MOORE’S LAW

There is absolutely no doubt the invention and development of chip technology has changed the world and made possible a remarkable number of devices we seemingly cannot live without.  It has also made possible miniaturization of electronics considered impossible thirty years ago.  This post is about the rapid improvement that technology and those of you who read my posts are probably very familiar with Moor’s Law.  Let us restate and refresh our memories.

“Moore’s law” is the observation that, over the history of computing hardware, the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit has doubled approximately every two years.”

You can see from the digital above, that law is represented in graph form with the actual “chip” designation given.  Most people will be familiar with Moore’s Law, which was not so much a law, but a prediction given by Intel’s Gordon Moore.   His theory was stated in 1965.  Currently, the density of components on a silicon wafer is close to reaching its physical limit but there are promising technologies that should supersede transistors to overcome this “shaky” fact.  Just who is Dr. Gordon Moore?

GORDON E. MOORE:

Gordon Earle Moore was born January 3, 1929.  He is an American businessman, co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of Intel Corporation, and the author of Moore’s law.  Moore was born in San Francisco, California, and grew up in nearby Pescadero. He attended Sequoia High School in Redwood City and initially went to San Jose State University.  After two years he transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, from which he received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry in 1950.

In September, 1950 Moore matriculated at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he received a PhD in chemistry and a minor in physics, all awarded in 1954. Moore conducted postdoctoral research at the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University from 1953 to 1956.      

Moore joined MIT and Caltech alumnus William Shockley at the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory division of Beckman Instruments, but left with the “traitorous eight“, when Sherman Fairchild agreed to fund their efforts to created the influential Fairchild Semiconductor corporation.

In July 1968, Robert Noyce and Moore founded NM Electronics which later became Intel Corporation where he served as Executive Vice President until 1975.   He then became President.  In April 1979, Moore became Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, holding that position until April 1987, when he became Chairman of the Board. He was named Chairman Emeritus of Intel Corporation in 1997.  Under Noyce, Moore, and later Andrew Grove, Intel has pioneered new technologies in the areas of computer memory, integrated circuits and microprocessor design.  A picture of Dr. Moore is given as follows:

JUST HOW DO YOU MAKE A COMPUTER CHIP?

We are going to use Intel as our example although there are several “chip” manufacturers in the world.  The top ten (10) are as follows:

• INTEL = $48.7 billion in sales
• Samsung = $28.6 billion in sales
• Texas Instruments = $14 billion in sales.
• Toshiba = $12.7 billion in sales
• Renesas = $ 10.6 billion in sales
• Qualcomm =  $10.2 billion in sales
• ST Microelectronics = $ 9.7 billion in sales
• Hynix = $9.3 billion in sales
• Micron = $7.4 billion in sales
• Broadcom = $7.2 billion in sales

As you can see, INTEL is by far the biggest, producing the greatest number of computer chips.

The deserts of Arizona are home to Intel’s Fab 32, a $3 billion factory that is performing one of the most complicated electrical engineering feats of our time.  It’s here that processors with components measuring just forty-five (45) millionths of a millimeter across are manufactured, ready to be shipped to motherboard manufacturers all over the world.  Creating these complicated miniature systems is impressive enough, but it’s not the processors’ diminutive size that’s the most startling or impressive part of the process. It may seem an impossible transformation, but these fiendishly complex components are made from nothing more glamorous than sand. Such a transformative feat isn’t simple. The production process requires more than three hundred (300) individual steps.

STEP ONE:

Sand is composed of silica (also known as silicon dioxide), and is the starting point for making a processor. Sand used in the building industry is often yellow, orange or red due to impurities, but the type chosen in the manufacture of silicon is a much purer form known as silica sand, which is usually recovered by quarrying. To extract the element silicon from the silica, it must be reduced (in other words, have the oxygen removed from it). This is accomplished by heating a mixture of silica and carbon in an electric arc furnace to a temperature in excess of 2,000°C.  The carbon reacts with the oxygen in the molten silica to produce carbon dioxide (a by-product) and silicon, which settles in the bottom of the furnace. The remaining silicon is then treated with oxygen to reduce any calcium and aluminum impurities. The end result of this process is a substance referred to as metallurgical-grade silicon, which is up to ninety-nine percent (99 %) pure.

This is not nearly pure enough for semiconductor manufacture, however, so the next job is to refine the metallurgical-grade silicon further. The silicon is ground to a fine powder and reacted with gaseous hydrogen chloride in a fluidized bed reactor at 300°C giving a liquid compound of silicon called trichlorosilane.

Impurities such as iron, aluminum, boron and phosphorous also react to give their chlorides, which are then removed by fractional distillation. The purified trichlorosilane is vaporized and reacted with hydrogen gas at 1,100°C so that the elemental silicon is retrieved.

During the reaction, silicon is deposited on the surface of an electrically heated ultra-pure silicon rod to produce a silicon ingot. The end result is referred to as electronic-grade silicon, and has a purity of 99.999999 per cent. (Incredible purity.)

STEP TWO:

Although pure to a very high degree, raw electronic-grade silicon has a polycrystalline structure. In other words, it’s made of many small silicon crystals, with defects called grain boundaries. Because these anomalies affect local electronic behavior, polycrystalline silicon is unsuitable for semiconductor manufacturing. To turn it into a usable material, the silicon must be transformed into single crystals that have a regular atomic structure. This transformation is achieved through the Czochralski Process. Electronic-grade silicon is melted in a rotating quartz crucible and held at just above its melting point of 1,414°C. A tiny crystal of silicon is then dipped into the molten silicon and slowly withdrawn while being continuously rotated in the opposite direction to the rotation of the crucible. The crystal acts as a seed, causing silicon from the crucible to crystallize around it. This builds up a rod – called a boule – that comprises a single silicon crystal. The diameter of the boule depends on the temperature in the crucible, the rate at which the crystal is ‘pulled’ (which is measured in millimeters per hour) and the speed of rotation. A typical boule measures 300mm in diameter.

STEP THREE:

Integrated circuits are approximately linear, which is to say that they’re formed on the surface of the silicon. To maximize the surface area of silicon available for making chips, the boule is sliced up into discs called wafers. The wafers are just thick enough to allow them to be handled safely during semiconductor fabrication. 300mm wafers are typically 0.775mm thick. Sawing is carried out using a wire saw that cuts multiple slices simultaneously, in the same way that some kitchen gadgets cut an egg into several slices in a single operation.

Silicon saws differ from kitchen tools in that the wire is constantly moving and carries with it a slurry of silicon carbide, the same abrasive material that forms the surface of ‘wet-dry’ sandpaper. The sharp edges of each wafer are then smoothed to prevent the wafers from chipping during later processes.

Next, in a procedure called ‘lapping’, the surfaces are polished using an abrasive slurry until the wafers are flat to within an astonishing 2μm (two thousandths of a millimeter). The wafer is then etched in a mixture of nitric, hydrofluoric and acetic acids. The nitric acid oxides the surfaces to give a thin layer of silicon dioxide – which the hydrofluoric acid immediately dissolves away to leave a clean silicon surface – and the acetic acid controls the reaction rate. The result of all this refining and treating is an even smoother and cleaner surface.

STEP FOUR:

In many of the subsequent steps, the electrical properties of the wafer will be modified through exposure to ion beams, hot gasses and chemicals. But this needs to be done selectively to specific areas of the wafer in order to build up the circuit.  A multistage process is used to create an oxide layer in the shape of the required circuit features. In some cases, this procedure can be achieved using ‘photoresist’, a photosensitive chemical not dissimilar to that used in making photographic film (just as described in steps B, C and D, below).

Where hot gasses are involved, however, the photoresist would be destroyed, making another, more complicated method of masking the wafer necessary. To overcome the problem, a patterned oxide layer is applied to the wafer so that the hot gasses only reach the silicon in those areas where the oxide layer is missing. Applying the oxide layer mask to the wafer is a multistage process, as illustrated as follows.

(A) The wafer is heated to a high temperature in a furnace. The surface layer of silicon reacts with the oxygen present to create a layer of silicon dioxide.

(B) A layer of photoresist is applied. The wafer is spun in a vacuum so that the photoresist spreads out evenly over the surface before being baked dry.

(C) The wafer is exposed to ultraviolet light through a photographic mask or film. This mask defines the required pattern of circuit features. This process has to be carried out many times, once for each chip or rectangular cluster of chips on the wafer. The film is moved between each exposure using a machine called a ‘stepper’.

(D) The next stage is to develop the latent circuit image. This process is carried out using an alkaline solution. During this process, those parts of the photoresist that were exposed to the ultraviolet soften in the solution and are washed away.

(E) The photoresist isn’t sufficiently durable to withstand the hot gasses used in some steps, but it is able to withstand hydrofluoric acid, which is now used to dissolve those parts of the silicon oxide layer where the photoresist has been washed away.

(F) Finally, a solvent is used to remove the remaining photoresist, leaving a patterned oxide layer in the shape of the required circuit features.

STEP FIVE:

The fundamental building block of a processor is a type of transistor called a MOSFET.  There are “P” channels and “N” channels. The first step in creating a circuit is to create n-type and p-type regions. Below is given the method Intel uses for its 90nm process and beyond:

(A) The wafer is exposed to a beam of boron ions. These implant themselves into the silicon through the gaps in a layer of photoresist to create areas called ‘p-wells’. These are, confusingly enough, used in the n-channel MOSFETs.

