Noesis

The Journal of the Mega Society

September 2004 Issue 173

Officers

Editor and Publisher: Ron Yannone

189 Ash Street #2

Nashua, NH 03060

Administrator: Jeff Ward

13155 Wimberly Square

San Diego, CA 92128

Internet Officer: Kevin Langdon

P.O. Box 795

Berkeley, CA 94701

Founder: Ronald K. Hoeflin

P.O. Box 539

New York, NY 10101

no·e·sis – Greek Þ understanding – to perceive. Psychology Þ the cognitive process

The Mega Society was founded in 1982 and has been documented in the GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS during the 1980s as the most exclusive society. Mega means million and denotes the one-in-a-million status of its members. Presently, the only viable adult-level admissions test is the Titan Test, developed by its founder, Ron Hoeflin – where 43/48 correct answers corresponds to the minimum accepted IQ level of 176. See www.megasociety.org Since its GUINNESS “distinction” in the 1980’s, the Mega Society with its 99.9999 percentile member status, remains “the most elite ultra-high IQ Society.”

Editorial Introduction to NOESIS Issue #173 – September 2004

Greetings avid readers of Noesis – the exciting, ever-changing, journal of the Mega Society!

The closing issues for 2004 of Noesis will be “thinner.” This is due to (a) my increased professional work activities; (b) scheduled travel to Germany for three-plus weeks in October/November; (c) the upcoming holiday season (Thanksgiving, Christmas); (d) frantically reviewing the final draft galleys of the AMC (American Mathematics Competitions); and (e) developing the new IEWS Fellows Newsletter for BAE Systems IEWS – with its debut release in December. My role as editor for Noesis spawned a terrific idea to meet a special need at work. I will be assembling input from the Company’s two dozen (or so) Engineering & Scientific Fellows – spanning a dozen diverse topic areas.

I entreat our readers to submit their enticing articles to me for Noesis using Microsoft WORD – preferably by email. The alternative would be a floppy diskette, ZIP diskette, or CD via Pony Express. I do not have a scanner – and local print shop prices are high. Scanning a simple color photo, for example, cost $10.

I plan to merge the last two issues of Noesis - #174 (October) and #175 (November) – and I hope to distribute this combined compilation some time in November – covering the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

We “open” the time for members to either vote for responsible members, or to volunteer for, the new Editor and/or Publisher of Noesis for fiscal year 2005! We certainly would feel bad if January and February came around and we did not have these vital positions filled. To expedite information dissemination to members, email will be used to thwart dependence and delays upon the journal to do this and because there is one last ‘combined’ issue of Noesis to be distributed in November.

We should also vote on the positions of Administrator and Internet Officer. Presently, Jeff Ward and Kevin Langdon are filling these responsible positions, respectively. Jeff and Kevin may elect to volunteer for their positions for 2005 as well. We’ll see! So please (members) send your votes to Administrator Jeff Ward for new officers for 2005 – Editor, Publisher, Administrator, and Internet Officer as soon as possible. Jeff Ward – please send me “voting preference counts” from our members (via email and/or Pony Express) so that I can present the data in the forthcoming issue of Noesis.

▶ Now let’s move on to Noesis issue #173 – September!

We open this historical issue of Noesis by congratulating our newest member into the Mega Society – Mr. Glen Wooten from Las Vegas, Nevada – location for the famous television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Glen comes into the Mega Society via the Titan Test. See article “Let’s Welcome our Newest Member to the Mega Society!”

Next, we look at a startling problem that engulfs the world – commercial aircraft defense! With the proliferation of man-portable weapons today around the world, commercial aircraft are ‘easy’ targets. We introduce one “solution” for this perplexing problem via the article “Flying the Unfriendly Skies: Missile Defenses for Civilian Aircraft.”

In a timely recent announcement August 26^th, in partial “answer” to the above commercial aircraft dilemma, we present “BAE SYSTEMS IEWS wins $45M Counter-MANPADS Award.”

