tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54199185758068665992024-02-08T09:02:46.611-08:00studentzoneUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5419918575806866599.post-71211753946025632322010-08-30T07:42:00.000-07:002011-01-10T10:28:50.251-08:00Large fireball observed after object strikes JupiterA large object, possibly an asteroid or a meteor, hit the planet Jupiter Thursday, resulting in a large fireball.<br />
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The fireball was seen on June 3 at 2031 UTC by two independent amateur astronomers, Christopher Go in the Philippines and Anthony Wesley in Australia. Wesley, who posted the news onto an Internet forum, is known for having also spotted last July's Jupiter impact event. Go caught Thursday's impact on video, which showed a fireball the size of Earth after the object hit. It could be the first time someone has recorded a meteor crashing into a planet.<br />
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This latest strike came only hours after a team from the Space Science Institute, led by astronomer Heidi Hammel, announced that last year's event was the result of an asteroid 1,640 feet (500 metres) wide. That asteroid caused a scar the size of the Pacific Ocean when it hit Jupiter with the force of several thousand nuclear bombs on July 19, 2009.<br />
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The planet last experienced a major impact in July 1994, when it was hit by Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9), resulting in large scars as well. Scientists originally thought that there would not be any more Jupiter strikes for several centuries following SL9, but have now been proved wrong twice in as many years.<br />
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Now, astronomers around the world are trying to figure out what kind of mark Thursday's collision left on the planet, as well as determine exactly what hit it. Although the impact is believed to be relatively small, a dark debris field may soon appear in the clouds around Jupiter, which is what occurred in 2009.<br />
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NASA has announced that rockets will be launched from Woomera in outback South Australia to service the International Space Station (ISS) - starting in 2008. NASA has selected two American companies to launch rockets from the Woomera base. Rocket Plane Kistler and Space-X will conduct orbital flight tests and commercial operations. The Woomera site would also be used to launch cargo such as fuel and food to the ISS as often as every two weeks.<br />
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Woomera, named for an Aboriginal spear-throwing tool, was originally involved in testing of long-range missiles and rockets for Britain during the Cold War. The site was also recently used by the Australian government to incarcerate asylum-seeking refugees.<br />
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SpaceX based in California, and Rocketplane-Kistler of Oklahoma City, will share up to $US500 million in NASA seed money to develop their launch vehicles. NASA has stated it wants commercial firms to take over ISS transportation services after the space shuttle fleet is retired in 2010.<br />
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SpaceX, owned by Internet entrepreneur and PayPal founder Elon Musk, made its launch debut in March with the Falcon 1 rocket but the vehicle failed shortly after lift-off. The two companies secured the NASA contract to demonstrate its "commercial orbital transportation services". Kistler has scheduled the first launch of its K-1 rocket from Woomera in late 2008.<br />
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Kistler said work on a $100 million launch site at Woomera was expected to start in October. The site should be completed by the end of next year. Kistler Woomera chairman Alan Evans said the contract meant "hundreds of jobs" would be created within the aerospace industry in South Australia. "The jobs will be within the high-level end of the spectrum of the space industry, which is great news for the state," he said.<br />
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K-1 will have crew transportation capabilities, meaning the Woomera site could see astronauts leave from Australia. The site may also be used to transport satellites into space for telecom companies and defence organisations. The K-1 launch vehicle is designed to be re-used 100 times. It is powered by liquid-propellant engines and lands back on Earth with the help of parachutes and airbags.<br />
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"Woomera was chosen because it can be used for polar and equatorial launches and because of its clean land areas," Mr Evans said. "Kistler has already spent US$700 million developing this idea."<br />
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Rocketplane Kistler say their K-1 launch system will also provide low cost space access for satellites and research payloads. Their sub-orbital XP Spaceplane is 50% complete, and scheduled for first flight in late 2008. The K-1’s hardware is 75% complete - and is scheduled for first flight in 2008.<br />
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The mission is more ambitious than the previous Shenzhou V, which made China only the third nation to launch a manned space mission. Shenzhou VI will carry two astronauts, Nie Haisheng and Fei Junlong, compared to the previous mission which only carried a single astronaut, Yang Liwei. The newest astronauts will also stay in orbit longer, five days compared to the 21 hour, 14 orbit flight of Shenzhou V.<br />
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The director of the Chinese Space Crew Training program, Chen Shanguang, explained to the media that the country would send a woman to Space within five years. "Women are more patient compared with male astronauts, their psychological qualities are more stable and they face isolation better," according to Chen.<br />
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The planets are too far away to be observed directly with current technology, but by measuring the spectra of each planet when visible with its star, and again when the planet was hidden behind its star, the teams were able to determine the measurements of the planets spectra.<br />
