Science & TechnologyS


Info

The Standard Model of the universe explained

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© AAASThe Standard Model of particle physics
The Standard Model of particle physics is the best answer man has yet come up with to the question: "What is the universe made of?"

Under the Standard Model, which has been pieced together by physicists over the last 70 years, the universe is believed to be made up of matter (four per cent atoms and 20 per cent "dark matter" that we cannot observe or explain) and energy (76 per cent "dark energy").

Telescope

The 'God particle' may exist in five forms, Large Hadron Collider's rival project finds

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© FermilabThe Tevatron particle accelerator at Fermilab in Illinois.
The elusive "God particle" - or Higgs boson - being sought in the Large Hadron Collider may exist in multiple forms, according to a new study.

Finding the Higgs boson is the primary aim of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment in Geneva, but new results from a rival study taking place in the US suggest there may be five versions of the elusive subatomic particle, which has never been detected despite five decades of research.

Leon Lederman, the Nobel laureate, dubbed the theoretical boson "the God particle" because its discovery could unify understanding of the content of the universe and help humans "know the mind of God".

Info

Ancient Australian Rock Art Could Be 40,000-Years-Old

Aboriginal Rock Painting
© Ben GunnThis undated archaeologist Ben Gunn handout photo received on May 31, 2010 shows an Aboriginal rock painting found in Australia's Arnhem Land; The red ochre painting shows two emu-like birds with their necks outstretched which are believed to show the megafauna species Genyornis.
A painting of two extinct birds found in northern Australia is believed to be one of the oldest pieces of rock art ever discovered. Scientists believe the image found on a remote plateau in the Northern Territory could be up to 40,000 years old.

The painting shows two giant birds that resemble a genyornis, an ancient flightless creature that is believed to have become extinct in Australia more than 40,000 years ago.

If it was painted at a time when this mega fauna was still alive, as some experts believe, then it would be among the oldest pieces of rock art ever found.

Depicted in red ochre, the painting was discovered under a sandstone ledge in Arnhem Land east of Darwin, where ancient indigenous artistic traditions began. It was found by Aborigines two years ago, but due to its remote location has only now been surveyed by scientists.

Satellite

Rosetta's blind date with asteroid Lutetia

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© ESA, C.CarreauESA's Rosetta spacecraft flew by asteroid (2867) Steins on September 5, 2008, at 20:58 CEST, ground received time (= spacecraft time CEST + 20 minutes), with a closest approach distance of 800 km.
ESA's comet-chaser Rosetta is heading for a blind date with asteroid Lutetia. Rosetta does not yet know what Lutetia looks like but beautiful or otherwise the two will meet on 10 July.

Like many first dates, Rosetta will meet Lutetia on a Saturday night, flying to within 3200 km of the space rock. Rosetta started taking navigational sightings of Lutetia at the end of May so that ground controllers can determine any course corrections required to achieve their intended flyby distance.

The close pass will allow around 2 hours of good imaging. The spacecraft will instantly begin beaming the data back to Earth and the first pictures will be released later that evening.

Satellite

Flotilla of NRL Space Sensors Study Upper Atmosphere

Washington - The Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL's) Space Science Division is performing an intensive study of the Earth's upper atmosphere using a flotilla of NRL-built spaceflight experiments aboard four concurrent spaceflight missions, involving five satellites and the International Space Station. These coordinated observations utilize both in situ and remote sensors to measure the composition, temperature, and density of the thermosphere and the electron density of the ionosphere, with the objective of understanding the influence of the lower thermosphere upon ionospheric structure and morphology.

The joint Taiwan-US COSMIC/FORMOSAT3 mission, a constellation of six micro-satellites, was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in April 2006. The NRL Space Science Division designed and built the Tiny Ionospheric Photometer (TIP) compact far-ultraviolet (FUV) sensors, which are being used onboard COSMIC to study the Earth's nighttime ionosphere. The TIP photometers are among the highest sensitivity FUV airglow sensors ever flown. COSMIC is breaking new ground in the study of the Earth's ionosphere, especially in the areas of troposphere-ionosphere coupling and improved global specification of the ionosphere. Currently, TIP sensors aboard two COSMIC spacecraft are gathering ionospheric data for this study.

The Remote Atmospheric and Ionospheric Detection System (RAIDS) includes eight spectrographs, spectrometers, and photometers to comprehensively measure thermospheric and ionospheric airglow in the extreme-ultraviolet to near-infrared passband (55 to 874 nm). The extant hardware, built jointly by NRL and The Aerospace Corporation, was adapted for operation on the Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility (JEM-EF) aboard the International Space Station (ISS). RAIDS was launched through the DoD Space Test Program on September 10, 2009, aboard the maiden flight of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency H-II Transfer Vehicle and reached the ISS on September 17, 2009 where it was attached to the JEM-EF. RAIDS has been performing science operations since October 23, 2009, collecting temperature data around the globe in the 100 to 200 km altitude range, an altitude region with a paucity of previous temperature measurements.

