Advice for Future Lunar Prospectors

Advice for Future Lunar Prospectors

Long before David Beaty became associate Chief Scientist for NASA's Mars Program, he was a prospector. Beaty spent 10 years surveying remote parts of Earth for precious metals and another 12 years hunting for oil.

And this qualifies him to work for NASA? Precisely.

Beaty has the kind of experience NASA needs as the agency prepares to implement the Vision for Space Exploration. "Mining and prospecting are going to be key skills for settlers on the Moon and Mars," he explains. "We can send them air and water and fuel from Earth, but eventually, they'll have to learn to live off the land, using local resources to meet their needs."

On the Moon, for instance, mission planners hope to find water frozen in the dark recesses of polar craters. Water can be split into hydrogen for rocket fuel and oxygen for breathing. Water is also good for drinking and as a bonus it is one of the best known radiation shields. "In many ways," notes Beaty, "water is key to a sustained human presence." Ice mining on the Moon could become a big industry.

Beaty has learned a lot from his long career prospecting, exploring and mining on Earth. Now, with an eye on other worlds, he has distilled four pieces of wisdom he calls "Dave's Postulates" for prospectors working anywhere in the solar system:

Postulate #1: "Wishful thinking is no substitute for scientific evidence."

"On Earth, banks won't lend money for less than proven reserves. From a bank's viewpoint, anything less than proven is not really there. This lesson has been learned the hard way by many a prospector," he laughs.

For NASA the stakes are higher than profit. The lives of astronauts could hang in the balance. "Proven reserves on the Moon can perhaps be thought of as having enough confidence to risk the lives of astronauts to go after it."

What does it take to "prove" a reserve--that is, to know with confidence that a resource exists in high enough concentration to be produced?

"That depends on the nature of the deposit," explains Beaty. "Searching for oil on Earth, you can drill one hole, measure the pressure and calculate how much oil is there. You know that oil probably exists 100 feet away because liquids flow. However, for gold you must drill holes 100 feet apart, and assay the concentration of gold every five feet down each hole. That's because the solid earth is heterogenous. 100 feet away the rocks may be completely different."

Deposits on the Moon aren't so well understood. Is lunar ice widespread or patchy, deep or shallow? Does it even exist? "We don't know," says Beaty. "We still have a lot to learn."

Postulate #2: "You cannot define a reserve without specifying how it can be extracted. If it can't be mined, it's of no use." Enough said.

an artist's concept of a robotic ice miner

Postulate #3: "Perfect knowledge is not possible. Exploration costs money, and we can't afford to buy all the information we want. We have to make choices, deciding what information is critical and what's not."

Right: Robotic ice miner, an artist's concept. Credit: NASA/John Frassanito and Associates. Larger image

He offers the following hypothetical example:

"Suppose we decide to send a robot with a little drill and an onboard laboratory into Shackleton Crater, a place on the Moon with suspected ice deposits. We're going to have to think pretty carefully about that lab. Maybe it can contain only two instruments. What are the two things we most need to know?"

"Suppose further that someone on Earth has invented a machine that can extract water from lunar soil. But it only works if the ice is close to the surface and if the ice is not too salty." The choice is made. "We'd better equip the robot with instruments to measure the saltiness of the ice and its depth in the drill hole."

Finally, Postulate #4: "Don't underestimate the potential effects of heterogeneity. All parts of the Moon are not alike, just as all parts of Earth are not alike. So where you land matters."

Hypnosis and Self Hypnosis to Get Suggestions from the Conscious to the Subconscious Mind

Hypnosis and Self Hypnosis to Get Suggestions from the Conscious to the Subconscious Mind

Consciously one understands the self improvement goals, but the subconscious is stuck in past failure mechanisms. Hypnosis and self hypnosis are the most effective tools to get the message from the conscious to the subconscious where change can occur. Napoleon Hill said that one can accomplish anything desired by repetition of suggestion for six months.

To accelerate this process, the late Harry Arons, a well known lay hypnotist from the 50's through the early 80's, developed a technique to deliver self suggestion in a particular time period.  He does this by having the client count fifty breadths with eyes closed which takes from three-to-five minutes. The client does this for a week after which time the time period is becomes programmed. Next a self hypnotic suggestion is then used in place of the counting of breadths. A suggestion he might have had his client use is, "I am becoming more confident everyday."

