Spending time on the open road taught us a lot of lessons, really fast. We share some of our favorites with you, thank some who helped with gear for the trip…

And then discuss our rather nasty leak.

The Rover has been parked (mostly) since the trip, and there is a bit of wear. We’ll probably spend the next couple of videos tackling these challanes. We start with one of our most pressing.

Plus check out the Hyperlapses of Chris at work recording a bunch of shows this weekend!

The post Lessons, Thanks, and a Water Leak | Rover Log 13 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

Windows 10’s first day numbers impress, Google has a new version of Glass, BitDefender gets hacked, Nvidia Tablets catch fire, tiny robots that walk on water… And our Kickstarter of the week!

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Show Notes:

• Windows 10 – The First 24 Hours | Blogging Windows
• Google Quietly Distributes New Version of Glass Aimed at Workplaces – WSJ
• Nvidia recalls all Shield Tablets due to battery fire hazard | The Verge
• Anti-Virus Firm BitDefender Admits Breach, Hacker Claims Stolen Passwords Are Unencrypted – Forbes
• Tiny Robot Runs Across Water, Jumps 14 Times Its Own Height

Kickstarter of the Week:

• Snotbot: Pushing the Frontiers of Whale Research With Drones by Ocean Alliance — Kickstarter

NEED YOUR FEEDSBACKS:

• LINUX Unplugged 103 Multitrack Remaster – FEEDBACK REQUESTED

The post When Tablets KILL | TTT 200 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

Waze signs a deal to share data with local governments, millions are pirate streaming the World Cup, and we’ve got the details on the company’s whose mission it is to shut them down.

Plus can you hear the difference between hot and cold? We take the test.

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Show Notes:

— Headlines —

Millions Watch World Cup Through Pirated Live Streams

Millions of people have tuned in to pirated World Cup streams thus far, with some games getting nearly half a million unauthorized viewers. TorrentFreak spoke with the French-Israeli content protection firm Viaccess-Orca, who sent roughly 2,000 takedown notices to content platforms that host or link to illegally streamed World Cup matches.

“The success rate varies per content platform but overall we manage to get 35 percent of the streaming links disabled before the game ends. I think this is a great success rate, especially compared to direct download sites,” Leporini informs us.

There are still hundreds of thousands of people getting through. The company estimates that between 100,000 and 500,000 people tune in to an average game. Up until last week, Belgium versus Russia was the most-watched match with 471,541 unauthorized viewers.

New Zealand ISP allows its customers to subscribe to the U.S. version of Netflix

Slingshot_, a local internet provider in New Zealand, wants to give its subscribers a little extra perk: The ISP just added a new “global mode”_to its internet plans that allows its customers to access video services like Netflix or Hulu without getting in trouble for coming from the wrong country

Slingshot’s global mode is essentially a VPN, meaning that it reroutes any traffic through servers situated in other countries. Slingshot subscribers using global mode may look like they’re located in New York

Anyone using this type of VPN likely violates the terms of of service of a streaming site, which is why Slingshot coyly suggests that the service is just for customers who happen to house international visitors

Why Google’s Waze Is Helping Local Governments Track Users

What may be especially tantalizing for planners is the super-accurate read Waze gets on exactly where drivers are going, by pinging their phones’ GPS once every second. The app can tell how fast a driver is moving and even get a complete record of their driving history, according to Waze spokesperson Julie Mossler.

Yet this passively-tracked data “is not something we share,” she adds. Waze, which Google bought last year for $1.3 billion, can turn the data spigots on and off through its application programing interface (API).

Waze has been sharing user data with Rio since summer 2013 and it just signed up the State of Florida. It says more departments of transport are in the pipeline.

But none of these partnerships are making Waze any money. The app’s currency of choice is data. “It’s a two-way street,” says Mossler. “Literally.”

In return for its user updates, Waze gets real-time information from Rio on highways, from road sensors and even from cameras, while Florida will give the app data on construction projects or city events.

Florida’s department of transport could not be reached for comment, but one of its spokesmen recently told a local news station: “We’re going to share our information, our camera images, all of our information that comes from the sensors on the roadway, and Waze is going to share its data with us.”

“This is a numbers game,” Mossler says. “We still want all the information we can get so that our app is as robust as possible.”

The Rise of Thin, Mini and Insert Skimmers

While most card skimmers are made to sit directly on top of the existing card slot, these newer mini-skimmers fit snugly inside the card reader throat, obscuring most of the device. This card skimmer was made to fit inside certain kinds of cash machines made by NCR.

The miniaturized insert skimmer was used in tandem with a tiny spy camera to record each customer’s PIN.

The United States is the last of the G-20 nations that has yet to transition to chip & PIN, which means most ATM cards issued in Europe have a magnetic stripe on them for backwards compatibility when customers travel to this country. Naturally, ATM hackers in Europe will ship the stolen card data over to thieves here in the U.S., who then can encode the stolen card data onto fresh (chipless) cards and pull cash out of the machines here and in Latin America.

NPR Listeners Show A Keen Ear For Temperature

NPR conducted an online poll asking listeners if they could hear the difference between cold and hot water simply by listening to the sound of the water being poured. Most listeners were spot-on.

The post Two Waze Street | Tech Talk Today 22 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

We take a look at evidence of inflation at the start of the Universe, water in the Earths crust, giant stars, frozen moss, spacecraft updates, Curiosity news, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

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Gravity, The Big Bang, and Inflation

• As the last untested prediction of Einstein\’s Theory of General Relativity, finding gravitational waves is a big deal.
• Scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in the US have announced what they believe is the indirect detection of gravitational waves in the afterglow of the Big Bang.
• Two People of Note
• Alan Guth, the originator of the inflationary universe theory | Wikipedia
• Andrei Linde, one of the main authors of the inflationary universe theory | Wikipedia
• Looking Back at the Universe
• Alternative theories to inflation do not produce gravitational waves so this is strong evidence not only of the gravitational wave background but also inflation itself.
• The BICEP discovery provides further indirect evidence for the existence of gravitational waves
• Before this announcement we could measure the universe back to about a minute after the Big Bang.
• The finding has allowed us to study the universe when it was a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second old
• There has still been no direct detection of the gravitational radiation, the first direct detection should follow in a few months
• It is envisaged that the experiment will directly detect gravitational radiation coming from astrophysical sources from nearby galaxies
• Q: Can you explain the theory of cosmic inflation first put forth in 1980? | Alan Guth
• The theory of cosmic inflation describes the propulsion mechanism that drove the universe into the period of tremendous expansion that we call the Big Bang, usually describe inflation as a theory of the \”bang\” of the Big Bang
• It is a prequel to the era that cosmologists call the Big Bang, although it of course occurred after the origin of the universe, which is often also called the Big Bang.
• — In Further Detail —
• The original Big Bang theory was really a theory of the aftermath of the bang described how the universe was cooled by the expansion, and how the expansion was slowed by the attractive force of gravity
• Inflation proposes that the expansion of the universe was driven by a repulsive form of gravity.
• According to Newton, gravity is a purely attractive force, but this changed with Einstein and the discovery of general relativity
• General relativity describes gravity as a distortion of spacetime, and allows for the possibility of repulsive gravity
• Modern particle theories strongly suggest that at very high energies, there should exist forms of matter that create repulsive gravity
• Inflation proposes that at least a very small patch of the early universe was filled with this repulsive-gravity material
• During the period of exponential expansion, any ordinary material would thin out, with the density diminishing to almost nothing
• The repulsive-gravity material actually maintains a constant density as it expands, no matter how much it expands
• While this appears to be a violation of conservation energy it actually has a peculiar feature of gravity, the energy of a gravitational field is negative
• As the patch expands at constant density, more and more energy, in the form of matter, is created, at the same time, more and more negative energy appears in the form of the gravitational field that is filling the region
• The total energy remains constant, as it must, and therefore remains very small.
• It is possible that the total energy of the entire universe is exactly zero, with the positive energy of matter completely canceled by the negative energy of gravity
• At some point the inflation ends because the repulsive-gravity material becomes metastable and decays into ordinary particles, producing a very hot soup of particles that form the starting point of the conventional Big Bang
• At that point the repulsive gravity turns off, but the region continues to expand in a coasting pattern for billions of years to come
• Q: What is the new result announced, and how does it provide critical support for your theory? | Alan Guth
• The early universe, as we can see from the afterglow of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, was incredibly uniform
• To have structure form at all, there needed to be small nonuniformities at the end of inflation, the tiny nonuniformities that did exist were then amplified by gravity
• Temperature nonuniformities, which can correlate to density differences, in the cosmic microwave background were first measured in 1992 by the COBE satellite
• These have not generally been seen as proof of inflation, in part because it is not clear that inflation is the only possible way that these fluctuations could have been produced.
• The geometry of space also fluctuates on small scales, due to the physics of quantum theory, and inflation also stretches these fluctuations, producing gravity waves in the early universe.
• The new result, is a measurement of these gravity waves, at a very high level of confidence.
• They do not see the gravity waves directly, but instead they have constructed a very detailed map of the polarization of the CMB in a patch of the sky.
• They have observed a swirling pattern in the polarization (called \”B modes\”) that can be created by gravity waves in the early universe
• This is the first time that even a hint of these primordial gravity waves has been detected, it is also the first time that any quantum properties of gravity have been directly observed
• Q: How would you describe the significance of these new findings, and your reaction to them? | Alan Guth
• These gravity waves can tells us a lot about the details of inflation that we did not already know, it determines the energy density of the universe at the time of inflation, which is something that previously had a wide range of possibilities.
• By determining the energy density of the universe at the time of inflation, the new result also tells us a lot about which detailed versions of inflation are still viable, and which are no longer viable
• While the current result is not by itself conclusive, it does points in the direction of the very simplest inflationary models that can be constructed.
• Of Note
• This is not the first evidence os gravitational waves | The 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Russell Hulse and Joseph Taylor for finding a double pulsar that strongly supported \”ripples\” in spacetime
• The 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to the discovery of tiny changes in temperature in the Cosmic Background Radiation that were discovered by the COBE satellite
• The is not the first discovery of the polarization within the cosmic microwave background, or even the first observations of this type of polarization
• This IS evidence of primordial gravitational waves, that would only be caused by inflation during the early moments of the Universe
• While these results are very credible they have not been peer reviewed yet
• Multimedia
• YouTube | Stanford Professor Andrei Linde celebrates physics breakthrough | StanfordUniversity
• YouTube | A Polarizing Discovery About the Big Bang! | minutephysics
• Further Reading / In the News
• Kenny MacLeod ‏@siabost9deas | RT @grahamfarmelo: Primordial gravity waves discovery-Nobel 2 follow 4 inflation pioneer Alan Guth? https://nyti.ms/1ivEk8k
• First hints of gravitational waves in the Big Bang\’s afterglow | Phys.org
• Alan Guth on new insights into the \’Big Bang\’ | Phys.org
• We\’ve Discovered Inflation! Now What? | UniverseToday.com
• That Moment When the \”Father of Inflation\” Learns of the Detection of Gravitational Waves | UniverseToday.com

