Good morning, Whitewater.

It’s the first day of fall, and Google has a doodle to mark the change of season. In Whitewater, we’ll have mostly sunny skies and a high of eighty. Sunrise is 6:43 and sunset 6:49, for 12h 06m 03s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 72.1% of its visible disk illuminated.

Yesterday, I posted a video of a rat carrying a slice of pizza through the New York subway system. That animal has now been dubbed, predictably enough, the ‘Pizza Rat,’ and is the subject of a story in the New York Times: ‘Pizza Rat’ Prompts a Collective ‘Ew’ and Debate on Cleaning New York Subway. The newspaper story includes the observations of the commuter who recorded the rat’s efforts:

The video of the rat, posted by a comedian named Matt Little, showed just what the authority is up against: riders who have no qualms about casting aside food and other debris while aggressive rodents wait in the wings.

Mr. Little stumbled across the scene around 2 a.m. on Monday as he left a comedy show in the East Village with a friend. Rather than being put off by it, he said, he was “100 percent impressed” by the rat’s tenacity, and he pulled out his phone. After the rat carried it down a few steps and then ran away, Mr. Little said, he was not inclined to pick up the slice and throw it away before boarding his train to Brooklyn.

“I’ll be honest — I didn’t follow up with the slice,” Mr. Little said in an interview on Tuesday. “It was just in a rat’s mouth. We’ll let that stay where it is.”

On this day in 1779, John Paul Jones wins a victory over Britain:

During the American Revolution, the U.S. ship Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, wins a hard-fought engagement against the British ships of war Serapis and Countess of Scarborough, off the eastern coast of England….

In August 1779, Jones took command of the Bonhomme Richard and sailed around the British Isles. On September 23, the Bonhomme Richard engaged the Serapis and the smaller Countess of Scarborough, which were escorting the Baltic merchant fleet. After inflicting considerable damage to the Bonhomme Richard, Richard Pearson, the captain of the Serapis, asked Jones if he had struck his colors, the naval signal indicating surrender. From his disabled ship, Jones replied, “I have not yet begun to fight,” and after three more hours of furious fighting it was the Serapis and Countess of Scarborough that surrendered. After the victory, the Americans transferred to the Serapis from the Bonhomme Richard, which sank the following day.

A Google a Day asks a question about pop culture:

A popular singer whose real name is Katheryn Hudson, grew up listening to what type of music?

Good morning, Whitewater.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be mostly sunny with a high 0f seventy-nine degrees. Sunrise is 6:42 and sunset 6:51. for 12h 08m 56s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 61.4% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Urban Forestry Commission meets at 4:30 PM, and the Police & Fire Commission at 7:30 PM.

On this day in 1862, Pres. Lincoln released the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, to take effect January 1, 1863.

Small drones are useful for photography, but in the video below, one sees that they can be programmed to build bridges or other structures:

In this work, a rope bridge that can support the crossing of a person is built by quadrocopters, showing for the ?rst time that small ?ying machines are capable of autonomously realizing load-bearing structures at full-scale and proceeding a step further towards real-world scenarios. Except for the required anchor points at both ends of the structure, the bridge consists exclusively of tensile elements and its connections and links are entirely realized by ?ying machines. Spanning 7.4 m between two scaffolding structures, the bridge consists of nine rope segments for a total rope length of about 120 m and is composed of different elements, such as knots, links, and braids. The rope used for these experiments is made out of Dyneema, a material with a low weight-to-strength ratio and thus suitable for aerial construction. Of little weight (7 g per meter), a 4 mm diameter rope can sustain 1300 kg.

The vehicles are equipped with a motorized spool that allows them to control the tension acting on the rope during deployment. A plastic tube guides the rope to the release point located between two propellers. The external forces and torques exerted on the quadrocopter by the rope during deployment are estimated and taken into account to achieve compliant ?ight behavior. The assembly of the bridge is performed by small custom quadrocopters and builds upon the Flying Machine Arena, a research and demonstration platform for aerial robotics. The arena is equipped with a motion capture system that provides vehicle position and attitude measurements. Algorithms are run on a computer and commands are then sent to the ?ying machines via a customized wireless infrastructure.

In order to be able to design tensile structures that are buildable with flying robots, a series of computational tools have been developed, specifically addressing the characteristics of the building method. The design tools allow to simulate, sequence, and evaluate the structure before building.

The location of the scaffolding structure is manually measured before starting the construction. The primary and bracing structure can then be realized without human intervention. Before realizing the stabilizers, the locations of the narrow openings of the bridge are measured and input to the system, which adapts the trajectories accordingly.

Via YouTube.

A Google a Day asks a science & technology question:

Of the five NASA space shuttles, which one flew the most missions?

Good morning, Whitewater.

A new week begins, and a new season is only two days’ time away. Monday in the Whippet City will be sunny with a high of seventy-four. Sunrise is 6:41 and sunset 8:53, for 12h 11m 49s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 51.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Parks and Recreation Board meets today at 5:30 PM.

On 9.21.1780, Benedict Arnold betrays his country:

On this day in 1780, during the American Revolution, American General Benedict Arnold meets with British Major John Andre to discuss handing over West Point to the British, in return for the promise of a large sum of money and a high position in the British army. The plot was foiled and Arnold, a former American hero, became synonymous with the word “traitor.”

