Electronics advance moves closer to a world beyond silicon

more »

Researchers have made a significant advance in the function of metal-insulator-metal, or MIM diodes, a technology premised on the assumption that the speed of electrons moving through silicon is simply too slow. For the extraordinary speed envisioned in some future electronics applications, these innovative diodes solve problems that would not be possible with silicon-based materials as a limiting factor.

via Science Daily

NASA Selects 11 Space Radiobiology Research Proposals

NASA's Human Research Program will fund 11 ground-based research proposals using beams of high-energy, heavy ions to simulate space radiation to better understand the risks this radiation poses to humans.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/september/nasa-selects-11-space-radiobiology-research-proposals

NASA Evaluates Four Candidate Sites for 2016 Mars Mission

NASA has narrowed to four the number of potential landing sites for the agency's next mission to the surface of Mars, a 2016 lander to study the planet's interior.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/september/nasa-evaluates-four-candidate-sites-for-2016-mars-mission

New approach enhances quantum-based secure communication

more »

University of Calgary scientists have overcome an 'Achilles' heel' of quantum-based secure communication systems, using a new approach that works in the real world to safeguard secrets.



Zazzle Space market place

NASA Announces Media, Public Events for Upcoming Lunar Mission Launch

NASA's schedule of events, including news conferences and live television coverage related to the Friday, Sept. 6 launch of the agency's next lunar mission, is now available.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/september/nasa-announces-media-public-events-for-upcoming-lunar-mission-launch

Measuring progress in nanotech design: Team uses laser spectroscopy to size-up band offset

more »

Engineers working in the nanoscale will have a new tool at their disposal thanks to an international group of researchers led by Drexel University's College of Engineering. This innovative procedure could alleviate the persistent challenge of measuring key features of electron behavior while designing the ever-shrinking components that allow cell phones, laptops and tablets to get increasingly thinner and more energy efficient.



Zazzle Space market place

NASA Selects Top 96 Asteroid Initiative Ideas

NASA has chosen 96 ideas it regards as most promising from more than 400 submitted in response to its June request for information (RFI) about protecting Earth from asteroids and finding an asteroid humans can explore.

via NASA Breaking News

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2013/september/nasa-selects-top-96-asteroid-initiative-ideas

Unexpected magic by cosmic rays in cloud formation

more »

Physicists suggested that cosmic rays, energetic particles from space, are important in the formation of clouds. Since then, experiments have demonstrated that cosmic rays actually help small clusters of molecules to form. But the cosmic-ray/cloud hypothesis seemed to run into a problem when numerical simulations of the prevailing chemical theory pointed to a failure of growth.

via Science Daily

Zazzle Space Exploration market place

Blue light observations indicate water-rich atmosphere of super-Earth

more »

Astronomers and planetary scientists have observed planetary transits of super-Earth GJ 1214 b (Gilese 1214 b). The team investigated whether this planet has an atmosphere rich in water or hydrogen. The observations show that the sky of this planet does not show a strong Rayleigh scattering feature, which a cloudless hydrogen-dominated atmosphere would predict. When combined with the findings of previous observations in other colors, this new observational result implies that GJ 1214 b is likely to have a water-rich atmosphere.

via Science Daily

Zazzle Space Exploration market place

Danish experiment suggests unexpected magic by cosmic rays in cloud formation

more »

According to the theory, small clusters of molecules in the atmosphere have difficulty growing large enough to act as "cloud condensation nuclei" on which water droplets can gather to make our familiar low-altitude clouds. The SKY2 experiment shows that the growth of clusters is much more vigorous, provided ionizing rays—gamma rays in the experiment or cosmic rays in the atmosphere—are present to work their chemical magic. Details of the experiment appear in the latest issue of Physics Letters A.



Zazzle Space market place

Bizarre alignment of planetary nebulae

more »

Astronomers have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and ESO's New Technology Telescope to explore more than 100 planetary nebulae in the central bulge of our galaxy. They have found that butterfly-shaped members of this cosmic family tend to be mysteriously aligned—a surprising result given their different histories and varied properties.



