Wednesday, February 10: Don't abandon moon program and more
10.02.10
The Apollo program, at its peak in the late 1960s, employed 34,000 NASA personnel, and nearly 400,000 civilian contractors. Those jobs and businesses spurred ancillary growth and support within the economy, and communities across the country, as well. More jobs, and more businesses sprouted as a result.
Needless to say, a modern program could perhaps directly employ a factor of those numbers, as opposed to losing jobs, as a result of our failure to venture back to the moon.
The 2010 NASA budget is set at near $19 billion, and only accounts for 0.52 percent of the federal budget. "Savings" achieved by slashing NASA's budget is a zephyr, easily lost in a budget filled with trillions of dollars.
The article states that the White House will direct NASA to concentrate on Earth-science projects \— principally, researching and monitoring climate change \— and on a new technology research and development program designed to someday enable human exploration of asteroids and the inner solar system.
Source: News-Journal.com
Steam offers a new recipe for healthful foods
27.01.10
You might consider Harumi Furugaki as a sort of kitchen wizard.
Thanks to her diligence, cooks today can steam-fry chicken at the push of a button--and not have to worry about their waistlines.
At Sharp Corp., Furugaki, 51, helps develop the automated cooking menus that are built into modern microwave cookers. Such menus use software to automatically set the time and oven temperature for a particular dish.
Furugaki has devised more than 5,000 recipes for automatic menus since she joined the Product Planning Department six years after she started working for the Osaka-based company.
In Japan, homemakers have traditionally done their cooking on stovetop gas ranges. Unlike Western countries, most homes do not come equipped with an oven for baking and roasting.
Furugaki's 30-year career at Sharp Corp. has paralleled the development of a microwave oven that also allows cooks to broil meats, bake cakes and even roast turkeys in addition to the convenience of microwaving.
Source: Asahi Shimbun
