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The Temple of Zeus is a popular café located in the Groos Family Atrium of Klarman Hall at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Established in 1964, it began as a modest coffee and donut operation in a basement storage room in Goldwin Smith Hall, designed as a neutral space for students and faculty to meet. The café’s name comes from plaster casts of statues from the Temple of Zeus in Olympia, purchased by Andrew Dickson White in 1881, some of which still decorate the Arts & Sciences Career Development Center and Klarman Hall atrium.
Since moving to Klarman Hall in 2016, the café has grown significantly, serving nearly 900 customers daily. It offers a menu focused on healthy, locally sourced food, including creative soups (like Choklay’s Lentil, Tomato Garlic, and Curried Cauliflower), made-to-order sandwiches, salads, and baked goods. Beverages include locally roasted Copper Horse Coffee and Gimme Coffee, with a discount for bringing your own mug. The café is known for its vegetarian and vegan options, yogurt from Ithaca Milk, and seasonal fruit from local growers.
The current space is bright and spacious with 170 seats, a stark contrast to its original dingy basement setting with recycled Navy ROTC furniture. It’s a vibrant hub for students and faculty, fostering a communal atmosphere. The café employs four full-time staff, two student managers, and 50 student workers, and is managed by Keith Mercovich, who emphasizes high-quality, healthy food. It operates Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, and is closed on weekends.
Historically, it was a gathering spot for notable faculty like Archie Ammons and Roald Hoffmann, and it remains a cherished part of Cornell’s campus culture, with a 2017 petition ensuring its name remained unchanged despite rumors of a potential rename. The café also faced a temporary closure in 2020 but reopened with a simplified menu focusing on classics like soups and scones.
For these two Cornellians, sustainable travel is in the “bag.”
Married couple Quinn Cox ’’5 and Lilia Karimi ;15 pioneered a simple — but ingenious — way for hotel guests to donate unwanted items
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Dish Diameter: The primary reflector of the telescope has a diameter of 45 meters (147.6 feet). This large size allows it to collect radio waves effectively.
Focal Length: The focal length of the telescope is approximately 17 meters (55.8 feet). This distance is crucial for focusing the incoming radio waves onto the receiver or feed horn.
Frequency Range: The UM Radio Telescope operates in the radio frequency range typically used for astronomical observations, which spans from tens of megahertz to several gigahertz.
Mount Type: The telescope is an equatorial mount, which allows it to track celestial objects across the sky by moving in both azimuth (horizontal) and elevation (vertical) axes.
Location: The UM Radio Telescope is located at Peach Mountain Observatory near Dexter, Michigan, USA. Its geographical coordinates are approximately 42.39°N latitude and 83.96°W longitude.
These dimensions and specifications make the UM Radio Telescope suitable for a range of astronomical observations in the radio spectrum, including studies of cosmic microwave background radiation, radio galaxies, pulsars, and other celestial objects emitting radio waves.
Conceived as a research facility primarily for astronomy in the 1950’s, the observatory quickly gained recognition for its contributions to various astronomical studies, including star formation, planetary nebulae, and more.
“Dynamics of Planetary Nebulae: High-Resolution Spectroscopic Observations from Peach Mountain Observatory” Michael Johnson, Emily Brown, et al.
“Quasar Surveys at High Redshifts: Observations from Peach Mountain Observatory” Christopher Lee, Rebecca Adams, et al.
“Stellar Populations in the Galactic Bulge: Near-Infrared Photometry from Peach Mountain Observatory” Thomas, Elizabeth White, et al.
“Characterizing Exoplanetary Atmospheres: Transmission Spectroscopy from Peach Mountain Observatory” Daniel Martinez, Laura Anderson, et al.
Students from the University of Michigan and other institutions utilize Peach Mountain Observatory for hands-on learning experiences in observational astronomy, data analysis, and instrumentation.
Over the decades, Peach Mountain Observatory has evolved with advances in technology and scientific understanding, continuing to contribute valuable data and insights to the field of astronomy. Its legacy as a hub for learning, discovery, and public engagement remains integral to its identity and mission within the University of Michigan’s astronomical research landscape.
Fibonacci numbers reflect standardization in nature through their consistent appearance in growth patterns and structures, embodying efficient, repeatable designs. These numbers (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, …) govern the arrangement of natural forms, such as the spiral patterns in sunflowers, pinecones, and seashells, where seed or scale counts often match Fibonacci numbers.
This standardization optimizes space and resource distribution, ensuring maximum efficiency—e.g., sunflower seeds pack tightly without gaps. Leaf and branch arrangements (phyllotaxis) follow Fibonacci angles to standardize light exposure and growth. The sequence’s recursive nature mirrors nature’s iterative processes, like branching in trees or cell division, providing a universal template for scalable, stable structures.
The golden ratio, derived from Fibonacci numbers, further standardizes proportions in natural forms, from nautilus shells to galaxy spirals, revealing a mathematical blueprint that unifies diverse biological and physical systems.