Zazzle Space market place

Molecular motors: Power much less than expected?

more »

An innovative measurement method was used at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw for estimating power generated by motors of single molecule in size, comprising a few dozens of atoms only. The findings of the study are of crucial importance for construction of future nanometer machines – and they do not instil optimism.



Zazzle Space market place

Some Planetary Nebulae Have Bizarre Alignment to Our Galaxy

Get larger image formats

Hubble astronomers have found an unexpected surprise while surveying more than 100 planetary nebulae in the central bulge of our Milky Way galaxy. Those nebulae that are butterfly-shaped or hourglass-shaped tend to be mysteriously aligned such that their rotation axis is perpendicular to the plane of our galaxy.

via HubbleSite NewsCenter -- Latest News Releases

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2013/37/

Quantum effects in nanowires at room temperature

more »

Nano technologists at the University of Twente research institute MESA+ have, for the first time, demonstrated quantum effects in tiny nanowires of iridium atoms. These effects, which occur at room temperature, are responsible for ensuring that the wires are almost always 4.8 nanometers—or multiples thereof—long. They only found the effects when they failed to create long nanowires of iridium. Nature Communications is publishing the research today.



Zazzle Space market place

Blue light observations indicate water-rich atmosphere of a super-earth

more »

(Phys.org) —A Japanese research team of astronomers and planetary scientists has used Subaru Telescope's two optical cameras, Suprime-Cam and the Faint Object Camera and Spectrograph (FOCAS), with a blue transmission filter to observe planetary transits of super-Earth GJ 1214 b (Gilese 1214 b) (Figure 1). The team investigated whether this planet has an atmosphere rich in water or hydrogen. The Subaru observations show that the sky of this planet does not show a strong Rayleigh scattering feature, which a cloudless hydrogen-dominated atmosphere would predict. When combined with the findings of previous observations in other colors, this new observational result implies that GJ 1214 b is likely to have a water-rich atmosphere.



Zazzle Space market place

Milky Way's biggest star may have had a different beginning

more »

The current theory of star formation has a problem: it cannot make big stars.



Zazzle Space market place

i Phone MUFON radar cover iPhone 5 Case

Here's a great product from Zazzle featuring an astronomy case. Maybe you'd like to see your name on it? Click to personalize and see what it's like!

sometimes it's difficult to choose what to feature from amongst the fantastic designs on Zazzle. I finally settled on this great design by WestCentralSectionAR,
another talented artist from the Zazzle community!

i Phone MUFON radar cover iPhone 5 Case

i Phone cover featuring the Arkansas Mufon logo on green radar screen.

»visit the WestCentralSectionAR store for more designs and products like this
The Zazzle Promise: We promise 100% satisfaction. If you don't absolutely love it, we'll take it back!

Massive storm pulls water and ammonia ices from Saturn's depths

more »

Once every 30 years or so, or roughly one Saturnian year, a monster storm rips across the northern hemisphere of the ringed planet. In 2010, the most recent and only the sixth giant storm on Saturn observed by humans began stirring. It quickly grew to superstorm proportions, reaching 15,000 kilometers (more than 9,300 miles) in width and visible to amateur astronomers on Earth as a great white spot dancing across the surface of the planet.

via Science Daily

Zazzle Space Exploration market place

Trifid Nebula - Astronomy of Universe Stars Samsung Galaxy SIII Covers

Trifid Nebula - Astronomy of Universe Stars Samsung Galaxy SIII Covers

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series A fantastic picture from our universe featuring the massive star factory known as the Trifid Nebula.

It was captured in all its glory with the Wide-Field Imager camera attached to the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in northern Chile.
So named for the dark dust bands that trisect its glowing heart, the Trifid Nebula is a rare combination of three nebulae types that reveal the fury of freshly formed stars and point to more star birth in the future. The field of view of the image is approximately 13 x 17 arcminutes.
It's an awe-inspiring, breathtaking image that reveals some of the wonder that is our universe.

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

ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA www.eso.org
Reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place