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China Joins Thirty Meter Telescope Project

PRESS RELEASE:

Nov. 17, 2009- The National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) has joined the Thirty Meter Telescope Project (TMT). As an Observer, China will participate in planning the development of what will be the world's most advanced and capable astronomical observatory.  

"The TMT is delighted to take this exciting new step forward in our relationship with the National Astronomical Observatories of China," said Henry Yang, chairman of the TMT board and Chancellor of the University of California, Santa Barbara. "We appreciate their interest in contributing to this important international endeavor, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Chinese astronomical community in fostering China's collaboration in the TMT project."

"We believe that the Thirty Meter Telescope will provide an otherwise unattainable opportunity for the Chinese astronomical community to make significant discoveries, perform cutting-edge science, and advance technological development," said Jun Yan, director of the NAOC. "We believe our joint effort will foster a successful collaboration on this world-class project, and we hope to build high-technology, core components of the telescope."

"As the first step in a three stage process, Observer Status provides a framework for the detailed discussions needed to establish full partnership in the construction and operation of TMT," according to Edward Stone, vice chair of the TMT board and Caltech's Morrisroe Professor of Physics.

"We warmly welcome our Chinese colleagues, who will expand the international involvement in the Thirty Meter Telescope Project," said Professor Ray Carlberg, the Canadian Large Optical Telescope project director and a TMT board member. "This new collaboration broadens the pool of talent and demonstrates the interest of national governments in TMT."

When completed in 2018, the TMT will be the first of the next-generation of ground-based optical observatories. This revolutionary telescope will integrate the latest innovations in precision control, segmented mirror design, and adaptive optics to correct for the blurring effect of Earth's atmosphere. Building on the success of the twin Keck telescopes, the core technology of TMT will be a 30-meter segmented primary mirror. This will give TMT nine times the collecting area of today's largest optical telescopes and three times sharper images.

The TMT has begun full-scale polishing of the 1.4-meter mirror blanks that will make up the primary mirror. TMT also has developed many of the essential prototype components for the telescope, including key adaptive optics technologies and the support and control elements for the 492 mirror segments.

The TMT project has completed its $77 million design development phase with primary financial support of $50 million from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and $22 million from Canada. The project has now entered the early construction phase thanks to an additional $200 million pledge from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Caltech and the University of California have agreed to raise matching funds of $50 million to bring the construction total to $300 million, and the Canadian partners propose to supply the enclosure, the telescope structure, and the first light adaptive optics.

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Animations of TMT can be found here.
Illustrations "Courtesy of TMT Observatory Corporation" can be found here.

About TMT
The TMT project is an international partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy. The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) joined TMT as a Collaborating Institution in 2008.

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• Titanic Thirty Meter Telescope Will See Deep Space More Clearly (wired.com)

All You Need to Know About The Kahalu'u Bay Project

 

Find out what remarkable things are happening at Kahalu‘u Bay from 5:30–6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10, at the Kailua-Kona Library.

Over the years, Kahalu‘u Bay has suffered from heavy usage. With more than 400,000 users a year, the bay’s coral reef is threatened and the beach has fallen into disrepair and overuse. The Kahalu‘u Bay Project has more than 390 trained volunteers and over three dozen businesses working to bring back the cultural, natural, and social significance of this area. 

Cindi Punihaole, community outreach and volunteer coordinator with The Kohala Center, which manages the Kahalu‘u Bay Project, will describe how to start a ReefTeach Program in your area, how businesses can Adopt-a-Day at Kahalu‘u Bay, the benefit Bay Concert, Outreach ReefTeach training for elementary, intermediate and secondary schools, water quality monitoring by the Citizen Science Program at Kahalu‘u, and how volunteers can help educate our visitors at Kahalu‘u Bay.

For more information contact Punihaole at cpunihaole@kohalacenter.org or 808-895-1010. 