Even though many others used self hypnosis with their clients, Harry was the one that developed it as a technique with a,b,c directions which eliminate the, "I wonder if I'm doing it right?" question.

In reality, all hypnosis is self hypnosis. Even with a hypnotist providing the suggestions; they are always aware of their surroundings even while in the deepest of trance. They can even open their eyes any time they desire.

Accompanying most hypnotic procedures is relaxation. As the subjects relax they often feel sensations of heaviness or lightness which is so pleasant that generally they don't want the relaxation to end. During this relaxation, suggestions are given such as, "Each and every time you practice self hypnosis you will be more responsive to the suggestion." This is called conditioning.

Autogenic training is another method used for self suggestion. It's generally used by those in the biofeedback field to facilitate muscular and vascular relaxation. Autogenic phrases are suggestions such as:
1. My neck is relaxing. My neck is relaxing
2. My forehead is relaxing. My forehead is relaxing
3. My hands and feet are warm and relaxed. My arms and hands are
warm and relaxed.
4. My breathing is deep and relaxed. My breathing is deep and
relaxed.

Generally a cd is played in which the suggestions are introduced and explained with imagery that might facilitate the relaxation. The suggestion is repeated by the patient over and over to him/her self during a period of silence on the recording. If biofeedback instruments are available as the recording is played, they measure the degrees of muscular and vascular relaxation attained with the autogenic training. The same results can be obtained by using the same suggestions with the self hypnosis technique.

Six months? Both autogenics and self hypnosis dramatically improve upon simply using self suggestion in that the suggestions are given while in a relaxed receptive state (alpha) as opposed to repeating them to oneself while in a beta state. The beta state is one's normal aware state where the conscious mind is busy concentrating on reading, driving, communicating...

Typical suggestions used are in first person present tense such as:
"I am confident."
"Everything I've studied flows freely to mind."
"My handwriting is relaxed and smooth."
"I enjoy communicating and relating with others."
See the resource box for more information on how to word suggestions to overcome a variety of different problems.

Hypnosis, self hypnosis and autogenic training are the best ways to get the message to the subconscious mind and effect a change in behavior. From here on it's a matter of refinement of suggestion and suggestion technique of which there are many to achieve any specific goal. 

