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Chang'e 3 Lander Beams Back New Lunar Panorama Photos - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...back-new-lunar-panorama-photos scibyte117 ChineseSpaceProgram
shared by Mars Base on 19 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • the lander beamed back a series of new photos taken with its panoramic camera
  • Stitched together, they give us a more detailed and colorful look of the rover’s surroundings in northern Mare Imbrium
  • The final mosaic unfortunately doesn’t have the resolution yet of the other images. Perhaps one will be published soon
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • One thing that stands out
  • is the brown color of the lunar surface soil or regolith
  • Color images of the moon’s surface by the Apollo astronauts along with  their verbal descriptions indicate a uniform gray color punctuated in rare spots by patches of more colorful soils
  • Apollo visited six different moonscapes – all essentially gray
  • wonder if the color balance in the Chinese images might be off. Or did Chang’e 3 just happen to land on browner soils
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Smart Foam In Football Helmets Measures Impact Of Each Hit | Popular Science - 0 views

www.popsci.com/...lmets-measures-impact-each-hit scibyte117 Football
shared by Mars Base on 23 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • . The CDC estimates that between the 1.6 million and 3.8 million Americans suffer sports-related concussions every year
  • , these concussions occur after what seems like a pretty mild blow to the head
  • in football,
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • the risk of concussion has been a hot-button issue,
  • Sensors within helmets can catch what human eyes often miss, alerting people on the sidelines that a player may need to be taken out of play and screened for a concussion
  • Jake Merrell, a graduate student in mechanical engineering at Brigham Young University
  • created a smart foam that works within football helmets to measure how hard a player just got hit
  • Motion sensors transmit data wirelessly to a tablet or computer when the foam in the helmet is compressed by the player's head, measuring the force and acceleration of the impact.
  • The helmet manufacturer Riddell debuted a similar concussion-alert product this year, called the InSite Impact Response System
  • is being used by some high school teams in the 2013 season.
  • Sensors inside the player's helmet lining measure the severity of a head impact and send an alert to the sidelines if a player has sustained a potentially concussion-inducing hit
  • the system only works in Riddell's Revolution Speed helmet so far.
  • "A coach will know within seconds exactly how hard their player just got hit
  • l plans to submit his project to the Head Health Challenge sponsored by GE and the NFL.
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Telescope spies water plumes on dwarf planet Ceres - 0 views

phys.org/...spies-plumes-dwarf-planet.html scibyte117 Asteroid Ceres
shared by Mars Base on 23 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • Scientists
  • have made the first definitive detection of water vapor on the largest and roundest object in the asteroid belt, Ceres.
  • Plumes of water vapor are thought to shoot up periodically from Ceres when portions of its icy surface warm slightly
  • ...26 more annotations...
  • Ceres is classified as a dwarf planet, a solar system body bigger than an asteroid and smaller than a planet.
  • "This is the first time water vapor has been unequivocally detected on Ceres or any other object in the asteroid belt and provides proof that Ceres has an icy surface and an atmosphere,"
  • Michael Küppers of ESA in Spain
  • NASA's Dawn mission, which is on its way to Ceres now after spending more than a year orbiting the large asteroid Vesta
  • Dawn is scheduled to arrive at Ceres in the spring of 2015, where it will take the closest look ever at its surface.
  • will map the geology and chemistry of the surface in high resolution
  • International Astronomical Union, the governing organization responsible for naming planetary objects
  • Ceres was known as the largest asteroid in our solar system
  • reclassified Ceres as a dwarf planet because of its large size. It is roughly 590 miles (950 kilometers) in diameter
  • When it first was spotted in 1801, astronomers thought it was a planet orbiting between Mars and Jupiter
  • Scientists believe Ceres contains rock in its interior with a thick mantle of ice that, if melted, would amount to more fresh water than is present on all of Earth
  • The materials making up Ceres likely date from the first few million years of our solar system's existence and accumulated before the planets formed.
  • Until now, ice had been theorized to exist on Ceres but had not been detected conclusively
  • far-infrared vision to see, finally, a clear spectral signature of the water vapor. But
  • did not see water vapor every time it looked
  • spied water vapor four different times, on one occasion there was no signature.
  • what scientists think is happening
  • when Ceres swings through the part of its orbit that is closer to the sun, a portion of its icy surface becomes warm enough to cause water vapor to escape in plumes
  • a rate of about 6 kilograms (13 pounds) per second
  • When Ceres is in the colder part of its orbit, no water escapes
  • The strength of the signal also varied over hours, weeks and months
  • water vapor plumes rotating in and out of Herschel's views as the object spun on its axis
  • This enabled the scientists to localize the source of water to two darker spots on the surface of Ceres
  • previously seen by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based telescopes. The dark spots might be more likely to outgas because dark material warms faster than light material.
  • "The lines are becoming more and more blurred between comets and asteroids," said Seungwon Lee of JPL
  • Paul von Allmen, also of JPL. "We knew before about main belt asteroids that show comet-like activity, but this is the first detection of water vapor in an asteroid-like object."
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Driverless Taxis in European Cities from 2014 - 0 views

