Thursday 15 January 2015

Orion Nebula by the Hubble Telescope Cover 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: orion, nebula, hubble, space, astronomy

In one of the most detailed astronomical images ever produced, NASA/ESA's Hubble Space Telescope captured an unprecedented look at the Orion Nebula. ... This extensive study took 105 Hubble orbits to complete. All imaging instruments aboard the telescope were used simultaneously to study Orion. The Advanced Camera mosaic covers approximately the apparent angular size of the full moon. Sign up to Mr. Rebates for FREE and save 12% on any zazzle order in addition to a $5.00 sign up bonus All Rights Reserved; without: prejudice, recourse or notice (U.C.C. 1-308) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Orion_Nebula_-_Hubble_2006_mosaic_18000.jpg

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NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft begins first stages of Pluto encounter

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NASA's New Horizons spacecraft recently began its long-awaited, historic encounter with Pluto. The spacecraft is entering the first of several approach phases that culminate July 14 with the first close-up flyby of the dwarf planet, 4.67 billion miles (7.5 billion kilometers) from Earth.

via Science Daily

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Space station worms’ research potential is anything but flat

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For years, it was assumed the world was flat. Now, we have a laboratory that orbits our big, blue marble. So, it's funny to think of returning to flatness aboard the International Space Station, but this outpost currently houses flatworms for research. The study of these creatures has the potential to be rather robust in implications for regenerative medicine, an area of treatment for repairing or replacing human cells, tissues or organs on Earth to restore normal function. A new study launched aboard SpaceX's fifth commercial resupply services (CRS) mission to the space station examines the reparative processes of flatworms in microgravity.

via Science Daily

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Honeybee hive sealant promotes hair growth in mice

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Hair loss can be devastating for the millions of men and women who experience it. Now scientists are

The post Honeybee hive sealant promotes hair growth in mice has been published on Technology Org.

 
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Eagle Nebula Print

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


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This eerie, dark structure in IC 4703 (the Eagle nebula) is a column of cool molecular hydrogen gas and dust that is an incubator for new stars. The stars are embedded inside finger-like protrusions clearly seen extending from the top of the column. Each "fingertip" is somewhat larger than our own solar system. The pillar is slowly eroding away by the ultraviolet light from nearby hot stars, a process called "photoevaporation". As it does, small globules of especially dense gas buried within the cloud are uncovered. These globules have been dubbed "EGGs" ; an acronym for "Evaporating Gaseous Globules". The shadows of the EGGs protect gas behind them, resulting in the finger-like structures at the top of the cloud.

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The science behind casino profits

Science Focus

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The Conversation

Gambling is good business, or at least a profitable one. According to the American Gaming Association, in 2012 the 464 commercial casinos in the U.S. served 76.1 million patrons and grossed \$37.34 billion.

Each year gaming revenues in the U.S. yield more profits than the theatrical movie industry (\$10.9 billion) and the recorded music industry (\$7 billion) combined. Even the \$22.5 billion combined revenue of the four major U.S. sports leagues is dwarfed by earnings from the commercial casinos industry.

Gambling is such good business that despite reported negative impacts — such as increased poverty and unemployment, higher crime rates, and decreased property value in nearby neighborhoods — the state of Illinois early this year passed a law to allow slot machines in all establishments that sell alcohol.

Gambling is not just common, it's also accepted. Despite the fact that for an estimated 4 percent of the population gambling represents a problematic and even pathological addiction, 85 percent of Americans feel that gambling is either perfectly acceptable for themselves or if not themselves for others in a country where more than 20 states now allow some form of commercial casino.

It's not too hard to see why casino lobbyists believe casinos make a positive contribution to the communities in which they operate.

It's far less easy to understand why so many Americans enjoy gambling even though it tends to result in the loss of money.

