the adventurers’ club newsadventurersclub.org/archives/ac news/ac news oct 2013.pdf · three...

92nd ANNIVERSARY YEAR!

The

Adventurers’ Club News©

Volume 57 October 2013 Number 10

Dr. Kip Thorne with the LIGO Gravitational Wave Detector See page 8...

“Black Holes...”

October 2013 ADVENTURERS’ CLUB NEWS

The Adventurers’ Club NewsThe Official Publication of the Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles®, California

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FRONT COVER ........................ PROFESSOR KIP THORNE WITH THE 4KM LONG LIGOGRAVITATIONAL WAVE DETECTOR, AND SOME OF HISLECTURE ILLUSTRATIONS – PHOTOS BY KIP THORNE

DIRECTORY ............................................................................... INSIDE FRONT COVERPRESIDENT’S PAGE .................................................................................................... 1OTGA – ALMOST: SUDAN PITFALL ............................................................................. 2WHAT’S HAPPENING... ................................................................................................ 4BOOK REVIEW: THE LOST CITY OF Z .......................................................................... 6N.O.H.A. ................................................................................. 7, 10, 21 & BACK COVERTHURSDAY NIGHTS AT THE CLUB ............................................................................... 7THRAWN RICKLE ...................................................................................................... 20LETTERS-TO-THE-EDITOR .......................................................................................... 21FORTHCOMING PROGRAMS .................................................................................... 21

PRESIDENTRick Flores

1ST VICE PRESRalph Perez

2ND VICE PRESMike Gwaltney

TREASURERRoger Haft

ADDRESS2433 N BroadwayLos Angeles, CA 90086

MAILINGADDRESSPO Box 31226Los Angeles, CA 90031

DINNERRESERVATIONS(323) 223-3948Deadline: Tuesday Noon

SECRETARYEric Flanders

Volume 57 ............................................................................................. Number 10Publisher ................................................. ACLA President, Rick Flores (#1120)Editor ................................... Robert G. Williscroft (#1116), Centennial CO 80122

Cell (818) 613-9445; [email protected]. Editor .................................................................................................. [OPEN]Club Phone (323) 223-3948 (24 Hrs) ...........................www.adventurersclub.org

October 2013

ADVENTURERS’ CLUB NEWS October 2013

The

ADVENTURERS’ CLUB NEWS©

Volume 57 October 2013 Number 10THE PRESIDENT’S PAGERick Flores (#1120)- President

1

Autumn isf i n a l l y

here – my sec-ond favoritehiking seasonafter spring. Ican’t wait to getup to the localmountains to

check out the fall colors. I have plans tovisit Liebre Mountain in the Angeles Na-tional Forest, Aspen Grove in the San Gor-gonio Wilderness, and Trabuco Canyonin Orange County; all of these destina-tions are guaranteed to add a splash ofcolor to my photographs!

Fall also brings us two importantAdventurer Club events. The first andthe most fun is the Night of High Ad-venture on October 26th. It is time toget your best tuxedo, military dress uni-form, or ethnic garb out of mothballsand onto your body. Ticket sales havebeen brisk, but there are still some avail-able if you are one of those last minuteshoppers. You also still have time todonate a quality item for the silent auc-tion. Please give generously! MartinBloom has put his time and consider-able talent into putting this event to-gether and deserves our support.

Bob Silver came up with the greatidea of showing a looping video pri-

or to the start of NOHA during thecocktail hour. It consists of photo-graphs of members in various adven-turous situations; if you were at theClub in September you saw early pre-views of this outstanding video thatwas put together by fellow Club mem-ber Larry Schutte. Add an open bar,three terrific speakers – Robert YoungPelton (author of The World’s MostDangerous Places), Mariya Mayor (“theFemale Indiana Jones”), Maria Bal-tazzi (co-producer of Expedition Af-rica for the History Channel) – andyou have the makings of a memora-ble night. Don’t miss it!

The second fall event is the firstannual business meeting scheduledfor October 10. Not as much fun asNOHA, but equally important to thecontinued good health of the Club.The nominations committee will re-veal the nominations for next year’sboard of directors, and you will havean opportunity to nominate somequalified (and hopefully willing!) fel-low members. Our Treasurer RogerHaft will present the all-importantfinancial report and, as promised ear-lier in the year, we will present theresults from the ACLA member sur-vey. We need a quorum to make itan official meeting, so please makeyour plans to attend so you can gaugethe Club’s vital signs.

October 2013 ADVENTURERS’ CLUB NEWS2

OTGA – Almost: Sudan Pitfall

Shane Berry came up with a marvelous concept for a continuing series of articles from fellow Clubmembers about their nearly going OTGA while on an adventure. The articles are to be short, first-person narratives that we can feature regularly in the News. All it will take is for each of you toparticipate in the process and send in your “OTGA – Almost” story. Please include the highestresolution photos you have. This month we feature Max K. Hurlbut’s narrative – “Sudan Pitfall”

OTGA – Almost: Sudan PitfallMax K. Hurlbut (#880) Photos Max K. Hurlbut

The drone of slow-moving SovietAntonov-26s (NATO: “Curl”)

aircraft can be heard approaching inthe distance in South Sudan s(The“Democratic Peoples’ Republic ofthe Sudan” in the late 1970s, an allyof the Soviets).

Plenty of time toroll into a trench asthey kick bombsmade from weldedoil drums out theramp. They containSemtex which isred-orange with noodor. [Until, follow-ing the bombing ofPan Am 103, metallic detection tag-gants and a vapor signature (odor) areadded]. Clever pilots, however,sometimes shut down their enginesand glide in.

The Sudan is Islamic fundamentalistand engaged in a civil war with theSouth: Arabs vs. animists and ChristianNilotes (the Dinka & Nuer – tall, slen-der peoples noted for their long-distancerunning abilities). Human intel and satel-lite photos show isolated camps and build-ings we cannot identify.

