Monday 11 May 2015

Transparent Armor based on Spinel Could Also Ruggedize Your Smart Phone

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Imagine a glass window that’s tough like armor, a camera lens that doesn’t get scratched in a sand

The post Transparent Armor based on Spinel Could Also Ruggedize Your Smart Phone has been published on Technology Org.

 
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Graphene holds key to unlocking creation of wearable electronic devices

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Groundbreaking research has successfully created the world's first truly electronic textile, using the wonder material, graphene.
via Science Daily

Watch invisible gravity waves rumble through the atmosphere

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Just as waves ripple across a pond when a tossed stone disturbs the water's surface, gravity waves ripple toward space from disturbances in the lower atmosphere.
via Science Daily
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Scientists show 'breaking waves' perturb Earth's magnetic field

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The underlying physical process that creates striking 'breaking wave' cloud patterns in our atmosphere also frequently opens the gates to high-energy solar wind plasma that perturbs Earth's magnetic field, or magnetosphere, which protects us from cosmic radiation. The discovery was made by space physicists.
via Science Daily
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Observatory: NASA’s Mercury Messenger: What It Learned Before It Crashed

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The spacecraft, which orbited Mercury for four years before crashing into it, found that its magnetic field is almost as old as the planet itself.








via New York Times

Space lab to elucidate how liquid cocktails mix

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Zero-gravity experiments can tell us a great deal about the effects of temperature change on the concentrations of three different liquids that are mixed together. What does space experimentation have in common with liquid cocktails? Both help in understanding what happens when multiple fluids are mixed together and subjected to temperature change - a phenomenon ubiquitous in nature and industrial applications such as oil fluids contained in natural reservoirs.
via Science Daily
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Books: Review: In ‘Extreme,’ by Emma Barrett and Paul Martin, Psychologists Explore Those Who Test Limits

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Space travel and mountain climbing require long periods of boredom and sleep deprivation. Achievers tend to overcome such challenges with self-efficacy.








via New York Times

The next mass extinction is coming. Can zoos save the world?

Science Focus

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Today, many zoos promote the protection of biodiversity as a significant part of their mission. As conservation "arks" for endangered species and, increasingly, as leaders in field conservation projects such as the reintroduction of captive-born animals to the wild, zoos are preparing to play an even more significant role in the effort to save species in this century.

It's a task that's never been more urgent. The recent Living Planet Index report authored by the World Wildlife Fund and the London Zoological Society paints a disturbing picture: Globally, on average, vertebrate species populations have declined 52 percent since 1970. Over-exploitation, habitat destruction and alteration, global climate change, and other pressures have created conditions that scientists now suggest signal a sixth mass extinction episode for our planet. It's an event rivaling the extinction of the dinosaurs.

The embrace of conservation by zoos, though, doesn't always sit well with their own history. The modern American zoo that emerged in the late 19th century fancied itself as a center of natural history, education, and conservation, but zoos have also always been in the entertainment business. This priority has led many skeptics to question the idea that zoos can play a helpful conservation role in the coming decades.

Zoos provide succor for species having a tough time of it in the wild. | (Ben A. Minteer/The Conversation US)

Zoos also face a formidable set of practical constraints — namely space, capacity, resources, and in some cases, expertise — that will continue to bedevil their ability to make a dent in the extinction crisis. It's also true that some of the most endangered animals are not the highly charismatic and exotic species that reliably attract zoo visitors. It's a challenge that might pit zoos' conservation priorities against their entertainment goals, and perhaps even their financial bottom line.

At the same time, wildlife protection does run deep in the history of zoos. The Bronx Zoo in New York, for example, led one of the earliest captive breeding and reintroduction efforts, helping to save the American bison from fading into oblivion more than a century ago. In the 1960s and 1970s, zoo conservation was energized by a burst of U.S. federal policy-making focused on endangered species, especially the passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973.

Many zoos went on to develop Species Survival Plans beginning in the 1980s, which coordinate breeding and population management programs for threatened and endangered animals among zoos worldwide. The goal is to create healthy and genetically diverse animal populations of these species across the zoo community, an effort that can ultimately aid the conservation of the species in the wild.

Reintroduction is a dicey business given the many biological and social factors that determine the viability of a population over time. Zoos' track records here are mixed — but the successes are real. In addition to the bison, the California condor, the Arabian oryx, and the black-footed ferret have been saved due in part to the efforts of zoos.

For animal rights critics, however, these outcomes don't offset what is seen as the basic injustice of keeping captive animals for human amusement. Earlier this year, the case of Marius the giraffe in the Copenhagen Zoo reignited the smoldering international debate over the ethics of zoos. A young and healthy giraffe considered a so-called surplus animal by the zoo managers, Marius was shot and his body was dissected before a public audience. The zoo argued that the decision was made on scientific grounds: Marius's genes were well-represented in the zoo system and so he was said to have no remaining conservation value. Animal advocates countered that zoos' noble conservation rhetoric masks a callousness toward the well-being of individual animals.

