This image sometimes circulates on Facebook, with the claim that Mars will appear as big and bright as a full moon on August 27, 2014. It’s a hoax. Don’t believe it. Mars never appears as large as a full moon in Earth’s sky. (Credit: Unknown)
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A optical microscope image of the spintronic device (top view). The top electrode (tg) and cobalt electrodes (1 to 5) are yellow. The boron nitride layers (in green) encapsulate the graphene flake, which is outlined by the dotted line. Credit: Fundamental Research on Matter (Credit: FOM)
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Alessandro Strumia of the University of Pisa, pictured speaking at a conference in 2013, has co-developed a scale-symmetric theory of particle physics called “agravity.” (Credit: Thomas Lin/Quanta Magazine)
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X-ray interference pattern measured while studying complex nano-layer structures. The sketch inserted illustrates the path of the x-ray beam relative to the surface of the sample. (Credit: Sebastian Macke)
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Three weeks after launching the AsiaSat-8 communications satellite, SpaceX is primed to deliver its sibling, AsiaSat-6, into geostationary transfer orbit at an altitude of 22,236 miles (35,786 km) on Wednesday, 27 August. (Credit: AsiaSat)
via americaspace
Relative intensity (top row) and pre-trial significance (bottom row) of the cosmic-ray flux in the vicinity of Region A (left), Region B (center), and Region C (right). (Credit: Abeysekara et al)
The very first stars in the Universe might have been hundreds of times more massive than the Sun. (Credit: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan)
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Jonathan Menard, a principal research physicist and program director for the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX), and Masa Ono, a principal research physicist and project director of the NSTX, stand in front of the experiment during a tour of the facility. The device has been shut down since 2011 while it undergoes a $94 million upgrade that will make it the most powerful device of its kind in the world. (Credit NSTX)
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The agency intends to deploy the spacecraft, codename Liquidator, to clear up the geostationary orbit over the equator, which is 36 thousand kilometers above sea level. (Credit: Roscosmos)
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“When you start to make electronics smaller and denser, not only are you making much more heat in the same amount of volume, but it’s much harder for the heat to flow outward,” says Peter Nalbach, a theoretical physicist at the University of Hamburg, Germany. (Credit: Mehau Kulyk/Getty)
via popularmechanics
Researchers hope to create a massive online “brain” that can help all robots navigate and even understand the world around them. “The purpose,” says Saxena, who dreamed it all up, “is to build a very good knowledge graph—or a knowledge base—for robots to use. (Credit: Thinkstock, Hernandez )
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Probability density of an Efimov trimer state at different three-body geometries that are characterized by the polar angle — indicated by the trimer legends. The key feature in the probability density is that unlike ordinary molecular binding that mostly has a single geometry, the Efimov trimer covers have a broad range of geometries. The atoms in such states behave more like in a fluid drop. (Credit: Yujun Wang, Kansas State University)
Scientists have discovered mineral-rich structure on Mars that might be the evidence of niche environment on the planet’s subsurface that could support life. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
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In Einstein’s general theory of relativity, gravity is nothing more than the curvature of spacetime. A massive object, such as the sun, causes a deformation of the spacetime grid, while another object such as a planet or a light beam follows the shortest path (a “geodesic”) on this grid. To an observer, this looks like a deflection of the trajectory caused by gravity. (Bottom) A collapsing star can form a black hole so dense and massive that it creates a region of infinite curvature (a “singularity”) so that—inside the event horizon—light cannot escape. Current research in gravitation is attempting to modify general relativity to account for such objects consistent with quantum theory. (Credit: Carin Cain)
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European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers, Expedition 30 flight engineer, prepares vials in the Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station for venous blood sample draws during an immune system investigation. (Credit: NASA)
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Shown above is part of one of the most imaged parts of the night sky, the Orion Nebula. Since the angular size of Orion’s Nebula is so large on the sky, only a portion is shown here. Located just below “Orion’s Belt” this star-forming region is dominated by four young, massive O stars (known as the Trapezium, not pictured here). The wispy blue, green gas seen above is composed mostly of hydrogen, the main element used in forming stars. The Orion Nebula is an astrophysical laboratory, providing an up-close view of the birth of stars. (Credit: Sloan Digital Sky Survey)