Most are mining operations for gold,copper, and uranium. No white West-erners have an excuse to be there,

except for big game hunters.I was a Special Forces qualified cap-

tain in the Army Military Intelligencebranch. As a “Mobilization Desig-nee” I reported to the JFK SpecialWarfare Center at Fort Bragg, NC, for

short tours. I was aformer geology ma-jor (mining engi-neering) and biggame hunter. Dur-ing an Army physi-cal, the doctor no-ticed I had excep-tional color visionand was able to dis-tinguish between

subtle variations. This minor talent hasno practical application, except I canspot camouflage others cannot see.

Our scout is a Katanga soldiernamed Hapana (Swahili for, “It doesnot matter”) Fikiri. Fikiri spots a “beetree,” a hollow log placed in a bushoff the trail, to attract bees for a hiveand honey. While he’s at one endsmoking bees, I pull on a plug ofbrush at the other.

Hundreds of angry African beespour out and we both run. The beesignore me and go after Fikiri. He re-sembles a Looney Toons’ cartoon, leap-ing over logs and rocks with a swarm

A much younger Max & Hapana Fikiri


OTGA – Almost: Sudan Pitfall

of bees in pursuit.Over the camp-fire that evening, I

apologize for disturbing the bees andhand him a nice gratuity to somewhatease the pain of his many bee bumps.Our camp crew can hardly suppresstheir mirth, as he is their unpopularand authoritarian supervisor.

Some days later we are near WadiMura, dry, but for a few months ofthe year. Dust and powdered ash fromnative burns cover everything. Walk-ing is difficultbecause ofmany termitecastles – mush-room-shapedand rock-hard.Mounds ofstone, ancientZande graves, areeverywhere. Oldoffering pots dec-orate many.

Our path splits and tunnels throughthornbush. Fikiri whispers, “Tembo.”“Bia (beer)?” I whisper back. [Tembois Bantu for elephant, but also a pop-ular Congolese beer from where heoriginates. American “humor” doesnot always go over well.] He shakeshis head in irritation and says, “En-dopho,” wagging his hands beside hisface like large ears.

I hesitate before entering the open-ing as something seems amiss, but Ido not know what. I see no elephantsign, but that is not unusual as thenatives spot spoor not visible to us.

“Hatari!” (danger) shouts our guide.He pulls out a cigarette lighter andsets the thick carpet of leaves at myfeet on fire.

The dried leaves are not from thebushes above. The fire reveals anenormous pit, about fifteen-feet deepand covered with sticks to supportthe cover of vegetation. Poisonedpunji sticks are placed where it nar-rows at the bottom. It is a medievalstyle trou de loup (wolf hole) in use

from the time ofJulius Caesar. Itis a man trap,something rare-ly seen in nativepits. Elephantpits need only tobe a few feetdeep as theyhave difficultystepping up.

Fikiri is upset.He thinks it is clever repayment forthe bees for me to step into a shallowelephant trap, not realizing how deepit is. He offers to refund his “tip.” (Irefuse to take it back, of course.) Wenever determine its origin, but it islikely Azande.

Some Azande are Christian butmost practice witchcraft. They poi-son chickens for answers and guid-ance to life’s problems. They claimto be ongoing victims of Arab slavers.

I would like to learn more, but ourtime is limited and we must moveon....

The guide at thecovered pit

The guide at theopen, smoking pit


What’s Happening...


Shane Berry (#1093) and I went toMt. Baldy this Saturday (June 22)

for what must have been our sixth timetogether. It is always a great hike andunlike on our past excursions I feltgood the whole day. Hydrate beforeyou start and eat a banana; that is asure way to avoid felling the effectsof hiking at elevation!

As you can see from the first photo itwas crowded at the top, kind of hazyup there but still a spectacular view.Look closely at the second photo andyou can see the hikers on the Devil'sBackbone. That is old man Berry (he is

Rick & Shane do the Devil'sBackbone (again...)Rick Flores (#1120) Photos Rick Flores

the tired looking one) on the Devil'sBackbone in the third photo, surely oneof the most sensational trail stretchesin all of Southern California.

Mt. Baldy – crowded on top

Mt. Baldy – Devil’s Backbone

Mt. Baldy – Shane on the Backbone



Editor’s Note: Each month we will feature recentactivities of members and friends on this page.Please send your material along with any photosto the Editor by email or snail mail. Designate itfor “What’s Happening....”

Pulchritude – or why I runJay Foonberg (#1126) Photos Jay Foonberg

Jay tells us in pictures why he reallyruns marathons...


Book Review – The Lost City of Z

6

BOOK REVIEW:The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsessionin the AmazonDavid Grann, Vintage Books, New York ,5X8, Softcover, 401 p. ISBN 978-1-4000-7845-5. Review by BobZeman.

In 1925, famed British explorer Per-cy Fawcett ventured into the Am-

azon, searching for a fabled civiliza-tion. He never returned.

Born in 1867, Lieutenant Fawcett ofThe Royal Artillery got his first tasteof adventure looking for treasure in aCeylon (Sri Lankan) cave.

In 1900 he attended ayear-long Royal Geograph-ical Society course, gradu-ating with the equivalentof a degree in exploration.

Fawcett served on expe-ditions to the Amazon in1906-07, 1908, 1910, 1911,1913 and 1914. The earlyexpeditions had a goal ofdefining the borders be-tween Brazil and Boliviaand Paraguay. Each of these also hopedto find an ancient city with roads, bridg-es, and temples.

This lost city was supposedly northof the town of Corumba on the Bo-livian border to which they took atrain from Rio. The explorers thentook a small boat upriver to Cuiaba.The trek on foot headed north to RioNovo and Galvao’s Ranch, east toBakairi Post and north to DeadHorse Camp as noted on an old map.

