Friday 5 July 2013

Tarantula Nebula Star Forming Gas Cloud Sculpture Courier Bags

U.S. space-based missile alert system moves forward

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Sunnyvale, Calif. (UPI) Jul 2, 2013

The United States' futuristic missile alert system operating from outer space moved forward with Lockheed Martin's delivery of the third "highly elliptical earth orbit" satellite payload system. A further fourth HEO is due to complete the USAF order, which will be yet another step toward initiating the Space Based Infrared System. SBIRS is designed to give the U.S. military a global cap

via Space Daily

Russia halts Proton rocket launches after accident

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Moscow (AFP) July 04, 2013

Russia is suspending the launches of Proton rockets after an unmanned rocket carrier exploded on takeoff this week, a source on the Russian Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan said Thursday. "The investigation commission that is looking into the causes of the accident on July 2 has made a decision to stop the preparations for the planned Proton rocket launches from Baikonur," the source told I

via Space Daily

New technique finetunes quest for life on other worlds

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Paris (AFP) July 04, 2013

European astronomers said on Friday they had devised a technique to detect water in the atmosphere of planets orbiting other stars. Using a telescope in Chile, they teased out a tell-tale infra-red signature from water in the atmosphere of a gassy planet called HD 189733b, which orbits its star every two days and is hot enough to melt steel. The work is another technical breakthrough in

via Space Daily

New date set for end of life on Earth -- in 2 billion years

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St. Andrews, Scotland (UPI) Jul 2, 2013

Scientists have set a new date for the end of the world, when all animals and plants will vanish from Earth - but it'll take another 2 billion years. While increases of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have people concerned about the planet's future, the scientists say it will in fact be a lack of the greenhouse gas that will bring the end to life, the Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.

via Space Daily

OU Physicists Develop Rationale for the Next-Generation Particle Collider

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Norman OK (SPX) Jul 03, 2013

A University of Oklahoma-developed theory provides the rationale for the next-generation particle accelerator-the International Linear Collider. The discovery of the Higgs boson at the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Geneva Switzerland this past year prompted particle physicists to look ahead to the development of the ILC, an electron-positron collider designed to measure in detail all the propert

via Space Daily

Solving electron transfer

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Lausanne, Switzerland (SPX) Jul 04, 2013

Electron transfer is a process by which an atom donates an electron to another atom. It is the foundation of all chemical reactions, and is of intense research because of the implications it has for chemistry and biology. When two molecules interact, electron transfer takes place in a few quadrillionths (10-15) of a second, or femtoseconds (fsec), meaning that studying this event requires very t

via Space Daily

Making hydrogenation greener

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Montreal, Canada (SPX) Jul 03, 2013

Researchers from McGill University, RIKEN (The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, Wako, Japan) and the Institute for Molecular Science (Okazaki, Japan) have discovered a way to make the widely used chemical process of hydrogenation more environmentally friendly - and less expensive. Hydrogenation is a chemical process used in a wide range of industrial applications, from food pro

via Space Daily

Study refutes claims world is running out of copper

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Melbourne (UPI) Jul 3, 2013

Existing copper resources can sustain demand for at least a century, Australian researchers say, contradicting predictions supplies would run out in 30 years. Scientists from Monash University, conducting the most systematic analysis of worldwide copper resources to date, said there are plenty of resources within the reach of current technologies. That means social and environmen

via Space Daily

Improving crop yields in a world of extreme weather events

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Riverside, UK (SPX) Jul 04, 2013

Farmers in the United States witnessed record-breaking extremes in temperature and drought during the last two summers, causing worldwide increases in the costs of food, feed and fiber. Indeed, many climate scientists caution that extreme weather events resulting from climate change is the new normal for farmers in North America and elsewhere, requiring novel agricultural strategies to prevent c

via Space Daily

Climate change could mean business opportunities, Britain says

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London (UPI) Jul 3, 2013

Adapting to climate change could mean billions of dollars in business opportunities for British firms, the government said this week. In its official National Adaptation Program released Monday, the British Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs makes the case that despite a host of negative aspects brought on by global warming, such as severe storms and flooding, it also pre

via Space Daily

CryoSat maps largest-ever flood beneath Antarctica

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Paris (ESA) Jul 03, 2013

ESA's CryoSat satellite has found a vast crater in Antarctica's icy surface. Scientists believe the crater was left behind when a lake lying under about 3 km of ice suddenly drained. Far below the thick ice sheet that covers Antarctica, there are lakes of fresh water without a direct connection to the ocean. These lakes are of great interest to scientists who are trying to understand water

via Space Daily

Long-Running NASA/CNES Ocean Satellite Takes Final Bow

The curtain has come down on a superstar of the satellite oceanography world that played the "Great Blue Way" of the world's ocean for 11 1/2 years.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/july/long-running-nasacnes-ocean-satellite-takes-final-bow

