Thursday 26 March 2015

Crab Nebula – Hubble Telescope Case 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: crab nebula, nasa, universe, stars, outer space, hubble telescope, cosmos, astronomy, nature, space picture, esa, nebula, hubble space telescope, astronomical, cosmology, space photograph, crab nebula photograph, space, natural, science, abstract, space photo, space image, nebula picture, nebula photograph, nebula photo, nebula image, blue, turquoise, cyan, space gifts, space products

Hubble photograph of the Crab Nebula

This is a composite photograph produced from 24 individual images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, and is the most detailed image of the Crab Nebula that has been produced to date.
Credit: NASA, ESA and Allison Loll/Jeff Hester (Arizona State University). Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble)

You can personalise the design further if you'd prefer, such as by adding your name or other text, or adjusting the image - just click 'Customize it' to see all the options. IMPORTANT: If you choose a different sized version of the product, it's important to click Customize and check the image in the Design view to ensure it fills the area to the edge of the product, otherwise white edges may be visible.

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Graphene membrane could lead to better fuel cells, water filters

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An atomically thin membrane with microscopically small holes may prove to be the basis for future hydrogen fuel

The post Graphene membrane could lead to better fuel cells, water filters has been published on Technology Org.

 
#materials 
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Chemists make new silicon-based nanomaterials

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A new process uses silicon telluride to produce multilayered two-dimensional semiconductor materials in a variety of shapes and orientations.

via Science Daily

Dark matter even darker than once thought

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Astronomers have studied how dark matter in clusters of galaxies behaves when the clusters collide. The results show that dark matter interacts with itself even less than previously thought, and narrows down the options for what this mysterious substance might be.

via Science Daily

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Hubble and Chandra Discover Dark Matter Is Not as Sticky as Once Thought



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In particle physics labs, like the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland, scientists smash atoms together to study the underpinnings of matter and energy. On the scale of the macrocosm, nature provides a similar experiment by crashing clusters of galaxies together. Besides galaxies and gas, the galaxy clusters contain huge amounts of dark matter. Dark matter is a transparent form of matter that makes up most of the mass in the universe. During collisions, the clouds of gas enveloping the galaxies crash into each other and slow down or stop. Astronomers found that the dark matter continued straight through the violent collisions, without slowing down relative to the galaxies. Their best explanation is that the dark matter did not interact with visible particles, and it also interacted less frequently with other dark matter than previously thought. Astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory to study 72 large galaxy cluster collisions. Chandra traced the hot gas, and Hubble saw how the invisible dark matter warps space and distorts the images of background stars. This allowed for the distribution of dark matter in the collision to be mapped. The finding narrows down the options for what this dark matter might be.



Join Hubble astronomers during the live Hubble Hangout at 3pm on Thurs., March 26, to learn even more about this study. Visit: http://hbbl.us/98X




via HubbleSite NewsCenter -- Latest News Releases

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2015/10/

Now you see it: Real-space observation of many-body proton tunneling in water nanocluster

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There's more to quantum tunneling than meets the eye – or rather, the visualization technique. Most quantum tunneling discussion focus on incoherent single-particle tunneling; on the other hand, quantum tunneling in the context of proton dynamics usually involves many hydrogen bonds at once, which leads to what is known as correlated many-body tunneling. (The many-body problem refers to the properties of microscopic systems that are described by quantum mechanics, comprising a large number of interacting particles – that is, ≥ 3 – which can become entangled.) The downside is that while single-particle tunneling is well understood, many-body tunneling is still shrouded in mystery. Recently, however, scientists at Peking University, Beijing reported the real-space observation of concerted proton tunneling in a cyclic water tetramer – a macromolecular nanocluster consisting of four water molecules arranged in a loop or ring – by using a cryogenic scanning tunneling microscope (STM). The scientists found that the presence of the Cl- chlorine anion (a negatively charged chlorine ion) at the STM tip apex may either enhance or suppress the concerted tunneling process based on the coupling symmetry between the ion and the protons, adding that their work may allow the control the quantum states of protons with atomic-scale precision.



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In pictures: X-rays probe LHC for cause of short circuit

Best view yet of dusty cloud passing galactic center black hole

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The best observations so far of the dusty gas cloud G2 confirm that it made its closest approach to the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way in May 2014 and has survived the experience. The new result shows that the object appears not to have been significantly stretched. It is most likely to be a young star with a massive core that is still accreting material.

via Science Daily

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Why is the Rosetta mission so important? A short history of comet exploration.

