January 24, 2012

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Active Child Hanging On Sex Music itstaylorscott

unknownskywalker:

Astronomical by Mishka Henner

Astronomical is a set of twelve 506-page volumes representing a scale model of our solar system from the Sun to Pluto. The width of each page represents one million kilometres. The set is an open edition with each set printed for each buyer. Order Astronomical here (£100 + shipping). Watch the video →

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Bitter words today much?Try me. 

Bitter words today much?
Try me. 

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January 18, 2012

My Mind Lately….

Recently Listened Tracks

Stereo Alchemy – A RaptureLoved track 6 Jan 1:36am

 Nicola Roberts – Beat of My Drum (Instrumental) 6 Jan 1:29am

Florence + the Machine – I’m Not Calling You A Liar 6 Jan 1:26am

Lykke Li – Get Some 6 Jan 1:01am

Charli XCX – Stay Away 6 Jan 12:57am

Lana Del Rey – Oh Say Can You See 6 Jan 12:53am

The Temptations – Fan The Flame 21 Dec 2011

Jackie Wilson – You Got Me Walking 21 Dec 2011

Billie Holiday – They Can’t Take That Away from Me 21 Dec 2011

Otis Redding – (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay  21 Dec 2011

Donny Hathaway – Yesterday (previously unreleas 21 Dec 2011

The Temptations – No Man Can Love Her Like I Do 21 Dec 2011

Musiq – Halfcrazy 21 Dec 2011

Jill Scott – Golden21 Dec 2011

Janis Joplin – Piece Of My Heart21 Dec 2011

Sly & The Family Stone – Everyday People21 Dec 2011

Al Green – I Can’t Get Next To You21 Dec 2011

Anthony David – As Above So Below21 Dec 2011

Sam Cooke – A Change Is Gonna Come21 Dec 2011

The Gap Band – Early In The Morning Loved track21 Dec 2011


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World's Time Keepers Will Decide The Fate Of The Leap Second

npr:

The International Telecommunication Union’s Radiocommunication Assembly, otherwise known as the international authority that keeps close tabs on time, will debate a philosophical question this week: They will decide whether to eliminate the leap second and in doing so break its tie to astronomical time.

A leap second is a lot like a leap year, reports the Financial Times, except that it’s unpredictable. Since it was introduced in 1972, the ITU has added 24 leap seconds to recalibrate the world’s atomic clocks to keep time with Earth’s imprecise orbit.

The AP reports the leap second is causing a showdown at the international convention. The U.S. and France are advocating for getting rid of the leap second and countries like England, Canada and China are arguing in favor of the leap second saying this is more than a technical question. —Eyder Peralta 

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January 6, 2012

kidsneedscience:

In 1967 astronomer Jocelyn Burnell Bell found an unusual object blinking in a dark corner of the sky in the constellation Vulpecula.  With a period of 1.3373 seconds and a pulse width of 0.04 second it was the first radio pulsar discovered, although Bell and her Ph.D. advisor astronomer Antony Hewish had no idea what exactly they were seeing.  Given the regularity of the signal, they briefly (and mostly jokingly) considered the possibility that they had stumbled upon evidence of extra-terrestrial intelligence, and dubbed it LGM1, for Little Green Men 1.  According to Bell:

We did not really believe that we had picked up signals from another civilization, but obviously the idea had crossed our minds and we had no proof that it was an entirely natural radio emission. It is an interesting problem - if one thinks one may have detected life elsewhere in the universe how does one announce the results responsibly? Who does one tell first?

Thomas Goldand Franco Pacini suggested that pulsars were in fact pulsating neutron stars, confirmed with the discovery of a second pulsar in the Crab Nebula. The next year in March 1968, The Daily Telegraph was first to publish the new word:

An entirely novel kind of star came to light on Aug. 6 last year and was referred to, by astronomers, as LGM (Little Green Men). Now it is thought to be a novel type between a white dwarf and a neutron [sic]. The name Pulsar is likely to be given to it. Dr. A. Hewish told me yesterday: “… I am sure that today every radio telescope is looking at the Pulsars.”

The word itself was a combination of pulsating and star, a very literal and descriptive explanation of what scientists were seeing.  Today that first pulsar is known variously as CP 1919, PSR B1919+21 and PSR J1921+2153.

