The Universe's Violent Youth

Summary: Scientists at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology found new evidence to support the prevalent theory of the universe having a violent stage mare than 10 billion years ago that was responsible for the initial creation of heavy elements. Using the Suzaku satellite they saw an even spread of iron between the galaxies. This means that iron was present in the intergalactic gas even before the Perseus cluster was formed; an observation which they speculate holds true for more than just this cluster. This would put the creation of these elements between 10 to 12 billion years ago, during a time of intense star formation and energetic black holes. Most of this iron was created by Type Ia supernovae that then rocketed out their material into space.

Symmetry

Nature

A Blow to Possible Dark Matter

Summary: This is sorta the opposite of the news I would like to tell you about, but it does help refine our search for the elusive particles.
Back in April, the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) experiment looked like it had captured three candidates for dark matter particles.These particles had a mass approximately nine times that of a proton. However, yesterday, scientists working on the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment made an announcement negating CDMS's results. They argued that if the particles found by CDMS were in fact dark matter particles, then the larger and more sensitive LUX experiment that they had run would have seen about 1600 of these in their first run. However, their first run came up empty. It is of course possible that there are WIMPs hiding in the data or maybe they will be seen on the second run, but until then we have hit another wall in our quest.



Symmetry
Scientific American

One Step Closer to Mars

Summary: NASA's Orion spacecraft passed it's electronics test last week at Kennedy Space Center. This spacecraft is designed to carry a four-person crew to near-Earth asteroids and eventually to Mars. The first test launch will be in the fall of next year for a brief unmanned journey up into space before falling back down into the ocean.


Popular Science
Physics World

This Week in Solar Activity

Summary: Over the summer it seemed like the sun was having an unusual lack of activity for max in its solar cycle, but it has laughed in our faces this past week with bright solar flares and so-called canyons of fire.
Check out the article and the amazing video NASA Goddard has put together with footage.


Popular Science

Space Sight

Summary: Another reason why I do not want to go into space. It changes your vision. One in five astronauts report vision changes due to the increased pressure inside your head because of microgravity altering the shape of of their eyeballs. Ick.


Popular Science

The Science of Boomerangs

Summary: Have you ever wondered what makes a boomerang return back to you after you throw it? (Or why you can't seem to throw it right?) Popular Science has a quick article on the history and science behind these amazing toys. To give you a brief taste, it's all to do with torque.

New Record for Furthest Galaxy

Summary: Your friend in another country may seem incredibly far away, but this latest discovery will put that in perspective. A new record has been set for the most distant galaxy. The Hubble Space Telescope has found the galaxy z8_GND_5296 to be about 30 billion light years away. We are seeing this galaxy as it appeared just 700 million years after the Big Bang. To determine the distance, they looked at the redshift of the galaxy. It has a redshift of 7.51 which beats the previous winner of 7.21.

BBC News
Popular Science
Physics World

Seventh System

Summary: Astronomers have discovered a seventh planet are the dwarf star KIC 11442793 which, if confirmend, would be a record for a solar system other than our own. The star is 2,500 light years away and its planets orbit much closer than in our system. All seven planets orbit closer than the Earth does from our sun. This last planet was discovered by citizen scientists on Planet Hunters, a website that lets the public sift through Kepler's data to try to identify new planets.


BBC News

Mars Meteorite

Summary: A small meteorite may hold the secret to how Mars lost is carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere to become the planet it is today.
Key points:
-The Lafayette meteorite shows signs of carbonation which suggests that water was on Mars more recently than previously thought.
-This is the first direct evidence for carbonation on Mars which connects with the Curiosity's discovery of carbonates.
-Understanding how CO2 was removed can help us reduce climate change here on earth.



BBC News

Over 1,000 Exoplanets

Summary: The tally of exoplanets has soared to 1,010 listed in the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia. Out of all these, 12 have the potential to be habitable. This listing, though, is a little less reliable because not all of these planet discoveries have been peer-reviewed. NASA only counts those that have been published in an academic journal and thus their tally is currently at 919. Not to mention there is not a solid definition of what a planet is so some could be artefacts or low-mass stars like other candidates before them.


BBC News

The Quantum Measurement of Time

Summary: Back in 1983, theorists Don Page and William Wootters devised a theory of time based on quantum entanglement.They showed how this entanglement could be used to measure change. The results, however, vary depending on how the observation is made. If the change is measured against a clock outside and entirely independent of the universe, then appears that the particles are unchanging and thus time does not exist. These anomalies go away once the clock is moved inside the universe.