Science Focus

original post »

The Conversation

Exciting as it is (and it is incredibly exciting), the Rosetta mission is just the latest in a history of comet exploration that has added to our knowledge of these icy dirtballs.

Comets are usually just a few kilometres across and consist of a mixture of ice, carbon-based material, and rock dust. A comet can develop a spectacular million kilometer-long tail of gas and dust when its elongated orbit brings it close to the sun.

The warmth of the sun vaporizes water, carbon monoxide, and other volatile substances that are otherwise held as ice. Jets of gas escape from the solid part of the comet (its nucleus) to feed the growing tail. However, for most of the time a comet is far from the sun, and it is simply a dark, dusty object too faint to detect using even the largest telescopes.

It is hoped that access to a comet will provide a pristine, deep-frozen sample of the material from which planets were built. Comets have been hitting the Earth since the Earth was formed. We currently do not know what fraction of the Earth's ocean water was delivered to the surface by comets after the Earth was formed, as opposed to water that escaped from inside and condensed on the early Earth.

Comets also carry organic molecules — and one theory has it that these building blocks for life on Earth were delivered by comets rather than forming here. Recent observations by the ALMA telescope in Chile revealed very simple organic molecules — two sorts of hydrogen cyanide and also formaldehyde — being made in comets today.

Missions to comets
Small wonder, then, that comets have been the targets of several space missions. To date, eight comets have been visited over the course of 10 successful missions. In 1982, a probe called ISEE-3, which had already been in space for four years, was renamed International Cometary Explorer (ICE) and re-tasked to fly past comet Giacobini-Zinner, at a minimum distance of 7,862km. The probe had no cameras on board, but other sensors gathered data on the interplay between the solar wind and the comet's atmosphere. ICE subsequently joined a fleet of two Soviet, two Japanese, and one European Space Agency probe that studied Halley's comet in 1986. ESA's mission, Giotto, was the best equipped. It got to within nearly 600km, and sent back the first close-up pictures of a comet's nucleus.

(The Conversation UK)

The most spectacular mission before Rosetta was NASA's Deep Impact, which in 2005 dropped an impactor into the nucleus of comet Tempel 1, while the mother-ship watched. The impact excavated more dust and less ice than had been expected. Another surprise was that much of this material was clays and carbonates, which usually require liquid water for their formation.

Only one mission has brought back samples from a comet. This was NASA's Stardust, which in 2003 collected dust that was escaping from comet Wild 2. The sample return capsule made it back in 2006 and included grains that seemed to have formed at high temperatures in the inner solar system before heading out to the cold comet-forming region. There were also traces of an amino acid — glycine — adding weight to the idea that comets could be source of the building blocks of life. Remarkably, the Stardust mother-ship was redirected to Tempel 1, the only comet to have been visited on two different occasions. In 2011, it sent back pictures of the crater that had been made by Deep Impact's impactor.

Rosetta images
It is early days for Rosetta, and the team have yet to release more than a few images and other data from the main instruments. However, navigation camera images reveal a startling landscape in far greater detail than has previously been achieved. There are boulders up to several meters in size, patchily distributed across the surface.

A view from Rosetta's navigation camera on 26 October, about 8 km above the comet's surface, from which range the field of view is less than 1 km across. (ESA/The Conversation UK)

Are they pure ice? Dust cemented by ice? Will the apparently smooth areas turn out to be just as rugged on a smaller scale when the Philae lander gets close enough to see finer detail? What are the exposed layers that can be seen in some areas, and how did they form? And how is all this compatible with the extremely low-bulk density of the comet, which Rosetta's orbit and shape-mapping have revealed to be only about 40 percent the density of solid ice? The interior must be porous, but there's precious little sign of that at the surface.

More from The Conversation UK...

 
#science 
 » see original post http://theweek.com/articles/442240/why-rosetta-mission-important-short-history-comet-exploration
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After Ebola, measles may follow

Science Focus

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The Ebola crisis in West Africa is one of the most striking public health emergencies in recent years. According to the Centers for Disease Control, this fast-spreading virus has killed over 9,951 people since the start of the outbreak in December of 2013. Currently, there are no FDA-approved vaccines or antiviral treatments for Ebola, and patients’ survival depends on their own immune response and the supportive care they receive. The mortality rate for this disease is currently estimated to be approximately 70 percent by the World Health Organization.

Now a new study published in the journal Science suggests that the Ebola crisis could leave countries vulnerable to epidemics of a more common virus, measles, due to its disruption of routine health care services in affected areas.

