The Arecibo message was broadcast into space a single time via frequency modulated radio waves at a ceremony to mark the remodeling of the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico on 16 November 1974.  It was aimed at the globular star cluster M13 some 25,000 light years away because M13 was a large and close collection of stars that was available in the sky at the time and place of the ceremony.  The message consisted of 1,679 binary digits, approximately 210 bytes, transmitted at a frequency of 2,380 MHz and modulated by shifting the frequency by 10 Hz, with a power of 1,000 kW.  The "ones" and "zeros" were transmitted by frequency shifting at the rate of 10 bits per second.  The total broadcast was less than three minutes.  The cardinality of 1,679 was chosen because it is a semiprime (the product of two prime numbers), to be arranged rectangularly as 73 rows by 23 columns.  The alternative arrangement, 23 rows by 73 columns, produces jumbled nonsense.  Dr. Frank Drake, then at Cornell University and creator of the Drake equation, wrote the message with help from Carl Sagan, among others.  Because it will take 25,000 years for the message to reach its intended destination (and an additional 25,000 years for any reply), the Arecibo message was more a demonstration of human technological achievement than a real attempt to enter into a conversation with extraterrestrials.  In fact, the stars of M13, to which the message was aimed, will no longer be in that location when the message arrives.  According to the Cornell News press release of November 12, 1999, the real purpose of the message was not to make contact but to demonstrate the capabilities of newly installed equipment.  See description of the message's seven parts and a graphic with color added to highlight separate parts at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_message

The only ferret native to North America also is the only serious natural predator of the prairie dog.  While some snakes, coyotes and badgers are known to occasionally snack on prairie dogs, the deceivingly vicious black-footed ferret makes them a regular entrée.  In fact, a single ferret may eat more than 100 prairie dogs in a year.  "The grass grows back where my cattle graze,” cattleman Gary Walker said.  “But where prairie dogs live the grass is completely destroyed, and it takes a long time to restore that land.  “Whenever you see tumbleweed you can thank a prairie dog.”  However, those who take time to study the prairie dog species appreciate that they represent an important wildlife resource.  Even those like Walker who curse the varmints, recognize that responsible conservation of the prairie dog has important consequences for many other species of animals in the grassland ecosystem.  The swift fox, burrowing owl, raptor, mountain plover, several snakes, many rodents, and of course the black-footed ferret, all depend on the prairie dogs for food, shelter and/or nesting sites.  It also is important to note that prairie dogs are naturally nomadic, meaning that they prefer to keep moving.  But with so much of the prairie lands having been plowed for crops, these large colonies have remained relatively static for years.  Their destruction is dramatic.  Walker estimates that more than 10,000 acres of his ranch land has been rendered “non-productive” for grazing.  In addition to the dramatic loss of habitat, the introduction of plague (from fleas), and poisoning has led to the demise of both the prairie dogs and the black-footed ferrets.  The Walkers are opposed to poisoning, and they believe that nature always has provided the best solution to this complex problem.  Many of Walker’s fellow cattlemen and many environmental and regulatory experts agree.  On the surface the solution of bringing back the black-footed ferret seemed fairly simple.  Turns out it was one of the toughest challenges the Walkers and their “BFF allies” have ever faced, officials said.  The biggest roadblock was the legislation that actually penalized private land owners who attempted to harbor any endangered species.  Walker said that historically, when an endangered species was found on private property, the federal government stepped in and imposed strict mandates on the use of the land.  In some cases, the agencies also held the land owners and their neighbors liable for any harm that came to the rare animals.  It was a classic “catch 22” for ranchers, tribal leaders and other private land owners.  The black-footed ferret recovery effort has been under way since 1981, when a small population was discovered in Meeteetse, Wyoming.  Remarkably, only 18 ferrets were taken into captivity.  But these precious few provided the foundation for a successful captive-breeding program that has brought the species back from the brink of extinction.  In 2011, it was reported that 1,000 ferrets were surviving in the wild, and 300 more in captivity.  The recovery program is supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center in Wellington, the National Zoo’s Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, and the zoological institutions in Colorado Springs (Cheyenne Mountain Zoo), Phoenix, Louisville and Toronto.  Some of the folks on the front lines of the recovery effort at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo were on hand to witness and celebrate the release of fifty of their black-footed ferrets on the Walker Ranch.  Dr. Della Garelle, director of Field Conservation and a veterinarian at Cheyenne Mountain, spoke about the hard work and collaboration that led to the momentous release day.  “The recovery program at the CMZ has been in effect for twenty three years,” Garelle said.  “The six captive-breeding programs have been reintroducing the ferret on public land since 1991, but reintroduction on private land — especially in Colorado — has been extremely difficult.”  The 50 new furry residents were released over a 4,000-acre radius, in order to ensure that each breeding pair has adequate room and board.  Each animal came equipped with a high-tech microchip that will enable scientists monitor the overall progress of the colony, and the activities of each individual ferret.  Since the ferrets have a gestational period of only 41 to 43 days, and an average litter size of three to four kits, scientists are hopeful that the Walker Ranch colony will grow quickly.  All of the new arrivals also will have microchips implanted before they leave home and establish new territories at the ripe old age of four months.  Mark Young  http://www.pueblowestview.com/home/1980062-119/ferret-black-footed-prairie