— NEWS BYTE —

Water Deep in Earth’s Crust

• The first terrestrial discovery of ringwoodite confirms the presence of massive amounts of water 400 to 700 kilometers beneath Earth\’s surface
• Ringwoodite
• Ringwoodite is a form of the mineral peridot, believed to exist in large quantities under high pressures in the transition zone
• It is notable for being able to contain water within its structure, present not as a liquid but as hydroxide ions (oxygen and hydrogen atoms bound together).
• Ringwoodite has been found in meteorites but, until now, no terrestrial sample has ever been unearthed because scientists haven\’t been able to conduct fieldwork at extreme depths
• The Discovery
• The discovery was almost accidental in that the team had been looking for another mineral when they purchased a three-millimetre-wide, dirty-looking, commercially worthless brown diamond
• The diamond had been brought to the Earth\’s surface by a volcanic rock known as kimberlite — the most deeply derived of all volcanic rocks.
• The ringwoodite itself is invisible to the naked eye, buried beneath the surface, so it was fortunate that it was found
• The sample underwent years of analysis using Raman and infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction before it was officially confirmed as ringwoodite
• Significance
• This discovery confirms about 50 years of theoretical and experimental work by geophysicists, seismologists and other scientists trying to understand the makeup of the Earth\’s interior.
• One of the world\’s leading authorities in the study of deep Earth diamond host rocks, said that the discovery ranks among the most significant of his career
• Scientists have been deeply divided about the composition of the transition zone and whether it is full of water or desert-dry, analysis of the mineral shows it contains a significant amount of water — 1.5 per cent of its weight
• Finding that confirms scientific theories about vast volumes of water trapped 410 to 660 kilometres beneath Earth\’s surface, between the upper and lower mantle.
• This sample really provides extremely strong confirmation that there are local wet spots deep in the Earth, the transition zone, might have as much water as all the world\’s oceans put together
• Knowing water exists beneath the crust has implications for the study of volcanism and plate tectonics, affecting how rock melts, cools and shifts below the crust
• Further Reading / In the News
• Water-rich gem points to vast \’oceans\’ beneath Earth\’s surface, study suggests — ScienceDaily | ScienceDaily.com

— TWO-BYTE NEWS —

Largest Yellow \”Hypergiant\” Star Discovered

• A recent analysis of the star HR 5171 A in the south hemisphere constellation of Centaurus, has revealed the nature of a massive yellow \”hypergiant\” star as one of the largest stars known
• Hypergiant
• These latest measurements place HR 5171 A firmly in the “Top 10” for largest stars in terms of size known, as well as the largest yellow hypergiant star known
• If it was placed into the center of our own solar system, and it would extend out over 6 astronomical units (A.U.s) past the orbit of Jupiter
• Only eight yellow hypergiants have been identified in our Milky Way galaxy but are some of the brightest stars known, if you placed a star like HR 5171 A 32 light years from the Earth, it would easily cast a shadow.
• Companion Star
• The relatively small companion star orbitis across our line of sight once every 1300 days, and is a large star in its own right at around six solar masses and 400 solar radii in size.
• The discovery of a companion around such a bright star was a big surprise since any ‘normal’ star should at least be 10,000 times fainter than the hypergiant
• What we see is not the companion itself, but the regions gravitationally controlled and filled by the wind from the hypergiant
• The System
• The binary system weighs in at a combined 39 solar masses, has a radius of over 1,300 times that of our Sun, and is a million times as luminous
• The surface-to-surface distance for the A and B components of the system are “only” about 2.8 A.U.s apart
• This all means that these two massive stars are in physical contact, with the expanded outer atmosphere of the bloated primary contacting the secondary, giving the pair a distorted peanut shape.
• Further Reading / In the News
• Astronomers Identify the Largest Yellow \”Hypergiant\” Star Known | UniverseToday.com

Frozen Moss Back to Life

• Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey and Reading University have demonstrated that, after over 1,500 years frozen in Antarctic ice, moss can come back to life and continue to grow
• The Discovery
• This is the first study to show such long-term survival in any plant; similar timescales have only been seen before in bacteria
• This moss would already have been at least decades old when it was first frozen
• The team took cores of moss from deep in a frozen moss bank in the Antarctic then placed it in an incubator at a normal growth temperature and light level and after only a few weeks, the moss began to grow
• Using carbon dating, the team identified the moss to be at least 1,530 years of age, and possibly even older, at the depth where the new growth was seen.
• Further Reading / In the News
• Back to life after 1,500 years: Moss brought back to life after 1,500 years frozen in ice | ScienceDaily.com

— SPACECRAFT UPDATE—

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

• Images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show a new channel in the southern hemisphere region of Terra Siernum that appeared between November 2010 and May 2013, this particular feature is likely not due to that liquid
• Images
  • This pair of images shows that material flowing down from an alcove at the head of a gully broke out of an older route and eroded a new channel
• Gullies or ravinea landforms are common on Mars, particularly in the southern highlands, these ravines tend to happen in the southern highlands and other mid-latitude regions on
• It’s unclear in what season the activity occurred because the observations took place more than a Martian year apart
• This type of activity generally occurs in winter, at temperatures so cold that carbon dioxide, rather than water, is likely to play the key role
• Further Reading / In the News
• New Gully Appears On Mars, But It\’s Likely Not Due To Water | UniverseToday.com

— CURIOSITY UPDATE —

• NASA’s Curiosity rover has just pulled into terrain chock full of curvy rock outcrops at Kimberly that’s suitable for contact science and drilling action
• The robot’s arm has been deployed to investigate the most scientifically productive spots, and is conducting contact science with the cameras and spectrometers on the terminus of the 7 foot long robotic arm
• The mast mounted ChemCam laser and high resolution cameras are being used to determine the best spot for drilling and sampling.
• The team commanded Curiosity to clean out the arms CHIMRA sample handling mechanism in anticipation of boring into the Martian outcrops and delivering samples of cored Martian rocks to the SAM and CheMin miniaturized chemistry labs
• Scientists directed Curiosity on a pinpoint drive to Kimberly after their interest was piqued by orbital images taken NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) where they see three terrain types exposed and a relatively dust-free surface
• The missions science focus has shifted to “search for that subset of habitable environments which also preserves organic carbon
• To date Curiosity’s odometer stands at 6.2 kilometers and has somewhat over another 4 kilometers to go to reach the base of Mount Sharp
• It may arrive at the lower reaches of Mount Sharp sometime in mid 2014, but must first pass through a potentially treacherous dune field
• Multimedia
• Image Galleries at JPL and Curiosity Mulimedia
• Social Media
• Curiosity Rover @MarsCuriosity
• Further Reading / In the News
• Curiosity Pulls into Kimberly and Spies Curvy Terrain For Drilling Action | UniverseToday.com

SCIENCE CALENDAR

Looking back

• Mar 28, 1949 : 65 years ago : “Big Bang” Coined : Fred Hoyle unintentionally coined the term “Big Bang” as a household name, in a scripted radio broadcast on the BBC Third Programme. His talk was printed in the The Listener (7 Apr 1949). He compared his own belief in a “steady state” universe, saying, “earlier theories … were based on the hypothesis that all the matter in the universe was created in one big bang at a particular time in the remote past.” He repeated its use in a 1950 broadcast published in The Listener (9 Mar 1950): “One [idea] was that the Universe started its life a finite time ago in a single huge explosion… This big bang idea seemed to me to be unsatisfactory.” His critics found the “big bang” term pejorative, yet Hoyle has said his intention was to make a vivid description for the radio audience. The term stuck

Looking up this week

• Keep an eye out for …
• Thurs, Mar 26 | ~1 hour before dawn | Venus is near the thin moon in the E-SE
• Planets
• Venus | \”Morning Star\” | Before and during dawn Venus is in the SE
• Mars | 9pm | Rises in the SE, with Spica 6* to its right. The two are their highest point around 2am with Spica now 5-6* to the lower right
• Jupiter | Is the only planet visible right now in the evenings and is high in the SE, it crosses nearly overhead (for skywatchers at mid-northern latitudes) around 8 or 9 p.m. and sets in the West around 3am

• Saturn | 11pm | Rises around 11 or and is highest in the south around 4am. By then it\’s far to the left of Mars and Spica

• Further Reading and Resources

• Sky&Telescope
• SpaceWeather.com
• StarDate.org
• For the Southern hemisphere: SpaceInfo.com.au
• Constellations of the Southern Hemisphere : astronomyonline.org
• Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand : rasnz.org.nz
• AstronomyNow
• HeavensAbove

The post Inflation & Frozen Moss | SciByte 124 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

After three months building pressure the Ukraine is exploding this week, as anti-government protests turn more and more violent. Now the United States and Russia find themselves in a pissing match over who is more just to influence the revolution. The propaganda is flying, and we’ll break it down and discuss the real reasons the people are taking to the streets.

New Snowden leaks reveal the NSA tracked WikiLeaks supporters, legal bud gets a money boost from the feds, Syria is heating back up, and much much more.

On this week’s episode of, Unfilter.

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— Show Notes —

NSA is Crazy

• Snowden Documents Reveal Covert Surveillance and Pressure Tactics Aimed at WikiLeaks and Its Supporters – The Intercept

The efforts – detailed in documents provided previously by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden – included a broad campaign of international pressure aimed not only at WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, but at****what the U.S. government calls “the human network that supports WikiLeaks.” The documents also contain internal discussions about targeting the file-sharing site Pirate Bay and hacktivist collectives such as Anonymous.

• Utah Mulls Measures to Help, Limit NSA Data Center – ABC News

“The end game here is to limit the encroachment on our 4th Amendment rights,” Roberts told the Daily Herald of Provo. “We’d love to see Congress fix that on their own, but I don’t have a lot of faith in that happening. So this is a state effort to take a step in that direction.”

He does have supporters, though, including the Libertas Institute, a libertarian-leaning think tank in Utah.

• Libertas Institute of Utah | Individual Liberty, Private Property, Free Enterprise

Advancing the cause of liberty in Utah

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Ukraine mayhem

• Kiev drone footage: Aerial view of burning Maidan amid Ukranian riots – YouTube

• Ukraine parliament to work on constitution bill

Opposition leaders, backed by protesters in the streets, want a return to a constitution enacted in 2004 that would move substantial powers over the government from the president to parliament – a proposal rejected by President Viktor Yanukovich and his supporters, who have had a majority in the legislature.

• Ukraine: Deadly clashes around parliament in Kiev

The proposals would curb the powers of President Viktor Yanukovych, but the opposition say they were blocked from submitting their draft, meaning no debate could take place.

• Ukraine Facing Civil War: Lviv Declares Independence from Yanukovich Rule

The development came after clashes between police and protesters left at least 25 people dead in capital Kiev.

