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Mars Base

Sony Patent Reveals Biometric Controllers - PS3 News at IGN - 0 views

ps3.ign.com/...1211402p1.html

scibyte20 controller biometric

shared by Mars Base on 04 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • Measuring skin moisture, heart rhythm and muscle movement
  • Measuring skin moisture, heart rhythm and muscle movement
  • the following ideas are mentioned in the application
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • Character changes based on biometric feedback, such as a character sweating when you're nervous.
  • Tensing up your muscles to absorb an attack or power up shields.
  • Weapons that become more accurate or less steady depending on your level of stress.
  • A boost to run faster, jump higher and punch harder while stressed.
  • Rapid decreases in health if your stress increases.
  • Different attacks based on stress levels.
  • Background music that matches your stress level, or becomes more relaxing if you're stressed.
  • Scaling difficulty based on stress level.
  • The last time biometric feedback was introduced to mainstream games was Nintendo's vitality sensor, which was announced at E3 2009 but never released.
Mars Base

Largest Sunspot in Years Observed on Sun | Solar Storms, Flares & Sunspots | Space Weat... - 0 views

www.space.com/unspot-years-observed-sun.html

scibyte20 sun storms

shared by Mars Base on 04 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • The massive sunspot, called AR1339, is about 50,000 miles (80,000 km) long, and 25,000 miles (40,000 km) wide
  • Earth itself is only 8,000 miles (12,800 km) wide
  • The sunspot behemoth isn't yet facing our planet, but was spotted today (Nov. 3) by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • The sunspot is actually a group of nearby darkened spots on the sun, some of which are individually wider than planet Earth
  • a huge sunspot like AR1339 comes with a large potential for solar flares
  • the spot has already produced one class M4 solar flare on Nov. 2 that was observed by SDO. A large coronal mass ejection from this flare was observed, but it was not directed toward Earth. However, as the sunspot turns toward our planet in the coming days, we may be in for a greater chance of these ejections.
Mars Base

Hubble directly observes the disc around a black hole - 0 views

www.physorg.com/...11-hubble-disc-black-hole.html

scibyte20 black holes quasar

shared by Mars Base on 06 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • Scientists have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to observe a quasar accretion disc -- a glowing disc of matter that is slowly being sucked into its galaxy's central black hole
  • Scientists have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to observe a quasar accretion disc -- a glowing disc of matter that is slowly being sucked into its galaxy's central black hole.
  • the team measured the disc's size and studied the colours (and hence the temperatures) of different parts of the disc
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, combined with the gravitational lensing effect of stars in a distant galaxy, the team measured the disc's size and studied the colours (and hence the temperatures) of different parts of the disc.
  • Until now, the minute apparent size of quasars has meant that most of our knowledge of their inner structure has been based on theoretical extrapolations, rather than direct observations.
  • show a level of precision equivalent to spotting individual grains of sand on the surface of the Moon
  • Quasars — short for quasi-stellar objects — are glowing discs of matter that orbit supermassive black holes, heating up and emitting extremely bright radiation as they do so.
  • These observations show a level of precision equivalent to spotting individual grains of sand on the surface of the Moon.
  • using the stars in an intervening galaxy as a scanning microscope to probe features in the quasar's disc that would otherwise be far too small to see
  • As these stars move across the light from the quasar, gravitational effects amplify the light from different parts of the quasar, giving detailed colour information for a line that crosses through the accretion disc.
  • the team were able to reconstruct the colour profile across the accretion disc
  • allowed the team to measure the diameter of the disc of hot matter, and plot how hot it is at different distances from the centre
  • Quasars' physical properties are not yet well understood
  • This new ability to obtain observational measurements is therefore opening a new window to help understand the nature of these objects."
Chris Fisher

NASA - NASA in Final Preparations for Nov. 8 Asteroid Flyby - 0 views

www.nasa.gov/...yu55-20111025.html

scibyte20

shared by Chris Fisher on 02 Nov 11 - Cached
  • At the point of closest approach, it will be no closer than 201,700 miles (324,600 kilometers) or 0.85 the distance from the moon to Earth
  • The last time a space rock as big came as close to Earth was in 1976
  • astronomers did not know about the flyby at the time.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • he next known approach of an asteroid this large will be in 2028.
Chris Fisher

