Wednesday 5 August 2015

Milky Way-like galaxies may have existed in the early universe

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A new, large-scale computer simulation has shown for the first time that large disk galaxies, much like our own Milky Way, may have existed in the early days of the universe. The simulation shows that the early universe -- a mere 500 million years after the Big Bang -- might have had more order and structure than previously thought.
via Science Daily
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A Rose Made of Galaxies, ARP 273 [Print] Poster

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


tagged with: hubble, nasa, space, telescope, galaxies, astronomy, rose, hubble space telescope, high resolution, arp 273, arp, 273, stars, astrophotography, poster, print, galaxy, cosmos, quality, galactic rose

Released on April 20, 2011, this high resolution 7887 x 7994 px (119.9 megabyte fullsize original) image features the interacting galaxies Arp 273. A stunning example of the beauty of our cosmos. Image courtesy of NASA

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New device converts DC electric field to terahertz radiation

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Researchers have designed a new device that can convert a DC electric field into a tunable source of terahertz radiation.
via Science Daily

Lost lithium destroyed by ancient stars

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Lithium, the lightest metal, used in batteries and mood-stabilising drugs, is rarer than it should be. Models of the period after the Big Bang explain how it, hydrogen and helium were synthesised in nuclear reactions, before the universe cooled enough for the stars and planets that we see today to come into being. Astronomers though think that about three times as much lithium was produced in that earliest epoch than remains today in the oldest stars in the galaxy, and the difference has proved hard to explain.
via Science Daily
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8 animal plagues wreaking havoc right now

Science Focus

original post »

When we talk about studying, controlling, or just plain worrying about pandemics, we usually think of our own, human diseases. But many other species face existential threats as well. In the wild and on the farm, through climate change, human agency, and other causes, deadly diseases and conditions are ravaging specific animal communities. Here are eight of the scariest diseases plaguing the animal kingdom today.

Plague: White-nose syndrome
Target: Bats

This disease is named for the characteristic fuzzy white bloom found on the muzzles (as well as the wings and ears) of hibernating bats infected with the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans. The fungus seems to have originated in Europe, where it does not harm the native bats. Since it was first documented in New York in 2006, white-nose syndrome has killed an estimated 6.7 million bats in 25 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces. Scientists believe bats primarily contract the disease from one another, though it's also possible bats can pick up spores from contaminated cave surfaces. Some human cave explorers may also transport fungal spores in their clothing and equipment. There's no known cure, and the disease is incredibly deadly, usually killing between 70 and 90 percent of bats in a hibernating group; scientists are still trying to figure out exactly how the fungus kills bats, and why European bats seem to be immune.

(More from World Science Festival: 12 animals we've driven to extinction in the last 50 years)

Plague: Canine distemper virus
Target: Tigers (and dogs, and other canines)

The virus that causes canine distemper is related to measles. It spreads through respiration, but quickly attacks the nervous system and gastrointestinal tract. The virus can also jump to big cats, and is cropping up in tiger populations across the world. In just five years, one population of tigers in Russia dropped from 38 individuals to nine; traces of CDV found in two dead tigers led scientists to finger the virus as the chief suspect in the population crash.

A recent study highlights how smaller populations of tigers are extremely vulnerable to CDV. Tigers are not abundant enough to act as reservoirs for the virus, so researchers think the key to preventing CDV from spreading amongst them is to target the canine species that are the sources of outbreaks. India is contemplating a massive dog vaccination campaign against the virus; the drive is already underway in villages near tiger reserves.

Plague: Starfish wasting disease
Target: Starfish

Over the past 40 years, starfish populations have been stricken by recurring outbreaks of a devastating condition. At first, a starfish's limbs start to curl, then twist and fall off. Eventually, the wasting disease ravages the entire starfish, turning it into a mushy goo.

Researchers previously blamed this "starfish wasting disease" on environmental changes, like pollution or fluctuations in ocean temperatures. But a new study pins the blame primarily on a type of waterborne virus called a densovirus. One of the chief lines of evidence to support this theory was the fact that captive starfish in aquariums suddenly contracted the disease — except for those starfish in aquariums filled with UV-treated water, which kills viruses. The researchers also found higher genetic traces of the virus in diseased starfish tissue, and found that healthy starfish infected with densovirus would develop the disease within a week or so.

