Material rivaling graphene may be mined out of rocks

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Will one-atom-thick layers of molybdenum disulfide, a compound that occurs naturally in rocks, prove to be better than graphene for electronic applications? There are many signs that might prove to be the case. But physicists have shown that the nature of the phenomena occurring in layered materials are still ill-understood and require further research.

via Science Daily

Sometimes I feel I'm becoming inured to the amazingness of it all!

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Sometimes I feel I'm becoming inured to the amazingness of it all!

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StarTalk Radio originally shared:

Far-away black hole spins at half the speed of light
A team of astronomers is the first to directly measure the spin of a distant supermassive black hole that is about 6 billion light years from Earth and 7.7 billion years old. Published in the journal Nature, the findings offer insights into how black holes and their host galaxies grow and change over time, researchers say. “We estimate that the X-rays are coming from a region in the disk located only about three times the radius of the event horizon—the point of no return for infalling matter,” says Jon Miller, associate professor of astronomy and another co-author on the paper. “The black hole must be spinning extremely rapidly to allow a disk to survive at such a small radius.”
Shown: multiple images of a distant quasar are visible in a combined view from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope. (Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Michigan/R.C.Reis Optical: NASA/STScI)
http://www.futurity.org/black-hole-spinning-half-speed-light/

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I wonder if by lunch they mean the reader or the black hole at the centre of the spiral galaxy?

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I wonder if by lunch they mean the reader or the black hole at the centre of the spiral galaxy?

#forwidersharing  

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NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory originally shared:

Lunch with the Stars - NASA's Chandra Finds Youngest Nearby Black Hole, for lunch reading
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2010/sn1979c/

Chandra :: Photo Album :: SN 1979C :: November 15, 2010

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VLT spots largest yellow hypergiant star: Mix of new and old observations reveals exotic binary system

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ESO's Very Large Telescope has revealed the largest yellow star -- and one of the 10 largest stars found so far. This hypergiant has been found to measure more than 1,300 times the diameter of the Sun, and to be part of a double star system, with the second component so close that it is in contact with the main star. Observations spanning over 60 years also indicate that this remarkable object is changing very rapidly.

via Science Daily

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The Sun Rotating

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Concerns and considerations with the naming of Mars craters

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Recently initiatives that capitalise on the public’s interest in space and astronomy have proliferated, some putting a price tag on naming space objects and their features, such as Mars craters. The International Astronomical Union would like to emphasize that such initiatives go against the spirit of free and equal access to space, as well as against internationally recognized regulations. Hence no purchased names can ever be used on official maps and globes.

via Science Daily

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