Disappointing end to Mars probe mission

Over five years of work, $163m, and hopes of finally breaking a streak of unsuccessful Mars missions, this weekend all ended in pieces in the Pacific Ocean. Fragments of the Russian Space Agency’s Phobos-Grunt probe crashed to Earth near the island of Wellington, off Chile, the probe having managed only a fraction of the journey towards its intended destination, the Martian moon Phobos.

The probe’s journey began on November 9^th last year, launched from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazachstan. The purpose of the mission was three-fold; to collect soil samples from Phobos, study the Martian atmosphere, and investigate the ability of certain small organisms to survive the rigours of space flight. Phobos samples were scheduled to arrive back on Earth in August 2014, ready for examination and analysis by scientists at Roscosmos (the Russian Space Agency). Expert opinion is that material from Mars itself was ejected from the planet during past meteroid bombardment, landing on Phobos; hence studying soil from its moon might help us learn more about the Red Planet.

The mission was abruptly curtailed, however, when the Russian craft found itself stuck in orbit around Earth. This was the flight’s first leg completed without a hitch; the next stage, however, went badly awry. Had all gone to plan, ignition of two booster rockets would have fired up the engines for the remainder of the journey towards Mars. For whatever reason, these rockets did not fire, leaving the probe stuck in orbit all too close to its starting point. Head of Roscosmos Vladimir Popovkin speculates that the probe must have been unable to find its bearings by the stars as planned, and thus could not correctly program the rockets for firing off to Mars.

Disappointing as the probe’s failure will be for Roscosmos, and for those eagerly anticipating the opportunity to study the earth on Mars, other consequences of the ruined mission were of more pressing concern. Just a few days ago the remains of the probe fell out of the sky, with around 200kg of material, in 20-30 fragments, ready to hit the Earth’s surface.  Although our technology is able to track falling debris to a certain extent, the speed of the craft, and activity in Earth’s atmosphere, made it impossible to accurately project the trajectory of the falling fragments, or narrow down the location of impact to more than a continent-sized area.

Governments and space scientists anxiously tracked the fragmenting probe’s descent over the weekend before the pieces finally landed in the ocean, at a safe distance from human population centres. Although the Phobos-Grunt probe’s short life did not reach the heights it was designed for, there is some comfort in that its failure does not seem to have endangered human lives, property, or the natural environment.

Ambitious missions such as Phobos-Grunt require international collaboration between scientists, agencies and governments all over the world. On occasions where something goes wrong, quick and accurate communication of highly technical information is even more of a necessity. At TJC Global, we can connect you with specialist linguists in all kinds of areas, including space science! Whatever your needs, we will find the most appropriate, experienced and knowledgeable translator or interpreter for your requirements, so you can be confident that miscommunications will not be a problem in urgent, dangerous or delicate situations. For an idea of what we offer, visit our website at www.tjc-oxford.com, or contact us on info@tjc-global.com to discuss how we can assist your organisation.

Faster than the speed of light?

Deep inside the Gran Sasso mountain, within the Monti della Laga range in central Italy, three large chambers of around 36,000m³ each are hewn out of the rock, filled with machinery and inhabited by around 750 busy workers. This is the Gran Sasso National Laboratory for the study of particle physics, particle astrophysics and nuclear astrophysics, and the location of one of the most high-profile experimental results of the last century.

The Gran Sasso laboratory is a strange and unreal sight, but its extraordinary environment is absolutely crucial to the experiments taking place inside. The scientists who work there study neutrinos, subatomic particles that form in nuclear reactions inside the Sun and eventually make their way through the Solar System to reach Earth. Neutrinos are so tiny, and their interactions with each other and the environment so subtle, that they can only be distinguished when the “noise” of everyday background radiation is blocked out. The 1400m of mountain rock surrounding the Gran Sasso experiments (and, crucially, the constitution of the rock, which is unusually low in radioactive isotopes) achieves this better than any other location in the world.

In September this year, the Opera (Oscillation Project with Emulsion tRacking Apparatus) research team at Gran Sasso made a startling series of measurements during an experiment to gauge how quickly neutrinos covered a 730km distance. Incredibly, it seemed that the neutrinos were travelling faster than the speed of light which, according to our current understanding of physics, should not be possible!

The speed of light as a constant and universal limit to how fast particles can travel is a concept familiar even to the non-scientist; it is a beguilingly simple idea, despite the complexity of the proofs and calculations involved. The potential significance of the Gran Sasso measurements has therefore readily captured the attention of the world’s media and the public at large, even though we may not all have the scientific background to understand the exact repercussions.

