Category Archives: Science

NASA Releases Images of Earth by Distant Spacecraft

By Guest PostJuly 24, 2013Sciencecarolyn porco, cassini images earth, cassini spacecraft, columbia university, coming of age, distant spacecraft, images of earth, linda spilker, mercury, messenger, moon, NASA, nasa interplanetary spacecraft, photo of earth, planetary explorers, saturns rings, sean solomon, wide angle image

PASADENA, Calif. — Color and black-and-white images of Earth taken by two NASA interplanetary spacecraft on July 19 show our planet and its moon as bright beacons from millions of miles away in space.

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured the color images of Earth and the moon from its perch in the Saturn system nearly 900 million miles (1.5 billion kilometers) away. MESSENGER, the first probe to orbit Mercury, took a black-and-white image from a distance of 61 million miles (98 million kilometers) as part of a campaign to search for natural satellites of the planet. (more…)

Computer models figure out sickle cell crisis

By Guest PostJuly 23, 2013Scienceafrican, blood blockages, brown university, computer models, figure out, george karniadakis, hispanic descent, huan lei, karniadakis lab, red blood cells, sickle cell crisis, ss2 cells, united states

A sickle cell crisis isn’t just about sickle-shaped red blood cells that block capillaries. A second, stickier kind of red blood cell starts the obstruction, making it difficult for sickle cells to flow past.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Using powerful computer models, researchers from Brown University have shown for the first time how different types of red blood cells interact to cause sickle cell crisis, a dangerous blockage of blood flow in capillaries that causes searing pain and tissue damage in people with sickle cell disease.

The models showed that the rigid, crescent-shaped red blood cells that are the hallmark of sickle cell disease don’t cause these blockages on their own. Instead, softer, deformable red blood cells known as SS2 cells start the process by sticking to capillary walls. The rigid sickle-shaped cells then stack up behind the SS2s, like traffic behind a car wreck. (more…)

How the brain creates the ‘buzz’ that helps ideas spread

By Guest PostJuly 21, 2013Sciencebrain, buzz, capitol hill, emily falk, Facebook, fictitious pilots, fmri brain scans, go viral, karl dambacher, locke welbourn, matthew lieberman, radio djs, salesperson effect, spread of ideas, sylvia morelli, teenage vampires, temporoparietal junction, tpj, Twitter, ucla psychologists, werewolves, wired to connect

How do ideas spread? What messages will go viral on social media, and can this be predicted?

UCLA psychologists have taken a significant step toward answering these questions, identifying for the first time the brain regions associated with the successful spread of ideas, often called “buzz.”

The research has a broad range of implications, the study authors say, and could lead to more effective public health campaigns, more persuasive advertisements and better ways for teachers to communicate with students. (more…)

Solar tsunami used to measure Sun’s magnetic field

By Guest PostJuly 20, 2013Scienceatmosphere, cmes, coronal mass ejections, david long, earth, eis, explosion, extreme, japanese hinode spacecraft, magnetic field, measure, NASA, satellite, sdo, solar activity, solar dynamics observatory, solar storms, solar tsunami, sun, technological infrastructure, ultraviolet, ultraviolet imaging spectrometer, xray

A solar tsunami observed by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the Japanese Hinode spacecraft has been used to provide the first accurate estimates of the Sun’s magnetic field.

Solar tsunamis are produced by enormous explosions in the Sun’s atmosphere called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). As the CME travels out into space, the tsunami travels across the Sun at speeds of up to 1000 kilometres per second.

Similar to tsunamis on Earth, the shape of solar tsunamis is changed by the environment through which they move. Just as sound travels faster in water than in air, solar tsunamis have a higher speed in regions of stronger magnetic field. This unique feature allowed the team, led by researchers from UCL’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory, to measure the Sun’s magnetic field. The results are outlined in a paper soon to be published in the journal Solar Physics. (more…)

Saving Lives Worldwide by Training International Volcano Scientists

By Guest PostJuly 20, 2013Environment, Scienceandy lockhart, canada, cascades volcano observatory, celina kattan, Colombia, costa rica, csav, domenico mangione, don thomas, ecuador, el salvador, hilo, hvo, indonesia, international volcano scientists, italy, john pallister, mount st helens, papua new guinea, peru, syegi kunrat, telemetry station, type of volcano, U.S. Geological Survey, university of hawaii, usaid, volcanic hazard assessment, volcano hazards monitoring, volcano observatories, volcano science center, volcano scientist

VANCOUVER, Wash. – Scientists and technicians who work at volcano observatories in nine countries are visiting Mount St. Helens and the U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Science Center’s Cascades Volcano Observatory this week to learn techniques for monitoring active volcanoes. Organized by the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes at the University of Hawaiʻi, Hilo, with support from the VSC-managed joint USGS-USAID Volcano Disaster Assistance Program, the annual program has been training foreign scientists for 22 years. This year’s class includes volcano scientists from Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Canada, Indonesia, Italy, and Papua New Guinea.

