Turkish Forum

Category: Sci/Tech

  • March 19, the moon will be at its closest to planet Earth

    March 19, the moon will be at its closest to planet Earth

    Moon closest to earth

    This coming March 19, 2011, the moon will be at its closest point to our planet earth in 18 years – a mere 356,577 kilometers away. Astrologer Richard Nolle called it a “supermoon” back in the 1970s. This phenomenon is also called ‘lunar perigee’ the opposite of the ‘lunar apogee’ when the Moon is furthest from Earth. Supermoon is described a new or full moon at 90% or more of its closest orbit to Earth. On the 19th, it will be at 100%.

    A number of astronomers predict that this phenomenon was worrying, because it will have an effect on climate patterns on Earth. Some people connect the lunar perigee or supermoon with catastrophe, like earthquakes.

    Emeritus Professor for Astronomy and Planetary Science Department, Peter GoldreichPeter Goldreich at Caltech University, notes that he and a number of other scientists have studied the moon for decades and have not at all found it to cause these natural disasters.

    Gordon Johnston, Planetary Program Executive for NASA, told FoxNews.com that “These will be the strongest tides of the month, but they won’t be much different from last year. They’re not that unusual from other tides around the full moon.”

    “This coming full moon will be the brightest of the year,” Johnston added. The sky will be very stunning to photograph, so, don’t ever forget to bring your cameras.

    All Voices

  • Man gives $12M to Yale for brain cancer research

    Man gives $12M to Yale for brain cancer research

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A Turkish financier whose close friend and business associate is being treated for brain cancer has donated $12 million to help Yale University’s brain tumor research efforts.

    Mehmet Kutman is giving the gift over several years in honor of a fellow board member at Istanbul-based Global Investment Holdings, where Kutman is chairman and chief executive officer.

    Officials say the donation will launch the Yale Program in Brain Cancer Research. It will conduct detailed genomic research into the treatment of the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer.

    About 400 samples of brain tumors from Turkish hospitals will be delivered to Yale’s School of Medicine to jump start the effort, adding to many other pathological specimens that Yale already has on hand.

     

  • NOAA: Tsunami Event Modeling- March 11, 2011

    NOAA: Tsunami Event Modeling- March 11, 2011

    The Honshu tsunami was generated by a Mw 8.9 earthquake (38.322°N, 142.369°E ), at 05:46 UTC, 130 km (80 miles) E of Sendai, Honshu, Japan (according to the USGS). In approximately 25 minutes, the tsunami was first recorded at DART® buoy 21418. Forecast results shown below were created with the NOAA forecast method using MOST model with the tsunami source inferred from DART® data.

    Tsumani

    The graphics display forecast results, showing qualitative and quantitative information about the tsunami, including tsunami wave interaction with ocean floor bathymetric features, and neighboring coastlines. Tsunami model amplitude information is shown color-coded according the scale bar. 

     

     

     

    Modeling Results

    • Propagation animation on YouTube
      • on ftp atftp://ftp.pmel.noaa.gov/tsunami/honshu/and also here
    • Model amplitudes calculated with the  MOST forecast model. Filled colors show maximum computed tsunami amplitude in cm during 24 hours of wave propagation. Black contours show computed tsunami arrival time. Alternate plots below:
      • high resolution maximum amplitude plot
      • high resolution maximum amplitude plot with no labels on tide gages
      • energy plot with NOAA logo and no labels
      • NOAA Environmental Visualization laboratory
      • Maximum amplitude plot for Google Earth (KMZ

    Model and DART® buoy data / tide gage data comparison

    • Comparison of the March 11, 2011 Honshu tsunami recorded at sea-level gages in the Pacific
      and along U.S. coastlines with forecasts obtained from high-resolution forecast model runs.
      The forecast models were run in real time before the tsunami reached the locations shown.
      The model data for Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast show 6 to 9 minute early arrival (less than
      1.5% error accumulated during the propagation simulation). The plots show model data for
      those locations with time shifted later for the comparison purposes. (see References, below).
    • Forecast results comparison with sea level data composite plots:
      • U.S. West Coast
      • Alaska
      • Hawaii and Oceania
    • Comparison of model data with DART® data

    References:

    Tang, L., V. V. Titov, and C. D. Chamberlin (2009), Development, testing, and applications of site-specific tsunami inundation models for real-time forecasting, J. Geophys. Res., 114, C12025, doi:10.1029/2009JC005476. [PDF version ]
    Titov, V.V. (2009): Tsunami forecasting. Chapter 12 in The Sea, Volume 15: Tsunamis, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA and London, England, 371–400.

    Wei, Y., E. Bernard, L. Tang, R. Weiss, V. Titov, C. Moore, M. Spillane, M. Hopkins, and U. Kânoğlu (2008): Real-time experimental forecast of the Peruvian tsunami of August 2007 for U.S. coastlines. Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L04609, doi: 10.1029/2007GL032250. [PDF Version]

    Disclaimer: These modeling results are based on a preliminary tsunami source definition and preliminary bathymetric and topographic data that is not fully verified and has known inaccuracies. Therefore the model results are subject to revision.


