SLIDE 1

SOLAR CELL

SLIDE 2

SOLAR CELL

SLIDE 3

SOLAR CELL

SLIDE 4

SOLAR CELL

SLIDE 5

SOLAR CELL

Thursday 27 September 2012

Java Lesson 2 "Working with Operators"

The Java programming language has includes five simple arithmetic operators like are + (addition), - (subtraction), * (multiplication), / (division), and % (modulo). The following table summarizes the binary arithmetic operators in the Java programming language.

The relation operators in Java are: ==, !=, <, >, <=, and >=. The meanings of these operators are:

Use Returns true if
op1 + op2 op1 added to op2
op1 - op2 op2 subtracted from op1
op1 * op2 op1 multiplied with op2
op1 / op2 op1 divided by op2
op1 % op2 Computes the remainder of dividing op1 by op2
The following java program, ArithmeticProg , defines two integers and two double-precision floating-point numbers and uses the five arithmetic operators to perform different arithmetic operations. This program also uses + to concatenate strings. The arithmetic operations are shown in boldface.

Program:

public class Arithmeticoperator {


public static void main(String[] args) {

int i=10;
int j=20;
double x=10.5;
double y=20.5;

System.out.println("addition");
System.out.println("i+j = "+(i+j));
System.out.println("x+y = "+(x+y));

System.out.println("subtraction");
System.out.println("i-j ="+(i-j));
System.out.println("x-y ="+(x-y));

System.out.println("multiplication");
System.out.println("i*j ="+(i*j));
System.out.println("x*j ="+(x*j));

System.out.println("division");
System.out.println("i/j ="+(i/j));
System.out.println("x/y ="+(x/y));

System.out.println("reminder");
System.out.println("i%j ="+(i/j));
System.out.println("x%j ="+(x%y));

}

}

Output:

addition
i+j = 30
x+y = 31.0
subtraction
i-j =-10
x-y =-10.0
multiplication
i*j =200
x*j =210.0
division
i/j =0
x/y =0.5121951219512195
reminder
i%j =0
x%j =10.5

Tuesday 25 September 2012

Java Lesson 1- Welcome to Crazyscience Family

Our first lesson is an extremely simple program which priints " Welcome to Crazyscience Family". The about mentioned sequence of words will be printed in java.

Java Program is defined by public class that takes the form:


Syntax:

       public class program-name
       {
       optional variable declarations and methods
       public static void main(String[] args);
       {
       Statements
       }
       optional variable declaration and methods
       }

Program:
   
  This program explains the method to print "welcome to Crazyscience Family" using java. write the program in a notepad and save it as crazyscience.java and then import to the java software and run it to display the result.

public class Crazyscience
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
System.out.println("Welcome to Crazyscience Family");
}
}

For any errors and doubts, please feel free to mail at jjenishmech@gmail.com

Download the free java software through the link below

Java Software Link

What is Java?

Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems (which has since merged into Oracle Corporation) and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities than either C or C++. Java applications are typically compiled to bytecode (class file) that can run on any Java Virtual Machine (JVM) regardless of computer architecture. Java is a general-purpose, concurrent, class-based, object-oriented language that is specifically designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible. It is intended to let application developers "write once, run anywhere" (WORA), meaning that code that runs on one platform does not need to be recompiled to run on another. Java is as of 2012 one of the most popular programming languages in use, particularly for client-server web applications, with a reported 10 million users.

Monday 24 September 2012

What is WIFI


Wi-Fi is the name of a popular wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet and network connections. A common misconception is that the term Wi-Fi is short for "wireless fidelity," however this is not the case. Wi-Fi is simply a trademarked term meaning IEEE 802.11x.



The Wi-Fi Alliance, the organization that owns the Wi-Fi (registered trademark) term specifically defines Wi-Fi as any "wireless local area network (WLAN) products that are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11 standards."

What is Internet and How it actually works?

The history of internet Began in the 1950s as a point to point communication between mainframe computers which was used for defence purpose. The internet was first developed by ARPANET, an American Company. The U.S defence administration used this facility to communicate at the time of emergency and other security related matters.
 Internet works by 2 concepts (TCP/IP)

TCP is Transmission Control Protocol: a protocol developed for the internet to get data from one network device to another; "TCP uses a retransmission strategy to insure that data will not be lost in transmission"
IP is Internet Protocol: the method by which information is sent between any two Internet computers on the Internet; the information is transferred to computers by using Internet Protocol address



Since the mid-1990s the Internet has had a drastic impact on culture and commerce, including the rise of near-instant communication by electronic mail, instant messaging, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) "phone calls", two-way interactive video calls, and the World Wide Web with its discussion forums, blogs, social networking, and online shopping sites. The research and education community continues to develop and use advanced networks such as NSF's very high speed Backbone Network Service (vBNS), Internet2, and National LambdaRail. Increasing amounts of data are transmitted at higher and higher speeds over fiber optic networks operating at 1-Gbit/s, 10-Gbit/s, or more. The Internet continues to grow, driven by ever greater amounts of online information and knowledge, commerce, entertainment and social networking.

Saturday 22 September 2012

Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, USA

Mammoth Cave in Mammoth National Park is part of the longest cave system in the world, and is a world heritage site.The caves have formed in thick deposits of carboniferous limestone, with a sandstone cap-rock. With over 630 km of passageways and cave, the National Park was established to help preserve and protect the cave system. New discoveries are adding distance to the cave system every year. The Geology of the caves has been put together really well in the documentary "Geology of Mammoth Cave, Kentucky", by University Students at Ohio State.

"TRILLIONS OF CARATS" OF DIAMONDS


The Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences has revealed that the 100 kilometre wide Popigai Astroblem crater, from a meteorite which hit Earth 35 million years ago, contains a dense deposit of industrial diamonds (good for technological purposes but not jewelry). The deposit was apparently discovered in the 1970’s, but the Soviets decided to keep it a secret so that they didn’t upset a world diamond market that already favoured them. Nikolai Pokhilenko, the head of the Geological and Mineralogical Institute in Novosibirsk, has said that the diamonds include other molecular forms of carbon, and that they could be twice as hard as conventional diamonds. He said the Popigai diamonds could revolutionise the global market in industrial diamonds.

 

There are two main explanations for the formation of ‘impact diamonds’, found in small quantities at meteorite-impact sites around the Earth. If a meteor slams into an area rich with carbon, like the remains of living organisms, then the high pressures and temperatures of the collision would be enough to turn the terrestrial carbon into diamond. Another possibility is that the carbon arrives on Earth inside the meteorite, and is then flash-fused into diamonds on impact. There have been discoveries of meteorites embedded with tiny diamonds, but neither of the scenarios posited is known to create the amount of diamonds that Russia claims has been discovered.

Friday 21 September 2012

Top 10 automobile Companies in 2012

10. Renault

Renault is one of the leading automobile manufacturers of the world present in 118 countries. It has worldwide sales of over 2.5 million vehicles and a total workforce of 130,000 employees.

 Top Car 10

9. Hyundai Motors

Hyundai is one of the fastest growing brands in the automobile industry  and is currently among the top 10 in the global market. Hyundai vehicles are sold in 193 countries through some 6,000 dealerships and showrooms worldwide through 75,000 employees.

Top Car 9

8. Nissan Motors

Nissan is one of the global manufacturers in the automobile with its brands spread all over the world. Nissan Motor Company has over 155,000 employees and has manufacturing locations in Japan, India, Brazil, Spain, Thailand, USA, Malaysia and other countries

Top Car 8

7. General Motors

American automobile giant General Motors employs 200,000 people and has its business in over 150 countries. Brands like Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, GMC are the divisions of General Motors, making it one of the top auto manufacturers in the world

Top Car 7

6. BMW Group

German luxury automobile manufacturer BMW is the leading automobile brand in the world. It has over 100,000 employees and is one of the top inspirational brand with an extremely high brand recall and strong global brand presence

Top Car 8

5. Honda Motors

 Honda is one of the largest automobile manufacturer in the world selling cars in over a 100 countries and having over 180,000 employees globally. It has a strong global presence with 35 major manufacturing facilities located throughout Brazil, Mexico, the USA, Canada, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and other countries

Top Car 5

4. Ford Motors

Ford is one of the most popular and biggest car manufacturer having its sales in almost all the countries worldwide. From fun-to-drive, fuel-efficient cars to flexible, capable utility vehicles and rough, strong trucks that, Ford offers a full line of high-quality products with global appeal.