A boron ion is a boron atom that has had an electron removed, thereby giving it a positive charge. This charge allows the ions to be accelerated electrostatically in much the same way that electrons are accelerated towards the front of a CRT television, giving them enough energy to become implanted into the silicon.

(B) A different photoresist pattern is now applied, and a beam of phosphorous ions is used in the same way to create ‘n-wells’ for the p-channel MOSFETs.

(C) In the final ion implantation stage, following the application of yet another photoresist, another beam of phosphorous ions is used to create the n-type regions in the p-wells that will act as the source and drain of the n-channel MOSFETs. This has to be carried out separately from the creation of the n-wells because it needs a greater concentration of phosphorous ions to create n-type regions in p-type silicon than it takes to create n-type regions in pure, un-doped silicon.

(D) Next, following the deposition of a patterned oxide layer (because, once again, the photoresist would be destroyed by the hot gas used here), a layer of silicon-germanium doped with boron (which is a p-type material) is applied.

That’s just about it.  I know this is long and torturous but we did say there were approximately three hundred steps in producing a chip.

OVERALL SUMMARY:

The way a chip works is the result of how a chip’s transistors and gates are designed and the ultimate use of the chip. Design specifications that include chip size, number of transistors, testing, and production factors are used to create schematics—symbolic representations of the transistors and interconnections that control the flow of electricity though a chip.

Designers then make stencil-like patterns, called masks, of each layer. Designers use computer-aided design (CAD) workstations to perform comprehensive simulations and tests of the chip functions. To design, test, and fine-tune a chip and make it ready for fabrication takes hundreds of people.

The “recipe” for making a chip varies depending on the chip’s proposed use. Making chips is a complex process requiring hundreds of precisely controlled steps that result in patterned layers of various materials built one on top of another.

A photolithographic “printing” process is used to form a chip’s multilayered transistors and interconnects (electrical circuits) on a wafer. Hundreds of identical processors are created in batches on a single silicon wafer.  A JPEG of an INTEL wafer is given as follows:

Once all the layers are completed, a computer performs a process called wafer sort test. The testing ensures that the chips perform to design specifications.

After fabrication, it’s time for packaging. The wafer is cut into individual pieces called die. The die is packaged between a substrate and a heat spreader to form a completed processor. The package protects the die and delivers critical power and electrical connections when placed directly into a computer circuit board or mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet.  The chip below is an INTEL Pentium 4 version.

Intel makes chips that have many different applications and use a variety of packaging technologies. Intel packages undergo final testing for functionality, performance, and power. Chips are electrically coded, visually inspected, and packaged in protective shipping material for shipment to Intel customers and retail.

CONCLUSIONS:

Genius is a wonderful thing and Dr. Gordon E. Moore was certainly a genius.  I think their celebrity is never celebrated enough.  We know the entertainment “stars”, sports “stars”, political “want-to-bees” get their press coverage but nine out of ten individuals do not know those who have contributed significantly to better lives for us. People such as Dr. Moore.   Today is the funeral of Caius Clay; AKA Muhammad Ali.  A great boxer and we are told a really kind man.  I have no doubt both are true.  His funeral has been televised and on-going for about four (4) hours now.  Do you think Dr. Moore will get the recognition Mr. Ali is getting when he dies?  Just a thought.

R & D SPINOFFS

Last week I posted an article on WordPress entitled “Global Funding”.  The post was a prognostication relative to total global funding in 2016 through 2020 for research and development in all disciplines.  I certainly hope there are no arguments as to benefits of R & D.  R & D is the backbone of technology.  The manner in which science pushes the technological envelope is research and development.  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has provided a great number of spinoffs that greatly affect everyday lives remove drudgery from activities that otherwise would consume a great deal of time and just plain sweat.  The magazine “NASA Tech Briefs”, March 2016, presented forty such spinoffs demonstrating the great benefits of NASA programs over the years.  I’m not going to resent all forty but let’s take a look at a few to get a flavor of how NASA R & D has influenced consumers the world over.  Here we go.

• DIGITAL IMAGE SENSORS—The CMOS active pixel sensor in most digital image-capturing devices was invented when NASA needed to miniaturize cameras for interplanety missions.  It is also widely used in medical imaging and dental X-ray devices.
• Aeronautical Winglets—Key aerodynamic advances made by NASA researchers led to the up-turned tips of wings known as “winglets.”  Winglets are used by nearly all modern aircraft and have saved literally billions of dollars in fuel costs.
• Precision GPS—Beginning in the early 1990s, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL) developed software capable of correcting for GPS errors.  NASA monitors the integrity of global GPS data in real time for the U.S. Air Force, which administers the positioning service world-wide.
• Memory Foam—Memory foam was invented by NASA-funded researchers looking for ways to keep test pilots cushioned during flights.  Today, memory foam makes for more comfortable beds, couches, and chairs, as well as better shoes, movie theater seats, and even football helmets.
• Truck Aerodynamics—Nearly all trucks on the road have been shaped by NASA.  Agency research in aerodynamic design led to the curves and contours that help modern big rigs cut through the air with less drag. Perhaps, as much as 6,800 gallons of diesel per year per truck has been saved.
• Invisible Braces for Teeth—A company working with NASA invented the translucent ceramic that became the critical component for the first “invisible” dental braces, which went on to become one of the best-selling orthodontic products of all time.
• Tensile Fabric for Architecture—A material originally developed for spacesuits can be seen all over the world in stadiums, arenas, airports, pavilions, malls, and museums. BirdAir Inc. developed the fabric from fiberglass and Teflon composite that once protected Apollo astronauhts as they roamed the lunar surface.  Today, that same fabric shades and protects people in public places.
• Supercritical Wing—NASA engineers at Langley Research Center improved wing designs resulting in remarkable performance of an aircraft approaching the speed of sound.
• Phase-change Materials—Research on next-generation spacesuits included the development of phase-change materials, which can absorb, hold, and release heat to keep people comfortable.  This technology is now found in blankets, bed sheets, dress shirts, T-shirts, undergarments, and other products.
• Cardiac Pump—Hundreds of people in need of a heart transplant have been kept alive thanks to a cardiac pump designed with the help of NASA expertise in simulating fluid-flow through rocket engines.  This technology served as a “bridge” to the transplant methodology.
• Flexible Aeorgel—Aeorgel is a porous material in which the liquid component of the gel has been carefully dried out and replaced by gas, leaving a solid almost entirely of air.  It long held the record as the world’s lightest solid, and is one of the most effective insulator in existence.
• Digital Fly-By-Wire—For the first seventy (70) years of human flight, pilots used controls that connected directly to aircraft components through cables and pushrods. A partnership between NASA and Draper Laboratory in the 1970 resulted in the first plane flown digitally, where a computer collected all of the input from the pilot’s controls and used that information to command aerodynamic surfaces.
• Cochlear Implants—One of the pioneers in early cochlear implant technology was Adam Kissiah, an engineer at Kennedy Space Center.  Mr. Kissiah was hearing-impaired and used NASA technology to greatly improve hearing devices by developing implants that worked by electric impulses rather than sound amplification.
• Radiant Barrier—To keep people and spacecraft safe from harmful radiation, NASA developed a method for depositing a thin metal coating on a material to make it highly reflective. On Earth, it has become known as radiant barrier technology.
• Gigapan Photography—Since 2004, new generations of Mars rovers have been stunning the world with high-resolution imagery.  Though equipped with only one megapixel cameras, the Spirit and Opportunity rovers have a robotic platform and software that allows them to combine dozens of shots into a single photograph.
• Anti-icing Technology—NASA has spent many years solving problems related to ice accumulation in flight surfaces.  These breakthroughs have been applied to commercial aircraft flight.
• Emergency Blanket—So-called space blankets, also known as emergency blankets, were first developed by NASA in 1964.  The highly reflective insulators are often included in emergency kits, and are used by long-distance runners and fire-team personnel.
• Firefighter Protection—NASA helped develop a line of polymer textiles for use in spacesuits and vehicles.  Dubbed, PBI, the heat and flame-resistant fiber is now used in numerous firefighting, military, motor sports, and other applications.

These are just a few of the many NASA spinoffs that have solved down-to-earth problems for people over the world.  Let’s continue funding NASA to ensure future wonderful and usable technology.

WHAT’S AFTER HUBBLE

HUBBLE:

It is very difficult to believe that the Hubble Telescope is twenty-five (25) years in orbit. The launch date for Hubble was April 24, 1990 and remains in operation. Hubble’s orbit outside the distortion of Earth’s atmosphere allows it to take extremely high-resolution images with negligible background light.  It rotates approximately 345 miles above our Earth.   It has recorded some of the most detailed visible-light images ever, allowing a deep view into space and time. Many Hubble observations have led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as accurately determining the rate of expansion of the universe. A digital photograph of the Hubble Telescope is given as follows:

Every 97 minutes, Hubble completes a spin around Earth, moving at the speed of about five miles per second (8 km per second) — fast enough to travel across the United States in about 10 minutes. As it travels, Hubble’s mirror captures light and directs it into its several scientific instruments.

Hubble is a type of telescope known as a Cassegrain reflector. Light hits the telescope’s main mirror, or primary mirror. It bounces off the primary mirror and encounters a secondary mirror. The secondary mirror focuses the light through a hole in the center of the primary mirror that leads to the telescope’s science instruments.

