Posts Tagged Pacific Ocean

AFP: Space capsule heads home from ISS

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Cool Stuff!, Space on October 28, 2012


Space capsule heads home from ISS

 

WASHINGTON — The unmanned Dragon space capsule set off from the International Space Station Sunday for the cargo-laden return trip to Earth after successfully delivering its first commercial payload, NASA said.

Using a robotic arm, an astronaut aboard the floating laboratory detached and released the capsule at 1329 GMT after an 18-day mission to resupply the space station, the first ever by a privately-owned company, SpaceX.

The next step will be to bring the capsule out of orbit by intermittently firing its onboard engines to slow its speed.

It is then supposed to parachute into the Pacific Ocean off the California coast at 1920 GMT.

The Dragon’s descent will be controlled by SpaceX from a center in Hawthorne, California, although NASA, which was in charge of the decoupling operation, will continue to provide communications.

The mission — the first of 12 planned trips in SpaceX’s $1.6 billion contract with NASA — is a milestone for American efforts to privatize the space industry, aimed at reducing costs and spreading them among a wider group than governments alone.

The capsule delivered about 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms) of cargo to the space station and is taking home 1,670 pounds (758 kilograms) of supplies, hardware and scientific tests and results.

Owned by billionaire Paypal co-founder Elon Musk, SpaceX is one of several private firms working with the US space agency to send flights to and from the ISS, but SpaceX is the first to become operational.

The next SpaceX flight is scheduled for early January 2013.

NASA has been relying on Russian spacecraft for the last year, after retiring its fleet of shuttles — but the Soyuz craft does not have room for cargo on the return flight.

 AFP: Space capsule heads home from ISS.

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Boeing’s Hypersonic Mach 6 WaveRider Jet Lost Over the Pacific During Flight Test | Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Aviation, Aviation/Aerospace, Technology on August 15, 2012


 


Boeing’s Hypersonic Mach 6 WaveRider Jet Lost Over the Pacific During Flight Test

 

by Timon Singh, 08/15/12

X-51 WaveRider, WaveRider, hypersonic aircraft, commercial aircraft, airline emissions, aircraft emissions, concorde, boeing, EADS, US military, biofuel

The US is currently conducting test flights of a new X-51A WaveRider jet that is capable of hitting a top speed of Mach 6 (4,300mph / 6,900km/h) – which would allow it to travel from London to New York in just an hour! Unfortunately, a flight test of the hypersonic vehicle went awry today as a faulty control fin caused the craft to be lost over the Pacific.

X-51 WaveRider, WaveRider, hypersonic aircraft, commercial aircraft, airline emissions, aircraft emissions, concorde, boeing, EADS, US military, biofuel

From 1990 to 2006 aviation emissions have increased by 87%, making the airline industry one of the planet’s largest emitters. Hypersonic aircraft are able to reach their destinations faster than conventional aircraft while reducing fuel use. The WaveRider has already reached Mach 5 in June 2011, but Mach 6 is the new target speed.

The test flight saw the WaveRider carried over the Pacific Ocean by a B-52 bomber, dropped the wingless unmanned jet from 50,000 ft (15,250m). According to X-51A program manager Charlie Brink “It is unfortunate that a problem with this subsystem caused a termination before we could light the Scramjet engine”.

The potential of a Mach 6 aircraft are huge. At six times the speed of sound, it would be three times faster than the Concorde which had a cruising speed of Mach 2. European aerospace and defense giant EADS have already stated that hypersonic passenger flights are very likely to appear in the near future, with the company presenting its own concept of a commercial high-speed aircraft designed to fly at Mach 4.

“The business community who wanted to be in New York in three hours made Concorde highly viable, and now there’s interest on both sides of the Atlantic to jump a generation and go from supersonic flight to hypersonic flight,” EADS’ vice-president of business development, Peter Robbie said speaking to BBC News. “Such an aircraft will be very expensive, of course, because of the enormous amounts of energy that is required to get to such speeds, but the idea of going from Tokyo to Paris in two-and-a-half hours is very attractive for the business and political community – and I think that by about 2050, there may be a viable commercial aircraft.”

 Boeing’s Hypersonic Mach 6 WaveRider Jet Lost Over the Pacific During Flight Test | Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building.

