Monday 29 February 2016

New method may find elusive flaws in medical implants and spacecraft

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Medical implants and spacecraft can suddenly go dead, often for the same reason: cracks in ceramic capacitors, devices that store electric charge in electronic circuits. These cracks, at first harmless and often hidden, can start conducting electricity, depleting batteries or shorting out the electronics. Now, researchers have demonstrated a nondestructive approach for detecting cracks in ceramic capacitors before they go bad.
via Science Daily
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Call for Media: The next flight to Mars is departing soon

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The ExoMars 2016 mission is planned for launch at 09:31 GMT (10:31 CET) on 14 March from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Representatives of traditional and social media are invited to apply for accreditation to attend a day-long event at ESA’s control centre in Darmstadt, Germany.


via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Call_for_Media_The_next_flight_to_Mars_is_departing_soon

Young stars surreptitiously gluttonizing their birth clouds

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Astronomers have used a new infrared imaging technique to reveal dramatic moments in star and planet formation. These seem to occur when surrounding material falls toward very active baby stars, which then feed voraciously on it even as they remain hidden inside their birth clouds. The team observed a set of newborn stars to shed new light on our understanding of how stars and planets are born.
via Science Daily
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Historic moment as SESAME begins storage ring installation

Julius Caesar and Leap Days

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Physicist discovers new 2-D material that could upstage graphene

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Physicists have discovered a new material that could advance digital technology and open a new frontier in 2-D materials beyond graphene. Truly flat and extremely stable, the material is made up of light, inexpensive and earth abundant elements.
via Science Daily

Scenery shapers

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Space science image of the week: Tectonic activity and strong winds shape scenery on Mars
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2016/02/Aeolis_Mensae

Sunday 28 February 2016

New research unveils graphene 'moth eyes' to power future smart technologies

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New research has shown how graphene can be manipulated to create the most light-absorbent material for its weight, to date.
via Science Daily

Artificial control of exciplexes opens possibilities for new electronics

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Demonstrating a strategy that could form the basis for a new class of electronic devices with uniquely tunable properties, researchers were able to widely vary the emission color and efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes based on exciplexes simply by changing the distance between key molecules in the devices by a few nanometers.
via Science Daily

IC 1848: The Soul Nebula

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Saturday 27 February 2016

Northern Pluto

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Gaze across the frozen canyons of northern Pluto in this contrast enhanced color scene, imaged last July by the New Horizons spacecraft. Currently known as Lowell Regio, the region has been informally named for Percival Lowell, founder of the Lowell Observatory. Also famous for his speculation that there were canals on Mars, in 1906 Lowell started the search that ultimately led to Pluto's discovery. Pluto's North Pole itself is above and left of center in the the frame. The pale bluish floor of the broad canyon on the left is about 70 kilometers (45 miles) wide, running vertically toward the south. Higher elevations take on a yellowish hue. New Horizon's measurements have determined that in addition to nitrogen ice, methane ice is abundant across northern Pluto's Lowell Regio.

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Friday 26 February 2016

NASA's IBEX observations pin down interstellar magnetic field

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A new study uses IBEX data and simulations of the interstellar boundary -- which lies at the very edge of the giant magnetic bubble surrounding our solar system called the heliosphere - to better describe space in our galactic neighborhood.
via Science Daily
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The Tarantula Nebula

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The Tarantula Nebula is more than a thousand light-years in diameter, a giant star forming region within nearby satellite galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud, about 180 thousand light-years away. The largest, most violent star forming region known in the whole Local Group of galaxies, the cosmic arachnid sprawls across this spectacular composite view constructed with space- and ground-based image data. Within the Tarantula (NGC 2070), intense radiation, stellar winds and supernova shocks from the central young cluster of massive stars, cataloged as R136, energize the nebular glow and shape the spidery filaments. Around the Tarantula are other star forming regions with young star clusters, filaments, and blown-out bubble-shaped clouds In fact, the frame includes the site of the closest supernova in modern times, SN 1987A, at the lower right. The rich field of view spans about 1 degree or 2 full moons, in the southern constellation Dorado. But were the Tarantula Nebula closer, say 1,500 light-years distant like the local star forming Orion Nebula, it would take up half the sky.

