Venus Transit – Jupiter Broadcasting https://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com Open Source Entertainment, on Demand. Wed, 13 Jun 2012 14:45:54 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.5.3 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cropped-favicon-32x32.png Venus Transit – Jupiter Broadcasting https://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com 32 32 Dinosaurs & Neutrinos | SciByte 50 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/20542/dinosaurs-neutrinos-scibyte-50/ Wed, 13 Jun 2012 06:45:54 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=20542 We take a look at estimating dinosaur weight, pollution data, mosquitos, updates on Venus transit, Neutrinos and more!

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We take a look at estimating dinosaur weight, pollution data, exoplanets, mosquitos, Johnson Space Center, Io, updates on Venus transit and Neutrinos, spacecraft updates and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

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Dino’s on diets?

Image Credit | William Sellers

  • The low down
  • One of the most important things palaeobiologists need to know about fossilised animals is how much they weighed
  • In the past scientists have used several means of estimating dinosaur weight
  • One of those means of estimation include measuring the volume of an artist’s sculpture
  • Scientists have now developed a new technique to accurately measure the weight and size of dinosaurs and discovered they are not as heavy as previously thought.
  • Significance
  • Using lasers scientists have measured the minimum amount of skin required to wrap around the skeletons of modern-day mammals, including reindeer, polar bears, giraffes and elephants
  • This technique showed that the animals had almost exactly 21% more body mass than the minimum skeletal ‘skin and bone’ wrap volume
  • Previous estimates of the giant Brachiosaur weight have varied, with estimates as high as 80 tonnes
  • Applying this approach reduced that figure to just 23 tonnes
  • This calculation method has the advantage of requiring minimal user intervention and is therefore more objective and far quicker
  • This new technique will apply to all dinosaur weight measurements
  • Its primary limitation, for now, is that the specimen should consist of a complete skeleton as possible
  • Of Note
  • In general estimated weights for many species of dinosaur have been dropping since about the early 1960’s
  • The information from these calculations can also be applied to sophisticated locomotor reconstructions, such as the running simulations produced in the past
  • One problem with the technique is that none of the animals used in the laser calibration had the long fleshy tails that dinosaurs have, so this model may be to be altered in the future
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Dinosaurs were lighter than previously thought, new study shows | Phys.org
  • Dinosaurs Skinnier Than Previously Thought | news.Discovery.com

— NEWS BYTE —

Chinese Pollution Data

  • The low down
  • China has said foreign embassies are acting illegally in issuing their own air quality readings and that only the government could release data on the nation’s heavy pollution.
  • China says publishing China’s air quality are related to the public interests and as such are powers reserved for the government
  • According to the latest Environmental Performance Index compiled by Yale University, China ranked 128th out of 132 countries for air quality.
  • Until recently, official air quality measurements from China regularly rated their air quality as good while data from the US embassy in Beijing showed off-the-chart pollution
  • Most Chinese cities base their air-quality information on particles of 10 micrometres or larger
  • Beijing announced earlier this year it would change the way it measured air quality to include the smaller particles experts say make up much of the pollution in Chinese cities, after a vocal campaign
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • China tells US to stop reporting Beijing’s bad air | phys.org
  • China tells embassies to stop issuing pollution data | phys.org

Giant exoplanet imposters?

  • The low down
  • The Kepler spacecraft produces potential exoplanet data by watching for the darkening of a star, but not everything that darkens a star is a planet
  • A new study suggests that there is a one in three chance that it’s not really a planet at all when it’s a giant planet closely orbiting a star
  • Significance
  • Out of Kepler’s more than 2,300 possible planets, only 46 were categorized as very large exoplanets with estimated orbit very close to their star
  • 11 of those systems were already known and the team confirmed 9 more
  • Of the remaining 26 candidates were : 13 unknowns, two failed brown dwarf stars, and 11 members of binary star systems
  • From this the team arrived at the 35 percent false-positive rate
  • While this may seem very significant, scientists don’t consider it a serious flaw for Kepler
  • Even with a 35% false positive rate for very large, closely orbiting exoplanets the percentage is still very low compared to all other transit programs
  • Of Note
  • Short period transiting planets are exotic objects, not expected to be everywhere
  • In addition the false positive rate does not affect any smaller or long orbiting planets
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Some newfound planets are something else | ScienceNews.org

