NOVEMber 2008 issue

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World Watch
Iowa University Takes on Asteroids

© Olivier Boisard / U3P - 2006 - www.u3p.net TAKE THAT, ASTEROID Researchers in Iowa are looking at various ways to deflect asteroids, and this graphic is included in their promotional material.

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BY GAIL HELGASON
Freelance Writer

How do you reliably deflect an asteroid on a collision path with Earth? It’s not terribly comforting to find out that no consensus exists.

However, here’s some potential relief for all that asteroid angst. Bong Wie and his team at Iowa State University in Ames are on the case.

Dr. Wie is the Vance Coffman-endowed chair professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, as well as director for the Asteroid Deflection Center. He’s overseeing researchers as they study nuclear and non-nuclear deflection techniques, Mechanical Engineering (New York) reports.

Iowa is an appropriate site for such research — after all, a mere 74 million years ago it was struck by an asteroid 1.6 kilometres across.

More good news? Scientists estimate that an extinction-class asteroid (10 km or more in width) would likely strike Earth only once in 50 million to 100 million years.

Asia Gets Greener
Green building in China is maturing, reports the Engineering News-Record (New York). Last May, the country of 350 million people launched its first national standard for green building. The standard rewards conservation of land, water and energy use over a building’s lifecycle.

A high-profile example of the new focus is the Beijing Olympic Village. During the 2008 Summer Olympics, it was awarded a gold certificate under the trademarked program known as LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Industry experts predict that the number of global firms focusing largely on green building will double over the next five years — and the fastest rate of adoption will be
in Asia.

Talk About a Bird’s-Eye View
Built almost entirely of weathering steel, the new, 200-metre-long looping walkway at England’s Royal Botanical Gardens gives visitors a close-up view the upper branches of a deciduous woodland. It also provides expansive views of the gardens and their structures, as well as the London skyline, says a story in Civil Engineering (Reston, Va.).

Jane Wernick Associates, a London structural engineering firm, worked with Marks Barfield Architects of London on the 18-metre-high structure, officially named the Xstrata Treetop Walkway.

Nothing Boring at Tsunami Camp
Here’s a new approach to getting students interested in an engineering career. Last summer, a week-long tsunami camp in the Portland area helped school-aged students learn from experts from Oregon State University and other institutions.

Put on by the National Science Foundation and others, the program included a primer on the ins and outs of tsunamis, followed by hands-on experience in constructing models of coastal evacuation towers. The Beaverton Valley Times (Portland, Ore.) reports that instructors think the camp is a great way to promote careers in engineering, showing young people that science and math are not boring.

Mobile Terminal Lands Along Italy’s Coast
The world’s first liquid natural gas terminal that’s both mobile and offshore is scheduled to begin shipping next year, says an item in the Engineering News-Record (New York).

The terminal along the Italian coast was constructed in Algeciras, Spain, and is 180 metres long, 88 metres wide and 47 metres tall. The $900-million contract involved 800 workers and was managed by Norway’s Aker Kvaerner.

Here Comes the Snail Express
Ever wonder how long snail mail takes? We’re talking real snail mail — mail carried by snails.

Senior lecturers in design, engineering and computing at Bournemouth University in Poole in the U.K. are involved in the RealSnailMail project, which aims to challenge today’s obsession with e-mail speed.

Mechanical Engineering (New York) reports that snails are being fitted with a radio-frequency identification chip. As a snail passes an electronic reader in a tank, e-mail attaches itself to the chip and will be read by a second reader when the snail gets near it.

A SNAIL’S PACE Snails don’t move fast, but do they really deserve the snail-mail slur? Senior lecturers in the U.K. are putting them to the test — as actual e-mail carriers. - photo by George Lee

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Mexico City Addresses Drainage
The Associated Press reports that Mexico will build a $1.2-billion tunnel about 60 km long to help address Mexico City’s centuries-old drainage problem. The tunnel will be the largest of its type in Mexico.

The report states that groundwater extraction is causing the mountain-ringed capital city to sink. It’s also vulnerable to flooding because of its geography.

Driving Back to Civil War History
Transportation engineers are taking a trip back in time in the southeastern United States to design the new Civil War Heritage Trail.

Civil Engineering (Reston, Va.) reports that heritage routes involving more than 100 local jurisdictions will be developed to mark the trails. The Georgia Department of Transportation is playing a key role.

The Civil War Heritage Trails commemorate Maj.-Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s capture of Atlanta through 1863 and 1864, and his famous 402-km March to the Sea. This path will become one of two designated driving routes in Georgia that will extend from near Chattanooga to Savannah.

Four other routes will be developed, including one focusing on Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy. Organizers expect the project, which will involve placement of numerous interpretive markers, will attract urbanites — and their dollars — to rural areas.