiratory rates to determine veracity. Similarly, “voice stress analysis” has been implemented. But the Stevens Institute scientists (who worked with an interdisciplinary team of linguists, psychologists and information technology engineers) believe that the standard polygraph and voice stress approaches have far too many variables and ‘outside influences’ that can adversely affect the accuracy of those machines and those that operate them.
The professors’ approach is far less open to such variables and influences. They and their team developed an algorithm based upon the Freudian notion that the truth always leaks out no matter how hard we attempt to cover it up- a phenomenon of course known as the “Freudian Slip.”
The technology does not require that an individual be “hooked up” in any way to any kind of machine. In fact, the individual does not even need to be alive to use the deception technology. By carefully and accurately transcribing into text the known and confirmed words of what a person has said on tape or in a video, the Stevens Institute technology is able to scrutinize and interpret their words in text form to determine if they are truthful.
THE WITNESS
Rare Photo of Major Jesse Marcel in 1947 In 1947, Major Jesse Marcel was stationed at Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) as a Base Intelligence Officer. He was called by Chaves County Sheriff George Wilcox to respond to ranch foreman Mack Brazel’s visit to him about the discovery of strange debris discovered in a field on the JB Foster Ranch in early July of that year.
Major Marcel, when located in 1978, described seeing, handling and transporting very strange crash debris materials. Marcel said that some of the debris was very thin and light “metal with plastic properties.” He also described other odd material that was impervious to the heat of an applied torch and that would not dent or scratch even from the blows of a sledgehammer. Marcel also mentioned very strange “parchment” material and longer curved metal-like pieces. He said that this sky-fallen debris covered a very large area and that there appeared to have been an explosion in the air. He insisted it was not the debris from any kind of weather balloon or plane, that is was some sort of aircraft not of earth.
Here is a video of Major Marcel confessing to his ET debris discovery in one of his only televised appearances: THE TRUTH
Dr Chandramouli provided this author use of the software to test for falsehood the testimony of Major Marcel. The conversion of key testimony by Marcel was transcribed and the results are in!
To the statement by Marcel:
“One thing that impressed us about the debris was the fact that a lot of it looked like parchment. It had little numbers with symbols that we had to call hieroglyphics because I could not understand them. They could not be read, they were just like symbols, something that meant something, and they were not all the same, but the same general pattern I would say.”
Dr. Chandramouli’s deceptive analysis results indicate: NORMAL, NO DECEPTION
To the statement by Marcel:
“This particular piece of metal was, I would say, about two feet long and perhaps a foot wide. See, that stuff weighs nothing, it’s so thin, it isn’t any thicker that the tinfoil in a pack of cigarettes. So I tried to bend the stuff, it wouldn’t bend. We even tried to make a dent in it with a 16 pound sledge hammer, and there was no dent in it.”
Dr. Chadramouli’s deceptive analysis results indicate: NORMAL, NO DECEPTION
To the statement by Marcel:
“There were small beams about three-eighths of a half inch square with some sort of hieroglyphics on them that nobody could decipher. These looked something like balsa-wood, and were about the same weight, except that they were not wood at all. They were very hard, although flexible, and would not burn.”
Dr. Chadramouli’s deceptive analysis results indicate: NORMAL, NO DECEPTION
CONCLUSIONS
The Stevens Institute technology analysis indicates with certainty that Major Marcel did indeed accurately relate in transcribed interviews the truth as he believed it to be:
Marcel said there was a crash in the summer of 1947. The debris from that crash included varying types: 1) Parchment-like material with strange, indecipherable symbols 2) beams made of material that was like wood, but “not wood at all” that also had hieroglyphics and that, remarkably, would not burn and 3) unusually thin and unusually light metal-like material that would not even dent to the force of a pounding sledgehammer.
This author is continuing to work through the testimony of Major Marcel, as found in various interview transcripts and films to apply the psycholinguistic lie-catching technology. Comparison to other testimony (such as that of Officer Bill Rickett and Officer Sheridan Cavitt, who were also at the crash scene with Marcel) will be conducted as well and reported on at a later date.
I do not ascribe 100% certainty to anything. It is for this reason that I do not offer a “firm endorsement” of the findings of the Stevens Institute analysis. That qualified, I do believe that it is the best-available technology to ascertain honesty.
Half of writing history is hiding the truth. Hopefully technology will one day free us, at last, to uncover the truth, the whole truth, and to correct history.Text and images via The Bragalia Files
A collection by Neal McKenna
McKenna Ink Thesis Editing Service
To add your comments,
click here.
NOTHING posted here is mine!
Internet Debris does not claim rights
to any of the photos or media content posted to the site.
No copyright infringement is intended.
