Expand possibilities with Aussie-based SKA

When you think of outer space, you may consider how it inspires your imagination. Most people have dreams of some kind. We ponder our limits, projects to work toward, and the sorts of initiatives they would require. Space enables us to learn more about who we are, where we came from or what may be next. If we desire a future on Earth, it makes sense to learn to better look after it. By studying and comparing other parts of the universe, we expand our views.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project will be a radio telescope with a collecting area of one square kilometre. The potential of this concept is revealed in the 1997 science fiction film Contact with Jodi Foster. You may know this was adapted from the popular novel by Carl Sagan. The film echos how humans desire to talk with and understand other planets, and how we also wonder if other civilizations exist in the universe. The 305m Arecibo radio telescope in Puero Rico seen in the film, and rows of satellite dishes are small beans compared to the billion dollar project which may soon be built in Western Australia. Who says dreams don't evolve into reality?

Groups in several countries around the world submitted proposals to host the SKA. Australia’s proposal of Mileura Station, in remote Western Australia, was a finalist along with a location in South Africa. The final decision will be made in 2008 by members of 17 countires on the SKA Steering Committee. The broad mission of the SKA will be to address fundamental questions in research on the origin and evolution of the universe. The SKA design criteria calls for a large central collecting array and additional receivers spread over continental distances. The SKA is planned to operate over a frequency range of about 100 MHz to 25 GHz and have 50 to 100 times the sensitivity of the best radio astronomy receivers currently in use. That is quite an impressive new point of reference.

The Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is bidding to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), an international undertaking to build the world’s premier radio telescope. The Australian Government supports this bid, and the creation of an Radio Quiet Zone (RQZ). Appropriate regulatory support from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and the Western Australia (WA) Government, will strengthen Australia’s bid for SKA.

Although its too early to determine the final decision for the international SKA site, its notable levels of signals from ground-based radio-communications transmitters are very low in the selected area of Western Australia. This is favorable since little “noise” interference for radio astronomy receivers exists. Security also isn't an issue like it could become in South Africa.  The CSIRO has indicated that, should an a RQZ be implemented in Western Australia, it will likely lead to other significant facilities developing in the near future. This is great news for everyone who hopes to expand a vision of the future of our planet. Looking ahead begins with each of us.

Australian waste as a mineable resource

More and more people would like to reduce garbage in landfills. We may recycle and compost, but a much trash still remains. In an ideal word, you might dream of recycling everything and then, laugh this off as a pipedream. Yet, your dream may not be far off the mark! Reality always begins with a dream. You make it happen.

Global Renewables Limited (GRL) is an innovative subsidiary of an old Australian mining company. It's Eastern Creek UR-3R Facility is a world first in Sydney, which gains international attention as it sets standards for diverting waste away from landfills through processing and resource recovery.

Back in 1998, GRL began exploring whether techniques its mining company had used to extract diamonds, gold and tin from the earth could be adapted to extract recyclable commodities from piles of waste. No kidding! This is really significant for Australia since among nations, only the U.S. discards more household garbage. One enormous landfill south of Sydney is ~50m high.  Some people consider it a more memorable view than the famous Harbour Bridge or local Opera House!

The Australian GRL company discovered its process can be extremely useful outside goldmines. Starting with the proven mining principle that the more reusable materials it could separate out, the more profit it could make, GRL built the southern hemisphere's largest waste facility.  Here, it recycles almost all waste received and incinerates nothing. Environmentalists are thrilled this pioneering firm treats waste as a valuable, mineable commodity. Now that's a change of pace!

To maximize profit, GRL uses efficient, mechanical mining devices to extract recyclable contents from inside binbags. Giant magnets remove metals- the plastic film that covers magazines and newspapers is literally "blown" out of waste heaps by heavy-duty cyclone machines.  Then, a giant vibrating conveyor belt isolates small glass pieces. GRL continues to investigate potential clients with a use for recycled plastic film, which the Japanese and Swiss already convert to biodiesel.

After GRL's initial mechanical sorting, more sophisticated technology takes over. Warm water is flushed into the waste mass through a network of underground pipes, creating a chemical process and producing a highly acidic liquid. This kind of glop used to leak from landfills and contaminate groundwater, but GRL's system accelerates waste decomposition. The pipes also collect biogas (methane and carbon dioxide), generated by rotting organic matter, some of which is used to power the plant. Recycling is definitely being taken to a whole new level.

After several days, the decomposed waste becomes sellable compost, or OGM (organic growth media). Rules governing the use of compost made from waste mean that it cannot be spread around agricultural areas but can be used to reinforce industrial sites, landfills and quarries. In Sydney, GRL processes 11 per cent of the rubbish, and the firm sells back 30,000 tons of organic compost a year. That still leaves a long way to go to recycle everything, but we're on our way!

Tumbling space debris on your front lawn?

