Science & Technology - Astronomy picture of the day - 2019 January 18 : Cabin under the Stars

Cabin under the Stars
Image Credit & Copyright: P-M Hedén (Clear Skies, TWAN)

Explanation: Gocka's, a family nickname for the mountain cabin, and a wooden sled from a generation past stand quietly under the stars. The single exposure image was taken on January 6 from Tanndalen Sweden to evoke a simple visual experience of the dark mountain skies. A pale band of starlight along the Milky Way sweeps through the scene. At the foot of Orion the Hunter, bright star Rigel shines just above the old kicksled's handrail. Capella, alpha star of Auriga the celestial charioteer, is the brightest star at the top of the frame. In fact, the familiar stars of the winter hexagon and the Pleiades star cluster can all be found in this beautiful skyscape from a northern winter night.

Science & Technology - Astronomy picture of the day - 2019 January 16 : IC 342: The Hidden Galaxy

IC 342: The Hidden Galaxy
Image Credit & Copyright: Arturas Medvedevas

Explanation: Similar in size to large, bright spiral galaxies in our neighborhood, IC 342 is a mere 10 million light-years distant in the long-necked, northern constellation Camelopardalis. A sprawling island universe, IC 342 would otherwise be a prominent galaxy in our night sky, but it is hidden from clear view and only glimpsed through the veil of stars, gas and dust clouds along the plane of our own Milky Way galaxy. Even though IC 342's light is dimmed and reddened by intervening cosmic clouds, this sharp telescopic image traces the galaxy's own obscuring dust, young star clusters, and glowing pink star forming regions along spiral arms that wind far from the galaxy's core. IC 342 may have undergone a recent burst of star formation activity and is close enough to have gravitationally influenced the evolution of the local group of galaxies and the Milky Way.

Science & Technology - Astronomy picture of the day - 2019 January 14 : Meteor and Milky Way over the Alps

Meteor and Milky Way over the Alps 

Image Credit & Copyright: Nicholas Roemmelt (Venture Photography)

Explanation: Now this was a view with a thrill. From Mount Tschirgant in the Alps, you can see not only nearby towns and distant Tyrolean peaks, but also, weather permitting, stars, nebulas, and the band of the Milky Way Galaxy. What made the arduous climb worthwhile this night, though, was another peak -- the peak of the 2018 Perseids Meteor Shower. As hoped, dispersing clouds allowed a picturesque sky-gazing session that included many faint meteors, all while a carefully positioned camera took a series of exposures. Suddenly, a thrilling meteor -- bright and colorful -- slashed down right next the nearly vertical band of the Milky Way. As luck would have it, the camera caught it too. Therefore, a new image in the series was quickly taken with one of the sky-gazers posing on the nearby peak. Later, all of the images were digitally combined.

Ciência e Tecnologia - Cientistas demonstram que nossa 'alma' não morre: ela retorna ao universo

Cientistas acreditam ter desenvolvido uma teoria que esclarece algo sobre a misteriosa natureza da consciência - ou "alma"-, seu mecanismo no cérebro e, quem sabe, seu destino final após a morte.

Desde 1996, o Dr. Stuart Hameroff, emérito do Departamento de Anestesiologia e Psicologia e diretor do Centro de Estudos da Consciência, da Universidade do Arizona, junto com Sir Roger Penrose, físico matemático da Universidade de Oxford, desenvolvevem uma Teoria Quântica da Consciência, que define que a alma fica alojada em microtúbulos das células cerebrais.

"A origem da consciência reflete o nosso lugar no Universo, a natureza de nossa existência. Será que a consciência evoluiu de complexas operações computacionais entre os neurônios do cérebro, como a maioria dos cientistas afirmam? Ou a consciência, em algum sentido, esteve aqui o tempo todo, como as abordagens espirituais afirmam?" questionaram Hameroff e Penrose em uma revisão da sua teoria. "Isso abre uma potencialCaixa de Pandora, mas nossa teoria acomoda ambos os pontos de vista", acrescentam.

As experiências da consciência seriam um efeito da gravidade quântica nesses microtúbulos, que atuam como canais para a transferência da informação responsável pela consciência. “Quando o coração para de bater, o sangue para de correr e os microtúbulos perdem seu estado quântico. A informação quântica nos microtúbulos não é destruída, não pode ser destruída. Ela é simplesmente distribuída e dissipada pelo Universo”, explica Hameroff.

Fonte: ScienceDirect

Science & Technology - Astronomy picture of the day - 2019 January 13 : "Tycho's Supernova Remnant in X-ray"

"Tycho's Supernova Remnant in X-ray"  

Image Credit: NASA / CXC / F.J. Lu (Chinese Academy of Sciences) et al.