How to Build Self Esteem the Right Way

How to Build Self Esteem the Right Way

Building self esteem is done one of two ways. Unfortunately most of us do it the wrong way. 
John was referred to me by his psychologist for relaxation and motivation. John was seeing the psychologist for building self esteem and self image and at the age of 28 felt that he was losing ground. This feeling of "losing out" contributed to his level of anxiety which made him tense and irritable.
John's psychologist's devised a program for building self esteem. He had John focus on acquiring technical training to develop a skill. 
Of all possible skills, John choose to become a technician in a metal shop and enrolled in a program. Even though everything he was shown in class made sense, when it came to test time, his level of anxiety interfered with his ability to obtain respectable, much less passing grades. He was in jeopardy of failing when he was referred to me.
The psychologist's approach was the typical, "accomplish something, acquire something," and you'll be building self esteem. Yes, it's the approach used nearly 100% of all programs for overcoming low self esteem that I've seen. You are supposed to be able to overcome low self esteem by getting better at something. 
Unfortunately, this is a "catch 22" approach--a set-up for failure. I'm not saying that everyone who uses this approach fails to accomplish the goal of acquiring a skill or educational level, but this approach does not build self worth or self esteem. It's a set up for failure. Building self esteem is a myth with this approach.
Look around. Most of your friends, family, and acquaintances have been building self esteem based on their accomplishments and acquisitions. 
Unfortunately, the person who overcomes low self esteem and builds it largely:
    on his fortune, often commits suicide when his portfolio is lost in the stock market crash.
    on the love of his wife may become depressed and acquires life-threatening cancer within 2 years of her passing and then dies himself even though he was in fine health prior to her passing.
    on his position in life often becomes depressed and acquires a life threatening disease within 2 years of his retirement and dies.
    on his social contacts and accomplishments may develop anxiety panic attack when he moves to another part of the country.
    on his physical skills becomes has a greater chance of getting seriously depressed and likewise may acquire a life threatening disease when he has an incapacitating accident or is replaced by younger, stronger athlete.
And we can go on and on. For each person building self esteem based on an accomplishment, an ability, physical appearance, and so on,  he/she feels good about himself/herself for as long as his/her skills, abilities, and accomplishments remain in tact. Yet when their skills, relationships, accomplishments and so on change, they lose themselves in the process. Is this self-worth? No, it's "things' worth," not self-worth.
In the face of all adversity and loss, the person who has truly been building self esteem does not lose himself, but by knowing his true value, is able to adapt and change to all life circumstances.
Back to John: It was indeed a challenge getting John out of his failure path. More so because the psychologist set him up for failure--the psychologist actually set the path for him to stay stuck with low self esteem. Eventually he got up the hill and over the crest. He learned to overcome his low self esteem, not by graduating machine shop school (although he did), but by learning to deal successfully with life's challenges and to like himself in the face of disappointment.
Building self esteem the right way is from self involves asking questions. What is missing here? Why with so many programs for building self esteem is it still a crisis? It is clearly insane to teach one to obtain self esteem from his/her accomplishments.
It's also to realize that:
 Comparing ourselves to anyone else is to kill self esteem
 Some of our best laid plans will simply fall through.
 We are emotional beings and rather than be ruled by our emotions we can acknowledge them and move through them.
 We each are a child of the universe deserving of feeling good about ourselves regardless of what we do or don't do.
 We only feel less about ourselves because of what we've learned to believe.
 Love of our physical, emotional, and spiritual self is deserved and until we can love ourselves, it's unlikely that another can love us.
 Egotistical people really don't love themselves.
Building self esteem from self so that you even like
yourself on a bad hair day (when your fail to accomplish the goal) produces real results.

Mid-Life Crisis

Mid-Life Crisis

1. Stop working

Thats right, you read this correct. Stop working and start living. Living with daily joy, happiness and purpose is worth striving for. It is enjoyable and refills the water glass of life with more energy, more passion and more excitement!
Start by finding new work which feels like a better alignment of what you truly are interested in and either have or can learn the required abilities. Many people continue to simply work at things which they are good at but no longer have interest in.

2. Find some greater purpose

Identify and find something you feel strongly about or which bothers you about the world and do something about it. For example in America, it bothers me that we are spending billions of dollars in needless wars while our own cities fall apart. We are now a nation of have and have-nots when it comes to medical care. Our educational system is deeply flawed with too much focus on scores and grades and little focus on learning; not to mention too costly as well.
Pick something which really bothers you and build a life purpose around it. Your life will never be the same for the better

3. Stand up for your beliefs

Dont be afraid to finally live your life through your causes. Drive yourself finally through internal reward vs. external recognition. Replace old beliefs which are no longer useful with new ones which better serve you

4. Be resilient

Stay focused- strive for more happiness in your life. Make this a goal in itself. Be selfish and define for yourself what being happy really means to you. Despite the barriers and hurdles we must all cross on the journey to more meaning and fulfillment in our lives, keep this vision clear at all times

5. Stay organized and structured

Have a plan for your life. This includes your daily living and your long term goals. Without a plan for ones life with clear intent, when the crisis hits and it will, your personal roadmap and plan will get you through

6. Surround yourself with love

There is no need to be lonely in ones life. Surround yourself with people you love. If necessary, find new people to love and receive love from. Build up your relationships in your life which nurture and support your personal roadmap.

7. Learn to accept your mistakes

This is easier said then done! We are good at beating ourselves up when things go wrong and seldom take the time to reflect when things go well. How can you be more of our own best friend? Learn to accept you as you are. Ask yourself; what can I learn from this past experience? What new wisdom can I gain from my actions? Realize that everything you do or did was for a good reason at the time. Learn to love yourself more and others will too.

8. Dont let the mundane slow you down

Dont let the mundane aspects of life slow you down. Yes, laundry has to be washed, cars need gas, lunches need to be made, and bills need to be paid. Ensure however that each and every day you identify the most important actions you must take to move you towards what you want vs. what you do not want in your life.