Just recently, scientists in Italy have been able to perform experimental proof of this theory by creating a toy universe to observe. This experiment is a step on the way to learning more about gravity.

 

 

Medium

3D Printed Metal

Summary: I thought 3D printing with the plastic stuff was cool, but now the European Space Agency has plans to 3D print metal parts for spacecraft and even nuclear fusion projects. This is all being done by the Amaze project, a very fitting title I think. And this isn't a dream for the future, they have already been printing with this tungsten alloy. They have already printed metal jet engine parts and airplane wings 2m in size. How cool is that?! The part that makes this so successful, though, in addition to it being a good investment, is how little waste it has. Zero waste in fact. Because of the layering method of building rather than casting, Esa's Franco Ongara says, "To produce one kilo of metal, you use one kilo of metal - not 20 kilos." In addition, since you can print objects as a single piece, you have no need for welding and bolting which makes it heavier and weaker. Ultimately they aim to be able to print a satellite in one piece that would slash costs in half.


BBC News

Meteorite fragment surfaces

Summary: Remember that meteorite that crashed into Russia earlier this year? (This story) Divers have now recovered the fragments fromt he bottom of the lake and will commence studies. This is the largest fragment of the meteorite found thus far at five feet in diameter; it is within the ten biggest meteorite fragments ever found. No weight has yet been established as the rock broke into three pices when lifted from the ground and then proceeded to break the scale when it hit 570kg.


BBC News

5 Female Mathematicians of Note

Summary: The Smithsonian Blog has posted short biographies of five brilliant women mathematicians that everyone should know.

1. Hypatia (ca. 350 or 370 - 415 or 416)
One of the first female mathematicians. Last known member of the Library of Alexandria. Followed her father, Theon, to study math and astronomy.

2. Sophie Germain (1776 - 1831)
Taught herself Latin and Greek to learn math and Geometry. First woman to win a prize from the French Academy of Sciences for her work on a theory of elasticity.

3. Ada Lovelace (1815 - 1852)
Worked with Charles Babbage on his Analytical Engine which is considered one of the first computers. She wrote the world's first computer program.

4. Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850 - 1891)
Moved to Germany to be more involved in the sciences and was privately tutored. Received a doctorate for writing on partial differential equations, Abelian integrals, and Saturn's rings. First woman (in the region around Stockholm) to receive full professorship.

5. Emmy Noather (1882 - 1935)
Developed many mathematical foundations used in Einstein's general theory of relativity. Received a PhD for a dissertation on a branch of abstract algebra.

Additional video:
Ada Lovelace

Underwater Wi-fi

Summary: Although I cannot think of the last time I was scuba-diving and had a burning desire to check my email, I am excited for the prospect of underwater internet. The intended purpose is not for watching "Finding Nemo" with the fish, but for detecting tsunamis. While normal wi-fi using radios waves, due to the limited range and stability in water, sound waves will be used instead. This technology has been in use before but it was cumbersome to share data between research teams. The University of Buffalo team is hoping that this will create a shared standard so that anyone with a computer or smartphone could be instantly alerted when a tsunami is approaching.


BBC News

Texture Screens

Summary: Touchscreens are cool and all but everything you touch feels like glass. Until now. Disney researchers have discovered a way to trick the brain into "feeling" different textures. It involves sending tiny vibrations through the display to create a sensation of feeling ridges and shallow bumps. As a bonus, they believe that this algorithm should be simple to add to existing touchscreens.
Our skin detects textures from the stretching of our skin so the vibrations form the surface artificially stretch the skin to simulate the texture. The bigger the feature, the bigger the vibrations.
I can't wait to see this being used in museums and zoos all over the world.



BBC News

Scott Carpenter passes away at 88

Summary: Scott Carpenter, Mercury 7 astronaut, has recently passed away at the age of 88.
He was a part of NASA's first group of astronauts and was the second American to orbit the earth in Aurora 7. His death leaves John Glenn as the last surviving member of the Mercury team.
One of the cool things about him was that after his capsule landed 288 miles off target, the Navy found him floating in the Caribbean, laying on his life-raft with his feet propped up like he was on vacation. When not exploring space, he joined the Navy's SeaLab II program and spent 30 days under the ocean and continued to be invested in oceanography up to his death.