Top Car 4

3. Daimler

Daimler AG is one of the world’s leading automotive companies. With its divisions Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks and Daimler Financial Services, it is one of the biggest producers of first-class cars and the world’s major producer of commercial vehicles with a global appeal.

Top Car 3

2. Toyoto Motors

Toyota Motor company is a leader in the automobile business having manufacture and sale of car products, including sedans, minivans, SUVs and trucks, as well as the related parts and accessories. Lexus and Scion are also sub-brands in the TMC which has an employee workforce of over 320,000 people.

Top Car 2

1. Volkswagen 

With more than half a million employees globally and sales world over, Volkswagen group is one of the leading automobile brands in the world. Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Skoda are the sub-brands of the VW group, which within themselves are power brands. 

Top Car 01 

What is an Automobile

An automobile is a self-propelled motor wheeled vehicle which runs by the combustion of fuel. It is primarily used for  transportation of people and goods. Automobiles are mainly designed for running on roads. But now-a-days the deficit of fuel had made the companies to develop hybrid cars which runs by both fuel and electricity.

A Hybrid car model 

 

Thursday 20 September 2012

Into the Universe with Hawkings

The Legend Mr. Stephen Hawkings is the former Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge University and the author of the Famous Book "A Brief History of Time" which was an international Best seller. Now he is the Director of Research at the Institute for Theoritical Cosmology at the same Cambridge University. His other books include A Briefer History of Time ,Black Holes,Baby Universe and The Universe in a Nutshell .



 In 1963, unfortunately he was attacked by motor neurone disease which detoriates his upper and lower motor neurons and any person affected from this disease may live only about 2-5 years but his greatness, he is alive til now.Yet His Passion towards cosmology made him to become a brilliant rearcher and Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. Since 1979 he has held the post of Lucasian Professor at Cambridge, the chair held by Isaac Newton in 1663. Professor Hawking has over a dozen honorary degrees and was awarded the CBE in 1982. He is a fellow of the Royal Society and a Member of the US National Academy of Science. Stephen Hawking is regarded as one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists since Einstein.

Tuesday 18 September 2012

Windows 8 (an overview)

The latest up gradation of windows operating syatem is Windows 8 which provides a new environment between you and the computer and of course has better performance with perfect repairing tools and some excellent new tools and options in windows store.Windows 8 has captured the minds of people essentially by making a small mix over its design. lets learn something about Win 8.

you can download Windows 8 preview through the link  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download
The start screen

When you log-on to windows 8 world, you will be quite surprised to see the new start menu which has been replaced from the previous menu. This looks so colourful menu which looks so good in appearance but also user-friendly.

The Start menu provided easy access to every aspect of your system, for instance: search, Windows tools, settings, installed programs, recent documents and more. There simply isn't room to display all this on the Start Screen, though, and so many functions have now been scattered around the system, making them much harder to find.

Windows 7 vs Windows 8: what you'll need to relearn

The notable thing about windows 8 is there is no control panel option. But the user doesnt misses anything. Start Screen can be used as a customization menu providing all the settings. Probabily many used will not find it but its actually in the top-left corner of the screen. Just move the cursor over there and you will find the settings menu.

 But itis not a bad option. Fortunately the Start Screen does include a simple menu which provides easy access to some system tools: Control Panel, Task Manager, the Command Prompt and more (press Win+X to see it).


Windows 8 control panel

  

 And better still, if you press Win+F, or just start typing a search term, then you'll launch the Windows 8 search tool. Type "Note", say, to see a link for Notepad, or type part of a recent document name to list that file. And if you ever find yourself unable to figure out how to perform some task, just type a relevant term - "shut down", say - and click Settings for more helpful links.
These techniques aren't a complete solution, of course. If anything, they present some issues of their own. When we search right now, for instance, Windows 7 displays matches for Control Panel, Documents, Pictures, Music and Files, all on the same display.

Windows 8 displays results only for Apps, Settings or Files, though, and while there are many more options available (News, Travel, Store, more) it takes an extra click to view each one.
Still, the Win+X menu should reduce your initial frustrations, and if you find you're still lost then the Search tool does a reasonable job of tracking down the information you need.

Windows 8 start screen 


Task Management
One notable problem with Windows 8 is that it tried to bring together two largely separate worlds: one for the programs you're running now, and another for its Start Screen apps. And this can complicate the way you work. Let's take task management as an example.

If you want to launch a regular Windows program, for instance, then clicking the Start Screen "Desktop" tile will launch something which looks much like the Windows 7 desktop (less the Start menu, anyway). Run programs here, matching buttons will appear on the taskbar and you'll be able to switch between them with a click, as you can now. But you won't see buttons for any Start Screen apps you have running. It's as though they don't exist.

Switch metro

Press the Windows key to switch back to the Start screen and everything changes. You can launch multiple apps, but there's no taskbar to switch between them, so instead you must move your mouse cursor to the top left corner of the screen to see the previously used app, then drag down to see all the others. And while this will show you the desktop as one of the apps, you won't be able to switch directly to a specific program which you've launched from there.
Again, there is a sort-of solution here: just use Alt+Tab. This displays all your programs on a single screen, whether desktop or Start Screen-based, and allows you to switch to the one you need. But this may not necessarily be straightforward - switching from one running program to the next might take a while, especially if you've lots of Metro apps running in the background - and the underlying problems still remain.

Windows 8 Alt+Tab

The taskbar isn't as reliable a way to show running programs in Windows 8; users have to learn a whole new Start Screen task management technique which is similarly incomplete; and so even simple task switching can require a little more thought and effort than it did before.
That's just the start, though. The real problem with Metro apps comes when you want to run them alongside something else, because by default they run full-screen. It's possible to run two alongside each other, if your screen resolution is high enough (move the mouse to the top of the screen, click, drag and drop the thumbnail to the left to move one app to a sidebar, then run another), but that's your limit.

Windows 8 snap

While the desktop still allows you to run multiple regular applications next to each other, in windows sized and positioned to suit your needs, that simply can't be done in the Metro world.
These issues won't be a major concern for everyone, of course. If you live solely on the desktop, or make only occasional visits to the Start Screen then they may not bother you at all. But the fact remains that Metro apps are very inflexible in how they can be displayed, and as Microsoft seem to think they're the future then you may not be able to avoid that problem forever.While the desktop still allows you to run multiple regular applications next to each other, in windows sized and positioned to suit your needs, that simply can't be done in the Metro world.
These issues won't be a major concern for everyone, of course. If you live solely on the desktop, or make only occasional visits to the Start Screen then they may not bother you at all. But the fact remains that Metro apps are very inflexible in how they can be displayed, and as Microsoft seem to think they're the future then you may not be able to avoid that problem forever.

 Interfacing Issues

 Another Windows 8 irritation comes in the way it sometimes splits functionality between similar Metro and desktop tools. There's an Internet Explorer app on the Start Screen, for instance, but it doesn't have all the functionality of the desktop version. And there's no way to switch from one to the other.
Or maybe you'd like to customise the look of your PC? You might launch "Personalize" in the Start Screen's PC settings, or maybe "Ease of Access". But there are more options in the full Control Panel's "Appearance and Personalisation" and "Ease of Access Centre". Again, the Search tool can help, but of course you only need to use that so often because Windows 8 has added these extra complexities in the first place.

Windows 8 search

Install applications and you'll discover other issues. In the past, if programs added ten items to the Start Menu, say, it wouldn't matter as they were neatly hidden in a Start menu folder. Now, though, many are automatically pinned to the Start Screen as separate tiles, so you're likely to spend rather more time manually removing any you don't need (right-click, select Unpin...).
And even figuring out how to close Metro programs can pose another challenge. There's no "x" top-right, no "File > Exit" option, because Microsoft's intention is that Metro programs should happily run in the background until the system decides they can be closed (if your PC needs more resources, say).