9. Take care of your body and mind

Eat well, sleep well and exercise daily. Take time each day to reflect on your feelings and thoughts. Heard this before? Well, it works. When our bodies and minds are stressed, we lose sight of our goals and what is most important to us in our lives. Writing is a good way to reflect on how you doing. Start a daily journal- just before bed; answer the question; what did I learn today about myself and others?

10. Seek joy not pain

Re-align your life and your work around the sole purpose of acquiring more joy, meaning and happiness in your life. This is in abundance in the world. You just must redesign your life with the intent to create more of it for yourself.

Mid-life Crisis?

Refocus your attention now on what would be perfect for you in your life. Create a new vision and take small steps each and every day with the intent towards creating more joy in your life. It will make your crisis suddenly feel like a crusade. This is good.

Ill be cheering you on as you go- Craig Nathanson

Craig Nathanson is the author of P Is For Perfect: Your Perfect Vocational Day and a coaching expert who works with people over forty. Craigs new E-book, Discover and live your passion 365 days a year is a workshop in a box designed to help busy adults go insane with their work. Craigs systematic approach, the trademark "Ten P" process, helps people break free and move toward the work they love. Visit Craigs online community at http://www.thevocationalcoach.com where you can take a class, get more ideas through Craig Nathansons books and CDs, get some private coaching over the phone or read other stories of mid-life change and renewal.

performance anxiety

performance anxiety

Picture the scenario, if you will. You're sitting at the last table of the World Series of Poker, facing off against Doyle Brunson, Annie Duke, and Scotty Nguyen. You know you're facing three of the top players in the game. You know you're playing for bragging rights, the status of being recognized as one of the top dogs in the sport, and that luscious cash prize. You've got one of the best hands you've seen in your entire life, but you know that there's a very good chance one of the other players at the table has a better set. You also know that there's also a very good chance that none of them have a better hand. Then, when one of them decides to raise the stakes just that much higher, you cave to the pressure and you fold. It happens to every poker player sooner or later, and it can be taken as a sign of performance anxiety.

The fact is, performance anxiety is something that every tournament-level poker player has to deal with, particularly if they're up against players with reputations behind them. Now, as every true-blue gambler knows, reputation is hardly everything when it comes to poker. However, big-name players like Alan Goehring, Phil Helmuth, and many others can easily cause someone to start doubting their own skills. For many players, the slight show of worry and mild fear is enough to ruin their game. For others, only it underscores a slight insecurity in their ability to perform. Sadly, for a certain few, it turns into a full-blown case of performance anxiety.

Of course, this isn't just limited to those who play the big-stakes, big-name tournaments. Even if you're just playing at a table, with your friends from high school, you can get hit by performance anxiety. This is something that has happened to every poker player in the world, though some might misinterpret it as a defensive act, essentially assessing the risks and deciding to back out based on that assessment.

Interestingly enough, most people believe that performance anxiety is significantly more prominent the lower down the poker ladder you go. Beginners tend to get nervous when playing against other players that have more experience than they do, rather than taking it as a learning experience. performance anxiety comes into play when, in the face of a supposedly better player, they cave and fold rather than stick with the decision that a proper risk assessment would bring. According to some observations, some inexperienced players simply let their fear and lack of experience equate into an approximate lack of skill at the game. performance anxiety, while theoretically a natural part of learning the game, can sometimes be blamed on the crippled careers of who knows how many players right before they start.

Of course, a number of players have overcome their initial fears and managed to become successful career poker players. Chris Moneymaker, Phil Helmuth, Annie Duke, Liz Lieu, Doyle Brunson, and even the late, great Stu Ungar all managed to carve out a livelihood playing poker. All of them confronted their fears and overcame performance anxiety. In some cases, when faced with the pressures of the competitive arena, even the best pieces of the game face a little fear every now and then

What Can be Done?

What Can be Done?

