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Ultracold Big Bang experiment successfully simulates evolution of early universe

By Guest PostSeptember 1, 2013Scienceabsolute zero, andrei sakharov, background radiation, beginning of universe, big bang, black holes, chao lin kuo, chen lung hung, cheng chin, cmb, cobe, cosmic microwave, dynamics, early universe, evolution, excitations, galaxy formation, infant universe, initial conditions, john carlstrom, laboratory simulation, matter and radiation, michael turner, phenomenon, power of physics, russian physicist, sakharov acoustic oscillations, sakharov oscillations, simulation, sound wave excitations, stanford university, ultracold big bang, ultracold cesium atoms, university of chicago, vacuum chamber, wayne hu, wmap

Physicists have reproduced a pattern resembling the cosmic microwave background radiation in a laboratory simulation of the Big Bang, using ultracold cesium atoms in a vacuum chamber at the University of Chicago.

“This is the first time an experiment like this has simulated the evolution of structure in the early universe,” said Cheng Chin, professor in physics. Chin and his associates reported their feat in the Aug. 1 edition of Science Express, and it will appear soon in the print edition of Science. (more…)

Magma can survive in upper crust for hundreds of millennia

By Guest PostSeptember 1, 2013Scienceandes mountains, cascades range, craggy granite formation, crystallization, francisco gutierrez, hawaii, heat conductivity, hundreds of millennia, kilauea volcano, magma, modeling research, molten rock, mount pinatubo, mount st helens, national scientiﬁc, olivier bachmann, oozing, pacific northwest, period, Philippines, plutonic magma, plutonic rock, reservoir, Santiago, sarah gelman, silica rich magma, south america, survive, temperature dependent, universidad de chile, university of washington, upper crust, volcanic arcs, volcanic eruptions, volcanic magma, washington state, yellowstone national park, yosemite national park

Reservoirs of silica-rich magma – the kind that causes the most explosive volcanic eruptions – can persist in Earth’s upper crust for hundreds of thousands of years without triggering an eruption, according to new University of Washington modeling research.

That means an area known to have experienced a massive volcanic eruption in the past, such as Yellowstone National Park, could have a large pool of magma festering beneath it and still not be close to going off as it did 600,000 years ago.

“You might expect to see a stewing magma chamber for a long period of time and it doesn’t necessarily mean an eruption is imminent,” said Sarah Gelman, a UW doctoral student in Earth and space sciences. (more…)

Saturn Moon May Have Rigid Ice Shell

By Guest PostAugust 30, 2013Sciencecassini data, cassini huygens mission, cassini spacecraft, cassini team, douglas hemingway, european space agency, francis nimmo, gravity, ice roots, ice shell, italian space agency, NASA, orange brown atmosphere, santa cruz, saturn moon, saturnian moon titan, topography data, university of california

An analysis of gravity and topography data from the Saturnian moon Titan obtained by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft suggests there could be something unexpected about the moon’s outer ice shell. The findings, published on Aug. 28 in the journal Nature, suggest that Titan’s ice shell could be rigid, and that relatively small topographic features on the surface could be associated with large ice “roots” extending into the underlying ocean.

The study was led by planetary scientists Douglas Hemingway and Francis Nimmo at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who used data from Cassini. The researchers were surprised to find a counterintuitive relationship between gravity and topography. (more…)

Self-Healing Solar Cells ‘Channel’ Natural Processes

By Guest PostAugust 29, 2013Sciencegel microfluidic cell, power of sun, silicon solar cells, solar cell, solar cell devices

To understand how solar cells heal themselves, look no further than the nearest tree leaf or the back of your hand.

The “branching” vascular channels that circulate life-sustaining nutrients throughout leaves and hands serve as the inspiration for solar cells that can restore themselves efficiently and inexpensively. (more…)

NASA’S Mars Curiosity Debuts Autonomous Navigation

By Guest PostAugust 27, 2013Science376th martian day, ancient mars, autonomous navigation, environmental changes, gale crater, glenelg area, hirise camera, john grotzinger, john wright, mark maimone, mars, mars rover curiosity, mount sharp, NASA

PASADENA, Calif. – NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has used autonomous navigation for the first time, a capability that lets the rover decide for itself how to drive safely on Mars.

This latest addition to Curiosity’s array of capabilities will help the rover cover the remaining ground en route to Mount Sharp, where geological layers hold information about environmental changes on ancient Mars. The capability uses software that engineers adapted to this larger and more complex vehicle from a similar capability used by NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, which is also currently active on Mars. (more…)

Newly unearthed ruins challenge views of early Romans

By Guest PostAugust 24, 2013Culture, Scienceancient stereotype, andrew johnston, archaeologists, architectural style, bce, classical art, coliseum, colosseum, digging in italy, early romans, east of rome, gabii, geometrically patterned floors, historians, lego construction, lego like fashion, marcello mogetta, museum of archaeology, nicola terrenato, roman empire, roman republican history, ruins, site known, university of michigan, yale university

ANN ARBOR — In a long-buried Italian city, archaeologists have found a massive monument that dates back 300 years before the Colosseum and 100 years before the invention of mortar, revealing that the Romans had grand architectural ambitions much earlier than previously thought.

The structure, unearthed at the site known as Gabii, just east of Rome, is built with giant stone blocks in a Lego-like fashion. It’s about half the size of a football field and dates back 350-250 years BCE. It’s possibly the earliest public building ever found, said Nicola Terrenato, a University of Michigan classics professor who leads the project—the largest American dig in Italy in the past 50 years. (more…)

Raising the IQ of Smart Windows

By Guest PostAugust 24, 2013Sciencecoating of nanocrystals, electrochromic effect, electrochromic material, energy savings, smart window technology, smart windows, window coating

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have designed a new material to make smart windows even smarter. The material is a thin coating of nanocrystals embedded in glass that can dynamically modify sunlight as it passes through a window. Unlike existing technologies, the coating provides selective control over visible light and heat-producing near-infrared (NIR) light, so windows can maximize both energy savings and occupant comfort in a wide range of climates. (more…)

New book explores evolution of human reproduction

By Guest PostAugust 24, 2013Scienceevolution, frozen embryos, human beings, human reproduction, mammal sperms, pilosals, primate evolution

Human beings would probably be known as pilosals rather than mammals if Carl Linnaeus had not been a proponent of breast-feeding. For social and political reasons, the famed taxonomist labeled the class of animals to which humans belong with a reference to their practice of suckling their young rather than to their evolutionarily older characteristic of having hair. (more…)

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