NUMBER OF LINES: 999 001=Usr:0 Null User 06/30/87 20:34 Msg:0 Call:0 Lines:19 1$If you are in need of help, you need but ask... 2$************************* 21 MAR 90 ************************************** 3$Welcome to BWMS II (BackWater Message System II) Mike Day System operator 4$************************************************************************** 5$GENERAL DISCLAIMER: BWMS II IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INFORMATION 6$ PLACED ON THIS SYSTEM. 7$BWMS II was created as an electronic bill board. BWMS II is a privately 8$owned and operated system which is currently open for use by the general 9$public. No restrictions are placed on the use of the system. As the 10$system is privately owned, I retain the right to remove any and all 11$messages which I may find offensive. Because of the limited size of the 12$system, it will be periodically purged of messages (only 999 lines of data 13$can be saved). To leave a message, type 'ENTER'. Use ctrl/C to get out 14$the ENTER mode. The message is automatically stored. If after entering 15$the message you find you made a mistake, use the replace command to 16$replace the line. To exit from the system, type 'BYE' then hang up. 17$Type 'HELP' to see other commands that are available on the system. 18$************************************************************************** 19$ 002=Usr:1 CISTOP MIKEY 03/21/90 22:23 Msg:5061 Call:28048 Lines:3 20 Management of objectives works if you know thr objectives. 21 Ninety percent of the time you don't. -- Peter Drucker 22 *************************************************************** 003=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/22/90 08:05 Msg:5062 Call:28051 Lines:6 23 &*&*&*&*'s 24 At the Top! 25 26 An Astral Dreamer 27 &*&*&*&*'s 28 004=Usr:165 Bart Simpson 03/22/90 12:17 Msg:5063 Call:28053 Lines:144 29 696969696969 30 REPORT NOTES OIL SPILLS:-3/20/90 31 As Alaska prepares to mark Saturday's first anniversary of the Exxon oil 32 spill, the Wilderness Society has released a report saying there have been 33 34 MORE THAN 10,000 oil spills across the nation during the past year. Spillage 35 36 totaled up to 20-million gallons in all. 37 38 3/18 /90 As Anniversary of Exxon Spill Nears, Alaska Seems Normal - on the 39 Surface; Safeguards Follow `Watershed' Event, but Oil Damage Endures 40 By Jay Mathews Washington Post Staff Writer 41 ELEANOR ISLAND, Alaska - Nearly a year ago, petroleum despoiling this 42 jewel-like cove covered its gray cobblestone beach with thick brown goo and mad 43 its pine-scented air smell like a refinery. 44 Today, only dark stains on some larger rocks remain to mark the course of th 45 infamous Exxon Valdez tanker spill. Where cleanup crews once cursed loudly as 46 they wrestled with hot water sprays, bald eagles now fly over the quiet beach i 47 flashes of dark and white feathers and otters pop out of the chilly blue waters 48 just offshore. 49 With Alaska about to mark the first anniversary of the March 24 spill, the 50 greatest man-made wildlife disaster in U.S. history, most of Prince William 51 Sound and the Gulf of Alaska coast seem to be wearily returning to normal. 52 Fishermen anticipate an end to last year's disruptions. Tourism, which 53 remarkably remained steady despite awful publicity, is expected to increase. 54 And the oil industry, as it has been since hot petroleum first gushed from 55 beneath Alaska's frigid North Slope, seems as healthy and influential as ever. 56 Tankers move in and out of the sound at a steady pace and politicians at the 57 capital in Juneau still consult with ARCO and British Petroleum before 58 introducing spill-prevention legislation. 59 If anything, the Exxon Valdez spill seems to have had more lasting impact 60 outside than inside the nation's greatest oil-producing state. The news of 61 nearly 11 million gallons of oil dumped into the sound's pristine waters create 62 shock waves that still vibrate in Washington, pushing plans for oil exploration 63 of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge into bottom file drawers and building a 64 wave of congressional support for conversion of the entire U.S. tanker fleet to 65 double bottoms. 66 "It was an event that was in many ways a watershed," said Alaska Gov. Steve 67 Cowper (D), "an event that inspired major environmental legislation all over th 68 world." 69 Cowper, his department of environmental conservation and the U.S. Coast Guar 70 have forced some changes in the handling of tanker traffic through the twisting 71 channels of the sound. Tug escorts are now required. Booms and other 72 oil-recovery equipment have increased. New radio communication rules are in 73 force. 74 Few Alaskans, or anyone else interested in preserving the natural 75 environment, are likely to forget the carcasses - 36,471 oil-fouled birds, 1,01 76 otters and 151 eagles found in the wake of the spill. That irreplaceable loss, 77 and the temporary damage to fishing and other forms of local livelihood, are th 78 subject of scores of lawsuits. Seven killer whales are missing. Initial finding 79 indicate damage to young salmon, herring and shrimp. Salmon runs may be 80 affected. 81 But it takes a boat or a helicopter, and often a shovel and a sharp eye, to 82 find any remaining signs of the nation's worst tanker spill, even along the 117 83 miles of coastline identified last fall as moderately or heavily oiled. Exxon 84 cleanup operations manager Randy Buckley said spring activities are expected to 85 involve only a few hundred workers, rather than the thousands who covered 86 beaches last summer, and focus on minimal environmental disruption. 87 Cleanup managers for the state, the Coast Guard and Exxon, although still in 88 disagreement over exactly how to proceed, said they have detected some hopeful 89 developments that may influence oil-spill work in other parts of the world. 90 Exxon scientists said microscopic particles of clay, in high concentration i 91 Alaska waters because of melting glaciers, have shown an unexpected ability to 92 attach themselves to oil molecules and act like laundry detergent in cleansing 93 tidal-area rocks. Industry and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials 94 are enthusiastic about spraying fertilizer onto oily beaches to encourage the 95 growth of petroleum-eating bacteria. Steve Provant, the state's on-scene cleanu 96 coordinator, has asked for proof that the fertilizers, which can be toxic, 97 enhance the natural "bioremediation" process already underway. 98 State officials are suggesting, and Exxon officials seem to be resisting, an 99 expensive plan to remove, wash and replace some of the oiliest rocks and gravel 100 At Sleepy Bay on Latouche Island, one of five stops on a helicopter tour of 101 Prince William Sound shorelines Friday, special assistant to the governor Ernie 102 Piper pointed to a stream used by spawning salmon that gurgled past oil-specked 103 gravel. "We wouldn't take the whole two miles of beach," he said, "but we might 104 take rock for 200 yards on either side of the stream and treat it that way." 105 To avoid confusion in handling twisting shoreline, Exxon has reduced the 106 wave-washed gravel, jutting rocks, soggy marshes and steep mountain fiords of 107 the sound to a numbered code. The little cove on this island becomes, on Exxon 108 maps, EL-10. Sleepy Bay is LA-19, the Bay of Isles marsh is KN-136, and the onc 109 heavily oiled stretch of Smith Island everyone now calls Quayle Beach, in honor 110 of the vice president's April visit, is SM-05. 