Monday 10 November 2014

Philae Lander Nears a Cosmic Touchdown

more »

Even if it fails in its comet landing, the Rosetta mission will offer scientists a slew of new data.















via New York Times

NASA's Great Observatories Witness a Galactic Spec iPad Mini Case

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: new, image, two, tangled, galaxies, has, been, released, nasa's, great, observatories., antennae, located, about, million, light-years, from, earth, are, shown, this, composite, chandra, x-ray, observatory, blue, hubble, space, telescope, gold, brown, spitzer, red, take, their, name, long, antenna-like, arms, seen

A new image of two tangled galaxies has been released by NASA's Great Observatories. The Antennae galaxies, located about 62 million light-years from Earth, are shown in this composite image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue), the Hubble Space Telescope (gold and brown), and the Spitzer Space Telescope (red). The Antennae galaxies take their name from the long, antenna-like arms seen in wide-angle views of the system. These features were produced in the collision.

»visit the Cosmosphere store for more designs and products like this
The Zazzle Promise: We promise 100% satisfaction. If you don't absolutely love it, we'll take it back!

Unique catalysts for hydrogen fuel cells synthesized in ordinary kitchen microwave oven

original post »

Swedish and Chinese researchers show how a unique nano-alloy composed of palladium nano-islands embedded in tungsten nanoparticles creates

The post Unique catalysts for hydrogen fuel cells synthesized in ordinary kitchen microwave oven has been published on Technology Org.

 
#materials 
See Zazzle gifts tagged with 'science'

Helix Nebula in space Poster

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


tagged with: space, astronomy, nasa, nebula, galaxy, original, quality, custom, helix, eye of god, best, unique, affordable, photography, gift, popular, science, planet, space exploration, solar system, outer space, deep space, space age, space design, space image, space travel, space shuttle, space telescope, space and time, space race, space center, space time, universe, mystical, laureen, laureenr

This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Helix Nebula, a cosmic starlet often photographed by amateur astronomers for its vivid colors and eerie resemblance to a giant eye. The nebula, located about 700 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius, belongs to a class of objects called planetary nebulae. Discovered in the 18th century, these colorful beauties were named for their resemblance to gas-giant planets like Jupiter. Planetary nebulae are the remains of stars that once looked a lot like our sun. When sun-like stars die, they puff out their outer gaseous layers. These layers are heated by the hot core of the dead star, called a white dwarf, and shine with infrared and visible colors. Our own sun will blossom into a planetary nebula when it dies in about five billion years. In Spitzer's infrared view of the Helix nebula, the eye looks more like that of a green monster's. Infrared light from the outer gaseous layers is represented in blues and greens. The white dwarf is visible as a tiny white dot in the center of the picture. The red color in the middle of the eye denotes the final layers of gas blown out when the star died. The brighter red circle in the very center is the glow of a dusty disk circling the white dwarf (the disk itself is too small to be resolved). This dust, discovered by Spitzer's infrared heat-seeking vision, was most likely kicked up by comets that survived the death of their star. Before the star died, its comets and possibly planets would have orbited the star in an orderly fashion. But when the star blew off its outer layers, the icy bodies and outer planets would have been tossed about and into each other, resulting in an ongoing cosmic dust storm. Any inner planets in the system would have burned up or been swallowed as their dying star expanded. So far, the Helix nebula is one of only a few dead-star systems in which evidence for comet survivors has been found.

»visit the Nasaworld store for more designs and products like this
Click to customize with size, paper type etc.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place

UNESCO: World Science Day for Peace and Development



Established by UNESCO in 2001, World Science Day for Peace and Development is celebrated worldwide on 10 November every year. The day offers an opportunity to mobilise various partners (scientific and research institutions, the media, science teachers, NGO’s) to highlight the important role of science in society and to engage the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues and the relevance of science in their daily lives.


This year’s theme is ‘Quality Science Education: ensuring a sustainable future for all’. Different activities will be undertaken to mobilise support for the objectives of the World Science Day for Peace and Development. To get involved in one of the many events around the world, see here.


This year CERN has been celebrating its 60th anniversary with a series of events in Geneva, at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, where the CERN Convention was signed, and in its member states.


“CERN is delighted to celebrate its 60th anniversary with the United Nations,” says Rolf Heuer, CERN Director-General. “We wish to promote a more effective dialogue between science and international affairs, and to openly exchange views on how science can be more integrated into global and national decision-making processes for the benefit of all.” For more info see the CERN60 website.





via CERN: Updates for the general public

http://home.web.cern.ch/about/updates/2014/11/unesco-world-science-day-peace-and-development

Why scientists make promises they can't keep

Science Focus

original post »


Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, recently made people angry when he linked budget cuts to the slow progress on an Ebola vaccine. Without the decade-long erosion of the NIH budget, he told Sam Stein of the Huffington Post, "we would have been a year or two ahead of where we are, which would have made all the difference." The push-back was immediate. Collins' claim was dissected by the media and countered by one of Collins' own colleagues, the head of the NIH unit that oversees Ebola research. Many other scientists disagreed as well. University of California-Berkeley...