The hazards involved includedmalaria, lack of food, ticks, piranha,

snakes, pus in their wounds, and sav-age natives. Fawcett was determinedto overcome these, and to push histeam hard to cover more distance.

Alexander Hamilton Rice used a smallairplane for exploration. Hiram Bing-ham, with the aid of a Peruvian guide

in 1911, helped illuminateMachu Picchu in hissearch for Vilcabamba.Both had more successthan Fawcett.

Rice and Bingham werewealthy, but Fawcett waspoor. Only $4,500 givento him by John D. Rock-efeller kept his 1925 ex-pedition alive.

After Fawcett disap-peared near the Xingu Riv-

er along with his son Jack and friendRaleigh Rimell, expeditions were set upto find them. George Dyott led onecarrying a crystal radio.

Loren McIntyre, a guest of the Ad-venturers’ Club who discovered thesource of the Amazon, first heard ofthe Dyott expedition on his crystalset when he was only eleven years old.

The book needs to be read to thevery end when the reader discovershow close Percy and Jack Fawcettand Raleigh Rameill actually came tothe Lost City of Z.


Minutes – August 22, 2013 / N.O.H.A.

THURSDAY NIGHTS AT THE CLUBAugust 22, 2013Doug Brown (#1160)

Many of us have gone from Chief of Staff to Chief of Stuff…..It's time to

support NOHA and project GROS (Get Rid Of Stuff)……One person’s scrap

is another person’s treasure…..please donate.

How about some support from you?

Here are some suggestions: Military related items such as military

weapons, military medals or decorations. Hand created items made by an

ACLA member. Photos….Books….Paintings….Tribal or indigenous people

artifacts or local artisan products….Documents….Unusual currency

items….Figurines, Photographic equipment, etc.

NOHA 2013

(Minutes continued on page 8)

After the ringing of the eight bells bySteward Deats (#1168), President

Rick Flores (#1120) called the meetingto order with the traditional standing si-lent toast to honor absent and departedmembers wherever they may be.

Welcome

Guests

Jay Foonberg (#1126) – Lois Foonberg(Wife)Steve Bein

(#1057) – Annie Ja-cobsen, author ofArea 51, and pastprogram presenter.

Shane Berry(#1093) – Vanceand Janee Carruth.

Robert Thomas(#1122) – Mrs.Thomas

Gary Hareland(#1138) – ToddMcClain andHelen Gulish

Paul Straub (#1153) – Higer BaushJoe Brown (#928) – Sharon Brown

(Wife)Charles Carmona (#1136) – Ron

TasoffBob Iannello (#1100) – Jane Iannello

(Wife), Erick Simmel, and Patti Smile.Bob Walters (#1047) – Marie (Marty)

Martin and their NewfieMarc Weitz (#1144) – Andrea Don-

nellan, Erik Conway, Lesik Motrunich,and Ann Motrunich.

Bob Oberto (#1124) – Chantal Kil-son

Larry Stern (#1112) – Judy Stern(Wife)

Ralph Perez (#1150) – Patti Perez(Wife), Elaine Watson, and JimmyHawkes.

Chris Dyrek (#1169) – Calvin TorrieDoug Brown (#1160) – Sandra ScherfCharles Pincus – California Wreck

DiversWyatt Hoag, Gesche Hoag, and Blair

Fuller.Those Returning from Adventure

Bernie Harris(#1063) –

Traveled to Cana-da with DeveraHarris and twoteenage grand-daughters. Tookthe Rocky Moun-taineer Train toJasper; bus to Co-lumbia Ice Fieldsand to AthabascaGlacier; on toLake Louise, Ban-

ff, Calgary, and then back home.Bob Lowell (#1108) – Took a senti-

mental trip to Greece, partly motivatedto celebrate his experience as a formerdiscus thrower.

Steward Deats – Reported that hiskayak undertook a solo journey down aseries of steps and disappeared. His wifenoted his calm demeanor during the ca-lamity.

Charles Carmona – Reported that hewas in Tanzania where he has set up aschool to teach gem cutting. He is mak-ing frequent trips to the school to over-see the progress.


(Minutes continued from page 7)

8

Minutes – August 22, 2013

Ann Motrunich (Guest) returned froma trip to Kings Canyon.

Bob Walters – Reminisced about hisfather and a former Richfield gas stationon Route 66, now the Cucamonga Sta-tion. Jack Benny introduced his viewersto Cucamonga. The station is destinedto become a World Heritage Site.

Erick Simmel (Guest) – Went spearfishing with less than satisfactory results.Only minnows.

Dave Finnern (#1065) - A recent firethreatening his neighborhood came withinone block of his house. His pool was filledwith ashes. Firefighting DC-10’s flew over-head within 50 feet of rooftops. Thankful-ly, Dave’s home was spared.

All members are invited to share evi-dence of a heroic or embarrassing mo-ment or the peak of an adventure to becompiled by Larry Schutte (#1121) intoa video for presentation at NOHA Oc-tober 26. Thanks to Bob Silver (#728)for this splendid idea.

Doug Brown read an excerpt fromTales of the Adventurers’ Club about Gre-gory Ptitsin (#314) who was captured inSiberia, escaped on the back of his trust-ed black horse, and rejoined his regiment.

Those Leaving on Adventure

Jay Foonberg – Travels to Boston tojoin the 25th Annual Boston Marathon

Jimmy Fund Walk presented by Hyun-dai on September 8, 2013. With four dif-ferent routes, the walk follows the his-toric route of the Boston Marathon inhonor of friends, family, co-workers,and patients facing all forms of cancer.The Jimmy Fund supports cancer researchand care at the Dana-Farber Cancer In-stitute. Jay will take the Babson to Bos-ton 13.1-Mile route.

