Category Archives: Cosmic Corner
Masks Un-Masked amid Covid-19
Venus 4/27/2020
Coronavirus Jigsaw Puzzle Video & Explanation
**(Please note: after listening to the explanation I gave in this presentation I found a few items that I was uncomfortable with and made a separate video explaining those items. You can see that short video by going to my YouTube channel or clicking on the following link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WgYNx-UXQq4)**
The Coronavirus Jigsaw Puzzle Explanation
Many people are asking me about the new Coronavirus – COVID-19 – and I figured out a way to explain the situation so that people without an academic science background might understand the situation a little better.
The Coronavirus is not new although this strain, called Covid-19, is a variant that we have not seen before.
Think of the Coronavirus as a jigsaw puzzle. There are many pieces to the puzzle and each piece has a partner to which it connects. Viruses are like puzzle pieces as they have shapes on the end of their spikes that fit into certain receptors. Part of the Coronavirus puzzle has already been completed with coronaviruses that we have encountered before like those that cause the common cold. We understand those pieces and know how those puzzle pieces fit together. Due to the development of vaccines, and past Coronavirus exposures, our bodies have some defense against the known coronaviruses. Our bodies have the ability to recognize the known pieces and can block them from coming together. There are other parts to the Coronavirus puzzle that are already completed as well like the parts that represent SARS and MERS. You get the idea. Now imagine that you realize that you are missing pieces to your puzzle. You start looking around for the missing pieces. You search under the table and the couch and you come up with new pieces that you never saw before. This is Covid-19. Still part of the larger Coronavirus puzzle but part of an incomplete section with new pieces you have to deal with. The medical professionals need time to examine the pieces and see if they are edge pieces or middle pieces. Maybe they will sort them by color or by other markers that they see in the puzzle but they need time to figure out which pieces go together and where in the puzzle the connected pieces fit. Once they do that, they will develop a vaccine that will boost our immune system’s response to Covid-19 and we will be better able to deal with the virus if we come in contact with this new Covid-19 strain. Until then please do not panic! Scientists all over the world are working on learning how to deal with this new situation. Please do not feed the panic or listen to the hype. Listen to the scientists! Be diligent! Wash your hands and sneeze into tissues and then throw the tissues away. Try not to touch your face and clean surfaces that you use regularly such as the items on your desk at work. Also, your pets are not susceptible to this variant of Coronavirus but they can come in contact with the virus and may act as a contaminated surface. If you are worried, you can gently wipe down their paws and nose after walking them outside. I hope this explanation helps. Be well and be diligent! Stay healthy. LJC
Communities are the threads that make up the American Flag
I am often asked why I think it is so important to get involved in community outreach and local politics. I believe that every small town represents a thread in the American Flag. It is our responsibility to keep the integrity of that thread strong by standing up for what is right and just. When the thread is frayed because of corruption, greed, and injustice then the entire flag is at risk of becoming frayed. We must work to re-establish the integrity of our piece of the flag so that the surrounding towns will see our example and maintain the integrity of their thread as well. In this way each small town does their part to strengthen the Country as a whole. Every individual has the opportunity to enhance the strength of their piece of thread by acting altruistically and in the interest of the Country. One act of kindness can be enough to set a chain of events in motion that can change someone’s perspective and motivate them to be a positive influence in the lives of others.
LJ’s Mentorship Wheel
When You Wish Upon a Star…
A few years ago, I was asked by an elementary student if wishes made on a star come true. I immediately imagined the newspapers hailing me as the person who told children wishes do not come true. Panic rose within me and for a brief moment I thought I might just make a run for it and get out of the building before I shattered the hopes and dreams of a generation. I took a deep breath and looked up at the teacher’s in the room who were looking at me with an intensity that communicated the seriousness of the situation at hand. One teacher finally stood up and was about to tell the children that the question was not appropriate when I began to speak.
I told the students that a star cannot make a wish come true because a star is a dynamic ball of hot gas in space fusing away and going about its stellar duties. Despite the inability of stars to make wishes come true, I encouraged the students to continue wishing upon stars using the logic that if you want something so intently that you feel that you need to concentrate and wish for it then chances are you will obtain your desire. I communicated that the very act of wishing on the star enables them to focus their desire and concentrate on something that truly matters to them and I encouraged them to write their wishes in a journal and focus on them at night when they see the stars. I knew I had come up with a remarkably good answer for a question that seemed impossible to answer when I saw the teacher’s breathe a sigh of relief.
On Monday, April 30th, 2012, I was asked a similar question by an adult woman in her 50s. She asked me when all of the planets were going to line up because she was waiting for that to happen so that her wish would come true. Because she was older I was frank with her but her response was disconcerting so I sent her an email that I thought I would share with everyone. Please see the email below:
Dear Jane, Please remember that I told you that we are made up of material from exploding stars. Exploding stars that seeded the universe with elements eventually combined to become everything we experience today including humans. You are in fact, as Carl Sagan stated, “star stuff…You are in the Universe and the Universe in in you”. By this fact, and logic, it stands to reason that you are a physical manifestation of the planetary alignment you so desperately desire to experience. Your dreams will come true because you have all of the cosmic energy of the universe inside of you waiting to be tapped. There is no need to wait until all of the planets line up or for a cosmic energy burst for something spectacular to happen to you.
