Today in History – January 12, 2010 – 7.0 Magnitude Earthquake in Haiti. The earthquake struck a highly populated region of this impoverished Caribbean island approximately 17 km from the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Hundreds of thousands died,  many more injured, many buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged, infrastructures collapsed and millions became homeless and without food.

The Haiti earthquake created a level of human tragedy that makes it difficult to examine, but it is imperative that we learn everything we can from this disaster. What lessons will engineers find in the ruins? What role will engineers have in restoring the country? Can engineers limit the structural and societal damages of similar, future catastrophes around the world?

Another critical question is: How can engineering technology be applied to solve current and future problems in Haiti? As the news unfolded about the Haiti earthquake on the evening of January 12th, I was horrified by the thought that one of my doctoral students was there, along with another UC Berkeley student, to work on one of her socially-responsible design projects. Their goal of their project was to transform carbonized agricultural waste into charcoal briquettes that could  be used for cooking fuel. This kind of fuel would reduce deforestation in wood-fuel dependent areas such as Haiti as well as providing a business opportunity for this impoverished nation. I cried in relief when we were able to get hold of her by cell phone and internet. She and her colleague decided to stay as long as they could at the request of the United Nations to help build human-powered ambulances based on another one of her designs in Zambia.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on earthquakes and seismic hazards. For related educational resources, visit the Civil Engineering Education, Geological Engineering Education, Construction Engineering Education, or Architectural Engineering Education community sites.

Also on this date the Space Shuttle Columbia carries the first Hispanic astronaut into space.

Today in History – January 11, 1954 – Although radio weather broadcasts have been around since 1922, it was not until 1953 that BBC executives, gathered for a luncheon, introduced the idea of presenting a weather forecast on television. These BBC executives searched the Met Office and chose the 32-year-old George Cowling, a former Royal Air Force meteorologist, to take on this new idea. Cowling delivered the first televised weather forecast on January 11th, 1954 at 7:55 PM from BBC’s Lime Grove Studios. The broadcast lasted for only five minutes and cost 50 pounds to deliver, but it started a weather forecasting revolution. Today, the BBC’s Weather Center produces 100 forecasts each weekday, now with the help of modern computer, lighting, sound, and camera technology. This equipment was not available to Cowling, who relied on an easel to deliver his first broadcast.

Two months later RCA produced the first color television sets. See Lisa Huettel’s March 25 blog on this event.

Check out the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on the color television. For more educational resources, see our electrical engineering education and computer engineering education community pages. The Engineering Pathway also hosts Engineering Education communities in all ABET-accredited disciplines.

Today in History – January 6, 1851 – Foucault physically demonstrates the rotation of the Earth. Now this isn’t so easy to do because the earth rotates pretty slowly. How slowly? Well, it takes a full day to go around once, eh? So in a minute it’s going to rotate about, oh, 0.0007 revolutions. Not much. Certainly nothing you’re going to feel. So how to show it? Well, you could always point to the fact that the stars and sun go around us once a day, and figure that should be enough of a demonstration for a reasonable person. But people are often unreasonable!

So to make it all very real and exciting, Jean Bernard Léon Foucault decided it wasn’t enough just to have a cool name (you have to admit – that is a pretty cool one) and dreamed up what’s become known as the Foucault pendulum.  In 1851, Jean he obtained a nice chunk of metal (to the tune of 28 kilograms), and suspended it from the ceiling of the dome of the Pantheon in Paris. And when I say suspended, I mean SUSPENDED. 67 meters of suspension (or about 220 feet for those of you who still aren’t 100% metricized). That’s a BIG pendulum.

Since then there have been a whole bunch of these Foucault pendulums set up and they’re pretty nifty. Basically all you do is pull the weight to the side and let go. It then ticks back and forth (no surprise). And the earth rotates underneath. Which means that the ground slowly misaligns itself as the pendulum happily continues in its original tick-tock direction.

Usually they’ll do something like place little pegs in a big circle on the floor and there’ll be a tip extending from the bottom of the pendulum that slowly, ever so slowly, gets closer and closer to one of the pegs as it does its tick tock thing. And then it’ll juuuust brush the peg. Then nudge it. Then BOOM! Over it goes. Some minutes later the next one goes. And the next. All the way up until closing, when the guy in charge has to collect all the pegs and then, before the doors open the next day, set ‘em all up again. Hey, it’s a living.

Anyway, it’s a very satisfying way to waste a few minutes. I recommend it highly.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s resources on Foucault’s Pendulum and pendulums. For related educational resources, visit the Engineering Mechanics or the Mechanical Engineering Education disciplinary communities

Today in history – December 11th, 1997 – the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change was signed.

