Steps into Space - Commercialisation, Occupation, Colonization: 08/05/14

Tuesday, 5 August 2014

Planet-like object may have spent its youth as hot as a star

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Astronomers have discovered an extremely cool object that could have a particularly diverse history - although it is now as cool as a planet, it may have spent much of its youth as hot as a star. The current temperature of the object is 100-150 degrees Celsius, intermediate between that of the Earth and Venus. But the object shows evidence of a possible ancient origin, implying that a large change in temperature has taken place.

via Science Daily

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Rosetta Spacecraft Set for Unprecedented Close Study of a Comet

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The European Space Agency craft is to sync up with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Wednesday, and is to place a lander on the comet in November

via New York Times

Used cigarette butts offer energy storage solution

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A group of scientists have converted used-cigarette butts into a high-performing material that could be integrated into computers, handheld devices, electrical vehicles and wind turbines to store energy.

via Science Daily

The Solar System Poster

Here's a great poster featuring a beautiful image from deep space

The Solar System Poster

tagged with: solar system, galaxies, planets, moons, suns, stars, space, exploration, educational, astronomy, outer space, charts, tools, solar system chart, graphics, digital

An informational guide to the solar system. A great educational tool.

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A simple explanation for awe-inspiring sandstone arches

Science Focus

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Delicate Arch at Arches National Park in Utah.

Howard Ignatius

There’s no need to ask what the appeal of Arches National Park is—it’s in the name. The gorgeous sandstone arches there seem almost impossible. How and why should the relentlessly erosive wind carve such a fantastic structure? The arches seem too vulnerable, too artificial.

And arches aren’t the only trick that sandstone has up its sleeve. Bizarre, mushroom-shaped pillars seem even more absurd, as if they were carefully placed by an incredibly patient and even more incredibly strong Zen garden enthusiast. In some places, networks of sandstone pillars even hold up ledges like a miniature Moria.

We know plenty about how this erosion takes place, and some details about why some sections of the rock erode faster than others, but the primary cause of these shapes has eluded geologists. A new study led by Jiri Bruthans of Charles University in Prague has revealed a surprisingly simple explanation.

Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

#science
» see original post http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/OFJJ4bxAyTg/
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Consider the ‘anticrystal’

Science Focus

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For the last century, the concept of crystals has been a mainstay of solid-state physics. Crystals are paragons of order; crystalline materials are defined by the repeating patterns their constituent atoms and molecules make. Now physicists at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago have evidence that a new concept should undergird our understanding of most materials: the anticrystal, a theoretical solid that is completely disordered. Materials can be described as being on a spectrum from a perfectly ordered crystal to a perfectly disordered anticrystal. Their work suggests that, when trying to understand a real material’s mechanical properties, scientists would be better served in many cases by starting with the framework of the anticrystal and adding order, rather than starting with a perfect crystal and adding disorder. That is because the mechanical properties of even a slightly disordered solid can have more in common with an anticrystal than a perfect crystal. Understanding these properties is critical for modeling how materials will respond to stress, as well as for designing new materials and predicting their behavior. The study, published in Nature Physics, was conducted by Andrea Liu, a professor of physics in Penn’sSchool of Arts & Sciences; Carl Goodrich, a graduate student in her group; and Sidney

The post Consider the ‘anticrystal’ has been published on Technology Org.

#physics
» see original post http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TechnologyOrgPhysicsNews/~3/wwJWs_Buv6I/
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Code and coffee: Innovative projects at the CERN Webfest

Four Billion BCE: Battered Earth

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Trendy Cool Sparkly New Nebula Design Wall Graphics

Here's a great wall decal featuring a beautiful image from deep space

Trendy Cool Sparkly New Nebula Design Wall Graphics

tagged with: nature, space, astronomy, nebula, stars, custom, geek, cool, galaxy, hipster, popular, cute, hubble, nasa, star, galaxies, telescope, beautiful, photos, landscapes, purple, blue, sparkles, pink, colorful, girly, pattern, glitter, starfield, universe, stellar, unique, bright, fun, whimsical, teal, constellations, artistic, elegant, twinkle

Cute and trendy pink blue teal nebula design with bright sparkly stars. All are photo printed.