111 Helicopters and boats taking officials and reporters on spill anniversary 112 tours seem to rival eagles and sea lions in number this week. Every spot visite 113 has its own story. Most show great improvement because of last summer's cleanup 114 and the cleansing winter storms and tides, but at least one, the Bay of Isles 115 marsh, still looks like a tar pit, the result of a conscious decision to avoid 116 mechanical cleanup that might scar the soft, delicate, waterlogged soil. 117 At Bay of Isles, Piper looked at the black ooze fouling his boots and the oi 118 sheen drifting back into the bay and said, "The state and Exxon may have to hol 119 hands and say, `As much as it hurts us to say this, there is not much we can do 120 about it.' " 121 Environmentalists and state officials said they are most worried about oil 122 that cannot be immediately seen. A state survey found oil traces six to 28 123 inches beneath 224 sampled spots. Warm weather is expected to force some of thi 124 back to the surface, where tides and waves will wash it into the sound. "Oil of 125 the beach is good, but oil in the water is bad," said Piper. His boss, Cowper, 126 must worry about anything that creates fear of tainted Alaskan seafood. 127 Tourists have proven to be less of a problem. Bookings last year were up 2 t 128 4 percent. "A lot of them came up to see what was going on," said Lynn Pedersen 129 a helicopter pilot who ferried cruise ship passengers to nearby glaciers. "They 130 expected to see the place covered with oil, so they were pleased to see that 131 wasn't so." 132 The spill has created a bonanza for scientists interested in the effects of 133 oil pollution. Sixty current studies will cost a total of $35 million in their 134 first year - 26 assessing the spill's impact on fish and shellfish (salmon, 135 herring, shrimp, rockfish, clams and crabs), 14 on birds (eagles, peregrine 136 falcons, sea ducks, kittiwakes and shorebirds), seven on marine mammals (sea 137 otters, whales, seals and sea lions), six on land mammals (bears, deer, mink an 138 river otters) and six on air, water, coastal habitat and sediments. 139 Allen E. Smith, Alaska regional director for the Wilderness Society, 140 complained that many scientists have had to keep their data secret, because it 141 is to be used in lawsuits, "which means you don't have peer review for the 142 conclusions they are developing." 143 Nor have the studies or the initial reforms in tanker handling solved the 144 immense technical problems of cleaning up oil spilled at sea. "If (the Exxon 145 Valdez) spill happened again today," Smith said, "we'd have the same damage 146 again, because we can't handle a spill of that size." 147 Cowper agreed. He has submitted new bills to strengthen state requirements 148 for safe equipment, create industry incentives for safe operation, and increase 149 civil penalties for spills. But his aides acknowledge that the bills were 150 modified at the suggestion of natural resources commissioner Lennie Boston 151 Gorsuch, who like Cowper and most of the legislature contends it is wrong to 152 alienate an industry that provides 85 percent of state revenue. 153 The oil industry, Cowper said, "hasn't just sat there like an inert body" bu 154 has paid for the cleanup, changed some of its procedures and sought innovations 155 such as an ARCO plan to convert a tanker into a high-capacity spill-recovery 156 vessel. 157 Yet in the Alaskan political spectrum, Cowper is relatively tough on the 158 industry, a sign to many that as the sound returns to normal and oil again 159 become more scarce and expensive, anti-oil sentiment and radical reforms are 160 unlikely to go very far. 161 "There is a window of opportunity," Piper said, "but those windows tend to 162 close quickly." 163 164 OIL SPILLS IN THE UNITED STATES:-3/20/90 165 The Wilderness Society released a report Monday saying there have been more 166 than 10,000 oil spills across the nation during the past year. Spillage: 15 167 million to 20 million gallons. The worst: 1.3 million gallons in Pembina 168 County, N.D., July 13; 1.2 million gallons, Linden, N.J., July 18; 800,000 169 gallons, Bridgeport, Conn., May 2. 170 171 696969696969696969 172 005=Usr:165 Bart Simpson 03/22/90 13:00 Msg:5064 Call:28054 Lines:112 173 696969696969 174 part 3b 175 176 Prissy's Dad is Dr. Chen of some university located in the DC area (sorry, 177 don't remember which). I thought he said he was in Foreign Affairs, but, 178 after talking with the guy for a while, it was apparent he had a very 179 strong science background. However, I did only have one evening with 180 the fellow and it was a pretty active evening. 181 182 So, what's a Japanese girl doing with a father named 'Chen'? I was 183 wondering the same thing. Unfortunately, when my mind starts wondering, 184 my mouth starts asking. That's probably why the Mathematics Department 185 was the only group which would tolerate me at the old alma mater. 186 Mathematicians never grow tired of trying to figure out what's on their 187 minds. 188 189 Prissy's Mom is Japanese, but her father is Chinese. That is a very 190 rare combination, concerning the animosity between those two cultures. 191 Anyway, Dr. Chen met a Dr. Samatsi at a university in Tokyo (once again, 192 the exact name eludes me-I thought he said 'University of Tokyo': is 193 there such a place?). Dr. Samatsi taught physics. Dr. Samatsi, 194 like a good college professor, periodically published papers. And, Dr. 195 Samatsi never did anything exciting as far as the physics community was 196 concerned. 197 198 So, what does Samatsi have to do with anything? Well, he did something 199 very exciting as far as Dr. Chen was concerned. He wrote a series of 200 papers, none of which were published, on something Dr. Chen translates 201 as the "Theory of Intelligence" or "TOI" (pronounced by Chen as 'toy', 202 funny, I thought it might be french). When I first started looking 203 through them, it became apparent that he had spent many, many years 204 contemplating intelligence. Then, as I dug even deeper into his works, 205 I realized I was completely wrong: Dr. Samatsi must have spent his 206 ENTIRE life deriving the TOI equations. Only someone possessed at a 207 very young age could have produced a work of that magnitude. 208 209 In other words, while many physicists were concentrating on GUTs, Samatsi 210 was concentrating on the effect of intelligence on the universe. In one 211 paper, he writes: "...[intelligence] is a phenomena which has an effect 212 on the environment, just as heat is a phenomena which has an effect on the 213 environment. There is neither a single source for the generation of 214 intelligence nor heat, though there are properties associated with each 215 which can be well defined once the phenomena exists and is measurable." 