www.scienceworldreport.com/...-european-cities-from-2014.htm scibyte117
shared by Mars Base on 23 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • Driverless taxis will be carrying passengers during demonstration projects in five European cities as of February 2014.
  • cybercars, by the EU-funded CityMobil2 project, is one of a number of research initiatives that are testing out specially designed self-driving road vehicles as the technology required to navigate them becomes cheaper and more reliable.
  • Cybercars have traditionally sensed the world through expensive gyroscopes, microwaves and laser beams
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  • cheap cameras and fast image-recognition algorithms has led to a new technique known as visual odometry
  • a computer analyses images to determine the position and orientation of the vehicle.
  • researchers have better access to the technology required for automated vehicles
  • e V-Charge project, a consortium of companies and universities which is working on fully automated low-speed driving in cities using only cameras and other low-cost sensors mounted on standard cars
  • . The consortium is working to produce detailed maps and a perception system that allows a vehicle to recognize its location and identify nearby pedestrians and vehicles, all using only stereoscopic or fisheye cameras.
  • team has taken this a step further, pioneering a guidance system that works economically by using a single camera.
  • car manufacturers are already making automated piloting features of their own – radar-based cruise control, anti-braking systems (ABS) and lane-control assistance
  • cables and hydraulic pressure valves which previously linked the controls of the vehicle to its working parts are gradually being replaced with electronic circuits
  • While companies such as Google see autonomous cars in a couple of decades
  • CityMobil2 project
  • thinks that they could be hitting the road sooner than that
  • The challenge lies in their environment
  • believes that, in addition to teaching cars to respond autonomously to traffic conditions, traffic should be adapted to automated cars
  • In their current state of development, cybercars could already drive safely in pedestrian areas and designated lanes
  • , investors are at present deterred by their high initial investment and perceived risks.
  • why they are being implemented in small stages
  • The first CityMobil project shuttled passengers across the car park of London Heathrow airport in a fleet of driverless pods
  • CityMobil2, now brings specially designed automated vehicles to designated roads inside the city centre
  • The project plans to procure two sets of automated vehicles which will tour five cities in a series of demonstration projects each lasting six to eight months
  • CityMobil2 is bringing together experts from ministries in each member state to agree on technical requirements by the time the project concludes in 2016 that could feed into a future European directive on the issue
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Nighttime smartphone use zaps workers' energy - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...140122170624.htm scibyte117
shared by Mars Base on 23 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • In a pair of studies surveying a broad spectrum of U.S. workers
  • found that people who monitored their smart phones for business purposes after 9 p.m. were more tired and were less engaged the following day on the job.
  • More than half of U.S. adults own a smartphone
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • Many consider the devices to be among the most important tools ever invented when it comes to increasing productivity of knowledge-based work
  • the National Sleep Foundation says only 40 percent of Americans get enough sleep on most nights
  • a commonly cited reason is smartphone usage for work.
  • the first study, the researchers had 82 upper-level managers complete multiple surveys every day for two weeks.
  • The second study surveyed 161 employees daily in a variety of occupations -- from nursing to manufacturing and from accounting to dentistry
  • both studies
  • showed that nighttime smartphone usage for business purposes cut into sleep and sapped workers' energy the next day in the office
  • The second study also compared smartphone usage to other electronic devices and found that smartphones had a larger negative effect than watching television and using laptop and tablet computers
  • In addition to keeping people mentally engaged at night, smartphones emit "blue light"
  • the most disruptive of all colors of light. Blue light is known to hinder melatonin, a chemical in the body that promotes sleep
  • nighttime use of smartphones appears to have both psychological and physiological effects on people's ability to sleep and on sleep's essential recovery functions
  • "There may be times in which putting off work until the next day would have disastrous consequences and using your smartphone is well worth the negative effects on less important tasks the next day,"
  • "But on many other nights, more sleep may be your best bet."
  • Johnson, MSU assistant professor of management
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February 1 - Today in Science History - Scientists born on February 1st, died, and events - 0 views

