Ponderings of a Nerd

spaceplasma: NASA Probe Gets Close Views of Large Saturn...

nimbus2ooo — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:48:20 +0100

The spinning vortex of Saturn's north polar storm (false-color image)

False-color image of Saturn's north pole.

NASA Probe Gets Close Views of Large Saturn Hurricane

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has provided scientists the first close-up, visible-light views of a behemoth hurricane swirling around Saturn’s north pole.

In high-resolution pictures and video, scientists see the hurricane’s eye is about 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) wide, 20 times larger than the average hurricane eye on Earth. Thin, bright clouds at the outer edge of the hurricane are traveling 330 mph(150 meters per second). The hurricane swirls inside a large, mysterious, six-sided weather pattern known as the hexagon.

“We did a double take when we saw this vortex because it looks so much like a hurricane on Earth,” said Andrew Ingersoll, a Cassini imaging team member at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. “But there it is at Saturn, on a much larger scale, and it is somehow getting by on the small amounts of water vapor in Saturn’s hydrogen atmosphere.”

Scientists will be studying the hurricane to gain insight into hurricanes on Earth, which feed off warm ocean water. Although there is no body of water close to these clouds high in Saturn’s atmosphere, learning how these Saturnian storms use water vapor could tell scientists more about how terrestrial hurricanes are generated and sustained.

Both a terrestrial hurricane and Saturn’s north polar vortex have a central eye with no clouds or very low clouds. Other similar features include high clouds forming an eye wall, other high clouds spiraling around the eye, and a counter-clockwise spin in the northern hemisphere.

A major difference between the hurricanes is that the one on Saturn is much bigger than its counterparts on Earth and spins surprisingly fast. At Saturn, the wind in the eye wall blows more than four times faster than hurricane-force winds on Earth. Unlike terrestrial hurricanes, which tend to move, the Saturnian hurricane is locked onto the planet’s north pole. On Earth, hurricanes tend to drift northward because of the forces acting on the fast swirls of wind as the planet rotates. The one on Saturn does not drift and is already as far north as it can be.

“The polar hurricane has nowhere else to go, and that’s likely why it’s stuck at the pole,” said Kunio Sayanagi, a Cassini imaging team associate at Hampton University in Hampton, Va.

Scientists believe the massive storm has been churning for years. When Cassini arrived in the Saturn system in 2004, Saturn’s north pole was dark because the planet was in the middle of its north polar winter. During that time, the Cassini spacecraft’s composite infrared spectrometer and visual and infrared mapping spectrometer detected a great vortex, but a visible-light view had to wait for the passing of the equinox in August 2009. Only then did sunlight begin flooding Saturn’s northern hemisphere. The view required a change in the angle of Cassini’s orbits around Saturn so the spacecraft could see the poles.

“Such a stunning and mesmerizing view of the hurricane-like storm at the north pole is only possible because Cassini is on a sportier course, with orbits tilted to loop the spacecraft above and below Saturn’s equatorial plane,” said Scott Edgington, Cassini deputy project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “You cannot see the polar regions very well from an equatorial orbit. Observing the planet from different vantage points reveals more about the cloud layers that cover the entirety of the planet.”

Cassini changes its orbital inclination for such an observing campaign only once every few years. Because the spacecraft uses flybys of Saturn’s moon Titan to change the angle of its orbit, the inclined trajectories require attentive oversight from navigators. The path requires careful planning years in advance and sticking very precisely to the planned itinerary to ensure enough propellant is available for the spacecraft to reach future planned orbits and encounters.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

confusedtree: nerdsofafeather: sweetsfiend: Since my eyes...

nimbus2ooo — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:41:53 +0100

confusedtree:

nerdsofafeather:

sweetsfiend:

Since my eyes couldn’t handle the 3D of a bigger screen (and I do cherish my old 3DS too much), I’ve decided to make someone on tumblr happy with their very own Pikachu Limited Edition 3DS XL! I’m really excited to be doing this, and I can just hope it will make someone smile.

No, I won’t be selling it. I am not obligated to answer why, because if you honestly want me to sell it, my answer won’t be sufficient for you. Message me off anon if you’re really dying to know.