People often mistakenly believe that a telescope’s power lies in its ability to magnify objects. Telescopes actually work by collecting more light than the human eye can capture on its own. The larger a telescope’s mirror, the more light it can collect, and the better its vision. Hubble’s primary mirror is 94.5 inches (2.4 m) in diameter. This mirror is small compared with those of current ground-based telescopes, which can be 400 inches (1,000 cm) and up, but Hubble’s location beyond the atmosphere gives it remarkable clarity.

As you might suspect, the marvelous Hubble Telescope is using technology that is considered outdated relative to what is available today.  Still working and still providing remarkable photographs and data, the scientists and engineers at NASA recognized a newer device would ultimately be needed to push the boundaries of astronomy. Hence the James Webb Telescope.  OK, just who is James Webb?

JAMES WEBB:

The man whose name NASA has chosen to bestow upon the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope is most commonly linked to the Apollo moon program, not to science.

Yet, many believe that James E. Webb, who ran the fledgling space agency from February 1961 to October 1968, did more for science than perhaps any other government official, and that it is only fitting that the Next Generation Space Telescope would be named after him.

Webb’s record of support for space science would support those views. Although President John Kennedy had committed the nation to landing a man on the moon before the end of the decade, Webb believed that the space program was more than a political race. He believed that NASA had to strike a balance between human space flight and science because such a combination would serve as a catalyst for strengthening the nation’s universities and aerospace industry.

By the time Webb retired just a few months before the first moon landing in July 1969, NASA had launched more than 75 space science missions to study the stars and galaxies, our own Sun and the as-yet-unknown environment of space above the Earth’s atmosphere. Missions such as the Orbiting Solar Observatory and the Explorer series of astronomical satellites built the foundation for the most successful period of astronomical discovery in history, which continues today.  It is absolutely fitting that the next generation telescope be named after Mr. Webb.

JAMES WEBB VS HUBBLE:

The graphic below shows an excellent comparison between Hubble and James Webb relative capabilities.

JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE:

JWST is an international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is managing the development effort. The main industrial partner is Northrop Grumman; the Space Telescope Science Institute will operate JWST after launch.

Several innovative technologies have been developed for JWST. These include a primary mirror made of 18 separate segments that unfold and adjust to shape after launch. The mirrors are made of ultra-lightweight beryllium. JWST’s biggest feature is a tennis court-sized five-layer sunshield that attenuates heat from the Sun more than a million times. The telescope’s four instruments – cameras and spectrometers – have detectors that are able to record extremely faint signals. One instrument (NIRSpec) has programmable micro-shutters, which enable observation up to 100 objects simultaneously. JWST also has a cryo-cooler for cooling the mid-infrared detectors of another instrument (MIRI) to a very cold 7 K so they can work.  The JPEG below will show the instrumentation assembled into the platform and give a very brief summary of purpose.

The telescope will be “parked” 932,000 miles above Earth into space; obviously, beyond our moon.  With the ability to collect much more light than Hubble, the Webb Telescope will be able to see distant objects as they existed much earlier in time, specifically 13.5 billion years earlier.  This number is only 200,000 years after the “big bang”.

Other JPEGs of the telescope are given as follows:

(ABOVE) The Webb Telescope in Orbit.

Given below:  The James Webb Telescope Team.

On 6 July 2011, the United States House of Representatives’ appropriations committee on Commerce, Justice, and Science moved to cancel the James Webb project by proposing an FY2012 budget that removed $1.9bn from NASA’s overall budget, of which roughly one quarter was for JWST.  This budget proposal was approved by subcommittee vote the following day; however, in November 2011, Congress reversed plans to cancel the JWST and instead capped additional funding to complete the project at $8 billion.

The committee charged that the project was “billions of dollars over budget and plagued by poor management”. The telescope was originally estimated to cost $1.6bn but the cost estimate grew throughout the early development reaching about $5bn by the time the mission was formally confirmed for construction start in 2008. In summer 2010, the mission passed its Critical Design Review with excellent grades on all technical matters, but schedule and cost slips at that time prompted US Senator Barbara Mikulski to call for an independent review of the project. The Independent Comprehensive Review Panel (ICRP) chaired by J. Casani (JPL) found that the earliest launch date was in late 2015 at an extra cost of $1.5bn (for a total of $6.5bn). They also pointed out that this would have required extra funding in FY2011 and FY2012 and that any later launch date would lead to a higher total cost. Because the runaway budget diverted funding from other research, the science journal Nature described the James Webb as “the telescope that ate astronomy”. However, termination of the project as proposed by the House appropriation committee would not have provided funding to other missions, as the JWST line would have been terminated with the funding leaving astrophysics (and the NASA budget) entirely. You can see from the following digital, Congress was certainly within their right to cancel the program.

It is not an inexpensive program.  The House of Representatives, as mentioned above, did not kill the program. Launch is still scheduled for 20 October, 2018. I personally believe this was the proper move for them to make.

As always, I welcome your comments.

 

THE WORLD’S BEST

Data for each university was taken from Wikipedia.  I checked information for each school relative to authenticity and found Wikipedia to be correct in every case.

USA Today recently published an article from the London-based “Times Higher Education World University Rankings”.  This organization was founded in 2004 for the sole purpose of evaluating universities across the world.  Evaluations are accomplished using the following areas of university life:

• Teaching ability and qualification of individual teachers
• International outlook
• Reputation of university
• Research initiatives
• Student-staff ratios
• Income from industries
• Female-male ratios
• Quality of student body
• Citations

There were thirteen (13) performance criteria in the total evaluation.  The nine (9) above give an indication as to the depth of the investigation. Eight hundred (800) universities from seventy (70) countries were evaluated.  This year, there were only sixty-three (63) out of two hundred (200) schools that made the “best in the world” list. Let’s take a look at the top fifteen (15).  These are in order.