Mosquito



Channel : andrew52987 | Channel : coegatech

  • The low down
  • The collision between a raindrop and a mosquito is analogous to a collision between a human and a bus, except for the part where the mosquito survives
  • Significance
  • What makes the difference is the (relatively) huge, fast drop doesn’t transfer much of its momentum to a little wisp of an insect
  • Instead the falling droplet sweeps the insect along on the downward plunge
  • The drawback is that mosquitoes hitchhiking on water experience acceleration 100 to 300 times the force of Earth’s gravity, so survival is dependent on breaking away before hitting the ground
  • Of Note
  • This effect may inspire engineers designing swarms of tiny flying robots, or interest physicists and mathematicians studying complex fluid dynamics at this scale
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube : Mosquito raindrop BW | andrew52987
  • YouTube : Low Mass Saves Mosquitoes from Death by Raindrop | coegatech
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • How a mosquito survives a raindrop hit | ScienceNews.org

— TWO-BYTE NEWS —

Touring NASA’s Johnson Space Center


Image Credit : science.ksc.nasa.gov

  • Of Note
  • NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida has announced that beginning on Friday, June 15 a limited number of daily tours will take guests into the spaceport’s historic Launch Control Center (LCC)
  • This will be the first time in 30 years that the home of 152 countdowns to launch including both Apollo and shuttle programs has been opened to the public
  • The KSC Up-Close: Launch Control Center (LCC) Tour will run through the end of the year. It costs $25 for adults and $19 for children in addition to the regular admission to the visitor complex.
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Inside Historic Launch Control Center | Space.com

Jupiter’s moon Io


Image Credit : NASA/JPL-Caltech/Bear Fight Institute

  • Of Note
  • A new map of Jupiter’s moon Io has revealed the most comprehensive ever compiled of Io’s hundreds of active volcanoes
  • When studying the layout of the volcanos the distribution of the heat flow is that it is not in keeping with the current preferred model of tidal heating of Io at relatively shallow depths
  • The main thermal emission occurs about 40 degrees eastward of where we would expect with tidal heating
  • In addition that heat comes from Io’s depths along with its shallower reaches
  • The study also found that known active volcanoes account for only about 60 percent of Io’s emitted heat
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Jupiter Moon Io’s Volcanoes Revealed in New Map | Space.com

— Updates —

Additional Venus Transit stories and photo’s

Neutrinos

SPACECRAFT UPDATE

Shuttle Enterprise’s last landing

Dragon back on the ground

NASA’s Aquarius measuring ocean salinity

Mars Curiosity Rover


Image Credit : NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/MSSS

  • Of Note
  • With a scheduled landing of Aug 5 and increased confidence in precision landing technology NASA has narrowed the target for its most advanced Mars rover, Curiosity
  • NASA has narrowed the target for its most advanced Mars rover, Curiosity
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • NASA Mars Rover Team Aims for Landing Closer to Prime Science Site | jpl.nasa.gov](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012–168)

SCIENCE CALENDAR

Looking back

  • June 13, 1611 : 401 years ago : Sunspots : A publication on the newly discovered phenomenon of sunspots was dedicated. Narratio de maculis in sole observatis et apparente earum cum sole conversione. (“Narration on Spots Observed on the Sun and their Apparent Rotation with the Sun”). This first publication on such observations, was the work of Johannes Fabricius, a Dutch astronomer who was perhaps the first ever to observe sunspots. On 9 Mar 1611, at dawn, Johannes had used his telescope to view the rising sun and had seen several dark spots on it. He called his father to investigate this new phenomenon with him. The brightness of the Sun’s center was very painful, and the two quickly switched to a projection method by means of a camera obscura.
  • June 15 1752 : 260 years ago : Lighting and Kites : In 1752, Franklin published a third-person account of his pioneering kite experiment in the The Pennsylvania Gazette, without mentioning that he himself had performed it It was at a later date that he admited to performing the experiment himself. Evidence shows that he was insulated from the kite, while others trying to repeat the experiment were electrocuted in the following months. The entire process, led to the invention of the lightning rod in September of the same year.

