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UK Student Union Votes Against Commemorating Holocaust

The student union at Goldsmiths College in London voted against commemorating the Holocaust this week by a margin of 60 to 1. Education officer Sarah El-Alfy...

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PorColombia National E-Board Elections for the 2012-2013 Period Are Open NEW YORK

PorColombia National E-Board Elections for the 2012-2013 Period Are Open NEW YORK, June 18, 2012

 

Posted on junio 18, 2012 by admin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 — The PorColombia Executive Board announces the ongoing search for the next crop of leaders to run PorColombia for the 2012-2013 period. The process starts on June 20 by sending the job descriptions to all chapter presidents and for them to spread the word with their networks. The call for application will continue until July 8, 2012. Below you will find a list of all of the available positions within PorColombia’s Executive Board for the 2012-2013. Read carefully each description and take the time in considering in what areas you think you can contribute the most to the Executive Team and the organization as a whole. Please keep in mind that joining the Executive Board is an important responsibility that should not be taken lightly. If selected, expect to work arduously and put in long hours for the benefit of PorColombia.

As stipulated by PorColombia’s Constitution, any student or alumni who have actively participated in the organization for a minimum of one year can apply to any position on the Executive Board. Current Executive Board members who wish to nominate themselves again can do so and must follow the same motions as any other candidate. PorColombia will also permit active members not affiliated to any chapter to run for a position in the Executive Board but may be subject to an interview by the newly elected President, in addition to submitting their essay. Along with a communication on the organization’s website, Chapter Presidents are responsible for divulging this information to interested chapter members.
The relevant information and dates regarding the election of the Executive Board 2011-2012 follows:

• June 20: All interested members who wish to nominate themselves for any position must write an essay that thoroughly explains, in as many words as is deemed necessary, your current contributions to the organization, why you wish to be a part of the Executive Board and how you think your qualities and abilities can be a positive asset to the continuous development and growth of PorColombia
• July 8: Deadline for all interested members to send their essay to outgoing President Carlos Macías (cmacias@porcolombia.us) and Treasurer Victor Mosquera (vmosquera@porcolombia.us). Essays must be received by 11pm on this day to be considered.
• July 9: Carlos Macías will send all Chapter Presidents the essays of the nominated candidates for the Presidency and after carefully reviewing each application, the Chapter Presidents will vote, via email, on who they believe should be President.
• July 16: Deadline to accept all votes by Chapter Presidents; Votes must be received by 11pm on this day to be tabulated. These votes will be sent to outgoing Treasurer Victor Mosquera (vmosquera@porcolombia.us), who will tabulate the votes and announce, via email, who was voted President.
• July 17: Announcement by Victor Mosquera, via email, of newly elected PorColombia President.
• July 17 – July 23: The newly elected President will review the essays submitted for all of the other positions on the Executive Board and will select his/her team.
• July 30: Announcement, via email, by newly elected President of the Executive Board for 2012-2013.

If you have any questions regarding the election process, please contact Carlos Macías (cmacias@porcolombia.us) or Yurany Arboleda (yarboleda@porcolombia.us)
The open positions for 2012-2013 are:

• President
• Vice-President
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Director of IT
• Creative Director
• Marketing Director
• Director of Student Chapter Development
• Director of Professional Chapters
• Editor-in-Chief and Social Media Manager

1. President:

• Clearly defines the organization’s goals and objectives for his/her presidential term and appoints the remainder of the Executive Board.
• Oversees the proper functioning and development of the organization, ensuring that it stays within its’ objectives and mission.
• Shall preside over all meetings of the Executive Board, as well as Regional Representative meetings.
• Empowered to sign all notes, warrants, and other orders for payment of monies that have been approved by the Executive Board; approvals must be sought with expenses greater than $1000.
• Shall serve as the Official Spokesperson as pertaining to all matters related to the Organization, speaking in representation of the organization’s brand and mission.
• Must report on a bimonthly basis all organizational updates to the Board of Directors and work with the Board of Directors to resolve grave internal issues or disputes.
• Works with the Director of Chapter Development to extend the organization’s presence in new universities, making strategic connections with other Colombian student organizations and student leaders.
• Will serve as the key liaison between PorColombia and corporations and other organizations to secure alliances for the benefit of the organization’s members in the areas of volunteering, internship and potential job placements.
• Meets on a monthly basis with all Chapter Presidents and serves as the main point of contact for any questions, concerns or guidance the chapters may need.
• Collects, compiles and analyzes Chapter Updates and presents these reports to the Executive Board on a quarterly basis.

