Tuesday 20 October 2015

THE Port hackathon pushes humanitarian technology forward

Most Earth-like worlds have yet to be born

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Earth came early to the party in the evolving universe. According to a new theoretical study, when our solar system was born 4.6 billion years ago only eight percent of the potentially habitable planets that will ever form in the universe existed. And, the party won't be over when the sun burns out in another 6 billion years. The bulk of those planets - 92 percent - have yet to be born.
via Science Daily
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Most Earth-Like Worlds Have Yet to Be Born, According to Theoretical Study


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Astronomers are conducting extensive observations to estimate how many planets in our Milky Way galaxy might be potential abodes for life. These are collectively called "Earth-like" in other words, Earth-sized worlds that are at the right distances from their stars for moderate temperatures to nurture the origin of life. The search for extraterrestrial intelligent life in the universe (SETI) is based on the hypothesis that some fraction of worlds, where life originates, go on to evolve intelligent technological civilizations. Until we ever find such evidence, Earth is the only known abode of life in the universe. But the universe is not only vastly big, it has a vast future. There is so much leftover gas from galaxy evolution available that the universe will keep cooking up stars and planets for a very long time to come. In fact, most of the potentially habitable Earth-like planets have yet to be born. This theoretical conclusion is based on an assessment of star-birth data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope and exoplanet surveys made by the planet-hunting Kepler space observatory.


via HubbleSite NewsCenter -- Latest News Releases
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2015/35/

When Black Holes Collide

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Welcome to .cern

CERN’s computer centre [Image: Maximilien Brice; Claudia Marcelloni/ CERN]

CERN’s core website is moving to a new address, http://home.cern, with the launch of the brand new top-level domain .cern.

The suffix at the end of an internet address, such as .fr, .com or .org, is called the top-level domain (TLD), and was originally intended to signify its country of origin or type.

Until now, all CERN webpages have ended cern.ch.

CERN is an intergovernmental organization with 21 member states, and its name is recognized globally as the leading laboratory for high-energy physics. More than 10,000 visiting scientists from over 113 countries – half of the world’s particle physicists – come to CERN for their research. The organization has two main sites in Switzerland and France and the LHC runs through both countries with experiments on both sides of the border.

As such, a domain that limits CERN to one country doesn’t acknowledge the international, and increasingly global, nature of the organization, nor that its science and values transcend geographical and political boundaries.  

With its history as the birthplace of the web, and as an early adopter of the internet, CERN has always been at the forefront of computer networking. So in 2008 when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers  (ICANN) opened up applications for TLDs to new generic names and brands. CERN registered for its own.

The .cern address is one of over 1,300 new  top-level domains that will launch over the coming months and years.

The transition to the .cern address has already taken place behind-the-scenes so visitors to the CERN website will not have to change their habits. Visitors to some cern.ch addresses will be automatically redirected to .cern ones, and any existing links and URLs that you may have bookmarked will remain valid. Current CERN personnel will be eligible to apply for domains soon, for more information please refer to the registration policy.


via CERN: Updates for the general public
http://home.cern/about/updates/2015/10/welcome-cern

George Mueller, Engineer Who Helped Put Man on Moon, Dies at 97

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As a NASA official, Dr. Mueller saw the space program’s potential and played a critical role in fulfilling President John F. Kennedy’s vision.










via New York Times