You lose, the casino wins

As a general rule, we tend to repeat behavior that produces desirable results and avoid behaviors that result in loss. We repeat jokes that people laughed at, choose jobs that we enjoy and that pay the most money, and avoid behaviors that produce fines. Following this logic, one would expect a gambler to only play as long as they are winning and then cut their losses when they begin to lose.

Yet gambling appears to operate differently; players play faster after losses and bet persistently regardless of the percentage of payback, magnitude of return, or the lack of winning entirely. So what encourages gambling behavior if losing occurs more frequently, and payouts do not exceed buy-ins?

One explanation is that gamblers poorly judge the actual probability of winning, even as their pile of tokens and coins dwindles before them.

Some examples of this phenomenon can easily be seen in the language of gamblers. "My luck is going to turn," "A win is coming," or "I am on a hot streak," are all statements that speak to an over-confidence in one's ability to predict functionally random events.

Gamblers will often say these things after an unusual series of outcomes, for example, ten straight losses on red at roulette. The gambler may then proceed to bet more on red, in the false hope that the next spin is more likely to come up red due to the overall probability of the game (50 percent chance of red).

This flawed logic is called "The Gambler's Fallacy." It stems from a misunderstanding of how probabilities are assessed; in fact the outcome of the previous spin of the roulette wheel has no influence on the outcome of the next spin. The probability of red remains stubbornly fixed at 50 percent.

Missed it by that much

Another example of how gamblers misjudge losing outcomes can be seen when individuals respond to losses that are similar in appearance to a win. Receiving two out of three symbols necessary to win on a slot machine is a loss but players often respond to this "near miss" with excitement, increased betting and more persistent play.

Winning and almost winning are such similar events to many people that they respond in the same way to both. People pause, for example, for longer after a win than a loss. This is known as a "post-reinforcement pause." People often pause for longer after a near-miss.

It's no accident near misses are pretty common on slot machines. Mark/Flickr, CC BY-SA

Winning and almost winning are so alike in gamblers' brains that research on the dopamine-transmitting pathways of anticipation and reward show remarkably similar activation patterns for a near-miss and a win.

Near-miss effects are not limited to outcomes that look similar to win. Outcomes that are closer to a win in a more abstract sense also cause a similar response.

For instance, the near-miss effect has been demonstrated in games where "nearly winning" might relate to scoring a number that is close to a winning number, such as in blackjack.

Near-miss outcomes are not the only form of almost winning that contributes to the behavioral confusion faced by gamblers. Modern slot machines also present a myriad of features that are designed to confuse outcomes.

Slot confusion

One feature present in almost every modern slot machine is the partial win or "loss disguised as a win."

Since slot machines have gone from the traditional 3-reel 1-line slot machine to the modern 5-reel video slot, often with 25 or more winning lines, near-miss outcomes have become almost unidentifiable from other losing outcomes.

By encouraging individuals to play on more than one line, casinos have created a scenario where players are awarded a win on almost every spin.

Despite the increased frequency of winning, the proportion of money returned is often far less than the entire bet, such as winning 10 cents on a 50 cent bet. This 80 percent loss is accompanied by the same sounds on the machine as a real win and occupies the same area of the screen that wins are reported in.

Since noticing near-misses on modern slot machines is difficult, game makers have incorporated other game features such as free-spin symbols, mini-games, and progressive awards, which create new near miss situations while often not guaranteeing any increased value of a win themselves.

For example, special symbols might be placed on the reels that provide 10 free spins whenever three appear anywhere within the game screen. These symbols will often make a special sound, such as a loud thud when they land; and if two symbols land, many games will begin to play fast tempo music, display flashing lights around the remaining reels, and accelerate the rate of spin to enhance the saliency of the event.

When you win these sorts of outcomes you feel as though you have won a jackpot; after all, 10 free spins is 10 times the chances to win big money right? The reality is that those 10 free spins do not change the already small probability of winning on any given spin and are still likely to result in a loss of money. For many games, features such as this have entirely replaced standard jackpots.