Plague: Brucellosis
Target: Bison, cow, elk

The bacterial disease brucellosis causes a wide range of symptoms in animals, from arthritis to inflamed joints to reproductive trouble. It can also spread to people via unpasteurized dairy products, causing fever and flu-like symptoms as well as arthritis. While brucellosis has largely been eradicated from cattle in the U.S., the disease persists in the bison and elk of Yellowstone National Park. Fears that the wild animals could reintroduce brucellosis to nearby cattle have been bolstered by 17 documented transmissions of the disease from wildlife to livestock in the greater Yellowstone area from 2002 to 2012. Despite protests from conservation groups, park officials are planning to cull up to 900 bison from the herd this winter to stem the spread of brucellosis and stabilize the population.

Plague: Colony collapse disorder
Target: Honeybees

Starting in 2006, beekeepers in the U.S. began to notice what looked like a honeybee version of the Rapture: At once, most or all of the adult worker bees in the colony vanished without a trace, leaving behind empty hives and queen bees bereft of subjects. Colony collapse disorder, as the phenomenon came to be known, is not entirely new to beekeeping, but the magnitude of losses is unprecedented. The root cause of CCD is still unknown: Pesticides, viruses, mites, fungi, antibiotics, and other factors have all been proposed.

(More from World Science Festival: How fear happens)

Most scientists think CCD is prompted by a combination of factors, and that it may not directly kill the bees outright. University of Maryland bee expert Dennis van Engelsdorp explained, in National Geographic: "You don't die of AIDS; you die of pneumonia or some other condition that hits when your immunity is down." Once the bees' immune defenses have been weakened, "we're pretty sure in all these cases, diseases are the tipping point." Hive losses are still being felt across the country, but the rate of collapse seems to be slowing. According to the USDA, the loss rate in honeybee colonies nationwide over the 2013-2014 winter from all causes was 23.2 percent — still above what beekeepers consider sustainable, but less dire than the 30.5 percent losses of the 2012-13 winter, or the 8-year average annual loss of 29.6 percent.

Plague: Rabies
Target: Bats, monkeys, dogs, raccoons, foxes….and a lot more

Rabies is present on all the continents of the world except Antarctica. The virus, transmitted through the saliva of an infected animal or person, travels through the nerves up to the brain, where it undoes an animal's ability to regulate its own heartbeat, breathing, and salivation. Most victims die from respiratory failure or irregular heart rhythms.

In the U.S., vaccination drives for pets have caused the disease has to move from one primarily of domestic animals to one primarily found in wildlife, which represent 90 percent of all animal rabies cases reported to the CDC. Most mammals can contract rabies, but the primary source of human rabies transmission in the U.S. these days is bats, with raccoons and skunksthe most frequently reported rabid animals.

To prevent the spread of rabies, health and wildlife departments in many Eastern U.S. states entice animals to consume oral rabies vaccine by concealing doses in a coating of dog food or fishmeal. The bait is deposited by hand in urban and suburban areas and dropped from planes in rural areas.

Plague: Chytridiomycosis
Target: Frogs

Around 200 amphibian species have declined or gone extinct thanks to this rapidly-spreading fungal disease. The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis infects the cells of a frog's outer layer of skin, which they rely heavily on for respiration. The infected skin becomes thicker, impeding the frog's ability to absorb water and electrolytes through its skin, and eventually leading to cardiac arrest.

Various treatments are being investigated for chytridiomycosis, including incubating tadpoles in warmer water that kills the fungus and bathing adult frogs in antifungal treatments. While these methods show promise, it is still possible for the frogs to get re-infected out in the wild.

Plague: Cattle fever
Target: Cows, deer

The U.S. government employs a cadre of cowboys to ride the banks of the Rio Grande in order to stop the spread of ticks that cause cattle fever. Parasites transmitted by the ticks can kill a cow within days of the first symptoms, or can cause a wasting disease that can last for weeks and cut a steer's weight by 20 percent in just a year. A nationwide tick eradication program has largely pushed cattle fever out of U.S. borders, but the "tick rider" cowboys still patrol the borders to catch any stray Mexican cattle — often abandoned by ranchers fleeing drug war violence — that might spark an outbreak.