Ukrainian police yesterday moved in to clear a protest camp in Kiev’s Independence Square, known as the Maidan, the heart of anti-government demonstrations sparked by President Yanukovich’s rejection of a trade and investment deal with the European Union last November.

• Rioters seize over 1,500 guns in Ukraine mayhem – security services

Ukraine’s security service has announced it is launching a counter-terror operation. Radicals have seized over 1,500 firing arms and 100,000 bullets in the last 24 hours, the service said.

Reacting to the “conscious, purposeful use of force by means of arson, killings, kidnapping and terrorizing people,” which Yakimenko treats as “terrorist acts,” the Security Service and Anti-terrorist center of Ukraine have decided to launch a counter-terrorist operation.

• Venezuelan opposition leader Lopez due in court after surrendering

The man the government blames for the deaths is opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who turned himself in to authorities on Tuesday.

• This one map helps explain Ukraine’s protests

What’s happening in Ukraine is complicated and driven by many factors: the country’s history as an unhappy component of the Soviet Union, its deep economic woes, a sense of cultural fondness for the West, wide discontent with government corruption, two decades of divided politics and a sense that Yanukovych caved to Putin.

No single datapoint could capture or explain all of that. But the map below comes perhaps as close as anything could. It shows Ukraine, color-coded by the country’s major ethnic and linguistic divisions. Below, I explain why this map is so important and why it helps to tell Ukraine’s story. The short version: Ukraine’s politics have long been divided into two major factions by the country’s demographics. What’s happening right now is in many ways a product of that division, which has never really been reconciled.

Roughly speaking, about four out of every six people in Ukraine are ethnic Ukrainian and speak the Ukrainian language. Another one in six is ethnic Russian and speaks Russian. The last one-in-six is ethnic Ukrainian but speaks Russian. This map shows where each of those three major groups tend to live. (I’m rounding a bit on the numbers; about five percent of Ukrainians are minorities who don’t fit in any of those three categories.)

Here’s why this matters for what’s happening in Ukraine now: Since it declared independence in 1991, the country has been politically divided along these ethnic-linguistic lines. In national elections, people from districts dominated by that majority group (Ukrainian-speakers who are ethnically Ukrainian) tend to vote for one candidate. And people from districts with lots of ethnic Russians or Russian-speakers tend to vote for the other candidate.

Bonus Round

• Obama administration clears banks to accept funds from legal marijuana dealers

The Obama administration on Friday gave the banking industry the green light to finance and do business with legal marijuana sellers, a move that could further legitimize the burgeoning industry.

For the first time, legal distributors will be able to secure loans and set up checking and savings accounts with major banks that have largely steered clear of those businesses. The decision eliminates a key hurdle facing marijuana sellers, who can now legally conduct business in 20 states and the District.

• As Syria threat expands, Obama mulls options

They are also are looking at newer, more far-reaching options, including drone strikes on extremists and more forceful action against Assad, whom President Barack Obama told to leave power 30 months ago.

Obama’s top aides plan to meet at the White House before week’s end to examine options, according to administration officials.

• Homeland Security is seeking a national license plate tracking system – The Washington Post

The national license-plate recognition database, which would draw data from readers that scan the tags of every vehicle crossing their paths, would help catch fugitive illegal immigrants, according to a DHS solicitation. But the database could easily contain more than 1 billion records and could be shared with other law enforcement agencies,

A spokeswoman for DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) stressed that the database “could only be accessed in conjunction with ongoing criminal investigations or to locate wanted individuals.”

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The post Insane In The Ukraine | Unfilter 86 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

We take a look at habitable zone exoplanets, diabetes treatment advances, water in Jupiter, living on Mars, spacecraft updates, Curiosity news, and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

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Show Notes:

More Habitable Zone Exoplanets

• Astronomers have announced that they have found three new, potentially rocky, planets in the habitable zone of their stars by analyzing nearly three years’ worth of data
• Kepler Space Telescope
• As of April 2013, Kepler data has uncovered more than 2,700 potential planets, with about 120 of them having been confirmed to date
• Mission scientists expect that more than 90 percent of the planets detected are real and not illusions in the data
• Until now planets in the habitable zone were discovered by what is known as the radial velocity method, which gives a lower limit for the planet’s mass, but no information about its radius
• While a small radius (less than 2 Earth radii) is a strong indicator that a planet around is indeed rocky it is difficult to assess whether or not a planet is rocky, like the Earth.
• Finding planets in the habitable zones of larger stars is harder because those planets have relatively long orbits and barely cast a shadow as they pass across the faces of their suns
• Kepler-62
• Kepler62 is a red dwarf star, about two-thirds the size of the sun and several hundred degrees Celsius cooler
• It is only 20 percent as bright as the sun and is about 1,200 light years away and contains five planets currently identified
• Two of the worlds, Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f are the smallest exoplanets yet found in a habitable zone, and they might both be covered in water or ice, depending on what kind of atmosphere they might have
• Life on these worlds would be under water with no easy access to metals, to electricity, or fire for metallurgy
• The biggest uncertainty right now is about both planets composition, early evidence suggests that at least 62f is rocky
• Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f would exhibit distinctly different colors and make our search for signatures of life easier on such planets in the near future
• Kepler-62e
• Orbit is 122 days
• 1.6 times the diameter of Earth
• Kepler-62e would have a bit more clouds than Earth according to computer models to sustain an ocean
• An astronomer at the University of Washington not involved in the research says that Kepler-62e may be too close to its star – and therefore too hot – to sustain life
• If 62e is a rocky planet, it’s almost certainly tidally locked with its star, half of its surface always facing the star, and the other always facing away
• Kepler62-f
• Orbit is 267 days
• 1.4 times the diameter of Earth
• Kepler-62f would need the greenhouse effect from plenty of carbon dioxide to warm it enough to host an ocean
• Kepler-69 System
• Kepler-36 is a sun-like star located 2,700 light-years away,
• The Kepler-69 system contains one known planet in that star\’s habitable zone
• Kepler-69c
• 1.7 times bigger than Earth, sits on the inner edge of the habitable zone and is almost certainly a super-Venus rather than a super-Earth
• Habitable Zone Types
• The \”empirical habitable zone\” is where liquid water can exist on the surface of a planet if that planet has sufficient cloud cover
• The \”narrow habitable zone\” is where liquid water can exist on the surface even without the presence of a cloud cover
• Of Note
• According to the Planetary Habitability Laboratory, there are now nine potential habitable worlds outside of our solar system, with 18 more potentially habitable planetary candidates found by Kepler waiting to be confirmed
• Astronomers predict there are 25 potentially habitable exomoons
• Kepler cannot search for signs of life on worlds like Kepler-62e, Kepler-62f and Kepler-69c, but the telescope is paving the way for future missions that should do just that
• Next-generation missions like the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, which NASA approved earlier this month for launch in 2017, will take on the task of finding nearer planets that astronomers can study in depth
• Multimedia
• YouTube | Animation of the Kepler 62 Planetary System | UniverseTodayVideos
• YouTube | NASA\’s Kepler Discovers Its Smallest \’Habitable Zone\’ Planets to Date | NASASolarSystem
• Infographic | 3 Potentially Habitable Super-Earth Planets Explained | Space.com
• IMAGE | Diagram compares the planets of the inner solar system to Kepler-69 | Image credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech
• IMAGE | Diagram compares the planets of the inner solar system to Kepler-62 | Image credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech
• IMAGE | Current known potentially habitable exoplanets | Credit: Planetary Habitability Laboratory/University of Puerto Rico, Arecibo.
• IMAGE | The habitable zone for different types of stars | Image: L. Kaltenegger (MPIA)
• YouTube | Full Anouncement | Kepler Makes Discoveries Inside the Habitable Zone | NASAtelevision
• Further Reading / In the News
• Discovered! Most Earth-Like Alien Planet & 2 Other Possibly Habitable Worlds | Space.com
• Most Earthlike planets yet seen bring Kepler closer to its holy grail | Atom & Cosmos | Science News
• Habitable Worlds? New Kepler Planetary Systems in Images | UniverseToday.com
• Kepler Team Finds System with Two Potentially Habitable Planets | UniverseToday.com

— NEWS BYTE —

New Possible Diabetes Treatment Option

• Researchers have discovered a hormone that holds promise for a dramatically more effective treatment of type 2 diabetes and believe that the hormone might also have a role in treating type 1, or juvenile, diabetes
• Type 1 Diabetes
• While betatrophin primarily as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, it is believed it might play a role in the treatment of type 1 diabetes as well
• Perhaps boosting the number of beta cells and slowing the progression of that autoimmune disease when it\’s first diagnosed
• Type 2 Diabetes
• Type 2 diabetes is usually caused by a combination of excess weight and lack of exercise and causes patients to slowly lose beta cells and the ability to produce adequate insulin
• Provide this hormone, the type 2 diabetic will make more of their own insulin-producing cells, and this will slow down, if not stop, the progression of their diabetes
• Betatrophin
• The hormone, called betatrophin, causes mice to produce insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cells at up to 30 times the normal rate
• In addition the new beta cells only produce insulin when called for by the body, offering the potential for the natural regulation of insulin
• The researchers know that the hormone exists in human plasma; betatrophin definitely exists in humans
• The Research
• The team wasn\’t just looking at what happens when an animal doesn\’t have enough insulin, they were able to find this a gene that had largely gone unnoticed before
• Another hint came from studying what happens during pregnancy, when there are more beta cells needed, and it turns out that this hormone goes up
• When a woman gets pregnant, her carbohydrate load, her call for insulin, can increase an enormous amount because of the weight and nutrition needs of the fetus
• The Future
• Betatrophin could be in human clinical trials within three to five years, an extremely short time in the normal course of drug discovery and development
• If it works as they hope it will it could eventually mean that instead of taking insulin injections three times a day, you might take an injection of this hormone once a week or month, or even year
• The researchers who discovered betatrophin caution that much work remains to be done before it could be used as a treatment in humans
• Multimedia
• YouTube | Potential Diabetes Breakthrough | Harvard
• Further Reading / In the News
• Potential diabetes breakthrough: Researchers discover new hormone spurring beta cell production | MedicalXPress.com