216 217 I've got to be very careful here, because there is a lot of room for 218 misunderstanding. Also, Dr. Chen had not yet translated all of the 219 work, so, even if there had been time to go through everything and 220 verify it (which would have taken months, if not years), there was still 221 additional information which was not yet available. Dr. Chen felt the 222 works were extremely important and, as such, it was absolutely mandatory 223 to translate all of them precisely rather than to rapidly go through a 224 few manuscripts, release them, and then watch the world go off helter 225 skelter with some half cocked ideas. It would have been like Einstein 226 saying, "E=m something, will tell you the rest later.". 227 228 Dr. Chen is a pretty interesting fellow himself. Like many of the older 229 Chinese, he hated the Japanese. Then he met Dr. Samatsi while working 230 in Tokyo a number of years ago. This is what he had to say about the 231 ensuing friendship: 232 233 "You must understand, Mr. Jamen, that the Japanese killed millions, 234 NOT hundreds of thousands as you read in your Western textbooks, of 235 Chinese during World War II. That genocide is the reason for the 236 bitter hatred most Chinese feel for the Japanese. However, after 237 I met Dr. Samatsi, I realized, as strange as this sounds, that I 238 had misjudged the culture. It would not be possible for the 239 culture I had come to regard as totally barbaric to produce a man 240 of Dr. Samatsi's nature. Now you see why I say I misjudged the 241 Japanese. 242 243 "Imagine you were walking down a barren patch of land. Everyone 244 knows that this land is sterile, that it cannot support life. 245 But, in the middle of it, you find the most beautiful, the most 246 fragrant flower which has ever been seen. That is how I felt 247 when I got to know Dr. Samatsi. The land not only supports life, 248 but creates the most interesting examples of biological wonder 249 there are." 250 251 Yes, some of Dr. Chen's phrases are a little strange, but that can 252 probably be chalked up to the language. His English is on several 253 orders of magnitude better than his daughter's, he does speak very 254 precisely, but the words don't come out quit like they would were a 255 native speaking them. 256 257 Damn, Damn, damn. I've lost most of my notes I took at Dr. Chen's house. 258 Part of what follows will have to be ad lib. 259 260 First of all, the notes were organized as follows (all refer to the 261 subject, 'Intelligence'): Definition, Detection, and Measurement. Why 262 even bother detecting something you know how to measure? Dr. Samatsi 263 believed the measurement of intelligence was an extremely complex 264 process. And, like any person well versed in the scientific method, he 265 believed very strongly that the data collection on a single phenomena 266 should take place several times and applied to his equations several 267 times. A variation in results would indicate sloppy data collection or 268 an error in the equations. In fact, it was this rather well known 269 process which was used to strain out some errors in the equations. There 270 I go, off on another tangent. You probably guessed what was next. 271 Detection was several orders of magnitude easier than Measurement. 272 Hence, the different catagories. You don't want to waste several years 273 of your life measuring something which doesn't exist. 274 275 Now, you are going to laugh at this: Dr. Samatsi measured all 276 intelligence against Herman. Herman was a potato rock which sat on his 277 desk for more than 18 years. Since Dr. Chen was doing the translating, 278 you really start to wonder how a Chinese man could come up with a name 279 like 'Herman' for a Japanese potato rock. I'd really like to get those 280 two together at Frizby's for a few cups of saki some night to see what 281 happens next. 282 (...to be continued...) 283 696969696969696969 284 006=Usr:368 Nemesis Warlock 03/22/90 22:34 Msg:5066 Call:28071 Lines:4 285 I- 286 287 NAHHH, TOO EASY... 288 007=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/23/90 07:12 Msg:5067 Call:28078 Lines:3 289@ 290@Wow, I can see the headers in here. 291@ 008=Usr:165 Bart Simpson 03/23/90 13:03 Msg:5069 Call:28084 Lines:200 292 696969696969 293 Herman's intelligence was defined as zero. Typically, when things are 294 defined, you have a low value and a high value and all sorts of 295 inbetween values. For example, look at the temperature scale. At 0 C, 296 water freezes. At 100 C, water boils. Inbetween, and above and beyond, 297 other things happen (at one extreme, all motion stops, at the other, 298 plasma is the norm). It wasn't clear from the few papers I saw what the 299 upper end of the scale was. One thing was clear (this is one scrap of a 300 note which has survived my careless stupidity): "Life does not ensure 301 the existence of intelligence. The absence of live does not preclude 302 the existence of intelligence. The study of intelligence must not be 303 confused with the study of biology.". I don't know about you, but I was 304 very shocked by that statement. Does it mean that Dr. Samatsi 305 ascertained from his equations that something exhibited intelligence 306 which was not alive? Well, it gets interesting... 307 308 For one, Herman exhibited intelligence at times. Yes, you just read 309 what you thought you read. However, I should NOT have said 'at times'. 310 Dr. Samatsi's specific comments were: 311 312 "These equations are time constrained [and contrained in some other 313 fashion which I cannot remember right now, all this memory loss 314 is probably a good indication that I should stay away from Frizby's 315 for the rest of my life] to have any meaning. Removing the contraints 316 will, quite interestingly, result in Herman exhibiting intelligence 317 over a substantial span of time, though the measurement of intelligence 318 will still be quite small." 319 320 It was important that Herman never scored above a zero on the IQ test. 321 322 Oh, yes. IQ tests. 323 324 325 " I am very puzzled about what is being measured by the so-called 326 'Intelligence Quotient' tests. First of all, those who put these 327 tests together (and I have spoken with many of them personally in 328 an attempt to get to the bottom of this) have NO RIGOROUS DEFINITION 329 OF INTELLIGENCE. So, they are attempting to measure something which 330 they cannot adequately define. 331 332 " Next, the belief that answering a series of simple questions 333 is some measure of intelligence is ludicrous, assuming it is truly 334 intelligence which they are attempting to measure. Intelligence is 335 an effect. Through observation and experimentation, it can be 336 detected and measured. It cannot be detected or measured by answering 337 some simple questions on a sheet of paper. Would you measure the 338 value of heat by asking a candle questions?" 339 340 This was a topic which obviously he felt quite strongly about. 