A new study into how the world’s highest flying bird, the bar-headed goose, is able to survive at extreme altitudes may have future implications for low oxygen medical conditions in humans. (more…)
NASA’s UCLA-led Dawn mission shows protoplanet’s surprising surface
When UCLA’s Christopher T. Russell looks at the images of the protoplanet Vesta produced by NASA’s Dawn mission, he talks about beauty as much as he talks about science.
“Vesta looks like a little planet. It has a beautiful surface, much more varied and diverse than we expected,” said Russell, a professor in UCLA’s Department of Earth and Space Sciences and the Dawn mission’s principal investigator. “We knew Vesta’s surface had some variation in color, but we did not expect the diversity that we see or the clarity of the colors and textures, or their distinct boundaries. We didn’t find gold on Vesta, but it is still a gold mine.”
Dawn has been orbiting Vesta and collecting data on the protoplanet’s surface since July 2011. Vesta, which is in the doughnut-shaped asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, is currently some 321 million miles from Earth. (more…)
*BizSpark One startup PEAK 15 Systems powers unique travel experiences.*
REDMOND, Wash. — PEAK 15 Systems, a BizSpark One startup, provides tour operators with the software they need to build you the trip of a lifetime.
Anyone can go online to quickly purchase airline tickets or find a cheap hotel room, but when it comes to planning a truly unique travel experience, most people need the help of a travel professional. That’s where specialty tour operators come into play: They design specific types of trips or specialize in certain destinations, from Napa Valley food and wine adventures to luxury biking trips across Europe. PEAK 15 Systems, which builds software for tour operators, is the computing brain that helps to pull all the details together. (more…)