Sponsored by Friends of the Libraries, Kona, this program is offered free to the public.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

National Science Foundation grant funds island revitalization study

KAMUELA, Hawaii-October 21, 2009-Hilo and Kailua-Kona. How have these two Hawaii Island urban areas evolved in such different ways over the last 50 years?

 Researchers at Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, the U.S. Forest Service in Hilo, and The Kohala Center, backed by a grant from the National Science Foundation, are going to take a stab at answering this question.

 "Hawaii Island provides a model setting to test theories about human impacts on the earth system and about resource constraints on urban growth. Resource management issues are of critical concern for Hawaii Island," said Marian Chertow, director of the industrial environmental management program at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

 "By focusing on the major urban areas of Hilo and Kailua-Kona, this project will provide a comparative analysis of the structure and function of two socio‐ecological systems related through resource exchanges, geographic proximity, and historical and contemporary cultural configurations. Although similar in population and area, these areas have markedly different socioeconomic and biophysical characteristics," Chertow said. "These areas could benefit tremendously from a close analysis of resource allocation and use and how their patterns of consumption affect the island's human and natural communities."

 The study is a first step in the Long-Term Industrial Ecosystem Model for Hawaii Island initiated this spring by a local-global partnership that aims to help Hawaii Island decision-makers discover what sustainability means for the island and management of resources.

 "Finding qualitative answers to the evolution of East and West Hawaii and other frequently asked questions about how to resolve our island's significant challenges with energy, food, water resources, and waste management will play a critical role in the revitalization of Hawaii Island's economy. The entire project supports decision-making through high quality information and independent analyses," said Matt Hamabata, executive director of The Kohala Center, a partner in the project.

 The Kohala Center and the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University are working on the long-term project with the University of Hawaii at Hilo, the Redlands Institute, the Institute for Advanced Studies at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, and the Institute for Social Ecology in Vienna, Austria.

 County of Hawaii Mayor Billy Kenoi's administration submitted a letter of support to the National Science Foundation, endorsing the work of this unique research partnership.

 "The science of sustainability, [or] 'industrial ecology,' looks at energy, food, and water sustainability, as well as the unique characteristics of this island, in terms of its social, cultural, historical, and industrial systems," Kenoi said.

 "When we think about how to become sustainable, we see that we need to make a collective effort and work together to change the status quo. Contained in this community are the answers for moving forward into the next generation," Kenoi said. "We have many assets. This project will help us talk about the gifts we have, including our island leaders.

 "This partnership is ideal. It gives public- and private-sector decision-makers access to high quality information and independent analysis, so that we can make informed choices about resource allocation in areas such as agriculture, forestry, energy, housing, and public infrastructure. This partnership helps us work with the fact that we live in a world with limited resources and turn that limitation into ways in which we can be more efficient, create greater local business opportunities, and enhance the health of our ecosystems."

 Hamabata said, "The project offers careful and informed thinking about the future of our island society. This effort will show the linkages across sectors-for example, how high utility costs have a negative effect on the farming industry-just when it is clear that local food production is critically important in light of the fact that we import 85 percent of the food we eat and that we have 10 days or less of food on the shelves."

 "The important point is that we need to talk about and look at the bigger picture to understand how best to move forward in light of this island's unique local circumstances. The bottom line is that we can do a lot better in maximizing our sustainable use of materials and energy than we're doing now," Chertow said.

 This work is not new. The Kohala Center and its university partners have been working with island experts, especially those in the County's Division of Research and Development, on resource allocation and consumption issues on Hawaii Island since February 2007. For example, the Hawaii County Energy Sustainability Plan showed that the growth in fossil fuel consumption between 2007 and 2030 could largely be eliminated through efficiencies. Hamabata gives more examples of the cross-sector linkages-the Department of Water Supply is the largest consumer of electrical power in the County Government because of the need to pump water; thus, fixing leaks not only conserves a precious resource (potable water) but also reduces the consumption of electricity, which in turn reduces the island consumption of fossil fuels.