LIE DETECTOR CONFIRMS KEY ROSWELL CRASH WITNESS TOLD THE TRUTH
by Anthony BragaliaWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2011 Copyright 2011, InterAmerica, Inc.To catch a liar is not easy. Our ability to detect a lie is 50/50. This “no better than chance” ability was improved upon with the advent of the polygraph in the early 1920s. This raised those odds to about 65%, though the polygraph remains “fluky” and the results it produces, controversial. But a new technology has recently emerged that applies software to analyze psycholinguistic cues to indicate truthfulness. This new “lie catcher” software was recently applied to the testimony of a key witness to the Roswell UFO crash in early July of 1947. This witness was Major Jesse Marcel. The new technology confirms that Jesse Marcel had indeed told the truth as a Witness to Roswell.
THE TECHNOLOGY
Two renowned professors at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ have recently stunned the criminal psychology and law enforcement communities with the introduction of a computer program offering an astounding 86%-99% rate of success in lie detection. The creators of this “veracity software” are Dr. Raj Chandramouli and Dr. Koduvayur Subbalakshmi. The two (who have established Instream Media, LLC) are now developing partnerships with insurance companies (to detect against false claims) and other businesses where deception often comes in to play. The software developed by the professors is an extraordinary text analytics program.
Dr. Chandrmouli (who graciously provided the software and instructions for use to this author) explains that their approach to deceptive content utilizes a unique combination of statistical analysis, linguistics and psychology. The software combs for 88 psycholinguistic cues that indicate whether an individual is “covering up” or speaking the truth as he or she understands and believes it to be. Traditional polygraphs examine such things as pulse, sweat and respiratory rates to determine veracity. Similarly, “voice stress analysis” has been implemented. But the Stevens Institute scientists (who worked with an interdisciplinary team of linguists, psychologists and information technology engineers) believe that the standard polygraph and voice stress approaches have far too many variables and ‘outside influences’ that can adversely affect the accuracy of those machines and those that operate them.
The professors’ approach is far less open to such variables and influences. They and their team developed an algorithm based upon the Freudian notion that the truth always leaks out no matter how hard we attempt to cover it up- a phenomenon of course known as the “Freudian Slip.”
The technology does not require that an individual be “hooked up” in any way to any kind of machine. In fact, the individual does not even need to be alive to use the deception technology. By carefully and accurately transcribing into text the known and confirmed words of what a person has said on tape or in a video, the Stevens Institute technology is able to scrutinize and interpret their words in text form to determine if they are truthful.
THE WITNESS
Rare Photo of Major Jesse Marcel in 1947 In 1947, Major Jesse Marcel was stationed at Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) as a Base Intelligence Officer. He was called by Chaves County Sheriff George Wilcox to respond to ranch foreman Mack Brazel’s visit to him about the discovery of strange debris discovered in a field on the JB Foster Ranch in early July of that year.
Major Marcel, when located in 1978, described seeing, handling and transporting very strange crash debris materials. Marcel said that some of the debris was very thin and light “metal with plastic properties.” He also described other odd material that was impervious to the heat of an applied torch and that would not dent or scratch even from the blows of a sledgehammer. Marcel also mentioned very strange “parchment” material and longer curved metal-like pieces. He said that this sky-fallen debris covered a very large area and that there appeared to have been an explosion in the air. He insisted it was not the debris from any kind of weather balloon or plane, that is was some sort of aircraft not of earth.
Here is a video of Major Marcel confessing to his ET debris discovery in one of his only televised appearances: THE TRUTH
Dr Chandramouli provided this author use of the software to test for falsehood the testimony of Major Marcel. The conversion of key testimony by Marcel was transcribed and the results are in!
To the statement by Marcel:
“One thing that impressed us about the debris was the fact that a lot of it looked like parchment. It had little numbers with symbols that we had to call hieroglyphics because I could not understand them. They could not be read, they were just like symbols, something that meant something, and they were not all the same, but the same general pattern I would say.”
Dr. Chandramouli’s deceptive analysis results indicate: NORMAL, NO DECEPTION
To the statement by Marcel:
“This particular piece of metal was, I would say, about two feet long and perhaps a foot wide. See, that stuff weighs nothing, it’s so thin, it isn’t any thicker that the tinfoil in a pack of cigarettes. So I tried to bend the stuff, it wouldn’t bend. We even tried to make a dent in it with a 16 pound sledge hammer, and there was no dent in it.”
Dr. Chadramouli’s deceptive analysis results indicate: NORMAL, NO DECEPTION
To the statement by Marcel:
“There were small beams about three-eighths of a half inch square with some sort of hieroglyphics on them that nobody could decipher. These looked something like balsa-wood, and were about the same weight, except that they were not wood at all. They were very hard, although flexible, and would not burn.”
