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-C-1 ,-- g-1m > ý ý Il .'m i ý, - - - - Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, Septejnber 5, ffl - Il* Space experimnent'fliles' up Toronto's CN Tower By Saily Johnston Space scientiat Dr. Oumar Bock lias a job most youngsters would envy - playing spaceships ini the elevator of Toronto's CN Tower. But Bocks work is no chiid's play'. He uses the world's tallcst free- standing structure ta investigate problemas astronauts expéerience in space whcn writng and reaching for contrai buttons and levers. The problemn is calied perceptual disorientation and it Ls caused by changes in gravitationai effects as the spaccship hurties &long. It means an astronaut's writing goes wonky and he or she finds it hard, even impossible, to grasp instruments. Such handicaps could prove fatal during a tricky manoeuvre or in an emnergency, says Bock. Without fast, accurate hnd and arrn movements, an atcmpt te dock a spacecraft could fail. Or an astronaut might "miss the button" in an emnergency. It ight take oni>' a second between missing the button and hitting it on a repeat attempt - but a second la a long, long way ini apace. " A sPacecaft in orbit wil travel several kilomnetres in one second. For example, if a spacec-raft's crew found it was moving towards some abject in its path, ,qa delay in pushing Uic appropriate controls couid resuit in a collision. Bock, a York University psychologist and researcher with the Institute of Space and Terrestrial Science (ISTS) in Toronto, and Dr. Karin Arnold, a York University post- doctoral fellow, use the 553-metre high CN Tower te simulate some conditions of wightlcssncss feuinl space. Their experimnent ass-uific that weightlessncss causes two different phenomena. Firat, lack of gravit>' disturbs the motion of the hand, causing it to overshoot its mntended path. Second, the absence of gravit>y disturba visual perception, causing thc eyes wo locate objects incaiTecti>'. The experiment tries ta separate these phenomena aud measure their effects, ta show which predomiânates as gravitational effccts change. IhUce xperiment, a test subject sits inside a padded metal frame. Mounted close ta Uic subject's face la Uic mirrorcd image of a computer screen. Behiud the acreen image, but blocked from sight b>' a curtain, is a digitized pen and pad. Without seeing what his or her hmnds are doing, Uic subject must try ta track moviug targets on Uic computer acreen b>' touchiug Uic pen to Uic pad. The scientists have twice conducted experiments in Uic glassed-in elevator whiclif travels at speeds of up ta 20 kilometres an hour. During its upward mnd downward accelerations, it cmn increase or decrease Uic effect of gravit>'b>' 30 per cent for about two seconds of its 58-second mun. Two seconds isn't long, but its enough time for Uic researchers ta test Uic apparatus which Uic>' dcsigned for tests at NASAs Johnson Space Centre in Houston. Thie equipment has twice been uscd b>' Canadian asironauts in a NASA trainiug plane that flics a roiler-coaster patem ta produce 30- second episodes of near-zero gratvity. Another test is scheduied for thc fal of 1990. T'he plane - official>' a KC 135, but oftcn calied b>' astronauts Uic "Vomit Comet" because it makes man>' people motion sick - flics in deep dives and steep ascents on a path from 24,000 ta 32,000 feet, doubling gravit>' during thc climbsanmd plunges. During the 20- to 30-second 'pushover' at thc crest, near weightiessness la produced. Howcver, these flights are expensive and occur mnfequeuti>', says Bock. That's wherc Uie 'Starship CN Tower' cames in handy. Tower officiais Jet Uic rescarchers use thc elevator at Uic crack of dawn before Uic arrivai of Uic first tourists. "Wc can shape aur- experimnent i Uic clevator and gaUier data to increase Uic efficiency of Uic KC-135 trials," says Bock. The, CN Tower experiments are fundcd b>' York University. The -tests in the KC- 135 are funded -b>' Uic Canadian Space Agency mnd Uic Naturai Sciences mnd Engineering Research Council. The experimental 'chair' apparatus was funded by ISTS. (Canadian Science N'~ews) -i , AW. Experimental apparatus used for studylng perceptual disorlentation that affllcts astronauts ln zcro-aravitv conditions. Apparatus Is mounted iu KC-135 test alrcraft that sîmulates p'r'- Redwing blackbirds have covert sexual liaisons By Lorraine Brown Biologlats at Carleton University in Ottawa and Queen's University' in Kugston have discovered Uat female rcd-winged biackbirds do flot mate just with Uic maie with whom Uic>' are nesting, but also with maies from neigbbouring territories. The discover>' is forcing scicntists ta rethiuk some wel-establilhcd assumptions about the sexual behaviaur of birds. The researchers have also cxplaiued why red-wingcd biackbirds arc among Uic birds moat secretive about matiug behaviour - Uic>re concealilg their sexuai liaisons from each other. Most brds arc monogamous, staymng wîth anc mate at an>' given Lrne, but around 10 ta 20 per cent of species are pai>'g>nous: Uiat ia, Uic maies have multiple female partners simuitancousi>'. Red-wiuged blackbirds are among the mast pol>'g>nous species, but Uic maies aren't Uic oni>' ones with multiple pantners. 