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via Zazzle Astronomy market place

Hubble Image of NGC 3324 iPad Case

Here's a great iPad case from Zazzle featuring a Hubble-related design. Maybe you'd like to see your name on it? Click to personalize and see what it's like!

Hubble Image of NGC 3324 iPad Case

tagged with: galaxy, space, universe, stars, travel, exploration, science, sun, themilkyway, hubble image of ngc 3324, planets, astronomy, the milky way, telescope images, moons, phenomena, supernovas, cosmos, cosmology, nebula, star cluster, solar system, space shuttle, nasa, space images, hubble, image, ngc, 3324

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New material allows for ultra-thin solar cells

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Extremely thin, semi-transparent, flexible solar cells could soon become reality. Scientists have managed to create a semiconductor structure consisting of two ultra-thin layers, which appears to be excellently suited for photovoltaic energy conversion. Several months ago, the team had already produced an ultra-thin layer of the photoactive crystal tungsten diselenide. Now, this semiconductor has successfully been combined with another layer made of molybdenum disulphide, creating a designer-material that may be used in future low-cost solar cells.

via Science Daily

New assay to spot fake malaria drugs could save thousands of lives

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Chemists and students in science and engineering at Oregon State University have created a new type of chemical test, or assay, that’s inexpensive, simple, and can tell whether or not one of the primary drugs being used to treat malaria is genuine – an enormous and deadly problem in the developing world. The World Health Organization has estimated that about 200,000 lives a year may be lost due to the use of counterfeit anti-malarial drugs. When commercialized, the new OSU technology may be able to help address that problem by testing drugs for efficacy at a cost of a few cents. This approach is used to prepare a paper assay that can tell whether a common drug used to treat malaria is genuine. Credit: Oregon State University When broadly implemented, this might save thousands of lives every year around the world, and similar technology could also be developed for other types of medications and diseases, experts say. Findings on the new technology were just published in Talanta, a professional journal. “There are laboratory methods to analyze medications such as this, but they often are not available or widely used in the developing world where malaria kills thousands of people every

The post New assay to spot fake malaria drugs could save thousands of lives has been published on Technology Org.

#materials
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Rosetta rendezvous

Watch as ESA's Rosetta spacecraft makes its historic rendezvous with a comet after a decade-long journey through space. Livestream from ESA's operations centre starts at 08:00 GMT (10:00 CEST) on 6 August

via ESA Space Science

http://rosetta.esa.int

Carina Nebula in Argo Navis constellation Round Stickers

Here's a great sheet of stickers featuring a beautiful image from deep space

Carina Nebula in Argo Navis constellation Round Stickers

tagged with: stars, galaxies, astronomy, envelope sealers, carina nebula, argos navis constellation, carina the keel, star formation, carnebngcttst, outer space photography, gas clouds, ngc 3372

Galaxies, Stars and Nebulae series Hubble's view of the Carina Nebula shows star birth in a new level of detail. The fantasy-like landscape of the nebula is sculpted by the action of outflowing winds and scorching ultraviolet radiation from the monster stars that inhabit this inferno. In the process, these stars are shredding the surrounding material that is the last vestige of the giant cloud from which the stars were born. The immense nebula is an estimated 7,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina the Keel (of the old southern constellation Argo Navis, the ship of Jason and the Argonauts, from Greek mythology).
The original image is a mosaic of the Carina Nebula assembled from 48 frames taken with Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The Hubble images were taken in the light of ionized hydrogen. Colour information was added with data taken at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Red corresponds to sulfur, green to hydrogen, and blue to oxygen emission.

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image code: carnebngcttst

Image credit: Hubble Space Telescope; colour data from the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile

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Massive volcanic outbursts on Jupiter's moon Io: More common than thought?

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Three massive volcanic eruptions occurred on Jupiter's moon Io within a two-week period in August of last year. This led astronomers to speculate that such "outbursts," which can send material hundreds of miles above the surface, might be much more common than they thought.

via Science Daily

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Hubble Views Galactic Core Case For iPad

Here's a great iPad case from Zazzle featuring a Hubble-related design. Maybe you'd like to see your name on it? Click to personalize and see what it's like!

Hubble Views Galactic Core Case For iPad

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