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Graphene slides smoothly across gold

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Graphene, a modified form of carbon, offers versatile potential for use in coating machine components and in the field of electronic switches. Physicists have been studying the lubricity of this material on the nanometer scale. Since it produces almost no friction at all, it could drastically reduce energy loss in machines when used as a coating, as the researchers report.
via Science Daily

Scott Kelly Poised to Set NASA Record for Consecutive Days in Space

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When Scott J. Kelly returns to Earth next week after 340 days in space, he will be studied for insights into the health issues long space flights, like to Mars, might pose.










via New York Times

Thursday 25 February 2016

Object located around a black hole 5 billion light-years from Earth has been measured

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Researchers have succeeded in measuring the inner edge of the disk of matter that orbits around a supermassive black hole in a quasar (an object the size of our solar system that emits as much energy as a whole galaxy).
via Science Daily
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Searching for planet 9

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Using observations from the Cassini spacecraft, a team of astronomers has been able to specify the possible positions of a ninth planet in the Solar System.
via Science Daily
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Highest, Tallest, and Closest to the Stars

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Fans of planet Earth probably recognize its highest mountain, the Himalayan Mount Everest, on the left in this 3-panel skyscape of The World at Night. Shrouded in cloud Everest's peak is at 8,848 meters (29,029 feet) elevation above sea level. In the middle panel, stars trail above volcanic Mauna Kea forming part of the island of Hawaii. Festooned with astronomical observatories, its summit lies a mere 4,168 meters above sea level. Still, measured from its base starting below the ocean's surface, Mauna Kea is over 10,000 meters tall, making it Earth's tallest mountain from base to summit. At right, beneath the arc of the Milky Way is the Andean mountain Chimborazo in Ecuador. The highest equatorial mountain, the Chimborazo volcano's peak elevation is 6,268 meters above sea level. But rotating planet Earth is a flattened sphere (oblate spheroid) in shape, its equatorial diameter greater than its diameter measured pole to pole. Sitting nearly on top of Earth's greatest equatorial bulge, Chimborazo's peak is the farthest point on the planet's surface from the center, over 2,000 meters farther from the center of the Earth than Everest's peak. That makes Chimborazo's summit the place on Earth's surface closest to the stars.

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Discovery of a fast radio burst reveals 'missing matter' in the universe

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An international research team used a combination of radio and optical telescopes to identify the precise location of a fast radio burst (FRB) in a distant galaxy, allowing them to conduct a unique census of the universe's matter content. Their result confirms current cosmological models of the distribution of matter in the universe.
via Science Daily
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Pulsar web could detect low-frequency gravitational waves

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The recent detection of gravitational waves by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) came from two black holes, each about 30 times the mass of our sun, merging into one. Gravitational waves span a wide range of frequencies that require different technologies to detect. A new study from the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) has shown that low-frequency gravitational waves could soon be detectable by existing radio telescopes.
via Science Daily
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Scott Kelly returns to Earth, but science for NASA's journey to Mars continues

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NASA astronaut Scott Kelly paved the way for future missions when he embarked on a one-year mission in space along with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko. Kelly will be the first American to complete such a long-duration mission, and one of the first humans in more than 15 years to embrace the challenge. Russian cosmonaut Sergei Avdeyev was the last person to spend a year in microgravity in 1999. The 2015-2016 mission builds upon that past knowledge.
via Science Daily
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Wednesday 24 February 2016

The prolonged death of light from type Ia supernovae

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Three years after its explosion, a type Ia supernova continues to shine brighter than expected, new research finds. The observations suggest that the powerful explosions produce an abundance of a heavy form of cobalt that gives the heat from nuclear decay an extra energy boost. The work could help pinpoint the parents of type Ia supernovae -- a stellar explosion frequently used to measure distances to faraway galaxies -- and reveal the mechanics behind these explosions.
via Science Daily
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In theory: Welcome to the Theory corridor

USA's Northeast Megalopolis from Space

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ATLASGAL survey of Milky Way completed