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on June 24, 2014 published a Federal Register notice on its interpretation of the statutory special rules for model aircraft in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012.  The guidance comes after recent incidents involving the reckless use of unmanned model aircraft near airports and involving large crowds of people.  The FAA is issuing the notice to provide clear guidance to model operators on the “do’s and don’ts” of flying safely in accordance with the Act and to answer many of the questions it has received regarding the scope and application of the rules.  While the notice is immediately effective, the agency welcomes comments from the public which may help further inform its analysis.  The comment period for the notice will close 30 days from publication in the Federal Register.  http://www.bespacific.com/drone-package-deliveries-amazons-future/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=drone-package-deliveries-amazons-future  See notice [4910-13] DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, Federal Aviation Administration, 14 CFR Part 91, [Docket No. FAA-2014-0396] at http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/uas/media/model_aircraft_spec_rule.pdf

See also FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 at http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/apl/aatf/legislative_history/media/faa_modernization_reform_act_2012_plaw-112publ95.pdf

Two hours west of Fort Worth, the county seat of Shackelford County boasts a rarity:  art in a former prison, the Old Jail Art Center.  "Home of the Hereford" boasts the sign as you enter this one-traffic-light town (population c.2,000), established by Scottish Presbyterians 16 miles south of Fort Griffin.  But home on this range means more than cattle.  The gorgeously restored county courthouse rises proudly over the square, with the Old Jail (begun in 1877) down the street.  Scottish masons carved their initials into the prison's limestone blocks as a means of ensuring payment for their work.  The jail was closed in 1929 and stayed vacant until 1940, at which point Robert E. Nail Jr. bought it.  Nail came from an important local family.  A wealthy boy whose mother sent him off to Lawrenceville School in Princeton, N.J., where he studied writing with Thornton Wilder before graduating as class valedictorian, he headed to Princeton University, from which he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1933.  He had his sights set on a New York theater career but was called home after graduation, owing to his father's suicide the previous year.  His college theatrical coterie included José Ferrer, Jimmy Stewart and Joshua Logan.  They managed to thrive, in New York and then in Hollywood, while Nail went back to Texas.  In 1938 Nail produced the first version of what has become the town's annual crowd-pleasing pageant, "Fandangle," a musical extravaganza in which 300 unpaid townspeople perform during the last two weekends of June.  Think Wilder's "Our Town" meets Christopher Guest's "Waiting for Guffman."  Nail, who used the jail as a writing studio, died in 1968, and then his nephew Reilly Nail (also a Princeton alumnus), a television producer, inherited the building.  Flash forward:  The younger Nail and his first cousin Bill Bomar decided to combine their families' collections of 19th and 20th century paintings, plus classic Asian art.  Bomar was the museum's greatest benefactor:  He either painted or owned about 300 works in the collection.  Voilà:  The Old Jail Art Center opened in 1980. Willard Spiegelman  Read more at http://online.wsj.com/articles/museum-review-great-art-behind-bars-1403733940?tesla=y&mod=djemITP_h&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304198504579571842316536288.html?mod=djemITP_h  See also http://theoldjailartcenter.org/

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1167  June 27, 2014  On this date in 1895, the inaugural run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue from Washington, D.C., to New York, New York, was the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.  On this date in 1898, the first solo circumnavigation of the globe was completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island, Nova Scotia.