Re: [ccp4bb] A crystallographer on Mars
Hi Ethan, The crystallographer is the next generation crystallographer: a robot. If there was a job interview (which I doubt) I guess he was asked about its power consumption, generated heat etc. Cheers, Boaz Boaz Shaanan, Ph.D. Dept. of Life Sciences Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beer-Sheva 84105 Israel E-mail: bshaa...@bgu.ac.il Phone: 972-8-647-2220 Skype: boaz.shaanan Fax: 972-8-647-2992 or 972-8-646-1710 From: CCP4 bulletin board [CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK] on behalf of Ethan Merritt [merr...@u.washington.edu] Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2013 8:00 AM To: CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK Subject: [ccp4bb] A crystallographer on Mars The _New Yorker_ frequently publishes decently written articles on a huge variety of topics. Occasionally they come out with one about science, sometimes with a focus on a public policy issue, sometimes a biographical piece about a mainstream or not-so-mainstream scientist, sometimes a serialized first publication of a book by a scientist written for a wide audience. So I was not terribly surprised to find in the 22 April issue an article about the Mars rover Curiosity and the team that designed it. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/04/22/130422fa_fact_bilger Spread across two pages in the center of the issue was a color image of the Curiosity rover itself. Just the thing to inspire creative use of one's Lego collection http://www.space.com/17058-mars-rover-curiosity-lego-instructions.html. But then it got a bit strange. The caption reads: ... the mission includes a nuclear-powered mobile laboratory, equipped with lasers, spectrometers, and an X-ray crystallographer. Wow! Who's the lucky Mars-going crystallographer? Anyone we know? The article text goes to quote one of the JPL rover team members: Curiosity came equipped with lasers, spectrometers, and a gas chromatograph. It had a radiation detector, an X-ray crystallographer, and a complete weather station. [...] It was like a Hummer with a half-dozen scientists crammed inside. OK, so at least our lucky crystallographic colleague has some company out there on Mars. Still, I do wonder exactly what it said in the job ad they responded to. Anyone know what sort of X-ray source they packed with them? Ethan
Re: [ccp4bb] A crystallographer on Mars
Most participants in the CSHL X-rays Methods in Structural Biology course have seen the powerpoint presentation of Alex McPherson's trip to Mars in 2001. Here are a couple of slides from the presentation: http://i43.tinypic.com/33kx79l.jpg http://i39.tinypic.com/oic17r.jpg (Trehalose was pretty bad for the Martian polar ice caps) Also note that the deadline for application to the 2013 Course is coming up: June 15th. The course will be held October 14-29, 2013 at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Here is the announcement: http://meetings.cshl.edu/courses/2013/c-crys13.shtml Jim From: CCP4 bulletin board [CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK] on behalf of Ethan Merritt [merr...@u.washington.edu] Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2013 12:00 AM To: CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK Subject: [ccp4bb] A crystallographer on Mars The _New Yorker_ frequently publishes decently written articles on a . ... the mission includes a nuclear-powered mobile laboratory, equipped with lasers, spectrometers, and an X-ray crystallographer. Wow! Who's the lucky Mars-going crystallographer? Anyone we know?
[ccp4bb] A crystallographer on Mars
The _New Yorker_ frequently publishes decently written articles on a huge variety of topics. Occasionally they come out with one about science, sometimes with a focus on a public policy issue, sometimes a biographical piece about a mainstream or not-so-mainstream scientist, sometimes a serialized first publication of a book by a scientist written for a wide audience. So I was not terribly surprised to find in the 22 April issue an article about the Mars rover Curiosity and the team that designed it. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/04/22/130422fa_fact_bilger Spread across two pages in the center of the issue was a color image of the Curiosity rover itself. Just the thing to inspire creative use of one's Lego collection http://www.space.com/17058-mars-rover-curiosity-lego-instructions.html. But then it got a bit strange. The caption reads: ... the mission includes a nuclear-powered mobile laboratory, equipped with lasers, spectrometers, and an X-ray crystallographer. Wow! Who's the lucky Mars-going crystallographer? Anyone we know? The article text goes to quote one of the JPL rover team members: Curiosity came equipped with lasers, spectrometers, and a gas chromatograph. It had a radiation detector, an X-ray crystallographer, and a complete weather station. [...] It was like a Hummer with a half-dozen scientists crammed inside. OK, so at least our lucky crystallographic colleague has some company out there on Mars. Still, I do wonder exactly what it said in the job ad they responded to. Anyone know what sort of X-ray source they packed with them? Ethan
Re: [ccp4bb] A crystallographer on Mars
A 3rd generation synchrotron, surely. Unless she's happy to use FedEx (do you think Customs in space ports are as anal as their terrestrial counterparts?) On 07/05/2013 06:00, Ethan Merritt wrote: The _New Yorker_ frequently publishes decently written articles on a huge variety of topics. Occasionally they come out with one about science, sometimes with a focus on a public policy issue, sometimes a biographical piece about a mainstream or not-so-mainstream scientist, sometimes a serialized first publication of a book by a scientist written for a wide audience. So I was not terribly surprised to find in the 22 April issue an article about the Mars rover Curiosity and the team that designed it. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/04/22/130422fa_fact_bilger Spread across two pages in the center of the issue was a color image of the Curiosity rover itself. Just the thing to inspire creative use of one's Lego collection http://www.space.com/17058-mars-rover-curiosity-lego-instructions.html. But then it got a bit strange. The caption reads: ... the mission includes a nuclear-powered mobile laboratory, equipped with lasers, spectrometers, and an X-ray crystallographer. Wow! Who's the lucky Mars-going crystallographer? Anyone we know? The article text goes to quote one of the JPL rover team members: Curiosity came equipped with lasers, spectrometers, and a gas chromatograph. It had a radiation detector, an X-ray crystallographer, and a complete weather station. [...] It was like a Hummer with a half-dozen scientists crammed inside. OK, so at least our lucky crystallographic colleague has some company out there on Mars. Still, I do wonder exactly what it said in the job ad they responded to. Anyone know what sort of X-ray source they packed with them? Ethan