Now that the boring parts are over with, let’s go over even more boring stuff, shall we?

Reblogs and likes both count and will combined give you two entries.

You don’t need to be following me. However it would be nice to meet new people, and I do post a lot of Pokémon.

I’ll ship internationally, but the system is European.

No giveaway blogs.

Have your ask box open so that I may contact you.

The giveaway will end on May 10. Have fun, okay? (◡‿◡✿)

I know a certain friend of mine who would love a 3DS.

Hey guys just remember that the 3DS is region locked

dollyfarton: ineedmasculism: lundsdotter: The strongest ‘pound for pound’ muscle is the uterus:...

nimbus2ooo — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:20:11 +0100

dollyfarton:

ineedmasculism:

lundsdotter:

The strongest ‘pound for pound’ muscle is the uterus: it weighs around 2 pounds but during childbirth can exert a downward force of 400 Newtons, which is one hundred times as strong as gravity and equivalent to the power in a fully extended modern longbow.

I need masculism because I am afraid.

you should be

scinerds: Scientists map protein that creates antibiotic...

nimbus2ooo — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:54:09 +0000

scinerds:

Scientists map protein that creates antibiotic resistance

Japanese researchers have determined the detailed molecular structure of a protein that rids cells of toxins, but can also reduce the effectiveness of some antibiotics and cancer drugs by kicking them out of the cells they are targeting.

The scientists have also identified a molecule that can thwart the activity of the protein, one of a class known as multidrug and toxic compound extrusion transporters (MATEs) that are found in cell membranes. The discovery suggests new approaches to combat antibiotic resistance and boost the power of cancer therapies, the team reports today in Nature.

Previous efforts to identify compounds that block MATE transporters have been unsuccessful, partly because researchers had a poor understanding of how these proteins work. But in the past three years scientists have made some progress mapping the transporters’ detailed architecture. Two different labs have already revealed the structures of two bacterial MATE proteins, suggesting a mechanism by which the proteins extrude toxins from cells.

“I think this is a major step forward,” says Hendrik Van Veen, a pharmacologist at the University of Cambridge, UK. “They have a direct mechanism of how the protons change the shape of the cavity.”

Full Article

the-science-llama: Closest Star System Found in a Century Say...

nimbus2ooo — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:54:45 +0000

Artist rendition of the binary system

the-science-llama:

Closest Star System Found in a Century

Say hello to our new neighbors.

The star system is named “WISE J104915.57-531906″ because it was discovered in a map of the entire sky obtained by the NASA-funded Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite. It is only slightly farther away than the second-closest star, Barnard’s star, which was discovered 6.0 light years from the Sun in 1916. The closest star system consists of Alpha Centauri, found to be a neighbor of the Sun in 1839 at 4.4 light years, and the fainter Proxima Centauri, discovered in 1917 at 4.2 light years.

First question, how did we miss this?

The new system is a binary system of brown dwarfs which are stars that are too small in mass to ever become hot enough to ignite hydrogen fusion. As a result, they are very cool and dim, resembling a giant planet like Jupiter more than a bright star like the sun. Oh that’s how we missed it.

Via NASA, Earthsky

Photo

nimbus2ooo — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:23:57 +0000

okayophelia: S P A C E I S H O L Y | (x) For when humanity...

nimbus2ooo — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 00:12:12 +0000

okayophelia:

S P A C E I S H O L Y | (x)

For when humanity stretches out its hand and pierces the heavens with a thought and a body falling through space, when we draw lines through exploding stars and spinning solar systems and worship at the altar of an ever expanding horizon. When we never stop free falling outward into nebulas and onward in our fleets of light into the unexplored and uncharted depths. When we peer through the vast and little glory of our own perception and into something that, though beyond even our gods, lies within our very skin. When we feel the stardust exploding in our veins. When the universe is a cruel and indifferent god; full beauteous with the faith of physics arcing through its depths in time out of mind and out of the shining need buried in our guts. Then, we fly.