1. California Institute of Technology–The California Institute of Technologyor Caltech is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States.   The school was founded as a preparatory and vocational institution by Amos G. Throop in 1891.  Even from the early years, the college attracted influential scientists such as George Ellery Hale, Arthur Amos Noyes, and Robert Andrews Millikan. The vocational and preparatory schools were disbanded and spun off in 1910, and the college assumed its present name in 1921. In 1934, Caltech was elected to the Association, and the antecedents of NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which Caltech continues to manage and operate, were established between 1936 and 1943 under Theodore von Kármán. The university is one among a small group of Institutes of Technology in the United States which tends to be primarily devoted to the instruction of technical arts and applied sciences.
2. Oxford University–The University of Oxford(informally Oxford University or simply Oxford) is a collegiate research university located in Oxford, England. While having no known date of foundation, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world’s second-oldest surviving university.  It grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris.  After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled northeast to Cambridge where they established what became the University of Cambridge. The two “ancient universities” are frequently jointly referred to as “Oxbridge“.
3. Stanford University–Stanford University(officially Leland Stanford Junior University) is a private research university in Stanford, California.  It is definitely one of the world’s most prestigious institutions, with the top position in numerous rankings and measures in the United States. Stanford was founded in 1885 by Leland Stanford, former Governor and S. Senator from California.  Mr. Stanford was a railroad tycoon.  He and his wife, Jane Lathrop Stanford, started the school in memory of their only child, Leland Stanford, Jr., who had died of typhoid fever at age 15 the previous year. Stanford was opened on October 1, 1891 as a coeducational and non-denominational institution. Tuition was free until 1920. The university struggled financially after Leland Stanford’s 1893 death and after much of the campus was damaged by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Following World War II, Provost Frederick Terman supported faculty and graduates’ entrepreneurialism to build self-sufficient local industry in what would later be known as Silicon Valley. By 1970, Stanford was home to a linear accelerator, and was one of the original four ARPANET nodes (precursor to the Internet).
4. Cambridge University–The University of Cambridge (abbreviated as Cantabin post-nominal letters, sometimes referred to as Cambridge University) is a collegiate public research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world’s fourth-oldest surviving university.   It grew out of an association of scholars who left the University of Oxford after a dispute with townsfolk. The two ancient universities share many common features and are often jointly referred to as “Oxbridge“.
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology–The Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1861 in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States, MIT adopted a European polytechnic  university model and stressed laboratory instruction in applied science and engineering. Researchers worked on computers, radar, and inertial guidance during World War II and the Cold War. Post-war defense research contributed to the rapid expansion of the faculty and campus.  The current 168-acre campus opened in 1916 and now covers over one (1) mile along the northern bank of the Charles River basin.
6. Harvard University–Harvard Universityis a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts and was established in 1636. Its history, influence and wealth have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Established originally by the Massachusetts legislature and soon thereafter named for John Harvard, its first benefactor.  Harvard is the  oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.  The Harvard Corporation (formally, the President and Fellows of Harvard College) is its first chartered corporation. Although never formally affiliated with any denomination, the early College primarily trained Congregation­alist and Unitarian Its curriculum and student body were gradually secularized during the 18th century, and by the 19th century Harvard had emerged as the central cultural establishment among Boston elites.  Following the American Civil War, President Charles W. Eliot‘s long tenure (1869–1909) transformed the college and affiliated professional schools into a modern research university; Harvard was a founding member of the Association of American Universities in 1900.   James Bryant Conant led the university through the Great Depression and World War II and began to reform the curriculum and liberalize admissions after the war. The undergraduate college became coeducational after its 1977 merger with Radcliffe College.
7. Princeton University–Princeton Universityis a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey.  It was founded in 1746 as the College of New Jersey. Princeton was the fourth chartered institution of higher education in the Thirteen Colonies and thus one of the nine Colleges established before the American Revolution. The institution moved to Newark in 1747, then to the current site nine years later, where it was renamed Princeton University in 1896.
8. Imperial College of London— Imperial College Londonis a public research university, located in London, United Kingdom. The Imperial College of Science and Technology was founded in 1907, as a constituent college of the federal University of London, by merging the City and Guilds College, the Royal School of Mines and the Royal College of Science. The college grew through mergers including with St Mary’s Hospital Medical School, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, the Royal Postgraduate Medical School and the National Heart and Lung Institute to be known as The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine. The college established the Imperial College Business School in 2005, thus covering subjects in science, engineering, medicine and business. Imperial College London became an independent university in 2007 during its centennial celebration.
9. ETH Zurich— ETH Zürich(Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, German:Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich) is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. Like its sister institution EPFL, it is an integral part of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain (ETH Domain) that is directly subordinate to Switzerland’s Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research.
10. University of Chicago— The University of Chicago(U of C, Chicago, or U Chicago) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Established in 1890, the University of Chicago consists of The College, various graduate programs, interdisciplinary committees organized into four academic research divisions and seven professional schools. Beyond the arts and sciences, Chicago is also well known for its professional schools, which include the Pritzker  School of Medicine, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the Law School, the School of Social Service Administration, the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, the Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies and the Divinity School. The university currently enrolls approximately 5,000 students in the College and around 15,000 students overall.
11. Johns Hopkins— The Johns Hopkins University(commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, the university was named after its first benefactor, the American entrepreneur, abolitionist, and philanthropist Johns Hopkins.   His $7 million bequest—of which half financed the establishment of The Johns Hopkins Hospital—was the largest philanthropic gift in the history of the United States at the time.   Daniel Coit Gilman, who was inaugurated as the institution’s first president on February 22, 1876,led the university to revolutionize higher education in the U.S. by integrating teaching and research.
12. Yale University— Yale Universityis a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701 in Saybrook Colony as the Collegiate School, the University is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. In 1718, the school was renamed Yale College in recognition of a gift from Elihu Yale, a governor of the British East India Company and in 1731 received a further gift of land and slaves from Bishop Berkeley.   Established to train Congregationalist ministers in theology and sacred languages, by 1777 the school’s curriculum began to incorporate humanities and sciences and in the 19th century gradually incorporated graduate and professional instruction, awarding the first D. in the United States in 1861 and organizing as a university in 1887.
13. University of California Berkeley— The University of California, Berkeley(also referred to as Berkeley, UC Berkeley, California or simply Cal) is a public research university located in Berkeley, California. It is the flagship campus of the University of California system, one of three parts in the state’s public higher education plan, which also includes the California State University system and the California Community Colleges System.
14. University College of London— University College London(UCL) is a public research university in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Recognized as one of the leading multidisciplinary research universities in the world, UCL is the largest higher education institution in London and the largest postgraduate institution in the UK by enrollment.  Founded in 1826 as London University, UCL was the first university institution established in London and the earliest in England to be entirely secular, to admit students regardless of their religion and to admit women on equal terms with men. The philosopher Jeremy Bentham is commonly regarded as the spiritual father of UCL, as his radical ideas on education and society were the inspiration to its founders, although his direct involvement in its foundation was limited. UCL became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London in 1836. It has grown through mergers, including with the Institute of Neurology (in 1997), the Eastman Dental Institute (in 1999), the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (in 1999), the School of Pharmacy (in 2012) and the Institute of Education (in 2014).
15. Columbia University— Columbia University(officially Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private Ivy League research university in Upper Manhattan, New York City. Originally established in 1754 as King’s College by royal charter of George II of Great Britain, it is the oldest institution of higher learning in New York State, as well as one of the country’s nine colonial colleges.   After the revolutionary war, King’s College briefly became a state entity, and was renamed Columbia College in 1784. A 1787 charter placed the institution under a private board of trustees before it was further renamed Columbia University in 1896 when the campus was moved from Madison Avenue to its current location in Morningside Heights occupying land of 32 acres (13 ha). Columbia is one of the fourteen founding members of the Association of American Universities, and was the first school in the United States to grant the D. degree.

 

As you can see, individuals in leadership positions across the world consider formal education as being one the great assets to an individual, a country and our species in general.  Higher education can, but not always, drives us to discover, invent, and commercialize technology that advances our way of life and promotes health.  The entire university experience is remarkably beneficial to an individual’s understanding of the world and world events.

It is very safe to assume the faculty of each school is top-notch and attending students are serious over-achievers. (Then again, maybe not.)  I would invite your attention to the web site listing the two hundred schools considered—the top two hundred.  Maybe your school is on the list.  As always, I invite your comments.

LIMITLESS

Do you ever wonder how smart is smart and what intellect qualifies as super smart?  How does one get there?  What does it take?  Are we born with intellect or do we develop intellect as we mature and grow?  Is there a “limitless” pill that can boost mental capacity?  Medical research tells us that maintaining good health is dependent upon: 1.) No smoking, 2.) No excessive drinking, 3.) Daily exercise, 4.) Proper low-fat diet and 5.) Continuous stimulation of our cerebral cortex can provide a long and healthy life.  Good physical condition produces good and lasting mental condition, certainly when mental stimulation is included in the mix.  If we look at I.Q. distribution on our planet, we find the following:

As you can see, this is a typical bell-shaped curve with the following basic delineations:

• 140 and above—Genius or near genius
• 130 to 139—Gifted
• 120 to 129—Superior intelligence
• 90 to 109—Average
• 80 to 89—Dullness
• 70 to 79—Borderline deficiency
• 50 to 69—Mild mental retardation
• 35 to 50—Moderate mental retardation
• 20 to 35—Severe mental retardation
• < 20—Profound mental retardation

Please note the percentage of each category.  By far, the average I.Q. lies between 85 and 115.  Let’s face it; we’ve done a lot with a normal I.Q.

It is very interesting to see a list of individuals considered to be the most intelligent people on the planet.  These people have been tested or their works have indicated significant I.Q.  Let me first state this list of ten (10) is subjective but evidence indicates they are definitely worthy of mention.  Let’s look.