Larry Stern (#1112) – Three long bicy-cle adventures are coming up. One is a 101-mile trek from Fullerton to San Diego.

President Rick encouraged all membersto purchase NOHA tickets for the

Club’s annual dinner and silent auction Oc-tober 26.

Donations for NOHA’s silent auctionare needed.

Announcements

Black Holes and Their Cousins:The Warped Side of the Universe[Disclaimer: All inaccuracies in these notes areentirely beyond explanation for they may appearto be cosmic aberrations exacerbated bysupernumerary exigencies, or not. Honi soit quimal y pense]

Introduction

Born in Logan Utah in 1940, Dr. KipS.Thorne received his B.S. from

Caltech in 1962 and his Ph.D. from Prin-ceton University in 1965. He returned toCaltech as an Associate professor in 1967and became Professor of TheoreticalPhysics in 1970, The William R. Kenan,Jr., Professor in 1981, The Feynman Pro-fessor of Theoretical Physics in 1991, andThe Feynman Professor of TheoreticalPhysics, Emeritus, in 2009. Thorne’s re-search has focused on Einstein’s generaltheory of relativity and on astrophysics.

Thorne’s research has principally focusedon relativistic astrophysics and gravitationphysics, with emphasis on relativistic stars,black holes, and especially gravitationalwaves. The public perhaps best knows himfor his controversial theory that wormholescan conceivably be used for time travel.




Thorne’s scientific contributions, however,which center on the general nature of space,time, and gravity, span the fullrange of topics in general rela-tivity.

He was cofounder (with R.Weiss and R.W.P. Drever) ofthe LIGO (Laser Interferom-eter Gravitational Wave Ob-servatory) Project, withwhich he is still associated.

In 1969, Thorne steppeddown from his Feynman Pro-fessorship at Caltech in orderto ramp up a new career inwriting, movies, and contin-ued scientific research. His current writ-ing focus is a textbook on classical phys-ics coauthored with Roger Blandford; hiscurrent movie focus is Christopher No-lan’s Interstellar (release date November2014), on which he is executive produc-er, and with Lynda Obst and JonathanNolan he coauthored the story fromwhich the screenplay was adapted; hiscurrent research is on the nonlinear dy-namics of curved space time.

at higher altitude ticks faster by about fourparts in 10 billion.

Accounting for timewarps is essential to the ac-curacy of the Global Posi-tioning System (GPS).

Presentation

The Law of Time Warp is related toAlbert Einstein and his Special Theory

of Relativity. It means things like to livewhere they age the most slowly, and grav-ity pulls them there. As the sun shrinks,gravity increases. The rate of time is get-ting slower.

Warped space is like the surface of atrampoline. If you stick your fist in it,the surface of the trampoline bendsdown as warped. Warped time meansthat time flows at a different rate here,than it does at very high altitudes. A clock

Black Holes

A black hole is a regionof space and time in a

single continuum fromwhich gravity prevents any-thing, including light, fromescaping. Gravity is sostrong, nothing can escape ablack hole.

A black hole is created from a shrink-ing star and made from warped spaceand time. Signals are pulled down to asingularity within a black hole.

Inside a black hole is a singularity. Asingularity is a place where we do notunderstand what’s going on. But we doknow that gravity is so strong that it de-stroys all matter, including space and time.

Black holes spin like a tornado.Black holes collide. Collisions are the

The Schwarzschild Singularity

Kip Thorne Lecture Poster


Minutes – August 22, 2013 / N.O.H.A.

10


most violent events in the universe. Thepower output is 10,000 times all the starsin the universe, and the power appearsin the form of gravita-tional waves. No elec-tromagnetic waveswhatsoever are emitted.

Cosmic strings are likeviolin strings that stretchacross the universe, andif you pluck thesestrings, waves go trav-eling down the strings atthe speed of light producing gravitationalwaves.

Gravitational waves are ripples in thefabric of space and time.

Two black holes that are created fromwarped time and warped space circling

around each other generate ripples calledgravitational waves.

Detection, measurement, and interpre-tation of gravitationalwaves are an internation-al collaboration orga-nized into a single net-work. Three giant detec-tors function in the US intwo locations – Hanford,Washington, and Living-ston, Louisiana. Other gi-ant detectors operate in

Germany (with British collaboration) andItaly (with French collaboration). Small de-tectors function in Japan and Australia.

Each day 10 – 10,000 black hole colli-sions occur in the universe.

A black hole exists in every galaxy.

Catching Time




Thorne’s Vision (~1980) greater than three times the mass of thesun gets crushed into a single point, i.e., ablack hole.Black hole collisions will ignite vibra-

tions of warped space and time. Wecan and should explore this wildness us-ing supercomputers and observable grav-itational waves. Einstein’s work is all themore remarkable because he did not haveaccess to the tools that exist today.

Thorne’s Vision (2009)

With advanced wave de-tectors, we will see black holes

collide. We will see the birth of theuniverse and come to understand indetail how the universe was formed.We will see what came before the BigBang.

Thorne’s Simulation Work

New techniques and technology weredeveloped during the thirty-year pe-

riod 1980-2010.Some of the learning’s from simula-

tion activities include structures stickingout of black holes, sloshing ejects gravi-tational waves from vortexes, and ten-dex lines cross gravitational waves.

The paintings of Lia Halloran depictstructures sticking out of black holes. Atendex will stretch and squeeze. A vor-tex twists with vortex lines.

Neutron Star

A neutron star is a type of stellar remnant that can result from the gravi-

tational collapse of a massive star. Neu-tron stars contain 500,000 times the massof the Earth in a sphere with a diameterno larger than that of city of Brooklyn,New York. Black holes and neutron starsform when stars die. A star with a mass

Multi-messenger Astronomy

Multi-messenger Astronomy incorpo-rating gravitational radiation is a

new and exciting field that will potential-ly provide significant results and excitingchallenges in the near future. With ad-vanced interferometric gravitational wavedetectors (LCGT, LIGO, Virgo) we willhave the opportunity to investigate sourc-es of gravitational waves that are alsoexpected to be observable through oth-er messengers, such as electromagnetic(gamma-rays, x-rays, optical, radio) and/or neutrino emission. The LIGO-Virgointerferometer network has already beenused for multi-messenger searches forgravitational radiation that have producedinsights on cosmic events.

