Physics in the News

Sunday, August 31, 2014

What time is it in the Universe? (VIDEO)

via universetoday

The limits of gravity, space and time… (VIDEO)

via astronomytoday

Robonaut 2 gets legs, New Horizons Pluto-bound (VIDEO)

via floridatoday

Our Sun’s power is stable and steadfast (VIDEO)

Latest theory of everything to hit the physics shelves

Agravity, short for ‘adimensional gravity’, is one of the most recent Theory of Everything (ToE) proposals in a long line of such proposals that have come about ever since the problem of reconciling Gravity with the Standard Model was realized by physicists. It attempts to merge gravity with the Higgs interaction (the thing that gives particles mass and electric charge) and thus the rest of the Standard Model by reconciling the huge difference between the Planck Scale (on the order of 1019 giga-electron-volts (GeV) = 1011 Joules (J)) and the relatively small masses of all the other particles — Agravity, short for ‘adimensional gravity’, is one of the most recent Theory of Everything proposals in a long line of such proposals that have come about ever since the problem of reconciling Gravity with the Standard Model was realized by physicists. It attempts to merge gravity with the Higgs interaction, and thus the rest of the Standard Model, by reconciling the huge difference between the Planck Scale and the relatively small masses of all the other particles. (Credit: SGTW, Daniels)

via united-academics

Mars Rover Opportunity to have memory wiped

The decision to reformat Opportunity’s flash memory early next month is prompted by the multiple computer resets the rover has been experiencing. This month alone, Opportunity has had to be rebooted a dozen times, interrupting valuable time that should be taken up with carrying out science near the rim of Endeavour crater. (Credit: NASA, O'Neil) — The decision to reformat Opportunity’s flash memory early next month is prompted by the multiple computer resets the rover has been experiencing. This month alone, Opportunity has had to be rebooted a dozen times, interrupting valuable time that should be taken up with carrying out science near the rim of Endeavour crater. (Credit: NASA, O’Neil)

Astronomers spot the birth of ‘Sparky,’ a massive star factory(PDF)

“It’s fascinating that the early universe could make galaxies in this way and the modern universe just can’t anymore, and we’re really beginning to understand in a profound way how different the early universe was than it is now,” said Erica Nelson of Yale University. (Credit: Neslson)

via washingtonpost

NASA probes studying Earth’s radiation belts to celebrate two year anniversary

NASA’s Van Allen Probes orbit through two giant radiation belts surrounding Earth. Their observations help explain how particles in the belts can be sped up to nearly the speed of light. Image (Credit: NASA)

Mysteries of space dust revealed

This is a scanning electron microscope image of an interplanetary dust particle that has roughly chondritic elemental composition and is highly rough (chondritic porous: "CP"). CP types are usually aggregates of large numbers of sub-micrometer grains, clustered in a random open order. (Credit: Donald E. Brownlee) — This is a scanning electron microscope image of an interplanetary dust particle that has roughly chondritic elemental composition and is highly rough (chondritic porous: “CP”). CP types are usually aggregates of large numbers of sub-micrometer grains, clustered in a random open order. (Credit: Donald E. Brownlee)

Are there evidences for cosmic inflation?

Inflation explains the origin of the large-scale structure of the cosmos. Many physicists believe that inflation explains why the Universe appears to be the same in all directions (isotropic), why the cosmic microwave background radiation is distributed evenly, why the universe is flat, and why no magnetic monopoles have been observed. (Credit: NASA)

Sparks fly as NASA pushes the limits of 3-D printing technology

Engineers just completed hot-fire testing with two 3-D printed rocket injectors. Certain features of the rocket components were designed to increase rocket engine performance. The injector mixed liquid oxygen and gaseous hydrogen together, which combusted at temperatures over 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit, producing more than 20,000 pounds of thrust. (Credit: NASA photo/David Olive)

via spacefellowship

Physics in the News

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Searching for Earth-like planets: Newly spotted frozen world orbits in a binary star system

This artist's rendering shows a newly discovered planet (far right) orbiting one star (right) of a binary star system. The discovery, made by a collaboration of international research teams and led by researchers at The Ohio State University, expands astronomers' notions of where to look for planets in our galaxy. (Credit: Cheongho Han, Chungbuk National University, Republic of Korea.) — This artist’s rendering shows a newly discovered planet (far right) orbiting one star (right) of a binary star system. The discovery, made by a collaboration of international research teams and led by researchers at The Ohio State University, expands astronomers’ notions of where to look for planets in our galaxy. (Credit: Cheongho Han, Chungbuk National University, Republic of Korea.)