The bison survives today partly because of the Bronx Zoo's efforts in the early 20th century. | (Jack Dykinga/USDA)

Whatever you think about the Copenhagen case — and it's worth noting that the American Association of Zoos & Aquariums disagreed with it — debates about the ethics of zoos shouldn't take place today without a serious discussion of our obligation to address global biodiversity decline. That includes thinking about how we influence the future of animals and ecosystems outside zoo walls with a thousand lifestyle decisions, from our consumer habits and energy consumption, to our transportation choices and what we put on our dinner plates. Take just one example, the mass production of palm oil. Widely used for cooking and commercial food production, its cultivation has resulted in severe habitat destruction and fragmentation in Indonesia. This in turn threatens the survival of orangutans in the wild.

There is a further challenge. As zoos become more engaged in conservation in the coming decades, the natural world will be further pressured and degraded by human activities. In many cases, nature preserves will likely require more human control than they have in the past in order to deliver the same conservation benefits. As a result, the boundary separating nature and zoo, the wild and the walled, will get even thinner. As it does, our understanding of what zoos are and what we want them to be — entertainment destinations, science centers, conservation arks, sustainability leaders — will also change. So will our idealized views of the wild as those places in nature that are independent of meaningful human influence and design.

Saying all this doesn't let zoos off the hook when it comes to caring properly for animals in their charge. We should also expect them to actually deliver on the swelling conservation rhetoric, especially when their entertainment and recreation interests run up against their expanding vision for biodiversity protection. But it reminds us of the scope of the challenge.

To paraphrase Dr Seuss, we all run the zoo.

The Conversation

Ben Minteer receives funding from The National Science Foundation.

More from The Conversation US...

 
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 » see original post http://theweek.com/articles/442584/next-mass-extinction-coming-zoos-save-world
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Salty groundwater supports life in Antarctica’s extreme Dry Valleys

Science Focus

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It’s easy to forget that Antarctica is a desert, given that very nearly the entire continent is covered by a thick sheet of ice. But snowfall is very slow to add to that white mantle, as the cold air and ocean around Antarctica aren't exactly going to provide prodigious production of atmospheric moisture.

As its name implies, one of the driest and weirdest locales in a very weird continent is the McMurdo Dry Valleys. This area near the coast is the biggest chunk of Antarctica not covered by ice. Bare rock is found there, and not a whole lot else.

There is, however, an unusual feature known as Blood Falls. At the end of Taylor Glacier, which spills into one of the Dry Valleys (Taylor Valley, actually), a mysterious red trickle of salty, iron-rich water periodically stains the ice as it spills out like blood from a wound. It’s a good thing that it isn’t a paranormal message from ghosts warning researchers to leave the valley, because it has had the opposite effect—it draws them in. In 2012, for example, biologists looking for signs of life eking out an existence in the Dry Valleys discovered that Blood Falls contained an impressive community of microbial life.

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 » see original post http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/7yLJAHQu7lM/
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Three students to reinvent the TV antenna

Science Focus

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Over the coming 20 weeks, DTU student Zaland Bahramzy will be teaming up with Sohia Huzelius and Paulina

The post Three students to reinvent the TV antenna has been published on Technology Org.

 
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 » see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechnologyOrgPhysicsNews/~3/nGaSKMpS5Y0/
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Ancient star raises prospects of intelligent life

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Can life survive for billions of years longer than the expected timeline on Earth? As scientists discover older and older solar systems, it's likely that before long we'll find an ancient planet in a habitable zone. Knowing if life is possible on this exoplanet would have immense implications for habitability and the development of ancient life, one researcher says.

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Crab Pulsar Time Lapse - Neutron Star Square Sticker

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


tagged with: stars, galaxies, astronomy, envelope sealers, tarnebes, tarantula nebula, r136, massive stars, youngest stars, supernovae

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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The Sky from Mauna Kea

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Zazzle Space Gifts for young and old

Boomerang Nebula Hubble Astronomy Wall Decals

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


tagged with: boomerang nebula, nebula, stars, nasa, astronomy, universe, outer space, hubble telescope, nature, cool space, nebulae, esa, hubble space telescope, hubble photo, cosmos, astronomical, astrophotography, cosmology, deep space, space, natural, science, space picture, space photo, space image, nebula picture, nebula photo, nebula image, blue, cool astronomy

Hubble photograph of the Boomerang Nebula

This photograph of the Boomerang Nebula was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1998. It shows the bow-tie-shaped nebula in beautiful bright blue and white colours, against a dark starry background.

Credit: NASA, ESA, R. Sahai and J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and the WFPC2 Science Team

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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If you like this product, you can find more like it in my store:

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The 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!


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

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Chaos on a watery world

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Space Science Image of the Week: Jupiter’s moon Europa is brimming with water – hidden lakes, layers of icy slush, an underground ocean and a fractured crust of ice
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2015/05/Chaos_on_a_watery_world

Working to transform ordinary metals into smart materials

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Aerospace, robotic and medical technologies are among those that might be vastly improved if better and less costly

The post Working to transform ordinary metals into smart materials has been published on Technology Org.

 
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Crab Pulsar Time Lapse - Neutron Star Classic Round Sticker

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


tagged with: stars, galaxies, astronomy, envelope sealers, monogram initials, tarnebes, tarantula nebula, r136, massive stars, youngest stars, supernovae

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.

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

Image code: crbplsr

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

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

Purple Galaxy Cluster Case-Mate Case Case For iPad Air

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!


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Galaxy Cluster MACS J0717 thanks to NASA and Hubble program.

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The Zazzle Promise: We promise 100% satisfaction. If you don't absolutely love it, we'll take it back!