To:
Director of Studies on Extraterrestrial Life
From:
Director of NAAEFA subdivision Space Exploitation
RE:
Findings from the Europa probe 128.23e
Date:
Aug. 8, 2096
Status:
Confidential, do not disclose without confirmation of code 34.5
Background
As you are aware,
the latest Eurpoa probe landed successfully and has begun transferring data
back to Mars Station 102. What has
not been released beyond the Aleph Teams is that there is strong evidence for
the discovery of life on Europa.
This is not mere speculation as three teams have independently arrived
at this conclusion.
Data
1)
The
organisms, called Extraterrestrial Tubers (ETs) are tube shaped, almost exactly
10mm long with a 6mm outer diameter and a 5mm inner diameter. The figure shows a representative side
view.
2)
ET
lives submerged in underground (20km), super-cooled pools of water and attaches
its side to rocks with the major axis of the tube aligned with gravity.
3)
ET
is made of mostly of silicon.
4)
Motes
of silicon dust, dislodged by volcanic activity, commonly float down through
the pools.
5)
A
large number of these motes enter the top of ETŐs tube (the mouth). Some motes reemerge through the bottom
of the tube, some motes do not.
Team Aleph 3 conjectured that the motes that do not reappear have been
absorbed or ŇeatenÓ.
6)
The
motes differ in silicon content, which in turn seems to affect the number of
motes eaten by ET.
7)
The
number of motes eaten by ET also seems to be dependent on the ambient
temperature. The ambient
temperature can change rapidly due to volcanic activity, pressure changes, gas
buildup, etc.
8)
Whether
a mote is eaten also seems to depend loosely on the downward velocity of a
mote.
9)
The
probe was able to record a specimen of ET for 1 minute. The data are in Appendix A. Recorded are
a)
The
time that a mote entered the top of ET (ms)
b)
The
ambient temperature at the time the mote entered ET (Kelvin).
c)
The
silicon content of the mote (ppm)
d)
The
downward velocity (mm/ms) of the mote when it entered ET.
e)
Whether
the mote reemerged from ET (1 = no, 0 = yes)
10)
The
probe tried to remove a number of ET specimens, but they are extremely delicate
and disintegrate when disturbed.
Project
Directive
Probe130.34d
is due to be launched in the spring of 2099. We would like Probe 130.34d to be equipped to find out as
much as possible about ET. This
memo is being forwarded to an undisclosed number of research teams. You are to head one of these teams. Only one of the candidate teams will be
allowed to design experiments for Probe 130.34d. This team will be selected based on how much it can learn
about ET using the resources of Probe 128.23e. As per Directive 891.c, I would strongly suggest that any
experiments be informed by and inform at least two competing mathematical
models of ETŐs behavior. You may use
any modeling techniques you see fit, but the models must be explanatory.
Remember, the key to modeling is that the models should be implementations of
hypotheses about the behavior of ET.
The models may or may not be nested as long as they allow you to learn
something about E.T. The most
complex of these hypotheses should incorporate how 2 or more of the factors
listed above influence whether a mote is eaten.
Probe
128.23e is equipped to do the following:
1)
Drop
one silicon mote into ETŐs mouth at a time.
2)
The
motes can be dropped with precise timing.
3)
The
motes can be created with precise silicon content.
4)
Prevent
other motes from entering ETŐs mouth.
5)
The
ambient temperature can be controlled to the degree and within a millisecond
via ETŐs thrusters and cooling system.
The temperature will not change between mote drops.
6)
The
motes can be dropped with precise control of downward speed.
7)
The
probe can record whether a mote reemerges from ET.
Unfortunately,
the probe only has a small reserve of power, enough for you to perform exactly
100 seconds of experiments. These
experiments do not have to take place all at once, that is, they may be
separated by time, although due to administrative constraints, there is a maximum
of four time-separated experiments.
The sum total time of the experiments must be no more than 100 seconds.
Each experiment should start at time 0.
Submission
Protocol
All
proposed experiments must be submitted via a text file named Ňexp.mÓ in email
at least 2 days (by noon) prior to the presentation deadline (see below). All experiments (four maximum) may be
separated in time, but must not exceed 100 seconds total (total experiment time
= time of last event time, where an event is dropping a mote). Each text file must be arranged as
follows:
1)
Each
line is a command for Probe 128.23e to drop a mote and possibly change the
ambient temperature.
2)
Each
line contains
a)
The
command time (ms) from the start of the experiment. The first mote does not have to be dropped at 0.
b)
The
ambient temperature desired (K, must be between 100 and 400).
c)
The
moteŐs silicon content (ppm, must be >= 0; 0 means no mote dropped, just
temperature changed).
d)
The
moteŐs downward velocity (positive mm/ms). Ignored if the moteŐs silicon content is 0, but some value
is required.
A
short example protocol is given in Appendix B.
The
experiment will be run and the results of which motes were eaten will be
forwarded to the group liaison. If
there is an error in the protocol, it will be returned without being executed
or debugged, but the experiment will not count off the 100 seconds or total
number of experiments.
Remember
that at Time 0, there is no guarantee of the state of ET.
Presentation
You
will have ½ hour present your
findings to the Board in any way you desire. The presentation date is scheduled for ?? December
2004. It is suggested that you
motivate a model and early experiments with the data from Appendix A. Then
compare competing models in your early experiments. Use these data to either support one model over another or
suggest changes to your models.
Make sure to justify all modeling assumptions and comparison
techniques. Give behavioral
interpretations to your modeling assumptions. Otherwise, treat this presentation as if you were presenting
a paper in class. Remember, although not necessary, you can test your models on
the data from Appendix A.