2. Vice-President:

• Oversees and schedules meetings with the Representatives Board.
• Reports directly to the President and assists in all executive decisions and internal and external affairs.
• Empowered to sign all notes, warrants, and other orders for payment of monies drawn by the Treasurer in the event that the President cannot do so.
• The Vice President is required to assume the responsibilities of the President during a period of absence or if the President is impeached or resigns.

3. Secretary:

• Responsible for the taking of minutes at all meetings held by the National Executive Board and delivering them to the Executive Board members.
• Collects, compiles, and analyzes Regional Representatives’ Updates and presents these reports to the Executive Board on a quarterly basis.
• Keeps an updated list of all student chapters, with updated contact information of chapter directives.
• Keeps attendance at all Executive Board meetings.
• Shall post Executive Board member updates and minutes of executive Board meetings on PorColombia’s Internal Message Board.
• Redirects emails directed to the PorColombia general email account to the indicated people.

4. Treasurer:

• Shall have the care, custody, and responsibility of all funds and securities of PorColombia.
• Keep accurate records of cash, checks, and other financial material showing detailed accounts of all transactions.
• Maintain and operate PorColombia’s national bank account.
• Monitors the organization’s funds and finds fund-raising opportunities, such as sponsorships.
• Manages day-to-day affairs for co-sponsorship with sponsors.
• Assist in preparation of budget.
• Monitors the budget.

5. Director of IT:

• HTML, CSS, WordPress and Photoshop experience required.
• Coordinate technical aspects of the website (FPT, CMS).
• Manage, activate and cancel all PorColombia email accounts.
• Manage the PorColombia database of members and handle all communication with members via these listservs.
• Graphic Design experience preferred.

6. Creative Director:

• Creates visual elements, including but not limited to videos, flyers, and other promotional materials.
• HTML, WordPress, Complete Adobe Suite and Final Cut experience required.
• Create and maintain the official style guide for the entire organization.
• Works with the Marketing Director on creating branding themes for the organization.

7. Marketing Director:

• In charge of the overall branding of the organization
• Create, execute and manage promotional campaigns, in tandem with the Creative Director and Social Media Manager.
• Look for new sources of revenue using marketing initiatives

8. Director of Student Chapter Development:

• Maintain and update a chapter development guide.
• Send chapter development guide to new chapters and ensure that they sign and return all proper documentation for entry into the organization.
• Communicate clearly with each chapter should have in propose events that address the chapter's goals in the social, philanthropic, cultural, and academic areas, organized based on the interests and concerns of the chapter in question.
• Be the initial point of contact for any inquiries or support the chapters are seeking
  Provide the means for effective conflict resolution within the chapters, in the event that the chapter administration has exhausted all other resolution alternatives, in conjunction with the entire Executive Board.
• Actively look for already established Colombian student clubs and gauge their interest to be a part of PorColombia.

9. Director of Professional Chapters:

• Must be an alumni.
• Collects and maintains a database of all alumni on a yearly basis.
• Collaborates with Membership and Retention Administrators in different activities such as social events, workshops, seminars; in order to engage/bond with the future alumni.
• Creates, maintains an Internship/Job Posting Database thus helping members seeking for employment placement.
• Implements strategies to partner up with possible future employers/sponsors.
• Motivates and encourages the formation of new PorColombia Professional chapters throughout the U.S. and Canada.

