Nerdist and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Present "The Science of Mortal Kombat" Series, Premiering Feb. 18

The Science of Mortal Kombat - Premieres February 18th

Nerdist's hit series Because Science has collaborated with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to explore the science of Fatalities and iconic moves featured in the upcoming Mortal Kombat 11 videogame.

The original limited series, The Science of Mortal Kombat, premieres Feb. 18, guest starring reigning UFC Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier, and marks Nerdist's largest production ever, highlighting the creatively brutal and visually stunning gameplay which the best-selling Mortal Kombat franchise is known for.

The Science of Mortal Kombat will feature host Kyle Hill, professional Science Communicator and host of Nerdist's hit show Because Science, as he breaks down the science behind iconic Mortal Kombat 11 Fatalities, Scorpion's deadly spear attack, and powerful Krushing Blows with the help of special guests – Cormier and former WWE Champion, CM Punk.

Kyle and YouTuber and Mythbuster Allen Pan will utilize special super slow-motion cameras allowing for enhanced visuals to analyze and break down each iconic fight move in Mortal Kombat 11, such as the pressure and strength needed to break bones, the scientific analysis of a character's superhuman abilities, and much more.

The Trailer:

The six-episode series of high-intensity fight re-enactments and behind-the-scenes footage will begin airing weekly via Nerdist.com and YouTube.com/BecauseScience on Feb. 18. and can be watched on Nerdist and Because Science channels any time after each Monday airing.

Mortal Kombat 11 is the latest installment in the critically-acclaimed franchise, developed by award-winning NetherRealm Studios, and is scheduled for release beginning April 23 for PlayStation4 computer entertainment system, PlayStation4 Pro computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X, Nintendo Switch system and PC. 

To learn more about Mortal Kombat 11, please visit www.mortalkombat.com 

About Nerdist:

Nerdist is a multi-platform media and entertainment network for fans of genre and pop culture content. With flagship content including Nerdist News hosted by Jessica Chobot, weekly shows Because Science and The Dan Cave, and daily in-depth editorial coverage, Nerdist reaches millions of people every day on Nerdist.com and on leading platforms including the premium streaming service Alpha, YouTube, and Facebook. 

Nerdist is owned by Legendary Entertainment and is part of Legendary Digital Networks, which also includes Geek & Sundry and Amy Poehler's Smart Girls.

About Because Science:

How hot is a lightsaber?
Why does Captain America's shield bounce?
How much energy does it take Thanos to throw a moon?

Nerdist science editor Kyle Hill answers questions about fictional phenomenon using real-world science in vlogs, livestreams, and a weekly show, whose popularity has grown exponentially since its launch in 2018. Kyle created the popular YouTube channel, which rocketed to 100,000 subscribers in just two weeks, and has since grown to over 750,000 subscribers with more than 150 million views. To date, fans have watched nearly one billion minutes of Because Science, or over 1800 years! Kyle's work has appeared in WIRED, Scientific American, and The Boston Globe. He has hosted MythBusters: The Search and appeared as an expert on Bill Nye Saves the World, FOX News, and BBC World Radio.

About NetherRealm Studios:

NetherRealm Studios is a leader in the development of interactive entertainment, and the creator of the billion-dollar Mortal Kombat franchise. Mortal Kombat has spawned two theatrical films, multiple television series, and has sold over 42 million games to date. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the award-winning NetherRealm team has been working and creating games together since 1992. 

Additional information about NetherRealm Studios can be found at www.netherrealm.com.

SOURCE: Legendary Digital Networks

We Asked Artificial Intelligence To Analyze A Graphic Novel – And Found Both Limits And New Insights

What can an algorithm find when it reads a book? (Vasilyev Alexandr/Shutterstock.com)

With one spouse studying the evolution of artificial and natural intelligence and the other researching the language, culture and history of Germany, imagine the discussions at our dinner table. We often experience the stereotypical clash in views between the quantifiable, measurement-based approach of natural science and the more qualitative approach of the humanities, where what matters most is how people feel something, or how they experience or interpret it. 

We decided to take a break from that pattern, to see how much each approach could help the other. Specifically, we wanted to see if aspects of artificial intelligence could turn up new ways to interpret a nonfiction graphic novel about the Holocaust. We ended up finding that some AI technologies are not yet advanced and robust enough to deliver useful insights – but simpler methods resulted in quantifiable measurements that showed a new opportunity for interpretation.