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New Study Suggests Pacific Ocean is Polluted With… Coffee? | Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Ecology on August 7, 2012


 


New Study Suggests Pacific Ocean is Polluted With… Coffee?

by Josh Gellers, 08/07/12

Coffee, Close-Up, Bubbles

People aren’t the only ones getting a jolt from caffeine these days; in a new study published inMarine Pollution Bulletin, scientists found elevated concentrations of caffeine in the Pacific Ocean in areas off the coast of Oregon. With all those coffee drinkers in the Pacific Northwest, it should be no surprise that human waste containing caffeine would ultimately make its way through municipal water systems and out to sea – but how will the presence of caffeine in our oceans affect human health and natural ecosystems?

 

 

 


Plastic Garbage, Underwater, Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The precise impacts that exposure to caffeinated seas may have on humans are not well known. However, related research indicates that evidence of caffeine contamination serves as a good indicator for the presence of other potentially harmful pollutants that have found their way into our waterways, such as prescription medication and hormones. The effects on aquatic life are also not well understood, but lab studies have already demonstrated that higher levels of caffeine in the water have been shown to produce cellular stress in intertidal mussels.

The study showing abnormal levels of caffeine in the waters off the Oregon coast also suggested that the contaminants were predominantly coming from small-scale waste treatment systems such as household septic tanks, as opposed to large-scale wastewater treatment plants, which are regulated with much greater scrutiny. Such massive facilities are well-equipped to process the waste originating from cities in Oregon, which are comparatively smaller than major metropolitan hubs that have much more waste to contend with. For example, in Massachusetts, high levels of caffeine have been detected in Boston Harbor, likely the result of significantly greater quantities of wastewater that require treatment than those present in Oregon.

With so much uncertainty surrounding the effects of caffeine pollution on an ocean already marred by the presence of plastic garbage islands, how much research needs to be conducted before cities decide to embark upon ambitious ocean-cleansing efforts? Hopefully, leaders won’t need to convene over coffee to figure out the right course of action.

 New Study Suggests Pacific Ocean is Polluted With… Coffee? | Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building.

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Awesome Video of a Dragon’s Descent!

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Space on June 2, 2012


Awesome Video of a Dragon’s Descent!

by JASON MAJOR on JUNE 1, 2012

Just in from SpaceX and NASA, here’s a video of the descent of the Dragon capsule on the morning of May 31, 2012.

Dragon’s Apollo-esque drogue chutes deployed (NASA)

Taken from a chase plane, the footage shows the spacecraft’s dramatic chute deployment and splashdown into the Pacific at 8:42 a.m. PT, approximately 560 miles southwest off the coast of Los Angeles. The event marked the end of a successful and historic mission that heralds a new era of commercial spaceflight in the U.S.

Read more about the completion of the first Dragon mission here.


Awesome Video of a Dragon’s Descent!.

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Dragon’s Ocean Splashdown Caps Historic Opening of New Space Era

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Space on June 2, 2012


Dragon’s Ocean Splashdown Caps Historic Opening of New Space Era

by KEN KREMER on MAY 31, 2012

 

1st picture of the Dragon spacecraft as it floats in the ocean awaiting recovery ships
Dragon splashed down successfully on May 31, 2012 at 11:42 a.m. EDT (1542 GMT) in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of California. In a carefully timed sequence of events, dual drogue parachutes deploy at 45,000 feet to stabilize and slow the spacecraft. Full deployment of the drogues triggers the release of the main parachutes, each 116 feet in diameter, at about 10,000 feet, with the drogues detaching from the spacecraft. Main parachutes further slow the spacecraft’s descent to approximately 16 to 18 feet per second. Credit: Michael Altenhofen

Concluding a perfectly executed and history making test flight, the first private spacecraft ever to visit and dock at the International Space Station (ISS) performed a picture perfect splashdown at 11:42 a.m. EDT (1542 GMT) today, May 31, in the Pacific Ocean, off the west coast of Baja, California, some 560 miles southwest of Los Angeles to cap the opening to a historic new Era in Space Exploration.

Dragon is the linchpin in NASA’s bold Commercial Crew and Cargo program aimed at significantly driving down the cost of transporting cargo and crews to low Earth orbit by using private commercial companies to foster competition and innovation in the free market setting of the new, post-shuttle Era of Commercial Space Transportation.

NASA aircraft were able to transmit live video of the last few minutes of the Dragon’s breathtaking descent, unfurling of the trio of parachutes and ocean splashdown – pretty much on target at 27 degrees latitude and 127 degrees west longitude.

