Falcon Launch

Summary: Space X's new Falcon 9 rocket launched this Sunday. It is carrying Canada's Cassiope research satellite, designed to study the sun's interaction with the Earth's atmosphere. This is also the first time it has launched at Vandenburg in California instead of at Cape Canaveral.



BBC News


Unrelated: Brian Cox is beginning a new documentary series called Science Britannica that is spectacular thus far.

3D printing in Space

Summary: Ever on the quest to make space travel more cost efficient while increasing our in orbit capabilities, NASA has decided to bestow a 3D printer upon the astronauts aboard the ISS. This will help provide faster custom solutions instead of having to resort to crazy gaffe tape and plastic bag solutions.

I personally, am very exited. Not only is this very time efficient, watching a 3D printer do its thing is very entertaining. 

BBC News

Smallest Shadow

Summary: Scientists have been able to photograph the shadow of an atom! There are some science-y implications that could follow this, but basically it is just super cool.




National Geographic

The Women Who Mapped the Universe

Summary: Pickering's Harem is what they were know collectively as; only a few are remembered individually. These are the women that helped to catalog the universe and organized all the astrophotography done at the Harvard observatory in the early days. Pickering used his human computers for largely clerical duties: reducing the photographs, comparing the stars to other already classified stars, or cataloging the pictures themselves. Despite this they did perform the important work that helped the universe be classified.

One of the few individuals to be remembered is Annie Jump Cannon. She is responsible for the system of classifying stars that the International Astronomical Union still uses today. However, she did not actually get any recognition as the system was dubbed the Harvard system of spectral classification.




Smithsonian

Anti Neutrinos and new flavors

Summary: Neutrinos are particles that tend to switch identities (flavors) and an underground particle detector in China is helping to provide more information on these weird particles. They do this by creating mikllions of quadrillions of electron antineutrinos. That's right, finally another article that relates to antimatter! The Daya Bay neutrino oscillation data has helped researchers to pin down the probability of of the electron neutrino occupying each possible mass state.

The studying of neutrino oscillations may also provide new clues to the great mystery of the matter-antimatter unbalance in our universe.

All of these findings and more will be presented this week at NuFact2013 in Bejing.



Live Science

Extreme science jobs

Summary: This feature present 7 extreme science jobs from saturation diver to astronaut to crocodile physiologist. It is a very short but interesting read that demonstrates the wide variety of jobs available within the larger science label.




Live Science

Area 51 secret documents

Summary: For those of you who like mysteries, the CIA has released documents that reveal some of the history of the research base. It began being used in 1955 to test new planes and train pilots. Unsurprisingly, the document only talks about events that happened prior to 1974.

Are you excited to read what has been hidden from us?


Live Science

10 new black holes

Summary: NASA's NuSTAR X-ray telescope has successfully discovered 10 super massive black holes. NuSTAR has been designed to hunt for these huge black holes in hopes of better understanding how common they are and what this means for our understanding of how the universe was formed.


Live Science

Saddle Shaped Universe

Summary: Based on data, it is possible that the universe may be saddle shaped instead of flat. On the other hand, it could be a statistical error. We should know for sure next year with data expected to be gathered from the Planck team.


Live Science

Cosmic Caterpillar

Summary: Hubble has yet another incredible space image for us. It is a cloud of gas that looks like a caterpillar. Unlike the small creatures we are used to on earth, this celestial caterpillar is 6 trillion miles long. It is actually a cloud of gas collapsing and may give birth to a star. But the important part is how beautiful it is.



Smithsonian Mag

The Art in Explosions

Summary: Some times scientists get so caught up in the beauty of the numbers that we can forget to see the beauty in the nature all around us. Martin Klimas, a German photographer, has recently been photographing exploding roses. He begins by freezing them in liquid nitrogen and then he shoots them with a gun to make it shatter them into as many pieces as possible while taking pictures.




Smithsonian Mag

Magic fingers

Summary: I'll confess I have no clue how this one works but the concept is cool. Essentially, Disney Imagineers have come up with a way to transmit sound from person to person by simply touching their ear. I am shaky on the practical applications here but it sounds interesting nonetheless.