The International Training Program in Volcano Hazards Monitoring is designed to assist other nations in attaining self-sufficiency in monitoring volcanoes and reducing the risks from eruptions. Through in-class instruction at two USGS volcano observatories, and field exercises in Hawaiʻi and at Mount St. Helens, U.S. scientists are providing training on monitoring methods, data analysis and interpretation, and volcanic hazard assessment, and participants are taught about the use and maintenance of volcano monitoring instruments. Additionally, participants learn about focusing on forecasting and rapid response during volcanic crises, and how to work with governing officials and the news media to save lives and property. (more…)

Good Vibrations: Mediating Mood Through Brain Ultrasound

By Guest PostJuly 19, 2013Health, Scienceairport code, analog, anatomical structures, anesthesiology, anxiety, blood vessels, brain stimulation, brain ultrasound, clinical trial, depression, good vibrations, high frequency vibrations, human brains, jamie tyler, jay sanguinetti, john allen, mediating mood, megahertz frequencies, microtubules, mood scale, neurotrek, organs, placebo, protein structure, psychiatric disorders, psychological, silicon valley, stuart hameroff, tms, transcranial magnetic stimulation, tucson, ultrasound machine, ultrasound vibrations, university of arizona, vams, virginia polytechnic institute, visual, womb

Ultrasound vibrations applied to the brain may affect mood, UA researchers have discovered. The finding potentially could lead to new treatments for psychological and psychiatric disorders.

University of Arizona researchers have found in a recent study that ultrasound waves applied to specific areas of the brain appear able to alter patients’ moods. The discovery has led the scientists to conduct further investigations with the hope that this technique could one day be used to treat conditions such as depression and anxiety.

Dr. Stuart Hameroff, professor emeritus of the UA’s departments of anesthesiology and psychology and director of the UA’s Center for Consciousness Studies, is lead author on the first clinical study of brain ultrasound, which was published in the journal Brain Stimulation. (more…)

Outsmarting hackers

By Guest PostJuly 19, 2013Science, Technologyainiah floyd, andrew hobbs, barnegat, battlefield, billy bednar, capture the flag, chase cotton, cloud security, coding theory, competition, cryptography, cyber minds, cyber space, ethical hacking, generation of americans, kenneth barner, landsdale, outsmarting hackers, outwitting hackers, pjm interconnect, stem, Technology, tom carper, university of delaware, us cyber challenge, Washington

US Cyber Challenge puts UD student on fast track to outwitting hackers

“Cryptography enables you to send secret code and hide information within a network to keep it secure,” Billy Bednar, a University of Delaware senior, told U.S. Sen. Tom Carper during a conference call Wednesday, July 18.

Carper, who is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is working to help safeguard the nation’s cyber space. To accomplish this he will need to rely on today’s leading experts, but also ensure that future cyber sleuths currently in the pipeline have the proper training to meet emerging cyber challenges. (more…)

In the Zone: How Scientists Search for Habitable Planets

By Guest PostJuly 18, 2013Scienceatmosphere, exoplanets, goldilocks planets, habitable planets, habitable zone, kepler 69c, kepler mission, liquid water, lucianne walkowicz, NASA, penn state university, radiation, ravi kumar kopparapu, scientists, search, solar system, star, stephen kane, super earth, super venus planet, total energy output, venus like planet

There is only one planet we know of, so far, that is drenched with life. That planet is Earth, as you may have guessed, and it has all the right conditions for critters to thrive on its surface. Do other planets beyond our solar system, called exoplanets, also host life forms?

Astronomers still don’t know the answer, but they search for potentially habitable planets using a handful of criteria. Ideally, they want to find planets just like Earth, since we know without a doubt that life took root here. The hunt is on for planets about the size of Earth that orbit at just the right distance from their star – in a region termed the habitable zone. (more…)