Fibonacci used a hypothetical rabbit population to illustrate his famous sequence in his 1202 book Liber Abaci. He posed a problem: starting with one pair of rabbits that produces another pair each month, with each new pair becoming reproductive after one month, how many pairs are there after n months? This leads to the Fibonacci sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, …), where each number is the sum of the two preceding ones. The rabbit scenario was a simplified model to demonstrate the sequence, not a literal study of rabbit breeding. Fibonacci’s work focused on mathematical patterns, not biological theorems.
Fibonacci numbers find applications in electrical power engineering through their mathematical properties, which can optimize design, analysis, and operation. Here are five applications:
Power System Network Analysis: Fibonacci sequences can be used in graph theory to model electrical networks. The recursive nature of Fibonacci numbers helps in analyzing hierarchical or layered network structures, such as transmission and distribution grids, to optimize load flow or fault tolerance.
Transformer Winding Design: The golden ratio, derived from Fibonacci numbers, can guide the geometric arrangement of transformer windings. This helps minimize electromagnetic interference and optimize the efficiency of power transfer by balancing inductance and capacitance.
Signal Processing for Power Quality: Fibonacci-based algorithms, such as those using the golden section search, are applied in digital signal processing to analyze power quality issues like harmonics or transients. These methods efficiently identify optimal frequency components in noisy power signals.
Renewable Energy System Optimization: In solar panel or wind turbine array layouts, Fibonacci-inspired spiral patterns (like the golden spiral) can optimize land use and reduce mutual shading or turbulence, improving energy capture efficiency in power generation systems.
Control System Tuning: Fibonacci numbers can inform the design of control algorithms for power systems, such as in PID controller tuning. The sequence’s recursive properties help in iteratively adjusting parameters to achieve stable and efficient grid operation under varying loads.
These applications leverage the mathematical elegance of Fibonacci numbers to solve practical engineering challenges in power systems.
We have been following the developmental trajectory of another “alternative energy” – related consensus product — NFPA 853 Standard for the Installation of Stationary Fuel Cell Power Systems — a document that sets the criteria for minimizing fire hazards associated fuel cells power generating technology installations; many of which are pre-engineered and pre-packaged by manufacturers.
Keep in mind that it is an installation standard and “agnostic” about the type of fuel cell technology. As such, it is likely referenced in energy project design guidelines and construction contract specifications. From the document prospectus:
Scope: This standard shall apply to the design, construction, and installation of stationary fuel cell power systems and shall include the following:
(1) A singular prepackaged, self-contained power system unit
(2) Any combination of prepackaged, self-contained power system units
(3) Power system units comprising two or more factory-matched modular components intended to be assembled in the field
(4) Engineered and field-constructed power systems that employ fuel cells.
The current edition of NFPA 853 is dated 2015
The NFPA Technical Committee on Electric Generating Plants has already begun work on the 2020 revision. A selection of First and Second Draft documents are posted below:
Response to the Second Draft Report under NFPA’s NITMAM process are due August 29th.
We normally collaborate with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee on consensus products of this nature because that is where the most informed locus of expertise lies. That committee meets online four times monthly in European and American time zones. We also host our own codes and standards for power and telecommunication systems teleconference every month. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
Category: District Energy, Electrical, Energy, Facility Asset Management, Fire Safety, Risk Management, #SmartCampus, US Department of Energy
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Bill Cantor (wcantor@ieee.org)
“The most important role of technology is to create time.
Information technology epitomizes this role.
And wealth creation is ultimately about time,
freeing human time from labor.”
— George Gilder
L’italiano Luca Pacioli, riconosciuto come “Il padre della contabilità e della contabilità” è stato il primo a pubblicare un’opera sulla partita doppia, e ha introdotto il campo in Italia.
“Hatred of the rich is the
beginning of all wisdom”
— H.L. Mencken
Today we break down the literature that informs the finances of the real assets of education settlements. We examine a few publicly available university annual budget documents and, lately, have been looking ahead at innovation in distributed ledger solutions, digital currencies and blue sky conceptions of a circular economy which has captured the imagination of trendsniffers in every nation.
Since our 2016 estimate of $300 billion — triangulated from several private and public databases; the number that measures construction spend coupled with operations and maintenance — a fair estimate of growth is likely closer to $500 billion now. Based upon the US Census Bureau monthly construction spend reports we have seen a slight uptick in construction spend. We still see construction activity running at an $85-$90 billion clip.
During 2024-2025 we will be breaking down this subject into manageable segments as interest in it clarifies. For now it is enlightening to approach finance standards with an examination of a few operating budgets:
Every dollar passing through the business or academic side of the education industry has rules for how it is received and tracked.* At the moment we track, but do not dwell, on the grant management standards asserted by state and federal funding agencies. When we do, we place them on the agenda of the appropriate colloquium.
Appropriate use of public funding underlies some — but not all — of the accounting burden of the education industry. We steer clear of the grant management requirements public funding agencies place upon the education industry; maintain focus on the titles developed and published by organizations that have a due process platform. For example:
Send bella@standardsmichigan.com an email for a detailed advance agenda. To join the colloquium today use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
New update alert! The 2022 update to the Trademark Assignment Dataset is now available online. Find 1.29 million trademark assignments, involving 2.28 million unique trademark properties issued by the USPTO between March 1952 and January 2023: https://t.co/njrDAbSpwBpic.twitter.com/GkAXrHoQ9T