todayinsci.com/2_01.htm scibyte117 LookingBack
shared by Mars Base on 25 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • Bell Rock Lighthouse
  • the Bell Rock Lighthouse was lit for the first time. Using 24 lanterns, it began flashing its warning light, 11 miles out off the east coast of Scotland atop a white stone tower rising over 30m (100ft) high. It was built by Robert Stevenson on a treacherous sandstone reef, which, except at low tides, lies submerged just beneath the waves. Since then, no repair has been necessary to its stonework. It is the oldest sea-washed lighthouse in existence. It was Stevenson's finest achievement, regarded by many as the finest lighthouse ever built, the most outstanding engineering achievement of the 19th century. In the centuries before, the dangerous Bell Rock had claimed thousands of lives, as vessels were wrecked on its razor-sharp serrated rocks.
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Yutu rover Suffers Significant Setback at Start of 2nd Lunar Night - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...ck-at-start-of-2nd-lunar-night scibyte117 ChineseSpaceProgram
shared by Mars Base on 29 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • The six wheeled Yutu rover, which means ‘Jade Rabbit’, has “experienced a mechanical control abnormality” in a new report by China’s official government newspaper, The People’s Daily. Remove this ad
  • ‘Jade Rabbit’ was traversing southwards from the landing site as the incident occurred just days ago – about six weeks into its planned 3 month moon roving expedition
  • very few details have emerged or been released by the Chinese government about Yutu’s condition or fate
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • The abnormality occurred due to the “complicated lunar surface environment,” said the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence
  • took place just prior to the beginning of the 2nd lunar night and
  • ‘dormancy’ for both ‘Jade Rabbit’ and the Chang’e-3
  • Based on unofficial accounts, it appears that one of the solar panels did not fold back properly over Yutu’s mast after it was lowered to the required horizontal position into a warmed box to shield and protect it from the extremely frigid lunar night time temperatures
  • could potentially spell doom for the mast mounted instruments and electronic systems, including the color and navigation cameras and the high gain antenna, if true
  • each Lunar night also lasts approximately 14 Earth days
  • there is no communication possible during sleep mode, no one will know until the resumption of daylight some two weeks from now – around Feb. 8 to 9.
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Physicists create synthetic magnetic monopole predicted more than 80 years ago - 0 views

phys.org/...c-magnetic-monopole-years.html scibyte118
shared by Mars Base on 30 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • Nearly 85 years
  • physicist
  • predicted the possibility
  • ...20 more annotations...
  • identified and photographed synthetic magnetic monopoles
  • The groundbreaking accomplishment paves the way for the detection of the particles in nature
  • "The creation of a synthetic magnetic monopole should provide us with unprecedented insight into aspects of the natural magnetic monopole—if indeed it exists,"
  • To be able to confirm the work of one of the most famous physicists is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
  • Ordinarily, magnetic poles come in pairs: they have both a north pole and a south pole
  • a magnetic monopole is a magnetic particle possessing only a single, isolated pole—a north pole without a south pole, or vice versa
  • . In 1931,
  • published a paper that explored the nature of these monopoles in the context of quantum mechanics
  • Despite extensive experimental searches since then, in everything from lunar samples—moon rock—to ancient fossilized minerals, no observation of a naturally-occurring magnetic monopole has yet been confirmed
  • team adopted an innovative approach to investigating
  • theory, creating and identifying synthetic magnetic monopoles
  • an artificial magnetic field generated by a Bose-Einstein condensate, an extremely cold atomic gas tens of billionths of a degree warmer than absolute zero.
  • The team relied upon theoretical work
  • that suggested a particular sequence of changing external magnetic fields could lead to the creation of the synthetic monopole
  • Their experiments subsequently took place in the atomic refrigerator built
  • in his basement laboratory in the Merrill Science Center
  • After resolving many technical challenges, the team was rewarded with photographs that confirmed the monopoles' presence at the ends of tiny quantum whirlpools within the ultracold gas.
  • The result proves experimentally that
  • structures do exist in nature
  • Physics Professor David S. Hall '91 and Aalto University (Finland)
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Dinosaur fossils from China help researchers describe new 'Titan' -- ScienceDaily - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...140129184853.htm scibyte118
shared by Mars Base on 30 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • paleontologists has characterized a new dinosaur based on fossil remains found in northwestern China
  • The species, a plant-eating sauropod named Yongjinglong datangi, roamed during the Early Cretaceous period, more than 100 million years ago
  • At roughly 50-60 feet long, the Yongjinglong individual discovered was a medium-sized Titanosaur
  • ...19 more annotations...
  • Anatomical evidence, however, points to it being a juvenile; adults may have been larger.
  • Until very recently, the United States was the epicenter for dinosaur diversity, but China surpassed the U.S. in 2007 in terms of species found
  • The anatomical features of the bones bear some resemblance to another Titanosaur that had been discovered by paleontologists in China in 1929
  • the team was able to identify a number of unique characteristics
  • The shoulder blade was
  • nearly 2 meters, with sides that were nearly parallel, unlike many other Titanosaurs whose scapulae bow outward
  • an unfused portion of the shoulder blade indicated to the researchers that the animal under investigation was a juvenile or subadult
  • The scapula was so long, indeed, that it did not appear to fit in the animal's body
  • if placed in a horizontal or vertical orientation
  • Instead
  • suggest the bone must have been oriented at an angle of 50 degrees from the horizontal.
  • a full-grown adult might be larger than this 50-60 foot long individual
  • The ulna and radius were well preserved, enough so that the researchers could identify grooves and ridges they believe correspond with the locations of muscle attachments in the dinosaur's leg
  • the vertebrae had large cavities in the interior that the team believes provided space for air sacs in the dinosaur's body
  • It's believed that dinosaurs, like birds, had air sacs in their trunk, abdominal cavity and neck as a way of lightening the body
  • the longest tooth they found was nearly 15 centimeters long
  • the discovery point to the fact that Titanosaurs encompass a diverse group of dinosaurs,
  • it was once thought that sauropods dominated herbivorous dinosaur fauna during the Jurassic but became almost extinct during the Cretaceous
  • n other parts of the world, particularly in South America and Asia, sauropod dinosaurs continued to flourish in the Cretaceous
14More