10. Editor-in-Chief and Social Media Manager:

• Prepares, writes and edits official PorColombia online publications, including event posting, press releases, blogs, etc.
• Collects relevant news stories from chapters and the Executive Board for story development.
• Coordinates and assists other Department heads to ensure clean copy in all communications to the chapter and the public in general. This includes mass e-mail campaigns and surveys.
• Collaborates with public relations, answer e-mail and letters from press and the public, and works in conjunction with other directors on public outreach programs nationwide.
• Works directly with Director of IT and the President on keeping our website and social media channels current with the latest technologies and working on constant improvements.
• Shall devise and lead the social media strategy of PorColombia, overseeing the organization’s online presence in Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

###

About PorColombia:

PC is a nonprofit organization that connects students and professionals with Latino and Colombian backgrounds globally. The organization promotes networking and leadership initiatives aimed to develop professional and entrepreneurial advancement. We aim to educate and raise awareness of present and future opportunities to build from abroad a stronger, safer, and dynamic Colombia. PC is now entering into its 7th year since its foundation in 2005.

Visit PorColombia National Facebook page and become a fan, also follow us on LinkedIn,Twitter and Flickr.re

Prestigious Choral Arts Society appoints Cornell’s Scott Tucker artistic director

Prestigious Choral Arts Society appoints Cornell’s Scott Tucker artistic director

ITHACA, N.Y. — The Choral Arts Society of Washington, D.C. - one of the most prestigious choirs in the country – has announced the selection of Scott Tucker, Cornell University professor of music, as its new artistic director, effective with the 2012-2013 season.

Tucker has been director of the Cornell Glee Club and University Chorus for the past seventeen years, and was unanimously selected by the Choral Arts Society after a rigorous 12-month international search to replace Norman Scribner, who founded the Choral Arts Society forty-six years ago and has been its director ever since.

“While Cornell will be very sorry to see him go, we’re deeply appreciative of the stature of his new position,” said Steve Pond, Cornell music department chair. “Scott has spent the last decade-and-a-half building an amazingly vibrant choral program at Cornell. He can be proud of his accomplishments here, and has built a strong legacy for future conductors to live up to.”

During his tenure at Cornell, Tucker also oversaw the activities of the Cornell Chorale, Chamber Singers, and Sage Chapel Choir. Under Tucker’s leadership, the Cornell choirs toured nationally and internationally, performed frequently with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra during its operation, prepared major works for several leading conductors, and collaborated with acclaimed artists such as Anonymous 4, Peter Schreier and Garrison Keillor of NPR’s Prairie Home Companion.

In a statement, Scribner said that Tucker’s gifts embrace “an intense natural musicality, a consummate technique, a fabulous ear, and a vast reservoir of knowledge and experience in virtually all periods and styles, together with a clear vision for the future of music in our own time…Scott’s appointment heralds a brilliant new era in the Choral Arts Society’s pursuit of excellence in the choral arts.”

For more information:

www.choralarts.org

Contact Syl Kacapyr for information about Cornell's TV and radio studios.

--30--

The Heroic Generation

The Heroic Generation.

At the cutting edge of Du Avant Garde, is that a civilization's development rest solely on the socio - cultural processes of how it nurtures it's youth. Thus is should be to everyone surprise that something happened previous to the year of 2000. What has happen, is the development of The Heroic Generation of American youth who are now entering the 16 to 18 years of age, as of June, 2006.
Why?

The Critical aspect of this is based on the clear observation that as the American civilization has became more complex, there has been increasing equal complex burdens of sociocultrual and sociopolitical adaptions being made in childrearing techniques by both the parents and children of each family since about 1982 till the present. The forms of these adaptations have magnified the self - perceptions of diversity of the emerging core of youth even more, than their parents own development in their own childhoods'; the present impetus of greater self - discoveries as a result.

The newer aspect....
Then the physical impact of hours and hours being spent at home computers and access to the Internet by children as early as 2 1/2 has likewise created further expansion of the depth of the child's development of their audio and visual perceptions, increasing their range of needed additional information, and emotional needs during all the years afterwards; their growing dependencies upon the Internet.