• Stephen Hawking—I.Q = 160. Stephen Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, in Oxford, England. At an early age, Hawking showed a passion for science and astronomy. At age twenty-one (21), while studying cosmology at the University of Cambridge, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Despite his debilitating illness, he has performed groundbreaking work in physics and cosmology.  He has written several books that have helped to make science accessible to everyone. To my great surprise, Dr. Hawking has penned nineteen books with most being translated into other languages.  Part of his life story was depicted in the 2014 film The Theory of Everything.
• Albert Einstein—I.Q. = 160 to 190. Albert Einstein was born at Ulm, in Württemberg, Germany, on March 14, 1879. Six weeks later the family moved to Munich, where he began his schooling at the Luitpold Gymnasium.  Sometime later, his family moved to Italy while Albert continued his education at Aarau, Switzerland.   In 1896 he entered the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich to be trained as a teacher in physics and mathematics. In 1901, the year he gained his diploma, he acquired Swiss citizenship.   He was unable to find a teaching post so he accepted a position as technical assistant in the Swiss Patent Office. In 1905 he obtained his doctor’s degree.  He spent his entire life working on the great mysteries of creation.
• Judit Polgar—I.Q. = 170. Judit Polgár was born 23 July 1976 is a Hungarian chess grandmaster and is generally considered to be the strongest female chess player in history.   In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of fifteen (15) years and four (4) months, at the time the youngest to have done so, breaking the record previously held by former World Champion Bobby Fischer. She is the youngest ever player, to date, to break into the FIDE (Federation International des Echecs ) top 100 players rating list, being ranked number fifty-five in the January 1989 rating list, at the age of twelve.  She is the only woman to qualify for a World Championship tournament, having done so in 2005. She is the first, and to date, only woman to have surpassed the 2700 Elo rating barrier, reaching a career peak rating of 2735 and peak world ranking of number eight, both achieved in 2005. She was the number one rated woman in the world from January 1989 up until the March 2015 rating list, when she was overtaken by Chinese player Hou Yifan; she was the No. 1 again in the August 2015 women’s rating list, in her last appearance in the FIDE World Rankings.
• Leonardo de Vinci—I.Q. = 180 to 190 (estimated).  Born on April 15, 1452, in Vinci, Italy, Leonardo da Vinci was concerned with the laws of science and nature, which greatly informed his work as a painter, sculptor, inventor and draftsman. His ideas and body of work—which includes “Virgin of the Rocks,” “The Last Supper,” “Leda and the Swan” and “Mona Lisa”—have influenced countless artists and made da Vinci a leading light of the Italian Renaissance.
• Marilyn vos Savant—I.Q. = 190. Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1946, the young savant quickly developed an aptitude for math and science. At age ten (10), she was given two intelligence tests — the Stanford-Binet, and the Mega Test — both of which placed her mental capacity at that of a twenty-three year-old. She went on to be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the “World’s Highest IQ,” and, as a result, gained international fame.  Despite her status as the “world’s smartest woman,” vos Savant maintained that attempts to measure intelligence were “useless,” and she rejected IQ tests as unreliable. In the mid-1980s, with free rein to choose a career path, she packed her bags and moved to New York City to be a writer.
• Garry Kasparov—I.Q. = 194. Garry Kimovich Kasparov born Garik Kimovich Weinstein, 13 April 1963).  He is a Russian chess Grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, and political activist, considered by many to be the greatest chess player of all time.  From 1986 until his retirement in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world number one for 225 out of 228 months. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being passed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. Kasparov also holds records for consecutive professional tournament victories (fifteen) and Chess Oscars.
• Kim Ung-Young—I.Q. = 210.  Kim Ung-yong was born March 7, 1963.  He is a South Korean civil engineer and former child prodigy. Kim was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records under “Highest IQ“; the book gave the boy’s score as about 210.  Guinness retired the “Highest IQ” category in 1990 after concluding IQ tests were too unreliable to designate a single record holder. Kim Ung-Yong was born in Hongje-dong, Seoul, South Korea. His father is Kim Soo-Sun, a professor.  He started speaking at the age of 6 months and was able to read Japanese, Korean, German, English and many other languages by his third birthday.   By the time he was four years old, his father claimed Ung-Yong had memorized about 2000 words in both English and German. He was writing poetry in Korean and Chinese, and wrote two very short books of essays both poems less than twenty pages in length.
• Christopher Hirata—I.Q. = 225. Hirata was noticed to have an accelerated mind at an early age. At age three, he entertained himself at the grocery store,by calculating the total bill of items in his parent’s shopping cart, item-by-item, by weight, quantity, discounts, and sales tax. He was also reading the Dr. Seuss series to himself, able to recite the alphabet backwards, and had coded the alphabet sequence numerically, e.g. that the letter ‘O’ was fifteenth in the sequence. In the first grade, he was performing algebraic calculations.  Regarding his elementary and middle school years, by age twelve, he was talking college-level courses in physics and multivariable calculus. Hirata, at age thirteen, gained fame by winning gold medal at the 1996 International Physics Olympiad  (IPhO), an international competition among the world’s smartest math and science students (up to age nineteen), becoming the youngest medalist ever. Hirata’s showing at the IPhO was considered so record-breaking that IPhO organizers announced a special award for “Youngest Medalist”, awarded that year to Hirata, an award that has since become one of the most-coveted awards.  During meetings at the local McDonald’s, during this period, he and his friend Ben Newman, from the Physics Olympiad camp, “sat around writing general relativity equations out on the napkins,” recalls Newman. That year Hirata was ranked fifth in the world in physics, math, and science.
• Terrance Tao—I.Q. 225 to 230.  Terence “Terry” Chi-Shen Tao was born 17 July 1975 in Adelaide. He is an Australian-American mathematician working in various areas of mathematics, but currently focusing on harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, algebraic combinatorics, arithmetic combinatorics, geometric  combinatorics, compressed sensing and analytic number theory. He currently holds the James and Carol Collins chair in mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles. Tao was a co-recipient of the 2006 Fields Medal and the 2014 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics.  Tao exhibited extraordinary mathematical abilities from an early age, attending university level mathematics courses at the age of nine. He and Lenhard  Ngare the only two children in the history of the Johns Hopkins’ Study of Exceptional Talent program to have achieved a score of 700 or greater on the SAT math section while just nine years old. Tao scored a 760.  In 1986, 1987, and 1988, Tao was the youngest participant to date in the International Mathematical Olympiad, first competing at the age of ten, winning a bronze, silver, and gold medal respectively.
• William James Sidis—I.Q. = 250 to 300.  A human calculator and linguistic genius, Sidis was born to Russian immigrant parents in America in 1898, and is estimated to have had an astounding IQ estimated between 250 and 300.  He went to grammar school at six and graduated within seven months.  By eight years of age he finished high school. He petitioned Harvard University for admittance but, being too young, he was advised to wait two years and finally at age eleven, he became the youngest student to have ever enrolled at Harvard. He graduated at the age of sixteen and entered Harvard Law School at age eighteen.  During his course work at Harvard Law he became sick and tired of being considered remarkable and he dropped out before completing his degree. He taught math on the university level for sometime but left try something ordinary.   He tried to become anonymous by being a bookkeeper, a clerk and doing other jobs that were incommensurate with his talents. All the attention he got due to his remarkable mind made him almost a recluse and he died lonely and poor at the young age of forty-six.

These are remarkable individuals and most used and are using their great talents to make the world a better place to live.  Even with this being the case, I would like to close this post with my favorite quote.  It’s from “silent Cal”—President Calvin Coolidge.

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Great quote and so true.  Think of all the things individuals with average intellect have accomplished over the past decades and centuries.  Average intelligence coupled with work ethic and resourcefulness can win the day.  You do not have to be a genius to reach your potential and do marvelous things.  As always, I welcome your comments.

PROFESSIONS AND THE FUTURE

Information for this post are taken from Design News Daily Magazine: Article by Mr. Rob Siegel Design News

Previously, in a post entitled “What Not to Do”, I provided three lists of occupations that just might not be too productive relative to employment or continued employment through 2022.  After spending four or more years in a course of study, then not being able to find a job, is at best very frustrating.  With that being the case, I also issued the following statement:

“I would again say—IF YOU HAVE A PASSION FOR A GIVEN PROFESSION, follow that passion, BUT make sure you are one of the best in the world.  Competition is global not just within the confines of our country.   In the post that will follow, I will indicate those STEM professions considered to be “everlasting” and indicate current open positions.  I was greatly surprised at the number of jobs that are waiting on acceptable candidates.”

OK, this is the post that follows.  Let’s take a look at those STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) professions that will remain viable and in demand through 2022.  These are not in any given order.  I would ask you to look at the text under each category indicating salary levels.  Also, I have listed job openings, at this time; i.e. right now, that exist.

Of the 1,375 jobs in aerospace, around eighty percent (80%) are mid-level positions. Twenty-five percent (25%) are located in California.

In 2013 there were 3,500 job openings for mathematicians with a projected thirty-five percent (35%) increase expected through 2022.

A good number of the 5,790 jobs are mid-level and yet twenty percent (20%) are at the senior-level.  The good news, there is no particular geographic location where chemical engineers are located.

Most of the 9,751 job openings are mid-level or senior-level.  As with Chemical Engineering, the jobs are dispersed evenly across the United States.

There are 28,382 open positions for electrical engineers.  This discipline represents the second largest demand for engineers.  Software engineering is the first.  Approximately twenty-five percent (25%) of the job openings are in California, with half in the San Jose area.  Most are mid-level but there are definitely openings for entry-level graduates.

There are 28,382 open positions for electrical engineers.  This discipline represents the second largest demand for engineers.  Software engineering is the first.  Approximately twenty-five percent (25%) of the job openings are in California, with half in the San Jose area.  Most are mid-level but there are definitely openings for entry-level graduates.

There are approximately 1046 job openings for professionals with degrees in Material Science.  Most in mid-level positions but companies are interviewing for entry-level positions.

In 2012, there were 20,400 NE job openings available in this country alone.  This number has greatly increased due to the need for engineers abroad.  We are beginning to wake up as a country and realize the technology has improved since Three-Mile Island.  We also know there were significant design errors made with Chernobyl and Fukushima.  Errors that will not be duplicated here in this country.

There are approximately 38,500 job openings for petroleum engineers.  A great profession and one that will not go away within this century.

This one may be a bit of a surprise but job growth for physics majors is projected to steadily increase at the rate of seven percent (7%) through 2022.  This discipline prepares an individual for employment in several other STEM professions.

                                      BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

This is not only a growing profession but a fascinating occupation.  The technology is advancing at an extremely rapid rate and there is no shortage of challenge.

                                    INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

                                      PROCESS ENGINEERING

 

                          MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING

These 8,234 job openings are located throughout the United States.  No one industry captures a great percentage of the market.

 

                                        QUALITY ENGINEERING

 

                                     MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

 

 

                                    SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

 

As you can see, software engineers are certainly in demand with 158,323 job openings available right now.  This is the reason for demands that HB-1 visas remain available.  Companies cannot find qualified US citizens to fill these vacancies.

The STEM professions will remain the most viable option for employment for the future.  I would like to indicate to you that YOU CAN DO THIS.  You do not have to be a genius to graduate with a four year degree from an accredited college or university with a major in one of the above professions.  Do NOT be intimidated with the work. IT’S “DOABLE”.

As always, I welcome your comments.

NEW HORIZON AND PLUTO FLYBY

I remain absolutely amazed at the engineering effort involving the space probe NASA calls “NEW HORIZONS”.  The technology, hardware, software and communication package allowing the flyby is truly phenomenal—truly.  One thing that strikes me is the predictability of planetary movements so the proper trajectory may be accomplished.   Even though we live in an expanding universe, the physics and mathematics describing planetary motion is solid.  Let us take a very quick look at several specifics.

THE MISSION:

SPECIFICS:

• LAUNCH:  January 19, 2006
• Launch Vehicle:  Atlas V 551, first stage: Centaur Rocket, second stage: STAR 48B solid rocket third stage
• Launch Location:  Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
• Trajectory:  To Pluto via Jupiter Gravity Assist
• The teams had to hone the New Horizons spacecraft’s 3 billion plus-mile flight trajectory to fit inside a rectangular flyby delivery zone measuring only 300 kilometers by 150 kilometers. This level of accuracy and control truly blows my mind.
• New Horizon used both radio and optical navigation for the journey to Pluto.  Pluto is only about half the size of our Moon and circles our Sun roughly every 248 years. (I mentioned predictability earlier.  Now you see what I mean. )
• The New Horizon craft is traveling 36,373 miles per hour and has traversed 4.67 billion miles in nine (9) years.
• New Horizon will come as close as 7,800 miles from the surface of Pluto.
• Using LORRI (Long Range Reconnaissance Imager) — the most crucial instrument for optical navigation on the spacecraft; the New Horizon team took short 100 to 150 millisecond exposures to minimize image smear. Such images helped give the teams an estimate of the direction from the spacecraft to Pluto.
•  The photographs from the flyby are sensational and very detailed relative to what was expected.
• The spacecraft flew by the Pluto–Charon system on July 14, 2015, and has now completed the science of its closest approach phase. New Horizons has signaled the event by a “phone home” with telemetry reporting that the spacecraft was healthy, its flight path was within the margins, and science data of the Pluto–Charon system had been recorded.