Always remember, that a desire, coupled with hard work and motivation, can be realized as long as we believe enough in our own power to make that desire a reality. Of course it stands to reason that our desires must be realistic to some extent. For instance, the desire to be 20 years old again is not a realistic goal based on our current state of medical technology. Please keep looking up and remember that you are a part of everything that you see and do not see. You are grander than you ever imagined because you are connected to everything that exists. You are, in fact, an energetic child of the cosmos equipped with your own cosmic power to make your dreams come true.
NASA Still Thriving
by David Seidel of the JPL Education Office
- For every day over the last decade there has been one to three Americans living and working in space on the International Space Station, 4,000 straight days as of Sunday, October 16, 2011.
- For every day for the next decade there will be one to three Americans living and working in space on the International Space Station.
- There are four space vehicles capable of visiting ISS (Soyuz, Progress, ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle and Japan’s H-2 Transfer Vehicle).
- Several private companies are vying for work to deliver cargo and, eventually crew, to and from ISS. SpaceX may fly its Dragon spacecraft to rendezvous and dock with ISS before the end of this year. Orbital Science’s Cygnus spacecraft may have a test flight before the end of the year as well.
- At this moment there are robotic spacecraft in orbit around eight different planetary bodies (Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Saturn and Vesta). (Note that the ESA’s Venus Express is not a NASA mission but there is some NASA support.) Three additional spacecraft (Voyagers and New Horizons) are on solar system escape trajectories.
- There is a mission on the way to orbit Jupiter (Juno) and the Grail twins are on the way to the Moon.
- There are three operational spacecraft in orbit around Mars and an operating rover on the surface (Opportunity).
- NASA’s Science Mission Directorate lists 63 operational spacecraft and 36 space missions under development.
- JPL has 39 missions and instruments in some stage of the mission life-cycle. (These are either already in flight or being prepared; it does not include future competitions or hoped-for missions.)
Cosmic Connection: NASA Inspires
These days it seems that people no longer look toward the future with a sense of hope. They feel disconnected from their government, each other and the world around them. This disconnection results in a lack of enthusiasm for the future which is understandable in light of today’s difficult economic times. When you couple our financial woes with the strife we see around the world even the most optimistic person might start seeing the glass as half empty.
Where then can we find the inspiration to look beyond the problems that we have today and develop that sense of hope for the future? Americans used to look to NASA for their inspiration but when the final launch of the Space Shuttle Program occurred in July it appeared as though we were grounding our collective aspirations along with the Shuttle.
For too many years people have been blasé at best when viewing the accomplishments of our space program. Having witnessed men walking on the moon people’s interest and support seemed to wane. The Shuttle launches became a matter of routine with many viewing them as wasted tax payer dollars sent to the void of space while Americans were left standing on the remains of their broken mortgages and out sourced jobs. The image of the Space Program suffered as domestic issues such as housing and unemployment benefits took center stage.
Now that the Shuttle is retired we realize that we were inspired by the Space Shuttle Program more than we thought. Americans found themselves sad to say goodbye and felt an unexpected loss as STS135’s final flame of hope ascended into the clouds. People from all over the world flocked to the Cape to witness the end of an era in space flight knowing that they would never have the opportunity to witness the majesty of a shuttle launch again. The final shuttle launch awakened the national pride felt by Americans when witnessing such an amazing human accomplishment. Conversations erupted between people wishing for the days when NASA was seen as an extension of our dreams; an inspirational and awe inspiring agency fueled by our imaginations and populated by the best of us. I even heard people complaining that NASA is underfunded!
For me, this is an unexpected and pleasant turn around as I have been trying to convince audiences for the past 10 years that NASA’s budget is much smaller than people realize. The budget is only about ½ of a penny on every dollar which is a small price to pay for all the benefits we receive from the space program including the many NASA Spinoffs that are part of our everyday lives. No one argues with me anymore when I say that “A Strong Space Program Equals a Strong America.”
Americans are seeing the value of a strong space program right now especially in light of the fact that we have to hitch a ride with the Russians to the International Space Station at a hefty price tag of $63 million dollars per seat. Many people are uncomfortable with the fact that we are forced to rely on the very country we were competing with for space supremacy in the past to get us into low earth orbit. In addition, individuals are keenly aware that countries with strong space programs lead the world in technology and knowledge. This sudden awareness has people looking toward the space program again to give them that sense of accomplishment and national pride and most importantly, hope for the future.
Somewhere along the communication highway a wrong turn was made and some people erroneously think that the space program has been cancelled. Be assured that the inspiration that only NASA can provide coupled with the knowledge that is funneled from NASA’s discoveries to the educational pipeline will continue well into the future and will build us up as a nation again. NASA still has an extremely robust robotic program and has awarded Space X the contract to complete the development of the successor to the space shuttle. NASA will move forward and pursue new frontiers which will include discoveries and achievements that will astound, inspire, and unite us all. And that is the cosmic connection.