Despite widespread fascination with what this result could mean for concepts of space, time and even causality, even the physicists who have devoted several years to this work are sceptical about whether the measurements are all they seem. A general rule-of-thumb used by scientists when evaluating new research is that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and the detection of faster-than-light travel is certainly an extraordinary claim! In any case, the results of one research group, however prestigious, are never sufficient grounds for claiming a discovery until they have been reproduced elsewhere.

The most plausible explanation of the Gran Sasso result, acknowledged both by the OPERA team and the wider scientific community, is experimental error. Identifying the error, however, is more difficult than one might imagine. This was not one freak result; three years of carefully controlled experiments yielded the same data, with a margin of error rigorously calculated as plus or minus 10 billionths of a second. (To put this in perspective, the speed of the neutrinos was measured as 60 billionths of a second faster than the speed of light). Despite repeated attempts to prove their own measurements wrong, OPERA are stuck with their extraordinary data.

The error, assuming there is an error, must therefore be systematic. Systematic errors are a scientist’s nightmare; they stem from an integral flaw in an experimental design which impacts results in exactly the same way each time the experiment is run. This makes it very tricky even to realise a systematic error exists, let alone to identify and correct for it. This is the task that the OPERA team face, and they have now thrown the problem open to the wider scientific community. Their hope is that if the results are wrong, they may at least be able to discover how and why the inaccuracy arose, so that it can be compensated for in future experiments. Until then, there will remain questions over whether measurements taken with this apparatus and under these conditions can be trusted. Of course there remains the possibility that the error cannot be found because it does not exist! Physics may be revolutionised by the Gran Sasso experiment after all…

The next stage is attempts by independent research groups to either replicate the neutrino results, or to conclusively undermine them. The study of neutrinos is a truly international enterprise involving specialists from all over the world: the measurements taken in Gran Sasso, Italy – in a facility where scientists hail from twenty-two different countries – were announced at CERN, the pan-European laboratory located in Switzerland, and the foremost researchers testing the results are likely to be based in the US (the Minos experiment) and Japan (the T2K facility).

The importance of clear communication between scientists working in different languages is readily apparent when considering the recent dramatic announcements. Fast and accurate translation and interpreting by subject specialists is absolutely key when extraordinary results require detailed scrutiny.

High-quality scientific translation and interpreting is crucial even on much smaller scales however: the technical detail required in patents, research papers and clinical trial procedures, for example, requires accurate translation by a specialist who fully understands the scientific context. At TJC Global, our international network of translators and interpreters encompasses linguists with varied educational and professional backgrounds, and individual specialisms. We always endeavour to provide the best-qualified person for your specific project, in fields ranging from the life sciences to nuclear physics, via pharmaceuticals, energy and fuel, and environmental science.

For more detailed information about the scientific translation and interpreting services we provide, please see our website: http://tjc-oxford.com/ or email us on info@tjc-global.com and we will do our best to assist.

Youth Teams Commemorate the ‘Christmas Truce’ in Ypres

Ypres is a town forever associated with the misery of war. Like the Somme, its name belongs to the  collective historical conscious of British people; no longer a real place but rather an echo from history. Ypres represents the abominable cruelty of the First World War, the murderous division between nations of different languages. Yet there is one shining light in Ypres’ otherwise dark history; the scene of so much hatred and bloodshed, it was also the site of unexpected compassion and unity. On the freezing cold Christmas Eve of 1914, both British and German soldiers began – slowly at first – to emerge from their trenches and walk into No Man’s Land, an act that merely hours ago would have meant certain death. And here, in the spirit of good will to all men that Christmas embodies, they played football.

It was a ramshackle, frantic, poor quality game; officer’s coats marked goal posts, the 11 official players either side multiplied rapidly until over 50 uniformed footballers swarmed the field, and the result changes depending who you ask (both sides claimed a 3-2 victory). But for one night, the divisions of language and conflict were healed by the lingua franca of football.

97 years later, buses bearing the future stars of Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, Lens and Genk arrived in Flanders fields to commemorate this sporting truce.  The Premier League funded ‘Christmas Truce’ tournament brought these under-12 teams together in celebration of that night where the unifying power of human compassion was expressed through the universal language of football.  The final, redolent of that first game a century ago, saw England’s Manchester United facing Germany’s Borussia Dortmund.  The goals were made reassuringly of wood, each side kept to its allotted number of substitutions and the result (3-0 to United) was undisputed. The spirit of unity through the love of the game, however, remained undiminished by history.

The tournament, however, concerned far more than just football. Gen Roddy, director of youth development at the Premier League, expressed the educational value in the visit. The event was a challenge to hone football talents, yet Roddy stated that for football’s mission education ‘is vital and this will be a very beneficial cultural experience. One of things that Ofsted highlighted when we got our ‘Outstanding’ rating was that Premier League clubs encourage open minds that accept and welcome other cultures.’

