7 Space Simulators That Let You Explore the Universe Why should Mars rovers have all the fun? If you're tired of standing by while Curiosity rolls around up there, it's time to head out on the open exosphere and explore the universe for yourself — digitally, of course. SEE ALSO: 10 Must-Follow Tumblrs for Science Lovers A handful of excellent space simulators use real astronomical data to re-create the known universe in three dimensions. Events, ENQA (Qualité de l'ESR en Europe) If you are interested in hosting an ENQA event, please see the Guidance. 9th ENQA Training of Agency Reviewers (FULL) The 9th ENQA Training of Agency Reviewers will take place on 12-13 May 2014 in Bern, Switzerland. The training session is organised by ENQA and hosted by the Swiss Center of Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education (OAQ).
Sweedish Space Agency The Swedish National Space Board, SNSB, is a central governmental agency under the Ministry of Education and Research. SNSB is responsible for national and international activities relating to space and remote sensing, primarily research and development. SNSB has three main tasks: to distribute government grants for space research, technology development and remote sensing activitiesto initiate research and development in Space and Remote Sensing areasto act as Swedish contact for international co-operation The Swedish space programme is carried out by means of extensive international cooperation, in particular through Sweden´s membership of the European Space Agency, ESA.
MayaArch3D A web-based 3D GIS for archaeological research The MayaArch3D Project has built a virtual research environment for the documentation and analysis of complex archaeological sites —specifically, it is a web-based, 3D-GIS that can integrate 3D models of cities, landscapes, and objects with associated, geo-referenced archaeological data. An international, interdisciplinary project This international, interdisciplinary project brings together archaeologists, art historians, and cultural resource managers with experts in geosciences, remote sensing, photogrammetry, 3D modeling, and virtual reality from various institutions in Germany, the US, Italy, and Honduras. Case Study: UNESCO World Heritage site and ancient Maya city of Copan, Honduras The digital collections used to demonstrate the system contain basic information for other ancient Maya cities in Central America, but focus on the archaeology of Honduras and specifically Copan.
No One Wants to Live in My 'Elysium'-Style Simulation Orbital Space Colony They will also be a pain in the ass to run. And I speak from experience on this because I briefly governed my own orbital colony. My time in command did not end well. Joe Strout gave me the opportunity to fail. A software engineer with a huge background in creating complex simulations, Strout is the creator of High Frontier, which seeks to translate the mechanics of the SimCity series into a vacuum. Arguably the most realistic simulation ever made of building and operating a fully functional orbital space colony, High Frontieris also a highly infuriating exercise in failure created by someone devoted to and fascinated by the real dynamics of life in space. Wormhole Illusion Causes Magnetic Field To Move Through Space Undetected Scientists have developed a magnetic system that mimics the behavior of a wormhole – theorized to allow space-time to be bent, and vast distances to be traveled in an instant – but it absolutely is not an actual wormhole, so don’t get too excited. However, what they did, which was to make a propagating magnetic field invisible, is actually very interesting. You can get excited again.
Taking 3D printing into the metal age / Human Spaceflight Laser sintering nylon 12 powder metal Taking 3D printing into the metal age 15 October 2013 ESA is set to showcase complex printed parts made of metal that can withstand temperatures at 1000°C – fit for space and the most demanding applications on Earth. Apollo 11-17 First man on the Moon - Apollo Moon Landings - QTVR photos from panoramas.dk Less known is that during all the missions they made image sequences which with today's computer technics can be stitched together into 360o interactive panoramas giving you the possibility to view the moon almost as you were there. Many of these panoramas have been published before but in low resolution and displayed in small sizes. Film used on the Moon was a modified Kodak Ectachrome 160. During the last years (2000-2005) the original films have been re-scanned in high resolution and the Apollo 11 images were released the week before the 35 year anniversary. I can now present you for the first time the Moon in interactive 360 degree full screen Quicktime VR. Stitching these images to make 360 degree panoramas is a difficult task as the astronauts did not know anything about interactive panoramas and the stitching methods which would come 25 years later.
On the Viability of Conspiratorial Beliefs Abstract Conspiratorial ideation is the tendency of individuals to believe that events and power relations are secretly manipulated by certain clandestine groups and organisations. Many of these ostensibly explanatory conjectures are non-falsifiable, lacking in evidence or demonstrably false, yet public acceptance remains high. Efforts to convince the general public of the validity of medical and scientific findings can be hampered by such narratives, which can create the impression of doubt or disagreement in areas where the science is well established. Conversely, historical examples of exposed conspiracies do exist and it may be difficult for people to differentiate between reasonable and dubious assertions. In this work, we establish a simple mathematical model for conspiracies involving multiple actors with time, which yields failure probability for any given conspiracy.
ESA’s Shrunken Budget for 2014 Bigger than it Seems PARIS — The 4 percent decline in the European Space Agency’s top-line budget for 2014 masks a continued upward trend in spending by many of its member nations, who have increased space investment steadily in the six years since the start of the financial crisis, ESA officials said. In addition, several of ESA’s 20 member governments that had accumulated debt to the agency in recent years — France, Italy and Spain among them — have made sizable catch-up payments that are not reflected in the budget as announced Jan. 17, the officials said. Finally, the picture is distorted by the fact that the European Union, which has become ESA’s biggest single contributor, will not make its full payment until midyear because of the EU’s budget cycle.