Teams
The
teams are given in Appendix C.
Good
Luck,
Andrew
Cohen
Director
of NAAEFA subdivision Space Exploitation
MBSD
gg 254
Appendix
A
|
901 |
276 |
6.2816 |
0.063378 |
0 |
|
2094 |
292 |
7.4774 |
0.06327 |
0 |
|
2126 |
292 |
6.9339 |
0.083175 |
0 |
|
2264 |
297 |
1.8029 |
0.057878 |
0 |
|
3254 |
283 |
7.4267 |
0.051246 |
1 |
|
3466 |
283 |
9.7857 |
0.039599 |
1 |
|
3807 |
283 |
2.6774 |
0.05073 |
0 |
|
5924 |
255 |
3.5941 |
0.092296 |
0 |
|
6490 |
255 |
5.6105 |
0.065677 |
1 |
|
7970 |
263 |
6.083 |
0.060538 |
0 |
|
8885 |
287 |
2.42 |
0.059494 |
0 |
|
10067 |
287 |
2.1192 |
0.083799 |
0 |
|
11384 |
230 |
6.3337 |
0.098822 |
0 |
|
11917 |
244 |
3.6603 |
0.059546 |
0 |
|
12317 |
249 |
1.7746 |
0.080681 |
0 |
|
12724 |
243 |
8.1007 |
0.070998 |
0 |
|
13779 |
249 |
5.4421 |
0.06657 |
0 |
|
14144 |
249 |
3.9603 |
0.032117 |
0 |
|
14875 |
249 |
2.6292 |
0.065928 |
0 |
|
14925 |
246 |
2.3108 |
0.048501 |
0 |
|
17163 |
255 |
1.6859 |
0.036471 |
0 |
|
19318 |
266 |
8.9073 |
0.05104 |
0 |
|
20479 |
249 |
4.1904 |
0.09946 |
1 |
|
20601 |
249 |
6.8744 |
0.059552 |
1 |
|
20927 |
249 |
2.5989 |
0.055079 |
0 |
|
20963 |
249 |
1.5198 |
0.0741 |
0 |
|
21209 |
249 |
1.3132 |
0.088211 |
0 |
|
21464 |
249 |
9.1285 |
0.045593 |
1 |
|
21474 |
249 |
7.2759 |
0.070298 |
1 |
|
21958 |
264 |
3.0893 |
0.06892 |
0 |
|
22204 |
264 |
2.0926 |
0.097039 |
0 |
|
23052 |
235 |
5.798 |
0.088803 |
0 |
|
23156 |
230 |
1.5002 |
0.074685 |
0 |
|
23383 |
230 |
2.5774 |
0.088833 |
0 |
|
24809 |
261 |
5.4484 |
0.073343 |
0 |
|
25077 |
261 |
4.0721 |
0.0821 |
0 |
|
25233 |
261 |
4.6352 |
0.088542 |
0 |
|
27424 |
282 |
1.0247 |
0.033783 |
0 |
|
27653 |
280 |
9.8731 |
0.076495 |
1 |
|
30771 |
282 |
9.6278 |
0.030645 |
0 |
|
31365 |
282 |
3.414 |
0.062621 |
0 |
|
32029 |
282 |
7.8698 |
0.036831 |
0 |
|
32412 |
282 |
1.6248 |
0.045418 |
0 |
|
33165 |
302 |
8.3679 |
0.075964 |
0 |
|
33237 |
302 |
2.4373 |
0.066735 |
0 |
|
33538 |
302 |
3.792 |
0.048008 |
0 |
|
35646 |
285 |
7.9022 |
0.099285 |
1 |
|
37098 |
309 |
9.4806 |
0.081587 |
0 |
|
37598 |
309 |
2.2057 |
0.030396 |
0 |
|
37753 |
316 |
9.4316 |
0.050979 |
0 |
|
37795 |
316 |
2.5655 |
0.054163 |
0 |
|
38010 |
316 |
4.2488 |
0.046195 |
0 |
|
39903 |
302 |
5.9994 |
0.078232 |
0 |
|
40482 |
293 |
7.1994 |
0.07255 |
0 |
|
42629 |
288 |
7.5087 |
0.087474 |
0 |
|
42953 |
294 |
7.7857 |
0.070892 |
0 |
|
43076 |
294 |
4.3783 |
0.043775 |
0 |
|
44677 |
306 |
5.118 |
0.072203 |
0 |
|
44718 |
306 |
2.5262 |
0.092283 |
0 |
|
45179 |
329 |
8.1216 |
0.08718 |
0 |
|
47192 |
348 |
2.2916 |
0.04107 |
0 |
|
48810 |
333 |
8.9089 |
0.063742 |
0 |
|
50116 |
315 |
3.6511 |
0.06137 |
0 |
|
50201 |
315 |
5.9125 |
0.046526 |
0 |
|
52305 |
266 |
7.1231 |
0.07242 |
1 |
|
52620 |
266 |
6.401 |
0.076274 |
1 |
|
52626 |
266 |
4.4961 |
0.055643 |
1 |
|
52660 |
266 |
4.2308 |
0.092901 |
1 |
|
53134 |
248 |
8.3078 |
0.040766 |
0 |
|
54286 |
226 |
7.2901 |
0.038485 |
1 |
|
55142 |
224 |
2.2663 |
0.057878 |
0 |
|
57457 |
226 |
4.3667 |
0.038276 |
0 |
|
57761 |
244 |
8.5123 |
0.069477 |
0 |