LIGO Today

LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravi-tational-Wave Observatory) is a

large-scale physics experiment aimingto directly detect and observe gravita-tional waves. Cofounded in 1992 byKip Thorne and Ronald Drever ofCaltech and Rainer Weiss of MIT,LIGO is a joint project between scien-

Four-km-long LIGO gravitationalwave detector in Hanford, Washington


Minutes – August 22, 2013(Minutes continued from page 11)

tists at MIT, Caltech, and many othercolleges and universities. It is sponsoredby the National Science Foundation(NSF). At the cost of $365 million (in2002 USD), it is the largest and mostambitious project ever funded by theNSF, and LIGO is a collaboration of850 scientists, 75 institutions, and thir-teen nations.

The LIGO and Virgo (gravitational wavedetector in Italy, which started operating in2007) collaborative investigation has signif-icantly advanced understanding of the ear-ly evolution of the universe. Gravitationalwaves are ripples in the curvature of space-time that propagate as a wave, travellingoutward from the source. Predicted to ex-

ist by Albert Einstein in 1915 on the basisof his theory of general relativity, gravita-tional waves theoretically transport energyas gravitational radiation.

Gravitational waves have two impor-

tant and unique properties. First, there isno need for any type of matter to be

present nearby in order for the waves tobe generated by a binary system of un-charged black holes, which would emitno electromagnetic radiation. Second,gravitational waves can pass through anyintervening matter without being scat-tered significantly. Whereas light fromdistant stars may be blocked out by in-terstellar dust, for example, gravitationalwaves will pass through essentially un-impeded.

These two features allow gravitationalwaves to carry information about astro-nomical phenomena never before ob-served by humans. Observations atLIGO began in 2002 and ended in 2010.No unambiguous detections of gravita-tional waves have been reported out to300 million light years. The original de-tectors were disassembled and are cur-rently being replaced by improved ver-sions known as “advanced LIGO,”scheduled to be operational by 2014.

Looking back to the Big Bang

Laser Interferometer

Laser Interferometer Space Antenna

Quantum NondemolitionTechnology (QND)

An exciting new science, QND aimsto detect and measure gravitational

waves with advanced gravity-wave de-tectors.




Other “All this has a very serious undertone,”Dr. Preskill said. “If we are ever to un-derstand singularities, we must do so interms of some yet-to-be-discovered the-ory of quantum gravity, and that would bea revolution in physics. We’re not there yet.”

Singularity, a phenomenon of a blackhole, is in the domain of quantum

gravity, a field of theoretical physics thatseeks to unify quantum mechanics withgeneral relativity.

Cosmic Censorship Conjecture hypothe-sizes that there are no naked singularities in theuniverse, other than the Big Bang singularity.Some form of censorship is assumed when-ever black holes are mentioned.

Dr. Stephen W. Hawking of Cam-bridge University in England – the bril-liant theorist regarded as one of AlbertEinstein’s intellectual successors – con-ceded defeat in a famous bet he madeon a matter of cosmic significance. Thebet he made with two professors at theCalifornia Institute of Technology(Preskill and Thorne) was that naked sin-gularities could not exist, and now, itseems, they could – maybe.

Dr. Hawking, Dr. Preskill, and Dr.Thorne are leaders in the study of rela-tivity as applied to cosmology, and theymeet often at scientific symposiums. Sub-jects they take up often include conjec-tures about time machines, relativistic tun-nels called wormholes to distant pointsin space and time, the origin of the uni-verse and many other intriguing questions.

Dr. Hawking declined to yield unequiv-ocally on his bet with Dr. Preskill andDr. Thorne. He made another bet withthe Caltech physicists that although a verylimited set of conditions had been foundfor creating naked singularities, no gen-eral conditions would be found.

What was intended as a concessionary mes-sage that Dr. Hawking had printed on the T-shirts was hardly an admission of defeat: “Na-ture Abhors a Naked Singularity.”

Wormhole

A Wormhole is a theoretical passagethrough spacetime that could create

shortcuts for long journeys across the uni-verse. Wormholes are predicted by the the-ory of general relativity. But be wary: worm-holes bring with them the dangers of sud-den collapse, high radiation, and contact withexotic matter. Wormholes in theory are idealfor fast interstellar travel, but unlikely.

Big Bang Theory

One theory that might blow up theBig Bang is Brane-in-the-Bulk. A

“brane” is a three-dimensional worldembedded in a higher-dimensional space– short for membrane in the languageof string theory – moving through afour-dimensional background called“the bulk.” Our brane is not the onlyone; there are others moving throughthe bulk as well. Just as two sheets ofpaper could be blown together in astorm, different 3-D branes could col-lide within the bulk.

Summary

Black holes and gravitationalwaves observations are on the

horizon.A new field of Quantum

Gravity is emerging.More sophisticated comput-

er simulations will improve sci-entific discovery.




14

August 29, 2013Bob Zeman (#878)

The show began at 3:30 today withvideos of John Booth (#869), Paul

MacCready (#959) and Gordon Coo-per (#1041). Though lightly attended, thefootage and comments by these extraor-dinary adventurers were excellent.

After dinner, president Rick Flores(#1120) called upon the returning andleaving adventurers.

Steve Bein (#1057) said that Dave Barr(#1140) had just completed a 7,000 milecross-country motorcycle trip.