(More from World Science Festival: 9 short scientific answers to little mysteries of life)

Wildlife are another possible source of cattle fever, as both white-tailed deer and the imported nilgai antelope can also carry the ticks. Climate change may make the southern U.S. an even more hospitable environment for the ticks, as well as the spread of invasive reeds that shelter the bugs. Scientists are working on ways to combat the reeds, the ticks, and the cattle fever parasite — including a wildlife vaccine distributed in biscuit form.

 
#science 
 » see original post http://theweek.com/articles/441695/8-animal-plagues-wreaking-havoc-right-now
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Radiation Safety for Sunken-Ship Archaeology

Science Focus

original post »

About 42 miles southwest of San Francisco and 2,600 feet underwater sits the U.S.S. Independence, a bombed-out relic

The post Radiation Safety for Sunken-Ship Archaeology has been published on Technology Org.

 
#physics 
 » see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechnologyOrgPhysicsNews/~3/3v3DNRsN8nI/
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AUDIO: HIV virus 'becoming less dangerous'

Science Focus

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A new study suggests HIV is becoming less infectious and deadly as it evolves, but virologist Prof David Dausey says caution has to be observed. 
#science 
 » see original post http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30288524#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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A Starburst Galaxy - Messier 82 (Cigar Galaxy) Rectangular Sticker

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


tagged with: galaxies and stars, messier 82, cigar galaxy, active galaxies, peel off, starburst galaxy, hubble, nasa esa, sbglxymet

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series This mosaic image of the magnificent starburst galaxy, Messier 82 (aka Cigar Galaxy) is a really sharp wide-angle view of M82. It is a galaxy remarkable for its webs of shredded clouds and flame-like plumes of glowing hydrogen blasting out from its central regions where young stars are being born 10 times faster than they are inside in our Milky Way Galaxy.

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image code: sbglxymet

Image credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team STScI/AURA). Acknowledgment: J. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin), M. Mountain (STScI) and P. Puxley (NSF).

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X-ray Echoes from Circinus X-1

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Circinus X-1 is an X-ray binary star known for its erratic variability. In the bizarre Circinus X-1 system, a dense neutron star, the collapsed remnant of a supernova explosion, orbits with a more ordinary stellar companion. Observations of the X-ray binary in months following an intense X-ray flare from the source in 2013 progressively revealed striking concentric rings - bright X-ray light echoes from four intervening clouds of interstellar dust. In this X-ray/optical composite, the swaths of Chandra Observatory X-ray image data showing partial outlines of the rings are in false colors. Remarkably, timing the X-ray echoes, along with known distances to the interstellar dust clouds, determines the formerly highly uncertain distance to Circinus X-1 itself to be 30,700 light-years.

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A superconducting shield for astronauts

A team at CERN is working with the European Space Radiation Superconducting Shield (SR2S) project to develop a superconducting magnet that could protect astronauts from cosmic radiation during deep-space missions. The idea is to create an active magnetic field to shield spacecraft from high-energy particles.

The superconductor coils for the prototype magnet will be made of magnesium diboride (MgB2), the same type of conductor that was developed in the form of wire for the High Luminosity Cold Powering project at CERN's Large Hadron Collider

“In the framework of the project, we will test, in the coming months, a racetrack coil wound with an MgB2 superconducting tape,” says Bernardo Bordini, coordinator of CERN activity in the framework of the SR2S project. “The prototype coil is designed to quantify the effectiveness of the superconducting magnetic shielding technology.”

During long-duration trips in space and in the absence of the magnetosphere that protects people living on Earth, astronauts are bombarded with high-energy cosmic rays that might cause a significant increase in the probability of various types of cancers. Because of this, exploration missions to Mars or other distant destinations will only become possible if an effective solution for adequately shielding astronauts is found. “If the prototype coil we will be testing produces successful results, we will have contributed important information to the feasibility of the superconducting magnetic shield,” says Amalia Ballarino, Superconductors and Superconducting Devices section leader.