BBC
NewScientist

Imperio!

Summary: Scientists have created a basic form of mind control to play a video game. Of course, this wasn't the sole intent of the technology. It is simply a good way to prove that it works. Scientist One can see the screen and knows when the space bar should be hit. Scientist One's brain signal is transmitted to a second Scientist who actually hits the space bar from another room.
While this is incredibly simplistic, the scientists call it a 'proof of concept' that can pave the way for more exciting mind-control.
While legitimate mind-control and human puppeteering is not what they have in mind, their intended goals are equally cool. They have imagined that this technology could be used similar to Spock to share ideas almost instantaneously. This may also be helpful when communicating with scientists who speak a different language than you.
This is not expected to become reality for at least another 40 years, but until then we can only wait and hope.


What would you do if you could mind-meld with someone else?


BBC

Voyager 1 is officially outside the Solar System!

Summary: JPL announced that Voyager 1 is officially beyond the furthest extent of particles from the sun. They have also released a sound clip of what interstellar space sounds like and some preliminary analysis.

sound clip

BBC News

Moon Mission

Summary: NASA will be launching a new Moon mission this Saturday. It's primary objective is to investigate the moon dust. However, what I find most interesting however, they will also be testing laser communications that could be used later for further missions.

UPDATE: Launch was successful.

BBC

What haven't the Romans done for us?

Summary: Proving once again that the Romans were geniuses, scientists have deduced that they knew the secrets of nanotechnology. The Lycurgus Cup appears jade green when lit from in front but glows a red color when lit from behind and had been puzzling historians for years. It was recently discovered that this phenomenon is due to tiny flecks of metal, like the Romans were using nanotechnology to allow different colors shine at different times. It may have even changed color depending on what liquid was inside the cup. Pretty cool use for the technology.


Smithsonian

Magnetic Flips

Summary: While interning at the Planetarium this summer, a lot of people had asked about what will will happen when the magnetic poles of the sun flip in a few months. The mainstream media, we found, had been once again stirring things up like it would be huge. This would be true if we were talking about Earth's magnetic field reversing, but not so much with the sun. As stated in the article, it is a very regular occurrence, about once every 11 years. It will be a gradual change with the magnetic field slowly fading to zero and then reversing directions. Any impact this has on Earth would be as a result of the shifting heliosphere. It may temporarily disrupt telecommunications while at the same time shielding the satellites from harmful cosmic rays. All in all, nothing to worry about.



Smithsonian Mag

Bicycle powered elevator

Summary: Yup, you read that right. A guy is building himself a tree house and got tired of climbing the stairs so many times. So what does any rational person do? He engineered himself a bicycle lift. He pedals the bike, thus lifting himself and the bike up to the porch. Very risky, but very cool.


io9

New Lego scientist

Summary: I don't know if you are into Lego, but they have released a new figurine. It is a female scientist complete with flasks! This is not only breaking grounds for female scientists in the public eye, it also differs from the previous Lego scientists that were basically stereotypes.




Smithsonian Mag

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Also, you will be seeing more science news stories more frequently on the blog because I need to find at least 4 STEM related articles each week for my physics lab so they will be put on here. What does this mean for the blog? More content, wider range of article, and more diverse sources. If you know of any good sources, don't hesitate to let me know!

Height difference

Summary: It has been found that the average height of men has increased from 5'5" to 5'10" since 1870. This serves as an indicator, though not a fault-proof indicator, that on average, health has improved. One interesting note is that there was a significant increase during WWII and the Great Depression. There unfortunately is not similar data for women because there was not enough historical data.

BBC News



Article:

• Timothy J. Hatton

How have Europeans grown so tall?Oxf. Econ. Pap. first published online September 1, 2013 doi:10.1093/oep/gpt030

Are we all Martians?

Summary: According to new research by Prof Steven Benner, Mars may have been a better place for life to begin. He suggests that minerals containing boron and molybdenum are vital is creating life-forming molecules. It had been previously thoughts that an early Earth was unsuitable for these elements, due to an insufficient amount of oxygen. However, Mars would have had enough oxygen for the element to form.


BBC News: