Stuart Ross Taylor,Destiny or Chance; our Solar System and its Place in the Cosmos

Space Science Reviews -     

Iris-based biometric recognition using dyadic wavelet transform

A biometric identification system, based on the processing of the human iris by the dyadic wavelet transform, has been introduced. The procedure to obtain an iris signature of 256 bits has been described, as well as the feature extraction block and the verification system. The results have shown that the system can achieve high rates of security.     

The design of a nuclear power supply with a 50 year lifeexpectancy: the JPL Voyager's SiGe MHW RTG

Between 25 and 30 years ago, the IECEC Proceedings carried a series of papers by the present authors and other members of a JPL team on the problems and the desirable design features associated with the MHW RTGs to be used to power JPL's Voyager I and II spacecraft. The Voyager I and II spacecraft successfully completed their original 12 year missions 10 years ago and are at distances of over 55 AU and 70 AU from the sun. The power systems worked almost precisely as predicted. The Voyager spacecraft seem to have several decades of life left to make measurements outside the solar system. This paper gives a technical overview of the design process and problems     

An Overview of the Origin of Galactic Cosmic Rays as Inferred from Observations of Heavy Ion Composition and Spectra

The galactic cosmic rays arriving near Earth, which include both stable and long-lived nuclides from throughout the periodic table, consist of a mix of stellar nucleosynthesis products accelerated by shocks in the interstellar medium (ISM) and fragmentation products made by high-energy collisions during propagation through the ISM. Through the study of the composition and spectra of a variety of elements and isotopes in this diverse sample, models have been developed for the origin, acceleration, and transport of galactic cosmic rays. We present an overview of the current understanding of these topics emphasizing the insights that have been gained through investigations in the charge and energy ranges Z≲30 and E/M≲1 GeV/nuc, and particularly those using data obtained from the Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer on NASA’s Advanced Composition Explorer mission.     

MHD numerical simulations of proto-stellar jets

We will summarize in this paper the effects that the presence of the magnetic field can cause to proto-stellar jet dynamics, structure and emission line properties, and the differences between two- and three-dimensional numerical simulations will be emphasized. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Methods for Characterising Microphysical Processes in Plasmas

Advanced spectral and statistical data analysis techniques have greatly contributed to shaping our understanding of microphysical processes in plasmas. We review some of the main techniques that allow for characterising fluctuation phenomena in geospace and in laboratory plasma observations. Special emphasis is given to the commonalities between different disciplines, which have witnessed the development of similar tools, often with differing terminologies. The review is phrased in terms of few important concepts: self-similarity, deviation from self-similarity (i.e. intermittency and coherent structures), wave-turbulence, and anomalous transport.     

Solar activity and human health at middle and low geomagnetic latitudes in Central America

The study of the possible effect of solar variability on living organisms is one of the most controversial issues of present day science. It has been firstly and mainly carried on high latitudes, while at middle and low latitudes this study is rare. In the present review we focused on the work developed at middle and low geomagnetic latitudes of America. At these geomagnetic latitudes the groups consistently dedicated to this issue are mainly two, one in Cuba and the other in Mexico.