Fake Mars mission to open hatch after 520 days in isolation | MNN - Mother Nature Network - 0 views

www.mnn.com/...ch-after-520-days-in-isolation

mars scibyte20

shared by Chris Fisher on 04 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • "The most difficult thing for them was being starved of information."
  • A previous 420-day experiment ended in drunken disaster in 2000, when two participants got into a fistfight and a third tried to forcibly kiss a female crew member.
  • To kill time, China's Wang Yue practiced calligraphy, France's Romain Charles strummed his guitar and together the crew, aged from 28-38, played karaoke, chess and Nintendo Wii.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Space veteran Sergei Krikalyov, who has spent a record 803 days in orbit, told Reuters: "It's useful but, sitting here on Earth, it won't solve real problems of long human exposure in space."
  • Chris Fisher on 04 Nov 11
     
    I'm sure you already know all about this.. But wanted to grab it so we had it
Mars Base

Headache Tree Is A Pain In The Brain - Science News - 0 views

www.sciencenews.org/...he_tree_is_a_pain_in_the_brain

scibyte20 brain headache

shared by Mars Base on 04 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • One whiff of a plant known as the headache tree can spur intense, excruciating pain — and now scientists know why
  • An ingredient in the tree sets off a chain of events that eventually amps up blood flow to the brain’s outer membrane.
  • Other headache triggers
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • interact with some of the same cellular machinery, suggesting they all work via the same pain-inducing mechanism
  • an international group of researchers extracted the plant compound umbellulone from dried bay laurel leaves
  • Umbellulone tickles the same cellular detector that responds to painfully cold stimuli and the sinus-clearing scent of wasabi and mustard oil
  • triggers the release of a particular protein implicated in migraine headaches
  • This protein prompts blood vessels to swell
Mars Base

Health check on the road - 0 views

www.physorg.com/...2011-11-health-road.html

scibyte20 health

shared by Mars Base on 04 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • A research team at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM), in collaboration with researchers at the BMW Group
  • develop a sensor system integrated into the steering wheel that can monitor the driver's state of health while driving
  • the device might be used recognize the onset fainting spells or heart attacks.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • monitors vital signs such as heart rate, skin conductance and oxygen saturation in the blood via simple sensors in the steering wheel
  • A driver's skin conductance, for instance, reveals whether he or she is under severe stress, or whether his or her blood pressure exceeds a critical value
  • "When a stress situation is detected by means of skin conductance values, phone calls can be blocked, for instance, or the volume of the radio turned down automatically.
  • With more serious problems the system could turn on the hazard warning lights, reduce the speed or even induce automated emergency braking."
  • Two commercially available sensors are key elements of the integrated vital signs measurement system
  • One of them shines infrared light into the fingers and measures the heart rate and oxygen saturation via reflected light
  • second measures the electric conductance of the skin at contact
Mars Base

Honoring Copernicus - Three New Elements Added To The Periodic Table - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...ts-added-to-the-periodic-table

scibyte20 elements periodic table

shared by Mars Base on 04 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • November 4, 2011, the General Assembly of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) is meeting at the Institute of Physics in London, to approve the names of three new elements
  • Element 110, darmstadtium (Ds),
  • Element 112. copernicium (Cn).
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • Element111, roentgenium (Rg)
  • Are these new elements? Probably not.
  • As a general rule, these “new elements” are given names by their discoverer – which also leads to international debate
  • elements can be named after a mythological concept, a mineral, a place or a country, a property or a very known scientist… even an astronomer
  • element 112, this extremely radioactive synthetic element can only be created in a laboratory
  • Copernicium was created on February 9, 1996 by the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung
  • its original name – ununbium – didn’t get changed until almost two years ago when a German team of scientists provided enough information to prove its existence
  • the rules were that it had to end in “ium” and it couldn’t be named for a living person.
Mars Base