Explanation: What star created this huge puffball? What's pictured is the hot expanding nebula of Tycho's supernova remnant, the result of a stellar explosion first recorded over 400 years ago by the famous astronomer Tycho Brahe. The featured image is a composite of three X-ray colors taken by the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory. The expanding gas cloud is extremely hot, while slightly different expansion speeds have given the cloud a puffy appearance. Although the star that created SN 1572, is likely completely gone, a star dubbed Tycho G, too dim to be discerned here, is thought to be a companion. Finding progenitor remnants of Tycho's supernova is particularly important because the supernova is of Type Ia, an important rung in the distance ladder that calibrates the scale of the visible universe. The peak brightness of Type Ia supernovas is thought to be well understood, making them quite valuable in exploring the relationship between faintness and farness in the distant universe.

Science & Technology - Astronomy picture of the day, 2019 January 12 - Milky Way Falls

Milky Way Falls 

Image Credit & Copyright: Yuri Beletsky (Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory, TWAN)

Explanation: It can be the driest place on planet Earth, but water still flows in Chile's Atacama desert, high in the mountains. After discovering this small creek with running water, the photographer returned to the site to watch the Milky Way rise in the dark southern skies, calculating the moment when Milky Way and precious flowing water would meet. In the panoramic night skyscape, stars and nebulae immersed in the glow along the Milky Way itself also shared that moment with the Milky Way's satellite galaxies the Large and Small Magellanic clouds above the horizon at the right. Bright star Beta Centauri is poised at the very top of the waterfall. Above it lies the dark expanse of theCoalsack nebula and the stars of the Southern Cross.

Music live - Video - Ennio Morricone - Katica Illényi & Győr Philharmonic Orchestra : "Once Upon a Time in the West"

"Once Upon a Time in the West"

Science - Astronomy picture of the day - 2019 January 11 : Partial Eclipse over Beijing

Partial Eclipse over Beijing 
Image Credit & Copyright: Li Zhaoqi

Explanation: On January 6 the New Moon rose in silhouette with the Sun seen from northeastern Asia. Near maximum, the dramatic partial solar eclipse is captured in this telephoto view through hazy skies. In the foreground, the hill top Wanchun pavilion overlooking central Beijing's popular Forbidden City hosts eclipse-watching early morning risers. This was the first of five, three solar and two lunar, eclipses for 2019. Next up is a total lunar eclipse during this month's Full Perigee Moon. At night on January 21, that celestial shadow play will be visible from the hemisphere of planet Earth that includes the Americas, Europe, and western Africa.

Science & Technologie - Astronomy picture of the day - 2019 January 10 - Vela Supernova Remnant Mosaic

Vela Supernova Remnant Mosaic  
Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler, Roberto Colombari, Digitized Sky Survey (POSS II)

Explanation: The plane of our Milky Way Galaxy runs through this complex and beautiful skyscape. Seen toward colorful stars near the northwestern edge of the constellation Vela (the Sails), the 16 degree wide, 200 frame mosaic is centered on the glowing filaments of the Vela Supernova Remnant, the expanding debris cloud from the death explosion of a massive star. Light from the supernova explosion that created the Vela remnant reached Earth about 11,000 years ago. In addition to the shocked filaments of glowing gas, the cosmic catastrophe also left behind an incredibly dense, rotating stellar core, the Vela Pulsar. Some 800 light-years distant, the Vela remnant is likely embedded in a larger and older supernova remnant, the Gum Nebula. Objects identified in this broad mosaic include emission and reflection nebulae, star clusters, and the remarkable Pencil Nebula.

Science & Technologie - Boeing dévoile un concept d’ailes d'avion ultra fines

Boeing et la Nasa développent depuis dix ans des ailes d’avions ultra-minces à l’aérodynamique particulièrement soignée. 

Décidément, Boeing sait faire preuve d’inventivité quand il s’agit de donner des ailes à ses nouveaux appareils. Après avoir créé des ailes repliables pour son 777X, afin qu’il puisse mieux se faufiler dans les aéroports, il dévoile un concept d’avion à ailes ultra-fines, les ""Transonic Truss-Braced Wings" (TTBW).

Ces ailes ultra-minces de 52 mètres de long (elles aussi pliables) sont soutenues par des mâts. Elles sont destinées à des avions pouvant voler en vol subsonique, jusqu’à Mach 0,8 (980 km/h). Ce design permet d’optimiser l’aérodynamique et de réduire le son émis par l’appareil.

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