The official mission elapsed time on landing was 9 days, 7 hours and 58 minutes.

Splashdown of the Dragon cargo craft took place barely 6 hours after departing the orbiting lab complex following detachment from the station using the station robotic arm. The ISS astronauts released the craft from the grip of the station’s robot arm at 5:49 a.m. EST (949 GMT) this morning, May 31.

Screen shot of Dragon after May 31 splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Credit: NASA TV

The two spacecraft were soaring some 250 miles (400 km) high above the Indian Ocean east of Africa at the moment of release and departure. Altogether, Dragon spent 5 days, 16 hours and 5 minutes mated to the station.

The gumdrop shaped Dragon capsule is 4.4 meters (14.4 ft) tall, and 3.66 m (12 ft) in diameter and has an internal pressurized volume of about 350 cubic feet .

The Dragon cargo resupply capsule was built by SpaceX and is being retrieved from the ocean by a flotilla of three recovery ships. The ships reached Dragon, detached the chutes and are in the process of recovery. It will take about two days to deliver the craft to the port of Los Angeles where the most critical cargo items will be removed for quick shipment to NASA. The capsule will then be shipped to SpaceX’s McGregor,Texas facility for post-flight evaluation.

Dragon is the world’s first commercial spacecraft whose purpose is to carry supplies to and from the ISS and partially replace the cargo capabilities previously performed by NASA’s now retired fleet of space shuttle orbiters. Dragon was designed, developed and built by Hawthorne, Calif., based SpaceX Corporation, founded in 2002 by CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk.

“This has been a fantastic day,” said Musk at a post splashdown briefing for reporters. “I want to thank NASA and the whole SpaceX team for an amazing job.”

“I’m really proud of everyone. This really couldn’t have gone better. We’re looking forward to doing lots more missions in the future and continuing to upgrade the technology and push the frontier of space transportation.”

“In baseball terminology this would be a grand slam. I am overwhelmed with joy.”

The de-orbit burn to drop Dragon out of orbit took place precisely on time at 10:51 a.m. EDT for a change in velocity of 100 m/sec about 246 miles above the Indian Ocean directly to the south of India as the craft was some 200 miles in front of the ISS.

Screen shot of Dragon after May 31 splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Credit: NASA TV

The Draco thruster firing lasted 9 minutes and 50 seconds and sent Dragon plummeting through the Earth’s atmosphere where it had to survive extreme temperatures exceeding 3000 degrees F (1600 degrees C) before landing.

The Dragon capsule is the first US vehicle of any kind to arrive at the ISS since the July 2011 forced retirement of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program resulted in the total loss of all US capability to send cargo and humans crews to the massive orbiting outpost.

SpaceX signed a contract with NASA in 2006 to conduct twelve Falcon 9/Dragon resupply missions to carry about 44,000 pounds of cargo to the ISS at a cost of some $1.6 Billion over the next few years.

This was the third test flight of the Falcon 9 rocket and the first test flight of the Dragon in this vastly upgraded configuration with solar panels. A future variant of Dragon will eventually blast US astronauts to space and restore US crew capability – perhaps by 2017 thanks to repeated cuts to NASA’s budget.

Only four entities have ever sent a spacecraft to dock at the ISS – the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Union. SpaceX is the first commercial entity to accomplish the same feat.

The precedent setting Dragon mission has opened a new era in spaceflight by giving birth to the first fully commercial mission to the orbiting space station complex and unlocking vast new possibilities for its utilization in science and exploration.

On May 22, Dragon thundered to orbit atop a SpaceX built Falcon 9 rocket during a pre-dawn liftoff at 3:44 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

After a three day chase, Dragon arrived at the ISS on May 25 and was deftly berthed at an open Earth-facing port on the Harmony Node 2 module after being dramatically captured by the astronaut crew using the station’s robotic arm in a landmark event in space history as the Dragon and the ISS were passing about 251 miles above Earth. Capture was confirmed at a mission elapsed time of 3 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes and 23 seconds.

Working in tandem, NASA astronaut Don Pettit and ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers snared the Dragon craft as it was drifting in free space about 10 m (32 ft) away with the 18 m (58 ft) long Canadian robot arm at 9:56 a.m. EDT and parked the first privately built capsule to an open port at 12:02 p.m. EDT on May 25.

The astronauts opened the hatch and ‘Entered the Dragon’ for the first time a day later on May 26 and then proceeded to unload the stowed cargo and refill it for the return trip to Earth.