When should you start being concerned with this issue? As of right now, US carriers don’t seem to be considering using OnAir or any service like it. A report on MSN Travel said that the airlines that they asked – AirTran, Spirit, and US Airways – all said that they have heard their passengers say they don’t want mobile phones used on planes and are against adding the services. However, the question is, if these services do catch on in Europe and prove to be a money maker for the carriers who use it, will the US carriers jump on board? In an era of shrinking profits, will they be able to resist?

So if the trial that AirFrance is giving OnAir proves to be successful and the US carriers jump on board, what can be done to make sure that mobile phone usage does not become a problem on board?

Another solution is to give the crew the ability to disable the voice function on devices during restricted times. During those times text messaging and e-mailing would be allowed, but talking would be disabled

One solution is to have no cell phone usage times. Perhaps next to the little light above your seat that lets you know if you need to have your seat belt fastened or not, there could be another light that lets you know if it’s the proper time to use your cell phone or not. Cell phone time could be restricted on long flights and on flights that are overnight when most people would want to sleep

What about Internet connection?

What about Internet connection?

Travelers aren’t as adamantly against the use of Internet connections for computers and pda’s such as Blackberrys. Those devices are quiet. Many passengers already use their laptop computers on a flight; it’s just not connected to the Internet when they use it. Being able to send and receive e-mail messages while on a flight could be convenient to most people, particularly business travelers. There doesn’t seem to be much of a debate over these devices as long as safety is not a concern.

The Mobile Phone Debate

The Mobile Phone Debate

Okay, suppose the safety issue is taken care of and there is no concern that wireless communications technology will interfere with the plane’s navigational equipment. What objection is there to the use of mobile phone’s during a flight?

Surveys have shown that the majority of air travelers are against the use of mobile phones on an airplane because it would be downright annoying to sit next to someone who is receiving and making phone calls for hours on a flight. They imagine being stuck between two incessant talkers.

Common sense would seem to tell you that people wouldn’t really be so inconsiderate as to have hour’s long conversations on their mobile phone during a flight. But experience has shown us when it comes to mobile phones, most people loose their common sense. People will hold loud personal conversations in restaurants and grocery stores and on buses. They will drive using a handheld mobile phone even states where it has been made illegal. So does anyone really believe that people will use common sense and consideration during air travel? Not really.

It’s easy to see the scenario. Business people who intend to be considerate will receive what they deem to be a very important business call and end up talking longer than they expected. Or, a mom who just wants to check on her children for a minute will end up having to chat with each one of them before she can hang up.

It’s no wonder that air travel passengers are concerned that the use of mobile phones will become an annoyance during flights. They already are an annoyance down on the ground. Another concern some air travelers have will be the tension that all of this annoyance will create, perhaps making already jittery flyers more frustrated and pushing them over the edge.

Some people are already nervous just about flying. Add a cramped, overcrowded plane to the mix, the constant threat of terrorism, the restrictions on what can be carried on, and now the addition of an inconsiderate mobile phone user sitting right next to that nervous flyer, and someone might just snap.

The Safety Consideration

The Safety Consideration

There has been an ongoing concern that the use of mobile phones (cell phones to us Americans) and other devices that use wireless technology could interfere with the plane’s navigational equipment. Recent technological advances in both navigational equipment and cell phone technology seem to negate this concern, but not everyone is convinced. There is concern that the navigational equipment on older planes may still be affected.

air travel

What? Wireless air travel? Yeah, It's coming soon

In early 2007, OnAir will arrive. OnAir is a service that uses satellite technology to enable air travel passengers to use wireless devices such as mobile phones, Internet connections from computers and Blackberries during a flight. The debate over the use of wireless technology during flight has been going on for years, and now that it’s about to happen, the debate is likely to heat up.

First of all, you should know that the first wave of this will not be happening on US flights. Airbus, the plane manufacturer who is creating this technology, is selling it to AirFrance. AirFrance is expected to have the service available to passengers in early 2007. Whether passengers will have to pay for the service like they pay for headphones for a movie is not known yet. Two other airlines, the British airline bmi and TAP Air Portugal are both considering using OnAir, but nothing has been finalized, yet.

So what is the debate all about? Who wouldn’t want the convenience of using their cell phone during a long flight, getting important e-mails on their Blackberry or having the luxury of surfing the Internet to pass the time? Apparently, lots of people and for some very valid reasons