Testing baseline stability of some neutron monitors in Europe,Africa, and Asia

For six decades, the global network of neutron monitors (NMs) has provided a continuous stream of very valuable data to the heliophysics community, leading to many insights into the myriad modes of charged particle transport in the tangled magnetic fields that permeate the 3D heliosphere. Earlier, Ahluwalia and Ygbuhay (2012) reported on the drifts in some high latitude NM counting rates in the American zone. We continue our enquiry by testing the stability of the counting rate baselines of some NMs operating in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The data from these detectors have been extremely valuable for the short-term time variation studies, but caution is advised in using the data for long-term studies from NMs with baselines that are drifting for cause(s) unknown.     

The Magnetic Electron Ion Spectrometer (MagEIS) Instruments Aboard the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) Spacecraft

This paper describes the Magnetic Electron Ion Spectrometer (MagEIS) instruments aboard the RBSP spacecraft from an instrumentation and engineering point of view. There are four magnetic spectrometers aboard each of the two spacecraft, one low-energy unit (20–240 keV), two medium-energy units (80–1200 keV), and a high-energy unit (800–4800 keV). The high unit also contains a proton telescope (55 keV–20 MeV). The magnetic spectrometers focus electrons within a selected energy pass band upon a focal plane of several silicon detectors where pulse-height analysis is used to determine if the energy of the incident electron is appropriate for the electron momentum selected by the magnet. Thus each event is a two-parameter analysis, an approach leading to a greatly reduced background. The physics of these instruments are described in detail followed by the engineering implementation. The data outputs are described, and examples of the calibration results and early flight data presented.     

A non-earthcentric approach to life detection

The ultimate goal of a comprehensive life detection strategy is never to miss life when we encounter it. To accomplish this goal, we must define life in universal, that is, non-Earthcentric, measurable terms. Next, we must understand the nature of biosignatures observed from the measured parameters of life. And finally, we must have a clear idea of the end-member states for the search--what does life, past life, or no life look like (in terms of the measured parameters) at multiple spatial and temporal scales? If we can approach these problems both in the laboratory and in the field on Earth, then we have a chance of being able to detect life elsewhere in our solar system. What are the required limits of detection at each of those scales? What spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions are necessary to detect life? These questions are actively being investigated in our group, and in this report, we present our strategy and approach to non-Earthcentric life detection.     

Location and sampling of aqueous and hydrothermal deposits in martian impact craters

Do large craters on Mars represent sites that contain aqueous and hydrothermal deposits that provide clues to astrobiological processes? Are these materials available for sampling in large craters? Several lines of evidence strongly support the exploration of large impact craters to study deposits important for astrobiology. The great depth of impact craters, up to several kilometers relative to the surrounding terrain, can allow the breaching of local aquifers, providing a source of water for lakes and hydrothermal systems. Craters can also be filled with water from outflow channels and valley networks to form large lakes with accompanying sedimentation. Impact melt and uplifted basement heat sources in craters > 50 km in diameter should be sufficient to drive substantial hydrothermal activity and keep crater lakes from freezing for thousands of years, even under cold climatic conditions. Fluid flow in hydrothermal systems is focused at the edges of large planar impact melt sheets, suggesting that the edge of the melt sheets will have experienced substantial hydrothermal alteration and mineral deposition. Hydrothermal deposits, fine-grained lacustrine sediments, and playa evaporite deposits may preserve evidence for biogeochemical processes that occurred in the aquifers and craters. Therefore, large craters may represent giant Petri dishes for culturing preexisting life on Mars and promoting biogeochemical processes. Landing sites must be identified in craters where access to the buried lacustrine sediments and impact melt deposits is provided by processes such as erosion from outflow channels, faulting, aeolian erosion, or excavation by later superimposed cratering events. Very recent gully formation and small impacts within craters may allow surface sampling of organic materials exposed only recently to the harsh oxidizing surface environment.     

Inactivation, mutation induction and repair in Bacillus subtilis spores irradiated with heavy ions.

Studies on the response of bacterial spores to accelerated heavy ions (HZE particles) help in understanding problems of space radiobiology and exobiology. Layers of spores of Bacillus subtilis strains, differing in repair capabilities, were irradiated with accelerated boron, carbon and neon ions of linear energy transfer (LET) values up to 14000 MeV cm2/g. Inactivation as measured by loss of colony forming ability and induction of mutations as measured by reversion to histidine prototrophy and resistance to 150 micrograms/ml sodium azide were tested, as well as the influence of repair processes on these effects. For inactivation, the cross-sectional values sigma plotted as a function of LET follow a saturation curve. The plateau, which is reached around a LET of 2000 MeV cm2/g, occurs at 2.5 x 10(-9) cm2, a value in good agreement with the dimensions of the spore protoplast. Lethal damage produced at LET values < 2000 MeV cm2/g is reparable. Recombination repair is more effective than excision repair. At higher LET values, lethal damage could not be reconstituted by the repair mechanisms studied. In addition, at these high LET values, the frequency of induced mutations was drastically decreased. The data support the assumption of at least two qualitatively different types of lesion, depending on the LET of the affecting heavy ion.     

The Circular Synthetic Radar

A new type of synthetic radar, the circular synthetic radar, uses a simple interferometer whose elements are mounted at the ends of a horizontal boom rotating about a vertical mast. Pulses are radiated alternately ?in-phase? and in ?phase-quadrature.? The returning echoes are also detected incoherently, both ?in-phase? and in ?phase-quadrature.? The four distinct outputs are fed into an on-line computer which, after a Fourier analysis, synthesizes a mapping function of the azimuthal distribution of targets.     

Closed-Form Expressions for Noncoherent Radar Integration Gain and Collapsing Loss

Closed-form formulas allow rapid determination of noncoherent integration gain and integration loss when the single-sample IF signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is known. In addition, if the required SNR is known for any number of integrated pulses, the required SNR for any other number is easily determined. A closed-form expression is given for radar collapsing loss, expressed in terms of the equivalent integrated signal-to-noise ratio required to produce a given combination of false-alarm and detection probabilities. Alternatively, the single-sample signal-to-noise ratio of a set of samples may be used together with the closed-form expression for integration gain to get the equivalent integrated signal-to-noise ratio.     

Changes in the amino acid code.

The genetic code is characterized by a pattern arising from "wobble-pairing" between codons and anticodons, so that one nucleotide in the first anticodon position can pair with more than one nucleotide in the third position of a codon. Earlier codes may have existed in which there were fewer anticodons than at present, so that these earlier codes contained fewer amino acids. The universal code was formerly thought to be the only currently existing code used by terrestrial species. It is now known that differences exist from the universal code in mitochondrial coding systems, and also that mitochondrial systems differ from each other. These findings lend support to the proposal that archetypal codes preceded the present universal code. Such archetypal codes may have had some resemblances to mitochondrial codes.