Friday 20 March 2015

NASA Stormy Colorful Hubble Astronomy Case iPad 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: hubble, nasa, space, exploration, astronomy, night, sky, stars, milkyway, psychedelic, trippy

Like the fury of a raging sea, this anniversary image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a bubbly ocean of glowing hydrogen, oxygen, and sulphur gas 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.

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Researchers identify process for improving durability of glass

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Researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Université Pierre et Marie

The post Researchers identify process for improving durability of glass has been published on Technology Org.

 
#materials 
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Developed areas in Calif. could support enough solar to power the state

Science Focus

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In general, California has taken two approaches to boosting the solar energy produced in the state. The first is large, utility-scale facilities, often located in the state's extensive desert areas. The second is more ad-hoc, as companies and private citizens are able to install panels on their buildings and facilities if they choose to. But what if the two approaches were merged, with massive deployment of solar on pretty much every bit of developed land in the state? According to a new analysis, the end result would dwarf the state's electricity needs—and probably leave enough to spare to handle its water needs through desalination.

The authors of the paper, all based at Stanford, note that a bit over eight percent of the golden state has already been modified by humans. The authors designated these areas as "compatible" with solar development, although the analysis was a bit more complicated. Concentrated solar power was excluded from areas that are built up, leaving those using photovoltaics only. Over a third of the modified terrain is also urban open space, which could support concentrating solar but consists primarily of a combination of parks, private yards, and golf courses.

Were it not left open, the open space could generate about 26,000 TeraWatt-hours annually. Low-intensity build areas could add another 14,000, while heavily developed regions would add another 3,000. Concentrated solar would provide lower total numbers, but they have the advantage of generating power through the evening demand surge that occurs as people return home from work.

Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

 
#science 
 » see original post http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/kNCxS51Hyyc/
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The Future Is Looking Less Cloudy

Science Focus

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TAU researchers discover cellular networks can be used to detect dangerous fog When warm air comes into contact

The post The Future Is Looking Less Cloudy has been published on Technology Org.

 
#physics 
 » see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechnologyOrgPhysicsNews/~3/e3W48oRrYVU/
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Why SpaceX's massive explosion was still a tremendous success

Science Focus

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SpaceX just accomplished something incredible, and no one's paying attention

And even if you are paying attention, you might have heard that SpaceX's latest space launch was a failure. It was actually a success.

The launch had two goals: The first was to supply the International Space Station, and that was successful; but the second one, much more important, was to land the company's Falcon rocket upright so that it could be reused.

The rocket did not land upright. But as an excellent explainer by Business Insider's Jessica Orwig shows, SpaceX actually accomplished almost all its goals. The rocket landed on its platform. But the guiding fins, which help the rocket rotate and steer, ran out of hydraulic fluid, and the rocket crashed on its pad.

It's worth noting a few things here: the stakes; the magnitude of the task; and the nature of the failure.

First, the stakes. Humanity has known how to launch payloads into orbit for well over 50 years now. But humanity still isn't a spacefaring civilization. We haven't been able to turn a space trip into something as routine as a plane trip. We haven't been able to create space colonies or to put a durable foot down in space. One big reason for that is that rockets are enormously expensive. And a reason why rockets are enormously expensive is because each time you use one, it gets destroyed. The space shuttle program was supposed to fix that, but it was just a massively incompetent boondoggle. If you had to blow up a Boeing 747 each time you used it, there would be very little plane flight either. So building a reusable rocket is probably the biggest low-hanging fruit in terms of making space flight affordable.

Second, the magnitude of the task. You can imagine that if building a reusable rocket was easy, we would have done it by now. A rocket is an enormously explode-y thing. It is a massive tube full of combustible material. What's more, it has to go through the atmosphere and back, which is enormously stressful on all the materials. Building a reusable rocket is something we have been failing to master for decades.

Which brings us to, third, the nature of the failure. Almost everything SpaceX tried to do with this launch, they accomplished. They had one tiny failure, which caused the rocket to crash. That is the nature of space stuff. If one thing goes wrong, everything goes wrong. But, in terms of engineering, they have leaped much, much closer to the goal than the combined efforts of the governments of the United States, Russia, and Europe have gotten us for decades. Just pause and consider that for a second.

Which is why, even though technically it's true that this launch was only a partial success, we should still pay attention and consider how far we've come, and how enormously impressive this all is.

There is another important point, here: This is being done by a private-sector company. Governments took the first step toward being space-faring, but didn't get us much further because they're, well, governments. Space-age technology is very tricky, but it's still 1960s technology. The problem is not the technology. The problem is human. It is organizational. When the main driver of space exploration is the government, there is too little incentive to innovate, and too much incentive for everything to become a bureaucratic nightmare. This is true even, or especially, when you have private-sector contractors, who combine the worst aspects of business and government bureaucracies.