Many people favor initiatives to improve safety and security. They may dream about peace and harmony yet, still fear what may be around the corner. Increased surveillance and vigilence help. Still, incidents continue to unfold which cause us to question how safe we really are on a fragile blue planet. How might we rethink our actions and learn from the consequences of our choices?

In late February 2007, debris from a Russian rocket booster that exploded over Australia. Few people who realize satellites and spacecraft are launched into space also realize what happens to them. Most people who have access to television and cell phones don't often think about the telecommunications and other systems systems functioning high above that enable us to live as we do.  Not only do the spacecraft which cease to function contribute to the growing cloud of space junk above the Earth, but pieces unpredictably fall in the atmosphere. All of it doesn't burn it either. Look out! What would you say if space debis tumbled high speed into your yard?

Spaceweather.com and the U. S. Air Force Space Surveillance System indicated the rocket booster was orbiting several hundred kilometres above Australia before it fell.  The rocket booster and a communications satellite it was attached to, ended up in the wrong orbit after a malfunction during its launch a year ago. Why is it that these incidents don't often hit the news? And, if the media does run a story, it doesn't keep our attention very long. Apparently man-made space objects that are no longer working get more press when they fall from the sky?

The malfunction left the rocket booster hurtling off-course, partially filled with fuel. According to the US Air Force, radars have so far detected 1111 fragments from the explosion, with that number growing. This debris is from this single incident.Consider what this means for potential space debris and falling, human-created matter from thousands of satellites orbiting the Earth. Its difficult to ascertain the exact implications, but should we disregard the matter entirely?

Back in 2001, the deorbiting of the Russian Mir space station was controlled, yet there was still debris. Mir was brought down and sunk in a desolate stretch of the south Pacific. Responsibility to third parties for possible damages related to the deorbiting of the station was insured for about $200 million. It was a huge and expensive process. Who would pay to deorbit satellites? No company or government or independent party is volunteering.  

It is likely to take many weeks before the fate will be known about the Russian rocket fragments from late February 2007. Some are too small to track. Experts suggest it is very unlikely that a rocket fragment will hit you on the head. Yet, more people are looking upward and thinking about the possibility.

"This stuff burns up in the atmosphere on re-entry," says Canberra-based space researcher Dr Duncan Steel.

"Indeed if you had a big chunk of solid material it might reach the ground intact, just as meteorites do," he says. "The chances of that hitting somebody and causing any damage is exceedingly small."

Some space scientists, space agency professionals and politicians believe the main danger from the swarm of fast moving fragments such an explosion is for humans and functioning satellites and space systems in space.  Other space experts disagree. They feel space debris matters require more attention, such as legal, financial and other proactive systems to deal with potential falling debris. These concerned experts see this as a serious environmental hazard.

Note how space objects like micro-meteorites smaller than a millimetre across have caused problems crashing into the windows of the space shuttle and have damaged orbiting satellites. The issue seems to demand more than simple reflection on Earth. What will it take for action?

U.N. Space Generation Advisory Council make a difference

Back in 1999, I was involved with a meeting that took place at the United Nations (UN) in Vienna, Austria.  This was the first time a group of young people from 60 countries organized a space and earth science and environmental meeting called the Space Generation Forum (SGF).  It coincided with the larger, political Ministerial level meeting.  The key SGF youth organisers were alumni from International Space University (ISU).  As of 2000, I had the good fortune to become an ISU alumnus myself. Personal experience has taught me this team really cares for the planet's future. I feel part of a close-knit community of results-driven people who work together and also independently to learn and teach about the world, so we can better take care of it long-term.

During the 1999 Outer Space Affairs Ministerial, nation state representatives attended their own meetings.  Some youth observed these while other youth specialized in related space and environmental science areas brainstormed their own strategies and resolutions.  The two groups interacted closely for the first time.  When they got together during the final week of formal meetings, youth were able to negotiate some of their ideas be incorporated in the Ministerial level Vienna Convention. What does all this mean for different generations and the Earth?

Young people people around the globe do more than talk about caring for the planet. They seek to help devise solutions to big issues. As of the build up to this major international space meeting in 1999, on-line forums and communications among young people became far more organized. Youth began organisating their own meetings on a regular basis.  They went further to promote space and environmental science awarenss programs around the world. They collaborate with people involved in the U.S. Environmental program (UNEP). Young people return from meetings to their communities to spread their enthusiasm among other young people.  Together, they take initiatives to implement grass roots programs such as after school clubs, discussion groups, and associations which involve young people of all ages and pass their ideas higher up.

Many great initiatives grew out of the 1999 Ministerial, one of the most notable being perhaps the U.N. Space Youth Advisory Council (UNSGAC). This group has volunteers around the world who devote time to raising awareness and implementing programs. Its not simply a question of striving to interact with leaders and discuss revisions to school and university science curricula in many different countries.  The European Space Agency (ESA) and the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) both offer internships programs for youth interested in these areas.  Other organisations have also developed collaborations. UNSGAC members have been know to persuade organisations of the value of creating in-roads and cooperation projects. 

