I mentioned earlier that one of our robots was up North. Well, it's been visiting an outpost -- the McGill Arctic Research Station -- of McGIll University and the Canadian government on Axel Heiberg Island in the territory of Nunavut, Canada. This is very far North -- there's not much other land as far north except Komsomolets Island in Russia and Northern Greenland.
Philippe Giguere from our lab has taken the robot up there as part of an experiment dealing with sensing in harsh environments in the context of developing tools for space exploration and, in particular, astrobiology. The robot is being used to deploy an exotic automated microscope that can detect signs of life in hostile environments, much as one might wish to do on the another planetary body like Europa or Mars. Of course, this experiment only tests a small fraction of the suit of technologies that would be needed for a genuine extra-terrestrial mission, but is still very satisfying to work on in this context. Sending Philippe instead of going myself made a lot of sense in terms on scheduling and logistics, but I am certainly envious and a bit disappointed I didn't get to go. The mission seems to have gone very well based on the reports back to home, and the robot carried the holographic microscope successfully.
This location is, incidentally, pretty close to the North magnetic pole. Among the other interesting features of this location, the Earth's lines of magnetic flux point almost straight down so that a magnetic compass is pretty much useless there.
2009
2009
While out of the city on the weekend recently, I spotted a huge insect flitting against the window at night. In the morning, I discovered it was a Luna Moth: an exceptionally large and visually striking month quite unlike the normal grey ones we are accustomed to. These moths are a strong green, the color of new leaves, and are up to 8-11 cm across.
At night it was a real shock as I had been quietly reading by the window and it made a lot of noise out of the blue. In the daytime, it was stunning and provoked a very enthusiastic response from Natasha.
They are also endangered species according to my Petersen Field Guide to insects, although Wikipedia claims they are common. I think the rarity is related to specific parts of its range.
When I saw it flitting against the window that night I turned off the light, but it landed and apparently slept (I hope it was sleeping) nearby. The one on our window flew away eventually (or at least it was gone a week later).
In addition to the size and color, the extensive antenna are notable. As an aside, the luna moth is apparently unable to hear sound and does not eat in the adult form.
2009
I will be off the net for almost 4 days. This is the first time in more years than I can remember. I didn't think going off-net was any big deal, until I actually confronted it and realized how many little interactions would be thrown off.
[ I made it! Phew! No so bad after all, except for a battle if the auto-reply daemons between myself and an organization that tried to email me.]