You can shut them down with the mouse, though: just move your mouse cursor to the top of the screen until it changes to a hand icon, then click, hold, and drag it to the bottom of the screen. But as usual with Metro, there are no interface cues to even show you this is possible. And so the best approach might just be to press Alt+F4, which always closes the active program, whether you're on the desktop or running a Metro application.

Windows 8 surplus tiles

This, and many of the other Windows 8 problems we've raised are mostly just a matter of familiarity. They may be confusing at first, and perhaps take an extra click or two, but once you've learned the basics then life will mostly return to normal.

you can download Windows 8 preview through the link  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/download

Monday 17 September 2012

Boundaries of Bermuda Triangle

The boundaries of bermuda triangle covers the Straits of Florida, the Bahamas and the Atlantic east to the Azores. And the most accidents were found concentrated in the Bahamas and the Florida Straits. The area is one of the most intemperatively travelled shipping lanes in the world, essentaily the ships crossing for their ports in America, Europe and Caribbean Islands. It is also a heavily travelled air route towards Florida, Caribbean and South America.

Bermuda Triangle

Bermuda Triangle is one of the most popular mystries of the world. Its right to say it as devil's triangle which is situated in the western part of North Atlantic Ocean. The place carries several unexplained questions and cases about missing of aircraft and ships.



The first person who documented about bermuda triangle is Gian J Quasar. His research accomplished about 20 years and he filed large private repository of reports and official documents containing 350 cases over centuries. Of them most were dissapearance cases that has last only 25 years. 

Thursday 13 September 2012

What is Binomial Nomenclature

It is a system of naming all living organism in two parts. The two parts are named Genus and Species which are derived only from Latin. The first letter of the Genus name Should always be in Capital while the Species name should begin with Small letter.

Example:-  Binomial name of Human is Homo sapiens

                                                     Homo   - Genus
                                                    sapiens -  species

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Planetary Nebula


This is a composite colour Hubble image of NGC 6751, a planetary nebula with complex features. It is 6,500 light years away in the constellation Aquila. The diameter of the nebula is around 0.8 light years (600 times the size of our solar system).

The colours represent the relative temperatures of the gas; blue, orange and red indicate the hottest to coolest gas. The streamer-like features of the nebula were created by winds and radiation from the central star, which at 140,000°C is rather hot.

The name planetary nebula is something of a misnomer. Planetary nebulae are shells of gas ejected by Sun-like stars nearing the ends of their lives. This gas ejection exposes the hot stellar core; the ultraviolet radiation causes the gas to fluoresce as the planetary nebula.

Photo: NGC 6751 

This is a composite colour Hubble image of NGC 6751, a planetary nebula with complex features. It is 6,500 light years away in the constellation Aquila. The diameter of the nebula is around 0.8 light years (600 times the size of our solar system).

The colours represent the relative temperatures of the gas; blue, orange and red indicate the hottest to coolest gas. The streamer-like features of the nebula were created by winds and radiation from the central star, which at 140,000°C is rather hot. 

The name planetary nebula is something of a misnomer. Planetary nebulae are shells of gas ejected by Sun-like stars nearing the ends of their lives. This gas ejection exposes the hot stellar core; the ultraviolet radiation causes the gas to fluoresce as the planetary nebula.

-TEL

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050416.html; http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/opo0012a/
Image credit: A. Hajian (USNO) et al., Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/ AURA), NASA/ESA,

The Constellation Cygnus

This image is a mosaic, showing clouds of colourful gas and dark lanes of dust. The light from the gas and dust is too faint for the human eye to see; long exposure times and special filters were used.

Cygnus is a northern constellation which lies on the plane of the Milky Way; the name is the Latin word for swan. It was first catalogued by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy; it is one of the 88 modern constellations. The constellation contains the Northern Cross, Cygnus X-1, the stars Deneb and Albireo, the Fireworks Galaxy, the Pelican Nebula, the North American Nebula, the Crescent Nebula, and the Veil Nebula.

Cygnus is the 16th largest constellation in the night sky, and occupies an area of 804 square degrees. It is in the fourth quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ4) and can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -40°.

Photo: CONSTELLATION OF CYGNUS

This image is a mosaic, showing clouds of colourful gas and dark lanes of dust. The light from the gas and dust is too faint for the human eye to see; long exposure times and special filters were used. 

Cygnus is a northern constellation which lies on the plane of the Milky Way; the name is the Latin word for swan. It was first catalogued by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy; it is one of the 88 modern constellations. The constellation contains the Northern Cross, Cygnus X-1, the stars Deneb and Albireo, the Fireworks Galaxy, the Pelican Nebula, the North American Nebula, the Crescent Nebula, and the Veil Nebula.

Cygnus is the 16th largest constellation in the night sky, and occupies an area of 804 square degrees. It is in the fourth quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ4) and can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -40°.

-TEL

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/gallery/2012/sep/07/astronomy-photographer-year-2012-pictures?CMP=twt_fd#/?picture=395093963&index=5; http://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/cygnus-constellation/
Image: J-P Mets vainio/Royal Observatory

Life May Exist on Titan


Saturn’s sixth and largest moon Titan has an average surface temperature of 94.2611Kelvin (-178.889°C or -290°F). Nitrogen comprises 98.4% of the atmosphere. Water is perpetually frozen; it can almost be considered a mineral. The seas of Titan are made up of hydrocarbons like methane, ethane, and some propane. The land masses are composed of frozen water and ammonia, which also exist in liquid states below Titan’s crust, much like silica and iron exist in liquid form below Earth’s crust.

Titan may still contain many of the components for life. Scientists have known for thirty years that complex carbon compounds called tholins exist on comets and in the atmosphere of the outer planets. In theory tholins could interact with water in a process called hydrolysis to produce complex molecules similar to those found on the early Earth; these compounds are called prebiotic. Titan is thought to be made mainly of ice; some of this ice may melt during meteor impacts or underground processes, producing ice volcanoes that eject lava made of ammonia mixed with water. Tholins could potentially react with this liquid water exposed by meteor impacts or ice volcanoes and produce probiotic organic molecules before the water freezes. Catherine Neish, a graduate student working on her doctorate in planetary science at the University of Arizona, showed that over a period of days, compounds similar to tholins can be hydrolysed at near-freezing temperatures. Liquid water exposed on Titan is believed to persist for hundreds to thousands of years.

Another study used data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. The craft detected large molecules at altitudes of some 965 km above Titan’s surface; but these molecules remained unidentified because of limitations of the craft’s instruments. Sarah Hörst, a graduate student in planetary science at the University of Arizona, led the research team that replicated the atmosphere of Titan in a large chamber at the temperatures present in the moon’s upper atmosphere. They used radio energy at a power level comparable to a moderately bright light bulb to simulate the sun’s ultraviolet light. UV light breaks up molecules like molecular nitrogen or carbon monoxide in Titan’s atmosphere, which leaves the individual atoms to choose different partners with which to form new molecules. The tiny aerosol particles produced by the experiment were run through a mass spectrometer, which is used to show the chemical formulae that make up the molecules within the aerosols. Hörst then ran these formulae past a roster of molecules known to be biologically important for life on Earth. She got 18 hits; 4 were nucleotides whose combinations form an organism’s genetic information encoded in DNA. It seemed it was more important for some form of oxygen to be present in the ingredients than it was for water to be present.

Billions of years ago Earth’s upper atmosphere may also have been the source for these "prebiotic" molecules, amino acids and the so-called nucleotide bases that make up DNA. Oxygen in early Earth history would have been in the form of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide from volcanic activity, as well as from water released by volcanism and meteor and comet impacts. The oxygen on Titan seems to be coming from Enceladus, another moon of Saturn that is home to icy geysers that eject ice into space near its south pole. The water molecules ejected from Enceladus’ geysers can be carried great distances through Saturn’s system; some oxygen bearing minerals from this find their way to Titan.

