Tuk Tuk USA!

If you've ever traveled internationally, you have no doubt seen a Tuk Tuk before. You perhaps even dreamed about owning one and driving it down your hometown streets. Well now that dream can become a reality!

Tuk Tuks have come to the USA!

Just don't let the police or taxi cab drivers see you cruising around for fares.

Atlantis ready to launch tomorrow

The shuttle program has been extended a bit longer. Today they announced that there is a "a 90 percent chance to launch Atlantis at 2:01 p.m. EDT tomorrow". This mission is to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

During the 11-day mission's five spacewalks, astronauts will install two new instruments, repair two inactive ones and perform the component replacements that will keep the telescope functioning into at least 2014.

In addition to the originally scheduled work, Atlantis also will carry a replacement Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit for Hubble. Astronauts will install the unit on the telescope, removing the one that stopped working on Sept. 27, 2008, delaying the servicing mission until the replacement was ready.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "fifth of May") is a regional holiday in Mexico, primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla, with some limited recognition in other parts of Mexico. The holiday commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín. The outnumbered Mexicans defeated a much better-equipped French army that had not been defeated in almost 50 years.

Cinco de Mayo is not "an obligatory federal holiday" in Mexico, but rather a holiday that can be observed voluntarily.

While Cinco de Mayo has limited significance nationwide in Mexico, the date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. A common misconception in the United States is that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day, which actually is September 16 (dieciséis de septiembre in Spanish), the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico.

From Wikipedia.

Tampa Rays

I managed to get over to Tampa last weekend to see the Rays play the White Sox. It was part of Championship week for Tampa, a celebration of their American League Championship last year. They gave out replica American League Trophies.

Someone's car majorly caught fire on I-4.

The police and fire response hard at work.As you can see at the bottom, the Trop is in St. Petersburg, not Tampa.
After years of being the worst team in MLB, they claimed the ALCS trophy in 2008.The big screen in right center field, very good resolution.Tampa Rays taking batting practice.Chicago White Sox taking BP. They were jacking balls over the wall in LF.The hanging speakers and lights, where so many balls go wrong.The big screen and the sponsor of the Trop.Awki at the plate.The bullpen waiting for their turn.

The foul poul is normal. The 2 hanging foul "stakes" are pretty strange.

Scott Kazmir, one of Tampa's best pitchers, started the game with 10 straight balls and walked the first 3 batters. There was a huge cheer when he actually threw a strike. He was extremely lucky to get out of the inning giving up only 2 runs. He only made it through 4 innings after 6 walks and 6 earned runs.

Needless to say things were ugly for the Rays. Perhaps they are looking to return to the cellar again for 2009. Chicago cruised to a fairly easy win and showed a good bit of power with homeruns from Quentin and Konerko. Game Recap and Box Score here.

The Trop was pretty comfortable. It is great to have AC on a hot Tampa Bay day. My biggest complaint was the $15 parking for a game that was only $20 to get into. They had a stingray tank, but the line was pretty long. I didn't want to miss BP or the game to see more stingrays. Some of the food was good (rice and beans, empanadas) but the cheesesteak was horrible.

Overall a decent trip and a good ballpark considering where it is located. The Rays are really not starting strong this year though. Hopefully I can catch a RedSox game later on.

Happy Earth Day!

Take a look at this article that lists a number of surprising and terrifying predictions about climate change in 1970!

We still do not understand how the sun works. We still do not understand how the oceans work. We still have extremely limited data on most all natural events on this planet. It is like a young child trying to predict the future of NYC accurately 200 years in advance. The planet is billions of years old and we've been around less than ten thousand years.

We are learning at a rapid rate. With new knowledge there is always a deluge of people who want to twist it to press their agenda and prophesize the future of mankind. That is why things like Wikipedia, Discovery, History Channel, Itunes U, etc are so powerful. They keep a small portion of the population from monopolizing knowledge, something that has always caused problems for mankind. Of course it is still a problem for a portion of mankind (Cuba, North Korea, and others).

Hopefully everyone survived Earth Day without having a heart attack or break down caused by fear mongering speculators.

Locked Up Abroad: Cuzco

National Geographic has begun the new season of their show Locked Up Abroad. In the last few weeks they have aired two shows about people (US and UK) who have been thrown into Peruvian jails. A couple of weeks ago they aired the story of Simon Burke. It was titled "Locked Up Abroad: Cuzco".