More 
#science 
 » see original post http://theweek.com/article/index/271179/why-scientists-make-promises-they-cant-keep
See Zazzle gifts tagged with 'science'

IPCC debates 'most important' report

Science Focus

original post »
Scientists and government officials are meeting in Copenhagen to edit a report on the causes, impact and solutions to global warming. 
#science 
 » see original post http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29803811#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
See Zazzle gifts tagged with 'science'

Relax, your sexual fantasies aren't that strange

Science Focus

original post »


Do you ever wonder about your sexual fantasies, and what they say about you? If so, one of two worries likely comes to mind: "Am I really this conventional and boring?" or "Does the fact I'm having these thoughts mean I'm abnormal?"

Newly published research suggests you can relax. It finds humans indulge in a wide range of erotic fantasies, only a handful of which fall on either extreme (that is, almost everyone has experienced them, or almost no one has).

"There are very few statistically unusual sexual fantasies," reports a research team led by Canadian psychologist Christian Joyal. Its paper...

More 
#science 
 » see original post http://theweek.com/article/index/271390/relax-your-sexual-fantasies-arent-that-strange
See Zazzle gifts tagged with 'science'

The Protoplanetary Disk of HL Tauri from ALMA

more »



Zazzle Space Gifts for young and old

Monogram, Star Cluster Pismis 24, core of NGC 6357 Round Stickers

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


tagged with: stars, galaxies, astronomy, peel off, envelope sealers, star cluster, pismis 24, sculpting ultaviolet ionisation, super massive stars, sclustpsms, nebula ngc 6357

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series The star cluster Pismis 24 lies in the core of the large emission nebula NGC 6357 that extends one degree on the sky in the direction of the Scorpius constellation. Part of the nebula is ionised by the youngest (bluest) heavy stars in Pismis 24. The intense ultraviolet radiation from the blazing stars heats the gas surrounding the cluster and creates a bubble in NGC 6357. The presence of these surrounding gas clouds makes probing into the region even harder. One of the top candidates for the title of "Milky Way stellar heavyweight champion" was, until now, Pismis 24-1, a bright young star that lies in the core of the small open star cluster Pismis 24 (the bright stars in the Hubble image) about 8,000 light-years away from Earth. Pismis 24-1 was thought to have an incredibly large mass of 200 to 300 solar masses. New NASA/ESA Hubble measurements of the star, have, however, resolved Pismis 24-1 into two separate stars, and, in doing so, have "halved" its mass to around 100 solar masses.

more items with this image
more items in the Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series

image code: sclustpsms

Image credit: NASA/ESA Hubble

»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this
Click to customize.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place

Team grows uniform nanowires

more »

A researcher from Missouri University of Science and Technology has developed a new way to grow nanowire arrays with a determined diameter, length and uniform consistency. This approach to growing nanomaterials will improve the efficiency of various devices including solar cells and fuel cells.



Zazzle Space market place

Astronomers dissect the aftermath of a supernova

more »

In research published today in the Astrophysical Journal, an Australian led team of astronomers has used radio telescopes in Australia and Chile to see inside the remains of a supernova.



Zazzle Space market place

Personalized Monkey Head Nebula Star Wall Decor

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


tagged with: personalized, star, blue, colorful, stars, space, beautiful, monkey head nebula, astronomy, outer space, cosmic, ngc 2174, sharpless sh2-252, space image, beautiful nebula, modern, nebulae

Star with a pretty space image. The February 2014 picture of the Monkey Head Nebula released in April in "celebration of the 24th anniversary of the launch of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (on April 24, 1990)." The Monkey Head Nebula is also known as NGC 2174 and Sharpless Sh2-252.

»visit the annaleeblysse store for more designs and products like this
Click to customize.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place

Target locked

more »



Space science image of the week: A last look at Rosetta’s comet landing site from orbit before Philae’s descent

via ESA Space Science

http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2014/11/Agilkia_landing_site_6_November_2014

Monogram Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1672 iPad Folio Case

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: monogram initials, star galaxies, deep space astronomy, barred spiral galaxy, starry space picture, galactic arms, supermassive black hole, dust lanes, star forming galaxy, hrbstslr bsgsst