On The Nature of Daylight, MAX RICHTER • Thin Blue Flame, JOSH RITTER • Parallel Universe, GYPSY & THE CAT • Lower Your Eyelids to Die with the Sun, M83 • The Surface of the Sun, JOHN MURPHY • Alegría, CIRQUE DU SOLEIL • Dauðalogn, SIGUR ROS • Set The Fire To The Third Bar, SNOW PATROL • Battlestar Sonatica, BEAR MCREARY • Death is the Road to Awe, CLINT MANSELL • Now We Are Free, ENYA • Just Like You Imagined, NIN

medicalschool: Legionella is a pathogenic Gram negative...

nimbus2ooo — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 22:05:17 +0000

medicalschool:

Legionella is a pathogenic Gram negative bacterium, including species that cause legionellosis, most notably L. pneumophila. It may be readily visualized with a silver stain.

nimbus2ooo: nimbus2ooo: Tumblr…I need you to do your thing for me. Ever since I was young I’ve...

nimbus2ooo — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 23:01:24 +0000

nimbus2ooo:

nimbus2ooo:

Tumblr…I need you to do your thing for me.

Ever since I was young I’ve loved space, and for the past couple of years I’ve been really, really passionate about it. I’ve applied to study astrophysics at university, and my real dream is to be an astronaut. It sounds stupid, and I thought it was near impossible, but Lynx have just released a competition to send someone into space.

I know the chances of me of winning this are almost nil, but it’s the best chance I’ve got of my dream actually coming true and I’m really excited about this.

If any of you could vote for me here I would be eternally grateful, all you have to do is click one link!

Also if you could get anyone else to do it, it would make me so happy. Thank you.

Thank you for everyone who is reblogging this! Just so you know, if you have more than one email address you can vote more than once! Thank you to everyone who is voting!!!

nasafans: “This glorious view of Saturn was taken while the...

nimbus2ooo — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:31:28 +0000

nasafans:

“This glorious view of Saturn was taken while the Cassini spacecraft was in Saturn’s shadow. The cameras were turned toward Saturn and the sun so that the planet and rings are backlit. In addition to the visual splendor, this special, very-high-phase viewing geometry lets scientists study ring and atmosphere phenomena not easily seen at a lower phase.” - NASA JPL

Read more here.

nevver: Modern toss

nimbus2ooo — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 22:20:38 +0000

nevver:

Modern toss

ponywithafez: lady-digby-chicken-caesar: stepharooni: superboy...

nimbus2ooo — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 21:40:44 +0000

ponywithafez:

lady-digby-chicken-caesar:

stepharooni:

superboyfriends:

ethelindi:

Everyone probably knew this was coming.

#i legit CRY at this commercial #it actually makes me CRY #boom-dee-ada-boom-dee-ada #i just love the fucking world okay? #sobbing now

I JUST HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS COMMERCIAL

I was just thinking about these commercials and how I wanted one on my tumblr, and now here it is!

Awkward confession time: whenever I feel like the world is shit and I can’t keep dealing with it, I watch this and/or read about cool science things to remind me that it’s not all bad.

poptech: 8bitfuture: Photo: Orange battery. The orange has a...

nimbus2ooo — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 21:40:28 +0000

poptech:

8bitfuture:

Photo: Orange battery.

The orange has a tiny light bulb inside, which is powered by a chemical reaction between citric acid and the zinc nails inserted into each wedge. The current was so weak that it required a 14 hour exposure to get this photo.

Check out more of the series by Caleb Charland here.

“Here’s a weird example of the privileging of religion. On 21 February 2006 the United...

nimbus2ooo — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 20:37:43 +0000

“Here’s a weird example of the privileging of religion.

On 21 February 2006 the United States Supreme Court ruled that a church in New Mexico should be exempt from the law, which everybody else has to obey, against the taking of hallucinogenic drugs. Faithful members of the Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal believe that they can understand God only by drinking hoasca tea, which contains the illegal hallucinogenic drug dimethyltryptamine. Note that it is sufficient that they believe that the drug enhances their understanding. They do not have to produce evidence.

Conversely, there is plenty of evidence that cannabis eases the nausea and discomfort of cancer sufferers undergoing chemotherapy. Yet the Supreme Court ruled, in 2005, that all patients who use cannabis for medicinal purposes are vulnerable to federal prosecution (even in the minority of states where such specialist use is legalized).