The authors of this study are affiliated with some of the most prominent public health institutions in the world, including Princeton University, Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the National Institutes of Health. They project that due to the loss of healthcare workers caused by the Ebola crisis, a cluster of children unvaccinated for measles will accumulate in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Because of the susceptibility of this population, the investigators expect a regional measles outbreak of 127,000 to 227,000 cases after 18 months, which will result in 2,000 to 16,000 measles-related deaths in the region.

Read 10 remaining paragraphs | Comments

 
#science 
 » see original post http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/0kfckQveF0g/
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Between Micro and Macro, Mathematicians Model Fluids at the Mesoscale

Science Focus

original post »

When it comes to boiling water—or the phenomenon of applying heat to a liquid until it transitions to

The post Between Micro and Macro, Mathematicians Model Fluids at the Mesoscale has been published on Technology Org.

 
#physics 
 » see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechnologyOrgPhysicsNews/~3/X7dlnTm0FHo/
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Fires of the Flame Nebula - in Orion Rectangular Sticker

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


tagged with: breathtaking astronomy images, hfflmnb, star forming, orion constellation, young stars clusters, orion the hunter, flame nebula, awesome space picture, heavens, orions belt, european southern observatory, eso, vista

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A gorgeous outer space picture featuring the spectacular star-forming region known as the Flame Nebula, or NGC 2024, in the constellation of Orion (the Hunter) and its surroundings.

In views of this evocative object in visible light the core of the nebula is completely hidden behind obscuring dust, but in this VISTA view, taken in infrared light, the cluster of very young stars at the object’s heart is revealed. The wide-field VISTA view also includes the glow of the reflection nebula NGC 2023, just below centre, and the ghostly outline of the Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) towards the lower right.

The bright bluish star towards the right is one of the three bright stars forming the Belt of Orion. The image was created from VISTA images taken through J, H and Ks filters in the near-infrared part of the spectrum.

The image shows about half the area of the full VISTA field and is about 40 x 50 arcminutes in extent. The total exposure time was 14 minutes and was the first to be released publicly from VISTA, the world’s largest survey telescope.

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image code: hfflmnb

ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA www.eso.org
Reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

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Orion Spring

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As spring comes to planet Earth's northern hemisphere, familiar winter constellation Orion sets in early evening skies and budding trees frame the Hunter's stars. The yellowish hue of cool red supergiant Alpha Orionis, the great star Betelgeuse, mingles with the branches at the top of this colorful skyscape. Orion's alpha star is joined on the far right by Alpha Tauri. Also known as Aldebaran and also a giant star cooler than the Sun, it shines with a yellow light at the head of Taurus, the Bull. Contrasting blue supergiant Rigel, Beta Orionis, is Orion's other dominant star though, and marks the Hunter's foot below center. Of course, the sword of Orion hangs from the Hunter's three blue belt stars near picture center, but the middle star in the sword is not a star at all. A slightly fuzzy pinkish glow hints at its true nature, a nearby stellar nursery visible to the unaided eye known as the Orion Nebula.
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Graphene reduces wear of alumina ceramic

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Ceramics, hard crystalline solids, have been utilized by mankind for thousands of years, with earliest applications in pottery. In modern times, new ceramic materials were developed for use in advanced ceramic engineering, for example as semiconductors. One popular ceramic is alumina, an oxide of the metal aluminium.


Alumina has for a long time been used in biomedical applications such as load-bearing hip prostheses and dental implants, due to its high resistance to corrosion, low friction, high wear resistance and strength. As material science progresses and advanced materials penetrate into society, ceramics are also continuously being improved, especially in strength and durability.


In a most recent development, Graphenea researchers, together with collaborators from Russia and throughout Spain, have shown that the addition of graphene to alumina improves the ceramic's wear resistance and decreases friction. The result is expected to soon find its use in real products, as graphene and its derivatives seem to be biocompatible and in addition carry a low cost.


The paper entitled “Wear behavior of graphene/alumina composite”, published in the journal Ceramics International, describes the study of dry sliding behavior of a graphene/alumina composite material and compares it to regular alumina. The wear rate of the advanced composite was 50% lower than that of pure alumina, while the friction coefficient was reduced by 10%. This finding is made even more astonishing by the fact that the concentration of graphene in the final product is only 0.22% by weight. The type of graphene used for the study is Graphenea's standard graphene oxide.



Figure: The addition of graphene to alumina halves the wear rate (copyright Elsevier).


Graphene-enhanced alumina has in itself not been studied much, and in fact there are few examples in literature of tribological studies of any graphene-enhanced ceramics. Graphenea's team recently participated in a study that showed that the addition of a small amount of graphene to alumina makes the ceramic less prone to breaking under strain, while simultaneously improving electrical conductivity.