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series This NASA Hubble Space Telescope view of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672 unveils details in the galaxy's star-forming clouds and dark bands of interstellar dust.
One of the most striking features is the dust lanes that extend away from the nucleus and follow the inner edges of the galaxy's spiral arms. Clusters of hot young blue stars form along the spiral arms and ionize surrounding clouds of hydrogen gas that glow red. Delicate curtains of dust partially obscure and redden the light of the stars behind them by scattering blue light.
Galaxies lying behind NGC 1672 give the illusion they are embedded in the foreground galaxy, even though they are really much farther away. They also appear reddened as they shine through NGC 1672's dust. A few bright foreground stars inside our own Milky Way Galaxy appear in the image as bright and diamond-like objects.
As a prototypical barred spiral galaxy, NGC 1672 differs from normal spiral galaxies, in that the arms do not twist all the way into the center. Instead, they are attached to the two ends of a straight bar of stars enclosing the nucleus. Viewed nearly face on, NGC 1672 shows intense star formation regions especially off in the ends of its central bar.
Astronomers believe that barred spirals have a unique mechanism that channels gas from the disk inward towards the nucleus. This allows the bar portion of the galaxy to serve as an area of new star generation.
NGC 1672 is also classified as a Seyfert galaxy. Seyferts are a subset of galaxies with active nuclei. The energy output of these nuclei can sometimes outshine their host galaxies. This activity is powered by accretion onto supermassive black holes.
NGC 1672 is more than 60 million light-years away in the direction of the southern constellation Dorado. These observations of NGC 1672 were taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys in August of 2005. The composite image was made by using filters that isolate light from the blue, green, and infrared portions of the spectrum, as well as emission from ionized hydrogen.
more items with this image
more items in the Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series

image code: bsgsst

Image credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration

»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this
The Zazzle Promise: We promise 100% satisfaction. If you don't absolutely love it, we'll take it back!

Protein found in insect blood that helps power pests’ immune responses

original post »

Pest insects may be sickened to learn to that researchers at Kansas State University have discovered a genetic

The post Protein found in insect blood that helps power pests’ immune responses has been published on Technology Org.

 
#materials 
See Zazzle gifts tagged with 'science'

Scientists, and Universe’s Odd Behavior, Are Recognized With $3 Million Prizes

more »

In all, $36 million was awarded to scientists as part of an effort by tech entrepreneurs to make science as glitzy as rock ‘n’ roll.















via New York Times

View of the Center of the Milky Way Galaxy Posters

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


tagged with: photo, astronomy, space, universe, milky way, galaxy, milky way galaxy, cosmos, stars, cosmological, outer space

What does the center of the galaxy look like? This design is great for those who love stargazing and think that we live in an amazingly beautiful universe.

»visit the Brookelorren store for more designs and products like this
Click to customize with size, paper type etc.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place

Eye - Stellar Nursery R136 on nebula background Square Sticker

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


tagged with: astronomy, envelope sealers, eye, stellar nursery, r136, 30 doradus nebula, massive stars, tarantula nebula, hrbstslr dorneblmc, galaxy stars, large magellanic cloud, star cluster, amazing hubble images

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series On a background of the Pelican and North American nebulae, an eye made from hundreds of brilliant blue stars wreathed by warm, glowing clouds appear in this the most detailed view of the largest stellar nursery in our local galactic neighborhood. The massive, young stellar grouping, called R136, is only a few million years old and resides in the 30 Doradus (or Tarantula) Nebula, a turbulent star-birth region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way.
There is no known star-forming region in our galaxy as large or as prolific as 30 Doradus. Many of the diamond-like icy blue stars are among the most massive stars known. Several of them are over 100 times more massive than our Sun. These hefty stars are destined to pop off, like a string of firecrackers, as supernovas in a few million years. The image, taken in ultraviolet, visible, and red light by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3, spans about 100 light-years.
The movement of the LMC around the Milky Way may have triggered the massive cluster's formation in several ways. The gravitational tug of the Milky Way and the companion Small Magellanic Cloud may have compressed gas in the LMC. Also, the pressure resulting from the LMC plowing through the Milky Way's halo may have compressed gas in the satellite. The cluster is a rare, nearby example of the many super star clusters that formed in the distant, early universe, when star birth and galaxy interactions were more frequent.
The LMC is located 170,000 light-years away and is a member of the Local Group of Galaxies, which also includes the Milky Way. The Hubble observations were taken Oct. 20-27, 2009. The blue color is light from the hottest, most massive stars; the green from the glow of oxygen; and the red from fluorescing hydrogen.

more items with this image
more items in the Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series

image code: dorneblmc

image credit: Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3

»visit the HightonRidley store for more designs and products like this
Click to customize.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place

MUSE reveals true story behind galactic crash

more »

A team of researchers led by Michele Fumagalli from the Extragalactic Astronomy Group and the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University, were among the first to use ESO's Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on the VLT. Observing ESO 137-001—a spiral galaxy 200 million light-years away in the southern constellation of Triangulum Australe (The Southern Triangle)—they were able to get the best view so far of exactly what is happening to the galaxy as it hurtles into the Norma Cluster.



Zazzle Space market place

Orion Nebula Green Trumpet Room Decal

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


tagged with: orion, nebula, shape, cosmic, astronomy, green, space image, space, pretty, trumpet, image, aqua

Space image of the Orion Nebula on the shape of a trumpet.

»visit the annaleeblysse store for more designs and products like this
Click to customize.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place