Dr. Chadramouli’s deceptive analysis results indicate: NORMAL, NO DECEPTION
CONCLUSIONS
The Stevens Institute technology analysis indicates with certainty that Major Marcel did indeed accurately relate in transcribed interviews the truth as he believed it to be:
Marcel said there was a crash in the summer of 1947. The debris from that crash included varying types: 1) Parchment-like material with strange, indecipherable symbols 2) beams made of material that was like wood, but “not wood at all” that also had hieroglyphics and that, remarkably, would not burn and 3) unusually thin and unusually light metal-like material that would not even dent to the force of a pounding sledgehammer.
This author is continuing to work through the testimony of Major Marcel, as found in various interview transcripts and films to apply the psycholinguistic lie-catching technology. Comparison to other testimony (such as that of Officer Bill Rickett and Officer Sheridan Cavitt, who were also at the crash scene with Marcel) will be conducted as well and reported on at a later date.
I do not ascribe 100% certainty to anything. It is for this reason that I do not offer a “firm endorsement” of the findings of the Stevens Institute analysis. That qualified, I do believe that it is the best-available technology to ascertain honesty.
Half of writing history is hiding the truth. Hopefully technology will one day free us, at last, to uncover the truth, the whole truth, and to correct history.Text and images via The Bragalia Files
LIE DETECTOR CONFIRMS KEY ROSWELL CRASH WITNESS TOLD THE TRUTH
THE TECHNOLOGY
Dr. Chandrmouli (who graciously provided the software and instructions for use to this author) explains that their approach to deceptive content utilizes a unique combination of statistical analysis, linguistics and psychology. The software combs for 88 psycholinguistic cues that indicate whether an individual is “covering up” or speaking the truth as he or she understands and believes it to be. Traditional polygraphs examine such things as pulse, sweat and respiratory rates to determine veracity. Similarly, “voice stress analysis” has been implemented. But the Stevens Institute scientists (who worked with an interdisciplinary team of linguists, psychologists and information technology engineers) believe that the standard polygraph and voice stress approaches have far too many variables and ‘outside influences’ that can adversely affect the accuracy of those machines and those that operate them.
The professors’ approach is far less open to such variables and influences. They and their team developed an algorithm based upon the Freudian notion that the truth always leaks out no matter how hard we attempt to cover it up- a phenomenon of course known as the “Freudian Slip.”
The technology does not require that an individual be “hooked up” in any way to any kind of machine. In fact, the individual does not even need to be alive to use the deception technology. By carefully and accurately transcribing into text the known and confirmed words of what a person has said on tape or in a video, the Stevens Institute technology is able to scrutinize and interpret their words in text form to determine if they are truthful.
THE WITNESS
Rare Photo of Major Jesse Marcel in 1947
In 1947, Major Jesse Marcel was stationed at Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) as a Base Intelligence Officer. He was called by Chaves County Sheriff George Wilcox to respond to ranch foreman Mack Brazel’s visit to him about the discovery of strange debris discovered in a field on the JB Foster Ranch in early July of that year.Major Marcel, when located in 1978, described seeing, handling and transporting very strange crash debris materials. Marcel said that some of the debris was very thin and light “metal with plastic properties.” He also described other odd material that was impervious to the heat of an applied torch and that would not dent or scratch even from the blows of a sledgehammer.
Marcel also mentioned very strange “parchment” material and longer curved metal-like pieces. He said that this sky-fallen debris covered a very large area and that there appeared to have been an explosion in the air. He insisted it was not the debris from any kind of weather balloon or plane, that is was some sort of aircraft not of earth.
Here is a video of Major Marcel confessing to his ET debris discovery in one of his only televised appearances:
Here is a video of Major Marcel confessing to his ET debris discovery in one of his only televised appearances:
THE TRUTH
Dr Chandramouli provided this author use of the software to test for falsehood the testimony of Major Marcel. The conversion of key testimony by Marcel was transcribed and the results are in!To the statement by Marcel:
“One thing that impressed us about the debris was the fact that a lot of it looked like parchment. It had little numbers with symbols that we had to call hieroglyphics because I could not understand them. They could not be read, they were just like symbols, something that meant something, and they were not all the same, but the same general pattern I would say.”
Dr. Chandramouli’s deceptive analysis results indicate: NORMAL, NO DECEPTION
To the statement by Marcel:
“This particular piece of metal was, I would say, about two feet long and perhaps a foot wide. See, that stuff weighs nothing, it’s so thin, it isn’t any thicker that the tinfoil in a pack of cigarettes. So I tried to bend the stuff, it wouldn’t bend. We even tried to make a dent in it with a 16 pound sledge hammer, and there was no dent in it.”
