Thursday 24 April 2014

Cosmic illusion revealed: Gravitational lens magnifies supernova

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Astronomers have announced the discovery of a galaxy that magnified a background, Type Ia supernova thirty-fold through gravitational lensing. This first example of strong gravitational lensing of a supernova confirms the team's previous explanation for the unusual properties of this supernova.

via Science Daily

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Astronomical forensics uncover planetary disks in NASA's Hubble archive

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Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have applied a new image processing technique to obtain near-infrared scattered light photos of five disks observed around young stars in the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes database. These disks are telltale evidence for newly formed planets.

via Science Daily

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Meteorites Yield Clues to Red Planet’s Early Atmosphere

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Geologists who analyzed 40 meteorites that fell to Earth from Mars unlocked secrets of the Martian atmosphere hidden in the chemical signatures of these ancient rocks. Their study, published April 17 in the journal Nature, shows that the atmospheres of Mars and Earth diverged in important ways very early in the 4.6 billion year evolution of our solar system. The results will help guide researchers’ next steps in understanding whether life exists, or has ever existed, on Mars and how water—now absent from the Martian surface—flowed there in the past. Heather Franz, a former University of Maryland research associate who now works on the Curiosity rover science team at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, led the study with James Farquhar, co-author and UMD geology professor. The researchers measured the sulfur composition of 40 Mars meteorites—a much larger number than in previous analyses. Of more than 60,000 meteorites found on Earth, only 69 are believed to be pieces of rocks blasted off the Martian surface. The meteorites are igneous rocks that formed on Mars, were ejected into space when an asteroid or comet slammed into the red planet, and landed on Earth. The oldest meteorite in the study is about 4.1

The post Meteorites Yield Clues to Red Planet’s Early Atmosphere has been published on Technology Org.

 
#materials 
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Your T-shirt's ringing: Printable tiny flexible cell phones for clothes?

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A new version of 'spaser' technology being investigated could mean that mobile phones become so small, efficient, and flexible they could be printed on clothing. A spaser is effectively a nanoscale laser or nanolaser. It emits a beam of light through the vibration of free electrons, rather than the space-consuming electromagnetic wave emission process of a traditional laser.

via Science Daily

Interactive 3D Model of CasA Supernova

original post »
Interactive 3D Model of CasA Supernova
Wow! It really gets you up close and personal with CasA. Zooming in and scrolling around gives an unbelievable view of an evolving supernova  explosion. Well good :)
  #outerspace  
 
original post: https://plus.google.com/116000959328274308893/posts/MJkio3A5RCs
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Astronomical Forensics Uncover Planetary Disks in Hubble Archive



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Nearly 2,000 planets have been confirmed to be orbiting other stars in our galaxy. But the details of planet birth and formation are sparse. The conventional wisdom, dating back to a hypothesis by philosopher Immanuel Kant the Marquis de Laplace in the late 1700s, considered the orbit of the planets in our solar system to be the skeleton of disks of dust and gas that swirled around the newborn sun. The dust particles clumped together to build planets from the ground up.




via HubbleSite NewsCenter -- Latest News Releases

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2014/16/

Spiders in space weave a web of scientific inspiration for Spider-Man fans

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While spiders were busy spinning webs in space, researchers on Earth weaved their knowledge of this activity into educational materials to inspire and motivate students. Now, this free, Web-based guide is being re-released through Scholastic and Sony Pictures as curriculum for educators to leap on the excitement surrounding the release of the film, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2."

via Science Daily

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Equipped with new sensors, Morpheus preps to tackle landing on its own

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A test flight later this week will challenge a set of sensors to map out a 65-yard square of boulder-sized hazards and pick out a safe place to land. Mounted to an uncrewed prototype lander called Morpheus that flies autonomously several hundred feet above the ground, the sensor system will have 10 seconds to do its work: six seconds really, as it will take four seconds to map the area before choosing a landing site. The sensor system is a 400-pound set of computers and three instruments called ALHAT, short for Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology.

via Science Daily

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A step up for NASA’s robonaut: Ready for climbing legs

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Getting your "space legs" in Earth orbit has taken on new meaning for NASA's pioneering Robonaut program. Thanks to a successful launch of the SpaceX-3 flight of the Falcon 9/Dragon capsule on Friday, April 18, the lower limbs for Robonaut 2 (R2) are aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Safely tucked inside the Dragon resupply vehicle, R2's legs are to be attached by a station crew member to Robonaut's torso already on the orbiting outpost.

via Science Daily

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NASA tests Orion’s parachute performance over Arizona while work progresses in Florida

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The team designing the parachute system for NASA's Orion spacecraft has demonstrated almost every parachute failure they could imagine. But on April 23, they tested how the system would perform if the failure wasn't in the parachutes.