Nowhere was this better expressed than the multilingual services of commemoration. Addressing the teams after the tournament, one official of local side FC Ypres spoke of the ‘absurdity of war’. He did so in German, English and his own mother tongue Flemish.  Team members of French club FC Lens followed this by reciting First World War poetry in English, and were joined by a German relating the ‘horrific history’ that surrounded the quiet market town, again in English. It was a fitting tribute, not just to the legendary game of 1914, but to the wonderful power of sport to transcend languages and engage strangers in a universal love of a great game.

At TJC Global we cannot promise a universal language as captivating as competitive sport, and our football team is patchy at best. But we can help overcome the barriers that can occur when languages meet. With expertise in around 180 languages, we can provide professional translation and interpretation for a wide range of fields; from medical to media, via legal, governmental, financial, engineering, business and more.  Indeed, this range coupled with excellent customer service accounts for our ever-expanding list of clients from around the world. For further information about what we can offer your organisation, please visit our website at www.tj-oxford.com or contact us at info@tjc-global.com.

NASA Scientists discover new ‘earth-like’ planet

The United States National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) recently announced that its Kepler program has discovered a planet orbiting a star in another galaxy that occupies the ‘habitable zone’, an area just the right distance from a star to permit the existence of liquid water. Liquid water is, of course, believed to be a prerequisite for the development of life. The Kepler spacecraft, launched in 2009 was designed to discover those so-called exoplanets within the habitable zone with earth-like characteristics. Since its launch the Kepler mission has identified 2,326 such planetary candidates.

The latest has been dubbed Kepler-22b and is the smallest planet yet to have been found in the habitable zone of a sun-like star. The planet has a radius measuring about 2.4 times larger than that of earth and scientist are as yet unsure about its composition, whether it is rocky, gaseous or liquid. Still, at 79 million miles from its star, Kepler-22b has an estimated temperature of a balmy 22 degrees C, which means it has the potential for liquid water and, thus, the possibility of containing life.

What might this mean for us here on earth? TJC Global already offers translation and interpreting services in over 180 earth languages, but perhaps we will need to add some extra-terrestrial languages to our repertoire if indeed the Kepler mission continues to find planets with the potential for life. If it sounds a bit like science fiction, it probably is. Even if life exists, Kepler-22b, at 600 light years away, would be rather difficult to contact. In addition, the life-forms might be primitive and unable to speak at all!

For the near future at least, TJC Global will continue providing the life-forms on this planet with high quality translation and interpretation services. Utilising a vast international network of highly qualified native-speakers from a wide variety of backgrounds and specialist areas, we are able to quickly connect people to the languages they require.  Whether scientists and engineers working on international space projects, or businesses concerned with making things better here on earth, TJC Global scours the globe, if not yet the galaxy, to find the translation and interpretation service tailored to our clients’ specific needs.

Net Migration to the UK Reaches Record High

Figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) yesterday reveal that 2010 was the highest year on record for net migration to the UK. Net migration was 252,000 for 2010. This number is arrived at by taking the difference between immigration at 591,000 and emigration at 339,000. The main reason behind the increase in net migration was a fall in emigration from the UK, whilst the level of immigration has remained fairly constant.

But what do these numbers mean? To many people they appear pretty meaningless. Their experiences of the effects of migration to and from the UK are primarily based on how it impacts their local area. Many people appreciate the diversity and cosmopolitan character that flows of migration have brought to different towns and cities in the UK. TJC Global, based in the heart of Oxford, enjoys the benefits of the rich talent pool of foreign students, many of whom seek employment in the UK after they graduate. It makes Oxford a great place to locally source highly qualified and experienced translators and interpreters from all over the world.

However, many people in the UK have a less positive perception of migration. A recent e-petition organized by Migration Watch UK, calling on the government ‘to take all necessary steps to get immigration down to a level that will stabilise our population as close to the present level as possible’ gained over 100,000 signatures in less than week. Opponents of immigration often argue that immigrants are a drain on public services and that they take jobs away from native workers. This sentiment can be especially strong in times of government cuts and rising unemployment.

But immigrants are often merely scapegoats for deeper economic and societal problems. The National Health Service could not function without its large pool of immigrant labour. A higher percentage of immigrants tend to be of working age, relative to the native UK population as a whole. They are therefore economically productive, paying taxes, increasing aggregate demand and ultimately creating jobs in the UK economy. Many sectors of the British economy are highly dependent on immigrant labour.

Nonetheless, the widespread perception that immigration is ‘out of control’ means that the numbers game is a big deal of the Government. The Conservative Party made a pre-election pledge to reduce net migration from the hundreds-of-thousands to the tens-of-thousands. This has been repeated in recent months by the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary. Put more clearly this amounts to a commitment to reduce net migration to below 100,000 by 2015. However, given the current net level of 252,000, estimated by the ONS to stay roughly the same in 2011, this target will be very difficult to achieve, regardless of whether it is a good or sensible objective to have.