Next, courtesy of New Hampshire’s Hudson~Litchfield News, we present “Summertime Tax Tips From IRS.”

Next, we introduce our readers to Dr. Nancy Melucci’s new book titled “Psychology – The Easy Way” – via an article titled: “Thinking, Language, and Intelligence.”

Eugene Jackson and Adolph Geiger purport they have a forty-year record of making it easy to learn the German language in their book titled: “German Made Simple.” In the article “ ‘German Made Simple’ – let’s test it!,” we “test” their claim via a ‘matching test’ version of one of their lessons for our readers to try.

We want to remind our readers of the staggering “hiring frenzy” due to the 9/11 event, the war in Iraq, and global terrorism – via the ad “National Security Agency To Hire 1,500 People by September 2004.”

Stumbling on neet ideas by accident – isn’t always by accident. You will recall Mega Society member Richard May’s short biography in Noesis issue #172 (August). It turns out the biography presented was ‘all’ there – but partially visible to our astute readers! The unveiling process of Richard’s full biography will amaze you as you read “Sending Secrets without Sophisticated Encryption.”

Theoni Pappas is committed to giving mathematics greater exposure and making it more approachable to people – young and old. In the article “Math-a-Day” we present a few sample problems and quotes by famous people in Theoni’s book titled “Math-a-Day.”

We’ve heard the phrase “A swarm of bees.” Here we challenge our nearly-omniscient readers to fill in the blank for different “groups” of animals. Don’t be surprised if you have considerable difficulty – as you sharpen your mental pencils, reading “Animal Group Names.”

The editor is a pack-rat and collects many odds-and-ends. Of these are math puzzles from a number of sources. We share the problem statements (only) in this issue for our enthusiastic puzzle-masters to crunch and meditate on – in the article “Challenging Math Puzzles from the Editor’s Treasure Chest.”

After the conference in Dresden, Germany in October, I hope to tour the famous Glashuette Original watch factory in Saxony – about a 45-minute car drive south of Dresden. We share a glimpse of the excitement in the article by Marcus Hanke titled “A visit to the Glashuette Original factory.” The second watch facility in Saxony I hope to visit is A. Lange & Söhne. Glashuette Original and A. Lange & Söhne are the leading German watchmakers today - and are among the leading watchmakers in the world.

My favorite wrist watch happens to be a Glashutte Original ‘Senator Watch with Panorama Date and Moon Phase Display – 18kt rose gold case.’ Although I’ve never owned one, I am pleased to append the above article with “Watch of the Year 2000” to give you a peek.

N. E. Genge is author of the very readable book titled “The Forensics Casebook: The Science of Crime Scene Investigation (CSI).” The editor has been intrigued by forensics via television programs Quincy and CSI – Las Vegas. The use of DNA is critical in crime scene investigations. Here, the reader will learn interesting facts of the use of DNA in the article titled: “Forensics – the DNA Fingerprint.” The editor also shares a few job descriptions referenced in Genge’s book – for our readers to consider – for themselves or someone they know. Did you know that an Associate Chief Medical Examiner can earn up to $170,000 a year!

We close this intriguing issue of Noesis with the educational article “Quotes on Learning” by Joe Griffith – author of “Speaker’s Library of Business Stories, Anecdotes, and Humor.”