Looking up this week

The post Dinosaurs & Neutrinos | SciByte 50 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> Venus Transit & Dragon Spacecraft | SciByte 48 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/20027/venus-transit-dragon-spacecraft-scibyte-48/ Tue, 29 May 2012 22:29:24 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=20027 We take a look at the Venus transit next Tuesday, water in our solar system, creative noise, a Dragon spacecraft update and more!

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We take a look at the Venus transit next Tuesday, a rare rabbit, water in our solar system, creative noise, a dinosaur with tiny arms, a Dragon spacecraft update and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

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Venus Transit



YouTube channels : extractorrr | ScienceAtNASA

— NEWS BYTE—

Rare Rabbit



Credit: UnivDeleware Channel | Credit: Kyle McCarthy / World Wide Fund for Nature Japan

—TWO-BYTE NEWS—

Water in our solar system



Credit: Kevin Hand (JPL/Caltech), Jack Cook (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), Howard Perlman (USGS)

Creative Noise

  • The low down
  • A professor of business administration at the University of Illinois has been studying how the level of ambient noise affects consumer sales
  • The research has shown that a moderate level of noise not only enhances creative problem-solving but also leads to a greater adoption of innovative products in certain settings
  • Significance
  • The study shows that noise levels equivalent to a passenger car traveling on a highway, about 70 decibels, enhances performance on creative tasks
  • Researchers also studied how a high level of noise, equivalent to traffic noise on a major road, 85 decibels, hurts creativity by reducing information processing.
  • The 70 decibel level is enough of a distraction that it helps you with abstract out-of-the-box thinking, allowing for increased creativity
  • A very high level of noise becomes a distraction that affects the thought process
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Scientists Say Ambient Noise Affects Creativity | sci-news.com
  • Is Noise Always Bad? Exploring the Effects of Ambient Noise on Creative Cognition | Journal of Consumer Research

Dinosaur with tiny arms

–SPACECRAFT UPDATE–

Dragon Spacecraft



YouTube Channels : NASATelevision |

–SCIENCE CALENDAR–

Looking back

  • June 02,1889 : 123 years ago : Hydroelectricity : A hydroelectric power plant generated alternating current electricity which was for the first time made available to consumers at a significant distance from its origin. A 13 mile power line linked the Willamette Falls Electric Co. power plant to Portland, Ore. Two 300 h.p. Stilwell & Bierce waterwheels together drove a single phase, 720 kilowatt generator. It was not the first hydroelectric power plant, for one had been demonstrated in Appleton, Wisc., 30 Sep 1882 with a small dynamo. Rather, it is the use of alternating current that is significant, for this makes possible long-distance transmission that overcomes the problems of direct current. AC generators driven by steam power had been in use elsewhere since 1886.
  • June 01, 1947 : 65 years ago : Photosensitive glass : The development of photosensitive glass was announced publicly in Corning, N.Y. It had first been made by the Corning Glass Works in Nov 1937. The glass is crystal clear, but exposure to ultraviolet light followed by heat treatment forms submicroscopic metal particles creating an image within the glass. This is believed to be the most durable form of photographic medium, and to be as permanent as the glass itself.

–Looking up this week–

The post Venus Transit & Dragon Spacecraft | SciByte 48 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> Mayan Calendar & Cancer Research | SciByte 46 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/19587/mayan-calendar-cancer-research-scibyte-46/ Tue, 15 May 2012 22:46:13 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=19587 We take a look at a new archeological site concerning the Mayan calendar, a new use for breathalyzers, cancer research, and more!

The post Mayan Calendar & Cancer Research | SciByte 46 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

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We take a look at a new archeological site concerning the Mayan calendar, a new use for breathalyzers, cancer research, exoplanet, retinal prostheses, spacecraft updates,and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

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[asa]B0050SZC5U[/asa]

Show Notes:

Mayan prediction for end of the world?



