Science & Technology
In this new image of Jupiter a broad range of features has been captured, including winds, clouds and storms. The scientists behind the new images took pictures of Jupiter using Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 over a ten-hour period and have produced two maps of the entire planet from the observations. These maps make it possible to determine the speeds of Jupiter's winds, to identify different phenomena in its atmosphere and to track changes in its most famous features.
The new images confirm that the huge storm, which has raged on Jupiter's surface for at least three hundred years, continues to shrink, but that it may not go out without a fight. The storm, known as the Great Red Spot, is seen here swirling at the centre of the image of the planet. It has been decreasing in size at a noticeably faster rate from year to year for some time. But now, the rate of shrinkage seems to be slowing again, even though the spot is still about 240 kilometres smaller than it was in 2014.

Beyond the speed of light, photons will be stretched so far we won't be able to detect galaxies at all.
Imagine our expanding Universe. It's not an explosion from a specific place, with galaxies hurtling out like cosmic jetsam. It's an expansion of space. There's no center, and the Universe isn't expanding into anything.
The space agency revealed its plans reach the Red Planet in a 36-page report released last week, entitled "NASA's Journey to Mars: Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration".
"NASA is closer to sending American astronauts to Mars than at any point in our history," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in a statement.
Accomplishing this goal will require three stages. The first is continuing its ongoing research aboard the International Space Station, which studies the effects of living in space for long periods of time, and furthering the development of its most powerful rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). The next step will involve crews conducting operations in deep space environments near the moon, which it calls its Proving Ground stage.
The third "Earth Independent" stage involves enabling human missions to low-Mars orbit or on one of the Martian moons, before eventually landing on the Martian surface.
The Innsbruck University scientists tested over 1,000 people during their study.
The first experiment involved about 500 people, 35 years old on average, who were asked to rate their food preferences, and then completed four personality tests.
An "exhaustive, ten-year effort" allowed scientists at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and the University of Washington to identify some 238 genes which could be targeted to improve human health and possibly extend life spans by 60 percent. The paper was published on Thursday in the journal Cell Metabolism.
The genetic modification of specific human genes will give these soldiers certain characteristics advantageous on the battlefield, giving rise to the most amazing abilities and performances.
Smarter, sharper, more focused and more physically stronger than their enemy counterparts these soldiers will be capable of telepathy, run faster than Olympic champions, lift record-breaking weights through the development of exoskeletons, re-grow limbs lost in combat, possess a super-strong immune system, go for days and days without food or sleep...
According to the Xinhua news agency, China began to build the BeiDou satellite navigation system in 1994, two decades after the US developed GPS. China is the third country to have an independent satellite navigation and positioning system, after the US and Russia.
BeiDou now has about 20 satellites that ensure positioning to an accuracy of 10 meters, which is set to get even better with the introduction of next generation satellites. With the help of ground-based facilities, the positioning precision of BeiDou is now accurate to the centimeter, according to Xinhua.
Comment: Russia and China will start equipping trucks transporting goods across the Sino-Russian border with the GLONASS/Beidou navigation systems:
"Users will have identical services both in China and in Russia," Bondarenko said "A truck driver will be able to call technical support, receive assistance on the road, find the closest gas station and obtain other services included in the satellite navigation."See also:
- China launches 2nd satellite in alternative GPS system
- Putin's dog gets a satellite collar
- Russia Launches Proton Carrier Rocket After The Ban
A mathematical discovery by Perth-based electrical engineer Dr David Evans may change everything about the climate debate, on the eve of the UN climate change conference in Paris next month.
A former climate modeller for the Government's Australian Greenhouse Office, with six degrees in applied mathematics, Dr Evans has unpacked the architecture of the basic climate model which underpins all climate science.
He has found that, while the underlying physics of the model is correct, it had been applied incorrectly. He has fixed two errors and the new corrected model finds the climate's sensitivity to carbon dioxide (CO2) is much lower than was thought. It turns out the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has over-estimated future global warming by as much as 10 times, he says.
"Yes, CO2 has an effect, but it's about a fifth or tenth of what the IPCC says it is. CO2 is not driving the climate; it caused less than 20 per cent of the global warming in the last few decades".
Dr Evans says his discovery "ought to change the world". "But the political obstacles are massive," he said.
His discovery explains why none of the climate models used by the IPCC reflect the evidence of recorded temperatures. The models have failed to predict the pause in global warming which has been going on for 18 years and counting. "The model architecture was wrong," he says. "Carbon dioxide causes only minor warming. The climate is largely driven by factors outside our control."
Comment: Dr. Evans is not alone
- Reflections on the Coming Ice Age
- Scientist predicts 'mini Ice Age
- Forget warming - beware the new ice age
Much like robots, humans depend on internal electricity to function. Our nervous systems pretty much consist of sparks of electricity jumping from one nerve to another to regulate nearly all our vital functions. Our brains are storms of electricity, our hearts pump thanks to electrical impulses and we make sense of the images that come in through our eyes through an electrical process.
It makes sense then that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a unit within the US Department of Defense that focuses on cutting-edge research for military applications, is interested in exploring ways to treat the human body as the electrical system it really is.
DARPA has created an initiative called Electrical Prescriptions, or ElectRx, to investigate how light, sound waves, magnets and outside electrical pulses could help soldiers heal. On Monday, the agency announced that it will be awarding grants to seven different teams involved with mapping and treating the body's electrical systems.
"The peripheral nervous system [communicates] a vast array of sensory and motor signals that monitor our health status and effect changes in brain and organ functions to keep us healthy," ElectRx program manager Doug Weber explained in a statement. Weber is a biomedical engineer who previously worked as a researcher for the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
"We envision technology that can detect the onset of disease and react automatically to restore health by stimulating peripheral nerves to modulate functions in the brain, spinal cord and internal organs."
Each of the teams chosen by DARPA will be investigating a different way of approaching health and healing.
Comment: Under the illusion of helping the troops in the mythical war on terror, there is an endless sea of tax dollars for these destructive murdering thugs to spend. What do you suppose they really want this technology for? We doubt it's for health and healing.














Comment: Now, now -- just because you enjoy a cup of black coffee doesn't mean that you're a psychopath (unless you like your coffee with a side plate of dandelion salad, escarole and juju beans).