There are many more challenges to overcome before a spacecraft shield can be built: various possible magnetic configurations need to be tested and compared and other key enabling technologies need to be developed. The MgB2 superconductor seems to be very well placed to take part in this challenging adventure as, among its many advantages, there is also its ability to operate at higher temperatures (up to about 25 K) thus allowing the spacecraft to have a simplified cryogenic system. Watch this “space”!

Read a longer version of this article here


via CERN: Updates for the general public
http://home.web.cern.ch/about/updates/2015/08/superconducting-shield-astronauts

Eye in Orion Black Handle Electric Guitar Wall Sticker

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


tagged with: cosmic, astronomy, funky, eye, orion nebula, bright, abstract digital art, aqua, electric, guitar, colorful, shape, space, image, iris, nasa hubble, space art, streaks, pink, blue

Abstract digital artwork inspired by one of NASA/Hubble's images of the Orion Nebula on the shape of an electric guitar shape.

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Hubble Image of M101 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!


tagged with: galaxy, space, universe, stars, planets, travel, exploration, science, sun, astronomy, the milky way, telescope images, moons, phenomena, supernovas, cosmos, cosmology, nebula, star cluster, solar system, space shuttle, nasa, space images, themilkyway, hubble, image, m101, hubble image of m101

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Image: The ghost of a dying star

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This extraordinary bubble, glowing like the ghost of a star in the haunting darkness of space, may appear supernatural and mysterious, but it is a familiar astronomical object: a planetary nebula, the remnants of a dying star. This is the best view of the little-known object ESO 378-1 yet obtained and was captured by ESO's Very Large Telescope in northern Chile.

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Earthrise from the Moon Poster

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


tagged with: the moon, moon, earth, the earth, earthrise, man on the moon, astronomy, astronaut, space ship, celestial bodies, space, galaxy, twinkle, planets, stars, science, geek, physics, cosmos, big bang theory, hubble, telescope, exploration, orion nebula, hubble telescope, spitzer telescope, messier object, milky way, natural science, natural sciences, natural world, nebula, nobody, outer space, physical science, sciences, space exploration and research, tauru

A view from the moon. "When you see the Earth from space, you don't see any divisions of nation-states there. This may be the symbol of the new mythology to come; this is the country we will celebrate, and these are the people we are one with." - Joseph Campbell 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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A Starburst Galaxy - Messier 82 (Cigar Galaxy) Square Sticker

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


tagged with: envelope sealers, galaxies and stars, hubble, messier 82, cigar galaxy, active galaxies, starburst galaxy, nasa esa, sbglxymet

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series This mosaic image of the magnificent starburst galaxy, Messier 82 (aka Cigar Galaxy) is a really sharp wide-angle view of M82. It is a galaxy remarkable for its webs of shredded clouds and flame-like plumes of glowing hydrogen blasting out from its central regions where young stars are being born 10 times faster than they are inside in our Milky Way Galaxy.

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

image code: sbglxymet

Image credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team STScI/AURA). Acknowledgment: J. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin), M. Mountain (STScI) and P. Puxley (NSF).

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The World at Night - Map, Space Room Graphics

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


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The World at Night - Map, Space

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Dwarf Galaxy Holmberg IX 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: le0070, nasa, etoiles, les etoiles, astronomy, science, galaxy, hubble, space, scientific, outer space, deep space, galaxies, hst, hubble telescope, sky, dwarf, holmberg, irregular, magellanic, ursa major, hubble space telescope, blue, black, beautiful, pretty, celestial

"This loose collection of stars is actually a dwarf irregular galaxy, called Holmberg IX. It resides just off the outer edge of M81, a large spiral galaxy in Ursa Major. This image was taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys in early 2006. Holmberg IX is of the so-called Magellanic type of galaxy, as its size and irregularity in structure are similar to the Small Magellanic Cloud, a neighbor to our own Milky Way. Holmberg IX was first discovered by astronomer Sidney van den Bergh in 1959, and cataloged as DDO 66. The galaxy received its "Holmberg IX" naming when it was discussed in Eric Holmberg's study of groups of galaxies ten years later. It is suspected that the dwarf galaxy was created as a result of a galactic interaction between M81 and neighboring galaxy M82."

(qtd. from Hubblesite.org NewsCenter release STScI-2008-02)

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

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