 "What this project will do is allow leaders and residents to see these interlinkages. When the project develops the capacity to build scenarios rapidly, using GIS technology, leaders and residents can actually visualize what will happen, given the choices they are about to make. This is all useful and practical stuff. It just makes very accessible useful information and analyses from independent sources," Hamabata said. "How much better can this get?"

 Among other things, the long-term project will generate comparative scenarios-for example, heavy biofuel development versus local food production-which will help stakeholders visualize which futures they want, and which futures they don't want. These analyses will be of immediate use to the County, but the project will have global benefits as well. By addressing the concerns of island residents, the regular gathering and analysis of data will-over the years-lead to significant understanding of the complex interaction between human and natural systems. Thus, the resolution of Hawaii Island's local challenges will have global impact. Indeed, this project positions Hawaii Island as a global knowledge resource.

 Existing long-term projects such as the Hubbard Brook research site in New Hampshire in which Yale has been deeply involved and Hawaii Island's own Mauna Loa CO2 measurement facility have been essential for global understanding of environmental phenomena such as acid rain and climate change. The Hawaii study will add social and cultural depth to the research on natural systems already underway on the island, as well as provide a platform for the synthesis and integration of hundreds of ongoing studies. Hawaii is a perfect location for a system-wide project-as an intricate, diverse, urban-rural environment, it contains the full complexity of human-natural interactions, but it is a small and bounded environment, allowing scientists to track those interactions in real time.

 The ongoing work is projected to cost between $150,000 and $300,000 a year. The Kohala Center and its university partners continue to raise funds for the project. In addition to the National Science Foundation $145,346 grant, funds will also be raised from national and international research agencies and private foundations.

Photo: EFranke

2-27-09 Wake-up Call

Image by swanksalot via Flickr

1. Top 10 Google Earth Finds. Earlier this week, a NASA satellite meant to monitor how CO2 enters and leaves the Earth's atmosphere, crashed into the Antarctic. While it's still uncertain whether there will be a replacement, we have high resolution satellite images to let us view more mundane, yet interesting, Earthly functions.

For example, those images partnered with Google Earth, may offer some "proof" to the existence of Atlantis, help find a sunken ship or an airplane graveyard.

2. Speaking of airplanes, there have been three major plane crashes in the past two months. Statistically, surviving a plane crash is not a miracle, the majority do. One man interviewed over 2,000 people from 105 crashes and found some very interesting survival tips. Watch: Airplane Crash Survival Guide.

3. Hawaii County's Proposed Operating Budget has been issued by Mayor Billy Kenoi and available for vewing courtesy of Damon Tucker's Weblog. The budget being submitted is $16.9 million less than the current year.

2/17/09 Wake-up Call

1. Town Meeting on Coqui Frogs Held....on Oahu. Brought to you by Damon Tucker's blog.

2. The headlines are skewed with job loss figures but people are being hired in certain sectors and a recent survey by Forrester Research came up with suggestions on preparing for a new job. Find out by reading: Web Strategy by Jeremiah. The bottom line: make yourself valuable.

3. Was the Japanese finance minister drunk during this meeting in Rome? Global Post.com (00:57)

4. "Optimism is the cure for the downturn", by Sir David Tang founder of Shanghai Tan.

5. Farmed salmon vs. wild? An interesting read from Not Exactly Rocket Science.

6. Increase productivity for FRE(E), an article from Positive Psychology.com applies to your business, team or family.

Photo: ComStation.com

Scholarships for Big Island Students

The Kohala Center invites high school students to apply for scholarships to summer engineering and environmental science programs at Cornell and Brown universities.

Applications are due February 28 for the Cornell CATALYST Academy's one-week residential engineering program and for the Brown University Environmental Leadership Lab (BELL) this summer.

 

The CATALYST Academy offers students classroom experience, lab sessions, and project research in engineering and related disciplines. Social events, panel discussions, and other out-of-classroom activities provide participants with opportunities to network informally with Cornell faculty, staff, and students. The Academy is July 19-25 on Cornell's campus in Ithaca, New York.