  • Should children learn a second language?

    Should children learn a second language?

    bilingual
    Elena Marqueto-Kelly teaches the advanced Spanish class for first- to third-graders at the Grupo Educa School. Bilingual parents have organized Sunday school at Blair East Elementary School in Pasadena to give their children more exposure to Spanish. (Axel Koester / For The Times

    By Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times

    Does being bilingual help children learn to prioritize information, provide a defense against some effects of Alzheimer’s or just provide a great workout for the brain?

    All of the above, according to studies discussed Friday at the 2011 American Assn. for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington D.C., where a number of researchers presented on the benefits of being bilingual.

    Among the findings: that infants raised in bilingual households can tell unfamiliar foreign languages apart and that bilingual speakers who rapidly switch between languages are better mental multitaskers than their monolingual counterparts.

    Bilingual speakers rarely use the wrong language with a monolingual speaker. But knowing (and using) more than one language means that, if the listener knows both languages, speakers can switch between them to most accurately express their thoughts. This mental workout enhances what Pennsylvania State University psychology professor Judith Kroll, who spoke at the conference, called ‘cognitive control.’

    Learning to juggle two languages in the brain is a skill that probably deserves credit for bilinguals’ cognitive advantages — although, researchers stress, this doesn’t mean they learn any better than people who only speak one language.

    While the science seems to be coming to a positive consensus on bilingualism, bilingual education continues to be a controversial issue in public education policy.

    Think teaching children more than one language at a young age is good for young minds, or one that will get in the way of learning? Post your thoughts below.

    Follow me on Twitter @LAT_aminakhan.

    articles.latimes.com, February 21, 2011

  • Turkey To Launch Two Satellites in Next Three Years

    Turkey To Launch Two Satellites in Next Three Years

    Turkey plans to launch two more communication satellites by 2014, Turkey’s transportation minister said on Monday.

    uyduTurkey signed a $571 million deal with Japanese technology firm Mitsubishi Electric MELCO to procure and launch Turksat 4A and Turksat 4B.

    Speaking at the signing ceremony, Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim said that Turkey also started efforts for production of another satellite, Turksat 5A, by Turkish engineers in a strategic cooperation with the Japanese firm.

    Currently, Turkey operates two communication satellites, Turksat 2A and Turksat 3A. Last year, another Turkish satellite Turksat 1C had “retired” 14 years after it was launched into space.

    Yildirim said Turkey decided to launch new satellites due to rising demand and capacity in Turksat, Turkey’s satellite operator. Yildirim said new satellites would help increase Turkey’s satellite capacity by three fold.

    Yildirim added that the deal would also set the ground for a cooperation between Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Turkish Space Agency, which is expected to be established next year.

    Turksat 4A and Turksat 4B will have a lifespan of 30 years. Turkey plans to place Turksat 4A into orbit by the last quarter of 2013. Turksat 4B will be launched in 2014.

    Turkey also has plans to launch its first intelligence satellite next year. The spy satellite was named “Gokturk” and it is now under construction by Turkish engineers.

    AA

     

  • Turkey’s Karsan opens factory to manufacture bus

    Turkey’s Karsan opens factory to manufacture bus

    Karsan Otobus acilis

    Karsan has opened a new facility in Bursa to manufacture bus with Italy’s BredaMenarinibus under a strategic partnership deal.

    Turkey’s first multi-brand vehicle manufacturer, Karsan, has opened a new facility in the northwestern province of Bursa to manufacture bus with Italy’s BredaMenarinibus under a strategic partnership deal it signed the leading bus manufacturer of Italy in September 2010.

    Murat Selek, CEO of Karsan, said at the opening ceremony, “Karsan has begun producing, selluing and exporting buses in Bursa under a deal with BredaMenarinibus. We have begun trial production of BredaMenarinibus’s CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and diesel models which ranges between 8 and 12 meters in January. The Municipality of Rome ordered 75 buses.”

    “Our bus factory has an area of 10 thousand square metres. Our investments in the first three years will amount to 25 million euro. For the time being, our annual production will be 300-400 buses,” he said.

    Roberto Ceraudo, CEO of BredaMenarinibus, said that they had added Karsan’s high production capacity to their 90-year experience. This deal between BredaMenarinibus and Karsan will lead to quite interesting innovations in the coming years, he added.

    Founded in 1966 as the first and only multi-brand vehicle manufacturer of Turkey, Karsan provides services to the world’s leading brands in its modern end flexible production plants with more than 40 years of experience in the automotive sector. Karsan, having sold 7,379 units of vehicles in 2008, generated a turnover of 206.5 million Turkish lira (TL). Karsan is the producer of five different brands including its own one, aims to focus on product design and engineering works beginning from 2010 and to become an export-based production center in 2012.

    Italian firm BredaMenarinibus is one of the well-establihed bus manufacturers which has contributed to the development of public transportation in Italy with over 30 thousand buses that it has produced in over 90 years. The company currently operates in its facility established on total 155 thousand square-meters area with 45 thousand square-meters closed area.

    World Bulletin