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A spectacular image of the Milky Way has been released to mark the completion of the APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy (ATLASGAL). The APEX telescope has mapped the full area of the Galactic Plane visible from the southern hemisphere for the first time at submillimeter wavelengths and in finer detail than space-based surveys. The APEX telescope allows the study of the cold universe, a few tens of degrees above absolute zero.
via Science Daily
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LIGO's twin black holes might have been born inside a single star

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On September 14, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detected gravitational waves from the merger of two black holes 29 and 36 times the mass of the Sun. Such an event is expected to be dark, but the Fermi Space Telescope detected a gamma-ray burst just a fraction of a second after LIGO's signal. New research suggests that the two black holes might have resided inside a single, massive star whose death generated the gamma-ray burst.
via Science Daily
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Freefall achieved on LISA Pathfinder

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On Monday, the two cubes housed in the core of ESA’s LISA Pathfinder were left to move under the effect of gravity alone – another milestone towards demonstrating technologies to observe gravitational waves from space.


via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Freefall_achieved_on_LISA_Pathfinder

Tuesday 23 February 2016

Imaging technique may help discover Earth-like planets

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Regular telescopes are not good at detecting Earth-like planets because a host star's light generally drowns out the relatively dimmer light of a potential planet. A new development in space imaging may solve that vexing problem.
via Science Daily
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Boarding soon

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Save the date: media and social media accreditation details for our ExoMars 2016 launch event, to be held at ESA in Darmstadt, on 14 March are coming soon
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2016/02/Save_the_date_ExoMars_2016_launch_event

A Supernova through Galaxy Dust

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Fuelled for Mars

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Space Science Image of the Week: The ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter propellant tanks are filled for the launch in March
via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2016/02/Fuelling_the_Trace_Gas_Orbiter

Graphenea at Nanotech Tokyo 2016

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In January, Graphenea attended Nanotech Tokyo 2016, the world’s largest nanotechnology conference and exhibition. Business Development Director Iñigo Charola presented the graphene market, status and projections, focusing on Graphenea’s role as a leading graphene provider.

Photo: Iñigo Charola presents about the graphene market.

Aside from Iñigo’s lecture, Graphenea presented a stand at the Spanish pavilion, showcasing our graphene materials catalog. Our materials were also advertised on the stand of our Japanese distributor New Metals & Chemicals Corp. With direct distribution from Japan and custom material development for large Japanese multinationals, Graphenea’s presence in Asia is already very strong. Our triple action at the Nanotech conference, in front of about 50,000 attendees, could only serve to gain a stronger foothold in the region.

Photo: NMC, our distributor in Japan.

This 15th edition of the Nanotech exhibition was hosted alongside related events 3D Printing, Smart Energy Japan, neofunctional materials, Printable Electronics, 3Decotech Expo and others. Material makers, equipment manufacturers, universities, research associations, and political representatives gave presentations to form a unique blend of research, technology, and financial nanotechnology landscape.

Following up on last year’s success, this year’s conference also employed Business Matching, an online system of matching exhibitors to customers for enhanced networking.


via Graphenea

Monday 22 February 2016

Trilobites: A Black Hole That Has Stopped Swallowing Stars

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At the core of a galaxy some 300 million light-years away is a supermassive, inactive black hole that is about 21 billion times the size of the sun.










via New York Times

Galaxy trailed by stunning plume of gas

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Astronomers have discovered a spectacular tail of gas more than 300,000 light years across coming from a nearby galaxy. The plume is made up of hydrogen gas -- the material new stars are made of -- and is five times longer than the galaxy itself.
via Science Daily
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160222

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Saturday 20 February 2016

New satellite with superior x-ray vision launched

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Although the star-covered night sky is regarded by many as a synonym of serenity, the cosmos is in fact a rather hostile place. It hosts many extreme environments that would instantaneously eradicate any life nearby. A new space mission is about to reveal this violent nature in greater detail than ever before: On Feb. 17, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched its ASTRO-H satellite -- a very precise and sensitive eye for X-rays emerging from hot and energetic processes in space.
via Science Daily
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