341 Apparently, he was unaware (beats me how this is even possible) there 342 was such a thing as an IQ test when he first became extremely interested 343 in the study of intelligence. Some point after becoming obsessed with 344 the subject, he found out about the tests. Dr. Samatsi sounds like the 345 kind of man who doesn't care where the answer comes from, as long as it 346 is correct. In other words, if he had spent 10 years studying this 347 phenomena and then found someone had already thoroughly examined the 348 field, he would not feel like he had wasted his time (at least according 349 to what Chen said, it's hard to tell what somebody is really like when 350 the person describing him is thoroughly enamored). The other research 351 would confirm or deny his own. Instead, when he did find out about the 352 tests and started looking into them, he lost his oriental demeanor. He 353 was pissed. Dr Chen said the physics professor once compared the tests 354 to astrology charts. That's pretty low. 355 356 We've rambled enough. This could go on forever. What did Dr. Samatsi 357 actually say in the few papers I reviewed? In the definition portion, it 358 become apparent that the basis of all intelligence, as defined by the 359 good doctor, is memory. Intelligence does not exist without memory. 360 However, Dr. Samatsi's 'memory' is not simply a binary pattern in a 361 digital circuit or an analogue voltage across a neuron. His 'memories' 362 are processes of change. 363 364 Look, I am trying my best to describe this without becoming too 365 esoteric. I cannot delve too deeply into the mathematics because I 366 don't understand all of it. If I were to tell you, PI R SQUARE, you 367 would first have to understand two quanties, PI and R, as well as two 368 operations, multiplication and squaring (yes, the second is a special 369 case of the first). Similarly, we would have to go into the details of 370 the good professor's symbols and his methods of manipulating them to 371 understand the TOI equations. Alternatively, we will discuss some of 372 the mechanisms he used and some of the conclusions which were reached. 373 374 Quickly back to this concept of 'memory'. There is a wall in Hiroshima 375 which contains the shadow of a working man. The shadow was etched onto 376 the wall as a result of the nearby atomic glare during the closing days 377 of World War II. From the perspective of these equations, the wall 378 'remembers' the man. This concept is quite fundamental to TOI. 379 (...to be continued...) 380 696969696969696969 381 696969696969 382 part 3d 383 384 Memories must be identified and validated before the TOI equations are 385 applicable. The memories are described as a sequence of differential 386 equations which define specific states. 387 388 So, now we have well defined states which resulted from this 389 identification of memories. There is a lot a mathematician can do with 390 states. One of them is to build finite state automata. That is exactly 391 what Dr. Samatsi did. 392 393 Now, 'finite state automata' might sound like a frightening term if 394 you've never been exposed to it before. Actually, it is a relatively 395 simple concept employed in principle by Computer Science students to 396 design certain types of software and Electrical Engineering students to 397 build digital circuits. Quite a useful concept. Essentially, a stimuli 398 (for lack of a better word at this moment) results in a transition from 399 one state to another. Hence, the first couple of papers describe 400 transitions resulting from the states defined previously. In short, if 401 certain transitions occur, intelligence is said to exist with a 402 probability which can be derived. 403 404 That is a piece of the detection portion, which is really as deep as I 405 got. It is best to compare my perusing of the TOI papers to a quick flight 406 across Manhatten. I can tell you generally what I saw, but, if you were 407 to wake up one morning and find yourself in Chinatown, you would 408 probably go out of your way to say my previous observations were 409 completely wrong-Manhatten was not as I saw it at all. 410 411 In other words, I'm doing the best I can with what little I saw. 412 413 Why did Dr. Samatsi never publish a TOI paper? This is Dr. Chen's response: 414 415 "He longed to have the equations critiqued by the largest possible 416 audience. Since he never considered himself a genius, he felt 417 that the flaws would never be unearthed without such exposure. He 418 actually did submit an initial paper for publishing about 8 years 419 after it was originally written. Soon after receiving a confirmation 420 that the paper was to be printed, he identified two catastrophic 421 applications which could be generated from the equations. Upon this 422 discovery, he withdrew his permission to have the paper published. 423 It is very difficult to stop a paper from being published which has 424 already been accepted by a journal. The end result was the journal's 425 tacit refusal to publish any other papers by my friend, regardless 426 of subject." 427 428 Me: "What were these 'catastrophic applications'?" 429 430 "He only described one of them to me. You could consider it as an 431 annihilation of intelligence within a particular domain. Such a domain 432 would encompass all intelligences which affected the state transitions 433 in a specific manner of other intelligences. Since Dr. Samatsi had 434 identified human beings as intelligent [why am I not surprised?], he 435 was very concerned about the use of such an application. That is to say, 436 the TOI equations were the result of a natural phenomena, viz, 437 intelligence attempting to define itself. Since it was probable 438 that this effect was occuring no where else in the universe, it was 439 quite important to my friend for the examination of this effect to 440 continue." 441 442 Sounds like a bunch of double talk to me. Maybe you will have better 443 luck than I did understanding what Dr. Chen meant. 444 445 When I first started going through the papers, I thought it would be 446 great to get a copy of them once Dr. Chen finished the translations (he 447 has since refused to let me look at them anymore until the translations 448 are completed). Then, I would spend my days uploading them to the local 449 BBS. However, I feel EXTREMELY uneasy about what Dr. Chen had to say 450 in his closing remarks (the 'catastrophic applications'). This needs 451 more thought. 452 ---------------------------------- 453 This was not meant to be a soap opera, but you might be wondering about 454 the connection between Dr. S and Prissy. The answer is: NONE. It turns 455 out that Bob is not Prissy's son. She lied. She does that to everybody 456 because she wants Bob to believe it so he will grow up to be well 457 adjusted. I didn't pry into their private lives to get all the details, 458 but apparently Dr. Samatsi met a bar girl about 6 years ago and Bob was 459 the result of that liaison. Dr. Chen agreed to care for the child like 460 his own. Prissy's involvement came soon thereafter. 461 462 It sound like Dr. S is quite a character. When visiting some associates 463 at Cornell, he saw a little tot standing in line with Mom at the 464 supermarket. The little tot said, "Uh Ohhhh.". 465 466 Dr. S stared at the little fellow a second and replied, "uh ohhh?". 467 468 The tot responded, "UH OHHHHHHHH.". 469 470 Dr. S came back with, "UH OHHHHHHHHH!". 471 472 "UH OHHHHHHHHH!" 473 474 "UHT OHHHHHHHHHHH!" 475 476 "UHT OHHHHHHHHHH!" 477 "UHT OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" 478 "UUUUUHTY OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" 479 480 Well, by now, everybody in the grocery store was watching. The woman, 481 wide eyed in terror, grabbed the smiling child and fled the place without 482 even getting her groceries. Dr. Samatsi made a note on a pad he always 483 kept in his pocket. 