Genetic Algorithm Breeds cars

I let this genetic algorithm run a few nights in a row to breed the "fittest" car for this course.  The difference between two nights isn't as dramatic as from the beginning.  The cars started pretty squat and then turned out spiky, and then rearranged he spikes a little.  I think that the spikes help when the cars tumble to let them right themselves again.  It may also have to do with weight distribution.

3402 generations in human terms is about 85,000 years, so these cars have gone from hunter gatherers living in caves to spaceflight.  Although really they have just gotten pretty successful at running this course.  The best performance ever was around 1000 generations and they have just been spinning wheels since then.

Snow at the beginning and towards the end

at first it seemed like a few beautiful flakes were going to cover some rocks in the creek and it would be done soon.

Chrysanthemum Festival has passed

Did you get to see the chrysanthemums at Longwood gardens before they were done?

My god, it's full of chrysanthemums.

More than one America - American Nations by Colin Woodard

I have just finished reading American Nations by Colin Woodard.  He argues that the United States is not a single nation with one people, which no one would really agree with, but a state consisting of eleven separate American nations, each with its own distinct characteristics and motivations.  He suggests that these nations formed early in the history of the colonization of North America and that they have retained these characteristics over history even as they have expanded across the continent and absorbed wave after wave of immigrants.  After much exposition of the history of the different nations, he outlines a view that the struggles between the two great "superpowers" of these nations,  Yankeedom, centered in New England, and the Deep South and their allies have shaped American politics since even before the brith of the United States.

I think his thesis is plausible and the supporting comments in the text and the copious footlights seem to imply there is proof, but I would have liked to see more statistics or demographic maps to be convinced.  Perhaps even demographic, electoral or statistical maps and data throughout history to show that these regions really are different and have remained coherent over time.  

I also imagine that even within the different nations there are further divisions due to race or socio-economic differences.  While I agree that the white leaders of the Deep South have one agenda, the African American populace in that region has a different one and their growing political power will have implications.  I could use Philiadelphia and it's environs, the birthplace of the Midlands, as an example of how demographics and socioeconomic status can have an effect within regions.  Philadelphia often votes very differently from its surrounding counties, seemingly making It hard to use the fact that it is in the Midlands to predict an electoral or political outcome.

I recommend the book for its coverage of history, some of it forgotten (several rebellions before the revolutionary war) through a different lense than more traditional histories.  History may well prove Colin Woodard's thesis and predictions correct in the long run.

Pictures of the Minotaur I launch

I was able to get pictures of the Minotaur I launch from NASA Wallops.  I had to use the iPad because I haven't figured out how to have a long exposure with my new camera.

The rocket is the faint dot in the middle of the pictures just above the lights of the water treatment facility.  These pictures were taken from Rock Manor golf course just across the for the water tatement plant and reservoir.  If you stand on top of one of the berms  next to the golf course you can look south southeast and see the Delaware Memorial bridge, which is the right direction for north of Wilmington to see a launch from NASA wallops.

NASA Wallops to launch a Minotaur I tonight!

Another shot at seeing a rocket launch from NASA Wallops tonight between 7:30pm and 9:15pm.  The details are at the Orbital Sciences webpage.





I downloaded the Google Earth data and made another view standing in Rock Manor golf course looking south-south east towards the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

I will try to get a picture of the night launch but I make no promises.

Serious about sola sciptura!

This woman is serious about the scriptures being the sole source of divine revelation (no including tradition, you Catholics). She also doesn't seem to be a big fan of President Obama either.

Don't get me started about how scriptures put together over hundreds of years with the help of church tradition can be understood outside of that context.

 You may wonder if SOLAS 1 though SOLAS 4 license plates in Delaware were taken before this woman applied for her SOLAS 5 or whether a number sticker and license plate are the best vehicles for evangelism.

Partial Solar Eclipse from Sunday Nov 3rd

Got up in time and have actual photographic evidence of the partial solar eclipse for Wilmington, DE on Sunday morning.

It was already in progress at sunrise and I was able to find a spot where I could see it. I stopped by the water treatment plant in Rock Manor golf course, crossed the road and stood up on one of the hills they have to separate the fairway from the road.

The eclipse started obscured by trees and then the clouds a few minutes later, but you can see the shadow of the moon on the sun at the top of the picture. This view is upside down from the view just using your eyes (with protection) because it is reflected on the mirror if the Solarscope.

A couple looking for a good spot to see the eclipse saw me and stopped. I had an extra solar viewer that they could use for eye protection. The eclipse was even easier to see through those. They helped by catching my Solarscope as it repeatedly blew away because of how windy it was and because facing the sun meant that the open part was an effective scoop for the wind. Next time I bring a table and some bungs cords and maybe a rock.

I am declaring this a successful astronomical event viewing with proof.

Finally saw a NASA Wallops launch from Wilmington with my own two eyes!

On Wednesday September 18th, Oribital Sciences and NASA Wallops launched the Antares/Cygnus mission to resupply the International Space Station.  I made another view from Rt141 and Rt48 west of Wilmington Delaware to show where to look but I used the Google earth data from the April launch information since there didn't seem to be a file from that launch. It proved useful.