UNSGAC members have also been known to branch off and start their own companies in order to improve people's understanding of space, science and the environment. Engineers build.  Social scientists and cosmologists will discuss and debate.  Journalists write.  Scientists contribute their expertise in their own ways.  Not everyone who has been involved in the SGF or UNSGAC joins a space agency, a government department, a school or university teacher or the military as a pilot or aspiring astronaut. Everyone with an interest can create a role to play in society.  The common thread we can share is a desire to share a love for space and environmental sciences. You can too.

I would encourage you to read more about the evolution of these youth groups and to find ways to contribute to their causes.

 http://www.spacegeneration.org/

http://sgf.unsgac.org/ 

The biggest risk ever

You may have taken risks in your time, but I wonder how far you'd be willing to push the envelope? The chances you take often fuel the most memorable stories you'll share later in this life or other lifetimes if you come to recall those. Its no surprise that people often find the effort to take chances and go after what is heart and soul-driven is worth far more than any associated regret or 'what ifs' would offer.

As for me, I've taken many risks. They're the reasons why my life is so exhilarating. The story I choose to share now represents one of the biggest risks I ever took. Another person took it with me.  An excerpt is published in a March 2007 book by Keen Publications called "Grab Your Tiger." Reflecting back, from the moment I recall risk is illusion, a distortion of mind, I see all I do, I do for me. Its the faith we are each invited to reconnect with that reminds us we are always whole.

Not too long ago, I met a man briefly on a bus in Florida while I visited Orlando for a conference. We impulsively shared dinner and conversation. The next day, the man boarded a plane to head back home. You might think our story ended. Well, it didn't. We had hit it off and a distance romance ensued. The experience was anything but ordinary. After all, he truly lived on the other side of the world.

Over the next month and a half, regular e-mails and large phone bills evolved. We even wrote a special electronic book together and he edited my draft of an inspirational book which will soon be published. I wrote him more than 500 letters (card stories inside cards) and posted them to his office (I didn't know his post box). I was told the office girls got a kick out of the stamps? The nature of our vast communications soon prompted him to take the chance of his life. While nearly falling asleep on the phone one night, he blurted out,

"Would you meet me for coffee in Paris?” He knew I planned a spring trip to Europe with my sister.

“That’s a long way to travel from Australia when I only have 3 days in Paris,” I replied, thinking he must've been joking. 

He told me he'd been saving for a new stereo, but the trip of 16, 808km would be his preferred investment. I was flattered, but my ticket and travel dates were unchangeable. I suggested we could meet at another time when we both had more time, but he had never been to Europe and decided his work schedule would allow it about when I was traveling. Why would you say? I told him if he came to Paris, I would gladly give him a scenic tour. After all, I'd lived there and knew the area.

Now, if you don't believe in guardian angels, you might change your mind after this story. A few days after that Paris conversation, I received a curious phone call from an airline. A technical glitch in my booking had caused the airline to cancel my tickets. After I got over my initial shock, I managed to negotiate a return ticket 5 days later that the initial plan. Then, I emailed Australia.

The response I received was, “Italy?”

My reply was, “Need you ask?!”

I suggested some key stops for what was planned as a romantic, 8-day train trip (2500km) through France, Switzerland and Italy. When all was said and done, we planned to meet at the Gare du Nord in Paris on a particular date. That day was definitely something to look forward to, or was it? 

Now, before the big day, the last time I'd been to Gare du Nord, I hadn't recalled four exits on separate floors.  Yet, on arrival, that's what I discovered. Better still, I had been stuck in traffic a half hour in a friend's car in terrible traffic and I had no mobile. Imagine my state of mind upon arriving at the train station 40 minutes late to meet a man who had just travelled 14 hours to meet a woman he'd met in person one evening for dinner and one morning for breakfast? Who was taking the bigger risk? Him scaring friends with his impulsive travel spending or me being so inexcusably late?

This in mind, wouldn't you assume that I would have to negotiate my way through the barrier by way of French policemen because my electronic ticket wasn't working? Wouldn't you assume that I would find no functional pay phone to contact my weary traveller? When I did find a crackly phone, I discovered I'd forgotten the number back at my friend's apartment! If you never believed in Murphy's Law, this day would change your mind on that. Nonetheless, patience and faith saved the day. After all that, he recognized me by the back of my hair and my familiar orange dress.

"I was beginning to wonder if the stereo would've been a better choice, but I'm glad I waited."

"So am I."

"You know, until now I'd never waited 45 min for anyone. Risks can really pay off!"

http://blog.dreambuilders.com.au/journal/2007/9/8/the-biggest-risk-ever-follow-up.html

http://blog.dreambuilders.com.au/journal/2008/2/18/the-biggest-risk-ever-follow-up-2.html

http://blog.dreambuilders.com.au/journal/2008/7/26/the-biggest-risk-ever-follow-up-3.html

This story is the foundation for my first book, Self-Disclosure: Changes from Within.