Photo: IS IT POSSIBLE FOR BASIC LIFE TO EXIST ON TITAN?

Saturn’s sixth and largest moon Titan has an average surface temperature of 94.2611Kelvin (-178.889°C or -290°F). Nitrogen comprises 98.4% of the atmosphere. Water is perpetually frozen; it can almost be considered a mineral. The seas of Titan are made up of hydrocarbons like methane, ethane, and some propane. The land masses are composed of frozen water and ammonia, which also exist in liquid states below Titan’s crust, much like silica and iron exist in liquid form below Earth’s crust. 

Titan may still contain many of the components for life. Scientists have known for thirty years that complex carbon compounds called tholins exist on comets and in the atmosphere of the outer planets. In theory tholins could interact with water in a process called hydrolysis to produce complex molecules similar to those found on the early Earth; these compounds are called prebiotic. Titan is thought to be made mainly of ice; some of this ice may melt during meteor impacts or underground processes, producing ice volcanoes that eject lava made of ammonia mixed with water. Tholins could potentially react with this liquid water exposed by meteor impacts or ice volcanoes and produce probiotic organic molecules before the water freezes. Catherine Neish, a graduate student working on her doctorate in planetary science at the University of Arizona, showed that over a period of days, compounds similar to tholins can be hydrolysed at near-freezing temperatures. Liquid water exposed on Titan is believed to persist for hundreds to thousands of years.

Another study used data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. The craft detected large molecules at altitudes of some 965 km above Titan’s surface; but these molecules remained unidentified because of limitations of the craft’s instruments. Sarah Hörst, a graduate student in planetary science at the University of Arizona, led the research team that replicated the atmosphere of Titan in a large chamber at the temperatures present in the moon’s upper atmosphere. They used radio energy at a power level comparable to a moderately bright light bulb to simulate the sun’s ultraviolet light. UV light breaks up molecules like molecular nitrogen or carbon monoxide in Titan’s atmosphere, which leaves the individual atoms to choose different partners with which to form new molecules. The tiny aerosol particles produced by the experiment were run through a mass spectrometer, which is used to show the chemical formulae that make up the molecules within the aerosols. Hörst then ran these formulae past a roster of molecules known to be biologically important for life on Earth. She got 18 hits; 4 were nucleotides whose combinations form an organism’s genetic information encoded in DNA. It seemed it was more important for some form of oxygen to be present in the ingredients than it was for water to be present.

Billions of years ago Earth’s upper atmosphere may also have been the source for these "prebiotic" molecules, amino acids and the so-called nucleotide bases that make up DNA. Oxygen in early Earth history would have been in the form of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide from volcanic activity, as well as from water released by volcanism and meteor and comet impacts. The oxygen on Titan seems to be coming from Enceladus, another moon of Saturn that is home to icy geysers that eject ice into space near its south pole. The water molecules ejected from Enceladus’ geysers can be carried great distances through Saturn’s system; some oxygen bearing minerals from this find their way to Titan.

It has been suggested by various scientists that Pitch Lake, in Trinidad and Tobago, is the closest thing on Earth to the kind of hydrocarbon lakes found on Titan. Single celled organisms like archaea and bacteria co-exist, thriving in the oxygen-free environment, eating hydrocarbons and respiring with metals: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=391607137567003&set=a.352867368107647.80532.352857924775258&type=3&theater.

-TEL

See our previous post on Titan here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=369206723144506&set=a.336803713051474.82802.334816523250193&type=3&theater  ‘

http://www.astrobio.net/exclusive/2841/the-stuff-of-life-on-titan; http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/08/is-saturns-titan-capable-of-creating-the-molecules-that-make-up-dna-todays-most-popular.html; http://phys.org/news/2011-05-ocean-titan.html
Photo: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXmnr47cH0B6AA9AsJqMJw8nFoBkCSAaghTl10KdlPjRRnlUniesK3vfc_IsUm68gFx_kHCHlLYnthk0QgREXTL3S1dfGF4tZfY_xRnJOBeHEK8QmBm-c8YQFF957L3uT8cA2Od2NET24/s1600/kees_saturn_titan.jpg

The Ant Shaped Nebula

The Ant Nebula, aka Mz3, is a young bipolar planetary nebula in the constellation Norma. It is 8,000 light years away from Earth and it has a magnitude of 13.8. It was discovered by Donald Howard Menzel in 1922. The nebula is composed of a bright core and four high-velocity outflows which have been variously named as lobes, columns, rays, and chakram. The gas being ejected travels at 1000-kilometres per second and the structure is one light year long.

So why is this nebula an odd shape? There are a couple of possibilities.

  1. One is that the central star of Mz3 has a companion orbiting closely that is exerting strong gravitational forces, shaping the out flowing gas. 
  2. The second possibility is that the strong magnetic fields are being wound into complex shapes by the spin of the dying star. 
No other planetary nebula observed by Hubble closely resembles Mz3. M2-9 comes close, but M2-9 has prominent hydrogen emission lines in the near infra-red whereas Mz3 has no trace of molecular hydrogen emission.

Photo: THE ANT NEBULA

The Ant Nebula, aka Mz3, is a young bipolar planetary nebula in the constellation Norma. It is 8,000 light years away from Earth and it has a magnitude of 13.8. It was discovered by Donald Howard Menzel in 1922. The nebula is composed of a bright core and four high-velocity outflows which have been variously named as lobes, columns, rays, and chakram. The gas being ejected travels at 1000-kilometres per second and the structure is one light year long. 

So why is this nebula an odd shape? There are a couple of possibilities. One is that the central star of Mz3 has a companion orbiting closely that is exerting strong gravitational forces, shaping the out flowing gas. The second possibility is that the strong magnetic fields are being wound into complex shapes by the spin of the dying star. No other planetary nebula observed by Hubble closely resembles Mz3. M2-9 comes close, but M2-9 has prominent hydrogen emission lines in the near infra-red whereas Mz3 has no trace of molecular hydrogen emission. 

-TEL

Post on M2-9: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=403358193062692&set=a.334832996581879.82450.334816523250193&type=3&theater

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050501.html; http://heritage.stsci.edu/2001/05/caption.html
Photo: R. Sahai (JPL) et al., Hubble Heritage Team, ESA, NASA

The Farthest Spiral Galaxy Ever Seen

At the edge of the observable universe, where most galaxies appear as blobs, lies BX442. It is found within the constellation Pegasus and has a redshift of 2.18; meaning it is 10.7 billion light-years from Earth and therefore existed just 3 billion years after the big bang.

Astronomer David Law and his team at the University of Toronto, St. George, in Canada used the Hubble Space Telescope to examine 306 distant galaxies. They spied a galaxy with three spiral arms, and confirmed the distance of the galaxy with subsequent observations using the Keck II telescope in Hawaii. The Doppler shifts from different parts of the galaxy’s disk show that it spins as fast as the Milky Way does. The galaxy is 50,000 light years across and though half the size of the Milky Way, it harbours more gas and spawns more stars. 

In the distant past, spiral galaxies were rare, as stars and gas clouds moved fast relative to each other which suppressed spiral structure and also caused more galactic collisions. Other galaxies from such early epochs appear clumpy and irregular. Almost two thirds of today’s bright galaxies are spirals. BX442’s spiral nature may be due to the small companion it has, stirring up the spiral structure, though it could be down to the large amount of gas in the galaxy.

In the time it has taken for the light of this galaxy to travel to Earth, it may already have collided with another galaxy, tearing apart the spirals and leaving the galaxy as an ellipsoidal shape.

The image shows an artist’s conception of the galaxy to the right; the image at left is of a companion galaxy whose gravity may have caused the spiral structure.

Photo: THE FARTHEST SPIRAL GALAXY EVER SEEN

At the edge of the observable universe, where most galaxies appear as blobs, lies BX442. It is found within the constellation Pegasus and has a redshift of 2.18; meaning it is 10.7 billion light-years from Earth and therefore existed just 3 billion years after the big bang.