Dr. Chadramouli’s deceptive analysis results indicate: NORMAL, NO DECEPTION
To the statement by Marcel:
“There were small beams about three-eighths of a half inch square with some sort of hieroglyphics on them that nobody could decipher. These looked something like balsa-wood, and were about the same weight, except that they were not wood at all. They were very hard, although flexible, and would not burn.”
Dr. Chadramouli’s deceptive analysis results indicate: NORMAL, NO DECEPTION
CONCLUSIONS
The Stevens Institute technology analysis indicates with certainty that Major Marcel did indeed accurately relate in transcribed interviews the truth as he believed it to be:Marcel said there was a crash in the summer of 1947. The debris from that crash included varying types: 1) Parchment-like material with strange, indecipherable symbols 2) beams made of material that was like wood, but “not wood at all” that also had hieroglyphics and that, remarkably, would not burn and 3) unusually thin and unusually light metal-like material that would not even dent to the force of a pounding sledgehammer.
This author is continuing to work through the testimony of Major Marcel, as found in various interview transcripts and films to apply the psycholinguistic lie-catching technology. Comparison to other testimony (such as that of Officer Bill Rickett and Officer Sheridan Cavitt, who were also at the crash scene with Marcel) will be conducted as well and reported on at a later date.
I do not ascribe 100% certainty to anything. It is for this reason that I do not offer a “firm endorsement” of the findings of the Stevens Institute analysis. That qualified, I do believe that it is the best-available technology to ascertain honesty.
Half of writing history is hiding the truth. Hopefully technology will one day free us, at last, to uncover the truth, the whole truth, and to correct history.
Text and images via The Bragalia Files
They came from outer space – sort of...
Although most people today will never set foot on the moon, it's likely you come into contact with NASA byproducts every day. Partnering with various research teams and companies, NASA continues to spawn a vast array of new technologies that have improved our daily lives. In fact, NASA has filed more than 6,300 patents with the U.S. government. The following are just a few.
5 Earthbound NASA Inventions
The Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off from launch pad 39B on July 26, 2005, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. See more space exploration pictures. NASA/Getty Images
But NASA was smart enough to know it couldn't do everything alone – these are, after all, rocket scientists. It has partnered with businesses and scientists around the country to create some of the most amazing inventions the planet has ever seen, and not just Tang, the powdered orange drink famously used by astronauts on Gemini missions in the 1960s.
Take a look at these five amazing inventions, which were all developed by NASA for use in space but have found some amazing Earth-bound applications.
Ceramic-magnetic nanoparticles are good for more than fighting cancerous tumors – they also release ions that make hair smooth and shiny.
David Woolley/The Image Bank/Getty Images
Where, you're wondering, does space come into this process? In order to create the microscopic membrane around the liquid drugs, the microcapsules had to be formed in low-Earth orbit. Dr. Morrison's ceramic nanoparticles contained metals that would react when the patient was subjected to a magnetic field, like what's used in an MRI diagnostic machine. The capsules would melt, and the drugs would be released to fight the cancerous tumor.
It turns out Dr. Morrison's ceramic-magnetic particles were good for more than fighting tumors – they could also fight frizz. When incorporated into Farouk Systems's hairstyling iron and heated, the nanoparticles released ions that made hair smooth and shiny.
This manatee is in a river off the west coast of Florida.
Daniel J. Cox/Getty Images
Take a look at these five amazing inventions, which were all developed by NASA for use in space but have found some amazing Earth-bound applications.
Ceramic-magnetic nanoparticles are good for more than fighting cancerous tumors – they also release ions that make hair smooth and shiny.David Woolley/The Image Bank/Getty Images
5: Nanoceramics Cure Cancer, Make Hair Shiny
While working as a NASA scientist specializing in nanomaterials (which are 10,000 times smaller than a human hair), Dr. Dennis Morrison developed nanoceramics, which could be formed into tiny balloons called microcapsules. These little balloons could be filled with cancer-fighting drugs and injected into solid tumors.Where, you're wondering, does space come into this process? In order to create the microscopic membrane around the liquid drugs, the microcapsules had to be formed in low-Earth orbit. Dr. Morrison's ceramic nanoparticles contained metals that would react when the patient was subjected to a magnetic field, like what's used in an MRI diagnostic machine. The capsules would melt, and the drugs would be released to fight the cancerous tumor.
It turns out Dr. Morrison's ceramic-magnetic particles were good for more than fighting tumors – they could also fight frizz. When incorporated into Farouk Systems's hairstyling iron and heated, the nanoparticles released ions that made hair smooth and shiny.