HARDWARE:

The hardware for the mission is given with the graphic below.  From this pictorial we see the following sub-systems:

• PEPSSI
• SWAP
• LORRI
• SDC
• RALPH
• ALICE
• REX(HGA)

The explanation for each sub-system is given with the graphic.   As you can see:  an extremely complex piece of equipment representing many hours of engineering design and overall effort.

 

GOALS FOR THE MISSION:

The goal of the mission is to understand the formation of the Pluto system, the Kuiper belt, and the transformation of the early Solar System.  This understanding will greatly aid our efforts in understanding how our own planet evolved over the centuries.  New Horizon will study the atmospheres, surfaces, interiors and environments of Pluto and its moons.  It will also study other objects in the Kuiper belt.  By way of comparison, New Horizons will gather 5,000 times as much data at Pluto as Mariner did at Mars.  Combine the data from New Horizons with the data from the Mariner mission and you have complementary pieces of a fascinating puzzle.

Some of the questions the mission will attempt to answer are: What is Pluto’s atmosphere made of and how does it behave?  What does its surface look like? Are there large geological structures? How do solar wind particles interact with Pluto’s atmosphere?

Specifically, the mission’s science objectives are to:

• map the surface composition of Pluto and Charon
• characterize the geology and morphology of Pluto and Charon
• characterize the neutral atmosphere of Pluto and its escape rate
• search for an atmosphere around Charon
• map surface temperatures on Pluto and Charon
• search for rings and additional satellites around Pluto
• conduct similar investigations of one or more Kuiper belt objects

NOTE:  Charon is also called (134340) Pluto I and is the largest of the five known moons of Pluto.  It was discovered in 1978 at the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., using photographic plates taken at the United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station (NOFS). It is a very large moon in comparison to its parent body, Pluto. Its gravitational influence is such that the center of the Pluto–Charon system lies outside Pluto.

HISTORY:

When it was first discovered, Pluto was the coolest planet in the solar system. Before it was even named, TIME that “the New Planet,” 50 times farther from the sun than Earth, “gets so little heat from the sun that most substances of Earth would be frozen solid or into thick jellies.”

The astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh, then a 24-year-old research assistant at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz., was the first to find photographic evidence of a ninth planet on this day, February 18, 85 years ago.  His discovery launched a worldwide scramble to name the frozen, farthest-away planet. Since the astronomer Percival Lowell had predicted its presence fifteen (15) years earlier, per TIME, and even calculated its approximate position based on the irregularity of Neptune’s orbit, the team at Lowell Observatory considered his widow’s suggestion of “Percival,” but found it not quite planetary enough. The director of the Harvard Observatory suggested “Cronos,” the sickle-wielding son of Uranus in Greek myth.  But the team opted instead for “Pluto,” the Roman god of the Underworld — the suggestion of an 11-year-old British schoolgirl who told the BBC she was enthralled with Greek and Roman mythology. Her grandfather had read to her from the newspaper about the planet’s discovery, and when she proposed the name, he was so taken with it that he brought it to the attention of a friend who happened to be an astronomy professor at Oxford University. The Lowell team went for Pluto partly because it began with Percival Lowell’s initials.

Pluto the Disney dog, it should be noted, had nothing to do with the girl’s choice. Although the cartoon character also made its first appearance in 1930, it did so shortly after the planet was named, as the BBC noted. While Pluto was downgraded to “dwarf planet” status in 2006, it remains a popular subject for astronomers. They began discovering similar small, icy bodies during the 1990s in the same region of the solar system, which has become known as the Kuiper Belt. Just because Pluto’s not alone doesn’t make it any less fascinating, according to Alan Stern, director of a NASA mission, New Horizons that will explore and photograph Pluto in an unprecedented spacecraft flyby on July 14 of this year.

“This epic journey is very much the Everest of planetary exploration,” Stern wrote in TIME last month. “Pluto was the first of many small planets discovered out there, and it is still both the brightest and the largest one known.”

NASA released its first images of Pluto from the New Horizons mission earlier this month, although the probe was still 126 million miles away from its subject; the release was timed to coincide with Tombaugh’s birthday. Stern wrote, when the pictures were released, “These images of Pluto, clearly brighter and closer than those New Horizons took last July from twice as far away, represent our first steps at turning the pinpoint of light Clyde saw in the telescopes at Lowell Observatory eighty-five (85) years ago, into a planet before the eyes of the world this summer.”

CONCLUSION:

AMAZING ENGINEERING ACCOMPLISHMENT!

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE

In John 18:38 we read the following from the King James Version of the Bible: “Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.”  Pilate did not stay for an answer.

One of my favorite television programs was the “X”-Files.  It’s been off the air for some years now but we are told will return as a “mini-series” sometime in the very near future.  The original cast; i.e. Fox Mulder and Dana Skully will again remind us—THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE.  The truth is definitely out there as indicated by the men and women comprising the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope team.  They are definitely staying for answers.  The team members posed for a group photograph as seen below.

THE MISSION:

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) structure is a revolutionary facility which will produce an unprecedented wide-field astronomical survey of our universe using an 8.4-meter ground-based telescope. The LSST leverages innovative technology in all subsystems: 1.) the camera (3200 Megapixels, the world’s largest digital camera), 2.) telescope (simultaneous casting of the primary and tertiary mirrors; 3.) two aspherical optical surfaces on one substrate), and 4.)  data management (30 Terabytes of data nightly.)  There will be almost instant alerts issued for objects that change in position or brightness.

The known forms of matter and types of energy experienced here on Earth account for only four percent (4%) of the universe. The remaining ninety-six percent ( 96 % ), though central to the history and future of the cosmos, remains shrouded in mystery. Two tremendous unknowns present one of the most tantalizing and essential questions in physics: What are dark energy and dark matter? LSST aims to expose both.

DARK ENERGY:

Something is driving the universe apart, accelerating the expansion begun by the Big Bang. This force accounts for seventy percent (70%) of the cosmos, yet is invisible and can only be “seen” by its effects on space. Because LSST is able to track cosmic movements over time, its images will provide some of the most precise measurements ever of our universe’s inflation. Light appears to stretch at the distant edges of space, a phenomenon known as red shift, and LSST may offer the key to understanding the cosmic anti-gravity behind it.

DARK MATTER:

Einstein deduced that massive objects in the universe bend the path of light passing nearby, proving the curvature of space. One way of observing the invisible presence of dark matter is examining the way its heavy mass bends the light from distant stars. This technique is known as gravitational lensing. The extreme sensitivity of the LSST, as well as its wide field of view, will help assemble comprehensive data on these gravitational lenses, offering key clues to the presence of dark matter. The dense and mysterious substance acts as a kind of galactic glue, and it accounts for twenty-five percent (25 %) of the universe.

From its mountaintop site, LSST will image the entire visible sky every few nights, capturing changes over time from seconds to years. Ultimately, after 10 years of observation, a stunning time-lapse movie of the universe will be created.

As the LSST stitches together thousands of images of billions of galaxies, it will process and upload that information for applications beyond pure research. Frequent and real time updates – 100 thousand a night – announcing the drift of a planet or the flicker of a dying star will be made available to both research institutions and interested astronomers.

In conjunction with platforms such as Google Earth, LSST will build a 3D virtual map of the cosmos, allowing the public to fly through space from the comfort of home.  ALLOWING THE PUBLIC is the operative phrase.. For the very first time, the public will have access to information, as it is presented, relative to the cosmos.  LSST educational materials will clearly specify National and State science, math and technology standards that are met by the activity. Our materials will enhance 21st century workforce skills, incorporate inquiry and problem solving, and ensure continual assessment embedded in instruction.

THE LOCATION:

The decision to place LSST on Cerro Pachón in Chile was made by an international site selection committee based on a competitive process.  In short, modern telescopes are located in sparsely populated areas (to avoid light pollution), at high altitudes and in dry climates (to avoid cloud cover). In addition to those physical concerns, there are infrastructure issues. The ten best candidate sites in both hemispheres were studied by the site selection committee. Cerro Pachón was the overall winner in terms of quality of the site for astronomical imaging and available infrastructure. The result will be superb deep images from the ultraviolet to near infrared over the vast panorama of the entire southern sky.

The location is shown by the following digital:

The actual site location, as you can see below, is a very rugged outcropping of rock now used by farmers needing food for their sheep.

The Observatory will be located about 500km (310.6856  miles )north of Santiago, Chile, about 52km (32.3113 miles) or 80km (49.7097  miles) by road from La Serena, at an altitude of 2200 meters (7217.848 feet).  It lies on a 34,491Ha (85,227 acres.) site known as “Estancia El Tortoral” which was purchased by AURA on the open market in 1967 for use as an astronomical observatory.