Astronomer David Law and his team at the University of Toronto, St. George, in Canada used the Hubble Space Telescope to examine 306 distant galaxies. They spied a galaxy with three spiral arms, and confirmed the distance of the galaxy with subsequent observations using the Keck II telescope in Hawaii. The Doppler shifts from different parts of the galaxy’s disk show that it spins as fast as the Milky Way does. The galaxy is 50,000 light years across and though half the size of the Milky Way, it harbours more gas and spawns more stars. 

In the distant past, spiral galaxies were rare, as stars and gas clouds moved fast relative to each other which suppressed spiral structure and also caused more galactic collisions. Other galaxies from such early epochs appear clumpy and irregular. Almost two thirds of today’s bright galaxies are spirals. BX442’s spiral nature may be due to the small companion it has, stirring up the spiral structure, though it could be down to the large amount of gas in the galaxy.

In the time it has taken for the light of this galaxy to travel to Earth, it may already have collided with another galaxy, tearing apart the spirals and leaving the galaxy as an ellipsoidal shape.

The image shows an artist’s conception of the galaxy to the right; the image at left is of a companion galaxy whose gravity may have caused the spiral structure.

-TEL

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/07/hubble-spots-the-farthest-spiral.html; http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v487/n7407/full/nature11256.html

Image Credit: (left) David Law; (right) Joe Bergeron, Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/assets_c/2012/07/sn-spiral-thumb-800xauto-13979.jpg

Silver and Gold are created by Stellar Explosions

Heidelberg scientist Dr. Camilla Hansen, working with scientists in Germany, Japan and Sweden, has shown that silver can only have materialised during the explosion of clearly defined types of star, different from the type of stars that produce gold when they explode. Evidence for this came from the measurement of various high-mass stars; by continuing with these kinds of measurements the components of all matter can be reconstructed.

Lightweight elements like hydrogen, helium and lithium were produced a few minutes after the Big Bang. All of the heavier elements were created later within the interior of stars or during star explosions; each new generation of stars increased the enrichment of the universe with chemical elements. The types of elements produced by a star in its lifetime depend on its mass. Stars about 10 times the size of our Sun explode as supernovae at the end of their lives, creating elements that are at times heavier than iron, that are then released by the explosion. Silver and gold can also be produced this way, depending on the original mass of the star.

When stars of the same mass explode, the ratio of elements created and ejected into space is identical. Dr Hansen and her colleagues’ research showed that the amount of silver in the stars measured is independent of the amounts of heavier elements like gold; silver takes place in a different fusion process than gold. Silver cannot have originated together with gold; the two elements must have originated from stars of different masses.

Photo: SILVER AND GOLD CREATED IN DIFFERENT STELLAR EXPLOSIONS

Heidelberg scientist Dr. Camilla Hansen, working with scientists in Germany, Japan and Sweden, has shown that silver can only have materialised during the explosion of clearly defined types of star, different from the type of stars that produce gold when they explode. Evidence for this came from the measurement of various high-mass stars; by continuing with these kinds of measurements the components of all matter can be reconstructed.

Lightweight elements like hydrogen, helium and lithium were produced a few minutes after the Big Bang. All of the heavier elements were created later within the interior of stars or during star explosions; each new generation of stars increased the enrichment of the universe with chemical elements. The types of elements produced by a star in its lifetime depend on its mass. Stars about 10 times the size of our Sun explode as supernovae at the end of their lives, creating elements that are at times heavier than iron, that are then released by the explosion. Silver and gold can also be produced this way, depending on the original mass of the star.

When stars of the same mass explode, the ratio of elements created and ejected into space is identical. Dr Hansen and her colleagues’ research showed that the amount of silver in the stars measured is independent of the amounts of heavier elements like gold; silver takes place in a different fusion process than gold. Silver cannot have originated together with gold; the two elements must have originated from stars of different masses.

The illustration is an artist’s impression of the first moments of a supernova before the star is completely torn apart.

-TEL

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120906074025.htm
Photo credit: European Southern Observatory/ESO

ARP-148 Mayall's Object

Arp 148, also known as Mayall's Object, is the result of two colliding galaxies located 500 million light years away within the constellation of Ursa Major. This collision resulted in a ring-shaped galaxy and a long-tailed companion. The shockwave effect produced from the collision first drew matter into the centre and then caused it to spew outwards in an expanding ring.

The object was discovered on 13 March 1940 by Nicholas U. Mayall of the Lick Observatory, using the Crossley reflector.

Photo: ARP 148

Arp 148, also known as Mayall's Object, is the result of two colliding galaxies located 500 million light years away within the constellation of Ursa Major. This collision resulted in a ring-shaped galaxy and a long-tailed companion. The shockwave effect produced from the collision first drew matter into the centre and then caused it to spew outwards in an expanding ring. 

The object was discovered on 13 March 1940 by Nicholas U. Mayall of the Lick Observatory, using the Crossley reflector. 

-TEL

http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0810ae/
Image credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)

Tuesday 11 September 2012

Mozambique Spitting Cobra

It is the second most poisonous snakes which has its nativity of Africa. Its has olive grey or tawny brown color skin and about 2.5 to 3 feet and grows to a maximum length of 4 ft. The Cobra spits its venom for protection which is poisonous to cause death. The venom causes immediate blind on contact of venom in eyes.



Taxonomy 
Kingdom:  Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class:         Reptilia
Order:         Squamata
Sub-order:   Serpentes
Family:          Elapidae
Genus:         Naja
Species: mossambica 

Russell Viper

These snakes are commonly found Asia and its one of the most poisonous snake in India. It can grow up-to a maximum length of 5.5 ft. The symptoms of the bite begins with a pain followed by immediate swelling and bleeding. The blood pressure and heart beat falls. Pain lasts for 2-4 weeks and finally death occurs if untreated.



Taxonomy 
Kingdom:      Animalia
Phylum:        Chordata
Sub-phylum:      Vertebrata
Class:               Reptilia
Order:               Squamata
Suborder:       Serpentes
Family:               Viperidae
Subfamily:       Viperinae
Genus:                Daboia
Species:     . russelii 

Egyptian Cobra

Egyptian Cobra are found in the deserts of Africa. These are the most poisonous among the cobra family. It grows to about 3 to 6 ft and may exceed about 9ft. Its venom affects the central nervous system by stopping the nervous transmission between heart and lungs. Ultimately causing the death of the organism.



Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class:         Reptilia
Order:         Squamata
Sub-order:   Serpentes
Family:       Elapidae
Genus:         Naja
Species:       haje 

Black Mamba

Black Mamba kind of snakes are mostly found in the forests of Africa. They are about 2.5 to 3 meter long with its scales yellowish green to gun metal grey. They are most poisonous and its bite directly affects the central nervous system. The effect of its bite paralyzes the person in 20 minutes and death occurs in 30 to 60 minutes, sometimes it may take up-to 3 hours. And the mortality rate is almost 100%.



Taxonomy 
Kingdom       :Animalia
Phylum          :Chordata
Sub-phylum  :Vertebrata
Class              :Reptilia
Order              :Squamata
Suborder      :Serpentes
Family           :Elapidae
Genus           :Dendroaspis
Species        :polylepis 

Sunday 9 September 2012

Linnaeus system of Classification

Of the many systems of classification Linnaeus system is followed till now. According to this Every living thing is divided into Kingdom, Sub-kingdom or phylum, Class, Family and genus and Species.

 

Saturday 8 September 2012

Effect of Heat on dissolving Sugar

Things You Need
  • Sugar cubes
  • Cold water in a clear glass
  • Hot water in a clear glass (be careful with the hot water)
  • Spoon for stirring

The Way You Do
  1. Make sure the glasses have an equal amount of water.
  2. Put a sugar cube into the cold water and stir with the spoon until the sugar disappears. Repeat this process (remembering to count the amount of sugar cubes you put into the water) until the sugar stops dissolving, you are at this point when sugar starts to gather on the bottom of the glass rather than dissolving.
  3. Write down how many sugar cubes you could dissolve in the cold water.
  4. Repeat the same process for the hot water, compare the number of sugar cubes dissolved in each liquid, which dissolved more?

