Thursday, March 18, 2004

Dust storm approaching Stratford, Texas. Dust bowl surveying in Texas Image ID: theb1365, Historic C&GS Collection Location: Stratford, Texas Photo Date: April 18, 1935 Credit: NOAA George E. Marsh Album High Resolution Photo Available - Click Here 7:37:14 PM    comment []

Near-Earth Asteroid Makes Record-breaking Approach 03.18.04 Image left: Asteroid 2004 FH passes about 43,000 km (26,500 miles) above the Earth's surface on March 18, 2004. Earth's gravity bends the trajectory of the asteroid by about 15 degrees. The asteroid crosses from one side of the Moon's orbit to the other in 31 hours. Credit: NASA/JPL A small near-Earth asteroid (NEA), discovered Monday night by the NASA-funded LINEAR asteroid survey, will make the closest approach to Earth ever recorded. There is no danger of a collision with the Earth during this encounter. The object, designated 2004 FH, is roughly 30 meters (100 feet) in diameter and will pass just 43,000 km (26,500 miles, or about 3.4 Earth diameters) above the Earth's surface on March 18th at 5:08 PM EST (2:08 PM PST, 22:08 UTC). On average, objects about the size of 2004 FH pass within this distance roughly once every two years, but most of these small objects pass by undetected. This particular close approach is unusual only in the sense that scientists know about it. The fact that an object as small as asteroid 2004 FH has been discovered now is mostly a matter of perseverance by the LINEAR team, who are funded by NASA to search for larger kilometer-sized NEAs, but also routinely detect much smaller objects. Asteroid 2004 FH's point of closest approach with the Earth will be over the South Atlantic Ocean. Using a good pair of binoculars, the object will be bright enough to be seen during this close approach from areas of Europe, Asia and most of the Southern Hemisphere. Scientists look forward to the flyby as it will provide them an unprecedented opportunity to study a small near-Earth asteroid up close. Steven R. Chesley 7:24:21 PM    comment []

Unemployment rate for electrical engineers and computer scientists reaches all-time high in 2003 WASHINGTON (26 February 2004) – The unemployment rate for U.S. electrical and electronics engineers (EEs) averaged a record 6.2 percent in 2003, a two percent increase over the previous year, according to data compiled by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The previous high of 4.3 percent was set in 1994. The 2003 rate is more than three times the level in 2001 (2.0 percent) and over four times the figure for 2000 (1.3). The average 2003 unemployment rate for all workers was 5.6 percent. While recent EE unemployment has risen, the number of employed EEs has fallen. BLS reported 386,000 employed EEs in the second quarter last year vs. 349,000 in the fourth quarter, a decline of 37,000. "The continuing high levels of engineering unemployment are not surprising considering the trend toward outsourcing of high-tech jobs overseas," IEEE-USA President John Steadman said. "This offshoring of high-paying jobs may look good on the bottom line of a quarterly financial report, but it's certainly not good for the skilled technical professional who can't find a job." The 2003 jobless rate for computer scientists and systems analysts reached an all-time high of 5.2 percent, an increase of .2 percent over 2002 and four times as high as 1998's 1.3 percent. The rate also jumped .6 percent from the third to fourth quarters of 2003 to stand at 5.4 percent. The quarterly EE jobless rate fell from 6.7 percent to 4.5 percent in the final quarter. The number of employed EEs, however, remained steady at 349,000. The discrepancy could be explained by discouraged EEs no longer counting as officially unemployed because they either found work in another field, or just stopped looking. BLS reports that the number of unemployed EEs dropped from 25,000 to 16,000 from the third to fourth quarters. The quarterly unemployment rate for computer hardware engineers jumped dramatically from 6.9 to 9.0 percent, and averaged 7.0 for 2003. Computer software engineers saw their jobless rate fall slightly from 4.6 to 4.5 percent (5.2 for 2003); and computer programmers experienced a drop from 7.1 to 4.6 percent (6.4 for the year). The rate for aerospace engineers rose a percentage point to 5.0 percent, and finished at 4.8 percent for the year. Comparisons to previous years are difficult because BLS revamped its occupational classifications and reporting conventions after 2002. ### IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., created in 1973 to advance the public good, while promoting the careers and public-policy interests of the more than 225,000 electrical, electronics, computer and software engineers who are U.S. members of the IEEE. The IEEE is the world's largest technical professional society. For more information, go to http://www.ieeeusa.org. 7:15:03 PM    comment []