The Big Picture: NASA flies massive SOFIA telescope to the stratosphere

By sticking a 17-ton telescope into a Boeing 747, you can launch it up to 45,000 feet and get past 99 percent of our atmosphere's water vapor — By sticking a 17-ton telescope into a Boeing 747, you can launch it up to 45,000 feet and get past 99 percent of our atmosphere’s water vapor. (Credit: NASA)

NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft To Go Out With A Bang

Cassini has uncovered a trove of exciting scientific information by discovering new moons of Saturn, exploring the jetting geysers of Enceladus, and studying the bizarre polar hexagon at Saturn’s north pole. (Credit: NASA)

via davidreneke

Saturday Space Sight: Inside the ISS Destiny Laboratory

This view is looking into the Destiny Laboratory from Node 1 (Unity) with Node 2 (Harmony) in the background. Destiny is the primary research laboratory for U.S. payloads, supporting a wide range of experiments and studies. (Credit NASA)

via science.dodlive

New satellite data like an ultrasound for baby stars(VIDEO)

Fantastically Wrong: The Legendary Scientist Who Swore Our Planet Is Hollow

This ad should have a huge asterisk somewhere explaining that Koreshanity was a cult started by a guy who shocked himself and woke up thinking he was Jesus. — This ad should have a huge asterisk somewhere explaining that Koreshanity was a cult started by a guy who shocked himself and woke up thinking he was Jesus.(Credit: Wired)

NJ Night Sky: Moon cruises past Mars and Saturn; plus a new Super-Earth?

The Moon is near Mars tonight. (Credit:Starrynight.com)

Physics in the News

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Decontamination system turns space station into life science laboratory

NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio prepares to test the ultraviolet light decontamination hardware (Image: NASA) — NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio prepares to test the ultraviolet light decontamination hardware (Credit: NASA)

Hubble telescope on the lookout for Kuiper belt as it pasts Pluto

The New Horizons spacecraft approaches Pluto in this artist's conception. (JHUAPL/SWRI) — The New Horizons spacecraft approaches Pluto in this artist’s conception. (Credit: JHUAPL/SWRI)

via news.sciencemag

Former NASA Physicist Disputes Einstein’s Relativity Theory

A diagram depicting gravitational lensing, a phenomenon by which light bends around some objects in space. (NASA, ESA; J. Richard, CRAL; and J.-P. Kneib, LAM) — A diagram depicting gravitational lensing, a phenomenon by which light bends around some objects in space. (Credit: NASA, ESA; J. Richard, CRAL; and J.-P. Kneib, LAM)

via theepochtimes

We owe our lives to instability

rt_yc12_7000 — Rayleigh Taylor Instability: carbon mass fraction ρ=107 gm/cm3 12C→24Mg nuclear flame. Gravity 109 cm/s2 (Credit: Wiki Commons)

via santafenewmexican

Space giants join forces to battle SpaceX: This is how cheap space travel begins

The SpaceX Dragon capsule is making its third trip to the International Space Station, following a demonstration flight in May 2012 and the first resupply mission in October 2012 — The SpaceX Dragon capsule is making its third trip to the International Space Station, following a demonstration flight in May 2012 and the first resupply mission in October 2012 (Credit: SpaceX)

via extremetech

Opportunity peers out from ‘Pillinger Point’ – Honoring British Beagle 2 Mars scientist

Opportunity Mars rover peers into vast Endeavour Crater from Pillinger Point mountain ridge named in honor of Colin Pillinger, the Principal Investigator for the British Beagle 2 lander built to search for life on Mars. Pillinger passed away from a brain hemorrhage on May 7, 2014. This navcam camera photo mosaic was assembled from images taken on June 5, 2014 (Sol 3684) and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer-kenkremer.com Read more: http://www.universetoday.com/112606/opportunity-peers-out-from-pillinger-point-honoring-british-beagle-2-mars-scientist-where-ancient-water-flowed/#ixzz34sFwIO7M — Opportunity Mars rover peers into vast Endeavour Crater from Pillinger Point mountain ridge named in honor of Colin Pillinger, the Principal Investigator for the British Beagle 2 lander built to search for life on Mars. Pillinger passed away from a brain hemorrhage on May 7, 2014. This navcam camera photo mosaic was assembled from images taken on June 5, 2014 (Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken)

via universetoday

The Continuing Saga of Planet X: Could More Massive Planets Hide Beyond Pluto?

An artist’s impression of Eris, the most massive dwarf planet known to date, with an aphelion of 97 AU from the Sun. Could bigger Super-Earth-type planets be orbiting even farther out? Image Credit: ESO/L. Calçada and Nick Risinger — An artist’s impression of Eris, the most massive dwarf planet known to date, with an aphelion of 97 AU from the Sun. Could bigger Super-Earth-type planets be orbiting even farther out? (Credit: ESO/L. Calçada and Nick Risinger)

via americaspace

Trapping light: A long lifetime in a very small place

The top layer shows a simulation of the nanostructure confining the light in the tiny red regions. The second layer is the design generated by an approach that mimics evolutionary biology. The bottom two layers show electron micrographs of the realized nanostructure in silicon. The sharp peak on the left is the trace of the long trapping of light. Credit: Fabio Badolato — The top layer shows a simulation of the nanostructure confining the light in the tiny red regions. The second layer is the design generated by an approach that mimics evolutionary biology. The bottom two layers show electron micrographs of the realized nanostructure in silicon. The sharp peak on the left is the trace of the long trapping of light. (Credit: Fabio Badolato)

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