This manatee is in a river off the west coast of Florida.Daniel J. Cox/Getty Images
4: Reflective Coatings Save Skylab, Manatees
When the Skylab space-based laboratory was set in position in 1973, a solar panel fell off during the launch, which kept another solar panel from deploying properly once in orbit. These panels had to be replaced – and fast. NASA turned to National Metalizing, a firm it had worked with previously, to create a new panel that would be ready to go into space in 10 days.National Metalizing had originally developed reflective materials for NASA in the 1950s, so it was able to deliver the necessary thin plastic material coated in vaporized aluminum in time. The material can deflect or conserve radiant energy, depending on which is required – to keep something cool or to warm it up. This flexible reflective material proved so useful, it was inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame in 1996.
A former director of the company took this technology, which has been in the public domain for decades, and started a new company, Advanced Flexible Materials. The same materials used to protect Skylab now protects marathon runners from hypothermia after a race, as well as manatees, which can suffer from hypothermia at 15.6 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit), while they're being tagged by researchers.
The Hubble Space Telescope positioned over the Earth
StockTrek/Getty Images
Hubble and its amazing sheets of optical glass paved the way for the Terrestrial Planet Finder and its deformable mirrors, which will have 100 times the imaging power of its predecessor when NASA launches it in the near future. Deformable mirrors don't need to be absolutely perfect the first time out – they can adjust their positions to correct for blurring or distortion, which in space can be caused by temperature, lack of gravity or getting bumped during launch.
Deformable mirrors are not so new; they were proposed by astronomers in the 1950s and developed by the United States Air Force in the 1970s. Each system consists of the deformable mirror itself, a sensor that measures any aberrations it finds hundreds of times a second, and a small computer that receives the sensor's readings and tells the mirror how to move to correct for the problem.
In order to find such small forms of life, small detectors were necessary. Enter nanotubes, which is a fun word to say. Scientists at the Ames Research Center developed carbon nanotubes, each 1/50,000th the diameter of a human hair, that can conduct heat and electricity. Each nanotube is tipped with single strands of nucleic acid (the "NA" in "DNA") from a microorganism. When it comes into contact with a matching strand, the pair form a double helix and send a faint electrical charge through the nanotubes. This charge is how anyone looking at the biosensor, as the tiny apparatus is called, knows life has been detected.
Sadly, no life has yet been found on Mars, but these biosensors are being put to good use on Earth. Tipping the nanotubes with waterborne pathogens like E. Coli and Cryptosporidium means an analyst can get results from the biosensor in the field within two hours – no lab work required.
The Sojourner Rover uses its Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) to analyze the Yogi Rock on the surface of Mars during the Mars Pathfinder exploratory mission in July 1997.
Space Frontiers/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Obviously, not just any airbag would work. NASA required the material to be lightweight and able to withstand extreme temperatures for the interplanetary flight. The material also had to be tough enough to keep the airbags inflated as the whole apparatus bounced along the rocky, sharp surface of Mars.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory worked with Warwick Mills, the company that had woven the reentry parachutes for the Apollo missions in the 1960s, to create a layered, coated, liquid-crystal polyester fiber that would fit the bill.
Warwick took the technology and ran with it, creating TurtleSkin protective gear that can withstand punctures from needles, knives and even bullets. The flexibility of the tightly woven fabric, which helped keep the Mars landers safe, now also keeps military and police officers safe.
A former director of the company took this technology, which has been in the public domain for decades, and started a new company, Advanced Flexible Materials. The same materials used to protect Skylab now protects marathon runners from hypothermia after a race, as well as manatees, which can suffer from hypothermia at 15.6 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit), while they're being tagged by researchers.
The Hubble Space Telescope positioned over the EarthStockTrek/Getty Images
3: Deformable Mirrors – Not for the Fun House
Any space nerd who remembers the Hubble Space Telescope launch in 1990 remembers seeing pictures and news videos of the giant mirrors being polished to perfection – or as close as humans can get, anyway. Minor flaws in the surface could obscure important discoveries.Hubble and its amazing sheets of optical glass paved the way for the Terrestrial Planet Finder and its deformable mirrors, which will have 100 times the imaging power of its predecessor when NASA launches it in the near future. Deformable mirrors don't need to be absolutely perfect the first time out – they can adjust their positions to correct for blurring or distortion, which in space can be caused by temperature, lack of gravity or getting bumped during launch.
Deformable mirrors are not so new; they were proposed by astronomers in the 1950s and developed by the United States Air Force in the 1970s. Each system consists of the deformable mirror itself, a sensor that measures any aberrations it finds hundreds of times a second, and a small computer that receives the sensor's readings and tells the mirror how to move to correct for the problem.
2: Nanotubes Look for Life
on Mars
No matter what the movies have been telling us for decades, Martians are not likely to be humanoid, sentient beings. They won't have ray guns or space suits. If there is life on Mars, it will be very, very small, and probably not too far up theevolution ladder. Pity.In order to find such small forms of life, small detectors were necessary. Enter nanotubes, which is a fun word to say. Scientists at the Ames Research Center developed carbon nanotubes, each 1/50,000th the diameter of a human hair, that can conduct heat and electricity. Each nanotube is tipped with single strands of nucleic acid (the "NA" in "DNA") from a microorganism. When it comes into contact with a matching strand, the pair form a double helix and send a faint electrical charge through the nanotubes. This charge is how anyone looking at the biosensor, as the tiny apparatus is called, knows life has been detected.