'The female rcd-wiugcd biackbirds. arc making two choices: wherc to nest, and who ta copulate wiU," says Patrick Weatherhcad, a biologiat at Carleton. "We had assuied lu Uic past that that was just ane question. But now we know that females are flot constraincd ta mate just wiUi Uic maies Uic>' nest with.hI some cases, Uic maie with whom Uic>' are ncsting fathers none of their offspring." WeaUierhead took blood samples from aduit birds and their offspring. The Queen's biologists used a technique cailed 'DNA fmngerpriuting' on thc blood samples ta establish which maies had fathered which offsprlug. The>' found that up ta 20 per cent of Uic young iUic average nest had been fathercd b>' a neighbouring maie, flot b>' Uic ncst maie. The females do flot juat acek out an>' neighbouring maie. Iu order ta be succesaful, Uic maies must have Uieir own territor>' (oui>' about half Uic aduit maie population normal>' have territories). It appears Uiat Uic>' must also demonstrate a high degree of, vigaur - lots of siuging, fl>'lug about, etc.. Weathcrhead thinks Uiat a maies overail vigour, and hence reproductive succeas, could be related ta Uic number of parasites Uic bird bas, such as Uie blood parasite for avian malaria. Thc more parasites, Uic lesa vigaous Uic bird iland Uic iess desirable. "Maies of ail species spcnd a lot of tinte singing, chasing other maies out of Uieir territories, mnd chaslug females,' said Weatherhead. "If Uic>' areu't hcalthy, Uic>' cant engage in those activities, mnd cant attract femaies." To obtain Uic DNA fmngerprints, Uic biologlats extracted DNA - Uic genetic molecule - from Uic biood, chemicall>' ' cut' it into shorter segments, then soparated out Uic genetic componients through a process that sprcads Uicm out mnto a series of vertical bands on a sheet of gel. Then Uic>' 'probed' the sample with a 'radioaactivel>'- tagged' bit of DNA which binds ta specific sets of genca; whercver it binds, its radioactivit>' makes an exposure on a photographie film piaccd along tic gel. The positions of Uic exposed bands on Uic filmn create Uic 'f7ingerprint. B>' campariug Uic fingerpnint of Uic mother bird and potential fathers with that of Uic offspring, Uic scientists ccm determine who Uic father is. Wcatherhead found that Uic highcst number of fathera per ncst was two, Uiough he pointed out that Uic females ma>' have copuiated with other maies as wlli. A female ma>' be producing offapring from more than anc maie, but she docant want Uic resident maie ta knaw about it, as he could then withhoid his parental care, auch as defending the nest. The maie only wants wo defend his own young. The neighbouring maie also does flot want the nesting maie to know of his activities, because it is to his adivantage to have his young defended by another maie. Red-wingcd biackbirds have always been far more secretive than other species in their mating behav jour. Now that the scientists understand more about what goes on, the birds' clandestine bchaviour is beginning ta make sense. The>' are kecping their sexuai activity hidden, flot only from human and other observers, but also from each other. Weathcrhcad thinks other bird species couid have similar sexual bchaviour, though it woffld dcpend on ecologicai1 variables, such as availability of maies to, mate with, and the type of habitat. "Prairie birds are unlikel>' to behave in tlhis way, because cvcryonc can sec what everyone else is up to," he says. Weather-head's research is funded b>' the Naturai Sciences and Engineering Research Council. (Canadian Science News) 983-5301 The CATERING %J 1ýYCONNECTION ON THE SPOT CATERING WVeddings - Anniversaries - Ail Banquets CHEESE TRAYS - MEAT PLATTERS - SALADS Fred & Patricia Storsbergen Orono 983-9679 MERVYN B. KELLY Barrister and Soliçitor LAW OFFICE PROFESSIONAL SERVICE - REASONABÈtE RATES- Free Initial Consultation 9a.m. - 5 p.m. 6234444 Evening and Week-end Appointments Available Corner Church and Temperance Sts., Bowmanville