Soaking up Venom in Blood

• A tiny sponge camouflaged as a red blood cell could soak up toxins ranging from anthrax to snake venom, new research suggests
• Bacteria and Poisons
• One of the mainstay strategies of bacteria and poison is to poke holes in cells, disrupting their internal chemical balance and causing them to burst
• So far, researchers haven\’t had much success creating all-purpose treatments to exploit this vulnerability
• Nanosponges
• Researchers created a tiny spherical core of a lactic acid byproduct, which forms naturally during metabolism in the human body
• To get the outer skin of red blood cells, they used a difference in particle concentration inside and outside the cells to cause them to burst, and then collected their outer membranes
• They then wrapped the cores in the outer surface of the red blood cell
• The nanoparticles, also called nanosponges, act as decoys that lure and inactivate the deadly compounds
• The entire ensemble became a tiny nanosponge, which was about 85 nanometers in diameter, or 100 times smaller than a human hair
• The sponges\’ tiny size means a small amount of blood, for camouflage, can be used to make an effective dose
• In cell cultures, the camouflaged sponges act as decoys, luring the toxins from the bacteria that causes strep throat and bee venom
• The toxins then bind to the structure the \”poisons\” normally use to poke through cells
• When they stick onto the nanosponge, that particular damaging structure gets preoccupied, since the sponges are so small they can circulate freely through blood vessels, and then the body can digest the entire particle
• Experiment
• The team injected 18 mice with a lethal dose of a MRSA, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, toxin. Half the mice then got a dose of the nanosponges
• Whereas all the mice in the control group died, all but one that received the treatment survived
• When injected into mice, the tiny decoys protect mice against lethal doses of a toxin produced by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.
• The Future
• The researchers want to see whether the method works in human blood, and against other toxic chemicals, such as scorpion venom and anthrax, which use similar attack strategies
• Because so many bacteria use the same pore-forming strategy, the nanosponges could be used as a universal treatment option when doctors don\’t know exactly what is causing an illness
• Further Reading / In the News
• Tiny Sponge Soaks Up Venom in Blood | Scientific American

— TWO-BYTE NEWS —

Water in Jupiter\’s Clouds

• How Did It Get There?
• In July 1994, the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 plowed into Jupiter leaving behind millions of gallons of water.
• Water from the impact still makes up at least 95 percent of the water in the planet’s upper atmosphere
• Telescopes had previously spotted water in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere, some 100 kilometers above the planet’s ammonia cloud tops, but those surveys could not determine where the water came from
• Now astronomers have created a high-resolution map of water vapor distribution throughout Jupiter’s atmosphere
• They found that the concentration of water peaked in the planet’s southern hemisphere, right in the region where the comet struck
• More water also appeared at higher altitudes around the planet, which supports the comet as its origin.
• Water from other sources such as Jupiter’s icy moons would likely spread out more evenly around the planet and would gradually filter down to lower altitudes
• Multimedia
• Comet Shoemaker Levy 9 – How The Universe Works | DiscoveryTV
• Further Reading / In the News
• News in Brief: Comet\’s water still hanging around on Jupiter | Atom & Cosmos | Science News

MarsOne and Life on Mars and Science

• Mars colony project will do its best to avoid disturbing potential Red Planet life rather than aggressively hunt it down
• Science and Life
• The Netherlands-based nonprofit Mars One opened its astronaut-selection process on April 22
• They plan to land four people on the Red Planet in 2023 to make a permanent human colony on the Red Planet, with new crews arriving every two years thereafter
• Human explorers will doubtless contaminate whatever site is chosen for the settlement, so the organization will try to pick a place unlikely to host indigenous life to localize the pollution
• Mars One is working with experts to minimize the risks its colonization effort may pose to potential Red Planet lifeforms
• While Mars One hasn\’t picked a precise location for its settlement yet, the organization is targeting a swath of the Red Planet between 40 and 45 degrees north latitude
• Mars One astronauts will not necessarily be scientists
• Anyone over the age of 18 is eligible to apply, with the selection committee prizing traits such as intelligence, resourcefulness, determination and psychological stability over academic background
• Science is not the main focus of what we are doing; although, crewmembers will take some scientific gear with them
• Mars One officials won\’t dictate what the experiments should be, but there will be a budget for equipment that they want to take for scientific research
• Multimedia
• Mars 2023 – Inhabitants wanted | MarsOneProject
• YouTube Channel | Mars One – Human Settlement of Mars
• Further Reading / In the News
• Mars One
• Private Mars Colony Won\’t Seek Martian Life | Mars One | Space.com

— VIEWER FEEDBACK—

Peter, AKA \”Korlus\” | Check This Out!

• On April 4, 2012 he Fermi spacecraft almost ended it\’s mission to map the highest-energy light in the universe because of a collision with a dead Cold-War spy satellite
• What Happened?
• An automatically generated report arrived from NASA\’s Robotic Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis (CARA) team based at NASA\’s Goddard Space Flight Center was sent to the FERMI team just one week away from an unusually close encounter with Cosmos 1805, a defunct spy satellite dating back to the Cold War.
• The two objects, speeding around Earth at thousands of miles an hour in nearly perpendicular orbits, were expected to miss each other by a mere 700 feet
• An update days later indicated the satellites would occupy the same point in space within 30 milliseconds of each other
• Using thrusters for use at the end of Fermi\’s operating life designed to take it out of orbit and allow it burn up in the atmosphere they were able to adjust the orbit just slightly enough to evade a collision
• The U.S. Space Surveillance Network continues to keep tabs on every artificial object larger than 4 inches across in Earth orbit. Of the 17,000 objects currently tracked, only about 7 percent are active satellites
• Multimedia
• YouTube | Near Miss – Dead Russian Spy Satellite Forces NASA Probe Move | VideoFromSpace
• YouTube | Animation of Earth with Near-Earth Orbital Debris [HD] | TheMarsUnderground
• Further Reading / In the News
• Mars One
• Private Mars Colony Won\’t Seek Martian Life | Mars One | Space.com

— SPACECRAFT UPDATE—

New Atlantis Exhibit Prep

• The Space shuttle Atlantis is set to go on public display June 29 at NASA\’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida
• Shuttle Reveal
• It was revealed Friday, April 26 after workers spent two days peeling off its protective shrink-wrap cover of the past five months.
• Workers began carefully cutting back the 16,000 square feet (1,486 square meters) of shrink wrap that protected Atlantis as its $100 million exhibition building was completed around it
• By the end of the first day, the shuttle\’s nose, tail, aft engines and left wing were exposed, the workers completed the process the next day, revealing Atlantis\’ right wing and its 60-foot-long (18 meter) payload bay
• Opening the payload bay is set to begin in May, will take about two weeks, as the doors are very slowly hoisted open, one by one.
• Atlantis has been mounted. Thirty feet (9 meters) in the air, the space shuttle has been tilted 43.21 degrees, such that its left wing extends toward the ground.
• Atlantis will appear to be back in space – an effect that will be enhanced by lighting and a mural-size digital screen that will project the Earth\’s horizon behind the shuttle
• Multimedia
• YouTube Clip | Uncovering the Nose
• YouTube Clip | Uncovering a Wing
• YouTube Clip | Peeling Back the Layers
• YouTube | Shuttle Atlantis Unwrapped & Revealed at Kennedy Visitor Center | SpaceVidsNet
• Further Reading / In the News
• Atlantis Exposed: Space Shuttle Fully Unwrapped for NASA Exhibit | Kennedy Space Center | Space.com

SpaceShipTwo

• Last Time on SciByte
• SciByte 91 | Apollo 13 and Brain Training | Virgin Galactic Test Flight
• Lights Hybrid Rocket Engines
• Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2) commercial spaceliner named “Enterprise” lit up her hybrid rocket engines in flight and reached supersonic speeds for the first time in history on
• The Breakdown
• Once SpaceShipTwo is operational, WhiteKnightTwo will carry the vehicle up to an altitude of about 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) before releasing it.
• After separation, SpaceShipTwo will accelerate to 2,500 mph (4,000 km/h) and eventually pass an altitude of 62 miles (100 kilometers), the point at which passengers are considered astronauts
• The spaceship will reach a peak altitude of 68 miles (110 km), giving the six passengers and two pilots about five minutes of weightlessness
• Upon re-entry, SpaceShipTwo will be able to land on a conventional runway
• A seat on board a SpaceShipTwo flight costs $200,000. More than 550 people have put down deposits to reserve a spot
• Multimedia
• YouTube Clip | Release and Rocket Start
• YouTube Clip | In Orbit
• YouTube Clip | Weightless M-M\’s
• YouTube | Virgin Galactic 8 5min video
• Further Reading / In the News
• SpaceShipTwo Fires Rocket Engines for First Ever Supersonic Test Flight- Photos & Video | UniverseToday.com

Opportunity Rover Back Fron Glitch

• Mars rover Opportunity has overcome a glitch that put the robot into standby mode late last month
• What Happened?
• Opportunity apparently put itself into standby auto mode, in which it maintains power balance but waits for instructions from the ground, on April 22, after sensing a problem during a routine camera check, mission officials said.
• The rover\’s handlers didn\’t notice the problem until April 27, when Opportunity got back in touch after a nearly three-week communications moratorium
• They then prepared a new set of commands on April 29 designed to get things back to normal, and the fix has apparently worked
• Further Reading / In the News
• Mars Rover Opportunity Back in Action After Glitch | Mars Solar Conjunction | Space.com

— CURIOSITY UPDATE —

• Smithsonian Award
• The team in charge of successfully landing NASA\’s Mars rover Curiosity has received the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum\’s highest group honor
• The award is for Current Achievement honors outstanding achievements in the fields of aerospace science and technology
• Several NASA planetary mission teams have won the award in previous years, including last year, when NASA\’s Cassini mission to Saturn
• Haiku to Mars
• NASA is inviting members of the public to submit their names and a personal message online for a DVD to be carried aboard a spacecraft that will study the Martian upper atmosphere
• Information in the show was not all correct, corrected information to come next week
• Conjunction
• YouTube | Mars in a Minute: What Happens When the Sun Blocks our Signal? | JPLnews
• Multimedia
• YouTube | Current Achievement Trophy Award 2013: Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) Team | airandspace
• YouTube Curiosity Rover Report JPLnews
• Image Galleries at JPL and Curiosity Mulimedia
• Social Media
• Curiosity Rover @MarsCuriosity
• Further Reading / In the News
• National Air and Space Museum’s Trophy Awarded to Joseph Sutter and the Mars Science Laboratory EDL Team | Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Press Release
• Curiosity Wins National Air and Space Museum Trophy | https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov
• NASA Wants To Send Your Haiku To Mars | Popular Science

SCIENCE CALENDAR

Looking back

• May 01, 1958 : 55 years ago : Van Allen radiation belts : The discovery of the powerful Van Allen radiation belts that surround Earth was published in the Washington Evening Star. The article covered the report made by their discoverer James. A. Van Allen to the joint symposium of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Physical Society in Washington DC. He used data from the Explorer I and Pioneer III space probes of the earth\’s magnetosphere region to reveal the existence of the radiation belts – concentrations of electrically charged particles. Van Allen (born 7 Sep 1914) was also featured on the cover of the 4 May 1959 Time magazine for this discovery. He was the principal investigator on 23 other space probes

Looking up this week

• Keep an eye out for …
• Thurs | May 9 | New Moon is around 8:28pm EDT in the NW
• Fri | May 10 | ~30 min after sunset you might be able to see a very thin crescent moon near Venus
• Fri | May 10 | An annular eclipse of the Sun crosses parts of Australia and the central Pacific. The eclipse is partial for all of Australia, Indonesia, and Hawaii Map and details
• Sat | May 11 | Evening twilight in the W you can see the crescent moon below Jupiter
• Planets
• Venus | About 15-20 min after sunset in the W-NW it i starting to appear in the evening
• Jupiter | The first \”star\” to come out in the W after sunset, appearing a little lower each day and moving towards the horizon over the course of each night

• Saturn | Was at opposition last week, but still glows bright in the lower E-SE skies in late twilight

• Further Reading and Resources

• Sky&Telescope
• SpaceWeather.com
• StarDate.org
• For the Southern hemisphere: SpaceInfo.com.au
• Constellations of the Southern Hemisphere : astronomyonline.org
• Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand : rasnz.org.nz
• AstronomyNow
• HeavensAbove

The post Habitable Exoplanets & Diabetes | SciByte 92 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

We take a look at how sounds are connected to coma patients, water on Mercury, Subglacial lakes, long lasting bread, updates on Voyager 1 and Curiosity and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

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The post Curiosity & Subglacial Life | SciByte 73 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

Angela and Chris discuss tips for conserving water, why water is so important, and and many other aspects (including what not to do with water).