Grey Alien

The Frugal Alien's Beacon

August, 15 1977: a pulse of radio waves at 1,420MHz radiates down from space to be received by the Big Ear radio telescope in Ohio for 72 seconds. Then: nothing. Sporadic searches of the area since have failed to find this interstellar radio chorus. It's origins remain a mystery.

We are of course talking about the fabled 'Wow!' signal, the SETI detection that never was. Critics argued that because it switched off after a short time, never to heard from again, it could not be a real alien signal. There was no message contained within it, no structure, no signature of intelligent design.

Alien Signals_1
© Ohio State University Radio Observatory/NAAPO. The computer print out that shows the ‘Wow!’ signal detected in 1977.
Now there is a new explanation that raises the credibility of the 'Wow' signal's extraterrestrial hypothesis, an idea we'll call 'Benford Beacons'. Developed by the Benford family of scientists - James, Dominic and the science fiction author Gregory - it is a powerful argument against the expectation of a continuous, omnidirectional transmitter built by altruistic aliens that has held SETI in its sway for much of the last fifty years. The basic point of the Benford Beacons is that ET will not be omnipotent, but will face a cost for any actions they decide to take. "A beacon is limited by its power budget," writes Louis K Scheffer of Caltech in the SETI 2020 review. Therefore, ET civilisations will want to optimise their costs, limit waste, and make their signalling apparatus more efficient. They won't be blasting out signals in all directions continuously, but will 'ping' world after world, over and over again, with short bursts to try and grab our attention. It would be more akin to Twitter than 'Encyclopaedia Galactica'.

Telescope

Moon whets appetite for water

Washington, D.C. - Scientists at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory, with colleagues, have discovered a much higher water content in the Moon's interior than previous studies. Their research suggests that the water was preserved from the hot magma that was present when the Moon began to form some 4.5 billion years ago, and that it is likely widespread in the Moon's interior. The research is published in the on-line early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of June 14.

Magnify

Fossils Reveal that Maya People Knew about Prehistory

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© INAHFor Palenque inhabitants, marine fossils were the convincing proof of the land being covered by the sea long time ago, and parting from this fact they created their idea of the origin of the world.
Mexico City - Recent interdisciplinary investigations regarding 31 marine fossils found at Palenque Archaeological Zone, in Chiapas, reveal that Maya people conceived their beliefs parting from this kind of vestiges, so their idea of the underworld was associated to water.

For Palenque inhabitants, marine fossils were the convincing proof of the land being covered by the sea long time ago, and parting from this fact they created their idea of the origin of the world, declared archaeologist Martha Cuevas, responsible, with geologist Jesus Alvarado, of research conducted by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

Igloo

Frozen in Time: Ancient Tools Found Under Arctic Ice

Ice Tool
© The Daily StarA 340-year-old bow reconstructed from several fragments found near melted patches of ice in the Mackenzie Mountains in the Northwest Territories of Canada.
Warming temperatures are melting patches of ice that have been in place for thousands of years in the mountains of the Canadian High Arctic and in turn revealing a treasure trove of ancient hunting tools.

Ice patches result from layers of annual snow that, until recently, remained frozen all year. As Earth's temperature has warmed in recent decades due to the accumulation of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, some of the ice patches have begun to melt away, sometimes revealing ancient artifacts to the surprise of archaeologists.

"We're just like children opening Christmas presents. I kind of pinch myself," said Tom Andrews, an archaeologist with the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife, Northern Territories, Canada, and lead researcher on the International Polar Year Ice Patch Study.

Ice patch archeology is a recent phenomenon that began in Yukon. In 1997, sheep hunters discovered a 4,300-year-old dart shaft in caribou dung that had become exposed as the ice receded. Scientists who investigated the site found layers of caribou dung buried between annual deposits of ice. They also discovered a repository of well-preserved artifacts.

Andrews first became aware of the importance of ice patches when word about the Yukon find started leaking out. "We began wondering if we had the same phenomenon here," Andrews said.

Rocket

NASA Team Captures Hayabusa Spacecraft Reentry- YouTube Video

A group of astronomers from NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and other organizations had a front row seat to observe the Hayabusa spacecraft's fiery plunge into Earth's atmosphere. The team flew aboard NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory, packed with cameras and other imaging instruments, to capture the high-speed re-entry over an unpopulated area of central Australia on June 13, 2010. The Japanese spacecraft completed its seven-year, 1.25 billion mile journey to return a sample of the asteroid Itokawa.