On this first NASA sponsored Dragon test flight to rendezvous and dock at the ISS, the cargo craft was packed with 460 kilograms (1014 lbs) of non-critical cargo including 306 kg (674 lbs) of food and crew provisions; 21 kg (46 lbs) of science experiment; 123 kg (271 lbs) prepositioned cargo bags to be used for future flights; and 10 kg (22 lbs) of assorted computer supplies and a laptop.

Dragon splashed down successfully on May 31, 2012 at 11:42 a.m. EDT in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of California. In a carefully timed sequence of events, dual drogue parachutes deployed at 45,000 feet to stabilize and slow the spacecraft. Full deployment of the drogues triggers the release of the main parachutes, each 116 feet in diameter, at about 10,000 feet, with the drogues detaching from the spacecraft. Main parachutes further slow the spacecraft’s descent to approximately 16 to 18 feet per second.

Unlike the other Russian, European and Japanese cargo freighters that service the ISS and then disintegrate on reentry, the SpaceX Dragon is uniquely equipped with a state of the art PICA-X heat shield that allows it to plunge safely through the Earth’s atmosphere and survive the fiery temperatures exceeding more than 3000 degrees F (1600 degrees C).

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket clears the tower after liftoff at 3:44 a.m. on May 22, 2012 from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on the first commercial mission to loft the Dragon cargo resupply vehicle to the International Space Station. The Dragon mission was a resounding success from launch to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on May 31 at 11:42 a.m. EDT. Credit: Ken Kremer/www.kenkremer.com

The down mass capability restores another critical capability lost with the forced retirement of NASA’s Space Shuttle orbiters in July 2011. The astronauts filled Dragon with about 620 kilograms (1367 pounds) of science experiments, trash and non-critical items on this historic test flight.

The first operational Dragon resupply mission to the ISS could blast off as early as September, said Alan Lindenmoyer, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Program.

“We’ll await the final post flight report to make the determination that this was an extremely successful mission. But they should be well on their way to starting [delivery] services,” said Lindenmoyer at the briefing. “Of course, officially we will look at the post flight data and make an official determination. But I would say at this point it looks like 100 percent success.”

Read more: http://www.universetoday.com/95549/dragons-ocean-splashdown-caps-historic-opening-of-new-space-era/#ixzz1welhINoODragon’s Ocean Splashdown Caps Historic Opening of New Space Era.

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Layer 8: Hypersonic test aircraft pealed apart after 3 minutes of sustained Mach 20 speed

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Technology on April 20, 2012


Hypersonic test aircraft pealed apart after 3 minutes of sustained Mach 20 speed

The Hypersonic Technology Vehicle is experimenting with sustaining aerodynamic control during hypersonic flight

By Layer 8 on Fri, 04/20/12

darpa htv 2

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s experimental Hypersonic Technology Vehicle (HTV-2), lost significant portions of its outer skin and became uncontrollable after three minutes of sustained Mach 20 speed last August.

That was the conclusion of an independent engineering review board (ERB) investigating the cause of what DARPA calls a “flight anomaly” in the second test flight of the HTV-2.

From the ERB report:

The flight successfully demonstrated stable aerodynamically-controlled flight at speeds up to Mach 20 (twenty times the speed of sound) for nearly three minutes. Approximately nine minutes into the test flight, the vehicle experienced a series of shocks culminating in an anomaly, which prompted the autonomous flight safety system to use the vehicle’s aerodynamic systems to make a controlled descent and splashdown into the ocean.

Based on state-of-the-art models, ground testing of high-temperature materials and understanding of thermal effects in other more well-known flight regimes, a gradual wearing away of the vehicle’s skin as it reached stress tolerance limits was expected. However, larger than anticipated portions of the vehicle’s skin peeled from the aerostructure. The resulting gaps created strong, impulsive shock waves around the vehicle as it travelled nearly 13,000 miles per hour, causing the vehicle to roll abruptly. Based on knowledge gained from the first flight in 2010 and incorporated into the second flight, the vehicle’s aerodynamic stability allowed it to right itself successfully after several shockwave-induced rolls. Eventually, however, the severity of the continued disturbances finally exceeded the vehicle’s ability to recover.

“The initial shockwave disturbances experienced during second flight, from which the vehicle was able to recover and continue controlled flight, exceeded by more than 100 times what the vehicle was designed to withstand,” said DARPA Acting Director, Kaigham Gabriel in a statement. “That’s a major validation that we’re advancing our understanding of aerodynamic control for hypersonic flight.”