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Show Notes:

Watch Blue Gold: World Water Wars

Blue Gold: World Water Wars Trailer – YouTube

Blue Gold: World Water Wars Website: https://www.bluegold-worldwaterwars.com/

Blue Gold DVD on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001MWGZ6S/?tag=thelinactsho-20

97% of water is in oceans https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/oceanwater.html

more than 95 percent of the underwater world remains unexplored. https://www.noaa.gov/ocean.html

All of Earth’s water: https://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/2010/gallery/global-water-volume.html

Water desalinination: https://environment.about.com/od/biodiversityconservation/a/desalination.htm
– the most expensive form of fresh water
– desalinated water costs at least five times as much to harvest
– Ocean water is filled with living creatures, and most of them are lost in the process of desalination
– salty residue left over from desalination must be disposed of properly, not just dumped back into the sea

100 ways to conserve water: https://wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/

1. Run your clothes washer and dishwasher only when they are full. You can save up to 1,000 gallons a month.
2. Use a broom instead of a hose to clean your driveway and sidewalk and save water every time.
3. Shorten your shower by a minute or two and you\’ll save up to 150 gallons per month.
4. Put food coloring in your toilet tank. If it seeps into the toilet bowl without flushing, you have a leak. Fixing it can save up to 1,000 gallons a month.
5. Use a water-efficient showerhead. They\’re inexpensive, easy to install, and can save you up to 750 gallons a month.
6. Use a commercial car wash that recycles water.
7. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth and save 25 gallons a month.
8. If your dishwasher is new, cut back on rinsing. Newer models clean more thoroughly than older ones.
9. Drop your tissue in the trash instead of flushing it and save water every time.
10. Listen for dripping faucets and running toilets. Fixing a leak can save 300 gallons a month or more.
11. Turn off the water while you wash your hair to save up to 150 gallons a month.
12. When shopping for a new clothes washer, compare resource savings among Energy Star models. Some of these can save up to 20 gallons per load, and energy too.
13. Turn off the water while you shave and save up to 300 gallons a month.

• Water Condom Head Balloon
• Catch the Ice Dude
• The Weirdest Commercial For Mineral Water
• Milk Jug Pumpkins!

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The post Conserving Water | FauxShow 112 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

Some call it one of the most significant public health advances in history, others call it a dangerous toxic substance. In this episode we look at the Fluoride debate.

And a new generation of technology is empowering our cars, but what is being done to safeguard your privacy?

Plus: Your feedback, and our follow up.

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Show Notes:

ACT ONE:

• Drug tunnels discovered days apart in U.S., Mexico

• New car technology is keeping people safer on the roads without potentially violating privacy unlike madating

  • Congress Closes In on Car \’Black Box\’ Law
  • Cars Should Automatically Call for Help After Crashes, EU Parliament Says More about eCall in the EU here

• Americans\’ Confidence in Television News Drops to New Low

• S. Korean develops efficient, marketable bio oil plant

• ACTA Lives: How the EU & Canada Are Using CETA as Backdoor Mechanism To Revive ACTA

• Kim Dotcom Offers the DoJ a Deal
  

• Wikipedia Russia, Other Sites Protest Proposed Internet \’censorship\’ Law

ACT TWO:

• Professional Perspectives: Fluoride in Tap Water – YouTube
• Fluoride & Pineal Gland
• Fluoride and The Pineal Gland – YouTube
• Basic Information about Fluoride in Drinking Water | EPA
• Fluoride Risk Assessment and Relative Source Contribution
• EPA Reverses Itself on Fluoride
• EPA lowers Fluoride in Water due to Health Hazards
• EPA Proposes Phaseout of Fluoride-Based Pesticide
• 
  WHY EPA HEADQUARTERS UNION OF SCIENTISTS
  OPPOSES FLUORIDATION
  
• EPA Union Calls for Moratorium on Water Fluoridation
• Fluoride Report Confirms EPA Union\’s 20-year-old Concerns
• Fed up with fluoride flap, Everett councilmen walk out of meeting
• Fluoride-free Calgary savings go to children’s dental health
• How to Remove Fluoride from Drinking Water
• Officials Say Kids Getting Too Much Fluoride

• Pro Water Fluoridation Video

• US: Check Your Water\’s Fluoride

ACT THREE: Feedback

• Rutger Writes…
• Archie wrote in to say he felt we were hard on farmers last episode.

Picks of the week:

• The Case Against Fluoride: How Hazardous Waste Ended Up in Our Drinking Water and the Bad Science and Powerful Politics That Keep It There
• Tom\’s of Maine Antiplaque and Whitening Fluoride-free Toothpaste

Song pick of the week:
For You by Staind UK Link

Follow the Team:

• Filterfree.ME show Blog
• Chris on Twitter
• Follow DanFilterFree on identi.ca if you want to know when he is at the Syracuse Innovators Guild if you want to stop by send him a PM and he will make sure the door is unlocked
• Chase’s Geek Stuff
• Michael Vail\’s Website

The post The Fluoride Question | Unfilter 9 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

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}

• Last time on SciByte
• Egyptian Astronomy & Smog | SciByte 45 – Venus Transit Upcoming on June 5th / 6th [May 8, 2012]
• 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), Venus 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
• 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
• How to find the when and where
• Find your Local transit times
• Transit of Venus NASA/SunEarthDay Webcast information
• 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
• Hubble Space Telescope
• Due to its delicate instruments the Hubble Space Telescope can not look directly at the sun, astronomers however are planning on using the event to get science
• Astronomers are planning to point the telescope at the Earth’s moon, using it as a mirror to capture reflected sunlight
• IMAGE : Hubble image of moon, preparing for the transit Credit: NASA/ESA/D. Ehrenreich
• They will then isolate the small fraction of the light that passes through Venus’s atmosphere, to view the fingerprints of the planet’s atmospheric makeup
• The technique of viewing atmospheric filtered light is already being used to sample the atmospheres of giant planets outside our solar system passing in front of their stars
• Since astronomers already know the chemical makeup of Venus’s atmosphere they can test whether this technique will have a chance of detecting the very faint fingerprints of an Earth-like planet
• Hubble will view the transit in a range of wavelengths, from ultraviolet to near-infrared light.
  use an arsenal of Hubble instruments, the Advanced Camera for Surveys, Wide Field Camera 3, and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, to view the transit in a range of wavelengths, from ultraviolet to near-infrared light. During the transit, Hubble will snap images and perform spectroscopy, dividing the sunlight into its constituent colors, which could yield information about the makeup of Venus’s atmosphere.
• Hubble will need to be locked onto the same location on the moon for more than seven hours, roughly 40 minutes of each 96-minute orbit of Hubble around the Earth before, during, and after the transit
• Such long observation are needed because astronomers are looking for extremely faint spectral signatures
• Only 1/100,000th of the sunlight will filter through Venus’s atmosphere and be reflected off the moon.
• Since the next shot at this observational opportunity is in 105 years astronomers have had to carefully plan how the study would be carried out
• * Of Note*
• During this transit, our sun will be displaying sunspots, which will allow comparing changing light patterns of suspected exoplanets with those that occur much closer to home
• Both direct and indirect data taken from this transit can be used to calibrate and infer what kind of data we could get from exoplanet observations
• Multimedia
• YouTube VIDEO : Transit of Venus – June 8th, 2004 | SLOOHSpaceCamera
• YouTube VIDEO : Fiske Planetarium: Using Binoculars to Safely View Eclipses | extractorrr
• YouTube VIDEO : ScienceCasts: The 2012 Transit of Venus | SciencAtNASA
• YouTube VIDEO : the Transit of Venus | transitvenus
• YouTube VIDEO : Transit of Venus Part One | SunEarthDay
• YouTube VIDEO : Transit of Venus Part Two | SunEarthDay
• YouTube VIDEO : Predicting a Transit of Venus: The Two-Minute Explanation… | transitvenus
• YouTube VIDEO : Fiske Planetarium: 2012 Solar Eclipse & Venus Transit | extractorrr
• YouTube VIDEO : NE Live – Transit of Venus Promo for Sun-Earth Day 2012 | SunEarthDay
• Social Media
• Sun-Earth Day (NASA) @SunEarthDay
• Further Reading / In the News
• TransitOfVenus.org
• Transit of Venus | SunEarthDay.NASA.gov
• Transit of Venus blog | blogs.ESA.int
• Evening star goes black in rare celestial event | ScienceNews.org
• Scientists to Watch Historic Venus Transit of the Sun from Alaska | Space.com
• Sun Earth Day
• Astronomer urges researchers everywhere to study Venus transit | Phys.org
• Venus Transit — There’s an App for That! | UniverseToday.com
• Hubble to Use Moon as Mirror to See Venus Transit | NASA.gov
• Hubble to Use Moon as Mirror to See Venus Transit | hubblesite.org
• Using the Moon as a mirror — Hubble to watch transit of Venus in reflected light | SpaceTelescope.org
• Transit of Venus Promotional Materials | SunEarthDay.nasa.gov
• 2012 Venus Transit – The Countdown Is On! | UniverseToday.com
• 2012 Venus Transit – The Countdown Is On! | UniverseToday.com
• The transit of Venus | Phys.org