Sadly, no life has yet been found on Mars, but these biosensors are being put to good use on Earth. Tipping the nanotubes with waterborne pathogens like E. Coli and Cryptosporidium means an analyst can get results from the biosensor in the field within two hours – no lab work required.
The Sojourner Rover uses its Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) to analyze the Yogi Rock on the surface of Mars during the Mars Pathfinder exploratory mission in July 1997.Space Frontiers/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1: Mars Missions Create Tough Armor
When the Mars Pathfinder (1997) and Mars Rover (2004) missions landed on the Red Planet, they landed hard. These were unmanned missions, of course, with some guidance from engineers on Earth – but not as much as they'd like. The equipment was designed to crash land, gently, with a cage of airbags to cushion the fall from space.Obviously, not just any airbag would work. NASA required the material to be lightweight and able to withstand extreme temperatures for the interplanetary flight. The material also had to be tough enough to keep the airbags inflated as the whole apparatus bounced along the rocky, sharp surface of Mars.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory worked with Warwick Mills, the company that had woven the reentry parachutes for the Apollo missions in the 1960s, to create a layered, coated, liquid-crystal polyester fiber that would fit the bill.
Warwick took the technology and ran with it, creating TurtleSkin protective gear that can withstand punctures from needles, knives and even bullets. The flexibility of the tightly woven fabric, which helped keep the Mars landers safe, now also keeps military and police officers safe.
Via How Stuff Works
Top 5 NASA Inventions
5: Memory Foam
Researchers discovered that the "slow spring-back foam," as it was called initially, not only made passengers safer, it also made sitting for hours on long flights more comfortable because it allowed for a more even distribution of body weight.
In 1974, Yost formed his own company, Dynamic Systems, Inc., which marketed the innovation as "temper foam." Since then, memory foam has found its way into scores of applications. In the 1970s and 1980s, pro football's Dallas Cowboys used it to line players' helmets to reduce the trauma of impact on the field. Shoe manufacturers have used the foam to create special high-comfort insoles. In hospitals, mattress pads and wheelchair seats made from the foam support patients with painful, dangerous sores on their bodies.
Companies across the nation continue to find new uses for memory foam and its descendants. A Colorado company uses a type of memory foam to build inflatable bumper rafts, which resist sinking, for whitewater rides at theme parks. A company in Kentucky builds it into horses' saddles and uses it to make prosthetic braces for injured animals [source: Spinoff 2005].
No, NASA Didn't Invent That...
Two products are often mistakenly attributed to the space program:Teflon (actually invented by DuPont back in 1938) The powdered breakfast drink Tang (actually developed by General Mills), even though it was on the menu when astronaut John Glenn ate and drank in space in 1962
No, NASA Didn't Invent That...
Two products are often mistakenly attributed to the space program:
Teflon (actually invented by DuPont back in 1938) The powdered breakfast drink Tang (actually developed by General Mills), even though it was on the menu when astronaut John Glenn ate and drank in space in 19624: Anti-corrosion
Coating
One challenge with space exploration is that equipment must withstand radical conditions, from the heat of rocket exhaust to extreme cold in space. Surprisingly, one of the most destructive forces is the corrosive effect of saltwater-laden ocean spray and fog. It rusts gantries and launch structures at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and other coastal facilities.
Fortunately, in the 1970s, researchers at the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center discovered that coating the equipment with a protective layer containing zinc dust and potassium silicate would help thwart the costly rusting.
In the early 1980s, a company called Inorganic Coatings used the concept to produce a non-toxic, water-based coating, IC 531 Zinc Silicate, which bonds readily with steel and dries within 30 minutes to a hard, ceramiclike finish. The coating has been applied to bridge girders, pipelines, oil rigs, dock equipment, buoys, tractor-trailer truck frames, and even to the exteriors of U.S. Army tanks.
But perhaps the coating's most celebrated application came in the mid-1980s, when 225 gallons of it were applied to the iron structural pieces of the Statue of Liberty, to help curb further deterioration of the century-old structure [source: Space Technology Hall of Fame].
Since the mid-1960s, scientists in the image processing lab at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have been working to improve video imaging software, so that astronomers can turn space probe data into increasingly vivid, high-resolution images of distant planets and other celestial objects. But in recent years, medical researchers have applied some of NASA's software innovations to peer not into the sky, but into patients' circulatory systems for signs of atherosclerosis, a common disease in which fatty material builds up inside arteries and threatens to cause heart attacks and strokes.