 

Applicants to the Academy must be current freshmen, sophomores, or juniors, have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale and have completed the required Algebra II and science courses.

 

The Kohala Center, through the Earl E. Bakken Science and Engineering Scholarship Program, is offering two partial scholarships for qualifying Hawai‘i Island applicants to travel to and attend this summer's CATALYST Academy. Application instructions and forms are available at www.kohalacenter.org/catalyst. All application and scholarship materials should be submitted to The Kohala Center by February 28. Contact Samantha Birch at sbirch@kohalacenter.org or 808-443-2755 with questions.

Scholarships are also available for three sessions of the Brown University Environmental Leadership Lab (BELL): BELL Sustainable Development, June 28-July 10 and July 12-25, and BELL Field Ecology, July 26-August 7.

 

BELL students learn and live outdoors at Brown's 372-acre historic Haffenreffer Estate farm on Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island and enjoy a full program of study focusing on the natural environment and developing the leadership skills they need to tackle pressing environmental problems in their home communities. For more information on the BELL programs, visit www.brown.edu/scs/pre-college/leadership.

 

The Kohala Center, through the Earl E. Bakken Scholarship Program, is working with Brown University to offer two partial scholarships to travel to and attend BELL. Download all application materials at www.kohalacenter.org/bellRI.html or call The Kohala Center at 808-88... to request an application.  The deadline for all applications is February 28.

 

All BELL application and scholarship materials should be submitted to The Kohala Center. Contact Samantha Birch at sbirch@kohalacenter.org or 808-443-2755 with questions.

 

The Kohala Center is an independent, not-for-profit center for research and education about and for environment. By respectfully engaging Hawai‘i Island as the world's most vibrant classroom and laboratory for humanity, The Kohala Center builds teaching and research programs that enhance island environments, serve island communities, and advance the work of the academy. The Kohala Center operates in partnership with local, national, and international research and educational institutions. Among its current project partners are Hawaii Community College, the Edith Kanaka‘ole Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Kamehameha Schools, the University of Hawaii, Brown University, Cornell University, the Redlands Institute, the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University, the University of California at Santa Barbara, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. See www.kohalacenter.org. 

Photo: Cornell.org

Tuition Scholarships Available for Two Hawaii Students

 

Island high school students are invited to join teens from across the country for a week-long outdoor adventure and an outstanding environmental leadership program - the Brown Environmental Leadership Lab (BELL) on Hawaii Island in April 2009.

The Kohala Center and Brown University are offering tuition scholarships for two students to attend BELL Hawaii, April 4-11, 2009.

In this select national leadership program, students develop their leadership skills while studying our island's biology, ecology, and cultural traditions. The program focuses on the interdependence of land, sea, and the life systems they support and is led by leading island scientists, cultural leaders, and environmental experts.

Students will experience incredible adventures as they learn about the culture and history of the island, participate in the restoration of native forests, explore geological wonders of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, kayak in coastal waters, camp at Kawaihae, and study coral reef ecology and management.

2008 scholarship recipient Faith Ozer of Saint Joseph High School described BELL Hawaii as an once-in-a lifetime experience. "At BELL I came closer than I could ever imagine to other teens from across the country. We camped out without electricity, cell phones, or anything else from the outside world, and I can honestly say that it was the greatest time of my life. I learned about the Hawaiian culture and experienced firsthand the one-of-a-kind landscapes of this beautiful island. I learned much about myself through team-building exercises and matured as a young adult and as a leader."

January 30, 2009, is the deadline to submit all application materials to The Kohala Center. Applications can be mailed to The Kohala Center, PO Box 437462, Kamuela, HI 96743, or faxed to 808-885-6707. The following application materials can be downloaded at www.kohalacenter.org/bell or available from The Kohala Center, 808-887-6411:

• Scholarship Application Form
• BELL Program Application Form
• Teacher's Recommendation

The application must also include an official school transcript and a one-page essay describing what you hope to learn during this course.