Prior to the Aug. 11, 2011 flight DAPRA said its technical team completed the most sophisticated simulations and extensive wind tunnel tests possible.  But these ground tests have not yielded the necessary knowledge.  “Filling the gaps in our understanding of hypersonic flight in this demanding regime requires that we be willing to fly.  In the HTV-2′s first test in April 2010, we obtained four times the amount of data previously available at these speeds.  Today more than 20 air, land, sea and space data collection systems were operational.  We’ll learn. We’ll try again. That’s what it takes,”  said then DARPA director Regina Dugan.

The HTV-2 could fly anywhere in the world in less than 60 minutes.  This capability requires an aircraft that can fly at 13,000 mph, while experiencing temperatures in excess of 3,500F.  With that information as a backdrop, DARPA describes the Falcon as a “data truck” with numerous sensors that collect data in an uncertain operating envelope.  For its second test flight, engineers adjusted the HTV-2′s center of gravity, decreased the angle of attack flown, and will use the onboard reaction control system to augment the vehicle flaps to maintain stability during flight operations, the agency stated.

The first flight of the Falcon in 2010 “collected data that demonstrated advances in high lift-to-drag aerodynamics; high temperature materials; thermal protection systems; autonomous flight safety systems; and advanced guidance, navigation, and control for long-duration hypersonic flight.”

Moving forward,  DARPA said the HTV-2 program will incorporate new knowledge gained to improve thermal uncertainties and heat-stress allowances for the vehicle’s outer shell. The remediation phase will involve further analysis and ground testing using flight data to validate new tools for this type of flying.

 Layer 8: Hypersonic test aircraft pealed apart after 3 minutes of sustained Mach 20 speed.

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In the Deep Seas, Exploring Our Own Alien World – NYTimes.com

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Cool Stuff!, Opinion, Science on March 27, 2012


Exploring Our Own Alien World

By TONY HAYMET
Published: March 26, 2012

 

NEARLY 36 years ago, our understanding of life was changed forever when scientists towing a remote vehicle through the depthsphotographed a cluster of clams on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean far beyond the reach of sunlight, where no life was supposed to be. The clams were nourished by geothermal ocean vents instead of energy from the sun.

Since then, scientists and explorers from around the world have quietly and patiently discovered a foreign universe full of life here on Earth. The latest foray was on Sunday, when the director James Cameron descended nearly seven milesinto a trough known as the Challenger Deep, the planet’s deepest known recess, off Guam.

We should honor this accomplishment and encourage continued exploration through a global effort by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to preserve the deep seas. The open ocean beyond regions of national jurisdiction covers roughly half of the planet’s surface. We have no idea what strange life thrives in the blackness there at depths of two miles or more. That’s the point. We know enough that we don’t want to lose it.

Deep-sea researchers live apart from the bright lights and billions of dollars devoted to space exploration. But these researchers, working in relative obscurity, nonetheless have documented rich and surprisingly diverse communities of organisms in the deep sea. These have been low-budget expeditions, mostly robotic, sponsored by a handful of countries with a little capital to invest.

At ocean vents, hot gases emerge out of the ocean floor and support life that does not rely on photosynthesis and sunlight. In the 1980s, different life was discovered at cold methane seeps. These life forms use methane as their source of energy, not the sun or photosynthetic pathways.

And the weirdness continues. Recently, my colleagues Lisa Levin and Greg Rouse of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography documented an ecosystem off Costa Rica that shows elements of both vent and seep life, where organisms that can tolerate extreme heat and extreme cold can rub elbows.

On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin flew into space in the first manned space flight, more than a year after the bathyscaphe Trieste, a deep-sea submersible carrying Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh, descended 35,797 feet into the Challenger Deep. They were the true mad men of the era: the Trieste could have been sent unmanned to this depth, but instead Mr. Walsh and Mr. Piccard accompanied it on its first attempt, not hitting the panic button even when a Plexiglas window cracked at about 29,000 feet.

We thought back then that the era of deep sea and space exploration had begun. We were right about space. But it wasn’t until four private expeditions were assembled recently that a return to the Challenger Deep was possible. Over the next 10 years, scientists hope to exploit the wonderful technology invented for these expeditions.