484 485 Then there were these parties. Damn, I don't have time to ramble any 486 more. It's almost 2am-the only reason I stayed up today was to finish 487 this for you. Here it is. 488 489 By the way, since we haven't heard from Howy in this chapter, I thought 490 I might add a closing remark from him, which he said a couple of days 491 ago at work: 009=Usr:286 Jeff Marten 03/23/90 15:12 Msg:5070 Call:28086 Lines:28 492 493 494 {+}{+}{+}{+} 495 496 From : ThingFish 497 To : Whomever 498 Re : This Tracy Barry thing (on Disk B) 499 500 Your note did make me stop and think, I must admit. I'm always trying 501 to be so funny and satirical, but I suppose it wouldn't kill me to try 502 to be funny without putting someone else down. I wasn't trying to be 503 mean hearted or anything. After I read your note I thought to myself : 504 I guess the least I could do WOULD be to treat Tracy Barry like a human 505 being, like you said. Then I pondered it some more and got to thinking; 506 Why stop there ? Why not treat Tracy Barry like a God ? We could start 507 our own little religion....Our Lady of the Porcelain Hair, you know, 508 something like that. We could build a little church that looks just like 509 the Channnel 8 NewsRoom....with entire walls of video monitors all show- 510 ing Tracy. Pete Shulberg could be, I don't know, some kind of Archangel 511 or something. And Melissa Mills would be Satan. It'll be great. How 512 does this sound : "Blessed are those who wear too much makeup; verily 513 they needeth to absorb harsh studio lighting". I can't wait. Hail Barry. 514 515 -+|[ ThingFish ]|+- 516 Gimme That Ole Time Religion 517 518 {+}{+}{+}{+} 519 010=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/23/90 15:57 Msg:5071 Call:28087 Lines:15 520 &*&*&*&*'s 521 (I'm getting lazy with my border.) 522 523 And let us not forget her great elevation, for verily in the begining she 524 did labor at chanel number two, and two was a small number, a number of 525 no real significance on the lowly pantheon of ABC. And the verily did she 526 get a call from above, and was elevated to the ultimate height, the realm 527 of Cosby and Cheers, the home of the ratings crown NBC. And it was good, 528 as 8 was four times as great as 2. 529 530 And so on. 531 532 An Astral Dreamer 533 &*&*&*&*'s 534 011=Usr:368 Nemesis Warlock 03/23/90 21:15 Msg:5072 Call:28100 Lines:14 535 :::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::==== 536 But if each Channel be judged by its Most Holy Number, then that must mean 537 that of all the Stations Most Local, Fox Broadcasting (at 13) (or 49) holds 538 the Great Honor of being heralded as the Station on High! 539 540 I ALWAYS thought that Johnny Depp was some kind of Angel, but aren't we 541 getting carried away here? I mean, really. Remember, this is the same 542 station that ran SMALL WONDER! 543 544 Let's go back to worshipping the people who really matter, like River Phoenix 545 or Wil Wheaton, and leave the Tracey Barry's of the world do what they may. 546 547 Thank you and Good Afternoon. 548 :::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::==Zephyr::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::==== 012=Usr:333 Bartender Slug 03/24/90 01:41 Msg:5073 Call:28103 Lines:5 549 550 Johnny Depp cannot be some kind of Angel if his next upcoming movie has famous 551 porn star Traci Lords in it. Think again. 552 553 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 013=Usr:286 Jeff Marten 03/24/90 05:00 Msg:5074 Call:28105 Lines:11 554 555 {+}{+}{+}{+} 556 557 Sure he could. If Hollywood wants him - what's porn got to do 558 got to do - with it 559 560 -|[ ThingFish ]|- 561 Sorry, Tina 562 {+}{+}{+}{+} 563 564 014=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/24/90 08:32 Msg:5075 Call:28107 Lines:8 565 &*&*&*&*'s 566 Fox is the home of the Simpsons and married with children. Hmm, perhaps it is 567 above NBC. All hail the great bart! hallowed be his name. Lift up your 568 holly skate boards and cry out the holly phrase, "I didn't do it!" 569 570 An Astral Dreamer 571 &*&*&*&*'s 572 015=Usr:368 Nemesis Warlock 03/24/90 17:54 Msg:5076 Call:28115 Lines:12 573 :::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::==== 574 Traci Lords? Big deal. Iggy Pop is in it, too! It's called 'Crybaby' and 575 has been hailed as the Ultimate Juvenile Delinquent film... Basically a sendup 576 of those old 'REEFER MADNESS'-esque type movies... 'Don't Let This Happen 577 to You'. 578 579 Astral Dreamer: Sure, Bart has the looks and the cute smile now... But just 580 you wait 10 years... Those little child actors NEVER make it as adults! 581 582 Except for Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Corey Haim... 583 584 :::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::==Zephyr::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::==== 016=Usr:92 Katherine Dohert 03/25/90 14:43 Msg:5078 Call:28130 Lines:1 585 ************************************************hmmmmm******kathyD************* 017=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/26/90 21:33 Msg:5082 Call:28160 Lines:36 586 &*&*&*&*'s 587 Time brings many changes. So many of them are ones we would not even wish on 588 our enemys. We live in the midst of the greatest renisance in the history 589 of mankind, and yet there are still so many things beyond our control. 590 591 Few of us are well educated. Few of us are well fed. And fewer still are 592 more then peripherally aware of anything aproaching the golden rule. 593 594 As a child I wondered what exactly it was that made the world such a cruel 595 and terrible place to live in. Needless to say I was not very well adjusted. 596 I'm an adult now, and I get by. And I know who is responsible. You are, I am, 597 everybody you've ever met, and all those who have come before us. We're still 598 just one step above our hairy ancestors. Our culture has a lot to do with it. 599 We are not that far removed from barbarism after all. 1500 years ago nobody 600 would have thought that western Europe would amount to anything. Today we 601 know better. 602 603 We have a president who thinks that atheists should have their citizenship 604 revoked. We have a congress that forgot what its job was 100 or so years ago. 605 We've got small minded red necks running around hurting anyone they can, 606 stroking their pathetic egos. We have air headed liberals telling us that 607 all the worlds problems can be solved by useing all the old tools in the name 608 of a different system. 609 610 Even when our accusations are justified we convieniently ignore our own 611 crimes. We lie to ourselves rather then admiting to even the smallest mistake. 612 613 I've met some nice people, but for the most part It seems to me that we are 614 a pathetic lot. Maybe given another thousend years will be fit to be seen in 615 public. 616 617 One year tommorow. 618 619 An Astral Dreamer 620 &*&*&*&*'s(Just plain pissed off at the world.) 621 018=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/27/90 22:06 Msg:5083 Call:28183 Lines:3 622 623 Is their anybody out there? 624 019=Usr:11 L'homme sans Par 03/27/90 22:39 Msg:5087 Call:28184 Lines:21 625 *%@#*@#(_)!(@$(!@_)(~!#)!@+_$%)@#+|_%_$+#(^)+#$%*&+_(%_@+#)%|~+!)