For more program details, visit the BELL website: www.brown.edu/scs/pre-college/leadership/hawaii/program.php . For application information contact Samantha Birch, 808-443-2755 or sbirch@kohalacenter.org .

Brown University has partnered with The Kohala Center to offer this competitive program for pre-college students with interests in science, leadership, and cultural studies. The Kohala Center is an independent, not-for-profit center for research and education about and forthe environment, and links together a diverse network of island-based institutions with expertise in the physical and cultural sciences, politics, education and history. Both Brown University and The Kohala Center are committed to helping Hawaii Island residents preserve and enhance the intellectual, cultural, and natural assets of the island. To learn more about The Kohala Center programs, see www.KohalaCenter.org .

Source: The Kohala Center, Janice Wong, media relations. jwong@

Photo: CalState L.A.

What's a Geoblog?

 

A Geoblog is a blog written by someone with rocks in his headon his mind. A Geoblogger takes a drive up to the Mauna Kea observatories and decides that the undulating, striated roadside was created by the ancient lay of the land, not tectonic compression. (Certainly not the markings left by a bored, oxygen deprived backhoe operator as I would have guessed). A Geoblogger gives us a different point of view and another reason to be proud of our island home.

Callan Bentley is a professor of Geology at Northern Virginia Community College and judging by his illustrations, photos and writings, I would bet that his classes are the most entertaining and effective ones on campus.

 

He illustrates here, how the continent of North America resembles an old sofa:

"torn by rifting, scratched by glaciation, stained by lava flows, draped in slipcovers (sedimentary layers), and augmented by additional material: pillows on the sofa, accreted terranes (exotic blocks of crust) on the continent."

Now read that excerpt minus the graphics and colored words and what do you get?

Professor Bentley has been on the Big Island this past week and shares his view(s) of Hawaii:

• Atop Mauna Kea
• Critters in Hawaii
• Rock Varieties of Hawaii
• Vog, in person and from outer space

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Illustrations:NVCC.edu

Magma, PI: Bruce Marsh Digs Deep on the Big Island

 

Igneous Petrology. It has potential as a name for the next hot rock band! But igneous petrology is actually the science of identifying and classifying the origin and processes of formation and crystallization of the igneous rocks. Professor Bruce Marsh happens to be a star in that field, hence the nickname, "Magma PI".

Marsh is collaborating with the drilling company at the Puna Geothermal Venture power plant. While crews were drilling an injection well, they hit a chamber of magma nearly a mile and half below the surface. It's the first time that magma has been discovered in its natural habitat. When it surfaces and cools (!) it becomes lava. 

What really has Marsh and others excited is that the magma is an unusual type known as dacite and no dacite lava or rocks have ever been found on the Big Island. Ormat, the company running Puna Geothermal and the drilling operation, installed a permanent seismic and ground monitoring network to provide warning of any volcanic activity, soon after the magma was discovered. Stay tuned. Let us know if you hear anything more.

Source:

1. AScribe.org, December 16, 2008

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Photo: Johns Hopkins University

9th Island

 

No, it's not Las Vegas.  It's Lo'ihi,  a small but growing seamount about 19 miles off our southern coast.  It sits less than 1000m below the ocean surface and has caldera-like depressions that reach almost 2 miles wide. 

This morning at 8:17 there was a tiny (2.2 magnitude) earthquake.  Not enough for any action, but still, who can say they saw an island grow.  It won't be seen for several tens of thousands years and it is already 10,000 feet higher than Mount St. Helen's. 

Scientists have placed movable submersible observatories to monitor the seamount and rift zone.  Lo'ihi is actively venting hydrothermal fluids and in 1997 a never before seen jelly like organism was found near the 160 degree celsius vents. 

Our state fish, the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, is known to frequent underwater vents and lava flows.  So next time you're down south, or visiting the volcanoes remember our little island growing in our shadow already doing big things.   

Take a Virtual Tour of Loihi

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Photo: Fathom