Choosing a text

A graphic novel examined by artificial intelligence. (Reinhard Kleist/Self Made Hero)

There is plenty of research available that analyzes large bodies of text, so we chose something more complex for our AI analysis: Reinhard Kleist’s “The Boxer,” a graphic novel based on the true story of how Hertzko “Harry” Haft survived the Nazi death camps. We wanted to identify emotions in the facial expressions of the main character displayed in the book’s illustrations, to find out if that would give us a new lens for understanding the story.

In this black-and-white cartoon, Haft tells his horrific story, in which he and other concentration camp inmates were made to box each other to the death. The story is written from Haft’s perspective; interspersed throughout the narrative are panels of flashbacks depicting Haft’s memories of important personal events.

The humanities approach would be to analyze and contextualize elements of the story, or the tale as a whole. Kleist’s graphic novel is a reinterpretation of a 2009 biographical novel by Haft’s son Allan, based on what Allan knew about his father’s experiences. Analyzing this complex set of authors’ interpretations and understandings might serve only to add another subjective layer on top of the existing ones.

From the perspective of science philosophy, that level of analysis would only make things more complicated. Scholars might have differing interpretations, but even if they all agreed, they would still not know if their insight was objectively true or if everyone suffered from the same illusion. Resolving the dilemma would require an experiment aimed at generating a measurement others could reproduce independently.

Reproducible interpretation of images?
Rather than interpreting the images ourselves, subjecting them to our own biases and preconceptions, we hoped that AI could bring a more objective view. We started by scanning all the panels in the book. Then we ran Google’s vision AI and Microsoft AZURE’s face recognition and emotional character annotation as well.

The algorithms we used to analyze “The Boxer” were previously trained by Google or Microsoft on hundreds of thousands of images already labeled with descriptions of what they depict. In this training phase, the AI systems were asked to identify what the images showed, and those answers were compared with the existing descriptions to see if the system being trained was right or wrong. The training system strengthened the elements of the underlying deep neural networks that produced correct answers, and weakened the parts that contributed to wrong answers. Both the method and the training materials – the images and annotations – are crucial to the system’s performance.

Then, we turned the AI loose on the book’s images. Just like on “Family Feud,” where the show’s producers ask 100 strangers a question and count up how many choose each potential answer, our method asks an AI to determine what emotion a face is showing. This approach adds one key element often missing when subjectively interpreting content: reproducibility. Any researcher who wants to check can run the algorithm again and get the same results we did.

Unfortunately, we found that these AI tools are optimized for digital photographs, not scans of black-and-white drawings. That meant we did not get much reliable data about the emotions in the pictures. We were also disturbed to find that none of the algorithms identified any of the images as relating to the Holocaust or concentration camps – though human viewers would readily identify those themes. Hopefully, that is because the AIs had problems with the black-and-white images themselves, and not because of negligence or bias in their training sets or annotations.

Bias is a well-known phenomenon in machine learning, which can have really offensive results. An analysis of these images based solely on the data we got would not have discussed or acknowledged the Holocaust, an omission that is against the law in Germany, among other countries. These flaws highlight the importance of critically evaluating new technologies before using them more widely.

Finding other reproducible results
Determined to find an alternative way for quantitative approaches to help the humanities, we ended up analyzing the brightness of the pictures, comparing flashback scenes to other moments in Haft’s life. To that end, we quantified the brightness of the scanned images using image analysis software.

We found that throughout the book, emotionally happy and light phases like his prison escape or Haft’s postwar life in the U.S. are shown using bright images. Traumatizing and sad phases, such as his concentration camp experiences, are shown as dark images. This aligns with color psychology identifications of white as a pure and happy tone, and black as symbolizing sadness and grief.

Having established a general understanding of how brightness is used in the book’s images, we looked more closely at the flashback scenes. All of them depicted emotionally intense events, and some of them were dark, such as recollections of cremating other concentration camp inmates and leaving the love of his life.

We were surprised, however, to find that the flashbacks showing Haft about to punch opponents to death were bright and clear – suggesting he is having a positive emotion about the upcoming fatal encounter. That’s the exact opposite of what readers like us probably feel as they follow the story, perhaps seeing Haft’s opponent as weak and realizing that he is about to be killed. When the reader feels pity and empathy, why is Haft feeling positive?

The middle image in this sequence shows an example of a bright flashback. (Reinhard Kleist/Self Made Hero)

This contradiction, found by measuring the brightness of pictures, may reveal a deeper insight into how the Nazi death camps affected Haft emotionally. For us, right now, it is unimaginable how the outlook of beating someone else to death in a boxing match would be positive. But perhaps Haft was in such a desperate situation that he saw hope for survival when facing off against an opponent who was even more starved than he was.

