Each year, Mail Archive colleagues Jeff Breidenbach and Jeff
Marshall take time from their busy schedules to seek out a few causes worthy of
support. Throughout the years, the team has followed the business practice
pioneered by Ben & Jerry's, which includes donating a fixed percentage of
pre-tax income to a good cause. Given the uncertain economy, it's laudable that
small business owners would choose to support a charitable organization.
Familiar with the SETI Institute, the colleagues perused the
Institute's website, and the Adopt a
Scientist program captured their attention. After reading through the list
of fascinating scientists participating in the program, Jeff Breidenbach chose
to "adopt" Dr. Franck Marchis. Jeff's personal interests are in perfect
alignment with Marchis' work, and he says, "Franck had the coolest project!"
According to Jeff, "Adaptive optics sounded like great fun.
Franck gets to play with lasers and motors and electronics and signal
processing, and in the end -- hopefully -- sees things nobody else in the world
has ever seen. The scale of astronomy blows me away. Franck explained to me that
it is common to make an observation, and then wait half a year so that the
earth is in a different location and measure again to see things from a
slightly different orientation. He thinks about and works with these things on
a daily basis. What's the grandest thing you thought about today? For me, it
was probably pondering the weather."
Jeff jokes that the
program made him feel like a patron from the Middle Ages supporting a
classical composer, "which was fun!" He adds, "I'm glad we live in a world with
hopes and dreams; and in that respect, the SETI Institute is one of the most
inspiring organizations in the world."
Jeff and a guest joined Franck on a spectacular expedition,
which involved a personal tour of the CFHT (Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope) Observatory,
which is situated atop the dormant Mauna
Kea volcano that rises 4,200 meters above the Pacific Ocean on the island
of Hawaii. It was a rare opportunity not available to the general public. The
expedition created several life-long memories for Jeff. He and his guest were
treated to what must rank among the most spectacular views in the world. Amidst
a freezing 40-knot wind on the observatory's catwalk, they savored a
magnificent sunset as the snowy mountaintops cast a shadow onto the atmosphere
above the clouds.
Another highlight of the expedition was the time spent with
Franck and his colleague and "resident astronomer," Olivier Lai. Jeff
particularly enjoyed learning about Olivier's in-progress giant interferometer
project called O'HANA, which means "family" in Hawaiian and will eventually gather
and combine light from all seven observatories on Mauna Kea. Jeff says he made
holograms in college and people had to hold their breath for nearly 30 seconds
so no vibrations disturbed the light. He adds, "Everything has to be stable --
ideally to well under a quarter wavelength of light. Olivier's system has
requirements, but there are moving motors involved. And not little submicron
movements; we're talking multiple feet over a 30-minute exposure! I was blown
away by the sheer audacity. How could one even think to try such a thing? And
this multi-year, cutting edge project is in progress, right there in front of
me, with this very scientist. It felt like stepping into another very exciting
world."
Out of curiosity, Jeff asked Olivier what percentage of
projects totally fail, guessing the answer would be at least half. "Apparently
astronomers build lots of utterly crazy instruments, and most of them actually
work. Astounding!"
Jeff had previously imagined the Institute as a giant
roulette game in which "you do a ton of work and it either boils down to
hearing a signal or not; with maybe some spin-off technology developments." But
he notes, "That is simply not true! I was so impressed by Franck's depth of
knowledge," he says. "I'm very impressed by the substance that is behind the
scientists. This is clearly not a bunch of people working on PowerPoint slides
all day – these are real people doing really meaty work and that was very
heartening to see. I'm very appreciative of the experience."
Jeff's impression of the Institute and the Adopt a Scientist
program has been very positive. "A lot of places we donate to act like a black
hole; you don't hear anything back and hopefully the money goes to something
useful," says Jeff. "As far as I'm concerned that's fine, assuming the money
actually does go to something useful. The SETI Institute, however, goes out of its
way to engage supporters. I'm supremely appreciative, honored, and enriched by
my interaction with Franck and I can't thank him enough for generously sharing
some of his time. I'm very proud and happy to help support such work."
Franck is honored to have been adopted by Jeff through the
SETI program. Franck enjoyed the opportunity to share with Jeff the excitement
of his new projects but also to show him the human side of his work. Franck is
convinced that the interest and support of the public is mandatory to lead to
successful projects. After Jeff's visit, Franck and Olivier had insightful
discussions about interferometry and its application to science. As a result,
Olivier and Franck will initiate a collaborative work involving a new idea for
an instrument project.
The SETI Institute gratefully acknowledges the Mail
Archive's support of its Adopt a Scientist program. There are many levels of
support available, beginning at $1,000, with expeditions, such as the one
described above, available at higher levels. To learn more, visit the Adopt a Scientist webpage.
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