Kenny Landes | Graphic Design | Web Development | San Francisco

Hubble Telescope Pillars of Creation

I am, admittedly, not much of a scientist. I find the scientific process tedious and uninspiring, in general. I mean, how compelling can forming and testing hypotheses be? Either it works and can be repeated (resulting in scientific fact) or it doesn’t work.

The Hubble Space Telescope, however, is one of those things that has bridged the gap between science and art. Could we have imagined 20 years ago how much we would learn from the images taken by Hubble? Such breathtaking imagery was simply beyond our imaginations. Even those images were potentially compromised when the original mirrors were cut in a way that left the telescope essentially disabled after launch. Later super telescopes have expanded the point-of-view first revealed by Hubble, allowing us to see non-visual spectrums of light revealing even the furthest reaches of the known or imagined universe.

Today, the space shuttle Atlantis launched what is likely to be the last repair mission to Hubble. It’s gyroscopes are not functioning well, leaving it wobbling in place in orbit. Left to the natural course of things, it would soon crash to earth. It will crash to earth someday, but the emotional response triggered by its breathtaking imagery led to an unprecedented demand amongst the public to keep it up there running a while longer.

Space travel is never without risk. This mission is being openly labeled higher-than-usual risk by Mission Control. I hope the brave astronauts complete their mission and return home safely.

H1N1 Virus, public enemy no. 1

We’ve been warned for many years that it would happen. Now, finally, it has. In our modern world, an outbreak of a highly communicable disease in one area often means outbreaks elsewhere will soon follow. For that reason, the CDC and international health organizations have coordinated to spot outbreaks of disease.

I think we felt safe in the U.S. that such an outbreak would happen outside our borders, far away in some poor remote 3rd-world village where people drink unclean water. We were prepared for bird flu flying in from Asia. Ultimately, it was a new bird-swine-human flu virus emerging in our backyard, in the neighboring nation of Mexico. Since hundreds, perhaps thousands, of flights between Mexico and the United States take place every day, the disease quickly jumped the first plane out of Mexico into the United States.

While it seems that the initial outbreak in Mexico caused many deaths, the cases in the United States have been described as more mild than the seasonal flu. This is good news, and the usual course for outbreaks of disease. Viruses want to live, so the best way to do so is to adapt to the conditions of the host in a way that allows the virus and the host to continue living. This less virulent outbreak here and abroad gives scientists time to develop an effective vaccine.

The hysteria that has characterized the past ten days or so was predictable. And really, who wants to catch a disease whose sudden emergence kills so many? The media quickly went into its usual role as death-drum-pounding, sky-is-falling, end-is-here predictor of doom and despair. So it was good to get clear information from our government on what the risk is, how to avoid it, what to do if we get it, and what not to do if we don’t. From a P.R. perspective, Federal officials from President Obama down handled the situation well, with the comedic exception of Vice President Biden’s authentic, unguarded response to Today Show host Matt Lauer’s question.

So some plans will be changed, some lessons will be learned, most of the sick will soon be back in good health, and we will all move on hopefully with a greater understanding that these things can happen even in our own back yard, not just far away places. This too shall pass.