YouTube channels : NationalGeographic | AP

  • Thanks for making sure I saw this story Michael Henriques
  • 6 Maya Apocalypse Myths Debunked
  • Magnetic Flip : while magnetic evidence in rocks confirms that continents have undergone such drastic rearrangement, the process took millions of years slow enough that humanity wouldn’t have felt the motion
  • Planet X crash : if there were a ( planet / brown dwarf / etc ) that was going to be in the inner solar system three years from now, astronomers would have been studying it, and it would be visible to the naked eye by now
  • Galactic Alignment : some worry the path of the sun in the sky would appear to cross through what, from Earth, looks to be the midpoint of our galaxy, but there is no alignment in 2012. A type of “alignment” occurs during every winter solstice, when the sun, as seen from Earth, appears in the sky near what looks to be the midpoint of the Milky Way.
  • End of Calendar : During the 2012 winter solstice, time runs out on the current era of the Long Count calendar, which began on what the Maya saw as the dawn of the last creation period
  • Sun to Savage Earth : While the sun isn’t always on schedule; the peak of solar activity this cycle probably won’t happen for a year or two
  • Predictions Calendar : The Maya did pass down a graphic end-of-the-world scenario, it was undated
  • The low down
  • Just 6 square miles (16 square kilometers) of jungle floor the Mayan city now known as Xultun was first discovered in 1915 in northeast Guatemala, and less than 0.1 percent of the city has been explored to date
  • Looters damaged much of the ancient city in the 1970s losing much of historical significance; archaeologists still don’t even know how far the boundaries of the town extend.
  • In 2010, archeologists (from Boston University) were mapping the city when one undergraduate student while looking into an old trench dug by looters, reported seeing traces of faint red and black lines of ancient paint.
  • Paint doesn’t preserve well in the rain forest climate of Guatemala, so it was assumed the find would not yield much information
  • In the end the professor decided he should excavate the room looters had tried to reach if only to be able to report the size of the structure along with the paint finding.
  • The Murals
  • They were shocked to run into a 1,200-year-old 6×6 foot room with a brilliantly painted portrait: a Mayan king, sitting on his throne, wearing a red crown with blue feathers flowing out behind him.
  • Other figures in the room are three loincloth-clad figures sit, wearing feathered headdresses and a man painted in brilliant orange wearing jade bracelets reaches out with a stylus
  • Unfortunately the name of the king pictured in the mural room has been lost, but the scribe and king are referred to as Older/Senior & Younger/Junior Obsidian
  • In front of the mural of the king talking to a kneeling attendant is a plaster bench that resembles those used by Mayan rulers at royal court meetings
  • The murals only survived, because, instead of collapsing the room, Mayan engineers filled it with rubble and then built on top of it.
  • The Calendars
  • Along the north and east walls of the room researchers noticed several barely visible hieroglyphic texts, painted and etched
  • The team scanned all of the paintings and numbers, digitally stitched them together, the images were then sent the images to a epigrapher who specializes in studying Maya inscriptions
  • Analysis revealed that at least five of the numerical columns were topped by hieroglyphs that Maya scribes once used to record lunar data
  • The numbers on the wall were calculations that scribes could refer to, much like those in the back of textbooks, to help them track vast amounts of time
  • The books the scribe would have written using these references would have been filled with elaborate calculations intended to predict the city’s fortunes.
  • The calendars mentioned are the 260-day ceremonial calendar, the 365-day solar calendar, the 584-day cycle of the planet Venus and the 780-day cycle of Mars.
  • Symbols of gods head the top of each lunar cycle, suggesting that each cycle had its own patron deity.
  • Near the calendars is a “ring number”-something previously known only from much later Maya books, where it was used as part of a backward calculation in establishing a base date for planetary cycles.
  • These newly discovered astronomical tables are 600 years older than the previous known examples.
  • The markings also suggest dates more than 7,000 thousand years in the future
  • Of Note
  • Until now, Maya astronomical tables were known from bark-paper books, the ‘Dresden Codex,’ created 400 years or more after the ancient civilization’s demise
  • Researchers believe that both these calculations and the ‘Dresden Codex’ came from earlier books that long ago rotted away
  • This room was likely the ancient workroom of a Maya scribe, a record-keeper of Xultún
  • This space is where someone important was living, this important household of the noble class, and here you also have a mathematician working in that space which shows how closely those roles were connected in Mayan society
  • It is likely that this type of room exists at every Maya site in certain periods of the Mayan civilization, but it’s currently the only example thus far
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube VIDEO : Mysterious Maya Calendar & Mural Uncovered | NationalGeographic
  • YouTube VIDEO : Doomsday Delayed? New Maya Calendar Unearthed | AP
  • VIDEO : History News: Mysterious Maya Calendar & Mural Uncovered | nationalgeographic.com
  • VIDEO : Explorers Journal | nationalgeographic.com (vimeo)
  • IMAGES : New Maya Mural, Calendars Debunk 2012 Myth | nationalgeographic.com
  • IMAGE : Calender | LiveScience.com
  • IMAGE GALLERY : Maya Murals: Stunning Images of King & Calendar
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Ancient Maya Astronomical Tables from Xultun, Guatemala | sciencemag.org
  • Painted ancient Maya numbers reflect calendar reaching well beyond 2012 (w/ Video) | phys.org
  • Looting Leads Archaeologists to Oldest Known Mayan Calendar | news.sciencemag.org
  • Nevermind the Apocalypse: Earliest Mayan Calendar Found | news.discovery.com
  • Mayan Ruins Describe Dates Beyond 2012 ‘Doomsday’ | news.discovery.com
  • Unprecedented Maya Mural Found, Contradicts 2012 “Doomsday” Myth | nationalgeographic.com
  • 2012 Pictures: 6 Maya Apocalypse Myths Debunked | nationalgeographic.com
  • End of the World Averted: New Archeological Find Proves Mayan Calendar Doesn’t End | universetoday.com
  • Painted ancient Maya numbers reflect calendar reaching well beyond 2012 (w/ Video) | phys.org
  • Maya wall calendar discovered | ScienceNews.org