Using AI tools to analyze this piece of literature shed new light on key elements of emotion and memory in the book – but they did not replace the skills of an expert or scholar at interpreting texts or pictures. As a result of our experiment, we think that AI and other computational methods present an interesting opportunity with the potential for more quantifiable, reproducible and maybe objective research in the humanities.

It will be challenging to find ways to use AI appropriately in the humanities – and all the more so because current AI systems are not yet sophisticated enough to work reliably in all contexts. Scholars should also be alert to potential biases in these tools. If the ultimate goal of AI research is to develop machines that rival human cognition, artificial intelligence systems may need not only to behave like people, but understand and interpret feelings like people, too.

About Today's Contributor:
Leonie Hintze, Ph.D. Student in Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages, Michigan State University and Arend Hintze, Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology & Computer Science and Engineering, Michigan State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

Inspired By Sci-Fi, An Airplane With No Moving Parts And A Blue Ionic Glow

A time-lapse image showing the plane flying across a gymnasium. (Steven Barrett, MIT, CC BY-ND)

Since their invention more than 100 years ago, airplanes have been moved through the air by the spinning surfaces of propellers or turbines. But watching science fiction movies like the “Star Wars,” “Star Trek” and “Back to the Future” series, I imagined that the propulsion systems of the future would be silent and still – maybe with some kind of blue glow and “whoosh” noise, but no moving parts, and no stream of pollution pouring out the back.

Science fiction inspires research and reality.

That doesn’t exist yet, but there is at least one physical principle that could be promising. About nine years ago, I started investigating using ionic winds – flows of charged particles through the air – as a means of powering flight. Building on decades of research and experimentation by academics and hobbyists, professionals and high school science students, my research group recently flew a nearly silent airplane without any moving parts.

The plane weighed about five pounds (2.45 kilograms) and had a wingspan of 15 feet (5 meters), and traveled about 180 feet (60 meters), so it’s a long way from efficiently carrying cargo or people long distances. But we have proved that it is possible to fly a heavier-than-air vehicle using ionic winds. It even has a glow you can see in the dark.

A plane powered by ionic wind takes flight.

Revisiting discarded research 
The process our plane uses, formally called electroaerodynamic propulsion, was investigated as far back as the 1920s by an eccentric scientist who thought he had discovered anti-gravity – which was of course not the case. In the 1960s, aerospace engineers explored using it to power flight, but they concluded that wouldn’t be possible with the understanding of ionic winds and the technology available at the time.

More recently, however, a huge number of hobbyists – and high school students doing science fair projects – have built small electroaerodynamic propulsion devices that suggested it could work after all. Their work was pivotal to the early days of my group’s work. We sought to improve on their work, most notably by conducting a large series of experiments to learn how to optimize the design of electroaerodynamic thrusters.

A homemade lifter using the same principle as the new MIT airplane.


Moving the air, not the plane parts
The underlying physics of electroaerodynamic propulsion is relatively straightforward to explain and implement, although some of the underlying physics is complex.

We use a thin filament or wire that is charged to +20,000 volts using a lightweight power converter, which in turn gets its power from a lithium-polymer battery. The thin filaments are called emitters, and are nearer the front of the plane. Around these emitters the electric field is so strong that the air gets ionized – neutral nitrogen molecules lose an electron and become positively charged nitrogen ions.

Farther back on the plane we place an airfoil – like a small wing – whose leading edge is electrically conductive and charged to -20,000 volts by the same power converter. This is called the collector. The collector attracts the positive ions toward it. As the ions stream from the emitter to the collector, they collide with uncharged air molecules, causing what is termed an ionic wind that flows between the emitters and collectors, propelling the plane forward.

How MIT’s airplane works.


This ionic wind replaces the flow of air that a jet engine or propeller would create.

Starting small 
I have led research that has explored how this type of propulsion actually works, developing detailed knowledge of how efficient and powerful it can be.

My team and I have also worked with electrical engineers to develop the electronics necessary to convert batteries’ output to the tens of thousands of volts needed to create an ionic wind. The team was able to produce a power converter far lighter than any previously available. That device was small enough to be practical in an aircraft design, which we were ultimately able to build and fly.

Steven Barrett speaks in a ‘Nature’ mini-documentary about the first flight of an ionic-wind-driven plane.

Our first flight is, of course, a very long way from flying people. We’re already working on making this type of propulsion more efficient and capable of carrying larger loads. The first commercial applications, assuming it gets that far, could be in making silent fixed-wing drones, including for environmental monitoring and communication platforms.

Looking farther into the future, we hope that it could be used in larger aircraft to reduce noise and even allow an aircraft’s exterior skin to help produce thrust, either in place of engines or to augment their power. It’s also possible that electroaerodynamic equipment could be miniaturized, enabling a new variety of nano-drones. Many might believe these possibilities are unlikely or even impossible. But that’s what the engineers of the 1960s thought about what we’re already doing today.

