Wednesday 22 October 2014

Using Light Frequencies to Sniff Out Deadly Materials from a Distance

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DARPA yesterday issued a solicitation for proposals responsive to its Spectral Combs from UV to THz (SCOUT) program,

The post Using Light Frequencies to Sniff Out Deadly Materials from a Distance has been published on Technology Org.

 
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Two families of comets found around nearby star Beta Pictoris

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Beta Pictoris is a young star located about 63 light-years from the Sun. It is only about 20 million years old and is surrounded by a huge disc of material—a very active young planetary system where gas and dust are produced by the evaporation of comets and the collisions of asteroids.



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Hubble's Deepest View of Galaxies Poster

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


tagged with: astronomy, space, hubble, galaxy, galaxies, stars, outer space, prints, posters, telescope, science, scientific, discovery, discoveries, technology

Hubble's Deepest View of Galaxies Print December 8, 2009: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has made the deepest image of the universe ever taken in near-infrared light. The faintest and reddest objects in the image are galaxies that formed 600 million years after the Big Bang. No galaxies have been seen before at such early times. The new deep view, taken in late August 2009, also provides insights into how galaxies grew in their formative years early in the universe's history. The image was taken in the same region as the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), which was taken in 2004 and is the deepest visible-light image of the universe. Hubble's newly installed Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) collects light from near-infrared wavelengths and therefore looks even deeper into the universe, because the light from very distant galaxies is stretched out of the ultraviolet and visible regions of the spectrum into near-infrared wavelengths by the expansion of the universe. Courtesy:NASA.

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Almost understandable explanation of quantum stuff!

Science Focus

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Almost understandable explanation of quantum stuff!
Ok, made before the Higgs Boson was detected but still good today.
 #forwidersharing  #physics
attached video

 » see original post https://plus.google.com/116000959328274308893/posts/7s8T913nRLD
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In 1888, one man patented a machine for vending “healthy” electric shocks

Science Focus

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An internal front view of the vending machine, with the battery, circuitry, and top dial.

In the late 1800s, we still didn't know a great deal about electricity. One scientist was still attempting to figure out how electric shocks kill things in 1895, and found that when he delivered a 240-milliamp shock to dogs, their hearts were very damaged (for comparison, a taser puts out about 3 milliamps). In 1903, Thomas Edison was trying to prove alternating current was dangerous by electrocuting animals. But before these instances of using electricity for death, one inventor thought people would be interested in using quick jolts to improve health, like the green juice of his day.

"When electricity was in its infancy, the power was believed to have a beneficial effect on health. Why not vend a small measure of electricity by coin operation?" wrote Paul Braithwaite in his book, Arcades and Slot Machines. Braithwaite was describing an existing patented design: a coin-operated vending machine that would deliver an electrical shock to the customer in exchange for money.

The patent for a "coin operated electrical apparatus" was originally filed by Norman W. Russ and granted in England in 1886. Russ followed up with patents for his invention in France, Belgium, Canada, and the United States, which granted it on May 15, 1888.

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 » see original post http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/v6MwCaffaLI/
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The robots of resistance

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August 2005: Willcox Playa, Arizona. The air was hot and full of wind, the ground hard and full of cracks, and an aircraft of sorts was flying directly at Josh Levinger's chest.

It was, put mildly, irregular in composition. Its fuselage was a blue, five-gallon water cooler bottle. Its two three-liter ballast tanks once contained soda, and its aluminum propeller guard came from a bicycle. The engine originally belonged to a weed-whacker and the fabric wing overhead was designed for kite surfing. The machine's name was Freedom Flies, and almost every part of it was borrowed or homemade.

Of the...

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 » see original post http://theweek.com/article/index/269700/the-robots-of-resistance
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Heat- and booze-tolerant yeast make more biofuels

Science Focus

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The same yeast used in your home brews is also deployed for industrial ethanol production.

When it comes to making ethanol from things like sugarcane and corn, we've turned to the method that has been used for ethanol production for millennia: give yeast some sugar, and take away their oxygen. Just as they do when making beer or wine, the yeast take the sugar and partially metabolize it, releasing ethanol as a waste product.

While the basics are easy to do, it's turned out to be hard to get yeast to operate well in the sorts of environments that lead to efficient production of biofuels. At some level, the ethanol the yeast produce becomes toxic (as it is for us). And brewer's yeast tends to grow best at moderate temperatures (30 degrees Celsius), while biofuel production works best at temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius.

So far, the approach used for getting yeast to be a better biofuel producer has not exactly been carefully planned: we've just continued to grow them in the harsh environment of a biofuel reactor and wait for evolution to take its course. But two papers that appear in today's Science describe targeted changes that greatly enhance the ability of yeast to survive in a biofuel reactor.

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 » see original post http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/KEJYbpnrNi0/
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Trifid Nebula, Messier 16 Rectangle 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, star clusters, heavens, factories for stars, eso, vista, european southern observatory

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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Sunspot Group AR 2192 Crackles

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Quantum effects in nanometer-scale metallic structures

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Plasmonic devices combine the 'super speed' of optics with the 'super small' of microelectronics. These devices exhibit quantum effects and show promise as possible ultrafast circuit elements, but current material processing limits this potential. Now, a team of Singapore-based researchers has used a new physical process, known as quantum plasmonic tunneling, to demonstrate the possibility of practical quantum plasmonic devices.



