April 23, 2007

Manic Monday: Sun

The Electronic Village is participating in the Manic Monday meme. This week's word is "sun".

The sun demands our respect. It shows itself without hesitation throughout the African continent. In fact, the physical nature of Black men and women over the centuries adjusted to the beating of the sun in a variety of ways. The sun is now causing concerns all over the world as a result of the Global Warming situation. Those are issues for a future day. Today, I've decided to share information here on the Electronic Village about a brother that is doing some remarkable things by his study of the sun.

Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi, astrophysicist and professor of physics at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, is currently researching the soft X-ray area of the sun's atmosphere. "This is one of the most difficult areas to work with because of the nature of this light and its interaction with matter," he explains. Soft X-ray light is extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light, part of the electromagnetic light spectrum that cannot be seen by the naked eye due to its short wavelength. Because it's at the extreme end of the light spectrum, it's very difficult to detect even with scientific instruments. Dr. Oluseyi has developed a special detector that he plans to send in a rocket to the sun. It will be able to send back new information about this region of the sun's atmosphere.

Oluseyi is also collaborating with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratoryin Berkeley, Calif., on a project called the Supernova Acceleration Probe (SNAP) mission. They plan to launch a space-based telescope in 2010. It will be able to observe thousands of supernovae a year. Supernovae are dying stars that collapse in on themselves and then explode, sending huge amounts of their material into space. He hopes this new data will shed light on the existence and makeup of "dark matter" (invisible matter).

As a child living with his single mom, "I moved every year growing up," Oluseyi says. "We didn't live in the best neighborhoods, so I'd stay inside, reading a lot." He also watched science shows on PBS. "I always thought scientists were really cool," he says. "Albert Einstein was my original inspiration. I read about Einstein and relativity, and the weirdness of it all captured my attention from [ages] 10 to 16." In high school, Oluseyi won a prize at the state science fair for his computer program that did relativity calculations.

He attended Tougaloo College, a black college in Mississippi, where he was one of only two students to major in physics. "It never occurred to me that I'd never seen a black physicist," Oluseyi says. He just always believed he could do it. He received B.S. degrees in Physics & Mathematics from Tougaloo College (1991). He received a M.S. degree in physics from Stanford University in 1995 and completed his Ph.D. in Physics at Stanford University in 1999. His award winning dissertation was entitled, Development of a Global Model of the Solar Atmosphere with an Emphasis on the Solar Transition Region.

Oluseyi's advice to young people is: "Pursue your dreams without hesitation and always believe in yourself." He has been able to live his dream and now holds eight patents in the technology field.

I hope to encourage Dr. Oluseyi to get involved with the students that I work with as part of the BDPA Education & Technology Foundation. And I'm grateful to Keely Parrack and Manic Monday meme for encouraging me to think about today's word of the day ---> Sun!

14 comments:

Rebecca said...

"Pursue your dreams without hesitation and always believe in yourself."
I love that and I believe that. Great post. Thanks.

Durward Discussion said...

Thank you for a wonderful post. This is the first visit here, but it won't be the last. You have excellent, thought provoking articles.

Empress Bee (of the high sea) said...

very nice post sir!

smiles, bee

Unknown said...

Welcome to Manic Monday, Villager! Excellent take on the theme. That´s what I call "a great start" - be sure I´ll be back!

Stine said...

Very informative - good post!

Carrie said...

Wow, interesting post! Thanks for stopping by my "Sonny" post :) Happy Monday!

Mz Jackson said...

"We didn't live in the best neighborhoods, so I'd stay inside, reading a lot."

I completely relate to this quote.
This is a great article. Thank you!

Danielle said...

Great Great Great first Manic Monday post with the handy dandy widget as well.
Excellent. These weekly memes can serve an educational purpose expanding our horizons and you accomplished this. We in the mainstream do not often see the faces of black scientists although they clearly exist. The power of public television is so strong especially for the poor and less fortunate among us. Did I mention this was a great post.

A huge round of applause.

Be well and enjoy the day

Travis Cody said...

Welcome to MM. This is an excellent post. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this inspiring individual and his topical research.

Sandee said...

First, welcome to MM. I am the goofy sort and you will see that when you visit my site.

I am impressed with your first post and it's depth. You shall do well in your participation in MM, and we shall learn many new things.

Barb said...

Wonderful post! I have a very special MM today!

Paris David said...

Hey Electronic Village - Wish I knew your real name!

Anyway, I hope you were able to read my response to your question about who was paying me $48.75 for my blog posting.

I ended up rewriting it, so I deleted that original post.

Anyway, SponsoredReviews.com is paying me $48.75 for that post.

Do what you can to hook up with them -- their CEO, Jarrod Hunt, is a cool guy.

Take care,
Paula

Unknown said...

rebecca, jamie, empress bee, sanni, stine, asara, mz. jackson, travis, skittles, comedy plus - Asante sana! I appreciate your support on this Manic Monday meme thing since it is our first time trying it out. I've learned many new things ... and one of the best things was seeing the chickens and smiling faces of skittles and Morgen, the creator of the Monday Meme!

Danielle - You remain my sister from another mother (smile). You turned me on to these weekly memes and I enjoyed this one very much. I'll see if I can stay consistent each Monday.

peace, Villager

Mo and The Purries said...

Thanks for joining Manic Mondays!
It often takes me a few days to get around to all the MM posts - some weeks I can't get to every one, even - so just have fun with the meme.
Your first post is a great one, and I'm glad that you joined our eclectic circle of Maniacs!
cheers,
Manic Mo