As of now:
Their resulting increased visual and intellect range [ what is still not yet been measure by present early childhood reseachers - conclusively, and maybe by their present skill research skills unmeasureable ] is far different than their parents. This component has likewise appeared in experiences of increasing fustrations in their dealings and learning with their primary and secondary school teachers - who in most instances are unaware of their emerging student traits. This is the additional impact of computer usage and its ability to influence their own innate drives - while most of their parents being totally unaware. Furthermore, those who families have home acccess to the Internet have triggered a unique struggle for this generation of Internet users to find common idenity; this has created the basis for a different more complex cultural society to emerge within America's mulit - cultural mosaic.

Most amazing is the increasing and voluntary, they are not being forced to commit in using the Internet by their parents, interdiction of the internet experiences into radicalizing their abstractual intellegence, and near fantasy visual ranges in conjunction with the mental impacted sociocultural sphere of influences of present early childhood ( per - 12s ) sensory developments by their parent's sociocultural, socioeconomic, and sociospiritual childrearing efforts [ What the parents are passing on and the advance technique they likewise have used from the radical 1970's. ]. Moreover, their developmental causal extrapolations of rapid access and installation of competant and more highly advanced usage of computer soft wear technologies, and internet prowless has impacted new adaptations after 12 YO ( and at a critical developmental stage Piget/Erickson); thereby creating new unkown emotional structures which has their further generated biological resultant imprints on this population's innate drives. There is no research known within this area either.

Part conclusion...

" Similar to design technology functions invested in computer advance technologies and rapid streaming of mass information within the growing massive information insourcing spiders of the Internet ( here before never used by previous generations ) have had a radical impact which are largely the additional unknowns confronted by todays parents and unfortunately and similarly by present University educators as well. They, " you " [ if " you " fall into this generation ] are now the outsourcing resultants"
Now, historically, now, this process has created new emotional and intellectual structures and have been observed to be firmly inserted into this generations' overall personality traits which is generated by every single successful experience during time durations [ after an unknown quanity of time expended ] related computer access obtained by the child user. In dealing with present forms of how children are integrated into society this has created a separate intellect, nonetheless, and thus forming new resultant and yet unkown " impacted innate intellectual drives which are increasingly creating emotional technocentered more adpated " new corridors."

Presently this has been recently touched on, largely in their emerging emotional fields, by Presidential Canidate Barack Obama. His campaign use of the Internet and who, the users, he has been getting his political message to, and likewise his contributions from.

Part conclusion ....
Simply the causal resultant of increased usage and depth of range of their nervous systems has result in a different intellectual population.

It is what is contained within in this new corridor is their main future focus of unity. How internet experiences have impacted their own personal, and individual bio - spheres, and the resultant increased locations and more diverse usage of their brain stimulus is still even the greater unknown - even to themselves.

Thus and unlike Gertude Stein quote about the " Lost Generation " We now have the " Heroic Generation. " In a historic review we have had Heroic Generations born in 1745, 1832, 1876, 1919, 1946, and then 1982.

What is even more surprising is that they have caught upon certain indenity ethos which is in its initial stages of social and cultural evolution - development; and are just now being defined by themselves, while others outsiders are in the dark. Moreover, the socio-spirituality of this genertion is their special gifts.

The result in art, music, and others is just now appearing at their other edges....

This is leading us to the....

The impact of which will be felt culturally around the year 2016. Politically is the greater unknown, can Barack Obama tap into it? No one knows...


Pax Fidelis!

NCLT SEMINAR SERIES 2008 @ Cornell University

Date: Thursday, April 3, 2008

The next generation of scientists will need to have a broad base of skills; no individual with training in a single discipline will solve any of the coming challenges that we face. Our group looks at a broad range of problems and we collectively design solutions working in collaboration with groups through the university, academia and industry. We also seek solutions that have some practical endpoint, to see that our work will some day be useful. And we work with students of all ages, from the very young to the very old.