….During the war, Benedict Arnold proved himself a brave and skillful leader, helping Ethan Allen’s troops capture Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 and then participating in the unsuccessful attack on British Quebec later that year, which earned him a promotion to brigadier general. Arnold distinguished himself in campaigns at Lake Champlain, Ridgefield and Saratoga, and gained the support of George Washington. However, Arnold had enemies within the military and in 1777, five men of lesser rank were promoted over him. Over the course of the next few years, Arnold married for a second time and he and his new wife lived a lavish lifestyle in Philadelphia, accumulating substantial debt. The debt and the resentment Arnold felt over not being promoted faster were motivating factors in his choice to become a turncoat.

In 1780, Arnold was given command of West Point, an American fort on the Hudson River in New York (and future home of the U.S. military academy, established in 1802). Arnold contacted Sir Henry Clinton, head of the British forces, and proposed handing over West Point and his men. On September 21 of that year, Arnold met with Major John Andre and made his traitorous pact. However, the conspiracy was uncovered and Andre was captured and executed. Arnold, the former American patriot, fled to the enemy side and went on to lead British troops in Virginia and Connecticut. He later moved to England, though he never received all of what he’d been promised by the British. He died in London on June 14, 1801.

A Google a Day asks a geography question:

The Indian river basin that includes approximately 25% of the country’s area is bound by what mountain range to the south?

Good morning, Whitewater.

Sunday will be mostly sunny with a high of seventy-two. Sunrise is 6:40 and sunset 6:55, for 12h 14m 42s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 41.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

Friday’s FW poll asked if, along with the view of chess federation president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, chess might have been the creation of extraterrestrial beings. A majority of respondents (82.76%) doubted his speculation, feeling instead that chess was a human invention.

Those who like chess will enjoy a recent story over at FiveThirtyEight about the Subtext Buried In Seven Great Movie Chess Scenes (including some of the X-Men movies and Independence Day).

On this day in 1806, the Lewis & Clark expedition returns to a frontier settlement:

…after nearly two-and-a-half years spent exploring the western wilderness, the Corps of Discovery arrived at the frontier village of La Charette, the first white settlement they had seen since leaving behind the outposts of eastern civilization in 1804.

Entirely out of provisions and trade goods and subsisting on wild plums, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and their men were understandably eager to reach home. Upon arriving at La Charette, the men fired a three-round salute to alert the inhabitants of their approach and were answered by three rounds from the trading boats moored at the riverbank. The people of La Charette rushed to the banks of the Missouri to greet the returning heroes. “Every person,” Clark wrote with his characteristic inventive spelling, “both French and americans Seem to express great pleasure at our return, and acknowledge them selves astonished in Seeing us return. They informed us that we were Supposed to have been lost long Since.”

The Lewis and Clark mission had been a spectacular success. With the aid of friendly Native American tribes, the explorers had charted the upper reaches of the Missouri, proved there was no easy water passage across the Continental Divide, reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean, and made the first major step to opening of the trans-Mississippi West to the American settlement.

After spending the evening celebrating with the people of La Charette, the next day the expedition continued rapidly down the river and after two more days reached St. Louis, the city where their long journey had begun. Lewis’ first act upon leaping from his canoe to the St. Louis dock was to send a note asking the postmaster to delay the mail headed east so he could write a quick letter to President Jefferson telling him that the intrepid Corps of Discovery had, at long last, come home.

Good morning, Whitewater.

Saturday will be partly cloudy with a high of sixty-eight. Sunrise is 6:39 and sunset 6:57, for 12h 17m 34s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 32.3% of its visible disk illuminated.

Someone wants more cat food:

On this day in 1959, Soviet Premier Khrushchev learns where he can’t go:

…Nikita Khrushchev, having arrived in Los Angeles during a two-week coast-to-coast tour by the Soviet leader, learned that he would not be allowed to visit Disneyland, ostensibly for security reasons.
Khrushchev’s immersion in Hollywood began that day with a tour of the 20th Century Fox Studios. He was ushered onto the sound stage of “Can-Can,” where he met Shirley MacLaine and Juliet Prowse. Khrushchev begged off when MacLaine sought to engage him in an impromptu dance and watched as cast members performed a number from the film, then in production. Afterward, Frank Sinatra hosted a lunch for a delighted Khrushchev and his wife.

The mood darkened, however, after Spyros Skouras, 20th Century Fox’s president, introduced Khrushchev at Los Angeles Town Hall. Skouras, citing Khrushchev’s boasts that the Soviet Union would “bury” capitalism, said while L.A. wasn’t interested in “burying” anyone, it would meet any challenge.
Responding angrily, Khrushchev said: “If you want to go on with the arms race, very well. We accept that challenge. As for the output of rockets — well, they are on the assembly line. This is a most serious question. It is one of life or death, ladies and gentlemen — one of war and peace.”
When on top of that perceived insult, the premier learned he could not tour Disneyland, he fumed: “And I say, ‘I would very much like to go and see Disneyland.’ But then, we cannot guarantee your security, they say. Then what must I do? Commit suicide? What is it? Is there an epidemic of cholera there or something? Or have gangsters taken hold of the place that can destroy me?”
The next morning, Khrushchev continued his trip through California without further incident, eventually returning to Washington for an unproductive summit meeting with President Dwight Eisenhower.

On this day in 1832, the Sauk and Fox concede:

On this date Sauk and Fox Indians signed the treaty ending the Black Hawk War. The treaty demanded that the Sauk cede some six million acres of land that ran the length of the eastern boundary of modern-day Iowa. The Sauk and Fox were given until June 1, 1833 to leave the area and never return to the surrendered lands. Some sources place the date as September 21.[Source: Along the Black Hawk Trail by William F. Stark, p. 160-161]