Researchers identify brain cells responsible for keeping us awake - 0 views

medicalxpress.com/...1-brain-cells-responsible.html

scibyte20 brain sleep light

shared by Mars Base on 04 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • Bright light makes it easier to stay awake
  • Very bright light not only arouses us but is known to have antidepressant effects.
  • Bright light makes it easier to stay awake.
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • dark rooms can make us sleepy.
  • researchers at UCLA have identified the group of neurons that mediates whether light arouses us — or not
  • the cells necessary for a light-induced arousal response are located in the hypothalamus
  • an area at the base of the brain responsible for, among other things, control of the autonomic nervous system, body temperature, hunger, thirst, fatigue — and sleep.
  • the activity of hypocretin neurons in their WT littermates was maximized when working for positive rewards during the light phase, but the cells were not activated when performing the same tasks in the dark phase.
  • This same UCLA research group earlier determined that the loss of hypocretin was responsible for narcolepsy and the sleepiness associated with Parkinson's disease
  • This current finding explains prior work in humans that found that narcoleptics lack the arousing response to light, unlike other equally sleepy individuals
  • researchers examined the behavioral capabilities of mice that had their hypocretin genetically "knocked-out" (KO mice) and compared them with the activities of normal, wild-type mice (WT) that still had their hypocretin neurons
  • they found that the KO mice were only deficient at working for positive rewards during the light phase
  • During the dark phase, however, these mice learned at the same rate as their WT littermates and were completely unimpaired in working for the same rewards
  • These cells release a neurotransmitter called hypocretin
  • findings suggest that administering hypocretin and boosting the function of hypocretin cells will increase the light-induced arousal response
  • Conversely, blocking their function by administering hypocretin receptor blockers will reduce this response and thereby induce sleep
  • implications for treating sleep disorders as well as depression
Mars Base

Mars' History Is A Fluid Situation - Science News - 0 views

www.sciencenews.org/..._history_is_a_fluid_situation_

scibyte20 mars water

shared by Mars Base on 04 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • Four billion years ago, the Martian surface may have been cold and dry — not warm, watery and more Earthlike than it is today, as many scientists have suggested.
  • fluids appeared only occasionally, quickly shaping channels and other landforms that bear watery footprints
  • beneath the planet’s reddish, rocky sands lurked a warm and wet subterranean environment, a potential incubator powered by hydrothermal activity
  • ...18 more annotations...
  • the picture painted by a review paper in the November 3 issue of Nature
  • an international team of researchers crafted this tale of Mars’ parched, frigid history
  • If the authors are right, scientists hunting for evidence of past Martian life might be better off using a shovel
  • concluded that Mars’ most ancient clay minerals
  • roughly 3.7 billion and 4.1 billion years ago
  • formed within the planet’s crust when warm water interacted with rock five to 10 kilometers below the surface
  • Normally buried, ancient hydrated minerals are revealed by erosion or impact events, and craters house the majority of observed crustal clays in their walls, central peaks, or ejected material
  • Opportunity is exploring a mysterious mineral vein that might provide even more evidence for warm subsurface processes.
  • Clay minerals forming nearer the surface, exposed to the atmosphere and with water more mobile than trapped, are different
  • The question is how long that surface water stuck around for, and where the most stable long-term water supplies were
  • Water-carved landscapes, like snaking channels and river deltas, played a large role in producing the current view of a warm and watery Martian past
  • “It will be interesting to try and figure out how these channels fit in,” notes planetary scientist Ray Arvidson of Washington University
  • “I don’t think we can fully discount long-term stable surface water,”
  • While the evidence for subterranean hydrothermal activity is strong, Bishop says it’s unlikely that transient or small amounts of surface water quickly crafted some of the river features, valley networks, or layered beds seen across Mars.
  • In September, NASA announced that Opportunity had found a rock at the edge of Endeavour Crater
  • that looked as though it had been formed in a subterranean hydrothermal system
  • We are seeing a record of warm, circulating, subsurface water
  • Whether life might have evolved in the Martian subsurface is an open question. But on Earth, even multicellular organisms can live in the deep. “
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