BBC News

Nobel Prize for Higgs discovery

Summary: By now you have probably heard that the Nobel Prize was awarded to Doctors Higgs and Englert for the correct prediction of the existence of a particle to explain mass. While the two of them will split the prize money, it is painfully obvious that this would have been impossible to confirm without the help from thousands of other scientists who will get nothing. Aside, from of course the pride and recognition within the science community which is nothing to scoff at.
I think one of the most adorable things is that Professor Higgs didn't know he had won until a woman congratulated him on the street. He was also very humble when acknowledging not only the experimentalists who proved it, but the other theorists who had reached the conclusion at the same time as him and helped to make it better.



BBC News
New York Times 1 (about the Nobel Prize)
New York Times 2 (Opinion piece on the Nobel prize only going to two theorists)

The Visual Art of Music

Summary: One of my favourite things to see around the internet, are visual representations of invisible things. They tend to be creative and make great desktop backgrounds and this new article is no exception.
German photographer Martin Klimas has decided to photograph the music he loves. To do this, he poured multicoloured paint over his speakers (protected of course) and cranked the volume up. The paint leaps into the air due to the sound vibrations and spectacular pictures are revealed.


Smithsonian Mag

I Charge Thee with the Power of Zeus

Summary: Have you every been stuck in the middle of nowhere, in a lightning storm, and running out of charge on your phone wishing you could call a friend for help? Probably not, but in case that happens, you may be able to charge your phone with the lightning. The University of Southampton and Nokia collaborated on a proof-of-concept experiment to charge a phone with lightning. Using a transformer, the team shot a recreated lightning bolt of 200,000 volts across a 30cm air gap. Surprisingly, the circuitry of the phone actually stabilized the noisy signal and allowed the phone battery to charge. While this is not a feasible way of charging your phone at home, scientists think it could be useful for a communal charging area somewhere remote like a village in India.



BBC News

Outer Space Plastics

Summary: Cassini probe has detected propylene on Saturn's moon Titan. NASA says that this is the first definitive detection of this plastic ingredient somewhere other than Earth. Because of this, we also know that many other interesting chemicals have formed. Other than the cool idea of plastic on Titan, I cannot figure out what the application of this knowledge will be.



BBC News

Petrified Animals

Summary: An Alkaline African Lake has been turning animals into stone. There's some very interesting science behind this, but I will just leave you with one of my favourite images. Click the picture to head to the article.

Mapping Exoplanetary Clouds

Summary: If you thought meteorologists on Earth had it hard, check out what these NASA scientists have decided to tackle. They have recently mapped the clouds of the planet Kepler-7b almost 1,000 light years away. By using low-res images from Spitzer and Kepler they were able to compile a map of sorts. It was determined that the clear-reflective signature seen on parts of the images would be clouds. One of the interesting finds is that this planet seems to have a very stable climate with very little change over time.
This marks the beginning of a new era of exoplanetary study. No longer are we simply finding them and adding them to our list with a few details such as size, mass, and distance from their sun. We are now beginning to understand the planet itself.



BBC News

New Solar Findings

Summary: Scientists have recently found out that the solar conveyor belt churns things up much more quickly than previously thought. The flow also only extends half as deep as predicted. This may be able to explain why this year's solar cycle, thought to be one of the most active maxima, was actually incredibly dull compared to previous cycles.



SPACE.com

Mars update

Summary: Curiosity has found signs that Mars used to have a large amount of drinkable water in its past. In fact, there were at least two wet stages and sufficient water for microbial life to have formed. Curiosity has also found calcium sulfate veins which are an indicator of water movement along with more coarse pebbles to large to be moved by wind, but just the right size to be moved by a flowing river.

What Curiosity has not found, though, is evidence of methane. Previous measurements from Earth or from satellites had indication that Curiosity would find 10 parts per billion or more of the gas. The existing theory for the methane seen from telescopes was that it was produced by small methane-producing mugs that could potentially live underground. But this theory is loosing its base foundation.  As with all science, more measurements must be drawn before a definite conclusion can be reached.

But what's next for the future of Mars exploration? It could be a robotic snake. The idea is that a little snake companion would accompany its big sister vehicle and provide assistance. Whether this is gathering samples from tight spaces or providing an anchor for the vehicle to pull itself out a position it got stuck in. It has the potential to be a quick solution to any number of little issues.



Live Science (drinkable water)
Science Mag (lack of methane)
BBC News (lack of methane)
Live Science (Snake robot)

Frog Photobomb

Summary: A recent launch picture was photobombed by a flying frog, silhouetted against the explosion that lifts the rocket. A very beautiful and funny picture,, it was also recently commented on in the latest episode of "Mock the Week."



National Geographic