It's good that we have SpaceX; it would be even better if there were many more entrepreneurial companies like it.

 
#science 
 » see original post http://theweek.com/articles/534037/why-spacexs-massive-explosion-still-tremendous-success
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Tadpole Nebula, Auriga Constellation Square Sticker

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


tagged with: envelope sealers, star forming activity, awesome astronomy images, tnitac, tadpole nebula, auriga constellation, interstellar gas clouds, new born stars, hot young stars, star nursery, dust clouds

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series An awesome outer space picture featuring the Tadpole Nebula, a star forming hub located about 12000 light years away in the Auriga constellation.
This nebula is brimming with new-born stars, many as young as only a million years of age. It's called the Tadpole nebula because the masses of hot, young stars are blasting out ultraviolet radiation that has etched the gas into two tadpole-shaped pillars, called Sim 129 and130, the yellow forms that seem to be swimming away from the three red stars close to the centre of the picture.

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image code: tnitac

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA

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Sunshine, Earthshine

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Today's date marks an Equinox and a New Moon. Remarkably, while the exact timing of both geocentric events occur within a span of only 13 hours, the moon also reaches its new phase only 14 hours after perigee, the closest point in its orbit. That makes the Equinox New Moon the largest New Moon of 2015, though hard to see since that lunar phase presents the Moon's dark, night side to planet Earth. Still, in this well composed image of a young lunar phase from late January you can glimpse both night and day on the lunar surface, the night side faintly illuminated by Earthshine next to the day side's brightly sunlit crescent. But some will see today's Equinox New Moon in silhouette! The Equinox Solar Eclipse will be total across stretches of the Arctic Ocean, visible in partial phases from Europe, northern Africa and western Asia.
Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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Purple Galaxy Infinity Symbol

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: purple, hubble, stars, pretty, galaxies, macsj0717, infinity symbol, space images, galaxy cluster, white, blue, nasa

Galaxy Cluster MACS J0717 thanks to NASA and Hubble program with simple infinity symbol.

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Europeans (Carefully) Gaze Upward for Glimpse of Solar Eclipse

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The next one will not occur until 2026, and Friday’s was also expected to provide a supermoon, the moment the moon orbits at its closest proximity to the earth.















via New York Times

Proba-2 views eclipse

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ESA's Sun-watching minisatellite captures solar eclipse footage from orbit

via ESA Space Science

https://youtu.be/GMypli4oLnk

New research into materials for tooth fillings

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Tooth decay is a serious health problem and it is often necessary to repair cavities. Today they often

The post New research into materials for tooth fillings has been published on Technology Org.

 
#materials 
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A Rare Total Solar Eclipse

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Friday’s eclipse will appear to be total only on the Faroe Islands and Svalbard, Norway, but it can be seen without going farther than your computer.















via New York Times

Can engineered carbon nanotubes help to avert our water crisis?

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Carbon nanotube (CNT) membranes have a bright future in addressing the world's growing need to purify water from the sea, researchers say. "Currently, about 400 million people are using desalinated water and it has been projected that by 2025, 14 percent of the global population will be forced to use sea water,"according to experts. Engineered CNT membranes have the potential to tackle the current and future challenges in water purification.

via Science Daily

Solar Eclipse and Supermoon Have Europe Energy Providers Watchful

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Energy operators reliant on the sun prepared for a day of headaches as a total eclipse coincided with a supermoon.















via New York Times

The Rose Galaxies, Arp 273 Square Sticker

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


tagged with: envelope sealers, trgarp, breathtaking hubble space photos, rose galaxy, interacting spiral galaxies, amazing astronomy images, arp 273, star forming activity, new born stars, star nursery, hot young stars

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series An amazing outer space picture featuring two interacting galaxies that together form the shape of a rose. The larger of the spiral galaxies, UGC 1810, has a disk that is twisted by the gravitational pull of its companion galaxy, UGC 1813.
Knots of young, hot blue stars bejewel the spirals arms in glistening starlight while below, its smaller, nearly edge-on companion is going through intense star formation at its centre, perhaps triggered by their encounter.

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image code: trgarp

Image credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

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Hubble's 'Mystic Mountain' - Deep Space Wall Skins

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


tagged with: astronomy, celestial bodies, crab nebula, space, galaxy, astronaut, space ship, planets, stars, science, geek, physics, cosmos, big bang theory, hubble, telescope, exploration, orion nebula, hubble telescope, spitzer telescope, messier object, milky way, natural science, nebula, outer space, physical science, taurus, zodiac, universe, constellation, night sky, hubble photo, space travel, greenercitydesigns, greener city ensigns

Hubble's 'Mystic Mountain' - Deep Space. 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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