About Today's Contributor:
Steven Barrett, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

To Celebrate NASA's 60th Anniversary, Monaco Will Host US Astronauts, Aerospace Experts, and the Screening of "Above and Beyond: NASA's Journey to Tomorrow"

"Above and Beyond: NASA's Journey to Tomorrow" - Poster

This Thanksgiving the Principality of Monaco will host NASA legends from the US space shuttle program at a forum to mark the agency's 60th anniversary, featuring a special screening of the Discovery documentary "Above and Beyond: NASA's Journey to Tomorrow" from Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winning film maker, Rory Kennedy.

Held under the patronage of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, this initiative of the Embassy of Monaco in Washington, D.C. will start at 5:00pm with a screening of the film in English with French subtitles (free and open to the public with advanced reservations). 

It will be followed by an hour-long discussion with some of today's eminent aerospace leaders on the subject of air and space exploration with a focus on the importance of international cooperation (MonacoEventsUSA.com).

Panelists include Columbia (Jan 1986) Space Shuttle mission crew  and one of NASA's pioneering women astronauts:

• Captain Robert "Hoot" Gibson, former US naval officer, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, retired NASA astronaut who flew aboard the space shuttles Columbia, Atlantis, and Endeavour;
• General Charles Bolden, former NASA Administrator, Major General of the US Marine Corps and NASA astronaut;
• Dr. George "Pinky" Nelson, US physicist, astronomer, scientific educator and former NASA astronaut;
• Dr. Margaret "Rhea" Seddon, surgeon, NASA shuttle crew member, one of the first women accepted into NASA's Astronaut Corps;
• Captain Michael López-Alegria, NASA veteran of three Space Shuttle missions and one ISS mission;
• Mr. Guy Beutelschies, Lockheed Martin's vice president, Commercial and Civil Space; and
• Dr. Ilhami Aygun, president and CEO of SSI- MonacoSat

"The crew of Space Shuttle Columbia's 1986 launch is extremely honored to be taking part in this exciting program. We are so very grateful to His Serene Highness Prince Albert II for inviting us," said Captain Robert "Hoot" Gibson.

The panel Moderator is Mr. Mesut Ciceker, director, EMEA for Lockheed Martin Space, and Master of Ceremonies is Mr. Christian Moore, President of Media SSI-Monaco. 

The documentary will be introduced by the Director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum and former NASA Chief Scientist, Dr. Ellen R. Stofan. 

Other esteemed NASA alumni expected to attend include French astronauts Patrick Baudry and Jean-Francois Clervoy.

"Earth science and space exploration have impacted humankind in countless positive and tangible ways. Monaco is proud to once again bring together such distinguished international panelists to share their experiences, and the Monaco screening of 'Above and Beyond' provides the perfect launch pad to celebrate 60 extraordinary years of NASA," said Her Excellency Maguy Maccario Doyle, Monaco'sAmbassador to the U.S.A. and the event's convener.

"This will be the second space forum initiated by the Embassy. The first, in 2016, premiered 'The Last Man on the Moon' (monacodc.org/Nov10), and underscores the Principality's historical interest in aviation and aerospace technology and exploration, given that SSI-Monaco, with partner Thales Alenia Space, launched its first communications satellite MonacoSat-1 with SpaceX's Falcon9 launcher into geostationary transfer orbit on April 27, 2015. A second satellite MonacoSat-2 is being planned by SSI-MonacoSat with an expected launch date by 2021-22."

"I am honoured that the Embassy has chosen to screen 'Above and Beyond' during this prestigious gathering of NASA astronauts and others who have dedicated their lives to understanding more about our planet and the world around us," says Rory Kennedy.  "Our goal in making this film was to present a record of the great accomplishments of NASA over the past 6 decades, and to look forward to its next great missions. From landing rovers on Mars to measuring the health of our planet, NASA's work is not only awe-inspiring but essential to our future well-being."

