Johns Hopkins New Space Minor

In early February Johns Hopkins University announced its new Space Science and Engineering minor, designed for students in both the Schools of Arts and Science and Engineering who are interested in pursuing careers in space exploration and design to specialize in the field. Since then, there's been considerable buzz about it, and not just on the Johns Hopkins campus, but in Baltimore as well. People as far as the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California are aware and interested in this minor. But as students, what does it mean for us? Sure, we've all heard about Adam Reiss, who won the Nobel Prize last fall for his discovery of dark energy, and there's the Space Telescope Science Institute across the street, but we've never really been involved in space as students.

The professors saw this, and their response was: "Let's fix this." So they created the "space minor."

Launch of the NASA Servicing Mission 4 to the Hubble Space Telescope in May, 2009. This is the mission that astronaut John Grunsfeld served on.

There are five classes required by the minor, which is a bit on the low side as far as requirements go at Hopkins. This is especially apparent when four of the five classes are selected by the student himself. These classes are supposed to be focused towards applying their major to the field of space science, or at least provide a comprehensive background in a specific field, be it spacecraft design, optical instrumentation, or remote sensing applications.

The New Horizons satellite, launched in 2006. Its objective is to study Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. It will reach its destination by 2015, after almost a decade of traveling at 15.41 km/s.

The only required class is 171.321, Introduction to Space Science and Technology. Taught by Professors Steven Murray and Warren Moos of the Physics and Astronomy department, the course gives an overview of what it is to be in the space business. In Fall 2011 they offered it for the first time, with great success. The class was divided up on the first day into teams, which became the project teams for the final project. Each team was given an objective, a budget, and a few ideas, and told to design and present a design for a spacecraft. The numbers had to be accurate and the spacecraft had to make sense, so a lot of time and effort went into these projects. Each team made two presentations during the course of the semester, giving the professors an idea of the progress made on the satellite and an idea of how each team was accomplishing its goal. Even teams with the same objective approached the problem differently, leading to a huge satellite diversity.

On the days that weren't devoted to projects, the professors brought in guest speakers, such as John Mather, Principal Scientist of the James Webb Space Telescope project and Nobel Laureate, and John Grunsfeld, former head of the Space Telescope Science Institute and current administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA. Those are only two of the many who spoke during class lectures, and each had a different experience to share with the students. To hear from the professionals in an honest, frank environment is one of the biggest pluses of this course.

The homework is absolutely completable if you've taken the basic levels of physics, and trivial if you're an upperclassman in engineering or physics. The midterm was unexpectedly difficult, but the professors took this into account when grading and designing the final. In the end, the class experience outweighed the negative of the midterm, and most people did very well in the class. It should be noted that the satellite design and final report are included in the grade, in addition to a final, but because it's a group project, the work is divided and shared.

Jessica Noviello is Student No. 1 in a space science and engineering minor co-directed by Joseph Katz, left, and Charles L. Bennett. In the case is a model of NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe spacecraft, a mission for which Bennett serves as principal investigator. (From the Hopkins Gazette)

To apply for the minor, students must fill out a checklist of courses and submit a 1-2 page explanation of why the four elective courses are appropriate to the student's interest in space. Jessica Noviello, the first approved space minor in Johns Hopkins history, cites her interest in remote sensing and planetary tectonic and geochemical information as her future plan for space. Given her double major status in Physics and Earth and Planetary Sciences, it seems to be a perfect fit.

One last requirement for the minor is a space related internship, which is left up to the student to pursue. This is so the student can receive hands-on experience in the field, and so the companies and organizations giving the opportunities can, in the words of Dr. Moos, "get a look at them and see if they're students they'd love to have working there."

For more information the minor, please click here, or contact Charles Bennett or Joseph Katz, both directors to the minor. Happy spacing!

iBrain

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful,” Dr. Philip Low said, “to have a mind like Stephen Hawking’s be able to communicate even a little bit better?”

What a thought, Dr. Low. Dr. Hawking has arguably the greatest mind operating in the world today, proven by its fruitful presentation of physical theories and the popular book A Brief History of Time. Unfortunately his body has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and he has been paralyzed for the majority of his life. Despite these incredibly difficult circumstances, Dr. Hawking is still able to communicate using a pair of infrared glasses that detect twitches in his cheek, which takes several minutes to give any kind of response.

Until recently, that is.

Dr. Hawking now wears a black headband with a small device on it. This tool captures the brain signals used by the body to communicate muscular orders, thoughts and emotions, or different pathological sentiments. It then puts them through a "pasteurization" process through an algorithm specifically designed to do this kind of reading. The device needs an algorithm because the many folds of the brain and the skull distort the signals. So what is this thing? And is it working?

First, this machine is called the iBrain, and no, it's not an Apple product (although the name is counter intuitive in that regard). It was invented by neuroscientist Philip Low, who initially created it to remotely study sleep apnea, autism, and depression. The success of his product catapulted him to the CEO position of a growing business called NeuroVigil, based in San Diego. He hopes the ease and convenience of using the iBrain will give new insight into neurodegenerative disorders, in both depth and breadth. Another not-so-obvious use for devices like the iBrain is to determine the efficacy of pharmaceutical drugs seeking FDA approval.

Dr. Hawking agrees with this logic and he supports the project. “Dr. Low and his company have done some outstanding work in this field,” Dr. Hawking said in a statement. “I am participating in this project in the hope that I can offer insights and practical advice to NeuroVigil. I wish to assist in research, encourage investment in this area, and, most importantly, to offer some future hope to people diagnosed with A.L.S. and other neurodegenerative conditions.”(from NY Times article).

Top medical advisors from around the country have lauded the iBrain for its accuracy and ability to become a "window into brain architecture." "The preliminary data I have seen is compelling," says Ruth O'Hara of Stanford University Medical School.

Dr. Hawking will listen firsthand to Dr. Low sometime later this year to help determine the usefulness of the new device. He says that currently his cheek twitch is communicating faster, but sees great potential to change this position.

Other devices currently on the commercial market include sleep monitors that you can download an app for on your smartphone. So there is probably an iSleep app out there somewhere, next to iExercise and iEat. I'm actually not sure if those exist, but if they don't, they certainly will soon.

I have the greatest hope for the iBrain, and I look forward to the day when all people will neurodegenerative diseases will be able to have debates at real time, quick witted conversations, and a romantic talk with their partners.

I wonder what Stephen Hawking would say to that.

For more information, please see: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/ibrain-a-device-that-can-read-thoughts.html?ref=technology&pagewanted=all