Pulsars are so unique that NASA used them as intergalactic locators, drawing a map on the Pioneer plaques to allow extra-terrestrial intelligences to find planet Earth. 

In 1974 Antony Hewish became the first astronomer to win a Nobel Prize in Physics, with a bit of controversy surrounding the award as Bell (who actually discovered the pulsar) was not co-awarded the prize. 

All images used under CC 3.0 license.

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January 5, 2012

itsfullofstars: Stephen Hawking: Women Are ‘A Complete Mystery’ Professor Stephen Hawking, one of the world’s most eminent physicists, has admitted that women number among black holes and supersymmetry as one of the greatest mysteries in the universe. In an interview with New Scientist magazine ahead of his 70th birthday on Sunday, Hawking was asked what he thinks about most during the day. “Women,” he replied. “They are a complete mystery”. Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21, and was expected to live for just a few years. Since his diagnosis Hawking has gone on to become one of the world’s most famous scientists, both for his academic work on black holes and his books including A Brief History Of Time, which has sold more than 10m copies since 1988. In the interview with New Scientist, Hawking also refers to the “blunders” that have blighted his academic and also his personal life. Keep reading.

itsfullofstars:

Stephen Hawking: Women Are ‘A Complete Mystery’

Professor Stephen Hawking, one of the world’s most eminent physicists, has admitted that women number among black holes and supersymmetry as one of the greatest mysteries in the universe.

In an interview with New Scientist magazine ahead of his 70th birthday on Sunday, Hawking was asked what he thinks about most during the day.

“Women,” he replied. “They are a complete mystery”.

Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21, and was expected to live for just a few years.

Since his diagnosis Hawking has gone on to become one of the world’s most famous scientists, both for his academic work on black holes and his books including A Brief History Of Time, which has sold more than 10m copies since 1988.

In the interview with New Scientist, Hawking also refers to the “blunders” that have blighted his academic and also his personal life.

Keep reading.

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January 3, 2012

rowchygogo: An astronaut photo released by the NASA Earth Observatory on December 26, 2011 and acquired on December 4, 2011 from the International Space Station (ISS) shows the city lights of Spain and Portugal define the Iberian Peninsula. Several large metropolitan areas are visible, marked by their relatively large and brightly lit areas, including the capital cities of Madrid, Spain. The ancient city of Seville, visible to the north of the Strait of Gibraltar, is one of the largest cities in Spain. The astronaut view is looking toward the east, and is part of a time-lapse series of images.

rowchygogo:

An astronaut photo released by the NASA Earth Observatory on December 26, 2011 and acquired on December 4, 2011 from the International Space Station (ISS) shows the city lights of Spain and Portugal define the Iberian Peninsula. Several large metropolitan areas are visible, marked by their relatively large and brightly lit areas, including the capital cities of Madrid, Spain. The ancient city of Seville, visible to the north of the Strait of Gibraltar, is one of the largest cities in Spain. The astronaut view is looking toward the east, and is part of a time-lapse series of images.

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December 3, 2011

When my husband died, because he was so famous & known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me — it still sometimes happens — & ask me if Carl changed at the end & converted to a belief in an afterlife. They also frequently ask me if I think I will see him again. Carl faced his death with unflagging courage & never sought refuge in illusions. The tragedy was that we knew we would never see each other again. I don’t ever expect to be reunited with Carl. But, the great thing is that when we were together, for nearly twenty years, we lived with a vivid appreciation of how brief & precious life is. We never trivialized the meaning of death by pretending it was anything other than a final parting. Every single moment that we were alive & we were together was miraculous — not miraculous in the sense of inexplicable or supernatural. We knew we were beneficiaries of chance… That pure chance could be so generous & so kind… That we could find each other, as Carl wrote so beautifully in Cosmos, you know, in the vastness of space & the immensity of time… That we could be together for twenty years. That is something which sustains me & it’s much more meaningful…
The way he treated me & the way I treated him, the way we took care of each other & our family, while he lived. That is so much more important than the idea I will see him someday. I don’t think I’ll ever see Carl again. But I saw him. We saw each other. We found each other in the cosmos, and that was wonderful.