"In Above and Beyond: NASA's Journey To Tomorrow, Rory Kennedy commemorates the Apollo program's remarkable journey to the Moon, and the creativity of those who worked to achieve it, and most importantly, what we choose to do with our heritage of achievement," said Dr. Stofan, the John and Adrienne Mars Director of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

"Above and Beyond: NASA's Journey to Tomorrow" - Astronaut on the Moon

When & Where:

Thursday, November 22, 2018. Film starts at 5:00pm, panel discussion from 6:45pm, Auditorium Rainier III, Boulevard Louis II, 98000 Monaco

⏩ The panel discussion only will be live-streamed from 6:45pm: 

SOURCE: Embassy of Monaco

NASA Related Stories:

• Museum of Science, Boston Celebrates the Charles Hayden Planetarium's 60th Anniversary with the Release of New Film
• Astronaut Sally K. Ride's Legacy – Encouraging Young Women To Embrace Science And Engineering
• NASA Cargo Headed to Space Station Includes Important Experiments, Equipment 

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Bidders From 26 Countries Chased Superhero Toys, Including Record-Smashing Walking Batman, at Vintage Toy Auction

Rare TN Japan battery-operated Walking Batman, 12 inches, new/old store stock with pristine original Japanese-version box, set a new world auction record at $16,800 (image via Milestone Auctions)

Batman first captured the public's attention in 1939, when he appeared on the cover of Detective Comics #27. Since then, the masked crime-fighter has remained in the forefront of American pop culture, dominating all media and delighting generations of children in the form of toys that reflect Batman's complex world of heroes and villains. 

⏩On October 13, a classic battery-operated Walking Batman coolly strolled across the auction block at Milestone Auctions and in so doing set a new world auction record at $16,800.

Made in the postwar Japan by TN, the 12-inch Walking Batman was new/old store stock and appeared never to have been played with. Its original Japanese-version box was a rare bonus and depicted "Adam West" as Batman with sidekick Robin in the Batmobile. 

"There was a lot of action on that toy from all over the world. It opened on our website with an absentee bid of $2,500 and was already up to $10,000 before the auction even started," said Milestone co-owner Miles King. "From all that we can determine, the $16,800 selling price is a new auction record for the Walking Batman toy."

Buck Rogers U-238 Atomic Pistol Holster Set in rare original box, excellent to near-mint condition. Sold for $4,440 (image via Milestone Auctions)

Space fantasy toys were in great demand. A boxed Buck Rogers U-238 Atomic Pistol Holster Set estimated at $800-$1,200 soared to new heights, landing at $4,440. 

"We couldn't believe what some of the Buck Rogers items went for. There was a very nice selection in our sale, all from one consignor," King said. "Buck Rogers was one of the earliest space-themed characters. It's hard to believe he was introduced some 90 years ago and still has such a huge following with collectors."

A Superman Krypto-Raygun made by Daisy was all original and presented in a colorfully lithographed box complete with all six filmstrips and instruction sheet. An early Superman toy designed to allow the user to point the ray gun at a wall and view "picture stories." 
⏩ It rose to $2,280.

Another crowd-pleaser was Transogram's Elroy Jetson Bobbing Pull Toy Space Car. It was offered in mint condition and sealed on its original display card with images of both Elroy and his dad George and a tagline about the vehicle's "GRR-RR Motor Sound." 
⏩ Estimated at $800-$1,000, it made $1,860.

Also, a 7-inch tin friction Flying Saucer Z-101 in its crisp, colorful original box disintegrated its $400-$600 estimate to settle at $3,480. "It had a crude, early look that space toy collectors love," King noted.

For Disney fans there was an impressive array of 1930s through postwar-era toys. A rare and near-mint Marx boxed set featuring Pinocchio and Figaro the Cat tin windups, both in tip-top condition, was the ultimate two-for-the-price-of-one deal. 
⏩ Estimated at $1,000-$1,500, the set more than doubled expectations, finishing at $3,480.

"We could not have been more pleased with the way this auction went," said King. "It was 100% sold and grossed over $290,000. We saw many new faces at the gallery, and there were online and phone bidders from 26 countries, all pointing to a strong and well-supported toy market."

SOURCE: Milestone Auctions

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SPYSCAPE Announces Launch Of Content Division At Toronto International Film Festival

Screengrab from the Spyscape's "Content Division" page

SPYSCAPE, the innovative consumer brand that's fast becoming the home of the secret intelligence genre, today announced the launch of its Content Division, and the appointment of former Miramax Films, Focus Features and FilmNation executive, Allison Silver, as Chief Content Officer.

SPYSCAPE's new division will have a unique focus on a single genre across multiple platforms including film, television and video-games. It will develop and produce its own content and partner on high quality productions with others.

In addition to providing finance and great secret intelligence stories, SPYSCAPE offers major added-value to its production and distribution partners through four unique advantages:

• A passionate, fast growing audience of 'superfans' of the spy genre
• An unrivaled expert network of spies, hackers and investigative journalists
• State of the art galleries and experiences to bring spy stories to life
• Glamorous spy-themed locations for premieres, parties and press events

With 75 staff across offices in Los Angeles, New York and London, SPYSCAPE's creative, commercial and technology teams have unrivaled knowledge of the spy genre, including special relationships across the secret intelligence world - from station chiefs and former heads of major international spy agencies, to top investigative journalists and renowned hackers and activists.

