Wednesday 18 June 2014

Farewells, and Some More Questions, for Press Secretary

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In his final briefing, Jay Carney, the president’s chief spokesman, praised reporters, saying that it was “always a pleasure” and that he had always sought to help the news media do their job.















via New York Times

Interpreting the Fed: What Janet Yellen Is Trying to Tell Us

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Reading between the lines, the Fed will keep flowing cheap money into the economy and is in no hurry to raise interest rates.















via New York Times

U.S. Arrests Philadelphia Man Said to Be Guard at Nazi Camp

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In what could be the last Nazi prosecution on American soil, officials charged Johann Breyer, 89, saying new evidence had strengthened their case.















via New York Times

Betrayal in Charlie Rangel’s Harlem?

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Rangel has been the face of the district for four decades. Then an ambitious preacher named Michael Walrond came along. Now they’re fighting over the future of America’s most symbolic black neighborhood.















via New York Times

Your Fellow Americans: Rick Perry’s ‘Groundhog Day’

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Can the Texas governor bear to run for president again?















via New York Times

2D transistors promise a faster electronics future

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Berkeley Lab researchers fabricated the first fully 2D field-effect transistor from layers of molybdenum disulfide, hexagonal boron nitride and graphene held together by van der Waals bonding.   Faster electronic device architectures are in the offing with the unveiling of the world’s first fully two-dimensional field-effect transistor (FET) by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Unlike conventional FETs made from silicon, these 2D FETs suffer no performance drop-off under high voltages and provide high electron mobility, even when scaled to a monolayer in thickness. Ali Javey, a faculty scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division and a UC Berkeley professor of electrical engineering and computer science, led this research in which 2D heterostructures were fabricated from layers of a transition metal dichalcogenide, hexagonal boron nitride and graphene stacked via van der Waals interactions. “Our work represents an important stepping stone towards the realization of a new class of electronic devices in which interfaces based on van der Waals interactions rather than covalent bonding provide an unprecedented degree of control in material engineering and device exploration,” Javey says. “The results demonstrate the promise of using an all-layered material system for future electronic applications.” Javey is the corresponding author

The post 2D transistors promise a faster electronics future has been published on Technology Org.

 
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Molecule vital for creating water exists in dying sun-like stars

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Using ESA's Herschel space observatory, astronomers have discovered that a molecule vital for creating water exists in the burning embers of dying Sun-like stars.

via Science Daily

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Titan flybys test the talents of NASA's Cassini team

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As NASA's Cassini spacecraft zooms toward Saturn's smoggy moon Titan for a targeted flyby on June 18, mission scientists are excitedly hoping to repeat a scientific tour de force that will provide valuable new insights into the nature of the moon's surface and atmosphere.

via Science Daily

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ORION'S BELT PRINT

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


tagged with: orion, nebula, space, galaxies, nebulas, stars, astronomy, nebulae

Beautiful image of the famous Orion's belt.

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Red supergiant replaced its core with a neutron star

Science Focus

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A red supergiant star lights up a cloud of dust. Without detailed spectral information, it's impossible to tell whether these stars have swallowed one of their companions.

In the mid-1970s, theoretical astrophysicist Kip Thorne, working with collaborator Anna Zytkow, postulated the existence of a bizarre form of star. Now known as Thorne-Zytkow objects (TZOs), these bodies were the product of the merger of two separate stars: one a giant star, the second a neutron star. They were able to calculate several likely properties of these stars, making predictions for what they might look like. But in the intervening years, none have been discovered.

Anna Zytkow, however, did not give up the search. And now, 40 years later, she may have spotted one. She and three collaborators (Phil Massey, Nidia Morrell, and Emily Levesque) have reported what may be the first observational evidence that TZOs exist.

Neutron stars are the cores of massive stars that have undergone a supernova. Their massive gravity compresses matter so much that an object the mass of the Sun can squeeze into a sphere about 20 km across. At these densities, matter is compressed down to neutrons—and possibly even a sea of subatomic particles.