NOESIS Journal – September 2004 – Issue #173

CONTENTS
#	TITLE	AUTHOR	PAGE
1	Let’s Welcome our Newest Member to the Mega Society!	Mega members	5
2	FLYING THE UNFRIENDLY SKIES: Missile Defenses for Civilian Aircraft	Military.com	6
3	BAE SYSTEMS IEWS wins $45M Counter-MANPADS Award	DHS	9
4	Summertime Tax Tips From IRS	Hudson/Litchfield News	10
5	Thinking, Language, and Intelligence	Nancy Melucci	11
6	“German Made Simple” – let’s test it!	Editor/Jackson/Geiger	16
7	National Security Agency To Hire 1,500 People by September 2004	NSA	17
8	Thinking, Language, and Intelligence - Answers	Nancy Melucci	18
9	Sending Secrets without Sophisticated Encryption	Editor & R. May	21
10	Math-a-Day	Theoni Pappas	23
11	Math-a-Day - Answers	Theoni Pappas	24
12	Math-a-Day Û Selected Quotes	Theoni Pappas	25
13	Animal Group Names	Editor	27
14	Challenging Math Puzzles from the Editor’s Treasure Chest	Editor	28
15	A Visit to the Glashuette Original Factory	Marcus Hanke	30
16	"Watch of the Year 2000"	Glashutte Original	33
17	Forensics – the DNA Fingerprint	N. E. Genge	36
18	Animal Group Names	Editor	40
19	Quotes on Learning	Joe Griffith	41
20	“German Made Simple” – let’s test it! - Answers	Editor/Jackson/Geiger	45

From Mega Society Member [Chris Harding] (Australia): By the way, many years ago you were interested in a MEGA LEVEL BOOK OF PUZZLES. Why don't we start now?  By “we” I mean the members who have an interest in this sort of thing. Best Regards, Chris Harding. [Editor] Members: is there anyone who desires to champion (and finance) this activity? I know I would be able to contribute some problems/puzzles – but that would be about it. Let me know – and I can notify Chris Harding in Australia. Thanks!

Let’s Welcome our Newest Member to the Mega Society!

Glen Wooten – from Las Vegas, Nevada

▶ Frisbee

▶ Reading

▶ Psychometrics

▶ Life Extension Science

▶ Nutrition

▶ Weigh Lifting

▶ Mathematics

▶ B.A. Psychology

▶ Philosophy/Economics

Glen Wooten resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Per Glen’s recent email:

Congratulations Glen!

The newest member of the Mega Society

Wunderbar!

I’m an undergraduate student at UNLV presently majoring in mathematics (with minors in philosophy and economics). I already have a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. I’m a perennial bachelor by choice, though I do have an amazing daughter named Jennifer. I’m a self-taught musician and especially enjoy playing guitar. Among my innumerable interests are Frisbee, reading, psychometrics, life extension science, nutrition, and lifting weights.

FLYING THE UNFRIENDLY SKIES: Missile Defenses for Civilian Aircraft

(http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,SoldierTech_MissileDef,,00.html?ESRC=soldiertech.nl )

It's the ultimate traveler's nightmare -- a defenseless, unprotected civilian aircraft being targeted by terrorist missiles. But a new project may finally provide some much needed protection for non-military planes.

The Brightening Project. Israeli authorities have decided how they're going to stop attacks from shoulder-fired missiles: by zapping them with high-energy lasers.

It's a scenario that may have seemed far-fetched a few decades ago, but in the age of terrorism, and in the wake of 9/11, it seems too chillingly plausible: terrorists using surface-to-air missiles (SAM) to take out unprotected civilian aircraft. Want some stats? Rotor & Wings magazine states that during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, 12 of the 29 American aircraft lost during combat operations were believed to have been shot down by man-portable Iraqi SA-16 Iglas. During their conflicts in Afghanistan, the Russians have suffered even greater losses, with more than 250 aircraft falling victim to Stinger missiles. And these were military aircraft -- imagine the damage that could be done to civilian planes, especially in public areas like airports.

Israel has had the misfortune of encountering this problem on numerous occasions, including two recent notable attacks against Israeli aircraft -- one in Kenya in 2002, and one in Mozambique in 2003 -- by terrorists using shoulder fired short range IR guided surface to air missiles.

With an obvious vested interest in protecting against such attacks, the Israeli government, through Raphael, a research branch of the Israeli Defense Ministry, has begun developing the technology necessary to protect civilian aircraft from these threats -- technology that may be applied universally to all civilian airlines in the future. One such device is the Britening project.