<rant>

It's hard out here for a scientist.  Now, I'm no scientist, but as an engineer I understand the importance of accountability and the role it plays in the field.  

Perusing an article this morning about recent developments the scientific community brought that thought to my attention.  The article discusses how recent revelations within the scientific community have shown that most scientific publications are really full of it.  In other words, a team set out to verify 53 publications, and the results of only 6 of them could be replicated.  So what does that say about the ones that couldn't be verified?  The author suggests that it's because most "scientists" are grossly missing the point in publishing their work.  To quote the article: 

"Scientists believe that the way you succeed is having splashy papers in Science or Nature — it's not bad for them if a paper turns out to be wrong, if it's gotten a lot of attention."

Huh.  Kinda reminds me of an old saying most of you have probably heard before:

"The end justifies the means."

Most of you will also probably agree that this is phrase promotes some pretty questionable ethics.  Imagine if you were one of these scientists.  Is it really okay to fudge a few numbers if you think that's going to get you published?  Okay, are you aware that thousands of other scientists are going to be reading your publications, and possibly basing their research off of your made-up findings?  What about the companies pouring billions of dollars into R&D that might have to be thrown out simply because it was all based on a few "harmless" lies?  See how much trouble this is causing?  

Good God, y'all.

</rant>

It sucks when you miss the opportunity to view Venus by mere seconds.  Just as you've set up your telescope and sighted in, it's gone hiding behind the trees.  Another missed opportunity has afflicted me with a defeated, sinking feeling.  Sinking like Venus below the horizon.  But such is the life of an amateur astronomer.  What goes around, quite literally comes around.  And since I have an evening class and won't be home until long after sunset tomorrow, I guess it will have to come around twice.

I've made it my mission to get some half-decent pictures of Venus taken, hopefully by the end of the week.  Stay tuned for those.

 

Well, I've survived my first week back at school.  Was a lot harder than I thought, trying to adjust to "normal" life.  Trying to return to a routine school schedule after coming fresh off of the Solar Decathlon is a lot like falling back to Earth after a long while spent floating through space; I've forgotten how to walk.

I feel a little better about this school year, however, since I'll be focusing a lot of my efforts on my senior design project, which involves - you guessed it - solar power.  I'll be helping design and build a solar array to power an off-grid system at Walden West, a sort of alternative school designed to teach kids about renewable energy and eco-friendly lifestyles.  I saw the site that I'll be working at for the first time yesterday, and boy, do we have a lot of work ahead of us.  All that stands there currently is an "array" of 2 solar panels, and 2 different wind generators.  Needless to say, I can see why they're happy to have us improve the system.  I suppose "improve" is a generous term.  "Replace" would be better suited.

One more year, I keep reminding myself.  Then I can start a new chapter in the book of my life.  And these next 9 months had better come and go pretty quickly.  Because frankly, I'm ready for change.

It's over.  Donezo.  Finito.  Two years of work have finally come to a close.  Time to find something new to do.

Today I said goodbye to the baby I bore and raised for almost two years, sitting heavy in my mind the thought that I may never see her again.  We don't know what she's destined for after the competition; perhaps she'll be bought and find a new home on a lovely plot of land, or sit in storage, wrapped up, waiting for someone to come along and bring her back to life for all the world to see.  I wish I could buy her, and put her on that plot of land next to our cabin.  Radiant and Rachel.  That way I could see her everyday I'm up there.  I'm gonna miss that house.

It's weird.  Going back to school after working for almost 4 months straight on such a large-scale engineering project is like trading in a Ferrari for a Volvo.  I was going so fast!  Now I'm back in a comfortable, boring, but necessary situation.  Never have I been more ready to graduate and be done with school for a while.

At least I have my new job to look forward to!  And since it's pretty much going to be me doing the same thing that I did on Radiant House, it will be like things never changed.

Tell me, and I forget.  Teach me, and I remember.  Involve me, and I learn.

It's been 5 days since the 2013 Solar Decathlon began.  I have never felt more tired in my life.  But at the same time, I have never felt more proud and rewarded.

We ended the first day of the competition in 4th place.  The next day we found ourselves in 3rd, with the Czech Republic team in solid first place, followed immediately by Stanford.  However, it wasn't long before we found ourselves leap-frogging Stanford to take 2nd place by the end of Friday.  Saturday was an even better feeling, as by the end of the day we climbed up to 1st place overall!  That celebration was short-lived, however, as we woke up Sunday morning with ourselves in 2nd place once again, this time replaced by Team Capitol DC in 1st.  Ever since, it's been a tight race, without any of the top 3 teams (DC, SCU, and UNLV) wavering from their places.

Our team has so far performed exceptionally.  We've achieved 1st place overall in the Home Entertainment category, and we continue to dominate the Comfort Zone category, thanks to the Messana Radiant system and the ingenuity of our Italian amici.  With the next few days taken up mostly by the very intimidating jury walkthroughs, which amount to a majority of the points possible in the competition, the entire team is going to be on our toes.

In the meantime, I've taken the opportunity to get to know some of the other teams and tour their houses.  Even though we are competing against each other, I enjoy admiring the work and dedication of so many students from around the world.  Not to mention that there's some pretty awesome and diverse technology in each of the houses.  I guess it's my way of getting to know the competition, and see what we're up against.

"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."

I'm writing this post from the air, as I make my way by plane back to Irvine for the Solar Decathlon.  I'm headed from one runway to another, although the latter will be populated not with airplanes, but with solar houses.  Hopefully this coming weekend will be less "busy" than last weekend, however I anticipate the excitement to be even higher.

A commentary on commercial flight:

When I was a kid, flying was routine.  We flew every year to see family, which was easy for us given that my dad is an employee for United.  The last time we flew anywhere as a family was in January of 2011; I have not been on a flight since.  Boy, things have changed since last time.  I'm trying to imagine what it was like flying when I was just a kid, and how the experience changed as I got older.  I basically grew up flying in planes.  And I just want to add, it's good to be back in the friendly skies!  This time is also my first time flying solo, so that's cool.  Although the experience of flying itself is not all that foreign to me, it's still exciting getting to do it on my own!

I've just arrived at the hotel, and it's time for me to clock out.  Tomorrow's a big day for all of us!  For some, that day started tonight...