In December of 2008, I was surprised to see this article on Living in Peru. I wasn't sure of the details at the time, but getting thrown in Peruvian jail because you were a boyfriend/girlfriend of someone who did something illegal without your knowledge seemed pretty scary to me. At the time, Living in Peru reported that "British citizen Simon Burke can now go home a free man and spend the holiday season with his family".

This statement was mistaken and published a bit too soon. Simon was released from the overcrowded prison in Callao. Before his passport was returned and he was allowed to go home, the prosecution appealed (I have no idea on what grounds). This appeal is expected to take until May 2009 to be heard and ruled on. During that time, Simon cannot leave Peru and the government of Peru continues to hold his passport. As far as I know, he does not have a work Visa for Peru. So he may be stuck in Peru; unable to legally work to support himself.

You can find some of the videos that cover the show here. But the basic idea is that his girlfriend of some number of months, invited him to Peru with her. Drug smuggling by single women is very common in Peru, so she brought him to reduce suspicion.

While in Cuzco, she had people line her bags with cocaine (not his) while she distracted him. She was caught while checking her bags onto her flight in Lima (they were not detected on the flight from Cuzco to Lima). They found her kilos of cocaine and a fake passport and arrested her. They also arrested and questioned Simon because he was seen entering the airport with her. His bags contained no cocaine and his passport was legal.

She was thrown into a minimum security woman's prison in Chorillos (the kind that has fashion shows). Simon was thrown into an overcrowded, extremely dangerous prison in Callao. Gangs run the prison and assaults are common and not punished. Mostly the guards just make sure that no one gets out... needless to say white meat is very rare inside those walls.

Simon's family and friends have a Facebook page here. I wouldn't encourage anyone to donate money, but certainly it is a frightening story. Anyone traveling abroad should take notice. It has been over 2 years since Simon left the UK for a short vacation to see Cuzco and Machu Picchu.

I have requested that Living in Peru post another news update to correct their previous mistake and update this story. But that has not happened yet.

Discovery Shuttle Launch!

On March 15th, I was able to get over to Cocoa Beach to see the STS-119 mission launch. Discovery is scheduled to land here at Kennedy Space Center once again on March 28th.

There was a last minute surprise for the launch team. A free tail bat landed on the foam of the shuttle's external fuel tank. Apparently from the report, the bat did not get scared off by the lights or sirens designed to scare away birds and animals before the launch. They decided to go ahead with the launch as the bat posed no serious problem.

They had infrared heat sensors watching the bat on take off. I guess he didn't cook as expected though. Pre-launch he remained at 60 F and post-launch it only heated up to 70 F. I guess the speed and thrust of the shuttle and pushes the heat a good distance away from it. There are pictures here.

I surfed in the morning, but the afternoon winds picked up.

People lined up for 20+ miles along the beaches to see the launch. South view.

There was a bit of humidity in the air, which limited the visibility. North view.But it was a beautiful night for a launch. Jets passing by.Yes, it did look as bright as the sun!It wasn't as loud as I had expected though.But that might have been in part to do with the strong winds out of the south and the nearby waves breaking.The trail finally reaches up into the sunlight.Many of the NASA ground crew commented in later interviews that this was the most beautiful shuttle launch that they had ever seen.Here it switches to the primary booster tank which burns bright white.The previous two tanks, which burned the bright orange, fall away (left) from the shuttle (right).The smoke trails remained in the sky for over an hour. They were beautiful in the sunlight.Everything went right.
The last shot with the shuttle visible (barely), somewhere around New Jersey.The show was over pretty quickly (30 mins at most).

A lot of people treat it like a football game. They find their parking spots hours in advance and break out their BBQs and coolers. It would be a good idea for leaving too, the traffic and parking was also like a football game.

There must have been at least a few hundred thousand people watching the launch in person. I heard that you can see the shuttle launch from Orlando and up much of the East Coast.

Part of the draw for this event was that it may be the last ever space Shuttle launch. The program is going to be re-engineered. They have learned a lot from these shuttles and they want to build newer, more sturdy, more reliable, more efficient space vehicles. The International Space Station will continue to be manned, supplied, etc via rockets.