+@_#(*%#$*(^_) 626 Alex1: Gosh, I don't want to be another burden to your already worn guest room 627 carpet and associated accommodations. Besides, a trip to Hawaii??? It seems 628 so unthinkable. I really believe that part of the graduate school process is 629 denial of certain basic human needs, such as vacations. I think the grad 630 school mentality dictates that vacations shall be in the form of 1 week 631 spent in Boston suffering stifling humidity and listening to 8 hours of 632 lectures a day, to be followed by the solace of the local news bleating 633 about the celtics because you have nothing better to do because you were 634 stupid and didn't find out if there were any other people you knew going 635 to the same show so you spent your off-hours alone. A breezy time spent 636 on a white beach gazing from behind dark glasses at sun-tanned beauties 637 and remembering snippets of the movie "North Shore" is way, way outta 638 line. 639 640 So, if you do manage to make it back for brief visit, please use all 641 means possible, even NET-comm, to get in touch... 642 *%_@#*%_@#)*(%_@#*%_)@#(%_)@#(% L'homme sans Parity *%_@#%_@#(%_@#%*@#_%(*@#%( 643 644 aside to astral dreamer - - - Too much Pink Floyd lately? 645 020=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/28/90 07:05 Msg:5088 Call:28189 Lines:8 646 &*&*&*&*'s 647 648 Hmm, it does sound that way don't it. Sigh, even depression isn't origional. 649 Its probably the second oldest human emotion. :-) 650 651 An Astral Dreamer 652 &*&*&*&*'s 653 021=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/29/90 07:18 Msg:5089 Call:28243 Lines:4 654 655 656 Sigh. 657 022=Usr:368 Nemesis Warlock 03/29/90 15:29 Msg:5090 Call:28253 Lines:5 658 :::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::==== 659 And the void continued on, and when the void was finally filled, The Creator 660 looked upon what had come to pass and said "Let's Change Disks..." 661 662 :::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::==Zephyr::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::==== 023=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/30/90 07:51 Msg:5091 Call:28264 Lines:3 663 664 Amen! 665 024=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/30/90 15:50 Msg:5092 Call:28285 Lines:3 666 667 Don't be a lurker! 668 025=Usr:4 Milchar 03/30/90 21:23 Msg:5093 Call:28293 Lines:1 669 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Almost-but-not-quite-Lurk-mode. +Milch+ 026=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/31/90 09:14 Msg:5094 Call:28297 Lines:4 670 671 The quest for entries continues. Will our heros find the elusive muse, or will 672 they be forced to stare at an endlessly empty screen for yet another week? 673 027=Usr:368 Nemesis Warlock 03/31/90 18:43 Msg:5095 Call:28302 Lines:4 674 675 WHO YOU CALLING A LURKER, PAL! 676 NOT ME! 677 HOW CLEVER! 028=Usr:172 Eric Starker 03/31/90 21:32 Msg:5096 Call:28307 Lines:12 678 The BBS Party of the Millenium! 679 hr:Wsigo aka he. hn pi 3ha 20 on 680 h:Ayn h ihst oe AlBSsi onare invited, along 681 ihterfml n red. l gsaewelcome. 682 ups:T aefn et new people, and eat food. 683 ht inc 684 rnprainnBc. ecnb otce n tri 228-xxxx) or Milliways (644-xxxx). If you have a 685 esr omnini oJh. he cost is $2.00, and this will buy both food and entertainmen 686 oe o ikt a emie o 687 B inc 0 E4t 688 otad R925 o an also get a ticket from a ticket booth at the downtown 689 alra 029=Usr:13 voyeur 04/01/90 03:42 Msg:5097 Call:28311 Lines:3 690 Our intrepid mayor - Bud "Whoop Whoop" Clark - has written a review of 691 SimCity in PC Computing (as if he really knew anything about running a city). 692 But not a 'tits up' anywhere... 030=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 04/01/90 20:38 Msg:5098 Call:28319 Lines:3 693 694 Sign... 695 031=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 04/02/90 07:56 Msg:5099 Call:28322 Lines:3 696 697 No muse here. 698 032=Usr:70 Kurfur Redlig 04/02/90 20:34 Msg:5100 Call:28347 Lines:78 699 KKKKKKKKKKurfur Redlig | Here Goes Everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 700 701 For quite some time I have been entertaining the idea of writing a story 702 here at Backwater (for the past two years actually), and now it looks as 703 if I might just go through with it. I am open to any comments or 704 criticisms. Tell me what you think. 705 >R 706 707 708 Rebecca had thought she had a stomach of steel. The countless 709 autopsies she had performed in college and in her two years in 710 forensics with the New York Police Department had led her to believe 711 this. She thought she had seen death in all its gory facets. The 712 scene before her now left her doubled over retching into the bracken 713 that defined the edge of the clearing she was standing in. 714 715 Erik, as usual, was unaffected as he paced the meadow, occasionally 716 stooping over to examine something closer. 717 718 Scattered over the ground between them were pieces of what had once 719 been a living human, yet now would have hardly qualify as meat. A 720 female, caucasian. Killed sometime within the last week, and, since 721 then, very badly mauled by animals. Wolves in particular. 722 723 "Guess there's not enough left for an autopsy. Any idea what got 724 her?" asked Becky, having emptied her stomach of its contents. 725 Hardening herself to her immediate environment, she straightened up 726 and looked at Erik, averting her eyes from the remains. 727 728 Erik looked back at her and replied in his unusually tonal voice, 729 "She was killed by having a wolf rip her throat out." Pointing out a 730 group of prints Rebecca had failed to notice earlier he continued, 731 "She ran from over there, limping, being chased by two wolves. When 732 she reached this clearing, two more wolves jumped her from their 733 hiding places there and there," pointing to other prints, "and killed 734 her. Clever trap, even for wolves." 735 736 "Any other footprints?" 737 738 "None of consequence. Hers are the only human." 739 740 Rebecca found that she had not quite thrown up everything when, a few 741 minutes later, Erik bent over and ran a finger over one of the 742 largest pieces of flesh in the clearing, put his finger up to his 743 nose, smelled it, and tasted the blood with his tongue. 744 745 "Large quantity of adrenaline in the blood. She was quite scared." 746 747 "I guess we can chalk this up as an animal attack," Rebecca managed 748 to choke through her convulsions. "When we get back into Portland," 749 she gagged, "I'll alert animal control about the wolves. I didn't 750 think there were any around here anymore." 751 752 "I'd forget animal control for now," answered Erik. "This was a 753 homicide." 754 755 "Whaddya mean, homicide? There aren't any other prints. You 756 yourself said a wolf killed her." 757 758 "Yes, a wolf did kill her," Erik reached into what was once a leg and 759 pulled something out. "Wolves, however, don't usually wound their 760 prey with a .44 before killing it," and he held a small piece of 761 metal up to the sun for her to see. "She died four days ago." 762 763 "What's that got to do with anything? And how can you tell? She's 764 been dead long enough to be totally cold" 765 766 "Four days ago we had a full moon." 767 768 "Sweet Jesus, Erik, you can't be serious." 769 770 Erik did not answer her. 771 772 So, whaddya think? 