When purchased, the land supported a number of subsistence farmers and goat herders. They were allowed to continue to live on the reserve after it was purchased by AURA and have gradually been leaving voluntarily for more lucrative jobs in the nearby towns.

As a result of departure of most of its human inhabitants and a policy combining environmental protection with “benign neglect” on the part of the Observatory, the property sees little human activity except for the roads and relatively small areas on the tops of Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachon. As a result, much of the reserve is gradually returning to its natural state. Many native species of plants and animals, long thought in danger of extinction, are now returning. The last half of the trip to Tololo is an excellent opportunity to see a reasonably intact Chilean desert ecosystem.

THE FACILITY:

LSST construction is underway, with the NSF funding authorized as of 1 August 2014.

Early development was funded by a number of small grants, with major contributions in January 2008 by software billionaire Charles Simonyi and Bill Gates of $20 and $10 million respectively.  $7.5 million is included in the U.S. President’s FY2013 NSF budget request. The Department of Energy is expected to fund construction of the digital camera component by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, as part of its mission to understand dark energy.

Construction of the primary mirror at the University of Arizona‘s Steward Observatory Mirror Lab, the most critical and time-consuming part of a large telescope’s construction, is almost complete. Construction of the mold began in November 2007, mirror casting was begun in March 2008, and the mirror blank was declared “perfect” at the beginning of September 2008.  In January 2011, both M1 and M3 figures had completed generation and fine grinding, and polishing had begun on M3.

As of December 2014, the primary mirror is completed awaiting final approval, and the mirror transport box is ready to receive it for storage until it is shipped to Chile.

The secondary mirror was manufactured by Corning of ultra low expansion glass and coarse-ground to within 40 μm of the desired shape. In November 2009, the blank was shipped to Harvard University for storage until funding to complete it was available. On October 21, 2014, the secondary mirror blank was delivered from Harvard to Exelis for fine grinding.

Site excavation began in earnest March 8, 2011, and the site had been leveled by the end of 2011. Also during that time, the design continued to evolve, with significant improvements to the mirror support system, stray-light baffles, wind screen, and calibration screen.

In November 2014, the LSST camera project, which is separately funded by the United States Department of Energy , passed its “critical decision 2” design review and is progressing toward full funding.

^{When completed, the facility will look as follows with the mirror mounted as given by the second JPEG:}

 

^{MIRROR DESIGN:}

^{The assembled mirror structure is given below.}

In the LSST optical design, the primary (M1) and tertiary (M3) mirrors form a continuous surface without any vertical discontinuities. Because the two surfaces have different radii of curvature, a slight cusp is formed where the two surfaces meet, as seen in the figure below. This design makes it possible to fabricate both the primary and tertiary mirrors from a single monolithic substrate. We refer to this option as the M1-M3 monolith.

After a feasibility review was held on 23 June 2005, the LSST project team adopted the monolithic approach to fabricating the M1 and M3 surfaces as its baseline. In collaboration with the University of Arizona and Steward Observatory Mirror Lab (SOML) construction has begun with detailed engineering of the mirror blank and the testing procedures for the M1-M3 monolith. The M1-M3 monolith blank will be formed from Ohara E6 low expansion glass using the spin casting process developed at SOML.

At 3.42 meters in diameter the LSST secondary mirror will be the largest convex mirror ever made. The mirror is aspheric with approximately 17 microns of departure from the best-fit sphere. The design uses a 100 mm thick solid meniscus blank made of a low expansion glass (e.g. ULE or Zerodur) similar to the glasses used by the SOAR and Discovery Chanel telescopes. The mirror is actively supported by 102 axial and 6 tangent actuators. The alignment of the secondary to the M1-M3 monolith is accomplished by the 6 hexapod actuators between the mirror cell and support structure. The large conical baffle is necessary to prevent the direct reflection of star light from the tertiary mirror into the science camera.

SUMMARY:

The truth is out there and projects such as the one described in this post AND the Large Hadron Collider at CERN certainly prove some people and institutions are not at all reluctant to search for that truth, the ultimate purpose being to discover where we come from.  Are we truly made from “star stuff”?

 

THE ROSETTA MISSION & PHILAE LANDER

Wonder how difficult it would be to land a mosquito on a speeding bullet?  What do you think?  Well, that’s just about the degree of difficulty in launching, navigating and landing the PHILAE spacecraft on the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.  Like all comets, Churyumov-Gerasimenko is named after its discoverers.

THE DISCOVERY:

It was first observed in 1969, when several astronomers from Kiev visited the Alma-Ata Astrophysical Institute in Kazakhstan to conduct a survey of comets.  Comet 67P is one of numerous short period comets which have orbital periods of less than 20 years and a low orbital inclination. Since their orbits are controlled by Jupiter’s gravity, they are also called Jupiter Family comets.  These comets are believed to originate from the Kuiper Belt, a large reservoir of small icy bodies located just beyond Neptune. As a result of collisions or gravitational perturbations, some of these icy objects are ejected from the Kuiper Belt and fall towards the Sun.

When they cross the orbit of Jupiter, the comets gravitationally interact with the massive planet. Their orbits gradually change as a result of these interactions until they are eventually thrown out of the Solar System or collide with another planet or the Sun.  Actually, the favored target for Rosetta was the periodic comet 46P/Wirtanen, but, after the launch was delayed, another regular visitor to the inner Solar System, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, was selected as a suitable replacement.

THE MISSION:

Philae (/ˈfaɪli/ or /ˈfiːleɪ/) is a robotic device designed and launched by the European Space Agency .  The mission was called Rosetta. In November 1993, the International Rosetta Mission was approved as a Cornerstone Mission in ESA’s Horizons 2000 Science Program.  Rosetta’s industrial team involved more than 50 contractors from 14 European countries and the United States. The prime spacecraft contractor is Astrium Germany. Major subcontractors are Astrium UK (spacecraft platform), Astrium France (spacecraft avionics) and Alenia Spazio (assembly, integration and verification).

The duration of travel was more than ten years after departing Earth. (Now do you see the complexity?  It’s a “tough putt” to land a small object on a rapidly moving object and after a ten-year launch.)  The Rosetta spacecraft is a work of engineering art in itself. It’s basically a large aluminum box measuring 2.8 x 2.1 x 2.0 meters with scientific instruments mounted on ‘top’ of the box forming the Payload Support Module while the subsystems are on the base or the Bus Support Module.

On one side of the orbiter is a 2.2-metre diameter communications dish with a steerable high-gain antenna. The Lander itself is attached to the opposite face.

Two enormous solar panel ‘wings’ extend from the sides. These wings, each 32 square meters in area, have a total span of about 32 meters tip to tip. Each assembly comprises five panels, and both may be rotated +/-180 degrees to catch the maximum amount of sunlight. A digital photograph of the Rosetta is given as follows:

On 12 November 2014, the probe achieved the first-ever soft landing on a comet nucleus. Its instruments obtained the first images from a comet’s surface. PHILEA is tracked and operated from the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.  Several of the instruments on PHILEA made the first direct analysis of a comet, sending back data that will be analyzed to determine the composition of the surface.

The Lander is named after the Philae obelisk, which bears a bilingual inscription and was used along with the Rosetta Stone to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics.  A very condensed version of the mission is given by the JPEG below:

An Ariane 5G+ rocket carrying the Rosetta spacecraft and PHILAE Lander  was launched from French Guiana on 2 March 2004, and travelled for 3,907 days (10.7 years) to reach the target–Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Unlike a Deep Impact probe, PHILAE is not an impactor. Some of the instruments on the Lander were used for the first time as autonomous systems during the Mars flyby on 25 February 2007.   One camera system returned images while the Rosetta instruments were powered down, while one system took measurements of the Martian magnetosphere. Most of the other instruments need contact with the surface for analysis and stayed offline during the flyby. An optimistic estimate of mission length following touchdown was “four to five months”.

PHILAE CONFIGURATION:

Components of PHILAE are as follows:

A digital photograph of the Lander with the basic instrument packages is given below.

RESULTS:

The results of the landing and the investigation are striking.  The comet’s surface, as Nicolas Thomas of the University of Bern has discovered, is surprisingly complex. It has 19 distinct regions, characterized by features such as pits, wide depressions and smooth, dust-covered plains. It even sports things that look like sand dunes.

The surface is also, according to Fabrizio Capaccioni of the National Institute of Astrophysics  in Rome, drier than expected and rich in organic compounds. That may excite those who wonder how the chemicals needed for life’s development arrived on Earth. The comet’s interior, meanwhile, says Holger Sierks of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, in Göttingen, Germany, has only half the density of water. It is therefore probably porous and fluffy. And it ejects jets of material into space particularly from the neck that connects the two halves of the comet’s peculiar dumbbell shape.

The reason for that shape, though, remains a mystery. Possibly, Dr Sierks speculates, Churyumov-Gerasimenko is made up of two comets which have collided and joined together. Determining the truth of this will require further investigation.  A depiction of the comets configuration is given as follows:

CONCLUSIONS:

Number one—we know now that navigation and impact can be accomplished.  With that being the case, maybe mining the subterranian riches for minerals might be possible for a great number of comets.  One greater “find” might be adding one piece to the puzzle as to whether or not there is life other places than Earth.  We are just becoming able to investigate that possibility with marvelous devices such as Rosetta and PHILAE.  Time will tell.

As always, I welcome your comments.