In 1992 the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted and was a major force in addressing the problem of global warming. As greenhouse gas levels rose around the world it became clear that countries had to be committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. This commitment came in the form of the Kyoto Protocol. Name after the city it was signed in, Kyoto, Japan, the now has over 174 parties that have ratified the protocol. Of these 36 are have committed to reduce their greenhouse gas levels by at least 5% of the 1990 baseline. These targets must be reached within a five year time frame between 2008 and 2012. One notable exception, is United States even though it is a member of the UNFCCC. On February 16th, 2005 the protocol entered into force and will expire in 2012.

The Kyoto Protocol affects almost all the major sectors of the economy and is considered to be the most far-reaching agreement on environment and sustainable development ever adopted. Since its inception many governments have adopted new policies to meet their protocol commitments. And in the future the protocol will act as a framework for any international agreement on climate change. Some doubt the connection between greenhouse gasses and climate change. But, the Fourth Assessment Report on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, launched this year may have put an end to those doubts.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s resources on global warming. For related educational resources, visit the Environmental Engineering Education, disciplinary community. You may also want to visit our December 4th blog on the coining of the word “smog” and the “killer fog” of London.

Also on this date in 1844, Dr. Horace Wells was the first to receive dental use of nitrous oxide. See related educational resources on anaesthetics or visit the Biomedical Engineering Education, disciplinary community.

Today in History – December 7, 1988 – 6.9 earthquake destroys Armenia, Spitak and kills over 60,000. It is reported that the entire population of Spitak died in this devastating earthquake, making it one of the most deadly earthquakes in human history. Partial blame was placed on the substandard infrastructure in Soviet-era buildings. The Soviet response was to outlaw construction of any buildings higher than five stories in the area, but little was done in terms improving construction standards or retrofitting existing buildings in the area. According to the World Global Seismic Hazard Map (left image) organized by the United Nations, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, Turkey and Georgia are situated in one of the most seismically active zones in the world. In August 199, Istanbul was hit by an earthquake of 7.4 magnitude, killing over 17,000 and injuring approximately 250,000. In December 2003, a 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit Bam, Iran with an estimated death tally of near 50,000. More recently an earthquake on October 2005, the Kashmir region in Pakistan and India lost over 75,00 lives and displaced millions. Historical records suggest the deadliest earthquake in history killed approximately 1.1 million people in Egypt and Syria. Alas, a comprehensive strategy for urban planning is still lacking in much of these area, according to Architect Pirouz Khanlou.

Observe from the worldwide earthquake hazard map (second from left, above) that the entire west coast of the Americas and areas of China and Japan are also in the “red hot zone” for earthquakes on the planet. It is estimated that in 1556 a quake hit the Chinese province of Shansi, killing over 830,000 people. More recently in 1976, a deadly earthquake of a magnitude 8.0 hit Tianjin, China. The official casualty figure issued by the Chinese government was 255,000 people.

Sometimes the deaths are due to the immediate earthquake movement, but to the secondary forces unleashed, such as mudslides, avalanches or tsunamis. For example, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake at Mount Huascaran, Peru, on May 21, 1970, caused a rock and snow avalanche that buried 2 towns, killing as many as 20,000 people. Fortunately, these disasters are not daily events. But this does lull us into a false sense of security. How many of us living in earthquake zones are adequately prepared? Have we retrofitted our homes up to the latest building code standards? Do we have a home emergency plan? Professionally, engineers play a major role in better understanding the prediction and impact of earthquakes, as well as developing safety standards, building guidelines, inspection technologies and urban plans for emergency response.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on earthquakes and seismic hazards. For related educational resources, visit the Civil Engineering Education, Geological Engineering Education, Construction Engineering Education, or Architectural Engineering Education community sites.

Also today in 1972, the first color photograph of Earth was captured (left photo above). I recall when these “blue marble” photos from Apollo 17 were made public. I was struck by the interconnectedness for all beings and countries on our planet. It was the first time that the south polar ice cap was made visible from space. Today these photos from space are being used for commercial applications, such as Google Earth, as well as for monitoring global warming and environmental concerns. Coincidentally, also launched today was the new map of the Antarctica from the LIMA (Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica) initiative in support of International Polar Year. For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on earth photos, Landsat, Antarctica and global warming. For related educational resources, visit the Environmental Engineering Education or the Geological Engineering Education community sites.

Also on this day in 1926, the gas refrigerator was patented. Browse are related resources on refrigerators and industrial design.

Today in History – July 26, 1969 – Moon rocks collected from Apollo 11 are first examined. A week earlier,  Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon, fulfilling President Kennedy’s challenge to put a “man” on the moon before the end of the decade. With a tight development and execution schedule, any number of things could have gone wrong. Instead, the major flaw, from the public’s knowledge,  was when there was some question about Armstrong’s historic words. At 10:56 p.m. EDT, with more than half a billion people watching on television, Armstrong takes the first step on the moon. Armstrong maintains that he said:  “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” The press heard and quoted: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Listen and decide for yourself.  Aldrin joined him soon after and collected rocks that are still of value today. He described the lunar surface as “magnificent desolation“.