via Science Daily

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Asteroids made easy: 'Patch of asteroid' being built inside a satellite

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A dozen astronauts have walked on the moon, and several rovers have been piloted on Mars, giving us a good understanding of these off-world environments. But when it comes to asteroids, scientists enter uncharted territory. Landing on an asteroid is notoriously difficult. Scientists are now looking to mitigate risk involved in landing on an asteroid by building a "patch of asteroid" inside of a small, spinning satellite.

via Science Daily

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Hubble's Ultra Deep Field Image Poster

Here's a great poster featuring a beautiful image from deep space


tagged with: hubble, ultra deep field, ultra, deep, field, astronomical, astronomy, distant, galaxies, ancient, red shift, space images

This view of nearly 10,000 galaxies is called the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. The snapshot includes galaxies of various ages, sizes, shapes, and colors. The smallest, reddest galaxies may be among the most distant known, existing when the universe was just about 800 million years old. The nearest galaxies - the larger, brighter, well-defined spirals and ellipticals - thrived about 1 billion years ago, when the cosmos was 13 billion years old. The image required 800 exposures taken over the course of 400 Hubble orbits around Earth. The total amount of exposure time was 11.3 days, taken between Sept. 24, 2003 and Jan. 16, 2004. Credit: NASA, ESA, and S. Beckwith (STScI) and the HUDF Team For more information, visit http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/12/image/b/

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How I learned to love the evil-looking earwig

Science Focus

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Pretty much everyone I know grew up with an unholy fear of earwigs.

The evil-looking pincers on the insect's tail were said to deliver a sting worse than a bee. And the creature's long, slender body was supposedly ideal for slinking down the human ear canal and burrowing into the brain. Get an earwig in the ear, they said, and you'd go deaf. But an earwig in the brain, well… you could wind up dead by morning.

Of course, like nearly everything I learned about nature before the internet — all bears hibernate, daddy long legs are the most venomous spiders, porcupines can shoot their...

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#science  
original post: http://theweek.com/article/index/260340/how-i-learned-to-love-the-evil-looking-earwig
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Showing great promise

Science Focus

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Showing great promise
Researchers have learned how to sneak treatments past our immune system by mimicking the cloaking trick used by of a type of virus.

  #science  

Corina Marinescu originally shared:

Virus Inspired DNA Nanodevices
Scientists say they have developed a cloaking device to spirit medical nanorobots of the future past immune systems into diseased cells. Their innovation comes from stealing a powerful weapon viruses wield to infect their hosts.

Some viruses wrap themselves in a protective membrane to avoid detection by their host’s immune system and enter cells they are trying to infect. A team of scientists at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have mimicked these viral tactics to build the first DNA nanodevices that survive the body's immune defenses.

The results pave the way for smart DNA nanorobots that could use logic to diagnose cancer earlier and more accurately than doctors can today; target drugs to tumors, or even manufacture drugs on the spot to cripple cancer, the researchers report in the April 22 online issue of ACS Nano.

Source and further reading:
http://wyss.harvard.edu/viewpressrelease/150/cloaked-dna-nanodevices-survive-pilot-mission

+David Fuchs has a good post about these nanoguys
https://plus.google.com/108971911025874242115/posts/NCySUhsGMo3

#nanotech   #viruses   #nanorobot  
 
original post: https://plus.google.com/116000959328274308893/posts/baR6JDmUZJy
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The physics of water drops and lift-off

Science Focus

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The flow of fluids is one of the most complex, beautiful, and amazing things in physics. Slow motion pictures of drops landing on water or of two fluids mixing can be simply gorgeous. Even more amazing, the basic physics of fluid flow was worked out way back in the 19th century. Those equations, though, hold riches that are still being uncovered today.

Some of the most spectacular work in recent years has involved uncovering what happens as a drop of fluid hits a surface. And one particularly stubborn aspect—why do you get lift-off (a precursor to a splash) near the end of the impact?—has revealed itself after a barrage of high-speed camera images.

To splash or not to splash?

At first, the impact of a slow-speed droplet on a surface seemed very difficult to understand. Eventually, it was decided that the momentum of the droplet competes with its surface tension. Essentially, the momentum tries to force the drop to spread out at a speed governed by the mass of fluid and the speed at which the drop impacts. But surface tension tries to pull the droplet back together, resisting the spreading motion. Hence, a droplet rapidly expands to some radius where the forces balance. Note that viscosity—how resistant a fluid is to flow—is seemingly unimportant.