Alan Feldstein (#1094) told of his cre-ative way to get to Nairobi after the air-port burned to the ground. He switchedto a flight to Kilimanjaro International inTanzania; hired a taxi to take him to theKenyan border and a friend picked himup and drove to Nairobi. He attendedthe graduation of his Masaai friend,Patrick. He then went down to the Ugan-da-Rwanda border to track gorillas. Alanalso met a guide who used to partnerwith Dian Fossey.

Pierre Odier (#988) brought back a flagfrom Gabon. He hiked five hours to apygmy village where most could not readnor write. He asked one woman to sign hisflag and it was her first time to use her sig-nature. Pierre was initiated into the tribe.

Jay Foonberg (#1126) is going to Bos-ton to run a half marathon sponsored bythe Boston Athletic Association. Then he isoff to Niagara to do another half mara-thon there. Jay and his wife will celebratefifty-five years of marriage on August 31.

Doug Brown (#1160) and Sandra areflying to New Orleans and then drivingto the remaining four states in the coun-try that Doug has not visited.

Bob Zeman (#878) drove to FortCollins, Colorado, and met up with Rob-ert Williscroft (#1116) and his wife JillMayer. Robert spent twenty-three yearsin the Navy and NOAA, riding subma-rines, saturation diving, and conductingresearch in the Arctic and Antarctic, in-cluding a year at the South Pole. Robertsays the thing he misses most about leav-ing southern California is the Club.

Chuck Jonkey (#1026) went to theMagic Castle and asked a couple if ei-ther knew John Booth. The couple re-sponded that John had married them.

Doug Brown dropped in on WaltEhlers (#1119) at the Community Cen-ter of Veterans Hospital in Long Beach.Unfortunately, Walt had broken his leg athird time and was depressed.

Doug then related a tale of CharlesThompson (#612) telling of the timeJohn Davidson (#492) and Lou Higger(#632) were hunting in Lake N’dogo,French Equatorial Africa (now Gabon).Three bull elephants were terrorizing avillage and John and Lou killed them all.

Radio Controlled Aircraft

Ken Dougherty has been racing jetskis, flying a slope soaring glider, and

flying remotely controlled aircraft foryears. The old nickel-cadmium batterieson a model airplane could not hold suf-ficient amp hours to be very useful, butthe new lithium ion batteries can.

A radio controlled RC plane can fly asfar as the eye can see. A drone can flyfarther because the pilot is viewing it ona screen.

RC planes can be bought for a fewhundred dollars, but then one has to buya receiver, a transmitter, and other add-


Minutes –August 29 & September 5, 2013

15


ons. Ken related the story of one modelbuilder who did an excellent job, but he

could not fly his own plane. This modelbuilder had been a Navy F-4 Phantompilot and flew for United Air Lines.

Ken showed he could fly a radio con-trolled plane by actually flying one aroundthe hall. He controlled the tail and therudder. It had no ailerons. Shane Berrydid an admirable job of trying to pho-tograph the speeding plane.

The wings have a flat bottom but a con-toured top so the air has lower pressure asit passes over the top of the wing. BernieHarris said this is the Bernoulli effect.

The propellers on one of these planescan easily cut off one’s fingers.

Gas engines are still popular and theycan range up to two miles. Drones are

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more expensive and can stay aloft forup to 24 hours. They have no pilotweight, no seat, and no aerodynamicproblem of a canopy.

Ken is also a teacher for the CoastGuard Auxiliary. If one gets a ticket fromthe Coast Guard for unsafe boating, onewill pay a fine and be required to attendone of Ken’s classes.

Ken does a lot of his RC plane flying atEl Dorado Park inLong Beach. Thereis a height limit soas not to interferewith helicopters.Also the wash ofthe rotors of achopper can causea RC plane to crash.

Major components of an RC Airplane

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September 5, 2013Bob Zeman (#878)

Despite the fact that it was Rosh Has-hanah, a good crowd showed up.

Marc Weitz (#1144) returned from theGuianas. While there, he went to the rivers andwater falls. He hitchhiked to Jonestown. Offof French Guiana he went to St. Joseph’s Is-land and saw Devil’s Island. Landing here isforbidden to tourists. He was fortunate towatch the launch at the European Space Sta-tion. He also went to Surinam.

Richard Venola (#1071) had also beento French Guiana and he too viewedDevil’s Island from a distance. He de-scribed an adventure as any endeavor oneis involved in and cannot quit even if heor she wanted to. He was found notguilty and is now living life to the fullest.

Bob Gannon (#1066) flew his planeto the Burning Man festival. It was hisfifth trip since 1998. He was impressed



Minutes – September 5. 2013

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by the art cars. Nothing is for sale so inreturn for rides or gifts received he pro-vided rides in his plane. The dust stormswere bad. And the actual burning manrose twenty feet in the air and coveredan area as big as our dining room.

Tonight was the last night to purchasetickets to Night of High Adventure for$85 each. Bob Zeman (#878) showed aphoto of graduation of the Band ofBrothers (101st Airborne division, 506th

parachute infantry regiment, E Compa-ny) from Camp Toccoa in 1944. He istrying to identify those in the photo pri-or to it being auctioned off at NOHA.

Be sure and submit your adventurephotos to Larry Schutte (#1121) for in-clusion in the video at NOHA.

country and it runs north to south.Pierre first showed slides of the old hos-

pital and many of the remnants are still thereincluding Dr. Schweitzer’s stethoscope, or-gan, office and shelves. It serves as a muse-um now. The patient records also remain.But all of the correspondence between Dr.Schweitzer and his sponsors is in a muse-um in Germany. A newer hospital was builtnearby on the grounds of the old leper

colony. Dr. Schweitzer died in 1965. Dr.Schweitzer kept some wild animals as petson the grounds.