What You Observe 

The cold water isn't able to dissolve as much sugar as the hot water, but why? Another name for the liquids inside the cups is a 'solution', when this solution can no longer dissolve sugar it becomes a 'saturated solution', this means that sugar starts forming on the bottom of the cup.

The reason the hot water dissolves more is because it has faster moving molecules which are spread further apart than the molecules in the cold water. With bigger gaps between the molecules in the hot water, more sugar molecules can fit in between. 

Stabbing Potato Using Straw

Things You Need
  • Stiff plastic drinking straws
  • A raw potato

The Way You Do
  1. Hold a plastic drinking straw by it sides (without covering the hole at the top) and try quickly stabbing the potato, what happens?
  2. Repeat the experiment with a new straw but this time place your thumb over the top, covering the hole. 

What You Observe 

Placing your thumb over the hole at the top of the straw improves your ability to pierce the potato skin and push the straw deep into the potato. The first time you tried the experiment you may have only pierced the potato a small amount, so why are you more successful on the second attempt?

Covering the top of the straw with your thumb traps the air inside, forcing it to compress as you stab the straw through the potato skin. This makes the straw strong enough to pierce the potato, unlike the first attempt where the air is pushed out of the straw.

Breeding Bacteria

Things You Need
  • Petri dish of agar
  • Cotton buds
  • Some old newspaper (to wrap petri dish when disposing)
The Way Do
  1. Prepare your petri dish of agar.
  2. Using your cotton bud, swab a certain area of your house (i.e. collect a sample by rubbing the cotton bud on a surface of your choice).
  3. Rub the swab over the agar with a few gentle strokes before putting the lid back on and sealing the petri dish.
  4. Allow the dish to sit in a warm area for 2 or 3 days.
  5. Check the growth of the bacteria each day by making an observational drawing and describing the changes.
  6. Try repeating the process with a new petri dish and swab from under your finger nails or between your toes.
  7. Dispose of the bacteria by wrapping up the petri dish in old newspaper and placing in the rubbish (don't open the lid) 

What You Observe 

The agar plate and warm conditions provide the ideal place for bacteria to grow. The microorganisms on the plate will grow into individual colonies, each a clone of the original. The bacteria you obtained with the cotton bud grows steadily, becoming visible with the naked eye in a relatively short time. Different samples produce different results, what happened when you took a swab sample from your own body?

You will find bacteria throughout the Earth, it grows in soil, radioactive waste, water, on plants and even animals too (humans included). Thankfully for us, our immune system usually does a great job of making bacteria harmless. 

Bathing Salts

Things You Need
  • 1 cup of washing soda
  • A plastic bag
  • A rolling pin (or something similar that can crush lumps)
  • A bowl
  • A spoon for stirring
  • Essential oil
  • Food coloring powder 

The Way You Do
  1. Take the cup of washing soda and put it into a plastic bag. Crush the lumps with a rolling pin or similar object.
  2. Empty the bag into a bowl and stir in 5 or 6 drops of your favorite essential oil such as rosemary, lavender or mint.
  3. Stir in a few drops of food coloring until the mixture is evenly colored.
  4. Put the mixture into clean dry containers and enjoy as you please. 

What You Observe 

Bath Salts are typically made from Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate), table salt (sodium chloride) or washing soda (sodium carbonate). The chemical make up of the mixture makes it easy to form a lather. Bath salts are said to improve cleaning and deliver an appealing fragrance when bathing.

Glowing Water

Things You Need
  • A black light (you can find them at places like Walmart and hardware stores, as well as online stores like Amazon).
  • Tonic water or a highlighter pen.
  • A dark room to do the experiment. 

The Way You Do
  1. If you are using a highlighter pen carefully break it open, remove the felt and soak it in a small amount of water for a few minutes.
  2. Find a dark room.
  3. Turn on the black light near your water, how does it look?
What You Observe

Black light (also known as UV or ultra violet light) is a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The electromagnetic spectrum also includes infrared, X-rays, visible light (what the human eye can see) and other types of electromagnetic radiation. A black light lamp such as the one you used emits a UV light that can illuminate objects and materials that contain phosphors. Phosphors are special substances that emit light (luminescence) when excited by radiation. Your water glowed under the black light because it contained phosphors. If you used a highlighter pen then the UV light reacted with phosphors in the dye. If you used tonic water then the UV light reacted with phosphors in a chemical used in tonic water called quinine.

There are different types of luminescence, they include fluorescence (used in this experiment, it glows only when the black light is on), phosphorescence (similar to fluorescence but with a glow that can last even after the black light is turned off), chemiluminescence (used to create glow sticks), bioluminescence (from living organisms) and many others.

Egg is Boiled or Raw

Things You Need
  • Two eggs, one hard boiled and one raw.
  •  Make sure the hard boiled egg has been in the fridge long enough to be the same temperature as the raw egg.
The Way You Do
  1. Spin the eggs and watch what happens, one egg should spin while the other wobbles.
  2. You can also lightly touch each of the eggs while they are spinning, one should stop quickly while the other keeps moving after you have touched it.
What You Observe 

The raw egg's centre of gravity changes as the white and yolk move around inside the shell, causing the wobbling motion. Even after you touch the shell it continues moving. This is because of inertia, the same type of force you feel when you change direction or stop suddenly in a car, your body wants to move one way while the car wants to do something different. Inertia causes the raw egg to spin even after you have stopped it, this contrasts with the solid white and yolk of the hard boiled egg, it responds much quicker if you touch it.

Thursday 6 September 2012

Vinegar Volcano

Things You Need
  • Baking Soda (make sure it's not baking powder)
  • Vinegar
  • A container to hold everything and avoid a big mess!
  • Paper towels or a cloth (just in case)
  •  Baking Soda (make sure it's not baking powder)
  • Vinegar
  • A container to hold everything and avoid a big mess!
  • Paper towels or a cloth (just in case)

The Way You Do
  1. Place some of the baking soda into your container.
  2. Pour in some of the vinegar
  3. Watch as the reaction takes place 

What You Observe 

The baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a base while the vinegar (acetic acid) is an acid. When they react together they form carbonic acid which is very unstable, it instantly breaks apart into water and carbon dioxide, which creates all the fizzing as it escapes the solution.

For extra effect you can make a realistic looking volcano. It takes some craft skills but it will make your vinegar and baking soda eruptions will look even more impressive.

You can make Quick Sand

Things You Need
  • 1 cup of maize cornflour
  • Half a cup of water
  • A large plastic container
  • A spoon 

The Way You Do
  1. This one is simple, just mix the cornflour and water thoroughly in the container to make your own instant quick sand.
  2. When showing other people how it works, stir slowly and drip the quick sand to show it is a liquid.
  3. Stirring it quickly will make it hard and allow you to punch or poke it quickly (this works better if you do it fast rather than hard).
  4. Remember that quick sand is messy, try to play with it outside and don’t forget to stir just before you use it.
  5. Always stir instant quicksand just before you use it!

 What You Observe 

If you add just the right amount of water to cornflour it becomes very thick when you stir it quickly. This happens because the cornflour grains are mixed up and can’t slide over each other due to the lack of water between them. Stirring slowly allows more water between the cornflour grains, letting them slide over each other much easier.

Poking it quickly has the same effect, making the substance very hard.  If you poke it slowly it doesn’t mix up the mixture in the same way, leaving it runny.  It works in much the same way as real quick sand. 

Mixing Oil and Water

Things You Need
  • Small soft drink bottle
  • Water
  • Food colouring powder
  • 2 tablespoons of cooking oil
  • Dish washing liquid or detergent 

The Way You Do
  1. Add a few drops of food colouring to the water.
  2. Pour about 2 tablespoons of the coloured water along with the 2 tablespoons of cooking oil into the small soft drink bottle.
  3. Screw the lid on tight and shake the bottle as hard as you can.
  4. Put the bottle back down and have a look, it may have seemed as though the liquids were mixing together but the oil will float back to the top. 