The California Institute of Technology, which manages JPL for NASA, licensed the technology to a private company, MTI, whose chief engineer Robert Seltzer was a veteran JPL researcher. The result was ArterioVision software. It can be used with ultrasound equipment to perform a noninvasive examination of a patient's carotid artery, which carries blood to the brain. The combination of ultrasound and ArterioVision, which has the ability to resolve 256 shades of gray at the sub-pixel level, can produce minute measurements of the thickness of the carotid's inner two layers. That level of detail can spot the development of atherosclerosis in the very early stages, when it would otherwise evade detection by conventional tests. As a result, medical experts say that more patients may have a chance to curb the disease with dietary and lifestyle changes, rather than medication or surgery down the line [source: NASA Technologies].
In the early 1980s, a company called Inorganic Coatings used the concept to produce a non-toxic, water-based coating, IC 531 Zinc Silicate, which bonds readily with steel and dries within 30 minutes to a hard, ceramiclike finish. The coating has been applied to bridge girders, pipelines, oil rigs, dock equipment, buoys, tractor-trailer truck frames, and even to the exteriors of U.S. Army tanks.
But perhaps the coating's most celebrated application came in the mid-1980s, when 225 gallons of it were applied to the iron structural pieces of the Statue of Liberty, to help curb further deterioration of the century-old structure [source: Space Technology Hall of Fame].
3: Arterio
Vision
The California Institute of Technology, which manages JPL for NASA, licensed the technology to a private company, MTI, whose chief engineer Robert Seltzer was a veteran JPL researcher. The result was ArterioVision software. It can be used with ultrasound equipment to perform a noninvasive examination of a patient's carotid artery, which carries blood to the brain. The combination of ultrasound and ArterioVision, which has the ability to resolve 256 shades of gray at the sub-pixel level, can produce minute measurements of the thickness of the carotid's inner two layers. That level of detail can spot the development of atherosclerosis in the very early stages, when it would otherwise evade detection by conventional tests. As a result, medical experts say that more patients may have a chance to curb the disease with dietary and lifestyle changes, rather than medication or surgery down the line [source: NASA Technologies].
Comstock/Thinkstock Hearing aids amplify sound, but they don't clarify it2: Cochlear Implants
Implants
Kissiah went on to work with BIOSTIM, a private company, to develop the new device. Kissiah's patented concepts eventually were built upon by other manufacturers [source: NASA]. Since then, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, roughly 200,000 patients have received cochlear implants [source:Davis]. The devices enable people who've been deaf since birth to hear for the first time. They've also been used to restore hearing for those who still have a responsive auditory nerve, but who've lost hearing due to trauma or disease [source: NASA].
This application of space technology has made an enormous difference in the lives of people like Mike Scheerer, a Peoria, Ill., man in his late fifties, who received a cochlear implant in 2009 and heard songbirds singing in the trees in his neighborhood. "I would say that's the most beautiful thing I ever heard," he told the Peoria Star newspaper. "I had never heard birds before, that I can remember" [source: Davis].
1: Scratch-resistant Eyeglass Lenses
Plastic provided better optics and absorbed ultraviolet light better, but there was one problem: Plastic lenses were frustratingly easy to scratch. That's where NASA scientist Ted Wydeven of the agency's Ames Research Center came in. While working on a water purification system for spacecraft, Wydeven coated a filter with a thin plastic film, using an electric discharge of an organic vapor. The resulting coating was surprisingly tough, and NASA used the concept to develop an abrasion-resistant coating for space helmet visors and aerospace equipment. In 1983, Foster-Grant, the sunglasses manufacturer, commercialized the scratch-resistant coating, and today, the majority of eyeglasses sold in the United States are outfitted with plastic lenses that last 10 times as long as the old ones [source: Space Technology Hall of Fame].
Via How Stuff Works
5 Types of NASA Technology
in your Home
HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT
Debuting in 1978, the DustBuster was the first vacuum stored in plain view -- plugged into an electrical socket instead of in a storage closet. The vacuum-and-charger design was inspired by a traditional telephone and receiver [source: Black and Decker].
5: Cordless Power Tools
That cordless power drill you gave dad years ago now sits lifeless in storage. Though today it seems insignificant, cordless tools were a crucial invention necessary for space travel. While NASA didn't actually invent the cordless power drill, a partnership with Black and Decker is responsible for many of the cordless tools we have today.Well aware that outer space didn't come with electrical sockets, NASA joined with Black and Decker, which was already working on cordless technology in the 1950s [source: NASA 360]. Alonzo Decker came up with the idea for cordless tools to help workers installing storm windows in residential homes. While installing storm windows, workmen would plug into power sockets indoors. The process was cumbersome and inconvenient. Decker knew he was on to something. Conveniently, NASA urgently needed the technology in space, and so an alliance was born.