C U R R E N T R E S E A R C H

Two areas currently attract our attention. In close collaboration with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research we are pursuing the development of therapeutic agents for the treatment of cancer. To reach this goal we have just completed the construction of a GMP Bioproduction Facility, the only one in existence in an academic setting in the U.S. We are also applying the tools and the processes of nanofabrication to create a new generation of sensors and other tiny devices.

I N T E R E S T S / W O R K I N P R O G R E S S

What we do:
Development and implement processes for the recombinant production of therapeutic proteins
Explore the use of nanoscale materials inspired by biological systems.
Design and create novel biosensors.
Create hands-on science for young students and engage them in thinking about how cool it is to be a scientist.

E D U C A T I O N

B.S., Microbiology, Kansas State University M.S., Food Science, Rutgers University Ph.D., Food Science, Rutgers University

S E L E C T E D P U B L I C A T I O N S

Joosten, C.E., Cohen, L.S., Ritter, G, Batt, C.A. and Shuler, M.L. (2004) Glycosylation profiles of the human colorectal cancer A33 antigen naturally expressed in the human colorectal cancer cell line SW1222 and expressed as recombinant protein in different insect cell lines. Biotechnol. Prog. 20:1273-1279.
Damasceno, L.M., Pla, I., Chang, H.J., Cohen, L., Ritter, G., Old L.J., Batt. C.A. (2004) An optimized fermentation process for high-level production of a single-chain Fv antibody fragment in Pichia pastoris. Protein Expr. Purif. 37:18-26.
Mark S.S., Sandhyarani, N., Zhu, C., Campagnolo, C., Batt C.A. (2004) Dendrimer-functionalized self-assembled monolayers as a surface plasmon resonance sensor surface. Langmuir. 20:6808-6817.
Campagnolo, C., Meyers, K.J., Ryan, T, Atkinson, R.C., Chen, Y-T., Scanlan, M.J., Ritter, G., Old, L.J. and Batt. C.A. (2004) Real-time label-free monitoring of tumor antigen and serum antibody interactions. J. Biochem. Biophy. Meth. 61: 283-298.
Niamsiri, N., Delamarre, S.C., Kim, Y.R. and Batt, C.A. (2004) Engineering of chimeric class II polyhydroxyalkanoate synthases. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70:6789-6799.
Shah, D., Maiti, P., Gunn, E., Schmidt, D.F., Jiang, D.D., Batt, C.A. and Giannelis, E.P. (2004) Dramatic enhancements in toughness of polyvinylidene fluoride nanocomposites via nanoclay-directed crystal structure and morphology. Adv. Mater. 16: 1173-1177.
Tyner, K.M., Roberson, M.S., Berghorn, K.A. Li, L., Gilmour, R.F., Batt, C.A. and Giannelis, E.P. (2004) Intercalation, delivery, and expression of the gene encoding green fluorescence protein utilizing nanobiohybrids. J. Control. Release 100: 399-409.
Shah, D., Maiti, P., Jiang, D.D., Batt, C.A. and Giannelis, E.P. (2005) Effect of nanoparticle mobility on toughness of polymer composites. Adv. Material. 17: 525-528.
Paik, H-J., Kim, Y.R., Orth, R.N., Ober, C.K., Coates, G.W. and Batt, C.A. (2005) End functionalization of poly (3-hyrdroxybutyrate) via genetic engineering for solid surface modification. Chem. Commun. 15: 1956-58.
Stelick, S.J., Alger, W.H., Laufer, J.S., Waldron, AM., and Batt, C.A. (2005) Hands-on classroom photolithography laboratory to explore nanotechnology J. Chem. Educ. 82: 1361-1364.
Delamarre, S.C., Chang, H-Y and Batt, C.A. (2005) Identification and characterization of two polyhydroxyalkanoate biosynthesis loci in Pseudomonas sp. Strain 3Y2. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 69 293-303.
Cady, N.C., Stelick, S., Kunnavakkam, M.V. and Batt, C.A. (2005) Real-time PCR detection of Listeria monocytogenes using an integrated microFLUIDICS platform. Sens. Actuators. B 107, 332-341.
Delamarre, S.C. and Batt, C.A. (2005) Comparative study of promoters for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates in recombinant strains of Wautersia eutropha. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol.2006 Aug;71 (5):668-79. Epub 2005 Dec 15.
Kim, Y-R., Paik, H-j., Ober, C.K., Coates, G.W., Mark, S.S., Ryan, T.E. and Batt, C.A. (2006) Real-time analysis of enzymatic surface initiated polymerization using surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Macromol. Biosci. 6: 145-152.
Bhatnagar, P., Mark, S.S., Kim, I., Chen, H., Schmidt, B., Lipson, M. and Batt, C.A. (2005) Dendrimer-scaffold-based electron-beam patterning of biomolecules. Adv. Material. 18 315-319. Mark, S.S., Bergkvist, M., Yang, X., Teixeira, L.M., Bhatnagar, P., Angert, E.R. and Batt, C.A. (2006) Bionanofabrication of metallic and semiconductor nanoparticles arrays using S-layer protein lattices with different lateral spacings. Langmuir.2006 Apr 11;22(8):3763-3774.
Pla, I.A., Damasceno, L.M., Vannelli, T., Ritter, G., Batt, C.A. and Shuler, M.L. (2006) Evaluation of Mut+ and MutS Pichia pastoris phenotypes for high level extracellular scFv expression under feedback control of the methanol concentration. Biotechnol. Prog.2006 May-June;22(3):881-888.
Waldron, A.M., Spencer, D. and Batt, C.A. (2006) The current state of public understanding of nanotechnology. J. Nanoparticle Res.8, 569-575.
Cady, N.C., Strickland, A.D. and Batt, C.A. (2006) Optimized linkage and quenching strategies for quantum dot molecular beacon. Mol. Cell. Probes;21(2):116-24.
Damasceno, L.M., Anderson, K.A., Ritter, G., Cregg, J.M., Old, L.J. and Batt, C.A. (2006) Cooverexpression of chaperones for enhanced secretion of a single-chain antibody fragment in Pichia pastoris. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. DOI 10.1007/s00253-006-0652-7. 74(2): 381-389.