Somehow Pierre got in touch with a na-tive tribe and his guide took him to thevillage. On the way bark was taken from

Gabon and Dr. Schweitzer

During his teenage years, Pierre Odier(#988) heard Dr. Albert Schweitzer

speak and struck up a correspondencewith him. Dr. Schweitzer set up a hospi-tal in Lambarene, Gabon in 1913 andonce sent Pierre a small carved ebonyturtle. Pierre wanted to visit the hospitaland put it on his bucket list. But he nevermade it until a few weeks ago.

Just getting to Gabon is an effort thatonly Pierre could manage. The countryhad only forty tourists last year and hasno tourist agency. The agent at the airlineterminal had never heard of Gabon andquestioned his visa. This did not stopPierre. His knowledge of French wasneeded in this former French colony.

Upon arriving in Libreville, he was ques-tioned again but an acquaintance approachedthe customs agent with something in hand andPierre was waived on through.

There is only one paved road in the

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The original Albert Schweitzer hospital

Albert Schweitzer hospital, Lambaréné,Gabon

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Minutes – September 5, 2013


selected trees and mud and spittle wasplaced on the stripped portion. There wasdancing in the village and the chief dancedin his chair. More dancing by tribesmen in

elaborate cos-tumes followedinto the nightaround a fire. Paintwas placed onPierre’s body andhe was given athird eye on hisforehead. He wasalso given tribalclothes andtouched every-

where. Tribal elders recited sayings and atthe end Pierre was initiated into the tribe.

After the initiation he went upriver in aboat and saw a hippo hangout. Furtheron was a mission established by E. Haug.The protestant church was large and therewas a school.

After a seven-hour boat ride, hetook a five-hourhike to a pygmyvillage. The trailwas muddy, over-grown and not flat.

Arriving at the vil-lage, he was sur-prised at the com-fort of his chairmade out of a logand his bed whichwas a mattress on the ground. He visitedthe small wooden temple with a fire and achair for the chief where all ceremonies andactivities took place.

The only currency in the village comesfrom the sale of gold which the pyg-

mies search for. The villagers make drumsand small harps which they play.

The children are active in the villagebut when Pierre gave them two balls, theydid not know how to form teams forgroup activities.

In return Pierre saw a pipe that he

wanted. He negotiated for three dayswith the village chief and finally was ableto trade it for his hat and bring it homealong with a chicken he was given. Un-fortunately, the chicken defecated in abackpack that Pierre had borrowed fromAlan Feldstein (#1094) and caused a mess.Pierre says he’ll clean it.

Pierre wasgiven a Clubflag for his ex-pedition. Heasked mem-bers of the vil-lage to sign it.They couldnot read nor write. But each had his or herown squiggle. So he obtained the squigglesof the forty-nine members. A few were soexcited because this was the first time some-one had asked for their squiggle.

The pygmies still hunt with a bow andarrow. The arrow can be tipped with apoison.

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A member of thePygmy tribe Pierrevisited

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AC Club flag signing by the villagers

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Pierre being initiatedinto the tribe

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September 12, 2013Bob Zeman (#878)

President Rick Flores (#1120) wel-comed a Ladies’ Night crowd and

Heidi.Bernie Harris (#1063) and Devera tried

to go to the Ahwanee Hotel as a youngmarried couple. It was too expensive. Sothe two flew up there recently with theAirventurers and ate at the hotel.

Steve Lawson (#1032) took his 11-year-old Boy Scout son on the Lane Vic-tory. The group received a tour of theship including the engine room. It wascommissioned in 1944. Fog came in tocancel the dog fight but there were nu-merous photo ops.

Rick Flores (#1120) and friend tookthe tram up San Jacinto to the stationand then trudged off to the summit. Itwas a clear day at the bottom. The hikefrom the station to the top is five and ahalf miles. But rain and lightning cameup and the two turned back a quartermile short but healthy and in good shape.

Jay Foonberg (#1126) flew to Bostonto attempt a half marathon. But he waspeeing red before the flight and duringthe flight. Upon landing, he mentionedhis problem and called his doctor in L.A. The doctor was not in. The airportpersonnel urged him to get on a returnflight to L. A. which he did.

When he returned, his doctor askedhim if he had eaten beets recently. Jaysaid yes. The doc said no problem, Jaywas fine. But Jay endured a ten-hourround trip flight with five movies andno run. Undaunted Jay is going to NorthCarolina to give a talk and then to Nia-gara Falls for another half marathon.

Nominations are being accepted for

the Adventurer of the Year. The awardwill be presented at N.O.H.A. Also be-ing shown will be a 20-minute video ofour members on their adventures. LarrySchutte (#1121) is putting this together.Tickets are $95 each.

Mysticism and Symbolism in theThird World: Journey to theOther Side

Pierre Odier (#988) introduced JimDorsey (#1081) as a traveler, adven-

turer and accomplished artist.Jim talked about animism in that all

things possess a spiritual essence. Danc-ers in Beninand othercountries per-form danceslearned fromtheir ancestorsto show theirbeliefs. Anoth-er way is todraw artworkon walls ofcaves andthese have en-dured for cen-

turies. The shaman often serves as a me-dium between the visible and the spiritworld. He may be called a witch doctor,voodoo mambo or exorcist in differentparts of the world. They use businesscards to promote their skills.

Lizard Rock in Benin is one of the ear-liest places of symbolism in West Africa.Large market places sell skulls, bones,feathers and other items to ward offspells, fetishes and act as medicines.

In the west we use incense but in other

Photos James Dorsey

Jim with femaleShaman-PeruvianAmazon



19

countries tobacco and khat take its place.Drumming helps take members to al-

ter one’s spiritualstate with its re-petitive beat. Facepainting andbody painting arethen used bydancers and trib-al members toenforce the tran-sition. Jim ob-served this in theOmo River areaof Ethiopia.