— NEWS BYTE—

Rare Rabbit

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

• The low down
• A research group with the University of Delaware had cameras set up in Sumatra looking for medium- and small-sized wild cats, such as leopards
• Inside their camera trap data they found captured images of, one of the world’s rarest species, a rabbit captured on film only three other times
• Significance
• The Sumatran striped rabbit, Nesolagus netscheri, was first photographed in Kerinci Seblat National Park in 1998 and has rarely been seen since.
• They have captured 10 photographs on two occasions from areas 2,591 ft [790 meters] apart
• The images that the group found of the rabbit constitutes the most data that anybody has compiled on these rabbits ever
• Of Note
• While the group plans on continuing their study of small cats, they are now including the rabbit in their focus
• They have also reached out to the other groups on the island with photo traps (20–30 people) to increase coverage of the island
• Multimedia
• YouTube | Rare Rabbit Captured on Camera | UnivDelaware
• Further Reading / In the News
• Researchers film rare striped rabbit in Sumatra | phys.org
• Extremely Rare Sumatran Striped Rabbit Captured on Camera | Sci-News.com
• Using camera trap photos and direct sightings to identify possible refugia for the Vulnerable Sumatran striped rabbit Nesolagus netscheri | Oryx Journal

—TWO-BYTE NEWS—

Water in our solar system

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

• Last time on SciByte
• SciByte 42 – World Climate & Light Pollution [April 17, 2012]
• The low down
• If all the water on the surface of the Earth was in a ball, the radius of this ball would be only about 435 mi[700km]
• Based on the Galileo probe data from 1995 to 2003, Europa possesses a deep, global ocean of liquid water beneath a layer of surface ice
• The subsurface ocean of Europa and ice layer could range from 50–105 miles [80–170 kilometers]
• If all the water on Europa was gathered into a ball, the radius would be 545 miles [877km] making it about 2–3 times the volume of Earth’s oceans
• Multimedia
• APOD: 2012 May 24 – All the Water on Europa
• APOD: 2012 May 15 – All the Water on Planet Earth

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

• The low down
• Argentinian expert have discovered the near-complete remains of a new species of Jurassic-era dinosaur that stood on its rear legs and had tiny arms
• The creature at 20 feet [6 meter] long looks like a smaller scale Tyrannosaurus rex, with smaller arms
• The Eoabelisaurus mefi, is the oldest known member of the Abelisauri lineage by more than 40 million years
• Multimedia
• IMAGE : Handout drawing silhouette of “Eoabelisaurus mefi”
• Further Reading / In the News
• Dinosaur with tiny arms unearthed in Argentina | phys.org

–SPACECRAFT UPDATE–

Dragon Spacecraft

_{YouTube Channels : NASATelevision |}

• Last time on SciByte
• SpaceX & Easter Island | SciByte 47 – VenSpaceX – Dragon shipment to ISS [May 22, 2012]
• The low down
• Tuesday, 22 : Dragon launched
• Friday, May 25 : Dragon docked with the station
• Saturday, May 26 : The hatch between the Dragon and the station was opened
• Memorial Day on the Space Station was used to start unloading the 1,014 pounds [460 kg] of cargo in the Dragon spacecraft
• Unpacking will take about 25 hours
• Thurs, May 31 : Dragon will detach and splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast for retrieval
• * Of Note*
• SpaceX holds a contract with NASA to make 12 more summilar supply runs the first one launching as early as September
• @ElonMusk “The President just called to say congrats. Caller ID was blocked, so at first I thought it was a telemarketer :)” post
• YouTube Video’s
• SpaceX Capsule Grappled, Berthed to ISS | NASATelevision
• –> grabbed
• –> lining it up
• –> capture
• Space Station Crew Welcomes World’s First Commercial Cargo Craft | ReelNASA
• Images
• International Space Station in 1999
• Last view of the space station from a space shuttle, Atlantis in July 2011
• Shace Shuttle Atlantis attached to the Space Station in May 2011
• Social Media
• SpaceX @SpaceX
• Elon Musk @elonmusk
• Further Reading / In the News
• Docked Dragon viewed from the Cupola Observation Dome aboard ISS. NASA TV
• Dragon grappled with Earth backdrop. NASA TV
• Enter the Dragon: Astronauts Open 1st Private Capsule at Space Station | Space.com
• SpaceX capsule has ‘new car’ smell, astronauts say (Update) | phys.org
• Astronauts enter world’s 1st private supply ship | phys.org
• Dragon makes history with space station docking | phys.org
• Astronauts capture SpaceX’s Dragon for station dock | phys.org
• Dragon arrives at space station in historic 1st (Update 2) | phys.org
• SpaceX readies space station rendezvous | phys.org
• Spot the New Space Era as ISS & Dragon Streak Across the Sky – This Week Only ! | UniverseToday.com
• Private Dragon Spacecraft Is ‘Golden Spike’ of Final Frontier, Astronaut Says | Space.com
• Astronauts to Spend Memorial Day Unpacking Private Space Capsule | Space.com
• SpaceX’s No. 1 Rule for Naming Private Spaceship Parts: Be Cool | Space.com

–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–

• Spot the Dragon spacecraft attached to the Space Station!

• NASA Human Spaceflight Sighting Opportunities

• Heavens Above

• Keep an eye out for …

• Wed, May 30 : Saturn and Spica are to the left of the Moon in the evening, with Saturn being the higher of the two

• Thurs, May 31 : Tonight Saturn, Spica and the Moon will form a line with Saturn being the highest, the straightness of the time depends on where you live. Each within a few degrees of each other, or about a finger’s width held at arm’s length

• Fri, June 1 : Between 10–11 the Summer Triangle is in the East. Vega, brightest star in the eastern sky, is in the top corner. Deneb is the brightest star to Vega’s lower left. Altair is farther to Vega’s lower right.

• Mon, June 4 : A partial lunar eclipse will take place just before Sunrise, with Earth’s shadow covering about a third of the Moon

• Tues, June 5 : Venus Transit

• Further Reading and Resources

• More on what’s in the sky this week

• Sky&Telescope

• SpaceWeather.com

• StarDate.org

• For the Southern hemisphere: SpaceInfo.com.au

• Constellations of the Southern Hemisphere : astronomyonline.org

• Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand : rasnz.org.nz

• AstronomyNow

• HeavensAbove

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

We take a look at the Curiosity Rover launching this week, Europa’s water, bugs, Voyager, telescopes and as always take a peek back into history and up in the sky this week.

Too much out there is just plain distraction, why can’t we have our cake and eat it too? There are a lot of interesting things going on out there in science, but getting to the interesting bits without all the hype you get from major media outlets is a trick we at Jupiter Broadcasting are hoping to pull off.

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*— LAUNCHING THIS WEEK — *

NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory “Curiosity” Rover

• The low down
• Length : 9 feet / 2.8 meters
• Total Weight : 1,984 pounds / 900kg
• Weight of Scientific Instruments = 176 pounds / 80kg
• Launch vehicle Atlas V 541
• Mission duration 668 Martian sols (686 Earth days)
• Landing August 5, 2012 (planned)
• Power Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG), which were also used by the successful Mars landers Viking 1 and Viking 2 in 1976 [Plutonium–238]
• Designed to produce 125 watts of electrical power at the start of the mission, after 14 years, the electrical power output is down to 100 watts
• “Rover Compute Element” (RCE), contain radiation hardened memory to tolerate the extreme radiation environment from space and to safeguard against power-off cycles
• The onboard computer has 256 kB of EEPROM, 256 MB of DRAM, and 2 GB of flash memory
• Not going to use the ‘airbag’ landing that the other rovers have used
• Parachute slows the rover’s descent toward Mars [Diameter of 51 feet /16 meters]
• Rocket-powered backpack will lower the rover on a tether during the final moments before landing YouTube Video – @
• Instruments
• MSL Entry, Descent and Landing Instrumentation (MEDLI)
• MEDLI isn’t one of Curiosity’s 10 instruments
• will measure the temperatures and pressures the heat shield experiences as the MSL spacecraft streaks through the Martian sky
• will tell engineers how well the heat shield, and their models of the spacecraft’s trajectory, performed
• Mars Descent Imager (MARDI)
• small camera located on Curiosity’s main body, will record video of the rover’s descent to the Martian surface
• will click on a mile or two above the ground (when Curiosity jettisons its heat shield)
• instrument will then take video at five frames per second until the rover touches down
• footage will help the MSL team plan Curiosity’s Red Planet rovings
• should also provide information about the geological context of the landing site
• Mast Camera (MastCam)
• Capture high-resolution color pictures and video of the Martian landscape
• Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI)
• will function much like a high-powered magnifying glass
• instrument will take color pictures of features as tiny as 12.5 microns — smaller than the width of a human hair
• sits on the end of Curiosity’s five-jointed, 7-foot (2.1-meter) robotic arm
• Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM)
• makes up about half of the rover’s science payload
• The rover’s robotic arm will drop samples into via an inlet on the rover’s exterior
• it has three separate instruments — a mass spectrometer, a gas chromatograph and a laser spectrometer
• it can search for carbon-containing compounds, the building blocks of life as we know it
• it can also look for other elements associated with life on Earth (hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, ect)
• Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin)
• will identify different types of minerals on Mars and quantify their abundance
• help scientists better understand past environmental conditions on the Red Planet
• has an inlet on Curiosity’s exterior to accept samples delivered by the rover’s robotic arm
• shine a fine X-ray beam through the sample, identifying minerals’ crystalline structures based on how the X-rays diffract
• Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam)
• will fire a laser at Martian rocks from up to 30 feet (9 meters) away and analyze the composition of the vaporized bits
• help the mission team determine from afar whether or not they want to send the rover over to investigate a particular landform
• sits on Curiosity’s mast, along with a camera and a small telescope
• Three spectrographs sit in the rover’s body, connected to the mast components by fiber optics
• spectrographs will analyze the light emitted by excited electrons in the vaporized rock samples
• Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS)
• sits at the end of Curiosity’s arm, will measure the abundances of various chemical elements in Martian rocks and dirt
• will shoot out X-rays and helium nuclei
• the barrage will knock electrons in the sample out of their orbits, causing a release of X-rays
• Scientists will then be able to identify elements based on the characteristic energies of these emitted X-rays
• Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN)
• near the back of Curiosity’s main body, it will help the rover search for ice and water-logged minerals beneath the Martian surface
• The instrument will fire beams of neutrons at the ground, then note the speed at which these particles travel when they bounce back.
• Hydrogen atoms tend to slow neutrons down, so an abundance of sluggish neutrons would signal underground water or ice
• should be able to map out water concentrations as low as 0.1 percent at depths up to 6 feet (2 m)
• Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD)
• will measure and identify high-energy radiation of all types on the Red Planet, from fast-moving protons to gamma rays
• Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS)
• Located partway up Curiosity’s mast, it is a Martian weather station
• it will measure atmospheric pressure, humidity, wind speed and direction, air temperature, ground temperature and ultraviolet radiation
• It will integrate all the weather data it collects into daily and seasonal reports
• Significance
• Curiosity will be five times as large, and carry more than ten times the mass of scientific instruments as the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit or Opportunity
• Primary goal of the mission is to search for clues as to whether Mars was ever habitable
• The radiation detector is designed specifically to help prepare for future human exploration of Mars, measuring
• It will perform the first-ever precision landing on Mars
• It will be able to continue operating during the Martian winter, and will be able to handle the cold Martian winters more heartily
• the launch was delayed one day to allow time for the team to remove and replace a flight termination system battery
• The launch day of Nov 26 has a one hour and 43 minute launch window opens at 10:02 a.m. EST
• * Of Note*
• WATCH LAUNCH LIVE ONLINE @ JPL.NASA.GOV
• Mentioned in J@N Red Rover the send your name to Mars Participation Maps US and World
• Curiosity was selected, (in a public poll on the NASA website) which was submitted by a sixth-grader, Clara Ma, from Kansas in an essay contest
• An instrument on NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity can check for any water that might be bound into shallow underground minerals along the rover’s path.
• The generator for the instrument scouting for water will be able to emit a total of about 10 million pulses during the mission, with about 10 million neutrons at each pulse.
• We will be able to see how the shallow subsurface may differ from what the rover sees at the surface
• The rover based instrument measuring water will also offer calibration for the measurements that the gamma-ray and neutron detectors on Odyssey orbiting Mars shows
• Multimedia
• WATCH LAUNCH LIVE ONLINE @ JPL.NASA.GOV
• VIDEO @ YouTuve.com : Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity Rover) Mission Animation
  