What You Observe 

While water often mixes with other liquids to form solutions, oil and water does not. Water molecules are strongly attracted to each other, this is the same for oil, because they are more attracted to their own molecules they just don't mix together. They separate and the oil floats above the water because it has a lower density.

If you really think oil and water belong together then try adding some dish washing liquid or detergent. Detergent is attracted to both water and oil helping them all join together and form something called an emulsion. This is extra handy when washing those greasy dishes, the detergent takes the oil and grime off the plates and into the water

Melting a Chocolate

Things You need
  • Small chocolate pieces of the same size (chocolate bar squares or chocolate chips are a good idea)
  • Paper plates
  • Pen and paper to record your results 

The Way You Do
  1. Put one piece of chocolate on a paper plate and put it outside in the shade.
  2. Record how long it took for the chocolate to melt or if it wasn't hot enough to melt then record how soft it was after 10 minutes.
  3. Repeat the process with a piece of chocolate on a plate that you put outside in the sun. Record your results in the same way.
  4. Find more interesting locations to test how long it takes for the chocolate pieces to melt. You could try your school bag, hot water or even your own mouth.
  5. Compare your results, in what conditions did the chocolate melt? You might also like to record the temperatures of the locations you used using a thermometer so you can think about what temperature chocolate melts at.

What You Observe 

At a certain temperature your chocolate pieces undergo a physical change, from a solid to a liquid (or somewhere in between). On a hot day, sunlight is usually enough to melt chocolate, something you might have unfortunately already experienced. You can also reverse the process by putting the melted chocolate into a fridge or freezer where it will go from a liquid back to a solid. The chocolate probably melted quite fast if you tried putting a piece in your mouth, what does this tell you about the temperature of your body? For further testing and experiments you could compare white chocolate and dark chocolate, do they melt at the same temperature? How about putting a sheet of aluminium foil between a paper plate and a piece of chocolate in the sun, what happens then?

Egg Floats in Salt Water

Things You Need
  • One egg
  • Water
  • Salt
  • A tall drinking glass 

The Way You Do
  1. Pour water into the glass until it is about half full.
  2. Stir in lots of salt (about 6 tablespoons).
  3. Carefully pour in plain water until the glass is nearly full (be careful to not disturb or mix the salty water with the plain water).
  4. Gently lower the egg into the water and watch what happens. 

What You Observe 

Salt water is denser than ordinary tap water, the denser the liquid the easier it is for an object to float in it. When you lower the egg into the liquid it drops through the normal tap water until it reaches the salty water, at this point the water is dense enough for the egg to float. If you were careful when you added the tap water to the salt water, they will not have mixed, enabling the egg to amazingly float in the middle of the glass.

Experimental Proof for Dark Colour absorbs more Heat

Things You Need
  •  2 identical drinking glasses or jars
  • Water
  • Thermometer
  • 2 elastic bands or some cello-tape
  • White paper
  • Black paper 
The Way You Do
  1. Wrap the white paper around one of the glasses using an elastic band or cello-tape to hold it on.
  2. Do the same with the black paper and the other glass.
  3. Fill the glasses with the exact same amount of water.
  4. Leave the glasses out in the sun for a couple of hours before returning to measure the temperature of the water in each. 
What You Observe

Dark surfaces such as the black paper absorb more light and heat than the lighter ones such as the white paper. After measuring the temperatures of the water, the glass with the black paper around it should be hotter than the other. Lighter surfaces reflect more light, that's why people where lighter colored clothes in the summer, it keeps them cooler. 

What is Nebula?

A nebula is an interstellar cloud in outer space that is made up of dust, hydrogen and helium gas, and plasma. It is formed when portions of the interstellar medium collapse and clump together due to the gravitational attraction of the particles that comprise them.

Exoplanets give insight into Planet Formation

A team of astrophysicists led by EXOEarths researcher Dr Vardan Adibekyan of the Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto, Portugal have found that metals like magnesium might play a significant role in the formation of low mass planets.
The team used the European Southern Observatory’s High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) spectrograph to observe and analyse the high-resolution spectra of 1111 Sun-like stars. Of these, 109 are known to have high mass Jupiter-like planets, while 2 have Neptune-like planets.

Refractory Alpha Elements like magnesium, silicon or titanium make up the bulk of the mass of the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) and a fraction of the giant planets and their moons. Researchers therefore focused especially on studying the abundance of these elements. The results show that the ratio of these elements, compared with the amount of iron, is consistently higher in stars with planets; magnesium shows the greatest discrepancy. The results may provide constraints for the models of planet formation, particularly planets with low mass.

Previously, the theories around planet formation suggested that planets were created through the clumping together of smaller particles of heavy elements, into larger bodies. These new results show that planets need a minimum amount of ‘metals’ to be formed; the formation of planets is dependent on the dust content of the cloud where the star and planetary system formed.

Photo: THE CHEMISTRY OF STARS THAT HOST EXOPLANETS GIVES INSIGHTS INTO PLANET FORMATION

A team of astrophysicists led by EXOEarths researcher Dr Vardan Adibekyan of the Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto, Portugal have found that metals like magnesium might play a significant role in the formation of low mass planets.
The team used the European Southern Observatory’s High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) spectrograph to observe and analyse the high-resolution spectra of 1111 Sun-like stars. Of these, 109 are known to have high mass Jupiter-like planets, while 2 have Neptune-like planets. 

Refractory Alpha Elements like magnesium, silicon or titanium make up the bulk of the mass of the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) and a fraction of the giant planets and their moons. Researchers therefore focused especially on studying the abundance of these elements. The results show that the ratio of these elements, compared with the amount of iron, is consistently higher in stars with planets; magnesium shows the greatest discrepancy. The results may provide constraints for the models of planet formation, particularly planets with low mass.

Previously, the theories around planet formation suggested that planets were created through the clumping together of smaller particles of heavy elements, into larger bodies. These new results show that planets need a minimum amount of ‘metals’ to be formed; the formation of planets is dependent on the dust content of the cloud where the star and planetary system formed.

-TEL

Read more about HARPS here: http://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/lasilla/instruments/harps/overview.html
More on EXOEarths: http://www.astro.up.pt/exoearths/

Photo is an artist’s concept of a star surrounded by a swirling disk of planet-building dust (NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle/SSC)

http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/article00543.html; http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120816121856.htm; Adibekyan et al. 2012. Overabundance of alpha-elements in exoplanet-hosting stars. Astronomy & Astrophysics, vol. 543, article no. A89; doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201219564

Water - The most abundant compound in the Universe

Water is the most abundant compound in the universe; its composition consists of the 1st and 3rd most abundant elements, hydrogen and oxygen (helium is the 2nd most abundant element). Water in liquid form is common on Earth, but on other planetary bodies in the Solar System it is usually present as vapour or ice. 

After the Solar System formed, most of the water was locked up as ice in the surface or interiors of the farthest planetary bodies. Earth actually has little water, comparatively, and what it does have is mostly on the surface. 

Liquid water is also present as deep oceans on Europa and Titan, satellites of Jupiter and Saturn. The amount of liquid water on Mars and in Enceladus, a satellite of Saturn, could well be large. 

This image is a comparison of the liquid water volume of Earth, Europa, and Titan to scale. Europa is estimated to have over two times and Titan nearly eleven times more liquid water than Earth has as subsurface oceans. Only liquid water is considered in these estimates though water ice is present in considerable amounts on Europa and Titan. The image assumes a mean ocean depth of 4 km, 100 km, and 200 km for Earth, Europa, and Titan, respectively.

Photo: Water is the most abundant compound in the universe; its composition consists of the 1st and 3rd most abundant elements, hydrogen and oxygen (helium is the 2nd most abundant element). Water in liquid form is common on Earth, but on other planetary bodies in the Solar System it is usually present as vapour or ice. 

After the Solar System formed, most of the water was locked up as ice in the surface or interiors of the farthest planetary bodies. Earth actually has little water, comparatively, and what it does have is mostly on the surface. 

