Science Now is reporting in “Black Hole in a Pencil,” that, in 1- or 2-atom thick layers, graphite has a unique ability: electrons within the thin graphite (called graphene) act as if they are massless, and move freely within it at the speed of light. But wait, there’s more!
(Image Credit: Chris Ewels)
Astronomers from around the world will vote today on a series of proposals, all of which demote Pluto and reset our solar system’s planet count to eight. Of course, the astronomers could vote “No” on all four proposals, thus tabling the decision for three years. I doubt that’ll happen.
Just for kicks, I tried to see Pluto last night, while it was still officially a planet. I haven’t seen it yet, and 8″ Celestron NexStar 8i telescope is barely up to the task. Unfortunately, there were too many clouds rolling through. Oh, well.
(Image Credit: Eliot Young (SwRI) et al., NASA)
NASA today upgraded their real-time tracking page for the MRO. It has more and better graphics, orbital statistics, and it updated every five minutes.
As of this writing, the graphics say, “36 hours to End Game.” I wish I knew what that meant. The MRO isn’t due to reach its final science orbit until November 2006.
Read the brief story and see the graphic here.
Now as for the existence dark energy…
Well, I’m betting on an alternate explanation for the acceleration of the Universe’s expansion. Something more to do with topology.
A Top 10 weather day! 70°F, dry, and no wind! Dad and I hammered a bit, and improved our average speed by over 1.2!
The only bad news was the newly repaired bottom bracket still squeaks, but only once every 5 revolutions or so. This made me pretty angry, which explains a little of why I was riding faster. What do I have to do to get this bike quiet?
The BBC is reporting that Mount Etna is producing 200-meter wide rings of steam, which have never been observed in such detail before. The rings last up to 10 minutes, and appear to rise as far as a kilometer above the ground. See the article for more pictures, and scientific speculation on how they are formed.
(Image Credit: BBC)
Sports Illustrated is reporting that David Witt, 57, died after shooting himself in the head. His suicide occurred two days ago, 8/15/06.
This is a sad, sad time for Floyd and Amy Landis, and their families. Amy is David’s daughter, and through David’s enthusiasm for cycling, met her then-future husband Floyd. My prayers are with them all.
Scientists have discovered that stars make sound, if only we could hear notes “50 octaves below middle A” (this according to NewScientist.com). Thankfully, while we won’t enjoy the full experience of such a primal roar, we can boost the frequencies into our hearing range, and the results are fascinating.
Let’s start at the beginning. The beginning.
Starting in 2003, stories began to circulate about what the Big Bang sounded like. Space.com ran this story, and New Scientist posted this story, reporting that “Mark Whittle of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville…has reconstructed the cosmic cacophony from data teased out over the past couple of years from the high-resolution mapping by NASA’s WMAP spacecraft of the cosmic microwave background radiation, the afterglow of the hot early Universe.”
Here is a version of Whittle’s sound, compressed to 5 seconds, and with the volume maintained at the same level throughout: (These sound files are 100K to 500K, so broadband will help, or lacking that, patience)
The First Million Years, as played by The Universe:
Professor Mark Whittle’s web site explains what he infers from this data, and has many more sounds to listen to.
Sadly, no. This whole thing started as a hoax email in August 2003 when Mars did make its closest pass to the Earth in about 60,000 years. It was a clever hoax, with some truth in it, some obfuscation, and a few completely incorrect assertions. In my opinion, it was probably originally written by a well-meaning astronomy buff.
The happy truth is that Mars makes a close pass every 20 months or so. The next one is December 2007. Because Earth and Mars do not have perfectly concentric, circular orbits around the Sun, close passes (also known as Mars Oppositions) vary in distance. All Mars Oppositions are a special treat for backyard astronomers, and many are just a tiny bit farther away from us than the modern record.
Read a hoax rebuttal here in Sky & Astronomy.
Lance has given his friend a bit of public advice: don’t count on the media for fair coverage. Lay low, and wait for your time.
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