Religion, as ever, is the trump card.”

The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins

n-a-s-a: Simulation of gas cloud after close approach to the...

nimbus2ooo — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 21:40:24 +0000

n-a-s-a:

Simulation of gas cloud after close approach to the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way

Credit: ESO/MPE/Marc Schartmann

psycholar: Rhythmic Brain Waves: Fluctuations in Electrical...

nimbus2ooo — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 17:19:38 +0000

psycholar:

Rhythmic Brain Waves: Fluctuations in Electrical Activity May Allow the Brain to Form Thoughts and Memories.

How do our brains encode thoughts, perceptions and memories at the cellular level? A new study from researchers at MIT and Boston University sheds some light on the processes.

The researchers measured brain waves produced by monkeys as they completed and switched between tasks. They found that the different tasks - e.g. responding to colour or orientation - had different characteristic brain waves, and that in some tasks there was sometimes a wave of “inhibition” that would cause one set on neurons to quiet down (e.g. the orientation ones) so the other set (e.g. the colour ones) could focus so to speak.

The researchers are now trying to figure out how these different sets of neurons coordinate their activity as the brain switches back and forth between different thoughts.

Read the full story

ikenbot: Winter Hexagon and Hale Telescope The Milky way and...

nimbus2ooo — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 21:40:34 +0000

ikenbot:

Winter Hexagon and Hale Telescope

The Milky way and bright stars of Winter Hexagon (including Sirius, the brightest star in entire night sky) are photographed above Palomar Observatory in the Southern California.

The Observatory is located in north San Diego County, California (the light dome in the south is made by San Diego). Founded in 1930s, Palomar is still a world-class research center. The observatory is home to five telescopes including the 200-inch (5 meters) Hale telescope and its giant dome which is photographed here.

The telescope (completed in 1949) is named after astronomer George Ellery Hale who led the making of the world largest telescopes in the first half of 20th century. Hale telescope was the world largest for nearly 3 decades.— P.K. Chen

nimbus2ooo: My gran was diagnosed with dementia a few years ago, and today she is a totally...

nimbus2ooo — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 22:38:11 +0000

nimbus2ooo:

My gran was diagnosed with dementia a few years ago, and today she is a totally different person. She has forgotten a lot of her memories, finds it hard to have conversations with people, and can’t do simple things she used to enjoy like read a book or do a jigsaw. Even though she’s still alive and fighting, I feel like I’ve lost one of my best friends - we used to be so close, and now she can’t even talk to me properly.

So I’m doing a skydive to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society. They train nurses to be able to help specifically people with dementia, and fund research into finding about more about it and trying to prevent it.

If you could spare even a pound, a dollar, whatever, it would be greatly appreciated. I’ve also put a button on my blog so you can donate there too. Thank you!

Donate here!

n-a-s-a: ALMA Vision A vision of the near-future ALMA antenna...

nimbus2ooo — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 21:40:40 +0000

n-a-s-a:

ALMA Vision

A vision of the near-future ALMA antenna array. Computer-generated models of antennas were superimposed on a real photograph and adjusted for perspective and lighting.

Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/L. Calçada (ESO)/H. Heyer (ESO)/H. Zodet (ESO)

ikenbot: Dwarf Galaxy Churns out New Stars in Hubble Photo A...

nimbus2ooo — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 20:49:02 +0000

ikenbot:

Dwarf Galaxy Churns out New Stars in Hubble Photo

A stunning new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope shows countless stars being born in a nearby dwarf galaxy.

The Hubble photo depicts the faint irregular galaxy NGC 3738, which is located about 12 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major (The Great Bear). NGC 3738 is undergoing a violent episode of star formation, converting huge clouds of hydrogen gas — which glow red in the image — into new stars.

NGC 3738 is a type of galaxy known as a blue compact dwarf, researchers said. Unlike elliptical galaxies or spirals, blue compact dwarfs tend to be chaotic in appearance, lacking distinctive features such as central bulges or spiral arms. They’re thought to resemble some of the universe’s earliest galaxies and could provide clues about how stars looked shortly after the Big Bang, researchers said.