Cornell Fruit Field Day

Cornell Fruit Field Day to be held July 25

by Joe Ogrodnick

GENEVA, NY: Cornell University will host the 2007 Fruit Field Day and Equipment Show at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY, on Wednesday, July 25, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. This is one of several events that commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Experiment Station, which opened its doors on March 1, 1882.

Fruit growers, consultants, and industry personnel are invited to tour field plots and laboratories and learn about the latest research and extension efforts being carried out by researchers on the Geneva, Highland and Ithaca campuses. The focus will be on all commodities key to New York's $300 million fruit industry: apples, grapes, raspberries, strawberries, peaches, pears and cherries.

During lunch, equipment dealers will showcase the latest techniques to improve sprayer deposition and reducing drift. Representatives from various companies will advise growers on the latest technologies.

The event will be held on the Experiment Station's Fruit and Vegetable Research Farm South, 1097 County Road No. 4, one mile west of Pre-emption Rd. in Geneva, NY. Signs will be posted. Attendees will be able to select from tours of apples, stone fruits, small fruits, and grapes, as well as a tour of the Experiment Station's labs and greenhouses. Admission is free and lunch is provided courtesy of industry sponsors. Pre-registration is encouraged.

For sponsorship and exhibitor information, contact Debbie Breth at 585-798-4265 or dib1@cornell.edu.

More information will be posted to http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/hort/fieldday/ in the very near future. For additional information, contact Nancy Long at 315-787-2288 or NPL1@cornell.edu.