773 774 I might continue later when I figure out what happens next, depending 775 on the answers I get. 776 033=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 04/02/90 22:38 Msg:5101 Call:28353 Lines:6 777 &*&*&*&*'s 778 Interesting. A good opening. 779 780 An Astral Dreamer 781 &*&*&*&*'s 782 034=Usr:165 Bart Simpson 04/04/90 11:59 Msg:5103 Call:28374 Lines:100 783 696969696969 784 ==================================================================== 785 4a of many 786 The Little UFO that Could 787 ************************* 788 * TOP SECRET * 789 ************************* 790 GAMMA SIGMA PHI 791 FOR YOUR EYES ONLY 792 by 793 Benjamim Jamen 794 795 "Do not spank a genius." 796 -Albert 797 798 I want to make it absolutely clear that I am NOT a physicist. In fact, 799 physicists totally lose me when they get into the real theoretical 800 extremes of their work. If Dr. Feynman had said, "There is a black 801 hole at the center of everyone's brain", I am too stupid when it comes to 802 this field to know where to even begin discussing such a comment, much 803 less argue that it might not be true. Sometimes I pick up a popular 804 trade journal and try to follow the diluted stuff spooned out to the 805 masses. I'm usually so confused by the time I leave the magazine rack 806 that I forget to stop by the cashier on the way out to pay for the rag 807 tucked under my arm. 808 809 Dr. Samatsi was (and probably still is) a physicist. For that reason, 810 it was difficult for me to follow some of his reasoning. But, there was 811 a later paper he wrote I'd like to mention to you. Somehow, his 812 investigations into intelligence led to some conclusions about 813 causality. Now, even a nonphysicist like me remembers from college 814 (mucho years ago) about the principles involving causality. Inertia provides 815 a nice example. If a body is in motion, there is a reason, or a 816 cause, for its condition of motion. First there is the cause, then there is 817 the effect. One follows the other. That is how the average individual 818 on this planet views the universe. 819 820 No, I don't understand how TOI evolved from a fascinating definition of 821 intelligence to a discourse on causality any more than I understand how 822 observations of a speeding train led to the General Theory of Relativity 823 (though the later does make a LITTLE more sense). 824 825 In a paper dated September 1988, Dr. S concluded that our concept of 826 time was as wrong as preCopernican views of the cosmos. He seemed to be 827 saying that the principles of causality hold true in a certain context 828 ONLY, just as Newtonian physics are only valid within limited 829 considerations of time and distance (does any of this make sense to you? 830 it doesn't to me...). 831 832 He was very intrigued with the first trip to the moon in July of '69 833 (oh, what a fine year!). He seemed to be arguing that the Apollo 834 astronauts actually traveled into the future by some small amount of 835 time and supported thsse arguments with equations which involved the speed 836 and distance traversed by those guys. I'm almost afraid to include this 837 rather unusual conclusion here because it sounds so far fetched that it 838 might turn you off to his other theories. I am only doing it because it 839 is fascinating to see how one thing (TOI) leads to another (causality 840 theories). 841 842 Anyway, he seems to be saying, in what time did the astronauts arrive? 843 For all practical purposes, it would appear to the occupants of the 844 capsule, had they traveled at a greater distance at a higher speed (he 845 plays with various speeds-he's really my kind of person-->I love to plug 846 numbers into models, too, and see what happens), that they had skipped 847 time from their "reference point". In this case, the "reference point" 848 would have been the time on planet Earth at which they departed. In 849 other words, in one example, it seemed to the occupants that they had 850 been gone on a short little jaunt lasting a few weeks when they found, 851 after returning to Earth, that a year had passed at the "reference 852 point". From their perspective, it appears to them that they arrived in 853 the future, due to an effect referred to as "time dilation". 854 Apparently, this effect translates to a little time passing for the 855 subjects who are speeding while a lot of time passes at the reference 856 point. 857 858 What if, through some unknown process, the astronauts traveled back into 859 time instead of ahead? And what, to make it more interesting, they blew 860 up their capsule and everything else at Cape Canaveral involved in 861 launching pieces of metal into space (my example, not his-his example 862 was more boring...). From the limited perspective of causality, that is 863 impossible because the cause of their departure has been destroyed so it 864 cannot have the effect of taking them back in time. Dr. S said that 865 his calculations indicate that there is really no problem with this 866 scenario on a macro scale any more than there is a problem with the time 867 skip phenomena which was actually experience by the moon travelers of 868 1969. Why? Because each brings his own causality with him just as each 869 traveler takes his own relative time with him. 870 871 Does any of this make any sense to anyone out there? If not, please 872 forgive me for ever bringing it up. I do not want to get off on a 873 tangent and detract from our real purpose for being here today. 874 875 The real purpose for being here today is to tell you I showed Howy the last 876 entry and he said he would have stopped me from sending it out if he had 877 seen it in advanced. Apparently, I left out some details which are 878 fairly important to engineering types like himself. So, to redeem 879 myself, I agreed to put his comments in this chapter. 880 (...to be continued...) 881 696969696969696969 882 035=Usr:368 Nemesis Warlock 04/04/90 14:11 Msg:5104 Call:28379 Lines:7 883 :::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::==== 884 Not a lot of useage at present, eh, Mikey? Don't worry though... Summer 885 is coming in two short months, and that means we'll have LOTS and LOTS of very 886 young, very immature, very inexperienced modemers who'll post LOTS and LOTS 887 of absolutely delightful witticisms on life and related! Aren't you just 888 *breathy* with anticipation? 889 :::::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::==Zephyr::=====:::::=====:::::=====:::::==== 036=Usr:165 Bart Simpson 04/05/90 15:01 Msg:5106 Call:28394 Lines:101 890 VOYAGER BULLETIN # 98 891 On February 14, Voyager 1 took advantage of an historic and unique opportunity 892 to image most of the solar system's planets, taking a final look back at where 893 the Voyagers have been and showing Earth among its fellow planets. Earth, 894 Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune will be targeted in a sequence of 895 wide- and narrow-angle images. Mars may be visible, but it will be a slim 896 crescent close to the Sun, while Mercury will be masked in the Sun's glare. 