Greased Lighning (GL10) project 10 engine electric prototype remote control plane. Photo taken 8/14/14 (Credit: NASA Langley/David C. Bowman)
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The Kori nuclear power plant in Busan, southeast of Seoul, is seen in this picture released by the plant to Reuters. South Korea needs to quickly find additional space where it can store its spent nuclear fuel because some of its temporary storage capacity will be full by 2016, (Credit: Reuters/Kori Nuclear Power Plant/Handout)
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CDF physicist Petar Maksimovic, professor at Johns Hopkins University, presented the discovery to the particle physics community at Fermilab. He explained that the two types of Sigma-sub-b particles are produced in two different spin combinations, J=1/2 and J=3/2, representing a ground state and an excited state, as predicted by theory. (Credit: Fermilab)
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This image, taken by NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity in August 2014, looks across the northeastern end of sandy “Hidden Valley” to the lower slopes of Mount Sharp on the horizon. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
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Scientists of the early 20th century argued that tidal forces had caused the sun to spit out the planets when a rogue star passed too close. It was a kind of drive-by shooting theory of planetary formation known as the “Planetesimal Hypothesis.” (Credit: NASA, M. Strauss)
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An illustration of the extent to which the atoms, in a small cluster of atoms, vibrate. The spheres represent the range of motion of the atoms, rather than the atoms themselves – the spheres have been exaggerated in size by 45 times in order to ease visualisation. The atoms on the surface have larger ranges of motion than those in the middle of the cluster. (Credit: University of York)
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The ExoLance Concept: “Arrows” fall from a spacecraft, penetrate the ground, and expose the life-detecting equipment inside. (Credit: Explore Mars Inc.)
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NASA engineers have built four robots nicknamed “Swarmies” to test whether a group of robots can autonomously and effectively scout an area for resources, and they’ve model the software design after how ants do the same thing. (Credit: NASA/D. Gerondidakis, G. Tickle)
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The quantum system studied at TU Wien (Vienna): a black diamond (center) contains nitrogen atoms, which are coupled to a microwave resonator. (Credit: TU Wien)
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This could be a classic win-win solution: A system proposed by researchers at MIT recycles materials from discarded car batteries—a potential source of lead pollution—into new, long-lasting solar panels that provide emissions-free power. (Credit: Christine Daniloff/MIT)
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Angelo Mosso’s “human circulation balance” machine worked like a seesaw to measure blood flow changes to the brain. (Credit: Stefano Sandrone et al.)
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Novae typically originate in binary systems containing Sun-like stars, as shown in this artist’s rendering. NASA’s Fermi Space Telescope discovered that a nova in a system like this likely produces gamma rays (magenta) through collisions among multiple shock waves in the rapidly expanding shell of debris. (Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/S. Wiessinger)
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Beam out: elongated “Landau” states – Instead of rotating uniformly at a particular frequency, an international team of researchers has found that electrons in a magnetic field are capable of rotating at three different frequencies, depending on their quantum properties.
via physicsworld
Asteroid 1950 DA. “Following the February 2013 asteroid impact in Chelyabinsk, Russia, there is renewed interest in figuring out how to deal with the potential hazard of an asteroid impact,” said Rozitis. “Understanding what holds these asteroids together can inform strategies to guard against future impacts.” (Credit: NASA)
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“The puzzle has been how these ‘seed’ black holes grew into the monsters that we now see within the time available, a few billion years at best,” says Priyamvada Natarajan, who proposes that early quasars took in a “super boost,” feasting from large reservoirs of gas that were part of early star clusters. (Credit: Lollito Larkham/Flickr)
via futurity
Lighting Science created special lightbulbs for the ISS. There are daylight bulbs with bluer light to encourage energy and activity during what would be daytime hours, and then there are lightbulbs that dial back on the blue to boost astronauts’ production of melatonin for a good night’s sleep. (Credit: Lightning Science)
via cnet
New data from the Hubble Space Telescope and computer simulations have revealed that the universe has much less ultraviolet light than previously thought. (Credit: Ben Oppenheimer and Juna Kollmeie)
via space
Now, a mathematician has announced the completion of an epic quest to formally prove the so-called Kepler conjecture. “An enormous burden has been lifted from my shoulders,” says Thomas Hales of the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who led the work. “I suddenly feel ten years younger!” (Credit: Ray Tang/Rex)
via newscientist