Additionally, SPYSCAPE will continue to build upon its existing investments in high-quality, spy-themed productions (including three John Le Carre stories: A Most Wanted Man; The Night Manager; and Our Kind of Traitor) through equity investments in Ink Factory Films and others.

SPYSCAPE announces the launch of its Content Division, and the appointment of former Miramax Films, Focus Features and FilmNation executive, Allison Silver, as Chief Content Officer.

Chief Content Officer, Allison Silver brings over 20 years experience on high-quality feature films including: Academy Award and Golden Globes winner "Brokeback Mountain", Cannes Grand Prix winner "Broken Flowers" and four Pedro Almodovar films including "Talk to Her" (winner of an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film) and "Volver". 

Most recently, Silver was EVP, Worldwide Production for FilmNation in New York City working on Academy Award winner "The King's Speech" and Academy Award nominees "The Imitation Game", "Nebraska", "The Bling Ring" and "Room" plus Pedro Almodovar's "The Skin I Live in", winner of the BAFTA for Best Foreign Language Film.

About SPYSCAPE:

SPYSCAPE is an innovative consumer brand which creates education, entertainment, products and experiences that help you see the world and yourself more clearly, through the lens of spying.

SPYSCAPE was created by top architects, authors, curators, designers, developers, gamers, hackers, imagineers, investigative journalists, psychologists, spies and storytellers.

SPYSCAPE's HQ in New York City is the world's most high-tech museum, described by the New York Times as the "headquarters of our cultural fascination with the art of deception".

SOURCE: SPYSCAPE

Related Video:

Related Pictures:

SPYSCAPE (Credit: Scott Frances) 

SPYSCAPE (Credit: Scott Frances) 

SPYSCAPE (Credit: Scott Frances) 

SPYSCAPE (Credit: Scott Frances)

Astronaut Sally K. Ride's Legacy – Encouraging Young Women To Embrace Science And Engineering

Mission specialist Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space. (NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center)

On June 18, 1983, 35 years ago, Sally Ride became the first American woman to launch into space, riding the Space Shuttle STS-7 flight with four other crew members. Only five years earlier, in 1978, she had been selected to the first class of 35 astronauts – including six women – who would fly on the Space Shuttle.

Sally’s first ride, with her STS-7 crewmates. In addition to launching America’s first female astronaut, it was also the first mission with a five-member crew. Front row, left to right: Ride, commander Bob Crippen, pilot Frederick Hauck. Back row, left to right: John Fabian, Norm Thagard. (NASA)

Much has happened in the intervening years. During the span of three decades, the shuttles flew 135 times carrying hundreds of American and international astronauts into space before they were retired in 2011. The International Space Station began to fly in 1998 and has been continuously occupied since 2001, orbiting the Earth once every 90 minutes. More than 50 women have now flown into space, most of them Americans. One of these women, Dr. Peggy Whitson, became chief of the Astronaut Office and holds the American record for number of hours in space.

The Space Shuttle democratized spaceflight
The Space Shuttle was an amazing flight vehicle: It launched like a rocket into Low Earth Orbit in only eight minutes, and landed softly like a glider after its mission. What is not well known is that the Space Shuttle was an equalizer and enabler, opening up space exploration to a wider population of people from planet Earth.

STS-50 Crew photo with commander Richard N. Richards and pilot Kenneth D. Bowersox, mission specialists Bonnie J. Dunbar, Ellen S. Baker and Carl J. Meade, and payload specialists Lawrence J. DeLucas and Eugene H. Trinh. The photo was taken in front of the Columbia Shuttle, which Dunbar helped to build.(NASA)

This inclusive approach began in 1972 when Congress and the president approved the Space Shuttle budget and contract. Spacesuits, seats and all crew equipment were initially designed for a larger range of sizes to fit all body types, and the waste management system was modified for females. Unlike earlier vehicles, the Space Shuttle could carry up to eight astronauts at a time. It had a design more similar to an airplane than a small capsule, with two decks, sleeping berths, large laboratories and a galley. It also provided privacy.

I graduated with an engineering degree from the University of Washington in 1971 and, by 1976, I was a young engineer working on the first Space Shuttle, Columbia, with Rockwell International at Edwards Air Force Base, in California. I helped to design and produce the thermal protection system – those heat resistant ceramic tiles – which allowed the shuttle to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere for up to 100 flights.