I was able to see the contrail of the rocket, because I knew where to look.  Here is a picture of just the contrail blowing away, in the center of this photo.  That is Salem nuclear power plant in the lower left and this picture is looking south from west of Wilmington.

I have circled it here.

This makes me want to try harder to see a night launch.  I should have stayed awake for that might launch on Sept 6th.

Another NASA-Wallops Launch tomorrow at 10:50am

I did not see the LADEE launch from NASA Wallops earlier in the month.  But a ton of people did. Tomorrow (Wednesday September 18th), Oribital Sciences and NASA Wallops will launch the Antares/Cygnus mission to resupply the International Space Station.  Viewing possibilities from the Mid-Atlantic region can be found here.  I made another view from Rt141 and Rt48 west of Wilmington Delaware to show where to look but I used the Google earth data from the April launch information since there didn't seem to be a file from tomorrow's launch.

You can see the Delaware Memorial bridge just under the red part of the trajectory left of center in the picture.  That's a pretty visible point to look for while looking south east.

The window is from 10:50 am to 11:05 am.  Maybe we can see this one.

NASA launch from Wallops tonight!

There is a launch of a moon probe tonight from NASA Wallops down the Delmarva peninsular from Wilmington.  Orbital Science, the company that put together the launch vehicle,  have helpfully supplied a Google Earth file which plots the trajectory of the launch so that you can see where to look from your own location on the East Coast.  The only problem is there are very few 3D landmarks in Delaware to use as a reference.

Here is the view from second base in Frawley Stadium looking southeast.  You can see the trajectory of the rocket over the bleachers.

There is coverage of the launch at the NASA website.

Look Southeast at 11:27pm.

Test the size of your vocabulary(statistically)

Ran across this clever test that gives you a list of words and asks if you know them.  The list is special in that it is a list ordered by frequency of use in the English language.  The more you know of the lesser used words the more likely your vocabulary extends to that point and thus the program derives and estimate of the size of your vocabulary.

Leaving aside the sticky discussions of what is a word, do we include the inflected forms, what about technical terms, etc. My vocabulary is...

To put that in context I am in the 90th percentile or top 10th percentile for my age group on this particular test.

Try it yourself.  - http://testyourvocab.com/

Video of the raging Shellpot creek

This was the creek in all its raging yesterday morning.

Shellpot Creek rises after yesterday's torrential downpours

Yesterday's rain rapidly filled Shellpot creek in the morning.  Here is a picture.

It's back to normal now, but it is always exciting to see and hear it.

Presidents of the United States of America at the Nationals Games

The presidents run races in between innings at the Nationals games in Washington, D.C.

They also throw t-shirts to the crowd.

I am sure after a game there presidents' approval ratings couldn't be higher!

Snapped off tree from this Monday's storm

The neighborhood across Shellpot Creek from us had a tree snap in half, break a line pole and take out electrical wires to the area on Monday night during some pretty powerful thunderstorms.  I walked up to get some pictures.

View of the tree and the snapped off pole.  The tree went completely across the street.

At least on telephone pole was snapped off at the top.

The tree looks burnt on one side.  I wasn't able to get a story from anyone as to whether the wind did this, lightening or whether contact with the wires caused it.

Power was surprisingly restored in only a few hours by 7:10pm.  The firefighter I spoke to said they needed to clear the road immediately from the tree because that was the only way into the development should there be a fire.  Seems everyone did a good job.  I do feel bad for my neighbors.

Nasa logo

This nice Nasa logo ...

... was on the mobile quarantine facility that the Apollo 11 astronauts had to stay in to protect everyone on Earth from moon germs.  Yes, the information said "moon germs"

I need to take the logo and make a T-shirt out of it or something.

(at our visit to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center)

Layers and layers of aircraft at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center

It seems that the general approach at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center is that the aircraft are displayed with a minimum of artifice.  There is the layer of aircraft on the floor.  Another set hanging above them and they seem to be filling in a third layer above that.

There are three hangers, the Space hanger, the plane hanger and a restoration hanger where you can watch restoration of new aircraft joining the displays.

The first site on entering is the Blackbird.

There was a remote controlled unmanned helicopter that could drop nuclear depth charges on enemy submarines.  That put me in mind of the nuclear warhead torpedoes we saw at the Pearl Harbor museum that warned that they were just as likely to destroy the vessel that fired the torpedo as the target.  The mutual assured destruction of nuclear warfare seemed to be present at all scales from global to battle.

This set of spacesuits was outside of the space hanger.  The tiny one was not for a child, unfortunately but was a doll made to promote the space suit.

They also had the a Conchord.

And THE Enola Gay.  It was up on jacks, so they tucked more aircraft in underneath it.

Two flying wings, one from Nazi Germany.

There was so much to see that it is worth a trip back again.

Space Shuttle Discovery at the other Air and Space Museum

Two weeks ago during a trip to Washington, D.C to see baseball we took a day and went to the other National Air and Space Museum, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center that is out by Dulles airport.  This museum, part of the same Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum that is on the National Mall, is packed full of aircraft and some spacecraft.

The Space Shuttle Discovery is there in the space hall with other interesting satellites and space technology.

The first view of it.

The engines.

A closeup of the Shuttle tiles that protected it on reentry. 

There is magnetic Space Scrabble!  It was intended for use on Skylab though never used.