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The Carina Nebula Eta Carina Nebula NGC 3372 Room Decal

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


tagged with: the carina nebula, eta carina nebula, ngc 3372, carina nebula, eta carina, carina, nebula, stars, outer space, astronomy

The Carina Nebula (also known as the Great Nebula in Carina, the Eta Carina Nebula, or NGC 3372) is a large bright nebula that surrounds several open clusters of stars. Eta Carinae and HD 93129A, two of the most massive and luminous stars in our Milky Way galaxy, are among them. The nebula lies at an estimated distance between 6,500 and 10,000 light years from Earth. It appears in the constellation of Carina, and is located in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm. The nebula contains multiple O-type stars.

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Hubble's Sharpest View of the Orion Neb Powiscases iPad Mini 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!


tagged with: hubble's, sharpest, view, of-the, orion, nebulae, powiscases

Thousands of stars are forming in the cloud of gas and dust known as the Orion nebula. More than 3,000 stars of various sizes appear in this image. Some of them have never been seen in visible light. Credit: NASA,ESA, M. Robberto (Space Telescope Science Institute/ESA) and the Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team

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NASA Webb's heart survives deep freeze test

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After 116 days of being subjected to extremely frigid temperatures like that in space, the heart of the James Webb Space Telescope, the Integrated Science Instrument Module and its sensitive instruments, emerged unscathed from the thermal vacuum chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

via Science Daily

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2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: What you need to know (infographic)

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We congratulate the winners of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Eric Betzig, Ph.D.; Stefan Hell, Ph.D.; and

The post 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: What you need to know (infographic) has been published on Technology Org.

 
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Special microscope captures defects in nanotubes

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Chemists have devised a way to see the internal structures of electronic waves trapped in carbon nanotubes by external electrostatic charges. Carbon nanotubes have been touted as exceptional materials with unique properties that allow for extremely efficient charge and energy transport, with the potential to open the way for new, more efficient types of electronic and photovoltaic devices. However, these traps, or defects, in ultra-thin nanotubes can compromise their effectiveness.

via Science Daily

Vintage Astronomy, Phases of the Moon with Sun Print

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


tagged with: vintage, moon, sun, celestial, sky, nostalgic, retro, earth, nostalgia, americana

Vintage illustration astronomy celestial image featuring the different phases of the moon around the earth and the sun.

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Cats Eye Nebula Sticker

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


tagged with: nebulae, amazing astronomy images, tcenebnch, hubble chandra images, cats eye nebula, stellar evolution, dying star, red giant evolution, galaxies, outer space pictures, stars, nasa

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A gorgeous design featuring a composite image of the Cat's Eye nebula from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope.
This famous nebula represents a phase of stellar evolution after a star like our Sun runs out of fuel. In this phase, a star becomes an expanding red giant and sheds some of its outer layers, eventually leaving behind a hot core that collapses to form a dense white dwarf star. A fast wind emanating from the hot core rams into the ejected atmosphere, pushes it outward, and creates the graceful filamentary structures.
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image code: tcenebnch

Image credit: NASA/Chandra www.nasa.gov

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Name, The Rings of Gas Giant Saturn - solar system 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: star galaxies, astronomy pictures, strnmxtlt, outer space picture, hubble space image, rings of saturn, gas giant astronomy, solar system planet, ice particles, planetary bodies, planet, rocky debris

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A stunning image of Saturn, taken when the planet's rings were at their maximum tilt of 27 degrees toward Earth. Saturn experiences seasonal tilts away from and toward the Sun, much the same way Earth does. This happens over the course of its 29.5-year orbit. This means that approximately every 30 years, Earth observers can catch their best glimpse of Saturn's South Pole and the southern side of the planet's rings. Between March and April 2003, researchers took full advantage to study the gas giant at maximum tilt. They used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to capture detailed images of Saturn's Southern Hemisphere and the southern face of its rings.
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image code: strnmxtlt

Image credit: NASA (Hubble Telescope) and E. Karkoschka (University of Arizona)

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The Carina Nebula Eta Carina Nebula NGC 3372 Room Decals

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


tagged with: the carina nebula, eta carina nebula, ngc 3372, carina nebula, eta carina, carina, nebula, stars, outer space, astronomy

The Carina Nebula (also known as the Great Nebula in Carina, the Eta Carina Nebula, or NGC 3372) is a large bright nebula that surrounds several open clusters of stars. Eta Carinae and HD 93129A, two of the most massive and luminous stars in our Milky Way galaxy, are among them. The nebula lies at an estimated distance between 6,500 and 10,000 light years from Earth. It appears in the constellation of Carina, and is located in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm. The nebula contains multiple O-type stars.

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The Hubble Ultra Deep Field Space Image Case For The iPad Mini

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tagged with: deep space, hubble, hubble deep field, hubble ultra deep field, deep field, astronomy, cosmology, constellation fornax, fornax, hudf

The Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (HUDF) is an image of a small region of space in the constellation Fornax, composited from Hubble Space Telescope data accumulated over a period from September 24, 2003, through to January 16, 2004. Looking back approximately 13 billion years (between 400 and 800 million years after the Big Bang) it will be used to search for galaxies that existed at that time. The HUDF image was taken in a section of the sky with a low density of bright stars in the near-field, allowing much better viewing of dimmer, more distant objects. The image contains an estimated 10,000 galaxies. In August and September 2009, the Hubble's Deep Field was expanded using the infrared channel of the recently attached Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). When combined with existing HUDF data, astronomers were able to identify a new list of potentially very distant galaxies.

This file is in the public domain because it was created by NASA and ESA. NASA Hubble material (and ESA Hubble material prior to 2009) is copyright-free and may be freely used as in the public domain without fee, on the condition that only NASA, STScI, and/or ESA is credited as the source of the material.

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