The moon walk and the Apollo mission accomplishments validated to the nation the importance of U.S. leadership in space exploration and the formation of NASA as a separate agency to head these efforts. Before the launch of Sputnik, the United States felt confident in its position on space technology. The modern liquid fueled rocket had been invented in America by Robert Goddard. In addition Wernher von Braun, the developer of the successful German V2 rocket was working for the US Army’s rocket program. The view in Washington was that the government should only develop purely military rockets and leave the rest to the private sector. Wernher von Braun was even discouraged from developing rockets that could carry satellites. That all changed when the Soviet Union launch Sputnik on October 4, 1957. The United States had clearly lost its edge in space technology and it was decided that a new federal agency should be established for non-military space programs.

On July 29, 1958 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Eilene Galloway was instrumental in drafting the legislation and and making the case for its emphasis on international collaboration and peaceful exploration.

Many parts of the Naval Research Laboratory and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency were incorporated into NASA at its start, including the participation of Wernher von Braun. NASA quickly ramped up its human space flight program resulting in the launch of the first American in space on May 5, 1961, and the first American in orbit on February 20, 1962. One of NASA’s largest accomplishments was just seven years later with the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969. During this short amount of time NASA helped America regain its confidence as a leader in space flight.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s related resources on NASA. Or visit the Aerospace Engineering Education community site.

Today in History – January 12, 2010 – 7.0 Magnitude Earthquake in Haiti. The earthquake struck a highly populated region of this impoverished Caribbean island approximately 17 km from the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Hundreds of thousands died,  many more injured, many buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged, infrastructures collapsed and millions became homeless and without food.

The Haiti earthquake created a level of human tragedy that makes it difficult to examine, but it is imperative that we learn everything we can from this disaster. What lessons will engineers find in the ruins? What role will engineers have in restoring the country? Can engineers limit the structural and societal damages of similar, future catastrophes around the world?

Another critical question is: How can engineering technology be applied to solve current and future problems in Haiti? As the news unfolded about the Haiti earthquake on the evening of January 12th, I was horrified by the thought that one of my doctoral students was there, along with another UC Berkeley student, to work on one of her socially-responsible design projects. Their goal of their project was to transform carbonized agricultural waste into charcoal briquettes that could  be used for cooking fuel. This kind of fuel would reduce deforestation in wood-fuel dependent areas such as Haiti as well as providing a business opportunity for this impoverished nation. I cried in relief when we were able to get hold of her by cell phone and internet. She and her colleague decided to stay as long as they could at the request of the United Nations to help build human-powered ambulances based on another one of her designs in Zambia.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on earthquakes and seismic hazards. For related educational resources, visit the Civil Engineering Education, Geological Engineering Education, Construction Engineering Education, or Architectural Engineering Education community sites.

Also on this date the Space Shuttle Columbia carries the first Hispanic astronaut into space.

Today in History – January 11, 1954 – Although radio weather broadcasts have been around since 1922, it was not until 1953 that BBC executives, gathered for a luncheon, introduced the idea of presenting a weather forecast on television. These BBC executives searched the Met Office and chose the 32-year-old George Cowling, a former Royal Air Force meteorologist, to take on this new idea. Cowling delivered the first televised weather forecast on January 11th, 1954 at 7:55 PM from BBC’s Lime Grove Studios. The broadcast lasted for only five minutes and cost 50 pounds to deliver, but it started a weather forecasting revolution. Today, the BBC’s Weather Center produces 100 forecasts each weekday, now with the help of modern computer, lighting, sound, and camera technology. This equipment was not available to Cowling, who relied on an easel to deliver his first broadcast.

Two months later RCA produced the first color television sets. See Lisa Huettel’s March 25 blog on this event.

Check out the Engineering Pathway’s educational resources on the color television. For more educational resources, see our electrical engineering education and computer engineering education community pages. The Engineering Pathway also hosts Engineering Education communities in all ABET-accredited disciplines.

Today in History – December 7, 1988 – 6.9 earthquake destroys Armenia, Spitak and kills over 60,000. It is reported that the entire population of Spitak died in this devastating earthquake, making it one of the most deadly earthquakes in human history. Partial blame was placed on the substandard infrastructure in Soviet-era buildings. The Soviet response was to outlaw construction of any buildings higher than five stories in the area, but little was done in terms improving construction standards or retrofitting existing buildings in the area. According to the World Global Seismic Hazard Map (left image) organized by the United Nations, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, Turkey and Georgia are situated in one of the most seismically active zones in the world. In August 199, Istanbul was hit by an earthquake of 7.4 magnitude, killing over 17,000 and injuring approximately 250,000. In December 2003, a 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit Bam, Iran with an estimated death tally of near 50,000. More recently an earthquake on October 2005, the Kashmir region in Pakistan and India lost over 75,00 lives and displaced millions. Historical records suggest the deadliest earthquake in history killed approximately 1.1 million people in Egypt and Syria. Alas, a comprehensive strategy for urban planning is still lacking in much of these area, according to Architect Pirouz Khanlou.

