Modoworks Publishing presentation comp for a lavishly illustrated digital e-book on NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program
on the Space Elevator/Space Tether Concept. This mini e-book will cover
the entire history of the Space Elevator concept from Konstantin Tsiolkovsky to Arthur C. Clarke
and how new advancements in technology have allowed us to moved toward
making these fantastic concepts a reality through the research and
development of scientists like Bradley C. Edwards, David Smitherman and the LiftPort Group.
In 2011, Google was revealed to be working on plans for a space elevator at its secretive Google X Lab location. Copyright 2012 Mondoworks Publishing.
-------------------------------
The Color of Alien Worlds – Nancy Kiang
December 18th, 2012 | Category: Science + Nature
University E-book presentation comp for Dr. Kiang. Nancy
conducts research on the interaction between the biosphere and the
atmosphere, focusing on life on land. Through photosynthesis and the
evapotranspiration of water from plant leaves, seasonal cycles of
growth and decay, and occasional big events like fires, the biosphere on
Earth exchanges heat, water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen
in different forms, and many other compounds with the atmosphere. These
exchanges result in the biosphere actively controlling the climate and
spectral properties of the Earth. Dr. Kiang also relates this work to
research in astrobiology, particularly with regard to how
photosynthetic activity produces signs of life at the global scale
(e.g., biogenic gases like oxygen and photosynthetic pigments like
chlorophyll) and how these may exhibit adaptations to alternative
environments on extrasolar planets, resulting in other “biosignatures”
that might be detected by space telescopes. Her work includes computer
simulation modeling of vegetation dynamics coupled to atmospheric
general circiulation models (GCMs), occasional fieldwork, and
theoretical studies on the thermodynamic efficiency of photon energy
use in photosynthesis. Dr. Kiang splits her time between New York and
Los Angeles.