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 » see original post http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/7nI0KBcg1dU/
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New ‘T-ray’ tech converts light to sound for weapons detection, medical imaging

Science Focus

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A device that essentially listens for light waves could help open up the last frontier of the electromagnetic spectrum—the terahertz range. So-called T-rays, which are light waves too long for human eyes to see, could help airport security guards find chemical and other weapons. They might let doctors image body tissues with less damage to healthy areas. And they could give astronomers new tools to study planets in other solar systems. Those are just a few possible applications. But because terahertz frequencies fall between the capabilities of the specialized tools presently used to detect light, engineers have yet to efficiently harness them. The U-M researchers demonstrated a unique terahertz detector and imaging system that could bridge this terahertz gap. “We convert the T-ray light into sound,” said Jay Guo, U-M professor of electrical engineering and computer science, mechanical engineering, and macromolecular science and engineering. “Our detector is sensitive, compact and works at room temperature, and we’ve made it using an unconventional approach.” The sound the detector makes is too high for human ears to hear. The terahertz gap is a sliver between the microwave and infrared bands of the electromagnetic spectrum—the range of light’s wavelengths and frequencies. That spectrum spans

The post New ‘T-ray’ tech converts light to sound for weapons detection, medical imaging has been published on Technology Org.

 
#physics 
 » see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechnologyOrgPhysicsNews/~3/nM4lepP5VIk/
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Microwave helmet 'can spot a stroke'

Science Focus

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Scientists say they have devised a helmet that can quickly determine whether a patient has had a stroke. 
#science 
 » see original post http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27866391#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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Name, Orion Nebula, structures of deep space Gift Wrap

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: orion nebula detail, sculpted gas clouds, sgcion, stellar winds, sculpting trapezium stars, messier 42, messier 43, star galaxies, outer space, deep space astronomy

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A region within the Orion Nebula showing the sculpting effect that stars can have on any surrounding gas clouds. This glowing region reveals arcs and bubbles formed when stellar winds - streams of charged particles ejected by the nearby Trapezium stars - collide with material.
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image code: sgcion

Image credit: NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team

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Trifid Nebula, Messier 16 Sticker

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


tagged with: breathtaking astronomy images, star forming nebulae, trfdnbl, star nurseries, galaxies, nebulae, star factory, trifid nebula, european southern observatory, clusters of stars, factories for stars, eso, vista

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A fantastic picture from our universe featuring the massive star factory known as the Trifid Nebula.

It was captured in all its glory with the Wide-Field Imager camera attached to the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in northern Chile.
So named for the dark dust bands that trisect its glowing heart, the Trifid Nebula is a rare combination of three nebulae types that reveal the fury of freshly formed stars and point to more star birth in the future. The field of view of the image is approximately 13 x 17 arcminutes.
It's an awe-inspiring, breathtaking image that reveals some of the wonder that is our universe.

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image code: trfdnbl

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

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NGC 6334: The Cat's Paw Nebula

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Zazzle Space Gifts for young and old

Metal Earth Globe Room Graphic

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New NanoTech May Provide Power Storage in Cables, Clothes

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Imagine being able to carry all the juice you needed to power your MP3 player, smartphone and electric car in the fabric of your jacket? Sounds like science fiction, but it may become a reality thanks to breakthrough technology developed at a University of Central Florida research lab. So far electrical cables are used only to transmit electricity.  However, nanotechnology scientist and professor Jayan Thomas and his Ph.D. student Zenan Yu have developed a way to both transmit and store electricity in a single lightweight copper wire.  Jayan Thomas is a professor and scientist at the University of Central Florida. Credit: UCF Their work is the focus of the cover story of the June 30 issue of the material science journal Advanced Materials and science magazine Nature has published a detailed discussion about this technology in the current issue. “It’s an interesting idea,” Thomas said. “When we did it and started talking about it, everyone we talked to said, ‘Hmm, never thought of that. It’s unique.’” Copper wire is the starting point but eventually, Thomas said, as the technology improves, special fibers could also be developed with nanostructures to conduct and store energy. More immediate applications could be seen in the design

The post New NanoTech May Provide Power Storage in Cables, Clothes has been published on Technology Org.