Mike Anderson and Bonnie Dunbar flew together on STS-89 in 1998. They both graduated from University of Washington. Anderson was killed in the Columbia accident, in 2003. (NASA)

It was a heady time; a new space vehicle could carry large crews and “cargo,” including space laboratories and the Hubble Space Telescope. The Shuttle also had a robotic arm, which was critical for the assembly of the International Space Station, and an “airlock” for space walks, and enabled us to build the International Space Station.

I knew from my first day at Rockwell that this vehicle had been designed for both men and women. A NASA engineer at the Langley Research Center gave me a very early “heads up” in 1973 that they would eventually select women astronauts for the Space Shuttle. In the 1970s there were visionary men and women in NASA, government and in the general public, who saw a future for more women in science and engineering, and for flying into space. Women were not beating down the door to be included in the Space Shuttle program, we were being invited to be an integral part of a larger grand design for exploring space.

1978: Becoming an astronaut
The selection process for the first class of Space Shuttle astronauts, to include women, opened in 1977. NASA approached the recruitment process with a large and innovative publicity campaign encouraging men and women of all ethnic backgrounds to apply. One of NASA’s recruiters was actress Nichelle Nichols who played Lt. Ohura on the “Star Trek” series, which was popular at the time. Sally learned about NASA’s astronaut recruitment drive through an announcement, possibly on a job bulletin board, somewhere at Stanford University. Sally had been a talented nationally ranked tennis player, but her passion was physics. The opportunity to fly into space intrigued her and looked like a challenge and rewarding career she could embrace.

Sally and I arrived at NASA at the same time in 1978 – she as part of the “TFNG” (“Thirty-Five New Guys”) astronaut class and I as a newly minted mission controller, training to support the Space Shuttle. I had already been in the aerospace industry for several years and had made my choice for “space” at the age of 9 on a cattle ranch in Washington state. I also applied for the 1978 astronaut class, but was not selected until 1980.

Sally and I connected on the Flight Crew Operations co-ed softball team. We both played softball from an early age and were both private pilots, flying our small planes together around southeast Texas. We also often discussed our perspectives on career selection, and how fortunate we were to have teachers and parents and other mentors who encouraged us to study math and science in school – the enabling subjects for becoming an astronaut.

STS-7: June 18 1983

In January 1978, NASA selected six women into the class of 35 new astronauts to fly on the Space Shuttle. From left to right are Shannon W. Lucid, Ph.D., Margaret Rhea Seddon, M.D., Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D., Judith A. Resnik, Ph.D., Anna L. Fisher, M.D., and Sally K. Ride, Ph.D. (NASA)

Although Sally was one of six women in the 1978 class, she preferred to be considered one of 35 new astronauts – and to be judged by merit, not gender. It was important to all the women that the bar be as high as it was for the men. From an operational and safety point of view, that was also equally important. In an emergency, there are no special allowances for gender or ethnicity: Everyone had to pull their own weight. In fact, it has been said that those first six women were not just qualified, they were more than qualified.

While Sally was honored to be picked as the first woman from her class to fly, she shied away from the limelight. She believed that she flew for all Americans, regardless of gender, but she also understood the expectations on her for being selected “first.” As she flew on STS-7, she paid tribute to those who made it possible for her to be there: to her family and teachers, to those who made and operated the Space Shuttle, to her crewmates, and to all of her astronaut classmates including Dr. Kathy Sullivan, Dr. Rhea Seddon, Dr. Anna Fisher, Dr. Shannon Lucid, and Dr. Judy Resnick (who lost her life on Challenger). With all of the attention, Sally was a gracious “first.” And the launch of STS-7 had a unique celebratory flair. Signs around Kennedy Space Center said “Fly Sally Fly,” and John Denver gave a special concert the night before the launch, not far from the launch pad.

Continuing the momentum
One of the topics that Sally and I discussed frequently was why so few young girls were entering into math, technology, science and engineering – which became known as STEM careers in the late 1990s. Both of us had been encouraged and pushed by male and female mentors and “cheerleaders.” By 1972, companies with federal contracts were actively recruiting women engineers. NASA had opened up spaceflight to women in 1978, and was proud of the fact that they were recruiting and training women as astronauts and employing them in engineering and the sciences.

National needs for STEM talent and supportive employment laws were creating an environment such that if a young woman wished to become an aerospace engineer, a physicist, a chemist, a medical doctor, an astronomer or an astrophysicist, they could. One might have thought that Sally’s legendary flight, and those of other women astronauts over the last 35 years might have inspired a wave of young women (and men) into STEM careers. For example, when Sally flew into space in 1983, a 12-year-old middle school girl back then would now be 47. If she had a daughter, that daughter might be 25. After two generations, we might have expected that there would be large bow wave of young energized women entering into the STEM careers. But this hasn’t happened.

