4 GPS stations the APHoTo SABiNA SKH bathroom scale ARSENoLm L of the ice cap 56 GpS stations in Greenland measure changes in ice sheet mass and live an exposed life at the edge of the ice cap. The stations therefore need regular service calls. GREENLANd Overlooking the Helheim Glacier while the GPS meter is the scale that shows in East Greenland, a GPS antenna stands out the weight of the mass on the crust“, explains on a barren mountainside. The antenna is the Finn Bo Madsen, head of section of the Divi- part of a GPS station which measures eleva- sion of Geodesy, DTU Space. tion changes in the Earth’s crust around the ice cap. A total of 56 of these stations are dis- Extended field work tributed along the Greenland coastline, and Each year, Finn Bo Madsen and his American together they make up the Greenland GPS partners embark on a repair and maintenance Network, or colloquially simply GNET. trip to a number of the GPS stations. All sta- GNET makes it possible to measure eleva- tions will be visited every couple of years, and tion changes in the Earth’s crust over several standard practice is to visit a small number at years – changes showing whether the ice a time. This year, the trip did not follow the sheet mass becomes larger or smaller. The original plan. more the Earth’s crust contracts, the more ice The 2012 field trip was scheduled to take there is. And vice versa: The more the Earth’s place between Narsarsuaq in South Green- Helicopter pilot Inge Fast and head of section Finn Bo madsen. crust rises, the less ice there is. land and Sødalen in East Greenland. How- „The station performs its measurements ever, as it happens, wrong cards were inserted error meant that the stations simply stopped Following the extended field service trip, based on the same principle as a bathroom in the receivers at the stations that were vis- working after about 220 days. The stations GNET is once again fully prepared to act as scale. when you get on the bath- ited in 2011. will not be operational before having received the bathroom scale of the ice cap and weigh room scale, a spring contracts. LEARN moRE „The stations are located a service call. Therefore, the mission, which the changes in ice sheet mass over time. On top of this spring is a scale Finn Bo Madsen between the North Station in was supposed to end in Sødalen on the east that shows your weight. we use Section Head, DTU Space North-East Greenland and coast, continued up north to end in Nuuk on – SABINA ASKHoLM LARSEN bm@space.dtu.dk the Earth’s crust as the spring Nuuk in west Greenland. The the west coast,“ says Finn Bo Madsen. Horrible torture to be stopped with research The special falanga torture leaves victims with permanent foot injuries, which are difficult to document. A phD project from DTU Electrical Engineering is the first step towards a new method for documenting that the torture has taken place. TORTURE Falanga is an ancient, but still fre- method for documenting the injuries result- quently used torture method – in particu- ing from falanga. lar in the Middle East. The victim’s feet are strapped and exposed to repeated hard beats Healthy persons examined against the sole with iron bars, clubs or sticks. Sara Matteoli’s approach is functional and The victims are left with chronic pains and mechanical: She examines changes in the are unable to walk or stand up for longer pe- foot’s functions, i.e. the shock absorbing riods of time, even several years after the tor- properties of the heel pad. She started by ex- ture has taken place. But exposure to falanga amining healthy persons, who have not been torture is difficult to document. Sara Matteoli, exposed to falanga. an Italian engineer, has therefore been work- „Examining the properties of a healthy ing on inventing a method for documenting heel gives us knowledge about how a normal the injuries resulting from falanga. heel is functioning. This includes, among Falanga torture destroys the tissue of the other things, knowledge about how elastic feet, and the shock absorbing properties of and shock absorbing it is. This is important to the heel pad are lost forever, and an autopsy know in order to identify the deviations, the reveals the injuries in the soft tissue of the injured heels, that is“, Sara Matteoli explains. heel. But when it comes to surviving falanga Sara Matteoli spent a year developing the torture victims, today we equipment and the method only have their statements to LEARN moRE applied for the examinations. document that they have been Jens E. Wilhjelm The method comprises a heel exposed to falanga. Neither professor, DTU Elekctrical scan to measure the thickness Engineering ultrasound nor MR scans can jw@elektro.dtu.dk of the heel pad, followed by r SSE reveal the injuries in the soft fixation of the foot and then o HL tissue of the heel. Diagnosis of heel pad injuries. pressing a small piston gentlyhD project:pThe title of the Sc L ka mI Sara Matteoli holds an engi- Supervisor: professor Jens E. Wil- into the heel pad. In this way, o T neering degree from Florence. hjelm, DTU Electrical Engineering. the elasticity of the heel pad is o H P Engineer Saramatteoli’s method is intended to document injuries in the heels resulting As a PhD student at DTU Co-supervisor: Senior Research registered. from falanga torture exposure. Among other things, it involves fixating the foot and gently in Lyngby, she has spent the Consultant Søren Torp-pedersen, Frederiksberg Hospital. pressing a piston into the heel pad. past three years inventing a – LoTTE KRULL
DTUavis0812
To see the actual publication please follow the link above