Observe from the worldwide earthquake hazard map (second from left, above) that the entire west coast of the Americas and areas of China and Japan are also in the “red hot zone” for earthquakes on the planet. It is estimated that in 1556 a quake hit the Chinese province of Shansi, killing over 830,000 people. More recently in 1976, a deadly earthquake of a magnitude 8.0 hit Tianjin, China. The official casualty figure issued by the Chinese government was 255,000 people.

Sometimes the deaths are due to the immediate earthquake movement, but to the secondary forces unleashed, such as mudslides, avalanches or tsunamis. For example, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake at Mount Huascaran, Peru, on May 21, 1970, caused a rock and snow avalanche that buried 2 towns, killing as many as 20,000 people. Fortunately, these disasters are not daily events. But this does lull us into a false sense of security. How many of us living in earthquake zones are adequately prepared? Have we retrofitted our homes up to the latest building code standards? Do we have a home emergency plan? Professionally, engineers play a major role in better understanding the prediction and impact of earthquakes, as well as developing safety standards, building guidelines, inspection technologies and urban plans for emergency response.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on earthquakes and seismic hazards. For related educational resources, visit the Civil Engineering Education, Geological Engineering Education, Construction Engineering Education, or Architectural Engineering Education community sites.

Also today in 1972, the first color photograph of Earth was captured (left photo above). I recall when these “blue marble” photos from Apollo 17 were made public. I was struck by the interconnectedness for all beings and countries on our planet. It was the first time that the south polar ice cap was made visible from space. Today these photos from space are being used for commercial applications, such as Google Earth, as well as for monitoring global warming and environmental concerns. Coincidentally, also launched today was the new map of the Antarctica from the LIMA (Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica) initiative in support of International Polar Year. For more information, see the Engineering Pathway‘s resources on earth photos, Landsat, Antarctica and global warming. For related educational resources, visit the Environmental Engineering Education or the Geological Engineering Education community sites.

Also on this day in 1926, the gas refrigerator was patented. Browse are related resources on refrigerators and industrial design.

Today in History – October 23-24 – TRON Legacy Exhibit at the National Science & Engineering Festival.

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has teamed up with Walt Disney Studios to co-create an interactive exhibit in Tent 102 at the USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo, which will take place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 23 and 24 from 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. each day.  The hands-on experience blends themes from the upcoming major motion picture TRON: Legacy with the NAE’s Grand Challenges for Engineering.

Exhibit-goers will be transported into the digital world of TRON: Legacy and examine where movie fantasy and reality intersect.  Visitors can try 3-D scanning and see how it’s bringing the real and virtual worlds closer together.  They’ll get a chance to do brain surgery on a computer-generated replica of a real brain, and experience a trip into the TRON: Legacy digital grid through an incredible 3-D light painting activity created especially for this exhibit. The NAE worked with Disney Imagineering research scientist Lanny Smoot (upper right photo) to develop the interactive demo.

TRON: Legacy is the stand-alone sequel to the 1982 motion picture TRON.  Both star Jeff Bridges as software engineer and video game developer Kevin Flynn, who was digitized by a laser and transported into a world of computer games in the original film.  In TRON: Legacy, Flynn’s son Sam finds himself in the digital realm where his father has lived for the past two decades.  The film, in theaters nationwide on Dec. 17, 2010, involved cutting-edge movie technologies, including one that allows Bridges to act as his younger self.

“Engineering is woven into the very fabric of TRON: Legacy. The story is rich with themes about technology and its evolving relationship with humanity in an increasingly digital world,” said co-producer Justin Springer.  “The line between science and art is blurring more than ever.  And some of the most talented artists in modern film making are engineers, mathematicians, architects, and computer programmers.”

An international committee of some of today’s most accomplished engineers and scientists determined the NAE’s Grand Challenges for Engineering.  They identified 14 potentially “game changing” goals for helping people and the planet thrive in the 21^st century that include enhancing virtual reality; engineering better medicines; advancing personalized learning; engineering the tools of scientific discovery; and reverse engineering the brain.

For more information, see the Engineering Pathway’s resources on the inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival and the NAE Grand Challenges. For related educational resources, visit the engineering education and the computer graphics & visualization disciplinary communities.

Also on this date on October 23, 1819, the first boat passed through the Erie Canal. On October 24, 1861 the transcontinental telegraph line was completed.