• VIDEO @ YouTuve.com : Mars in a Minute: Is Mars Really Red?
• VIDEO @ YouTuve.com : Building Curiosity: Landing System Drop Test
• VIDEO @ YouTuve.com : Mars Curiosity Rover – First Test Drive
• VIDEO @ YouTuve.com : Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover Animation
• VIDEO @ YouTuve.com : Curiosity Update: Curiosity’s Stunt Double Takes a Spin
• ‘Curiosity Cam’ @ Ustream provided live video from the construction
• VIDEO : Curiosity Rover’s Perculiar Mars Landing Described @ Space.com
• VIDEO : New Mars Rover Powered by Plutonium @ Space.com
• VIDEO : New Mars Science Rover Landing Site – Birds Eye View @ Space.com
• VIDEO : Tumbleweed Rovers Could Explore Mars @Discovery News Videos
• Photo Gallery: Last Look at Mars Rover Curiosity Before Launch @Space.com
• Photos: Curiosity Rover, NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory @ Space.com
• Photos: Gale Crater on Mars, Curiosity Rover’s Landing Site @ Space.com
• Photos of Mars: The Amazing Red Planet @ Space.com
• Slide Show : When Discovery News Met Mars Rover ‘Curiosity’ @ Discovery.com
• Infographic : Inside Huge Mars Rover’s Sky Crane Landing @ Space.com
• Photo : Mock up’s size comparison @ NASA.gov
• Rendition Size comparison – landers @ NASA.gov
• Photo of parachute to be used @ NASA.gov
• Social Media
• Curiosity Rover @MarsCuriosity
• NASA JPL @NASAJPL
• Further Reading / In the News
• 11 Amazing Things NASA’s Huge Mars Rover Can Do @ Space.com
• Complete Coverage: NASA’s Huge New Rover Launching to Mars @ Space.com
• Mars Science Laboratory @ marsprogram.jpl.NASA.gov
• MSL launch delayed to Saturday, Nov. 26 @ NASA.gov
• A Mars Rover Named “Curiosity” @NASA.gov
• NASA’s Curiosity Set to Search for Signs of Martian Life @ universetoday.com
• 7 Biggest Mysteries of Mars @ Space.com
• New NASA missions to investigate how Mars turned hostile @ PhysOrg.com
• Journey to the Red Planet: A Mars Missions Timeline @ Space.com
• Mars rover carries device for underground scouting @ PhysOrg.com
• Mars Rover Curiosity Gets Sealed Up @ Discovery.com
• Could New Rover’s Wheels Deliver Germs to Mars? @ Discovery.com
  
• Curiosity Rover Testing in Harsh Mars-like Environment @ UniverseToday.com
• Encapsulating Curiosity for Martian Flight Test @ UniverseToday.com
• Assembling Curiosity’s Rocket to Mars @ UniverseToday.com
• Closing the Clamshell on a Martian Curiosity @ UniverseToday.com
• Curiosity Rover Bolted to Atlas Rocket – In Search of Martian Microbial Habitats @ UniverseToday.com
• NASA’s Next Mars Rover Hoisted Atop Rocket @ Space.com
• Curiosity Mars Rover Almost Complete @ UniverseToday.com
• Mars Science Laboratory @ Wikipedia.org

Jupiter’s ice-moon Europa

• The low down
• Patches of broken ice unique to the moon have puzzled scientists for over a decade
• Some have argued they are signs of a subterranean ocean breaking through, while others believe that the crust is too thick for the water to pierce
• studies of ice formations in Antarctica and Iceland have provided clues to the creation of these puzzling features
• Significance
• New research on Jupiter’s ice-covered moon Europa indicates the presence of a subsurface lake buried beneath frozen mounds of huge jumbled chunks of ice
• It’s estimate that one such lake contained as much water as all of the North America’s Great Lakes combined, about 1.5 miles (3 kilometers) beneath the surface.
• In Iceland, volcanoes lay beneath the ice. Their heat melts the base of glaciers and ice sheets, causing the surface to buckle in on itself and allowing stress fractures to form
• There’s no evidence for volcanoes on Europa, and the makeup of the ice is likely different from Earth’
• On Europa, it could be warm ice plumes coming up from below.
• Several liquid lakes are likely to exist near the surface today
• * Of Note*
• The material cycled into the ocean via these lakes may make Europa’s ocean even more habitable than previously imagined and the lakes may even be habitats themselves
• scientists finally have a model that demonstrates how Europa’s deep liquid ocean interacts with the ice near its surface
• Multimedia
• VIDEO From the Earth to (Jupiter’s) moon @ Space.com
• Europa’s “Great Lake.” @ Space.com
• Europa @Space.com
• Artist Rendition of Europa’s surface @ NASA/JPL-Caltech
• Topographic data shows the chaos terrain elevations above the surrounding surface. Credit NASA
• Chaos terrain on Europa points to subsurface lakes. (NASA/JPL/Ted Stryk)
• Europa’s “chaos terrain” @ YouTube.com
• Social Media
• NASA JPL @NASAJPL
• [UTAustin @UTAustin
• NASA’s Juno Mission @NASAJuno
• Further Reading / In the News
• Europa’s Hidden Great Lakes May Harbor Life @ UniverseToday
• ScienceShot: Icy Europa Looking More Inviting @ Science Magazine
• Jupiter Moon’s Buried Lakes Evoke Antarctica @ Space.com
• Scientists Find Evidence for Subsurface ‘Great Lake’ on Europa @ John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
• NASA Probe Data Show Evidence of Liquid Water on Icy Europa @ NASA
• Scientists Find Evidence for “Great Lake” on Europa and Potential New Habitat for Life @ University of Texas
• NASA Juno mission to Jupiter
• NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

*— NEWS BYTE — *

Why are flies attracted to beer?

• The low down
• Insects use their taste system to glean important information about the quality and nutritive value of food sources
• Taste becomes important only after the fly makes physical contact with food
• A fly first locates food sources using its odor receptors – crucial for its long-range attraction to food
• Then, after landing on food, the fly uses its taste system to sample the food for suitability in terms of nutrition and toxicity
• Significance
• Flies are attracted to beer because they detect glycerol, a sweet-tasting compound that yeasts make during fermentation.
• A receptor (a protein that serves as a gatekeeper) that is associated with neurons located in the fly’s mouth-parts is instrumental in signaling a good taste for beer
• * Of Note*
• How do you get information from the chemical environment to the brain – not just in flies but other insects as well
• Social Media
• UC Riverside @UCRiverside
• Further Reading / In the News
• The buzz around beer @ PhysOrg
• University of California – Riverside

Amoeba-Sized Insect

• The low down
• The fairy wasp (Megaphragma mymaripenne), which at a mere 200 micrometers in length is one of the world’s smallest animals [roughly 2 strands of human hair / or 10 could fit between between pins in DIP]
• Roughly the size of an amoeba, the wasp shrink so small that it can avoid most predators and invade the eggs of other insects
• When the scientist compared the neurons of adult and pupae fairy wasps, he discovered that more than 95% of adult neurons lack a nucleus.
• Significance
• suggest that while a complete set of neurons is needed to grow, far less are required to live
• Further Reading / In the News
• ScienceShot: Amoeba-Sized Insect Is Missing Some Pieces @ Science Magazine

Voyager tune-up

• The low down
• Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are each equipped with six sets, or pairs, of thrusters to control their movement
• Voyager 2 is currently using the two pairs of backup thrusters that control the pitch and yaw motion of the spacecraft
• Significance
• NASA’s Deep Space Network personnel sent commands to the Voyager 2 spacecraft Nov. 4 to switch to the backup set of thrusters that controls the roll of the spacecraft
• This will allow engineers to turn off the heater that keeps the fuel line to the primary thruster warm, saving about 12 watts of power
• Voyager 1 changed to the backup thrusters in 2004 and is now using all three sets of its backup thrusters
• * Of Note*
• The change will allow the 34-year-old spacecraft to reduce the amount of power it requires to operate, so that the spacecraft can continue to operate for another decade even as its available power continues to decline.
• Still, at the rate of decay, the Voyager spacecraft won’t have sufficient electric power to its instruments sometime by the mid–2020
• Multimedia
• Voyager 1 and 2 are now in the ‘Heliosheath’ @ NASA
• The Golden Record
• Voyager Images & Video @ NASA
• Voyager 2 flyby Animation – Neptune and Triton (1989) @YouTube
• Social Media
• NASAVoyager2 @NASAVoyager2
• Further Reading / In the News
• Voyager The Interstellar Mission @ NASA
• Voyager 2 to Switch to Backup Thruster Set @ NASA
• Venerable Voyager 2 Spacecraft Gets a Tune-up 14 billion Kilometers From Earth @ UniverseToday
• What is the Golden Record? @ NASA

To telescope or not to telescope for the holidays

• Types of Telescopes
• Newtonian reflector telescopes are good for observations of faint deep sky objects, such as Galaxies and Nebulae
• Refractor telescopes are good for achieving high power and contrast when viewing the planets and the moon
• Dobsonian Telescopes are one of the best choices for a general telescope
• Decoding Binocular Names
• defines how much magnification they provide and also the diameter of the big (or objective) lenses at the front of the binoculars.
• For example: 7×50 binoculars would yield a magnification of 7-times, with an objective lens diameter of 50 millimeters.
• Higher power isn’t everything it narrows the field of view, magnifies the dancing of the stars when the instrument is held in the hands, and is that much heavier
• In general
• Take note of how dark the skies in your backyard, or how far the person would have to go to find dark skies
• If possible get a hands on feel for what you want to purchase, keep in mind who’s going to be moving it around
• Planispheres and star charts are your friend. Find ones that are clearly labeled and have the types of objects on them that the person would be interested in
• Find a local club. Show up to a meeting, talk to the people…
• *Further Reading *
• The Holidays Are Coming! A Beginner’s Guide to Telescopes @ UniverserToday.com
• Dobsonian Telescopes @ Meteor Watch
• Newtonian Telescope @ Meteor Watch
• Refractor Telescopes @ Meteor Watch
• How to Choose a Telescope @ Sky&Telescope
• Buying a telescope @ Astronomy
• How to Choose a Telescope @ Discovery.com
• How to Choose a Telescope @ astronomy-education.com
• Choosing Binoculars @ astronomy-education.com