Ann Druyan, talking about her husband, Carl Sagan (via mamaatheist)

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Carl Sagan Love Cosmos

November 6, 2011

soupsoup: edwingardner: (via Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - Hybrid Insect Micro Electromechanical Systems (HI-MEMS)) DARPA is simultaneously amazing and frightening. Olfactory training of bees has been used to locate mines and weapons of mass destruction. The Hybrid Insect Micro Electromechanical Systems (HI-MEMS) program is aimed at developing technology to provide control over insect locomotion, just as reins are needed for effective control over horse locomotion. HI-MEMS-derived technologies will enable many robotic capabilities at low cost, impacting the development of future autonomous defense systems. The realization of cyborgs will provide compact platforms that use highly efficient biological systems developed over millions of years of evolution. HI-MEMS platforms will extend the duration and improve the capability of microbotic missions due to the combined efficiency of biochemical energy storage (fat) and bio-actuators (muscle) compared to traditional chemical energy storage (battery) and actuators (motors). The basic technology developed in this program will also serve as a biological tool to understand and control insect development, opening vistas in our understanding of tissue development and providing new technological pathways to harness the natural sensors and power generation of insects. The HI-MEMS program is aimed at developing tightly coupled machine-insect interfaces by attaching electronic payloads to the muscle or neural systems during the early stages of metamorphosis. Since a majority of the tissue development in insects occurs in the later stages of metamorphosis, the renewed tissue growth around the MEMS will tend to heal and form a reliable and stable tissue-machine interface. The purpose of the MEMS payload will be to guide the insect’s locomotion, determine its position, and extract power to operate the electronic systems. The control of insect locomotion will be investigated using several approaches, including direct electrical muscle excitation, electrical stimulation of neurons, electromechanical stimulation of insect sensory cells, and presentation of optical cues with micro-optical visual presentation. Power extraction will be investigated using several approaches including thermo-electric converters, resonant piezoelectric and magnetic generators, and nonresonant broadband energy scavengers. I feel as though every episode of the X-Files is becoming a part of the world as we know it. The episode titled “War of the Coprophages” deals with deaths attributed to a cockroach infestation which are later discovered to be mechanical cockroaches!

soupsoup:

edwingardner:

(via Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - Hybrid Insect Micro Electromechanical Systems (HI-MEMS))

DARPA is simultaneously amazing and frightening.

Olfactory training of bees has been used to locate mines and weapons of mass destruction. The Hybrid Insect Micro Electromechanical Systems (HI-MEMS) program is aimed at developing technology to provide control over insect locomotion, just as reins are needed for effective control over horse locomotion.

HI-MEMS-derived technologies will enable many robotic capabilities at low cost, impacting the development of future autonomous defense systems. The realization of cyborgs will provide compact platforms that use highly efficient biological systems developed over millions of years of evolution. HI-MEMS platforms will extend the duration and improve the capability of microbotic missions due to the combined efficiency of biochemical energy storage (fat) and bio-actuators (muscle) compared to traditional chemical energy storage (battery) and actuators (motors). The basic technology developed in this program will also serve as a biological tool to understand and control insect development, opening vistas in our understanding of tissue development and providing new technological pathways to harness the natural sensors and power generation of insects.

The HI-MEMS program is aimed at developing tightly coupled machine-insect interfaces by attaching electronic payloads to the muscle or neural systems during the early stages of metamorphosis. Since a majority of the tissue development in insects occurs in the later stages of metamorphosis, the renewed tissue growth around the MEMS will tend to heal and form a reliable and stable tissue-machine interface. The purpose of the MEMS payload will be to guide the insect’s locomotion, determine its position, and extract power to operate the electronic systems.

The control of insect locomotion will be investigated using several approaches, including direct electrical muscle excitation, electrical stimulation of neurons, electromechanical stimulation of insect sensory cells, and presentation of optical cues with micro-optical visual presentation. Power extraction will be investigated using several approaches including thermo-electric converters, resonant piezoelectric and magnetic generators, and nonresonant broadband energy scavengers.

I feel as though every episode of the X-Files is becoming a part of the world as we know it. The episode titled “War of the Coprophages” deals with deaths attributed to a cockroach infestation which are later discovered to be mechanical cockroaches!

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itstaylorscott X-Files Insects Mechanical

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