Together they designed the cordless rotary hammer drill for the Apollo 15 moon program. The cordless hammer drill extracted rock samples from the moon for testing on Earth. This early invention led to other cordless tools including the cordless vacuum, drill and shrub trimmer.
4: Nikon Automatic Film Advancement Cameras
We're obsessed with digital cameras. We view photos digitally before they're ever printed. Memories are no longer stored in photo albums, but instead we share them virtually through online social networking sites like Facebook and Flickr. But prior to digital cameras, Nikon's automatic film advancement camera changed the face of photography. While that clunky camera may not see the light of day today, the invention initially meant the space crew could record images of space in a weightless environment.Nikons were first used on Apollo 15 in 1961 [source: Nikon]. Astronauts could quickly advance to the next picture and tell a story through photos. This space-friendly camera came with special criteria. Its easy operation meant the crew could manage it while wearing gloves. It was also free of any environmental gases or toxins, which was critical in an air-tight environment.
The camera also had a built-in light leaver that adjusted automatically, making for clear images from space. Today, Nikon's partnership with NASA continues to generate stunning images from outer space.
The next time you cook at a high temperature, you can thank NASA for helping fine-tune smoke detectors to prevent annoying false alarms.iStockphoto/Thinkstock
3: The Non-nuisance Smoke Detector
While NASA didn't actually invent the first smoke detector, it did come up with a more modern version of the invention after partnering with Honeywell Corporation in the 1970s [source: NASA]. Equipped with a self-recharging nickel cadmium battery, the Honeywell AC/battery backup smoke and fire detector was the most sophisticated alarm system ever invented [source: NASA Tech].Non-nuisance smoke alarms protect us from the dangers of fire damage and smoke without continuous false alarms. We can cook foods at high temperatures without enduring the persistent beeping of an oversensitive alarm.
America's first space station, Skylab, prevented noxious gases from harming the crew using the invention. The new smoke detector had adjustable sensitivity so that the crew would be safe without unnecessary interruptions. And today, you likely guard your attic against fire dangers with a more modern version of this safety device.
Tap water filters trickled down from NASA's need to cleanse water on long space flights.
Dorling Kindersley/Getty Images
Dorling Kindersley/Getty Images
2. Water Filters
Water is the essential ingredient to human survival. Since people cannot live without water, the ability to convert contaminated water to pure water is an incredibly important scientific achievement.
Astronauts needed a way to cleanse water they take up into space, since bacteria and sickness would be highly problematic. Water filter technology had existed since the early 1950s, but NASA wanted to know how to clean water in more extreme situations and keep it clean for longer periods of time.
If you look at a water filter, you can usually detect small chunks of charcoal inside of them. Sometimes, when you first use a water filter, you'll even notice tiny black flecks from those chunks. This charcoal is specially activated and contains silver ions that neutralize pathogens in the water. Along with killing bacteria in the water, the filters also prevent further bacterial growth. Companies have borrowed from this same technology to bring us the water filter systems millions of people use at home every day.
Astronauts needed a way to cleanse water they take up into space, since bacteria and sickness would be highly problematic. Water filter technology had existed since the early 1950s, but NASA wanted to know how to clean water in more extreme situations and keep it clean for longer periods of time.
If you look at a water filter, you can usually detect small chunks of charcoal inside of them. Sometimes, when you first use a water filter, you'll even notice tiny black flecks from those chunks. This charcoal is specially activated and contains silver ions that neutralize pathogens in the water. Along with killing bacteria in the water, the filters also prevent further bacterial growth. Companies have borrowed from this same technology to bring us the water filter systems millions of people use at home every day.
1: Smart House Radiant Barriers
You're probably wondering what a Smart House Radiant Barrier is, let alone why it would be in your attic. It's the most cutting-edge version of home insulation, and using the technology -- along with other advanced home-building techniques – can amount to a 50 percent increase in heating and cooling efficiency [source:Smart Houses].In fact, the Smart House Program, a business venture started by Guaranteed Watt Saver Systems, Inc. and Smart House Consultants, often guarantees a ceiling on your energy usage each month.
The technology was first used to create an airtight Apollo spacecraft. Efficiency has much larger implications in space, where outside temperatures range from 400 degrees Fahrenheit (204.44 degrees Celsius) to 400 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (minus 240 Celsius) [source: Smart Houses]. The advanced seal kept the temperatures inside the vessel comfortable.
The main component of the technology, an aluminized heat shield, translates to highly efficient residential construction. The barrier keeps warm and cold air out – along with water vapors – and reflects 95 percent of the sun's radiant heat [source: NASA Benefits at Home].
Via How Stuff Works –
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