Light Gives Asteroids Spin

Researcher detect the YORP Effect on the near-Earth asteroid 2000 PH5

From Max Planck Society

[ Asteroid 2000 PH5 imaged at optical wavelengths using the 3.5m telescope at Calar Alto, Spain on August 31, 2005. The asteroid can be seen moving relative to the background stars ]

Astronomers have observed an asteroid change the rate at which it spins for the first time, and shown that this is due to a theoretical effect predicted but never before seen. The international team of scientists from Europe and the United States used a range of telescopes to find that the asteroid is rotating faster by 1 millisecond every year.

The acceleration in the rate of rotation is due to heating of the asteroid’s surface by the Sun. Eventually it may spin faster than any known asteroid in the solar system.The Yarkovsky-O’Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack (YORP) effect is believed to alter the way small bodies in the solar system rotate.

YORP is a torque due to sunlight shining on the surfaces of asteroids and meteoroids and warming their surfaces, leading to a gentle recoil effect as the heat is emitted. By analogy, if one were to shine light on a propeller over a long enough period, it would start spinning.

Although this is an almost immeasurably weak force, astronomers believe it may be responsible for spinning some asteroids up so fast that they break apart, perhaps leading to the formation of binary asteroids. Others may be slowed down so that they take many days to rotate once. The YORP effect also plays an important role in changing the orbits of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter, including their delivery to planet-crossing orbits. Despite its importance, the effect has never been seen acting on a solar system body, until now. Using extensive optical and radar imaging from powerful Earth-based observatories, astronomers have directly observed the YORP effect in action on a small near-Earth asteroid, known as (54509) 2000 PH5. This work is reported in two companion papers, in the March edition of Science Express [1, 2], by Stephen Lowry et al. (Queens University Belfast, UK) and Patrick Taylor et al. (Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA).Shortly after its discovery in 2000, it was realized that this asteroid would be the ideal candidate for such a YORP detection. At just 114m in diameter, it is relatively small and so more susceptible to the effect. Also, it rotates very fast, with one day on the asteroid lasting just over 12 Earth minutes, implying that the YORP effect may have been acting on it for some time. With this in mind, the team of radar and optical astronomers undertook a long term monitoring campaign of the asteroid with the aim of detecting any tiny changes in the spin-rate. Over a 4 year time span, Stephen Lowry, Alan Fitzsimmons and colleagues took images of the asteroid at a range of telescope sites including the 8.2m Very Large Telescope array and the 3.5m New Technology Telescope of the European Southern Observatory in Chile, the 3.5m telescope at Calar Alto, Spain, along with a suite of other telescopes from the Czech Republic, the Canary Islands, Hawaii, Spain and Chile. With these facilities the astronomers measured the slight brightness variations as the asteroid rotated. Over the same time period, the radar team led by Patrick Taylor and Jean-Luc Margot of Cornell University employed the unique capabilities of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and the Goldstone radar facility in California to observe the asteroid by ‘bouncing’ a radar pulse off the asteroid and analyzing its echo. With this technique astronomers can reconstruct a 3-D model of the asteroid’s shape, with the necessary detail to allow a theoretical YORP value to be derived and compared with the actual observed spin-rate change seen at optical wavelengths. With careful analysis of the optical data, the asteroid’s spin rate was seen to steadily increase with time, at a rate that can be explained by YORP theory. Most significantly, the effect was observed year after year. Furthermore, this number was elegantly supported via analysis of the combined radar and optical data, as it was required that the asteroid increase its spin-rate at exactly this rate in order for a satisfactory 3-D shape model to be determined.To predict what will happen to the asteroid in the future, Lowry et al. performed detailed dynamic computer simulations using the measured strength of the YORP effect and the detailed shape model. They found that its orbit about the Sun could remain stable for up to 35 million years into the future, allowing the spin-rate to be reduced to just 20 seconds, faster than any asteroid spin-rate ever seen by astronomers. This exceptionally fast spin-rate could force the asteroid to reshape itself or even split apart, leading to the birth of a new binary system.
Related links:
[1] A Quicktime movie (6.8 MB) showing the asteroid moving against the background stars and galaxies over a period of 2 hours in