On the possibility of Earth-type habitable planets in the 55 Cancri system

We discuss the possibility of Earth-type planets in the planetary system of 55 Cancri, a nearby G8 V star, which is host to two, possibly three, giant planets. We argue that Earth-type planets around 55 Cancri are in principle possible. Several conditions are necessary. First, Earth-type planets must have formed despite the existence of the close-in giant planet(s). In addition, they must be orbitally stable in the region of habitability considering that the stellar habitable zone is relatively close to the star compared to the Sun because of 55 Cancri's low luminosity and may therefore be affected by the close-in giant planet(s). We estimate the likelihood of Earth-type planets around 55 Cancri based on the integrated system approach previously considered, which provides a way of assessing the long-term possibility of photosynthetic biomass production under geodynamic conditions.     

Eye light flashes on the Mir space station

The phenomenon of light flashes (LF) in eyes for people in space has been investigated onboard Mir. Data on particles hitting the eye have been collected with the SilEye detectors, and correlated with human observations. It is found that a nucleus in the radiation environment of Mir has roughly a 1% probability to cause an LF, whereas the proton probability is almost three orders of magnitude less. As a function of LET, the LF probability increases above 10 keV/micrometer, reaching about 5% at around 50 keV/micrometer.     

Conversations: with Sean O'Keefe. Interview by Frank Sietzen Jr

Sean O'Keefe, who took office as the 10th NASA administrator in December 2001, is interviewed after 9 months on the job. Topics of conversation include his transition from the Office of Management and Budget to NASA, management priorities, space shuttle safety, the Space Launch Initiative and the National Aerospace Initiative, future space exploration, relationships with Congress and the President, and NASA's budget.     

Prolonged weightlessness, reference frames and visual symmetry detection

We evaluated the influence of prolonged weightlessness on the performance of three cosmonauts to bilateral symmetry detection in the course of a 15-day-long Russian-French mission CASSIOPEE 96 aboard the MIR station. We tested the influence of weightlessness on subjects' performance as a function of the retinal orientation of axis of symmetry. as a function of type of stimuli (closed versus multi-elements shapes) and as a function of visual field presentation (at fixation, left visual field. right visual field). The results indicate firstly a difference between presentation at fixation versus away of fixation. Away of fixation, no effect of microgravity on performance was shown. A hypothesis of hemispheric specialization for symmetry detection was not supported as well. At fixation, an effect of micro-gravity was shown and more interestingly, the effect was quite different as a function of type of shapes used. suggesting that symmetry detection is a multiple-stage process.     

兰桂坊的“红磨坊”

到过法国的旅游者,一般都知道巴黎有两个著名的歌舞表演厅,—个是位于市中心香榭丽舍大道的丽都,一个是位于城北蒙马特高地脚下白色广场附近的红磨坊。屋顶上装着长长的、闪烁着红光的大叶轮的红磨坊则是较为地道的法国式歌舞厅。MCG公司以法国红磨坊红磨坊为设计理念,把次情景带进了香港兰桂坊酒店Bisous酒吧。然而Bisous的设计并非照搬红色的浪漫风情,而是将未来趋势的一种极简概念设计结合了新的元素,将红磨坊的主题得以抽象化和现代化。以现今最时新的手法,完整地呈现了"红磨坊"的内心世界,概念可能不算创新,但精彩程度符合了当下时尚的思想!     

穿上“冰淇淋”迎接夏天

上一季度鲜艳的大面积色彩搭配已渐渐落幕,2012春夏品牌设计师们则将主调走向另一个极端。不再采用距离感较强的鲜艳色,而是步调一致地选择了清新、粉嫩、甜美色系,如湖蓝色、珊瑚粉、淡黄色、柔紫色等。高明亮度的粉色调,没有荧光色、     

传递重型柱荷载的设计

造价高达8．4亿美元的（美）卡西诺（Casino）赌场,建在沿密西西比河的一处原水闸的旧址上，总建筑面积88，300m^2。设计者采用了传递重型柱荷载设计法，较好地解决了新、旧结构的荷载传递，抗剪和抗挠问题；节省了数百万美元的基建费用并缩短了施工周期。     

舰队弹道导弹计划（3）“北极星”腾空

战术的变化只有在武器发生变化之后才可能出现，事情必然如此。但是，……这两个变化之间的时间拖得太长了。无疑，这是因为，武器的改进是一两个人的努力结果，而战术上的变化必须克服一个保守阶级的惰性……。它只能由坦率地承认每一个变化来加以弥补……。历史表明，希望军人这么做是徒劳的，但是，真能这样做的人肯定会在战斗中占有巨大优势。[编者按]