897 Pluto is too far away and too small to be imaged. From Voyager 1's viewpoint, 898 the planets will appear to be clustered along the constellation Eridanus (The 899 River). Voyager 1 will be approximately 40 astronomical units (AU) from Earth 900 and 32 degrees above the ecliptic plane at an ecliptic longitude of 242 901 degrees . A series of about 64 images will be taken, beginning with Neptune. 902 The wide-angle frames will be taken through clear filters, while the narrow- 903 angle frames, each centered on a planet, will be shuttered through blue, 904 violet, and green filters. The spacecraft will roll to take images of regions 905 that would otherwise be obscured by the spacecraft's high-gain antenna. 906 Images of the inner planets will be mosaicked around the Sun to avoid direct 907 sunlight. The final wide-angle frame will be centered on the Sun. Due to 908 tracking schedules, the images will be recorded on board the spacecraft and 909 returned to Earth in late March. Several weeks will then be needed to process 910 the images to reveal as much detail as possible. Most of the planets will be 911 smaller than a pixel in size; however, Jupiter may be as large as four pixels. 912 (Voyager's imaging frame is 800-by-800 picture elements, or pixels.) Due to 913 the scale, it is unlikely that the entire set of images can be mosaicked to 914 produce for publication a single photograph showing all the planets stretching 915 from Jupiter to Neptune. A display of this mosaic would require a wall 100 to 916 150 feet long, depending on the chosen size of the individual prints. Imaging 917 team members hope to release at least the central frames showing Earth, Venus, 918 and perhaps Mars together. Voyager 1 was chosen over Voyager 2 for this task 919 due to operational considerations. Another factor is the fact that Jupiter 920 would be too close to the Sun to be visible from Voyager 2's point of view 921 this spring. Although the ultraviolet spectrometer is still on, the sunlight 922 will be too bright to allow observations during this imaging sequence. The 923 infrared spectrometer and photopolarimeter instruments will not be on. The 924 only potential damage from pointing these optical instruments too close to the 925 Sun is that the shutter blades of the wide-angle camera might warp due to the 926 increased heat of the sunlight focused on the blades. Update Contact with 927 Voyager 1 has been normal since a partial loss of contact last fall. On 928 October 23, Voyager 1 stopped sending its telemetry signal, by which science 929 and engineering data are transmitted. The carrier signal, a single frequency 930 used to track the spacecraft's location, continued. Commands were sent to 931 reset the spacecraft's telemetry modulation unit. Controllers waited 11 hours 932 for the signal to reach the spacecraft and a return signal to reach Earth 933 before they knew that full contact had been restored. Flight controllers had 934 no explanation for the one-time event, but there was some conjecture that it 935 was related to high solar activity. Several other spacecraft also experienced 936 computer problems during last fall's spate of huge solar flares. The high- 937 speed particles ejected by solar flares can cause computer bits to "flip" from 938 the desired position. Voyager 2 has completed its post-Neptune instrument 939 calibrations and has begun its Interstellar Mission, the search for the edge 940 of the Sun's influence. Neptune Results The Voyager science teams have 941 submitted their "30-day reports" on the Neptune encounter, as required in 942 their contracts with NASA, and these reports have been published in the 943 December 15, 1989, issue of Science magazine. As the papers were being 944 written, data analysis continued, bringing new information to light. Changes 945 from what has been previously reported in the Bulletin are summarized below. 946 Neptune's rotation rate is now cited as 16 hours 7 minutes 1 minute, based on 947 data from the planetary radio astronomy instrument. Winds near the Great Dark 948 Spot are now believed to be a rip-roaring 560 meters a second (1230 miles an 949 hour), the strongest winds yet measured in the solar system. (Voyager measured 950 winds on Saturn up to 500 meters a second or 1100 miles an hour.) The cloud 951 streaks seen near latitudes of 27 degrees N and 71 degrees S are estimated to 952 be about 100 kilometers (60 miles) and 50 kilometers (30 miles), respectively, 953 above the cloud banks on which their shadows were seen. Temperatures at high 954 altitudes in Neptune's stratosphere have been measured to be about 750 955 kelvins. The tilt of Neptune's magnetic field is now given as 47 degrees from 956 the rotational axis, while the offset of the magnetic pole from the center of 957 the planet is 0.55 radius. The strength of the surface magnetic field varies 958 from more than 1 to less than 0.1 gauss. As Voyager 2 passed through the ring 959 plane, the maximum impact rate from ring particles was measured at 250 hits 960 per second. Triton's surface temperature has been revised to 38 kelvins (about 961 -391 degrees F), while the surface pressure is now believed to be about 14 962 microbars. Methane and nitrogen form a thin veneer on the moon's surface, 963 while the underlying topographic features are suspected to be formed of water 964 ice. Methane and nitrogen ices are too weak to support their own mass for very 965 long in such formations. At least six small, previously unknown satellites, 966 ranging in diameter from 54 to 400 kilometers, have been identified in Voyager 967 images. Their orbital elements are given in the accompanying table. Names 968 will be assigned by the nomenclature committee of the International 969 Astronomical Union (IAU). Researchers will continue to publish science results 970 of the Voyager mission in professional journals such as Geophysical Research 971 Letters and the Journal of Geophysical Research for many years to come. The 972 Voyager mission has provided a unique data set for comparative planetology: 973 four planetary systems studied by the same instruments. 974 Orbital Radius 975 Ring* (from Center of Neptune)** 976 1989N3R 41,900 km (26,000 mi) 977 1989N2R 53,200 km (33,000 mi) 978 1989N4R inner edge 53,200 km (33,000 mi) 979 1989N4R outer edge 59,000 km (36,700 mi) 980 1989N1R 62,900 km (39,100 mi) 981 Orbital Radius Orbital 982 Moon* (from Center of Neptune)** Period Diameter 983 1989N6 48,000 km (29,800 mi) 7 hrs 6 min 54 km (33 mi) 984 1989N5 50,000 km (31,100 mi) 7 hrs 30min 80 km (50 mi) 985 1989N3 52,500 km (32,600 mi) 8 hrs 180 km (90 mi) 986 1989N4 62,000 km (38,500 mi) 10hrs 18min 150 km (110 mi) 987 1989N2 73,600 km (45,400 mi) 13hrs 18min 190 km (120 mi) 988 1989N1 117,600 km (73,100 mi) 26hrs 54min 400 km (250 mi) 989 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ 990 037=Usr:70 Kurfur Redlig 04/05/90 19:00 Msg:5107 Call:28399 Lines:5 991 KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKurfur Redlig | Rapid Repeat Keys Help Games!!!!!!!!!! 992 993 Neptune: Sounds like a hall of a place to visit, but I wouldn't want 994 to live there. 995 038=Usr:70 Kurfur Redlig 04/05/90 19:04 Msg:5108 Call:28400 Lines:1 996 On a lighter topic, it looks as though I get to finish off this disk. 039=Usr:70 Kurfur Redlig 04/05/90 20:51 Msg:5109 Call:28403 Lines:3 997 With a little luck, as well as thousands of calls, I'll start the next. 998 999 KKKKKKKKKKurfur Redlig | I HATE Call Waiting, Dont You???????????????????