Migration is not homogenous mass in the manner it is often crudely portrayed in the British media. It can be broken down into categories such as: economic, family, student and refugee. Of course these types often overlap and are by no means discreet. Even as rough categories, they need to be utilized to understand how the government intends to meet its target.

For a start, some forms of migration cannot be controlled by the Government. European Union nationals from all but two of the 27 EU member states are legally entitled to live and work in the UK. Other types can only be restricted to a certain extent. The Migration Observatory at Oxford University estimates that Government proposals designed to reduce family migration (migrants joining family members who are legally resident in the UK), will only reduce this type of migration by 8,000 per year. That would make little dent in the reduction of 150,000 required for the Government to meet its target. Likewise further restrictions on work based migration are only likely to reduce this type of legal immigration by 11,000 although it will have an impact on takeaways and sheep sheering!

Student migration is the main area where the government can have an impact on reducing net migration. Tougher restrictions are likely to reduce this flow by over 50,000 annually according to the study at Oxford University. However, non-EU foreign students are charged higher fees than their British counterparts and are vital to funding British Universities. During a time of major cuts to higher education, this somewhat begs the question of why this target is a good idea in the first place. Even with this reduction, with the side effect of harming one of the UKs most successful economic sectors, the target of reducing net migration to under 100,000 by 2015 is likely to be missed by at least 65,000, if not more.

At TJC Global we are never inhibited by restrictions on migration as we can source translators and interpreters from all over the world. Being based in the heart of Oxford gives us the advantage of having a large local talent pool of translators and interpreters. Modern technology enables us to simultaneously carry out multiple translation projects with translators and proof-readers based throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas. For more information, and for a free quote for either translation or interpreting, please visit our website at www.tjc-oxford.com.

Republican Candidates show off language skills before the Primaries

As the race for the Republican nomination in next year’s American Presidential election begins in earnest, an unexpected factor has come into play: could the multilingual abilities of the candidates be the deciding factor in who will run against incumbent President Obama next year?

Well, almost certainly not. It seems unlikely that the American electorate will be distracted from concerns about the economy, unemployment, and an ongoing military presence in the Middle East by the novelty of a Chinese- or French-speaker in the race (that’s Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney respectively).  Still, the current crop of hopefuls is the most linguistically capable in years – could this signal a shift in the American political class towards a more open and engaged international outlook?

Currently, there are nine declared Republican candidates, who will compete in a series of primaries and caucuses across all 50 states before the winner stands against President Obama in the November 2012 Presidential election. Prior to the first caucus, in Iowa, scheduled for 3^rd January 2012, the candidates engage in a series of debates and participate in numerous high-profile events and interviews in order to gain recognition and impress voters.

It was in one such interview that Jon Huntsman publically demonstrated the proficiency in Mandarin Chinese that led to his serving as US Ambassador to China for two years. Huntsman is the only Republican contender to show such fluency in a second language, although Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts and one of the front-runners to be nominee, is said to speak French to a high standard. President Obama, meanwhile, shows a passable command of Indonesian having spent four years of his childhood in Jakarta.

It is of course only in the English-speaking world that bilingual high-ups in the political system are a phenomenon worthy of remark. Most global leaders can switch between their native tongue, English, and perhaps even French, Spanish or German with a more than reasonable level of competence. The last decade has seen some catching-up however, in the UK at least. Ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair gave the occasional speech in French, whilst current Deputy PM Nick Clegg is famously fluent in five European languages: Spanish, German, Dutch and French as well as English.

Across the Atlantic, the USA also boasts a tradition of linguistically proficient leaders, although this has been gradually diminishing throughout the 20^th and 21^st centuries. Particularly impressive Presidential examples include James A Garfield, who could write in Greek and Latin simultaneously, using both hands; John Adams, who produced Hebrew and Latin translations of Biblical and Classical texts; and Herbert Hoover, fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

It would be a brave politician or diplomat, however, who trusted his or her second language skills enough to go it alone in sensitive meetings and negotiations. There is no substitute for a truly skilled interpreter, who can accurately convey all details and nuances of meaning. At TJC Global, we have an extensive network of native-speaker interpreters and translators covering over 180 languages. All are highly experienced and qualified, with backgrounds in all kinds of specialist areas: law, engineering, medicine, technical fields, the financial and charitable sectors are only a few examples. No matter what the situation, TJC Global can connect you with an interpreter or translator ideal for your particular needs. We can be contacted on info@tjc-global.com, and are always happy to discuss how we can best help your organisation.