In addition it is Spring Break now. So many families and their children are here in Florida enjoying the beaches.

The shuttle landing will be at 1:43 p.m. EDT, so I doubt there will be much to see. Most of the fire and light display will be somewhere over Texas and Louisiana. By the time the shuttle reaches Kennedy, it should be flying just like a normal plane.

It was quite an experience and I am extremely glad that I got the chance to see it!

Peru registers 5,000 cases of dengue fever in past two months

Xinhua
Xiong Tong

Peru registered 5,000 cases of dengue fever during January and February, which has become a public health problem, Health Minister Oscar Ugarte said on Monday.

Ugarte told the press that 13,500 people were infected last year.

He announced the launching of a campaign against dengue designed to raise public awareness of the importance of clearing stagnant water or hidden water deposits where the Aedes egypti mosquito, a dengue carrier, breeds.

"We have an enormous responsibility to combat dengue because it is lethal ... a high social cost on human lives," Ugarte said.

He said combating dengue was easy. Daily actions were needed to avoid water stagnating in topless containers, and replacing water in flowerpots with humid sand both at home and at public places.

Ugarte also called on Peruvians to clear roofs or yards of tires, empty bottles or boxes where rainwater can accumulate.

"It is a national campaign. If we do not take measures now, we will have an epidemic," he said.
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I posted about the dengue outbreak in Bolivia in January. Now some surprising numbers are coming out of Peru on dengue. If you are planning travel to the eastern side of the Andes, you better study up on the symptoms and treatment of dengue fever. Better yet, wait until winter (June-Sept) before heading into these areas.

Students celebrate science at Disney

From the Disney Portal:

Students from Orlando's Pineloch and Richmond Heights elementary schools enjoyed a special treat at Epcot Feb. 19, in celebration of National Engineers Week.

The children learned about careers in engineering and the use of engineering technology in everyday life by participating in several demonstrations and experiments, and riding several attractions.

For the last nine years, Innoventions at Epcot has been the site of this annual event, with IBM as the oldest partner. The program included presentations from IBM, Underwriters Laboratories, Velcro Companies, General Motors, Raytheon and the University of Central Florida.

"This is the longest and strongest program here at Innoventions that touches many Guests, especially children, and I believe we really make a difference," said Linda Reda, IBM exhibit manager. "IBM is committed to continuing this very important program, hoping to inspire a love for math and science, and cultivate the future leaders of the engineering world."

This year was also the first time Orlando's urban schools were invited, with the mission to spread the excitement of engineering, math and science among children who don't normally receive the opportunity. The children learned how to make their own polymers, and used mathematical and engineering principles to make their own snow.

For many of these Disney first-timers and future engineers, the highlight was riding Mission: SPACE.

"My favorite part of riding the ride was when we turned backward and saw Earth from space and then we saw the future," said 4th grader Marquis Gonzalez. "I want to be the person who makes rides like that."

Lack of rain could lead to 35% loss of harvest and blackouts in Arequipa

This article can be found here. Apparently many areas, especially the south, in Peru are seeing are large reduction in rainfall this year. This could be caused by a cooler ocean as most of this rain comes directly from the Pacific and the Humboldt current.

They are predicting that this lack of rainfall could lead to the loss of 35% of this summer's harvest (the primary harvest of the year).

They have also stated that they are only able to produce 30% of the normal hydroelectric energy at this time. If this continues there may have to be blackouts in Arequipa. As seen on this blog in the past, I have constantly criticized the electric company in Arequipa. It is a government run agency that has a complete monopoly and provides horrible service, worse than what was seen in the US 50 years ago. There have also been reports that they have hundreds of people on their active payroll that are either dead or retired. It is just a mess and needs to be denationalized.

They need to start looking at more sources of power like solar. It is sunny almost every day in Arequipa, there is no reason that solar power should only be used for heating your bath water.

The government needs to encourage companies to sell batteries and solar power systems that can be used to power an entire house. They also need to look into constructing solar power plants in these mountains.

Hydro power disrupts the local ecosystems that depend on the rivers. This leads to extinctions of species. It also is not reliable enough as the water supply is a constantly changing thing. This is especially true in Peru where past cultures like the Nazca people disappeared due to a change in their water supply. Another example where people need to learn from their own history.