*— NEWS BYTE — *

A breathalyzer that does more than find out how much you’ve had to drink



Credit: YouTube Channel VideoNSF

  • The low down
  • Blow into the Single Breath Disease Diagnostics Breathalyzer, and you get tested for a biomarker, a sign of disease
  • The unit is about half the size of your typical shoe box and weighs less than one pound
  • Lights on top of the box will give you an instant readout
  • Green light means you pass (bad breath is not indicative of an underlying disease; perhaps it’s just a result of the raw onions you ingested recently)
  • Red light means you might need to take a trip to the doctor’s office to check if something more serious is an issue.
  • Significance
  • Inside is a sensor chip that is coated with tiny nanowires that look like microscopic spaghetti and are able to detect minute amounts of chemical compounds in the breath
  • The nanowires enable the sensor to detect just a few molecules of the disease marker gas in a ‘sea’ of billions of molecules of other compounds that the breath consists of
  • The nanowires can be rigged to detect infectious viruses and microbes like Salmonella, E. coli or even anthrax
  • Of Note
  • Individual tests such as an acetone-detecting breathalyzer for monitoring diabetes and an ammonia-detecting breathalyzer to determine when to end a home-based hemodialysis treatment–are still being evaluated clinically now
  • Researchers envision developing the technology so that a number of these tests can be performed with a single device
  • It might be possible self-detect a whole range of diseases and disorders, including lung cancer, by just exhaling into a handheld breathalyzer.
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube : Science Nation – This Breathalyzer Reveals Signs of Disease | VideoNSF
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • This breathalyzer reveals signs of disease (w/ Video) | cdn.physorg.com