The present experiment measured wear and friction by sliding the graphene/alumina composite material over a simulated distance of 10km. The material is slid in a “tribometer”, a machine that simulates sliding behavior by bouncing a ceramic (in this case also alumina) ball off the tested material. The tribometer precisely measures the friction and wear as it goes. Such test instruments are often used to study novel hip implant designs. The testing of the material in this standard industrial tribometer puts the research close to end-user products.


About Graphenea


Graphenea, headquartered at the nanotechnology cluster CIC nanoGune in San Sebastian, Spain, was established in 2010, and has since grown to be one of the world's largest providers of graphene. Graphenea employs 12 people and exports graphene materials tomore than 370 customers in 53 countries. The company has focused on developing the CVD growth and transfer method, reaching a consistently high quality of its graphene films that researchers can rely on. Graphenea employs a team of skilled laboratory staff who have brought graphene transfer techniques to a new level, offering the same high quality films on any substrate. Following the trends in cutting-edge research, Graphenea also produces chemically exfoliated graphene, in volumes up to 2,5 litres per package. Graphenea partners with large multinationals to develop custom graphene materials for their applications.


Its research agility and ability to keep pace with the progress of graphene science and technology has allowed Graphenea to become the largest graphene supplier in the Graphene Flagship, a ten year project of the European Commission worth a billion euros. The company keeps a close relation with the world's leading scientists, regularly publishing scientific articles of the highest level.




via Graphenea

Purple Galaxy Cluster Cases For 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: blue, purple, nasa, hubble, space, images, galaxy, cluster, macs, j0717, stars, pretty, galaxies, macsj0717

Galaxy Cluster MACS J0717 thanks to NASA and Hubble program.

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How research could reduce water scarcity in Middle East

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As one of the most water-poor countries in the world, Jordan’s current water resources are significantly below the

The post How research could reduce water scarcity in Middle East has been published on Technology Org.

 
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Supertides are real!

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“But less intelligible still was the flood that was caused by forty days’ rain, and forty nights’. For here on the moors there were some years when it rained for two hundred days and two hundred nights, almost without fairing; but there was never any Flood.” -Halldór Laxness



Once every 18 years, a French Abbey — Mount St.-Michel — becomes inaccessible, as the English Channel rises to such levels that the causeway that normally reaches it becomes engulfed by the surrounding waters.


Image credit: Associated Press.

Image credit: Associated Press.



You might think this is due to the tides, where the Earth, Moon and Sun align, but then shouldn’t this happen twice a month, during Spring Tides?


Image credit: © 2002 By Keith Cooley, via http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/.

Image credit: © 2002 By Keith Cooley, via http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/.



As it turns out, the effects are much more subtle, and involve the Moon’s elliptical orbit and the equinoxes as well, but when they all align, once every 18 years, a supertide is the result, and Mount St.-Michel becomes an island!






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Carina Nebula - Breathtaking Universe Sticker

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


tagged with: stlrnrsry, star clusters, galaxies, starfields, awesome astronomy pictures, constellation puppis, the stern, star nurseries, exploring outer space, universe pictures, european southern observatory, nebulae, eso, vista

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series

A gorgeous set of oval stickers showing the area surrounding the stellar cluster NGC 2467, located in the southern constellation of Puppis ("The Stern"). With an age of a few million years at most, it is a very active stellar nursery, where new stars are born continuously from large clouds of dust and gas.

The image, looking like a colourful cosmic ghost or a gigantic celestial Mandrill, contains the open clusters Haffner 18 (centre) and Haffner 19 (middle right: it is located inside the smaller pink region - the lower eye of the Mandrill), as well as vast areas of ionised gas.

The bright star at the centre of the largest pink region on the bottom of the image is HD 64315, a massive young star that is helping shaping the structure of the whole nebular region.

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Image code: stlrnrsry

ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA www.eso.org
Reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

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Click to customize.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place

Ancient Martian lake system records two water-related events

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Researchers have completed a new analysis of an ancient Martian lake system in Jezero Crater, near the planet's equator. The study finds that the onslaught of water that filled the crater was one of at least two separate periods of water activity in the region surrounding Jezero.

via Science Daily

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Desalination with nanoporous graphene membrane

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Desalination is an energy-intensive process, which concerns those wanting to expand its application. Now, a team of experimentalists has demonstrated an energy-efficient desalination technology that uses a porous membrane made of strong, slim graphene—a carbon honeycomb one atom thick.

via Science Daily