Wednesday 4 February 2015

Stunning Aqua Star Cluster iPad Mini Cover

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: cosmological, cosmos, space, hubble, telescope, magellanic, turquoise, aqua, blue, stars, outer space

A breathtaking blue and turquoise dance of heavenly clouds, Star Cluster NGC 2074 in the Large Magellanic Cloud as captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.

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

original post »

University of Wisconsin-Madison materials engineers have made a significant leap toward creating higher-performance electronics with improved battery life

The post Carbon nanotube finding could lead to flexible electronics with longer battery life has been published on Technology Org.

 
#materials 
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Out There | Raining Fire

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Though it is sedate in comparison with other stars, our sun is a volatile neighbor, a thermonuclear furnace fueling spectacular storms that send high-energy particles and radiation far out into space.















via New York Times

Out There: Living With a Star

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Even a slight change in the precariously controlled violence of the sun, an enormous thermonuclear furnace, can have drastic consequences on Earth.















via New York Times

Map of Piri Reis Poster

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


tagged with: cartography, Europe, discoverers, marine, boats, astronomy, astronomer, astrolabio, pirates, buccaneers, privateers, treasure, the island of the treasure

It is a fragment of a map developed by Admiral and Ottoman Cartographer Piri Reis in 1513. The map includes gorgeous drawings, accompanied of inscriptions that indicate important discoveries. One of them corresponds, almost with total certainty, the expedition of Pedro Álvares Cabral of 1500. One thinks that Cabral “discovered” Brazil when the winds removed it from their route, in a trip to the Eastern Indians.

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How grammatical tweaks can radically alter support for public policies

Science Focus

original post »

Besides choosing between candidates, many voters today will be deciding on one or more ballot initiatives. A good number of these are attempts to nudge people into taking desirable actions — say, changing organ-donation protocols from "opt in" to "opt out."

As with so much else in politics, the success of these efforts depends in part on how they are framed. That means a surprisingly simple factor can make a big difference: Grammar.

In a recently published paper, Columbia University psychologists James Cornwell and David Krantz report support for public-policy initiatives varies significantly depending upon their precise wording. Policies that will impact "you" are looked at with skepticism; those that involve "people" in general (a group that, by definition, includes you) are viewed more favorably.

"When phrasing of the rationale for public policy uses the second-person plural, and thus induces participants to consider themselves one of the targets of these policies, support for them drops," the researchers write in the journal Judgment and Decision Making.

This difference, they write, reflects the "belief that others are more easily manipulated by these policy schemes than they themselves are," which means the initiatives "are therefore more likely to 'work' when aimed at others than when aimed at them."

Cornwall and Krantz describe two studies, the first of which featured 85 U.S. residents recruited online. They were asked to judge four public policy initiatives: a tax on fuel to reduce carbon emissions; an increase in criminal penalties to discourage petty crime; tax incentives to encourage community service; and tax credits to encourage savings and investment.

Participants were randomly assigned to read a version of the proposals that used second-person wording, or a nearly identical version that used third-person wording.

For instance, when reading about the proposed gasoline tax, half were informed that "The theory is that when you need to pay more for gasoline, you will drive less to save money." The others learned that "The theory is that when people need to pay more for gasoline, they will drive less to save money."

After reading the proposals, participants indicated on a one-to-seven scale their levels of support for such a policy, and the degree to which they thought it would be effective.

Across the board, support for the policies, and confidence in their effectiveness, was significantly higher when they were framed as impacting "people" as opposed to "you."

"Shifting attention to the self, rather than people in general, causes people to be less optimistic about the policies' manipulative power," the researchers write.

A second study, which used a larger pool of participants (296) and a bigger set of proposals, confirmed these results.

It all suggests we believe others can be nudged into certain behaviors, but personally, we are far too smart and savvy to fall for such tricks. While that's almost surely an ego-driven illusion, it influences our attitudes — and, presumably, even our votes on policy initiatives.

But then, you knew that, even if "people" don't.

Pacific Standard grapples with the nation's biggest issues by illuminating why we do what we do. For more on the science of society, sign up for its weekly email update or subscribe to its bimonthly print magazine.

More from Pacific Standard...

 
#science 
 » see original post http://theweek.com/articles/442535/grammatical-tweaks-radically-alter-support-public-policies
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Huge risk of Ebola spread, warns UN

Science Focus

original post »
The UN's Ebola mission chief in West Africa tells the BBC that there is still a "huge risk" that the deadly virus could spread to other countries. 
#science 
 » see original post http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30270997#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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Google, Fidelity invest $1 billion in SpaceX and satellite Internet plan [Updated]

Science Focus

original post »

Update: SpaceX confirmed that it had received $1 billion in funding from Google and Fidelity Investments. The two companies will together own slightly less than 10 percent of the company. "This funding will be used to support continued innovation in the areas of space transport, reusability, and satellite manufacturing," SpaceX said in a short statement on its website.

Speaking to Ars, a Google spokesperson added, “Space-based applications, like imaging satellites, can help people more easily access important information, so we’re excited to support SpaceX’s growth as it develops new launch technologies.”

Ars has contacted Fidelity for a statement and will update if we receive a response.

Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments

 
#science 
 » see original post http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/h-omBC3HAB0/
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Rosetta swoops in for a close encounter

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ESA’s Rosetta probe is preparing to make a close encounter with its comet on 14 February, passing just 6 km from the surface.




via ESA Space Science

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Rosetta/Rosetta_swoops_in_for_a_close_encounter

VISTA stares right through the Milky Way, sees Trifid Nebula in a new light

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A new image taken with ESO's VISTA survey telescope reveals the Trifid Nebula in a new light. By observing in infrared light, astronomers can see right through the central parts of the Milky Way and spot many previously hidden objects. In one of the VISTA surveys, astronomers have discovered very distant Cepheid variable stars. They are the first such stars found that lie in the central plane of the Milky Way beyond its central bulge.

via Science Daily

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Progress toward the understanding of the galactic structure

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Researchers are studying the evolution and formation of hundreds of near galaxies. Galaxies are made up of millions of stars and their structures depend on the evolving process in which they have been subjected, including interactions with other nearby galaxies. Galaxies are a key element on cosmology, since the understanding of their structure is an approach to the phenomena that govern the formation of the universe.

via Science Daily

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Keyhole Nebula and Digitus Impudicus Stickers

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


tagged with: kndigimp, envelope sealers, galaxies and stars, keyhole nebula, carina nebula, massive stars, hubble space telescope, digitus impudicus, complex structure

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series Details of a mysterious, complex structure within the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) are revealed by this image of the 'Keyhole Nebula, ' obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. The picture is a montage assembled from four different April 1999 telescope pointings with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, which used six different colour filters. The picture is dominated by a large, approximately circular feature, which is part of the Keyhole Nebula, named in the 19th century by Sir John Herschel. This region, about 8000 light-years from Earth, is located adjacent to the famous explosive variable star Eta Carinae, which lies just outside the field of view toward the upper right. The Carina Nebula also contains several other stars that are among the hottest and most massive known, each about 10 times as hot, and 100 times as massive, as our Sun.

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image code: kndigimp

Image credit: Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2

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Stars, Sprites, Clouds, Auroras

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Zazzle Space Gifts for young and old

Crab Nebula Wall Stickers

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


tagged with: nebula, space, universe, astronomy, amazing, beautiful, colorful, crab nebula, background, photo, eye, outer space, astronaut, colors, hubble, nebulae, stars, red, yellow, green, blue, black, dark, wallpaper, science, geek, decorative, photography

This is a mosaic image, one of the largest ever taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope of the Crab Nebula, a six-light-year-wide expanding remnant of a star's supernova explosion. Japanese and Chinese astronomers recorded this violent event nearly 1,000 years ago in 1054, as did, almost certainly, Native Americans.

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Orion Nebula iPad Air 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: orion, nebula, space, image, nasa, hubble, astronomy

A lovely detail of an image of the Orion Nebula in infrared thanks to NASA/Hubble.

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VISTA stares right through the Milky Way

more »

A new image taken with ESO's VISTA survey telescope reveals the Trifid Nebula in a new light. By observing in infrared light, astronomers can see right through the central parts of the Milky Way and spot many previously hidden objects. In one of the VISTA surveys, astronomers have discovered very distant Cepheid variable stars. They are the first such stars found that lie in the central plane of the Milky Way beyond its central bulge.



Zazzle Space market place

Engineers develop graphene-based biosensor that works in three ways at once

original post »

One of nanotechnology’s greatest promises is interacting with the biological world the way our own cells do, but

The post Engineers develop graphene-based biosensor that works in three ways at once has been published on Technology Org.

 
#materials 
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Black Hole Astronomy Space Art Posters

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


tagged with: black hole, space illustration, space concept illustration, black hole illustration, astronomy, nasa illustration, universe, outer space, nature, cool space, nasa, cosmos, cosmic, astronomical, cosmology, space picture, space image, deep space, natural, science, artists impression space, astronomy gifts, astronomy products, space gifts, space products, bright, glowing, cool astronomy, pretty, beautiful, yellow, orange

This NASA space art illustration is an artist's concept of a supermassive black hole. The black hole is surrounded by an accretion disk of matter flowing onto it, and there is a beam of energetic particles flowing outwards. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

There are more products with this space illustration in The Astronomy Gift Shop Store.

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Keyhole Nebula and Digitus Impudicus Rectangle Sticker

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


tagged with: kndigimp, peel off, galaxies and stars, keyhole nebula, carina nebula, massive stars, hubble space telescope, digitus impudicus, complex structure

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series Details of a mysterious, complex structure within the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) are revealed by this image of the 'Keyhole Nebula, ' obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. The picture is a montage assembled from four different April 1999 telescope pointings with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, which used six different colour filters. The picture is dominated by a large, approximately circular feature, which is part of the Keyhole Nebula, named in the 19th century by Sir John Herschel. This region, about 8000 light-years from Earth, is located adjacent to the famous explosive variable star Eta Carinae, which lies just outside the field of view toward the upper right. The Carina Nebula also contains several other stars that are among the hottest and most massive known, each about 10 times as hot, and 100 times as massive, as our Sun.

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

image code: kndigimp

Image credit: Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2

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Click to customize.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place

Carina Nebula around the Wolf Rayet star WR 22 Room Sticker

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


tagged with: astronomy, celestial bodies, space, galaxy, planets, telescope, hubble telescope, nebula, zodiac, constellation, crab nebula, twinkle, stars, science, geek, physics, cosmos, big bang theory, hubble, exploration, orion nebula, spitzer telescope, messier object, milky way, natural science, natural sciences, natural world, nobody, outer space, physical science, sciences, space exploration and research, taurus, ngc 3603, emission nebula, universe, night sky, hubb, carina nebula, wolf rayet

Carina Nebula around the Wolf Rayet star WR 22 You can personalize the design further if you'd prefer, such as by adding your name or other text, or adjusting the image - just click 'Customize' to see all the options.

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via Zazzle Astronomy market place