Study shows mirror image scratching offers some relief - 0 views

medicalxpress.com/...14-01-mirror-image-relief.html scibyte118
shared by Mars Base on 30 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • A study of mirrors and the tricks they can play on the mind has led to a finding that people scratching a mirror image of an arm instead of the one that truly itches, can provide some relief
  • other experiments that have shown that the use of mirrors can cause strange behavior in people
  • 26 healthy male volunteers who agreed to participate in their stud
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • All of the volunteers were injected on the underside of their forearms with a chemical known to cause a certain amount of itching
  • It also causes a small red bump to appear. Each of the volunteers had a similar looking dot printed in the same location on their other arm
  • The experiment consisted of scratching each of the volunteers individually on the actual injection site and on the site of the non-injected red mark on the other arm
  • querying them as to whether the scratching provided any relief
  • None of the volunteers reported receiving any relief from the scratching on the non-injected arm and all reported relief from scratching on the read injection site.
  • Next, all of the volunteers were placed individually in a position with a mirror between their arms—the arm with the chemical injection was hidden from view—the refection of the other arm took its place.
  • Once in place, the volunteers were asked to focus their attention on the red dot on their arm—the one drawn there by the researchers—as the researchers once again scratched both of the red marks
  • After this
  • all of the volunteers reported some degree of relief from the itching when the non-injected spot was scratched, and also, of course when the real site was scratched, despite it being out of their view.
  • The amount of relief felt on the non-injected site wasn't equal to the real site, of course—all told it amounted to approximately 25 percent of the real deal
  • This indicates, the researchers claim, that visual cues can oftentimes override information from other senses when there is conflicting information.
11More

Mollusc shells inspire super-glass - 0 views

phys.org/...ollusc-shells-super-glass.html scibyte118 glass
shared by Mars Base on 31 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • Engineers intrigued by the toughness of mollusc shells, which are composed of brittle minerals, have found inspiration in their structure to make glass 200 times stronger than a standard pane
  • the glass is strengthened by introducing a network of microscopic cracks
  • The secret lies in the fact that the minerals are bound together into a larger, tougher unit.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • The binding means the shell contains abundant tiny fault lines called interfaces
  • in practice it is a masterful deflector of external pressure.
  • the shiny, inner shell layer of some molluscs, known as nacre or mother of pearl, is some 3,000 times tougher than the minerals it is made of
  • the team used a 3D laser to engrave microscopic fissures into glass slides, filled them with a polymer, and found it made them 200 times tougher
  • The glass could absorb impacts better—yielding and bending slightly instead of shattering
  • The engraved glass can "stretch" by almost five percent before snapping—compared to a strain capacity of only 0.1 percent for standard glass
  • The stronger glass may find application in bullet-proof windows, glasses, or even smartphone screens
  • Previous attempts to copy the sturdy structure of mollusc shells had focused on creating new materials by assembling miniscule "building blocks"—like building a microscopic wall
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