SCIENCE CALENDER

Looking back this week

• Nov 24, 1639 – 372 years ago : First Transit of Venus : Jeremiah Horrocks, an English astronomer and clergyman, measured a transit of Venus, the first ever to be observed.
• Nov 24, 1859 – 152 years ago : The Origin of Species : The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Darwin’s groundbreaking book, was published in England to great acclaim
• Nov 26, 1885 – 126 years ago : First meteor photo : The first meteor trail was photographed in Prague, Czechoslovakia. On the next evening, 27 Nov, he declared “meteors were falling so thickly as the night advanced that it became almost impossible to enumerate them.”
• Nov 23, 1897 – 114 years ago : Pencil Sharpener : patent was issued for a pencil sharpener to its inventor , John Lee Love of Fall River, Mass.
• Nov 25–27, 1922 – 89 years ago : Tut’s tomb approached : Archaeologist Howard Carter opened the two doorways to the tomb of King Tutankamun. The sepulchral chamber itself was not opened until 16 Feb 1923
• Nov 29, 1961 – 50 years ago : Animal astronaut : Enos, a five-year-old chimpanzee, became the first chimp to orbit the Earth on a 2-orbit ride for 3-hr 20 min. During the flight, Enos carried out the lever-pulling performance and psychological tests that he had trained on for the past 16-months. NASA Animals in Space
• Nov 27, 2001 – 10 years ago : Sodium atmosphere : Sodium was detected in the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet by the Hubble Space Telescope. The planet, was the first transiting planet discovered (5 Nov 1999). It was later seen to have Oxygen, Carbon, and Hydrogen in it’s atmosphere. Osiris / HD 209458b

Looking up this week

• You might have seen …

• In arctic countries like Norway, they saw the last sunrise/sunset until January

• While sunspot activity has remained high, solar activity has been low recently

• Keep an eye out for …

• Wed, Nov 23 : The Moon will be at perigee, its closest point to Earth for its current orbit. It will pass less than 224,000 miles away, or about 15,000 miles closer than its average distance.

• Fri, Nov 25 : Antarctic Solar Eclipse – The Moon will pass in front of the sun, slightly off-center, producing a partial solar eclipse visible from Antarctica, Tasmania, and parts of South Africa and New Zealand. Maximum coverage occurs about 100 miles off the coast of Antarctica where the sun will appear to be a slender 9% crescent

• Sat, Nov 26 : At twilight, low in the SW sky you can see the thin crescent moon, and to the upper left is Venus.

• More on whats in the sky this week

• Sky&Telescope

• AstronomyNow

• SpaceWeather.com

• HeavensAbove

• StarDate.org

The post Curiosity Rover | SciByte 22 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/10942/horribles-sing-along-jn-207/ Thu, 04 Aug 2011 22:04:32 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=10942 We kick around the latest movie rumors, the good news from SyFy & and the very bad, plus a full retrospective review of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog!

The post Horrible's Sing-Along | J@N | 207 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]>

We kick around the latest movie rumors, the good news from SyFy & and the very bad, plus a full retrospective review of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog!

Show Notes:

MOVIES:

• Rumored ‘Expendables 2′ Cast Includes John Travolta, Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme
• Heeeeeeeeeeeeere’s Superman!
• Adventures In Babysitting 2
• Son Of Die Hard
• Doctor Strange. Yes. PLEASE.
• J.J. Abrams Gives Update on M:I IV and Star Trek 2
• Brian Kirk to Direct Thor 2

TV:

• Summer Glau + Brent Spiner = Alphas Guests
• Should we chat about Alphas? Next episode contains a Warehouse 13 crossover.
• JJ wants your advice on how Lost should’ve ended
• It REALLY is Chuck’s last season
• This article makes me want to catch up on Fallen Skies
• End of Eureka? Bryan:”Noooooooo!”
• HBO Go coming to connected TVs, game consoles

COMICS:

• Marvel Comics unveil their new Spider-Man

SCIENCE:

• Could iron dust stop global warming in its tracks?
• NASA Spacecraft Data Suggest Water Flowing on Mars
• Not the first time they found hints at flowing water

CHRIS’ NEW SHOW IDEA:

• Chris calls people on Skype and… chats… about random things.
• Sound fun? FEEDBACK! LEAVE IT!

MOVING PICTURE HAPPY FUN MUTUAL TIME:

• Netflix: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
• Amazon.com: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog – JB Affiliate Link
• Commentary! The Musical

NEXT WEEK:

• Trailer on YouTube
• Netflix: RUBBER
• Amazon.com: Rubber ($3.99 for anyone to stream)

The post Horrible's Sing-Along | J@N | 207 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/6188/searching-for-life-in-sol-jn-31611/ Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:53:35 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=6188 Teams of scientist are actively searching our life in our own back yard. Tonight we look at some of the more promising searches for life, but not as we know it!

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Teams of scientist are actively searching for life in our own back yard. Tonight we look at some of the more promising searches for life, but not as we know it!

We bring our resident space geek, “Mars_Base” on the show to walk us through the more scientific aspects of these amazing efforts.

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Show Notes:

Drake Equation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation
The number of civilizations in our galaxy with which communication might be possible;
the average rate of star formation

% of stars that have planets
average number of planets that could potentially support life per star
% of planets that actually go on to develop life at some point
% of those that develop intelligent life
% of civilizations that could releases detectable signs of their existence into space
length of time for which such civilizations release detectable signals into space.

Mars
Mars Canals – wiki
*    first observed by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli in 1877

*    The Italian word canale (plural canali) can mean “canals” (including artificial canals or ducts) or “channels” or “gullies
ALH84001 [headlines 1996]
Allan Hills Meteorite – wiki

First meteorite found during 1984 season in Allan Hills
*   Misclassified, 1993 – from Mars . @ the time 1 of less than a dozen Matian meteorites
*   Thermal Emission Spectrometer and other instruments on the orbiters
Examine exact composition to determine possible origination point
Enceladus – moon of Saturn
Tidal heating to keep some interior water

Cassini spacecraft flew past Enceladus and through the jets on Nov. 21, 2009
Analysis of the plume by Cassini revealed that the water is salty,
Indicates the reservoir is large, perhaps even a global subsurface ocean

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassini20100708-b.html

Europa – moon of Jupiter
slightly smaller than Earth’s Moon.
*   2010 : Odyssey Two — Arthur C. Clarke, 1982.
“ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDINGS THERE.”

*   Interferometer spectrometers and showed that Europa strongly absorbs infrared light @ specific wavelengths that are distinctive characteristic of water ice

*   It’s magnetic field is indicative of a shell of electrically conducting material, such as a salty, liquid ocean.

https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/ice/ice_europa.html
Lone Wolf Planets
Earth-Size “Lone Wolf” Planets May Host Life

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The post Searching for Life in SOL | J@N | 3.16.11 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

]]> https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/4428/the-bacon-diet-jn-1411/ Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:55:17 +0000 https://original.jupiterbroadcasting.net/?p=4428 The Atkins Diet: Tonight we’ll discuss some of the pitfalls and benefits of this unique diet, both laying the ground work for Jeremy’s future weight loss!

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Welcome to the new year, everybody! This time of year many people are making their New Years’ Resolutions – get organized, pay bills, quit smoking, etc. But the BIG one on just about everyone’s list is usually “lose weight / get in shape” and that includes our own J-Man!

Beginning on the 2nd of the year, he started what is known as the Atkins Diet. It’s a controversial low-carb diet that many people feel is nothing more than a fad. Tonight we’ll discuss some of the pitfalls and benefits of this unique diet, both laying the ground work for Jeremy’s future weight loss, and possibly even to inspire some of YOU to play along at home!

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What is Atkins?

• By adopting a very-low-carb diet, you force your body into consuming body fat instead of glucose for energy. (Remember: Body fat IS STORED ENERGY)
• This state is known as ketosis, and requires low insulin levels in the body (Not safe for diabetics without doctor supervision, but can actually improve some peoples’ symptoms over time.)

Additional willpower-related benefits:

• The diet is generally high in fiber, protein and fat which take longer to digest than sugars and starches, leaving you fuller longer.  Less feelings of hunger.  Fewer cravings.
• Burning body fat as opposed to sugar intake is sometimes referred to as a cleaner burn, and many report an increase in overall energy and motivation on this diet. It’s anecdotal though.

Why Atkins, and not another diet?

• It’s psychological. I need food restrictions in order to remind me that I’m on a diet, and after looking into a few other diets like “The Zone” and “Weight Watchers” I determined that this is the easiest to understand, and easiest to follow.
• Various studies confirm that there is very little difference in the actual weight loss achieved on these various diets, so if you wanna pursue something different, by all means do so!

Concerns:

• High fat content
  • Atkins recommends fewer than 20% of your overall calories from fat. So yes, you have to watch this.
• Swift weight loss can cause health issues
  • This is generally a concern for people that eat unhealthily or are neglecting key nutrients. Atkins does not, other than sugars and starches which your body doesn’t need if it has plenty of stored energy (aka FAT).
  • Excessive weight loss on this diet can be a very bad thing as well, so it’s not recommended for people that want to become ULTRA FIT. It’s designed for the obese.
• Kidney stones!
  • A very real concern for me, since I’ve had them twice. Common home remedies include drinking a LOT of water (more than 64 oz. daily) and cranberry juice.
• Bad breath
  • Ketosis causes bad breath in almost everyone. I don’t know why or how, but it’s true. So, sugar-free gum will remain on me at all times.
• If you fall off the diet, you gain all the weight back and then some
  • This is generally true, which is why the complete diet should be researched if you’re looking into it.  It contains lifetime guidelines that allow you to progress through phases of weight loss and maintenance, and offers tips on regressing to earlier phases if you see weight gain.
• Emotional side effects (anger and depression are common)
  • Well, how do you ever deal with these?  Video games, of course!

Jeremy’s Obstacles:

• Phase One (Induction) restricts caffeine intake to “about one cup of coffee per day.”
• Water intake must increase dramatically.
• Physical activity must increase dramatically.
• And then there’s your wife’s cooking….

LINKS and INFO:
Wikipedia entry on “Atkins Diet”
Most effective diets for 2011
Atkins launches new marketing for 2011 including a “chef plan”

Download:

The post The Bacon Diet | J@N | 1.4.11 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

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