—TWO-BYTE NEWS—

New cancer research

  • Cancer Inhibitor
  • Bowman-Birk Protease Inhibitor (BBI), has shown promise for preventing certain forms of cancer in clinical trials.
  • BBI is derived from the large amounts of soybeans in traditional Japanese diets might underpin low cancer mortality rates in Japan
  • The current method of extracting BBI from soybeans is time-consuming and involves harsh chemicals
  • Scientists have now found that soybean seeds incubated in water at 122 degrees Fahrenheit naturally release large amounts of BBI that can easily be harvested from the water
  • The protein appeared to be active, with tests showing that it stopped breast cancer cells from dividing in a laboratory dish.
  • Surviving chemotherapy
  • Some cancers are resistant to chemotherapy because they harbor an overactive gene called MGMT, which repairs the cancer cells after chemotherapy damages them.
  • To counteract the gene, physicians sometimes add an MGMT-blocking drug, benzylguanine, but is also makes healthy blood and bone marrow cells easy to kill.
  • Scientists wondered what would happen if healthy cells had mutated version of MGMT called P140K
  • Researchers inserted the P140K gene into the patient’s blood stem cells in bone marrow
  • Immediately after a chemotherapy session the team infused the tweaked stem cells back into each patient.
  • Within weeks, the stem cells had developed into mature blood and marrow cells, with 40% to 60% of them carrying the mutated gene.
  • The chemoresistant healthy cells helped patients undergo the benzylguanine treatments
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Soybeans soaked in warm water naturally release key cancer-fighting substance | phys.org
  • A Shield Against Chemotherapy | news.sciencemag.org

M2-F2 lifting body crash of 1967

  • The low down
  • A Lifting body is a fixed wing aircraft that is designed so that it produces its own lift, where a flying wing has no fuselage a lifting body does
  • On May 10, 1967, the NASA lifting body M2-F2 launched
  • When attempting roll maneuvers the craft unfortunately had a soft feel, which caused the pilot to overcompensate trying to bring the plane under control
  • This lead to “Pilot induced oscillations”, and while the pilot did eventually get control, the aircraft crashed when the pilot saw a rescue helicopter that seemed to pose a collision threat
  • While trying to land in a lakebed, altitude was very hard to judge and the aircraft hit the ground before the landing gear was fully deployed and locked
  • The pilot actually survived and recovered from the crash, but lost vision in his right eye due to infection
  • Significance
  • Portions of the video from that flight from the ground video of the oscillations and the pilot camera were seen in the TV movie The Six Million Dollar Man
  • A brief shot of a later HL–10 model was also seen as it released from its carrier plane
  • Of Note
  • The M2-F2, was reborn as the M2-F3, and was later given to Smithsonian Air and Space Museum You can see it hanging there now.
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube VIDEO : M2-F2 03 | knightwizz
  • YouTube VIDEO : The Six Million Dollar Man TV Intro | The1970sChannel
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • A Crash Made Famous on TV | blog.nasm.si.edu

Light from another planet

  • The low down
  • In 2004, scientists discovered one of the first known stars to host an extrasolar planet, 55 Cancri, via radial velocity measurements
  • Infrared light from ’Hot Jupiters" has been seen from Spitzer, Hubble and Kepler telescopes
  • Spitzer became the first telescope to detect light from a planet beyond our solar system, when it saw the infrared light of a “hot Jupiter
  • When a telescope gazes at a star as a planet circles behind it, the planet disappears from view, the light from the star system dips ever so slightly, but enough that astronomers can determine how much light came from the planet itself
  • The information does however reveal the temperature of a planet, and, in some cases, its atmospheric components
  • Other current planet-hunting methods obtain indirect measurements of a planet by observing its effects on the star.
  • Now for the first time that same method has been used to detect light from a “SuperEarth”
  • At about 8.57 Earth masses Cancri e is tidally locked, so one side always faces the star
  • It was a radius 1.63 times that of Earth, a density is 10.9 ± 3.1 g cm–3 (the average density of Earth is 5.5 g cm–3)
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Light From a ‘SuperEarth’ Detected for the First Time | universetoday.com

Eye see you

  • The low down
  • A handheld computer processes images from a video camera that sits on specialized goggles.
  • Lasers using infrared light inside the goggles send that information to photovoltaic chips implanted in the eye, one-third as thin as a strand of hair
  • Electric currents from the photodiodes on the chip would then trigger signals in the retina, which then flow to the brain, enabling a patient to regain vision.
  • Scientists tested the process in rat retinas in vitro and how they elicited electric responses, which are widely accepted indicators of visual activity, from retinal cells
  • They are now testing the system in live rats, taking both physiological and behavioral measurements
  • There are several other retinal prostheses being developed, and at least two of them are in clinical trials.
  • Those devices require coils, cables or antennas inside the eye to deliver power and information to the retinal implant
  • This new device uses near-infrared light to transmit images, thereby avoiding any need for wires and cables, and making the device thin and easily implantable
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Solar-panel-like retinal prosthesis could better restore sight to blind | phys.org
  • Retinal implants could restore partial vision | sciencenews.org