NASA Selects Electrical Systems Engineering Services Contract

NASA has awarded a contract to ASRC Federal Space & Defense (AS&D) of Greenbelt, Md., for the Electrical Systems Engineering Services II (ESES II) for the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/july/nasa-selects-electrical-systems-engineering-services-contract

NASA Commercial Crew Partner SpaceX Completes Two Human-Critical Reviews

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, Calif., recently completed two milestones for NASA's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative, which is intended to make commercial human spaceflight services available for government and commercial customers.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/july/nasa-commercial-crew-partner-spacex-completes-two-human-critical-reviews

NASA Seeks Information on Commercial Robotic Lunar Lander Capabilities

NASA Tuesday issued a Request for Information (RFI) that will help agency officials better understand current plans in the U.S. commercial space industry for a robotic lunar landing capability.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/july/nasa-seeks-information-on-commercial-robotic-lunar-lander-capabilities

NASA Announces Space Station Research and Development Conference

The American Astronautical Society, in cooperation with NASA and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), will conduct the second annual International Space Station Research and Development Conference July 16-18 in Denver.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/july/nasa-announces-space-station-research-and-development-conference

NASA Tests Game Changing Composite Cryogenic Fuel Tank

NASA recently completed a major space technology development milestone by successfully testing a pressurized, large cryogenic propellant tank made of composite materials. The composite tank will enable the next generation of rockets and spacecraft needed for space exploration.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/july/nasa-tests-game-changing-composite-cryogenic-fuel-tank

NASA Makes the Grade on the SBA Procurement Scorecard

NASA has achieved an "A" on the fiscal year 2012 (FY12) Small Business Administration (SBA) Procurement Scorecard.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/july/nasa-makes-the-grade-on-the-sba-procurement-scorecard

NASA and Space Florida Begin Partnership Discussions

NASA has selected Space Florida, the aerospace economic development agency for the state of Florida, for negotiations toward a partnership agreement to maintain and operate the historic Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF).

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/june/nasa-and-space-florida-begin-partnership-discussions

NASA Partners With Ohio Non-Profit on Unmanned Air Challenge

NASA has selected Development Projects Inc. of Dayton, Ohio, to manage a new Centennial Challenge prize competition involving unmanned aircraft systems in 2014.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/june/nasa-partners-with-ohio-non-profit-on-unmanned-air-challenge

NASA Decommissions Its Galaxy Hunter Spacecraft

NASA has turned off its Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) after a decade of operations in which the venerable space telescope used its ultraviolet vision to study hundreds of millions of galaxies across 10 billion years of cosmic time.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/june/nasa-decommissions-its-galaxy-hunter-spacecraft

CERN opens its doors to the world


On Saturday, 28 and Sunday, 29 September, CERN will open up its installations to the general public. With the slogan “Our universe is yours”, these two Open Days will put the spotlight on CERN's discoveries and experiments, as well as the fantastic machines that lead to these discoveries.


From 9am to 8pm, visitors will have the chance to meet CERN’s researchers, engineers and technicians and to explore their laboratories, technical halls, experiments and accelerators at the biggest particle physics centre in the world. There will be some 40 visitor points: highlights for visitors to explore on the surface will include experiments at the antimatter factory, the cryogenic and crystal laboratories and the halls housing the enormous magnets. Underground, they will be able to visit the points of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) – the world’s largest accelerator – and its experiments.


The Open Days have been scheduled within the long shutdown of the accelerators, during which important work is being carried out so that the LHC can run at a higher energy when it restarts in 2015.


As places on the underground visits are strictly limited, an electronic ticket office will be open throughout the second half of August: people will be able to reserve up to four tickets, which will be valid for a specific day and timeslot. The tickets will be made available on the website progressively over a period of three weeks to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to book them.


As well as the visits, numerous other activities and presentations have been planned. Around 100,000 visitors are expected over the course of these two Open Days. Free park and ride services will be provided to facilitate access, with shuttle buses from local car parks to the various CERN sites. All the visits and activities are also free of charge.


Find out more about the CERN Open Days and related events





via CERN updates

http://home.web.cern.ch/about/updates/2013/07/cern-opens-its-doors-world