Liquid water is also present as deep oceans on Europa and Titan, satellites of Jupiter and Saturn. The amount of liquid water on Mars and in Enceladus, a satellite of Saturn, could well be large. 

This image is a comparison of the liquid water volume of Earth, Europa, and Titan to scale. Europa is estimated to have over two times and Titan nearly eleven times more liquid water than Earth has as subsurface oceans. Only liquid water is considered in these estimates though water ice is present in considerable amounts on Europa and Titan. The image assumes a mean ocean depth of 4 km, 100 km, and 200 km for Earth, Europa, and Titan, respectively.

-TEL

http://phl.upr.edu/library/media/liquidwaterinthesolarsystem; http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/jun/HQ_12-218_Saturn_Titan_Ocean.html
Photo credit: PHL @ UPR Arecibo, NASA.  

Carina Nebula

This is the Carina Nebula, between 6,500 and 10,000 light years away from Earth in a constellation of the same name. This single pillar of gas and dust measures three light years in height; the red and purple hues of the nebula come from hot hydrogen gas interacting with ultraviolet radiation from the nebula's massive young stars that are buried within it.

Photo: This is the Carina Nebula, between 6,500 and 10,000 light years away from Earth in a constellation of the same name. This single pillar of gas and dust measures three light years in height; the red and purple hues of the nebula come from hot hydrogen gas interacting with ultraviolet radiation from the nebula's massive young stars that are buried within it.

More images: http://lpb.fieldofscience.com/2010/04/within-carina-nebula.html

-TEL 

Helix Shaped Nebula

While this may look like a green version of the eye of Sauron, this Spitzer Space Telescope image shows infrared radiation from the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293). The nebula is 700 light years away, within the constellation Aquarius. The dust and gas gathered around the central white dwarf is two light years in diameter. 

The nebula is considered an excellent example of a planetary nebula in the final stages in the evolution of a sun-like star. The bright infrared glow surrounding the central star is most likely the result of a dust debris disk, which could have been generated by collisions with objects similar to our solar system’s Kuiper Belt or cometary Oort cloud, as the nebular material would have been ejected from the star thousands of years ago. Our own Sun will similarly decay in 5 billion years time.
Photo: HELIX NEBULA

While this may look like a green version of the eye of Sauron, this Spitzer Space Telescope image shows infrared radiation from the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293). The nebula is 700 light years away, within the constellation Aquarius. The dust and gas gathered around the central white dwarf is two light years in diameter. 

The nebula is considered an excellent example of a planetary nebula in the final stages in the evolution of a sun-like star. The bright infrared glow surrounding the central star is most likely the result of a dust debris disk, which could have been generated by collisions with objects similar to our solar system’s Kuiper Belt or cometary Oort cloud, as the nebular material would have been ejected from the star thousands of years ago. Our own Sun will similarly decay in 5 billion years time.

-TEL

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_875.html
Image credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Kate Su (Steward Obs, U. Arizona) et al. 

Exoplanets discovered by Kepler Telescope

Till now, 41 new transiting exoplanets have been discovered by NASA's Kepler space telescope in twenty different star systems. The studies (currently in peer review) could increase the number of exoplanets discovered by the Kepler Telescope by more than fifty per cent. 

Image caption: The diagram shows the newly submitted transiting planets in green along with the unconfirmed planet candidates in the same system in violet. The systems are ordered horizontally by increasing Kepler number and KOI designation and vertically by orbital period.
Photo: 41 new transiting exoplanets have been discovered by NASA's Kepler space telescope in twenty different star systems. The studies (currently in peer review) could increase the number of exoplanets discovered by the Kepler Telescope by more than fifty per cent. 

Image caption: The diagram shows the newly submitted transiting planets in green along with the unconfirmed planet candidates in the same system in violet. The systems are ordered horizontally by increasing Kepler number and KOI designation and vertically by orbital period.

Image credit: Jason Steffen, Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics

Fore more info and a full size version of the diagram, see NASA's release here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/41-new-transiting-planets.html 

Three Nebulae in a narrow Band

These nebulae get their beautiful appearance from narrow band filters and a false-color palette. The three nebulae are stellar nurseries about 5,000 light-years distant, toward the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. Charles Messier catalogued M8, above and right of centre and M20 at the left, in the 18th century. The third nebula is NGC 6559, at bottom right. M8 is also known as the Lagoon Nebula and is over 100 light years across; M20 is also known as the Trifid.

The image is a composite; narrow emission lines from sulphur, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms recorded through the filters are mapped into broader red, green, and blue colours respectively.

Photo: THREE NEBULAE IN NARROW BAND 

These nebulae get their beautiful appearance from narrow band filters and a false-color palette. The three nebulae are stellar nurseries about 5,000 light-years distant, toward the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. Charles Messier catalogued M8, above and right of centre and M20 at the left, in the 18th century. The third nebula is NGC 6559, at bottom right. M8 is also known as the Lagoon Nebula and is over 100 light years across; M20 is also known as the Trifid.

The image is a composite; narrow emission lines from sulphur, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms recorded through the filters are mapped into broader red, green, and blue colours respectively. 

-TEL

Credit & Copyright: Michael Mayda http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0711/LagoonCA2007_mayda.jpg

SOMBRERO GALAXY

This ring is part of the Sombrero Galaxy, also known as M104; one of the largest galaxies in the nearby Virgo Cluster of Galaxies. The galaxy spans about 50,000 light years across and is 28 million light years away. This image is in infrared light; in this light the dark band of dust that obscures the mid-section of the Galaxy glows brightly.

This image, digitally sharpened, was recorded by the orbiting Spitzer Space Telescope, superposed in false-colour on an existing image taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in optical light.

Photo: SOMBRERO GALAXY

This ring is part of the Sombrero Galaxy, also known as M104; one of the largest galaxies in the nearby Virgo Cluster of Galaxies. The galaxy spans about 50,000 light years across and is 28 million light years away. This image is in infrared light; in this light the dark band of dust that obscures the mid-section of the Galaxy glows brightly.

This image, digitally sharpened, was recorded by the orbiting Spitzer Space Telescope, superposed in false-colour on an existing image taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in optical light.

-TEL

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120311.html

TARANTULA NEBULA

The Tarantula Nebula is found near the star cluster NGC 2074, and is located within the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC); one of our closest galaxies. It is also known as 30 Doradus or NGC 2070. It is named Tarantula as the arrangement of its bright patches somewhat resemble the legs of a tarantula. It is nearly 1,000 light years across, and has a high concentration of massive stars, referred to as super star clusters.

The image is based on data acquired with the 1.5 m Danish telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory in Chile. It was shot through three filters (B: 80 s, V: 60 s, R: 50 s)The Tarantula Nebula is found near the star cluster NGC 2074, and is located within the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC); one of our closest galaxies. It is also known as 30 Doradus or NGC 2070. It is named Tarantula as the arrangement of its bright patches somewhat resemble the legs of a tarantula. It is nearly 1,000 light years across, and has a high concentration of massive stars, referred to as super star clusters.

The image is based on data acquired with the 1.5 m Danish telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory in Chile. It was shot through three filters (B: 80 s, V: 60 s, R: 50 s)

Photo: TARANTULA NEBULA

The Tarantula Nebula is found near the star cluster NGC 2074, and is located within the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC); one of our closest galaxies. It is also known as 30 Doradus or NGC 2070. It is named Tarantula as the arrangement of its bright patches somewhat resemble the legs of a tarantula. It is nearly 1,000 light years across, and has a high concentration of massive stars, referred to as super star clusters. 

The image is based on data acquired with the 1.5 m Danish telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory in Chile. It was shot through three filters (B: 80 s, V: 60 s, R: 50 s).

-TEL

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1149.html; http://www.eso.org/public/images/tarantula/
Image credit:ESO/IDA/Danish 1.5 m/R. Gendler, C. C. Thöne, C. Féron, and J.-E. Ovaldsen

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