These features share one important characteristic: they allow the casinos the ability to provide more outcomes that feel like a win while not increasing the actual payout. The effect of these features is so significant that in 1989 the Nevada Gaming Commission banned algorithms that purposefully increased the prevalence of near-miss outcomes. Of course, this only applied to the intentional increasing of near misses when a loss is already determined, i.e. artificially producing a near miss instead of what the reels would have normally landed on.

Unfortunately, these laws do not preclude the intentional design of reel layouts that, without additional manipulation, produce frequent near misses and losses disguised as wins. These laws also do not apply to the newer game features which either highlight the near miss, such as accelerating reels, or create entirely new topographies of outcomes, as is the case with free-spins or mini-games.

While the question of how to best manage artificial manipulations of near misses may be a topic of future regulatory discussion, the decision to play games with these illusions will ultimately fall upon the end user.

As long as you are willing to expose yourself to the game in the first place, the casino need only sit back and wait. And with increasing availability of casinos across the U.S., they won't need to wait long.

The authors do not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article. They also have no relevant affiliations.

 
#science 
 » see original post http://theweek.com/articles/442516/science-behind-casino-profits
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VIDEO: BBC presenter talks to Cleverbot

Science Focus

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BBC News presenter Philippa Thomas had a conversation with Cleverbot, and its creator Rollo Carpenter. 
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 » see original post http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30299100#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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How to grow a microscopic alien garden

Science Focus

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Some sculptors work in marble, others in wood… but Harvard University biomineralization researcher Wim Noorduin creates his masterpieces inside a beaker. You'd be hard-pressed to put his flowery sculptures on a regular museum pedestal, though. They're actually microscopic crystal structures many times smaller than the width of a human hair.

(Wim Noorduin/World Science Festival)

(More from World Science Festival: Six tiny scientific mistakes that created huge disasters)

Minerals can naturally assemble into impressive shapes, even at very tiny scales, and Noorduin's scientific research is part of an effort to understand how chemistry can drive this process. His sculptures start with a solution of the salt barium chloride and the compound sodium silicate, also known as waterglass. When these ingredients are added, carbon dioxide from the air that's dissolved in the beaker's water kicks off a reaction that forms barium carbonate crystals — and also lowers the pH of the solution near the newly formed crystals. This pH change then sparks a reaction with the sodium silicate, which deposits silica on the growing crystals.

(Wim Noorduin/World Science Festival)

"We know how fast these structures grow and what is going to happen if we change, say, the temperature or acidity," Noorduin said in a phone interview. And knowing those principles "allows you to collaborate with the self-assembly process that's going on, and you can really manipulate the sculptures in a rational way."

(More from World Science Festival: Alan Turing vs. the mechanical Nazi)

(Wim Noorduin/World Science Festival)

Left to its own devices, the solution will form an intriguing forest of shapes. But human intervention can sculpt them into even more ethereal forms. There are lots of ways that Noorduin can manipulate the microenvironment inside the solution: The temperature can be altered with an ice bath, for example, or he can control the addition of carbon dioxide in the solution by capping the beaker. "If we take off the cap for just a few minutes and put it back on, in that time more CO2 will come into the solution from the air," Noorduin says. "As a result, the chemical reaction completely changes — it allows me to split structures open or make well-controlled ripples.

(Wim Noorduin/World Science Festival)

Noorduin can manipulate the sculptures even further, joining separate pieces into more complex shapes. He can grow a "vase" shape in one solution, then start the growth of a new "stem" shape from that and manipulate the whole into a flower. Noorduin thinks the mechanics underlying his microscopic bouquets could one day help researchers create tiny tools and devices, or manipulate everyday materials to make them stronger.

(More from World Science Festival: 11 small wonders captured on camera)

"I'm amazed by how very simple processes can give rise to complex shapes and structures," Noorduin says. While the driving force behind his work is scientific inquiry, he isn't immune to the eerily beautiful aesthetics of his work. "I am interested in trying to make the most beautiful landscapes. I got addicted to wandering around in this world."