Read 17 remaining paragraphs | Comments

 
#science  
original post: http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/AjdSMSKJGyc/
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Name, Celestial Bauble - SXP1062 space picture Gift Wrap Paper

Get your out-of-this-world gift wrap here! Perfect for Christmas gifts for anyone who is fascinated by what the universe holds in store for us!


tagged with: sculptured gas clouds, hot young stars, star galaxies, outer space picture, supernova remnant, star factory, small magellanic cloud, smc, celestial bauble, hrbstslr sxp1062, star incubator

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series In this composite image, X-rays from Chandra and XMM-Newton have been colored blue and optical data from the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile are colored red and green. The flowering shape on the left is a star factory and on the right is the pulsar. Known as SXP 1062, it's the bright white source located on the right-hand side of the image in the middle of the diffuse blue emission inside a red shell. The diffuse X-rays and optical shell are both evidence for a supernova remnant surrounding the pulsar. The optical data also displays spectacular formations of gas and dust in a star-forming region on the left side of the image. A comparison of the Chandra image with optical images shows that the pulsar has a hot, massive companion.
Astronomers are interested in SXP 1062 because the Chandra and XMM-Newton data show that it is rotating unusually slowly - about once every 18 minutes. (In contrast, some pulsars are found to revolve multiple times per second, including most newly born pulsars.) This relatively leisurely pace of SXP 1062 makes it one of the slowest rotating X-ray pulsars in the SMC.
Two different teams of scientists have estimated that the supernova remnant around SXP 1062 is between 10,000 and 40,000 years old, as it appears in the image. This means that the pulsar is very young, from an astronomical perspective, since it was presumably formed in the same explosion that produced the supernova remnant.
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image code: sxp1062

Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ.Potsdam/L.Oskinova et al & ESA/XMM-Newton; Optical: AURA/NOAO/CTIO/Univ.Potsdam/L.Oskinova et al

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Research proves nanobubbles are superstable

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The intense research interest in surface nanobubbles arises from their potential applications in microfluidics and the scientific challenge for controlling their fundamental physical properties. One of the most pronounced features of surface nanobubbles is their very long lifetime for their tiny size. Four researchers from the University of Twente's MESA+ research institute have recently proven that the stability of nanobubbles is so high they remain stable even at the boiling point of water, triggering microdroplet nucleation. The researchers published their unique findings on nanobubble stability in Physical Review Letters.



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Fires of the Flame Nebula - in Orion Rectangular Sticker

Here's a great sheet of stickers featuring a beautiful image from deep space


tagged with: breathtaking astronomy images, hfflmnb, star forming, orion constellation, young stars clusters, orion the hunter, flame nebula, awesome space picture, heavens, orions belt, european southern observatory, eso, vista

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A gorgeous outer space picture featuring the spectacular star-forming region known as the Flame Nebula, or NGC 2024, in the constellation of Orion (the Hunter) and its surroundings.

In views of this evocative object in visible light the core of the nebula is completely hidden behind obscuring dust, but in this VISTA view, taken in infrared light, the cluster of very young stars at the object’s heart is revealed. The wide-field VISTA view also includes the glow of the reflection nebula NGC 2023, just below centre, and the ghostly outline of the Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) towards the lower right.

The bright bluish star towards the right is one of the three bright stars forming the Belt of Orion. The image was created from VISTA images taken through J, H and Ks filters in the near-infrared part of the spectrum.

The image shows about half the area of the full VISTA field and is about 40 x 50 arcminutes in extent. The total exposure time was 14 minutes and was the first to be released publicly from VISTA, the world’s largest survey telescope.

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image code: hfflmnb

ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA www.eso.org
Reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

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Lyrids in Southern Skies

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Earth's annual Lyrid meteor shower peaked before dawn on April 22nd, as our fair planet plowed through dust from the tail of long-period comet Thatcher. Even in the dry and dark Atacama desert along Chile's Pacific coast, light from a last quarter Moon made the night sky bright, washing out fainter meteor streaks. But brighter Lyrid meteors still put on a show. Captured in this composited earth-and-sky view recorded during early morning hours, the meteors stream away from the shower's radiant near Vega, alpha star of the constellation Lyra. The radiant effect is due to perspective as the parallel meteor tracks appear to converge in the distance. Rich starfields and dust clouds of our own Milky Way galaxy stretch across the background.

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Crab Nebula Space As Wall Graphics

Here's a great wall decal featuring a beautiful image from deep space


tagged with: nasa, esa, universe, space, astronomy, hubble telescope, astrophotography, nature, abstract, pink crab nebula, crab nebula, ngc 1952, nebula, nebulae, hubble space telescope, hubble photoh, hubble photo, cosmos, astronomical, cosmology, space photo, space picture, space image, deep space, natural, science, nebula photo, nebula picture, nebula image, pink, sky, cool space, cool astronomy

Hubble / x-ray photograph of the Crab Nebula

This photo of the Crab Nebula is a combination of optical and x-ray images from the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, and includes rich shades of pink, red and purple.

