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Asteroid heading our way

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:35:16 GMT

clipped by: sweetsfoods

SciTech

Asteroid heading our way

Astronomers are battling to work out the trajectory of an asteroid that will cause havoc if it hits the Earth in 2036. Called Apophis, the giant meteor is hurtling through space at 10km per second. Scientists are warning that an impact would be far more devastating than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the end of WW2.

At the Zvenigorod Observatory near Moscow, space researchers keep watch on cosmic bodies and study known meteorites to understand their size and inner structure. They are tracking the path of the asteroid Apophis as well. They aim to determine how real the danger is but that will only be clear in a decade's time.

If Apophis passes through a particular point in space called a keyhole the Earth's gravity may change its course for the worst.

Meanwhile, Russia has offered to launch a space probe to plant a radio transmitter on Apophis so its orbit can be more accurately tracked.

Tags: science, space, astronomy

Chip for Future Eye Implants Runs on Picowatts

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:26:49 GMT

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Clip Source: www.spectrum.ieee.org

Chip for Future Eye Implants Runs on Picowatts, Thanks to New Deep-Sleep Tech By Neil Savage

Chip could run for a year on millimeter-sized battery

16 June 2008—A new microchip design uses about a 30 000th as much power as comparable chips and could lead to long-lasting implantable biosensors, researchers report this week at the VLSI Symposia, in Hawaii.

Blaauw says the chip isn't quite ready for such tests. Although they've built a 1-square-millimeter test chip containing the processor, sensor, memory, and timer, they have yet to integrate the battery. And then they'll need to add wireless communication equipment, which may be problematic because the antennas used in standard radio-frequency identification tags, for instance, are too big to be practical.

Tags: science, technology

Before the Big Bang - the Big Bounce

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:40:14 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: Now, however, Dr Bojowald and fellow physicists are exploring territory unknown even to Einstein - the time before the Big Bang - using his new theory, called Loop Quantum Cosmology.

An analysis of this, one of a series of newly-emerging theories which combine Einstein's theory of gravity (general relativity) with that of the subatomic world (quantum theory), "is supposed to provide a non-singular framework in which one could address the question of what was there before the Big Bang," he says.

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Scientists have obtained their first glimpse of what happened before the Big Bang of creation, revealing there was a "Big Bounce".

The new work suggests that time existed before the Big Bang, when a more ancient universe collapsed to give birth to the one we live in today.

Ours is the latest universe in a series that expanded, then collapsed, before another - slightly different cosmos - was born anew, though many details are obscure and, the theory concludes, will always remain that way.

As described by Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, which dates back almost a century, the origin of the Big Bang is a mathematically nonsensical state - a "singularity" of zero volume that nevertheless contained infinite density and infinitely large energy.

"The usual understanding was that, according to general relativity, everything including time itself started with the Big Bang such that it simply does not make sense to ask what was there before," says Dr Bojowald.

Tags: big bang, time, physics

Most Beautiful Fractals

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:54:56 GMT

clipped by: egsnyder
clipper's remarks: Fractals are infinite... possessing infinite, unlimited, freeform beauty.

Clip Source: www.darkroastedblend.com

Most Beautiful Fractals

Fractals are infinite, possessing infinite beauty.

Tags: fractals, art, beauty

Beautiful Balls of Gas

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:16:30 GMT

clipped by: sweetsfoods

Clip Source: www.galleryofpix.com

These eerie, dark pillar-like structures are actually columns of cool interstellar hydrogen gas and dust that are also incubators for new stars.

Storm of turbulent gases

The Boomerang Nebula

ghostly star-forming pillar of gas and dust

The Ghost Head Nebula

The Red Spider Nebula

The Trifid Nebula

Extreme star cluster bursts into life

Carina Nebula

View of the Orion Nebula

Stellar spire in the Eagle Nebula

Years after Stellar Outburst

Crab Nebula

Colours in the Tarantula

Nearby Dust Clouds

Star formation in neighbouring galaxy

Thackeray's Globules

Light and Shadow in the Carina Nebula

Gas at a Doomed Star

Tags: astronomy, science, space

1,000 Genomes Project: Expanding the Map of Human Genetics

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:31:23 GMT

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Clip Source: www.sciam.com

1,000 Genomes Project: Expanding the Map of Human Genetics

The number of sequenced human genomes will soon swell to more than 1,000 as part of a new international research consortium's effort to trace the potential genetic origins of disease. But first the mother, father and adult child of a European-ancestry family from Utah and a Yoruba-ancestry family from Nigeria will join an anonymous individual as well as famous geneticists Craig Venter and James Watson as part of the handful of humans to have on record a complete readout of their roughly three billion pairs of DNA. And these six will also each have their genetic codes examined at least 20 times, providing 10 times the accuracy of existing genetic sequences as well as paving the way for the ambitious effort dubbed the 1,000 Genomes Project, which will comprehensively map humanity's genetic variation.

Tags: science, health, tech, genetic, human

10 Best Stephen Hawking's Quotations

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:29:21 GMT

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Clip Source: www.thelandsalmon.com

Stephen Hawking's Quotations

I have recently been reading up a bit on the life and work of British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking. In my reading, I have run across a number of his famous quotes that are both funny and insightful. He is widely considered to be among the most intelligent people living today. Here is what he has to say...

10. "Einstein was wrong when he said "God does not play dice". Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can't be seen."

9. "I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road."

8. "My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all."

1. "Eternity is a very long time, especially towards the end."

Tags: quotes, quotations, science, tips, life, health

The Sound of a Bad Penny - I Catch You!

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:24:59 GMT

clipped by: sweetsfoods
clipper's remarks: Acoustic method could quickly catch counterfeit coins.

Clip Source: www.nature.com

The sound of a bad penny

Acoustic method could quickly catch counterfeit coins.