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In a paper published in the February 22 issue of Nature, Dr. Jeremy Richardson of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center presented measurements of HD 209458 b, a hot, Jupiter-like planet located 153 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Pegasus. Richardson's team found a peak in the infrared spectra and was able to determine that the atmosphere of HD 209458 b likely consisted of clouds of silicate dust. Dr. Mark Swain of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory led another study of HD 209458 b, and found similar results.<br />
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Another team, led by Dr. Carl Grillmair of Spitzer Science Center at Caltech, performed a similar study of HD 189733b, 63 light-years away, in the constellation Vulpecula. Dr. Grillmair discusses the results: “It was believed to be fairly straightforward that these planets would have a lot of water in them, for one thing, very hot water. These planets, these hot Jupiters very, very close in to their parent stars are 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit or so, so it's not a pleasant place to live. And what we found instead and what the other group found for this completely different planet around another star, is that the spectrum is essentially flat. It really doesn’t show any of the features we would have expected from water.”<br />
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"The theorists' heads were spinning when they saw the data," adds Dr. Richardson. "It is virtually impossible for water, in the form of vapor, to be absent from the planet, so it must be hidden, probably by the dusty cloud layer we detected in our spectrum."<br />
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Dr. Grillmair: "The observations are showing us that things are not the way we expected them. And so there'll be a big push to get a lot more data while Spitzer is still alive. I think this will ultimately be one of the most important legacies of the Spitzer Space Telescope, unanticipated as it was before launch. I think it will become extremely important in the future." The telescope was launched in August of 2003 with a maximum expected life cycle of 5 years.<br />
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"With these new observations, we are refining the tools that we will one day need to find life elsewhere if it exists," said Swain. "It's sort of like a dress rehearsal."<br />
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Dr. Swain's and Dr. Grillmair's studies are pending publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters.<br />
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During the spacewalk, astronauts Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson were to repair a faulty cooling system, which failed on July 31. The faulty cooling unit was to be swapped with a new one that was previously in storage to solve the problem; however, an ammonia leak in the final line to be disconnected from the unit halted attempts for a repair.<br />
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Upon discovering the problem, the astronauts were instructed to reconnect the line and install a positioning device to maintain the proper pressure on the line.<br />
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Upon completing the spacewalk, Wheelock and Dyson spent additional time in the airlock to get rid of any ammonia particles that may have attached themselves to their spacesuits.<br />
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NASA officials are analyzing possible solutions to the issue to attempt during a planned spacewalk Wednesday. Wednesday's spacewalk was previously intended to be second in the series to repair the cooling system by reattaching fluid and electrical lines.<br />
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Before Saturday's spacewalk, NASA officials projected that up to three spacewalks may be needed to repair the cooling system.<br />
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Most of the space station's non-critical scientific components have been temporarily shut-down in order to reduce heat generation with only one cooling loop available to the station.<br />
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NASA reports that the station's crew, three Russians and three Americans, are not in any danger; however, it is in the best interests of the crew to restore systems to nominal condition as soon as possible.<br />
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The eight-hour spacewalk is reportedly the longest ISS-based spacewalk, and the sixth longest in the history of human spaceflight.<br />
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Previous smell sensors were based on quartz rods, which vibrate when a substance binds to them. The gases are distinguished by their molar masses, which can be similar for molecules with different structure, thus relatively often triggering a false positive. Trying to find a more accurate solution, Takeuchi decided to follow an example from insect world. As he explained, "when you think about the mosquito, it is able to find people because of carbon dioxide from the human. So the mosquito has CO2 receptors. When we can (extract) DNA (from the mosquito) we can put this DNA into the frog eggs to detect CO2."<br />
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Genes of several insects (the silk moth, diamondback moth and fruit fly), injected into African clawed frog Xenopus laevis eggs, allowed them to produce relatively inexpensive and useful sensors. The choice of the species was caused by their widely studied and well-understood protein expression mechanism.<br />
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The modified cells responded to three kinds of pheromones and one odourant, which have similar chemical properties. When a molecule of an odorous substance adhered to the receptor on the membrane protein, ion channels opened for a certain period of time, and a current was generated. Its magnitude was clearly different for all four tested substances, allowing to distinguish between them accurately.<br />
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The colleagues embedded the sensor into a mannequin, so that it could shake its head when a gas was detected. It was easier to observe. Pheromones and molecules with quite similar molecule structure produced clearly distinguishable reaction, with higher accuracy than other biological or human-made sensors. As the research group said, the detection sensitivity of the odor sensor is several tens of parts per billion (ppb), and it is as high as the sensitivity of an existing odor sensor that uses an oxide semiconductor. The distinctive feature of the new sensor is its capability to selectively detect some odorous substances, rather than its sensitivity. Very few false positives were possible due to the biological mechanism involved.<br />