On Sunday Mr. Cameron, in a submarine of his own design, on an expedition sponsored by the National Geographic Society, finally became the first human to return to the Challenger Deep in more than 52 years. We should continue this exploration. Much remains to be discovered. Indeed, as just one example, my colleagues hope to discover new creatures that produce novel molecules that, when tweaked and synthesized in the lab, will replenish our rapidly decreasing array of effective pharmaceuticals. Properly managed, noninvasive use of our oceans might keep us safe until we are smart enough to design drugs with just our brains and computers.

The exploration of the ocean depths will happen just like the exploration of Mars. Robots will do most of the work, collect all the data, and if we are lucky and smart enough to occasionally take a pilot along, these expeditions will enrich the human condition more than we can imagine. Yes, exploration of the deep ocean will be just like the exploration of Mars — with one huge exception. We already know we are going to find life in the deep ocean, and lots of it.

 In the Deep Seas, Exploring Our Own Alien World – NYTimes.com.

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Disruptions: Resolved in 2012: To Enjoy the View Without Help From an iPhone – NYTimes.com

Posted by Michael B. Calyn in Opinion, Perspective, Social, Society on January 3, 2012


Disruptions: Resolved in 2012: To Enjoy the View Without Help From an iPhone

 

By NICK BILTON

 January 1, 2012

Nick Bilton/The New York Times

 

Last week, I drove to Pacifica, a beach community just south of San Francisco, where I climbed a large rocky hill as the sun descended on the horizon. It painted a typically astounding California sunset across the Pacific Ocean. What did I do next?

What any normal person would do in 2011: I pulled out my iPhone and began snapping pictures to share on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

I spent 10 minutes trying to compose the perfect shot, moving my phone from side to side, adjusting light settings and picking the perfect filter.

Then, I stopped. Here I was, watching this magnificent sunset, and all I could do is peer at it through a tiny four-inch screen.

“What’s wrong with me?” I thought. “I can’t seem to enjoy anything without trying to digitally capture it or spew it onto the Internet.”

Hence my New Year’s resolution: In 2012, I plan to spend at least 30 minutes a day without my iPhone. Without Internet, Twitter, Facebook and my iPad. Spending a half-hour a day without electronics might sound easy for most, but for me, 30 unconnected minutes produces the same anxious feelings of a child left accidentally at the mall.

I made this resolution out of a sense that I habitually reached for the iPhone even when I really didn’t need to, when I might have just enjoyed an experience, like the sunset, without any technology. And after talking to people who do research on subjects like this, I realized that there were some good reasons to give up a little tech.

For example, I was worried that if I did not capture that beautiful sunset and stuff it into my phone, I’d forget it.

“Even with something as beautiful as a sunset, forgetting is really important as a mental hygiene,” said Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, a professor of Internet governance at Oxford University and the author of the book “Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age.”

“That things in our past become rosier over time is incredibly important,” he added. “As we forget, our memories abstract and our brain goes through a cleansing process.” Mr. Mayer-Schönberger said that keeping a perpetual visual diary of everything could slow down our brains’ purging process.

Constantly interacting with our mobile devices has other drawbacks too. There are more pictures in my iPhone of that 45-minute hike at Pacifica than most families would have taken on a two-week vacation before the advent of digital cameras.

As a result, I had no time to daydream on that hike, and daydreams, scientists say, are imperative in solving problems.

Jonah Lehrer, a neuroscientist and the author of the soon-to-be-released book, “Imagine: How Creativity Works,” said in a phone interview that our brains often needed to become inattentive to figure out complex issues. He said his book discussed an area of the brain scientists call “the default network” that was active only when the rest of the brain was inactive — in other words, when we were daydreaming.

Letting the mind wander activates the default network, he said, and allows our brains to solve problems that most likely can’t be solved during a game of Angry Birds.

“Like everyone else, I really can’t imagine life without that little computer in my pocket,” he added. “However, there is an importance to being able to put it aside and let those daydreams naturally perform the cognitive functions your brain needs.”

Jonathan Schooler, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara who has focused his research on daydreaming, put it this way: “Daydreaming and boredom seem to be a source for incubation and creative discovery in the brain and are part of the creative incubation process.”

I don’t intend to give up my technology entirely, but I want to find a better balance. For me, it’s that 30 minutes a day for daydreaming.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and tell my Twitter followers about my New Year’s resolution.

 Disruptions: Resolved in 2012: To Enjoy the View Without Help From an iPhone – NYTimes.com.

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