Sometimes dancing becomes so phys-ical that one dances to exertion. Somebelieve that one can obtain occult pow-ers. Jim talked to one who could changehimself into a leopard and another couldfly or levitate. But the timing was not rightfor Jim to observe.

He went to a village in which every hut wasdecorated with fancy artwork. Soothsayers tellfortunes.

Togo is hometo another fetishmarket wherehorns, bonesand skins are soldalong with hon-ey wine. This isone reason thatthere is littlewildlife in WestAfrica becausethe animals andbirds are killed for their spiritual value.

Another Animist ceremony has womenbeaten heavily to drive out the evil spirits.

In Southeast Asia, to prove their com-patibility for women, single men are called

upon to jump from one bull to another toanother and back again. This is to connectwith ancestors. If they fail they are destinedto be single for another year.

Another tradition is to put a spirithouse in front of a home. Bill and Jill

Morse have donethis in Cambodia.

Even in theCzech Republicthere is an ossuarywhich is a reli-gious place of thedead. In Mexico,it’s a brujo.

All testify to theimpermanence oflife. This life isshort and we will

move on. Mexico celebrates this on No-vember 1st, a holy day to honor the dead.

Jim and Irene were at Tikal on the win-ter solstice when the shrine is closed totourists. They witnessed the ceremonialdancing but were prohibited from view-ing the evening ceremony.

Many in the Peruvian Amazon wear atalisman to ward off fetishes. Here theCurandero uses armadillos and cuys orguinea pigs to achieve mind-bendingstates.

Jim, Pierre, Alan Feldstein (#1094) andMike Gwaltney (#1128) were fortunateto witness an Egundance in West Af-rica. They ob-served that voo-doo crosses all linesin Africa. It wasimported via theslaves to the Car-ibbean and then to the United States.

Jim with Bwa spiritdancer-Burkina Faso

Jim with VoodooPriest-Benin

Jim with MayanShaman-Coba Mexico

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Thrawn Rickle

You probablyknow by

now, especiallyif you have highschool age chil-dren or grand-children, that the

PSAT is about to happen. For those ofyou who do not know, this is a prelim-inary exam to the SAT (Scholastic Ap-titude Test), however, it is shorter, andless complicated, especially in math.The kicker is that the PSAT is also theNational Merit Scholarship Qualifica-tion Test, and a sufficiently high scorecan qualify the testee for a NationalMerit Scholarship – i.e., a lot of finan-cial assistance for college.

This really matters for most peo-ple, but the irony is that the PSATdoes not really test anything but aperson’s ability to take the PSAT. Justtoday, Jill and I were reviewing withour boys the requirements for takingthe PSAT, and the best methodolo-gies for scoring in the top percentiles.We purchased a book designed tohelp students do better on the PSAT.

First in line was a detailed explana-tion of how to pick the correct an-swer from a list of answers on a mul-tiple-choice question. The instruc-tions included what to do if you don’tknow the answer – i.e., how to guessintelligently. I did not see anythingthat advised the test takers to study

THE THRAWN RICKLE From the Ancient Scottish: thrawn = stubborn; rickle = loose, dilapidated heap

Robert G. Williscroft (#1116) – Editorthe material on which they would betested. As I see it, this means there isvirtually no chance that the PSAT willdetermine which students are mostknowledgable in the areas tested.

It’s all about the process. Substanceis either placed in secondary position,or it is not mentioned at all. If youwant to know what’s wrong withmodern education, look no further!

In April 1995 average combinedSAT (not PSAT) scores were seven-ty points lower than in 1963. So, whatdid we do? We didn’t work to raisethe scores, we “recentered” thescores, so that a seventy-point lowerscore had the same number score asa seventy-point higher score frombefore. But because the numberslooked alike, people soon forgot therecentering, and lost track of the factthat as a nation we were becomingdumber and dumber.

Unfortunately, nothing has changedsince 1995, except that things havegotten even worse. We have becomea nation of semiliterates with no realhope of improving anytime soon.When compared to the rest of thefirst-world nations on this planet, werank near the bottom of the heap.

If you want to do your kids orgrandkids a favor, forget video gamesand TV, and find a way to stuff realknowledge into their heads.

Remember that a full color editionof the Club News is available online.


Programs / Letters / N.O.H.A.

Forthcoming ProgramsOctober 3, 2013 – LADIES’ NIGHT – Kevin Lee – Diving in AntarcticaOctober 10, 2013 – Charles Carmona – Gemology in TanzaniaOctober 17, 2013 – Richard Venola – Free at lastOctober 24, 2013 – CLUB DARK – N.O.H.A.October 29, 2013 – N.O.H.A. – Night of High Adventure

Everyone is Welcome!October 31, 2013 – Andrew Harper – Desert Discovery: The Great Australian

Arid WildernessNovember 7, 2013 – Alan Feldstein – There Is More To Africa Than Just a

Wildlife SafariNovember 14, 2013 – Robert Baxt – Wine, Cheese, Magic & MoreNovember 21, 2013 – [OPEN]November 28, 2013 – CLUB DARK – ThanksgivingDecember 5, 2013 – G. Pat Macha – Mysteries MitigatedDecember 12, 2013 – Marc WeitzDecember 19, 2013 – Annual Christmas Party – Members and Invited Male

GuestsDecember 26, 2013 – CLUB DARK – ChristmasJanuary 2, 2014 – CLUB DARK – New Years

I guess that is good news - even if the good newsis that Bill is reading the News. At least somebody isreading it!– Editor

To the Editor:A-Club News now being read in China!

Happen to be emailing Bill Altaffer(#1095), the world’s premiere traveler,and he wrote back asking how to openNews from our website. Sent him theinfo. So it can be said, tongue incheek, that in the far reaches ofNortheast Asia the News is be-ing circulated.

What a feat for the News!– Bob Aronoff #1163

LETTERS TOTHE EDITOR

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