Rather, we have a growing national shortage of engineers and research scientists in this nation, which threatens our prosperity and national security. The numbers of women graduating in engineering grew from 1 percent in 1971 to about 20 percent in 35 years. But women make up 50 percent of the population, so there is room for growth. So what are the “root causes” for this lack of growth?

K-12 STEM education
Many reports have cited deficient K-12 math and science education as contributing to the relatively stagnant graduation rates in STEM careers.

Completing four years of math in high school, as well as physics, chemistry and biology is correlated with later success in science, mathematics and engineering in college. Without this preparation, career options are reduced significantly. Even though I graduated from a small school in rural Washington state, I was able to study algebra, geometry, trigonometry, math analysis, biology, chemistry and physics by the time I graduated. Those were all prerequisites for entry into the University of Washington College of Engineering. Sally had the same preparation before she entered into physics.

As part of NASA’s commitment to the next generation of explorers, NASA Ames collaborated with Sally Ride Science to sponsor and host the Sally Ride Science Festival at the NASA Research Park. Hundreds of San Francisco Bay Area girls, their teachers and parents enjoy a fun-filled interactive exploration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics on Sept. 27, 2008. (NASA Ames Research Center / Dominic Hart)

Although we have many great K-12 schools in the nation, too many schools now struggle to find qualified mathematics and physics teachers. Inspiring an interest in these topics is also key to retention and success. Being excited about a particular subject matter can keep a student engaged even through the tough times. Participation in “informal science education” at museums and camps is becoming instrumental for recruiting students into STEM careers, especially as teachers struggle to find the time in a cramped curriculum to teach math and science.

Research has shown that middle school is a critical period for young boys and girls to establish their attitudes toward math and science, to acquire fundamental skills that form the basis for progression into algebra, geometry and trigonometry, and to develop positive attitudes toward the pursuit of STEM careers. When Dr. Sally Ride retired from NASA, she understood this, and founded Imaginary Lines and, later, Sally Ride Science, to influence career aspirations for middle school girls. She hosted science camps throughout the nation, exposing young women and their parents to a variety of STEM career options. Sally Ride Science continues its outreach through the University of California at San Diego.

Challenging old stereotypes and honoring Sally’s legacy

Sally Ride and Bonnie Dunbar are fighting outdated stereotypes that women are not good at STEM subjects. (Creativa Images/shutterstock.com)

However, there are still challenges, especially in this social media-steeped society. I and other practicing women engineers have observed that young girls are often influenced by what they perceive “society thinks” of them.

In a recent discussion with an all-girl robotics team competing at NASA, I asked the high school girls if they had support from teachers and parents, and they all said “yes.” But then, they asked, “Why doesn’t society support us?” I was puzzled and asked them what they meant. They then directed me to the internet where searches on engineering careers returned a story after story of describing “hostile work environments.”

Sadly, most of these stories are very old and are often from studies with very small populations. The positive news, from companies, government, universities and such organizations as the National Academy of Engineers, Physics Girl and Society of Women Engineers, rarely rises to the top of the search results. Currently, companies and laboratories in the U.S. are desperate to employ STEM qualified and inspired women. But many of our young women continue to “opt out.”

Young women are influenced by the media images they see every day. We continue to see decades-old negative stereotypes and poor images of engineers and scientists on television programs and in the movies.

Popular TV celebrities continue to boast on air that they either didn’t like math or struggled with it. Sally Ride Science helps to combat misconceptions and dispel myths by bringing practicing scientists and engineers directly to the students. However, in order to make a more substantial difference, this program and others like it require help from the media organizations. The nation depends upon the technology and science produced by our scientists and engineers, but social media, TV hosts, writers and movie script developers rarely reflect this reality. So it may be, that in addition to K-12 challenges in our educational system, the “outdated stererotypes” portrayed in the media are also discouraging our young women from entering science and engineering careers.

Unlimited opportunities in science and engineering
The reality? More companies than ever are creating family-friendly work environments and competing for female talent. In fact, there is a higher demand from business, government and graduate schools in the U.S. for women engineers and scientists than can be met by the universities.

Both Sally and I had wonderful careers supported by both men and women. NASA was a great work environment and continues to be – the last two astronaut classes have been about 50 percent female.

I think that Sally would be proud of how far the nation has come with respect to women in space, but would also want us to focus on the future challenges for recruiting more women into science and engineering, and to reignite the passion for exploring space.

About Today's Contributor:
Bonnie J. Dunbar, NASA astronaut (Ret) and TEES Distinguished Research Professor, Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. 

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