The folks at "Totally Unprepared," an online show about earthquake preparedness, are at it again. This time, they wanted to see what would happen during an earthquake to framed photos and pictures hanging on a wall.
Experts at the Jacobs School of Engineering graciously made one of their shake tables available to put the pictures to the test. Watch the video below to see what happens. Hint: you might want to go buy some earthquake-safe hooks and museum putty after you watch this.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Spacecraft With UC San Diego-manned Cameras Shoots Its First Video of the Far Side of the Moon
NASA's GRAIL spacecraft has shot its first video of the Far Side of the Moon, which the agency released today. The two spacecraft, which have recently been named Ebb and Flow, are equipped with cameras that will be manned by UC San Diego undergraduates, many of them engineering students.
The cameras will allow middle school classrooms to request pictures of the surface of the moon. The requests will come to a mission command center at UC San Diego. The undergraduates will communicate with NASA's mission control and make sure the cameras take the requested pictures. The mission will being in March of this year and last until May.
To get a better understanding of what you're seeing in the video, read the NASA press release here.
The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission isn't just about science outreach. It will measure the gravity of the Earth's satellite in unprecedented detail, according to NASA. It also will answer questions about the moon's internal structure.
The MoonKAM project is led by Sally Ride Science, in collaboration with undergraduates at UC San Diego.
Find out more about MoonKAM here.
CSE Prof. Stefan Savage Quoted on Car Electronic Safety in MIT Tech Review, Bloomberg
Car thieves could exploit security weaknesses to remotely open and start a car, or a spy could listen to conversations inside a car, Stefan Savage, a professor at the Jacobs School of Engineering, told Bloomberg this week.
Savage was quoted as part of a story about a report from the National Academy of Sciences, detailing concerns that computers designed for entertainment could help highjack a vehicle's safety features.
"That has Hollywood action movie written all over it," Savage said in another story in the MIT Technology Review.
He and colleagues at the University of Washington authored a 2010 study showing that they could take control of a car, its locks and its brakes. They could even kill the vehicle's engine.
In response to these concerns, General Motors' OnStar division, which provides remote roadside assistance, increased its security budget almost tenfold in the past year, according to the MIT Tech Review story.
Savage was quoted as part of a story about a report from the National Academy of Sciences, detailing concerns that computers designed for entertainment could help highjack a vehicle's safety features.
"That has Hollywood action movie written all over it," Savage said in another story in the MIT Technology Review.
He and colleagues at the University of Washington authored a 2010 study showing that they could take control of a car, its locks and its brakes. They could even kill the vehicle's engine.
In response to these concerns, General Motors' OnStar division, which provides remote roadside assistance, increased its security budget almost tenfold in the past year, according to the MIT Tech Review story.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
von Liebig Center in the UT San Diego
Great story about the von Liebig Center in the UT San Diego this week.
Innovation is the engine of the economy, and UC San Diego is turbocharging the RPMs. That’s why the von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center was formed 10 years ago in the Jacobs School of Engineering. The center offers classes, mentorship and grants to all graduate students at UC San Diego, and it also has collaborations with other universities in the region. It has a satellite office at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and works closely with the UC San Diego Medical School and the Rady School of Management.
The story is part of the "I'm There for You, Baby" series by Neil Senturia and Barbara Bry, serial entrepreneurs who invest in early-stage technology companies. The weekly column is about entrepreneurship in San Diego.
Friday, January 20, 2012
UC San Diego's Microgrid Shows Path to the Future of the Power Grid
A video by the Rocky Mountain Institute, a non-profit think-tank based in Colorado, highlighted UC San Diego's microgrid as one of the best-in-class examples of how an electricity network can provide local control but is still interconnected with the larger electricity grid. The video features environmental engineering professor Jan Kleissl and graduate student Bryan Urquhart. Be sure to watch the whole video. The last shot shows Prof. Kleissl using alternative transportation, namely a scooter, to get around campus.
Jacobs School Shake Table Video Spurs Family to Prepare for Earthquakes
The folks at the TV show "Totally Unprepared" recently visited the home of TV reporter Lee Ann Kim and her family here in San Diego. The home was hardly earthquake-proof, so host Ron Haralson, who also is a firefighter, played a video shot on the shake table at Powell Laboratories. It showed unsecured bookshelves, aquariums, wine racks, pictures and even snow globes, falling spectacularly during simulated temblors. "That was scary and bad," one of Lee Ann's sons commented. The family vowed to take some time to get prepared for a potential quake.
Call for Bands / Jacobs School of Rock
The Jacobs School of Rock is coming to the Loft on June 8, 2012.
Are you in a band AND affiliated with the Jacobs School of Engineering. If so, check out the Jacobs School of Rock Facebook page and JSOR website for info on possibly playing the show.
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