 
#materials 
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High-speed snapshots of biomolecules

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PETRA III pioneers protein serial crystallography at synchrotrons Using DESY’s synchrotron light source PETRA III, scientists have pioneered a new way to analyse delicate biomolecules. The novel approach, borrowed from a new class of high-intensity X-ray sources called free-electron lasers (FELs), could reveal the atomic structure of proteins that were previously inaccessible to synchrotrons, as the team led by Prof. Henry Chapman from the Hamburg Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL reports in the scientific journal of the International Union of Crystallography, IUCrJ. CFEL is a joint institution of DESY, the University of Hamburg and the Max Planck Society. Electron density map of lysozyme at 2.1 Å resolution calculated from 40,233 single crystal indexed diffraction patterns.  The atomic structure of biomolecules can reveal the mechanisms underlying their function in the organism, leading to improved biological insight with the potential to enable the development of new medicines. The standard technique for elucidating the atomic structure of proteins involves shining a bright beam of X-rays onto a protein crystal. The crystal scatters the X-rays in a characteristic way, and from the resulting diffraction pattern the inner structure of the crystal can be calculated, yielding the atomic structure of the protein. “But being jammed

The post High-speed snapshots of biomolecules has been published on Technology Org.

 
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Carl Sagan Poster - High Quality

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Extremely high quality Carl Sagan poster, 24x36" with quote "The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be" from COSMOS television series. Custom designed to be of the highest quality.

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Stellar Nurseries RCW120 Rectangle Sticker

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Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series

A fantastic set of stickers, with a monogram for you to change, featuring a colour composite image of RCW120.

It reveals how an expanding bubble of ionised gas about ten light-years across is causing the surrounding material to collapse into dense clumps where new stars are then formed.

The 870-micron submillimetre-wavelength data were taken with the LABOCA camera on the 12-m Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope. Here, the submillimetre emission is shown as the blue clouds surrounding the reddish glow of the ionised gas (shown with data from the SuperCosmos H-alpha survey). The image also contains data from the Second Generation Digitized Sky Survey (I-band shown in blue, R-band shown in red).

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Image code: gstlnrsr

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

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Name, Deep Space Phenomena Cigar Galaxy, Messier 8 Gift Wrap Paper

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tagged with: agmet, chandra, messier 82, cigar galaxy, active galaxies, outer space images, deep space photography, stars, hubble astronomy, sky watching

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series Composite of images of the active galaxy Messier 82 from the three Great Observatories: Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and Spitzer Space Telescope. X-ray data recorded by Chandra appears here in blue, infrared light recorded by Spitzer appears in red. Hubble's observation of hydrogen emission appears in orange. Hubble's bluest observation appears in yellow-green.
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image code: agmet

Image credit: Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-Ray Observatory, Spitzer Space Telescope

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Solar photons drive water off the moon

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New research indicates that ultraviolet photons emitted by the sun likely cause water molecules on the lunar surface to either quickly desorb or break apart. The fragments of water may remain on the lunar surface, but the presence of useful amounts of water on the sunward side is not likely.

via Science Daily

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Does the moon affect our sleep? Research says no

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No correlation between moon phases and human sleep has been found by researchers studying the topic. For centuries, people have believed that the moon cycle influences human health, behavior and physiology. Folklore mainly links the full moon with sleeplessness. "We could not observe a statistical relevant correlation between human sleep and the lunar phases," remarked researchers after a large study completed.

via Science Daily

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Discovery of Earth's northernmost perennial spring

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Scientists have discovered the highest latitude perennial spring known in the world. This high-volume spring demonstrates that deep groundwater circulation through the cryosphere occurs, and can form gullies in a region of extreme low temperatures and with morphology remarkably similar to those on Mars. The 2009 discovery raises many new questions because it remains uncertain how such a high-volume spring can originate in a polar desert environment.

via Science Daily

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Metal Earth Globe Wall Graphic

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


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Shiny wire frame metal Earth globe with red space nebula background.

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Hubble Interacting Galaxy ESO 239-2 iPad Covers

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!


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