The water of Earth

  • The low down
  • Although oceans of water cover about 70 percent of Earth’s surface, these oceans are shallow compared to the Earth’s radius
  • This illustration shows what would happen is all of the water on or near the surface of the Earth were bunched up into a ball
  • Further Reading / Media
  • All the Water on Planet Earth | Astronomy Picture of the Day; nasa.gov

SPACECRAFT UPDATE

Opportunity Rover



Credit: marsrover.nasa.gov

Curiosity Rover

SpaceX Dragon



Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems

SCIENCE CALENDER

Looking back

  • May 16, 1866 : 146 years ago : Rootbeer : Charles Elmer Hires a pharmacist from Pennsylvania formulated the eponymous Hires Root Beer. Some say Hires discovered root beer on his honeymoon in New Jersey where the woman who ran his honeymoon hotel served root tea. Hires thought that “root beer” would be more appealing to the working class. Originally, Hires packaged the mixture in boxes and sold it to housewives and soda fountains. They needed to mix in water, sugar, and yeast.He became a millionaire just for selling drinks.
  • May 18 1980 : 32 years ago : Mt. St. Helens : Following a weeklong series of earthquakes and smaller explosions of ash and smoke, the long-dormant Mount St. Helens volcano erupted in Washington state, U.S., hurling ash 15,000 feet into the air and setting off mudslides and avalanches. The eruptions caused minimal damage in the sparsely populated area, but about 400 people – mostly loggers and forest rangers – were evacuated. The explosion was characterized as the equivalent of 27,000 atomic bombs. The cloud of ash eventually circled the globe

Looking up this week

The post Mayan Calendar & Cancer Research | SciByte 46 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> Egyptian Astronomy & Smog | SciByte 45 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/19382/egyptian-astronomy-smog-scibyte-45/ Tue, 08 May 2012 21:23:32 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=19382 How the Egyptians are helping astronomical models today, a star being eaten, strange smog contributors, the upcoming Venus transit, SpaceX spacecraft update

The post Egyptian Astronomy & Smog | SciByte 45 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

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We take a look at how the Egyptians are helping astronomical models today, a star being eaten, strange smog contributors, the upcoming Venus transit, viewer feedback, SpaceX spacecraft update, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

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Show Notes:

Egyptian Astronomy helping further today’s models



Credit: astro.physics.uiowa.edu | Credit: nightskyinfo.com

*— NEWS BYTE — *

Black hole munching on stars



Image Credit: NASA, S. Gezari, A. Rest, and R. Chornock

See smog, think cows



Credit: NASA | Credit : USDA.gov

  • The low down
  • People typically blame Southern California’s smog on automobiles, a new study suggests that cows may be just as responsible, if not more so
  • A large fraction of the region’s smog, especially the particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, is ammonium nitrate
  • Ammonia is generated by cars with certain types of catalytic converters and by bacteria that consume cattle waste
  • When the ammonia reacts with nitrogen oxides that are produced in large quantities in automobile emissions
  • Significance
  • Data gathered during low-altitude flights in and around the Los Angeles basin in May 2010 suggest that the region’s 9.9 million autos generate about 62 metric tons of ammonia each day
  • White ammonia emissions from dairy farms in the eastern portion of the basin—home to about 298,000 cattle—range between 33 and 176 metric tons per day
  • * Of Note*
  • In addition ammonia emissions from the dairy farms are concentrated, boosting atmospheric levels of the gas to more than 100 times background levels
  • So efforts to curb the farms’ emissions (perhaps by feeding the animals different diets) might reduce smog more than those targeting cars.
  • Also theorized to contribute are vapors from paint, fumes from outdoor barbecues, and even the fresh scent emitted by trees
  • Multimedia
  • California Smog | NASA.gov
  • Cow | USDA.gov [Photo by N. Wade Snyder]
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Smog: It’s Not All Cars’ Fault | Science Magazine
  • ScienceShot: There’s Cow in Your Smog | news.sciencemag.org