HALF SMART

The other day I was visiting a client and discussing a project involving the application of a robotic system to an existing work cell.  The process is somewhat complex and we all questioned which employee would manage the operation of the cell including the system.  The system is a SCARA type.  SCARA is an acronym for Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm or Selective Compliance Articulated Robot Arm.

In 1981, Sankyo Seiki, Pentel and NEC presented a completely new concept for assembly robots. The robot was developed under the guidance of Hiroshi Makino, a professor at the University of Yamanashi and was called the Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm or SCARA.

SCARA’s are generally faster and cleaner than comparable Cartesian (X, Y, Z) robotic systems.  Their single pedestal mount requires a small footprint and provides an easy, unhindered form of mounting. On the other hand, SCARA’s can be more expensive than comparable Cartesian systems and the controlling software requires inverse kinematics for linear interpolated moves. This software typically comes with the SCARA however and is usually transparent to the end-user.   The SCARA system used in this work cell had the capability of one hundred programs with 100 data points per program.  It was programmed by virtue of a “teach pendant” and “jog” switch controlling the placement of the robotic arm over the material.

Several names were mentioned as to who might ultimately, after training, be capable of taking on this task.  When one individual was named, the retort was; “not James, he is only half smart.  That got me to thinking about “smarts”.  How smart is smart?   At what point do we say smart is smart enough?

IQ CHARTS—WHO’S SMART

The concept of IQ or intelligence quotient was developed by either the German psychologist and philosopher Wilhelm Stern in 1912 or by Lewis Terman in 1916.  This is depending on which of several sources you consult.   Intelligence testing was initially accomplished on a large scale before either of these dates. In 1904 psychologist Alfred Binet was commissioned by the French government to create a testing system to differentiate intellectually normal children from those who were inferior.

From Binet’s work the IQ scale called the “Binet Scale,” (and later the “Simon-Binet Scale”) was developed. Sometime later, “intelligence quotient,” or “IQ,” entered our vocabulary.  Lewis M. Terman revised the Simon-Binet IQ Scale, and in 1916 published the Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon Scale of Intelligence (also known as the Stanford-Binet).

Intelligence tests are one of the most popular types of psychological tests in use today. On the majority of modern IQ tests, the average (or mean) score is set at 100 with a standard deviation of 15 so that scores conform to a normal distribution curve.  This means that 68 percent of scores fall within one standard deviation of the mean (that is, between 85 and 115), and 95 percent of scores fall within two standard deviations (between 70 and 130).  This may be shown from the following bell-shaped curve:

Why is the average score set to 100?  Psychometritians, individuals who study the biology of the brain, utilize a process known as standardization in order to make it possible to compare and interpret the meaning of IQ scores. This process is accomplished by administering the test to a representative sample and using these scores to establish standards, usually referred to as norms, by which all individual scores can be compared. Since the average score is 100, experts can quickly assess individual test scores against the average to determine where these scores fall on the normal distribution.

The following scale resulted for classifying IQ scores:
IQ Scale

Over 140 – Genius or almost genius
120 – 140 – Very superior intelligence
110 – 119 – Superior intelligence
90 – 109 – Average or normal intelligence
80 – 89 – Dullness
70 – 79 – Borderline deficiency in intelligence
Under 70 – Feeble-mindedness

Normal Distribution of IQ Scores

From the curve above, we see the following:

50% of IQ scores fall between 90 and 110
68% of IQ scores fall between 85 and 115
95% of IQ scores fall between 70 and 130
99.5% of IQ scores fall between 60 and 140

Low IQ & Mental Retardation

An IQ under 70 is considered as “mental retardation” or limited mental ability. 5% of the population falls below 70 on IQ tests. The severity of the mental retardation is commonly broken into 4 levels:

50-70 – Mild mental retardation (85%)
35-50 – Moderate mental retardation (10%)
20-35 – Severe mental retardation (4%)
IQ < 20 – Profound mental retardation (1%)

High IQ & Genius IQ

Genius or near-genius IQ is considered to start around 140 to 145. Less than 1/4 of 1 percent fall into this category. Here are some common designations on the IQ scale:

115-124 – Above average
125-134 – Gifted
135-144 – Very gifted
145-164 – Genius
165-179 – High genius
180-200 – Highest genius

We are told “Big Al” had an IQ over 160 which would definitely qualify him as being one the most intelligent people on the planet.

Looking at demographics, we see the following:

As you can see, the percentage of individuals considered to be genius is quite small. 0.50 percent to be exact.  OK, who are these people?

1. Stephen Hawking

Dr. Hawking is a man of Science, a theoretical physicist and cosmologist.  Hawking has never failed to astonish everyone with his IQ level of 160. He was born in Oxford, England and has proven himself to be a remarkably intelligent person.   Hawking is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.  Hawking was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge between 1979 and 2009. Hawking has a motor neuron disease related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a condition that has progressed over the years. He is almost entirely paralyzed and communicates through a speech generating device. Even with this condition, he maintains a very active schedule demonstrating significant mental ability.

9. Andrew Wiles

Sir Andrew John Wiles is a remarkably intelligent individual.  Sir Andrew is a British mathematician, a member of the Royal Society, and a research professor at Oxford University.  His specialty is numbers theory.  He proved Fermat’s last theorem and for this effort, he was awarded a special silver plaque.    It is reported that he has an IQ of 170.

8. Paul Gardner Allen

Paul Gardner Allen is an American business magnate, investor and philanthropist, best known as the co-founder of The Microsoft Corporation. As of March 2013, he was estimated to be the 53rd-richest person in the world, with an estimated wealth of $15 billion. His IQ is reported to be 170. He is considered to be the most influential person in his field and known to be a good decision maker.

7. Judit Polgar

Born in Hungary in 1976, Judit Polgár is a chess grandmaster. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, the youngest person to do so until then. Polgar is not only a chess master but a certified brainiac with a recorded IQ of 170. She lived a childhood filled with extensive chess training given by her father. She defeated nine former and current world champions including Garry Kasparov, Boris Spassky, and Anatoly Karpov.  Quite amazing.

6. Garry Kasparov

Garry Kasparov has totally amazed the world with his outstanding IQ of more than 190. He is a Russian chess Grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, and political activist, considered by many to be the greatest chess player of all time. From 1986 until his retirement in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world No. 1 for 225 months.  Kasparov became the youngest ever undisputed World Chess Champion in 1985 at age 22 by defeating then-champion Anatoly Karpov.   He held the official FIDE world title until 1993, when a dispute with FIDE led him to set up a rival organization, the Professional Chess Association. In 1997 he became the first world champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls, when he lost to the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in a highly publicized match. He continued to hold the “Classical” World Chess Championship until his defeat by Vladimir Kramnik in 2000.

5. Rick Rosner

Gifted with an amazing IQ of 192.  Richard G. “Rick” Rosner (born May 2, 1960) is an American television writer and media figure known for his high intelligence test scores and his unusual career. There are reports that he has achieved some of the highest scores ever recorded on IQ tests designed to measure exceptional intelligence. He has become known for taking part in activities not usually associated with geniuses.

4. Kim Ung-Yong

With a verified IQ of 210, Korean civil engineer Ung Yong is considered to be one of the smartest people on the planet.  He was born March 7, 1963 and was definitely a child prodigy .  He started speaking at the age of 6 months and was able to read Japanese, Korean, German, English and many other languages by his third birthday. When he was four years old, his father said he had memorized about 2000 words in both English and German.  He was writing poetry in Korean and Chinese and wrote two very short books of essays and poems (less than 20 pages). Kim was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records under “Highest IQ“; the book gave the boy’s score as about 210. ^[Guinness retired the “Highest IQ” category in 1990 after concluding IQ tests were too unreliable to designate a single record holder.

 

3. Christopher Hirata

Christopher Hirata’s  IQ is approximately 225 which is phenomenal. He was genius from childhood. At the age of 16, he was working with NASA with the Mars mission.  At the age of 22, he obtained a PhD from Princeton University.  Hirata is teaching astrophysics at the California Institute of Technology.

2. Marilyn vos Savant

Marilyn Vos Savant is said to have an IQ of 228. She is an American magazine columnist, author, lecturer, and playwright who rose to fame as a result of the listing in the Guinness Book of World Records under “Highest IQ.” Since 1986 she has written “Ask Marilyn,” a Parade magazine Sunday column where she solves puzzles and answers questions on various subjects.

1.Terence Tao

Terence Tao is an Australian mathematician working in harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, additive combinatorics, ergodic Ramsey theory, random matrix theory, and analytic number theory.  He currently holds the James and Carol Collins chair in mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles where he became the youngest ever promoted to full professor at the age of 24 years. He was a co-recipient of the 2006 Fields Medal and the 2014 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics.

Tao was a child prodigy, one of the subjects in the longitudinal research on exceptionally gifted children by education researcher Miraca Gross. His father told the press that at the age of two, during a family gathering, Tao attempted to teach a 5-year-old child arithmetic and English. According to Smithsonian Online Magazine, Tao could carry out basic arithmetic by the age of two. When asked by his father how he knew numbers and letters, he said he learned them from Sesame Street.

OK, now before you go running to jump from the nearest bridge, consider the statement below:

Persistence—President Calvin Coolidge said it better than anyone I have ever heard. “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.   Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.  The slogan “Press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” 

I personally think Calvin really knew what he was talking about.  Most of us get it done by persistence!! ‘Nuff” said.