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At normal temperature, the sensor lifetime is about 12 hours, which can be extended by putting it into a refrigerator before first use.<br />
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Shoji Takeuchi says has a great hope for research use in future, since the frog eggs are very practical for genetic engineering, and can be conveniently used to develop smell sensors for a wide range of gases. He said, "The X. laevis oocyte has high versatility for the development of chemical sensors for various odorants. We believe that a shared ability to smell might open a new relationship between man and robot. .. The research will have wide implications... If the sensor is embedded in a nursing robot, it will be able to identify certain mouth odors or body odors. Also, it can be used for detecting CO2, air pollution, water pollution and food. It's very important for the environment."<br />
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Abbreviated Test Language for All Systems (ATLAS) is a MILSPEC language for automatic testing of avionics equipment. It is a high-level computer language and can be used on any computer whose supporting software can translate it into the appropriate low-level instructions.<br />
The ATLAS language was initially developed by an international committee made up of representatives from the airline industries, military services, avionics manufacturers, and Automatic Test Equipment manufacturers. The goal of the committee was to design a standard English-like language that could be easily understood and used by both avionics and test equipment engineers. The result was the ATLAS language specification, published by Aeronautical Radio, Inc.<br />
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The ATLAS language is oriented toward the Unit Under Test and is independent of the test equipment used. This allows interchangeability of test procedures developed by different organizations, and thus reduces costly duplication of test programming effort.<br />
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The first ATLAS specification developed by the international committee was published in 1968. The basic document has been revised several times.<br />
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The ATLAS programming language incorporates an online compiler (OLC), Test executive (TEX or Test Exec), and file manager and media exchange (FMX) packages. Test executive is the mode ATLAS is run in on test stations while testing electronic equipment.<br />
A standard ATLAS program structure consists of two elements: preamble structure and procedural structure. The ATLAS programming language makes extensive use of variables and statement syntax. An ATLAS statement consists of a flag field, statement number field (STATNO), verb field, field separator, variable field, and statement terminator. Each and every ATLAS statement is terminated with the currency symbol ($).<br />
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ATLAS is used in the Air Force primarily on test stations for testing the avionic components of the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III, and B-1 Lancer. The U. S. Navy uses or has used ATLAS-based programs for testing avionics systems of the SH-60 Seahawk, E-2C Hawkeye, F-14 Tomcat, F/A-18 Hornet, S-3 Viking, A-6 Intruder and EA-6B Prowler. The U. S. Coast Guard FALCON special mission.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5419918575806866599.post-11972950344015524952010-08-29T09:20:00.001-07:002011-01-10T10:28:50.255-08:00Do you know quantum computing?<script language="JavaScript1.1" src="http://bdv.bidvertiser.com/BidVertiser.dbm?pid=276939%26bid=836604" type="text/javascript">
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A quantum computer is any device for computation that makes direct use of distinctively quantum mechanical phenomena, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform operations on data. In a classical (or conventional) computer, the amount of data is measured by bits; in a quantum computer, it is measured by qubits. The basic principle of quantum computation is that the quantum properties of particles can be used to represent and structure data, and that devised quantum mechanisms can be used to perform operations with this data. For a generally accessible overview of quantum computing, see Quantum Computing with Molecules, an article in Scientific American by Neil Gershenfeld and Isaac L. Chuang.<br />
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Experiments have already been carried out in which quantum computational operations were executed on a very small number of qubits. Research in practical areas continues at a frantic pace; see Quantum Information Science and Technology Roadmap for a sense of where the research is heading. Many national government and military funding agencies support quantum computing research, to develop quantum computers for both civilian and national security purposes, such as cryptanalysis.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5419918575806866599.post-3335777516574901242006-12-04T09:00:00.000-08:002011-01-10T10:28:50.255-08:00Wallpaper I liked todayThe wallpaper of this week is a beautiful image created by François Hoang in collaboration with James White. François is a very talented 25-year-old self-taught freelance graphic designer from Montreal, Canada. With this wallpaper he won the Abduzeedo World Collabs 3: James White. His design was selected among more than 80 designs from all around the globe.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://imgs.abduzeedo.com/files/wallpapers/wpw119/wp_1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://imgs.abduzeedo.com/files/wallpapers/wpw119/wp_1024.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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For more information about François Hoang visit his Website at http://www.aoirostudio.com/v3. You can also find François on Twitter www.twitter.com/aoirostudio<br />
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