 
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 » see original post http://theweek.com/articles/442446/grow-microscopic-alien-garden
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Monogram - Enlarged Region of The Omega Nebula Sticker

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


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Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series Like the fury of a raging sea, this bubbly ocean of glowing hydrogen, oxygen, and sulphur gas lies in the extremely massive and luminous molecular nebula Messier 17.
This Hubble photograph captures a small region within Messier 17 (M17), a hotbed of star formation. M17, also known as the Omega or Swan Nebula, is located about 5500 light-years away in the Sagittarius constellation.
Ultraviolet radiation is carving and heating the surfaces of cold hydrogen gas clouds and the warmed surfaces glow orange and red. The intense heat and pressure causes some material to stream away from the surface, creating the glowing veil of even hotter green-coloured gas that masks background structures. The colours in the image represent various gases. Red represents sulphur; green, hydrogen; and blue, oxygen.

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image code: eroton

Image credit: NASA, the ACS Science Team

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Venus and Mercury at Sunset

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Inner planets Venus and Mercury can never wander far from the Sun in Earth's sky. This week you've probably seen them both gathered near the western horizon just after sunset, a close conjunction of bright celestial beacons in the fading twilight. The pair are framed in this early evening skyview captured on January 13 from the ruins of Szarvasko Castle in northwestern Hungary. Above the silhouette of the landscape's prominent volcanic hill Venus is much the brighter, separated from Mercury by little more than the width of two Full Moons. On Friday, planet Earth's early morning risers will also be treated to a close conjunction, when Saturn meets an old crescent Moon near the southeastern horizon at dawn.
Tomorrow's picture: a distant landing
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Zazzle Space Gifts for young and old

Trendy Cool Sparkly New Nebula Design Room Stickers

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


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Cute and trendy pink blue teal nebula design with bright sparkly stars. All are photo printed.

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Galaxy collision images taken by the Hubble iPad Mini Cases

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: galaxy, hubble, astronomy, collision, collage

Galaxy collision images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope Sign up to Mr. Rebates for FREE and save 12% on any zazzle order in addition to a $5.00 sign up bonus All Rights Reserved; without: prejudice, recourse or notice (U.C.C. 1-308) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Galaxies_Gone_Wild!.jpg galaxy hubble astronomy collision collage

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The simplest element: Turning hydrogen into “graphene”

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New work from Carnegie’s Ivan Naumov and Russell Hemley delves into the chemistry underlying some surprising recent observations

The post The simplest element: Turning hydrogen into “graphene” has been published on Technology Org.

 
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Carbon nanotube finding could lead to flexible electronics with longer battery life

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Materials engineers have made a significant leap toward creating higher-performance electronics with improved battery life -- and the ability to flex and stretch. The team has reported the highest-performing carbon nanotube transistors ever demonstrated. In addition to paving the way for improved consumer electronics, this technology could also have specific uses in industrial and military applications.

via Science Daily

New Exoplanet-hunting telescopes on Paranal — NGTS facility achieves first light

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The Next-Generation Transit Survey is a wide-field observing system made up of an array of twelve telescopes, each with an aperture of 20 centimeters. This new facility is located in northern Chile and benefits from the superb observing conditions and excellent support facilities available at this site.

via Science Daily

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Planets and dwarf planets poster

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Planets and dwarf planets of the solar system

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Crab Pulsar Time Lapse - Neutron Star Stickers

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Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series

Multiple observations made over several months with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope captured the spectacle of matter and antimatter propelled to near the speed of light by the Crab pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star the size of Manhattan.

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Image code: crbplsr

Image credit: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope

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Star birth in Carina Nebula from Hubble's WFC3 det Wall Skins

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ImageID: 42-23286264 / STScI / NASA/Corbis / Star birth in Carina Nebula from Hubble's WFC3 detector

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