Credits for X-ray Image: NASA/CXC/ASU/J. Hester et al. | Credits for Optical Image: NASA/HST/ASU/J. Hester et al.

You can personalise the design further if you'd prefer, such as by adding your name or other text, or adjusting the image - just click 'Customize it' to see all the options. IMPORTANT: If you choose a different sized version of the product, it's important to click Customize and check the image in the Design view to ensure it fills the area to the edge of the product, otherwise white edges may be visible.

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Helix Nebula Kaleidoscope. Case For The iPad Mini

Here's a great iPad case from Zazzle featuring a Hubble-related design. Maybe you'd like to see your name on it? Click to personalize and see what it's like!


tagged with: helix, nebula, kaleidoscope, digital, art

Digital image derived from Hubble image of Helix Nebula.

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Using strong lasers, investigators observe frenzy of electrons in a new material

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    A research team at the University of Kansas has used high-powered lasers to track the speed and movement of electrons inside an innovative material that is just one atom thick. Their findings are published in the current issue of ACS Nano, a peer-reviewed journal focused on nanoscience. The work at KU’s Ultrafast Laser Lab could help point the way to next-generation transistors and solar panels made of solid, atomically thin materials. “When the solid is a thin layer, electrons are confined in this thin layer,” said Hui Zhao, associate professor of physics and astronomy, who leads the team. “An electron that is free to move in two dimensions behaves very differently from those moving in all the three dimensions. It totally changes how electrons interact with environment. Under the right conditions, electrons moving in two dimensions are less likely to collide with other things in the solid, and hence their motion is less disrupted. Faster electron motion often leads to better performance of devices.” To monitor the electrons, Zhao and graduate students Qiannan Cui, Frank Ceballos and Nardeep Kumar created a single-atom layer of tungsten disulphide, a material used in solar cells and as a lubricant. The KU researchers

The post Using strong lasers, investigators observe frenzy of electrons in a new material has been published on Technology Org.

 
#materials 
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Earth not threatened by supernovas

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Earth not threatened by supernovas
Which is a relief :)
 #outerspace #astronomy  

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory originally shared:

Question of the Day:
Are there any nearby stars that could explode and threaten our existence?

Answer:
Probably not. For a supernova to do real damage on Earth, it probably has to occur at a distance of less than about fifty light years. All such nearby stars are of sufficiently low mass (less than about ten times the mass of the Sun) that they will very likely lose enough of their mass in their red giant phase and turn into white dwarf stars without an explosion. Spica, the brightest star in Virgo, has a mass of about ten times the Sun, and will probably explode as a supernova in several million years, but it is 260 light years away. Celestial fireworks can also be expected from Antares in Scorpius at a distance of 390 light years and Betelgeuse in Orion, 500 light years away.
attached video
 
original post: https://plus.google.com/116000959328274308893/posts/58Ygt7FzEMw
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Researchers See New Importance in Y Chromosome

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Two surveys have reconstructed the full history of the shrunken male chromosome, which provides regulatory genes that play a role throughout the body.















via New York Times

Helix Nebula Hubble Room Decals

Here's a great wall decal featuring a beautiful image from deep space


tagged with: helix nebula, planetary nebula, eye of god, astronomy, milky way, nebula photo, nasa, universe, nature, cool space, nebula photograph, nebula, esa, outer space, hubble telescope, hubble space telescope, hubble photo, cosmos, astronomical, astrophotography, cosmology, space photo, ngc 7293, space picture, space image, deep space, space, natural, science, abstract, eye, cool astronomy

Hubble photograph of the Helix Nebula

This eye-like composite photograph of the Helix Nebula is created from images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and Chile's Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. It shows orange-coloured gaseous clouds around a blue central area.

Credit: NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), and M. Meixner, P. McCullough, and G. Bacon ( Space Telescope Science Institute)

You can personalise the design further if you'd prefer, such as by adding your name or other text, or adjusting the image - just click 'Customize it' to see all the options. IMPORTANT: If you choose a different sized version of the product, it's important to click Customize and check the image in the Design view to ensure it fills the area to the edge of the product, otherwise white edges may be visible.

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If you like this product, you can find more like it in my store:

Click here to view all the other items with this design.

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Eskimo Nebula

Here's a great iPad case from Zazzle featuring a Hubble-related design. Maybe you'd like to see your name on it? Click to personalize and see what it's like!


tagged with: eskimo, nebula, space, image, orange, black, nasa, hubble

Lovely image of the Eskimo Nebula thanks to NASA/Hubble programs

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