*— TWO-BYTE NEWS — *

Venus Transit Upcoming on June 5th / 6th


  • * Last time on SciByte*
  • Meteorites & Lasers | SciByte 38 – Venus Transit [March 20, 2012]
  • Curiosity Rover | SciByte 22 – Science Calender [November 22, 2011]
  • The low down
  • On June 5 (June 6 in Australia and Asia), it will pass between the Earth and Sun… an event which only happens about twice and century and won’t happen again until the year 2117!
  • The transit this year will last about 6.5 hours and will be visible from more than half of the Earth’s surface
  • The Sun will set while the transit is still in progress from most of North America, the Caribbean, and northwest South America
  • It will also already be in progress at sunrise for observers in central Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and eastern Africa
  • No portion of the transit will be visible from Portugal or southern Spain, western Africa, and the southeastern 2/3 of South America
  • Between each occurrence is happens at uneven occurrences at 121.5, then 8 then 105.5, then 8 years again. So only four times every 243 years and only in early Dec or early June
  • The next pair of Venus transits occur over a century from now on 2117 Dec 11 and 2125 Dec 08
  • * Of Note*
  • You can start preparations now to view the transit of Venus
  • Many retailers, like amazon, are are carrying special eclipse/transit viewing glasses and lenses
  • Make sure all glasses are sealed and that no sunlight can enter
  • Binoculars and telescopes require special lenses, if you have those you might want to practice before the event
  • Start thinking about what time it will occur in your area
  • Even the Hubble space telescope is getting in on the transit action by looking away from the Sun, more information on that in the SciByte near the transit.
  • Multimedia
  • YouTube VIDEO : NE Live – Transit of Venus Promo for Sun-Earth Day 2012 | SunEarthDay
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • Sun Earth Day
  • 2012 Venus Transit – The Countdown Is On! | UniverseToday.com

*— VIEWER FEEDBACK — *

  • SOFTWARE : MetalFreak
  • “Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go."
  • Screenshots
  • On stellarium.org you can download in Linux, Mac, or Windows
  • [on cnet](https://download.cnet.com/Stellarium/3000–2054_4–10072276.html
  • on Softpedia

SPACECRAFT UPDATE

SpaceX Dragon flight delay

  • * Last time on SciByte*
  • Mining Asteroids & Shuttle Discovery | SciByte 44 – SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket [May 1, 2012]](https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/19186/mining-asteroids-shuttle-discovery-scibyte–44/)
  • Solar Storms & Private Space Flight | SciByte 30 – SpaceX Space Station resupply mission resceduled [January 24, 2012]](https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/16276/solar-storms-private-space-flight-scibyte–30/)
  • The low down
  • On May 2nd it was announced that the launch will likely shift to a later date, possibly May 10
  • A SpaceX spokesperson said that “SpaceX is continuing to work through the software assurance process with NASA. We will issue a statement as soon as a new launch target is set.”
  • The flight was previously delayed from an April 30 launch date to allow more time for tests of Dragon’s flight software. The new delay is also meant to allow for further checkouts.
  • Social Media
  • SpaceX @SpaceX
  • Further Reading / In the News
  • SpaceX
  • SpaceX Says Delay Likely for 1st Private Launch to Space Station | Space.com

SCIENCE CALENDER

Looking back

  • May 9, 1893 : 119 years ago : First motion picture
     : The first motion picture exhibition was given by Thomas Alva Edison in Brooklyn, New York to an audience of 400 people at the Dept of Physics, Brooklyn Institute, Brooklyn, N.Y. using Edision’s Kinetograph. An optical lantern projector showed moving images of a blacksmith and his two helpers passing a bottle and forging a piece of iron. Each filmstrip had 700 images, each image being shown for 1/92 sec. The event was reported in the Scientific American of 20 May 1893.
  • May 9, 1962 : 50 years ago : Moon reached by laser light : A laser beam was bounced off the moon from earth by MIT scientists. The area of the light beam on the surface was estimated at a diameter of 4 miles.

Looking up this week

The post Egyptian Astronomy & Smog | SciByte 45 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

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