You might assume that counterfeiters only bother with high-value bank notes, but there is a chance that some of the coins jangling around in your pocket right now are fake. If Mototsugu Suzuki gets his way, it may be that jangling that gives them away.

The penny drops

Ka'ching

"This technique offers the promise of monitoring circulation coins and identifying the counterfeits," says Matthews. It could even be added to automated coin sorting and counting machines to ramp up fraud detection. "Obviously it needs to be proved that the technique will identify all types of counterfeits," he adds.

Tags: science, news, security, technology, tech

Mathematicians solve flakey problem

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 02:58:53 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: They have created computer simulated 3 Dimensional snowflakes. They think they can teach physicists a lot about how nature "self-assembles complex structuress

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Larry O'Hanlon

Two mathematicians have for the first time created a computer simulation that generates realistic three-dimensional snowflakes, although even they are not sure how it works.

"We know surprisingly little about how ice crystals grow," says California Institute of Technology physicist Professor Ken Libbrecht, who is considered a leading expert in snow crystal physics.

Mathematicians Professor Janko Gravner of the University of California, Davis and Professor David Griffeath of the University of Wisconsin-Madison have avoided the old approach of virtually building the snow crystals molecule-by-molecule.

Instead, they use virtual 3-D cells much larger than water molecules, which behave according to the same physics thought to control crystal growth.

He and Griffeath created their virtual cells, called cellular automata, to be one cubic micron in size.

At that scale the cells, about the size of a speck of dust, mimic the physics of water vapour and crystalline growth.

Tags: snowflake, compute, simulation, physics

Black Holes Spin Near Speed of Light

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:56:23 GMT

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Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Supermassive black holes spin at speeds approaching the speed of light, new research suggests.

"We think these monster black holes are spinning close to the limit set by Einstein's theory of relativity, which means that they can drag material around them at close to the speed of light," said Rodrigo Nemmen, the study's lead author and a visiting graduate student at Penn State University.

Einstein's theory suggests spinning black holes would make space itself rotate. The overall effect makes gas spiral in toward the black hole, and also creates a magnetic field that shoots inflowing gas back out as a jet.

"Extremely fast spin might be very common for large black holes," said co-investigator Richard Bower of Durham University. "This might help us explain the source of these incredible jets that we see stretching for enormous distances across space."

Black Holes Spin Near Speed of Light

Tags: astronomy, science, space

Cosmic dust disc to force rethink

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:10:56 GMT

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Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Cosmic dust disc to force rethink

The discovery of a large disc of dust around a binary star system could force astronomers to rethink their computer models of the Universe

Old and new: It is now thought a gaseous disc (top) is surrounded by a dusty disc (bottom)

Previous observations turned up no sign of the disc at WZ Sagittae.

But data from Nasa's Spitzer infrared telescope confirmed there was much more to this object than previously thought.

The discovery may have implications for the study of everything from supermassive black holes to the formation of planets.

Important effects

The teachers and students who made the latest discovery wanted to study the brown dwarf in the system. From our perspective, the two stars that make up WZ Sagittae happen to pass in front of each other in a series of eclipses.

Tags: space, science, nasa, astronomy

Brighter LED Lights Could Replace Household Light Bulbs Within Three Years

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:05:19 GMT

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Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (Jan. 10, 2008) — Researchers are developing new technology that could replace the household light-bulb within three years.

Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), already used in electrical equipment such as computers and mobile phones, are several times more energy efficient than standard light-bulbs. However, because of their structure and material, much of the light in standard LEDs becomes trapped, reducing the brightness of the light and making them unsuitable as the main lighting source in the home.

Now researchers believe they have found a way of introducing a new generation of LEDs into households that are brighter and use even less power than standard energy efficient light-bulbs.

“LEDs not only use less power than current energy efficient light-bulbs but they are much smaller and can last years without needing to be replaced. This means the days of the humble light-bulb could soon be over.”

Tags: news, science

Flesh wound reveals dino secrets

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:32:23 GMT

clipped by: sweetsfoods
clipper's remarks: More info about dinosaurs

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A fossil unearthed in China has given scientists a rare glimpse of what dinosaurs were like in the flesh.

Palaeontologists believe this tough outer coating supported the dinosaur's organs and protected it from predators.

'Unprecedented understanding'

To have the skin folded on the fossil so that you can see the cross section through it is remarkable

The Psittacosaurus, or parrot lizard, specimen gives the first detailed picture of what dinosaurs were like deep under the skin.

"As noted from the studies on modern-day animals, this fibre structure plays a critical part in the stresses and strains the skin may be subjected to and is ideally suited to providing support and protection," explained Professor Theagarten Lingham-Soliar of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.

'Prehistoric pig'

He said the skin of the dinosaur would have been "incredibly tough" and probably served to protect the animal from attack by predators.

Tags: dinosaurs, science

"78 Billion": A 'Hubble' Video of the Most Profound Images Ever Filmed

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 20:11:25 GMT

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Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Ring in the New Year and put things in perspective with a look at this`extraordinarily powerful and moving video of the Hubble Space Telescope mapping of the Universe, whose known size is 78 billion light years across.

The video includes mankind's deepest, most detailed optical view of the universe called the Hubble Deep Field (HDF). One of the stunning images was assembled from 342 separate exposures taken with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) for ten consecutive days.

"The variety of galaxies we see is amazing. In time these Hubble data could turn out to be the double helix of galaxy formation. We are clearly seeing some of the galaxies as they were more than ten billion years ago, in the process of formation," said Robert Williams, Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute Baltimore, Maryland. "As the images have come up on our screens, we have not been able to keep from wondering if we might somehow be seeing our own origins in all of this."

Tags: science, space, astronomy, video