Thursday 6 April 2017

Leaf vein structure could hold key to extending battery life

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The natural structure found within leaves could improve the performance of everything from rechargeable batteries to high-performance gas sensors, according to an international team of scientists. The researchers have designed a porous, such as the veins of a leaf, and could make energy transfers more efficient.
via Science Daily

‘Godspeed, John Glenn’

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At a ceremony at Arlington National Ceremony, the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth was laid to rest.
via New York Times

Atmosphere detected around an Earth-like planet

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Astronomers have detected an atmosphere on another Earth-like planet. This marks the first detection of an atmosphere around an Earth-like planet other than Earth itself, and thus is a significant step on the path towards the detection of life outside our Solar System.
via Science Daily
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Hubble takes close-up portrait of Jupiter

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On April 3, 2017, as Jupiter made its nearest approach to Earth in a year, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope viewed the solar system's largest planet in all of its up-close glory.
via Science Daily
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Major breakthrough in smart printed electronics

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Researchers have fabricated printed transistors consisting entirely of 2-dimensional nanomaterials for the first time. This breakthrough could unlock the potential for applications such as food packaging that displays a digital countdown to warn you of spoiling, wine labels that alert you when your white wine is at its optimum temperature, or even a window pane that shows the day's forecast.
via Science Daily

Hubble Takes Close-up Portrait of Jupiter


Majestic Giant Planet is a Swirl of Colorful Clouds
Named after the Roman king of the gods, the immense planet Jupiter is undoubtedly king of the solar system. Containing more mass than all the other planets combined, Jupiter's immense gravitational field deflects wayward comets that otherwise might slam into Earth, wreaking havoc.

This dazzling Hubble Space Telescope photo of Jupiter was taken when it was comparatively close to Earth, at a distance of 415 million miles. Hubble reveals the intricate, detailed beauty of Jupiter's clouds as arranged into bands of different latitudes, known as tropical regions. These bands are produced by air flowing in different directions at various latitudes. Lighter colored areas, called zones, are high-pressure where the atmosphere rises. Darker low-pressure regions where air falls are called belts. The planet's trademark, the Great Red Spot, is a long-lived storm roughly the diameter of Earth. Much smaller storms appear as white or brown-colored ovals. Such storms can last as little as a few hours or stretch on for centuries.


via Hubble - News feed
http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/2017-15

Exoplanet mission gets ticket to ride

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A Soyuz rocket operated by Arianespace from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou will boost ESA’s upcoming exoplanet satellite into space.


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

Arts at CERN announces four new artists in residency

Haroon Mirza, The National Apavilion of Then and Now, 2011. Courtesy hrm199 and Lisson Gallery. (Image: Kiki Triantafyllou)

Arts at CERN is delighted to announce the winners of the four artist residency awards for 2017: the studio hrm199 led by artist Haroon Mirza, Laura Couto Rosado, Cheolwon Chang and Tomo Savić-Gecan.

Arts at CERN is CERN’s arts and science programme, fostering dialogue between prominent scientists and visionary artists at the world’s leading centre for particle physics.

“Since 2011, Arts at CERN has developed a wide network of partnerships with eminent cultural institutions around the globe. The programme’s success now means four artistic residencies can take place every year here at CERN, bringing together the worlds of science and art to inspire each other in new creative expressions,” says Charlotte Warakaulle, Director for International Relations at CERN.

“I am thrilled to invite studio hrm199, Laura Couto, Cheolwon Chang and Tomo Savić-Gecan to this unusual and highly scientific environment, where I am certain the artists’ research and ideas will be expanded with many different cultural and creative angles, thanks to the interactions with CERN scientists,” affirms Mónica Bello, head of Arts at CERN.

The winner of “Collide Pro Helvetia”, in partnership with the Swiss Arts Council, Pro Helvetia, is the artist and designer Laura Couto. She will spend three months at CERN exploring design principles inspired by fundamental particles and the way these are described by physicists.

“Collide is a unique opportunity for a creator to confront his ideas to the actual practices and knowledge of renowned scientists. It is a life-and-career-changing experience. We are pleased to offer this chance to Laura Couto Rosado, who unanimously convinced the jury with her work at the crossroads between physics, interaction design and poetry” says Michel Vust, Project Leader Pro Helvetia.

As part of the ongoing collaboration with FACT - Foundation for Art and Creative Technology in Liverpool - in “Collide International”, the artists Haroon Mirza and Jack Jelfs, forming studio hrm199, will reside at CERN for two months, where they will work in close collaboration with a research scientist. Afterwards, the artists will spend one month at the Liverpool institution to later engage in production. The jury chose the studio platform hrm199 for its ability to consistently extend the ambitious standards of creativity and to build on an ongoing fascination with media, time and transmission.

FACT's Director Prof. Mike Stubbs says: "The jury is very excited for the applicants for this second year of FACT and Arts at CERN's COLLIDE International Residency Award. In our first year, we have hosted Yunchul Kim and have, together with our partners LJMU, Liverpool University and Liverpool City Council, been stunned by the magic of his initial research. We were also very impressed by artists Julieta Aranda and James Bridle, who were runners up for the award in 2016. FACT intends Kim's new work and the work of Haroon (winner of 2017's award) to be displayed as part of a very exciting new exhibition in 2018."

Moreover, the two country-specific awards named “Accelerate” have been presented to South Korean and Croatian artists. Seoul-based artist Cheolwon Chang plans to investigate the geometric properties of nature and how mathematics influences further understanding of our universe. His award has been made possible thanks to collaboration between CERN and ARKO, the Korean Arts Council, and he plans to pursue his research in connection with particle physics.

The Croatian artist Tomo Savić-Gecan will come to CERN for one month thanks to CERN’s partnership with the Ministry of Culture of Croatia and Kontjener Bureau of Contemporary Art Praxis in Zagreb. He will gather inspiration through dialogue with theoretical and experimental physicists to develop a specific project for CERN, understanding the implications of time-space research.


via CERN: Updates for the general public
http://home.cern/about/updates/2017/04/arts-cern-announces-four-new-artists-residency

Dark Nebula LDN 1622 and Barnard's Loop

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The silhouette of an intriguing dark nebula inhabits this cosmic scene. Lynds' Dark Nebula (LDN) 1622 appears below center against a faint background of glowing hydrogen gas only easily seen in long telescopic exposures of the region. LDN 1622 lies near the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, close on the sky to Barnard's Loop - a large cloud surrounding the rich complex of emission nebulae found in the Belt and Sword of Orion. Arcs along a segment of Barnard's loop stretch across the top of the frame. But the obscuring dust of LDN 1622 is thought to be much closer than Orion's more famous nebulae, perhaps only 500 light-years away. At that distance, this 1 degree wide field of view would span less than 10 light-years.

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Crater triplets

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At first glance this scene may seem nothing out of the ordinary, but the large elongated crater marks the imprint of an impacting body that may have broken into three before it hit Mars.


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

Jeff Bezos Is Selling $1 Billion a Year in Amazon Stock to Finance Race to Space

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Standing with a reusable booster and a model of a capsule for carrying humans into space, the billionaire disclosed that he had been financing his rocket company by selling shares in his company.
via New York Times