Space Future The Human Cloning Foundation Planets Planets: The planet count in our solar system has gone as high as 15 before new discoveries prompted a fine tuning of the definition of a planet. The most recent change was in 2006 when scientists reclassified Pluto as a new kind of object - a dwarf planet. Dwarf Planets: This new class of worlds helps us categorize objects that orbit the Sun but aren't quite the same as the rocky planets and gas giants in our solar system. Moons: This count includes only the moons orbiting the eight planets in our solar system. Asteroids: New asteroids are discovered on an almost daily basis. Comets: Orbiting spacecraft such as SOHO have raised this tally in recent years by catching the comets as they plunge toward the Sun - and sometimes vaporize.
Time Cube Video: NASA's New Upper Stage J-2X Engine Passes Major Test NASA conducted a successful 500-second test firing of the J-2X rocket engine on Wednesday, Nov. 9, marking another important step in development of an upper stage for the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS). SLS will carry the Orion spacecraft, its crew, cargo, equipment and science experiments to destinations in deep space. SLS will be safe, affordable and sustainable to continue America's journey of discovery from the unique vantage point of space. "The J-2X engine is critical to the development of the Space Launch System," Dan Dumbacher, NASA's deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development, said after the test at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Data from the test will be analyzed as operators prepare for additional engine firings. Stennis has tested engines that carried Americans to space in both the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. For more information about NASA exploration, visit:
Home Page - Popular Science At the nuvera fuel cells lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 25-year-old chemical engineer Darryl Pollica stands in front of a prototype 5-kilowatt fuel cell -- a miniature powerplant that can make most of the electricity needed by a family of four. Its metal skin has been removed to reveal a cubical frame about 5 feet on each side, packed with tanks, valves, and electronics. Conspicuously taped to the outside of the frame is a Nokia cellphone. "That's our mascot," Pollica says. "We want to shrink this," he says, opening his arms as if to embrace the entire assembly, "to this," and he brings them together and points toward the tiny phone. Pollica's boss, Nuvera Chief Operating Officer Jeff Bentley, a 25-year veteran of the difficult effort to create cost-effective fuel cells that are relatively small, is a bit more cautious. "We're optimists," Pollica shoots back with a confident smile. They better be. Nothing happened. But before we get there, the matter of cost has to be resolved.
NASA Snaps the First 360-degree Image of the Sun - Technology News by ExtremeTech A little more than four years ago, NASA launched a twin pair of spacecraft as part of their STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) mission. The crafts traveled in opposite directions along the Earth’s orbit en route to positions on opposite sides of the sun. This past Sunday the two crafts reached their respective destinations and—for the first time—captured a 360-degree view of our local celestial heavy. The space agency is now being fed a steady stream of images of the sun from opposite sides that they are able to combine into 3D models. “With data like these, we can fly around the sun to see what’s happening over the horizon—without ever leaving our desks,” comments STEREO program scientist Lika Guhathakurta from NASA headquarters. NASA has sent observatories to study the sun before, but this is the first time we have been given the ability to study solar activity from all angles as they occur.
Perceptual Science Group at MIT Power Book This is a versatile yet easy to use and configure AS3 Flip Book application – XML driven You can create all your pages directly from the XML , loading their background and content from external images or swf files, add text with links, add a background music, contact and share windows, create a summary, load multiple books... and much more! You can add as many pages and books as you want, and there are so many options you can easily set to configure your book content and appearance. VERSION : 1.30 [ SWF + SWC + Standalone app (mac&win) ] [ AS3 – Flash player 10 – FLA : Flash CS4 + CS5 ] DEMO SONG : Passing By (you need to buy it from AudioJungle if you want to use it in your books) WHAT WILL YOU GET (that most of the other flip books does not have): 08-Dec-11 [v.1.22] possibility to call PowerBook functions from JS callbacks, automatically re-opens summary if left open while entering zoom mode, stop slideshow if video starts, added first page preloader, other small fixes
SCIENCE HOBBYIST: Do This Now Suck a paperclip up your nose! This one's from Jim Burrows Get a medium-small rubberband and a paperclip. Put the rubberband around your palm and the back of your hand. Thread the paperclip onto the band, then hold the paperclip between thumb and forefinger. If you let it go, the paperclip should instantly snap back, vanishing from sight. OK, now hold the paperclip again, draw attention to yourself. LORD OF THE GNATS On NPR "Livng on Earth", an entemologist mentioned that swarms of gnats will move towards anything that emits the low humming sound of female gnat wings. LORD OF THE ANTS A stream of ants invaded my workbench. TWO-LAYER COLA Diet drinks will float on full-sugar drinks, but only if you add a layer of crushed ice to disrupt the flow from the spigot. PENNY CYCLOTRON ACCELERATOR I had a big potato-chip bowl. Dare to be Different Besides daring to sing loudly where others can hear, have you ever dared to "think out loud" in public? LOBSTER BOY! PROPER CLAPPING Clap normally.
The MARS Journal Vol 5, pp 76-128 - Geologic mapping and characterization of Gale Crater and implications for its potential as a Mars Science Laboratory landing site 1Ryan B. Anderson and 1James F. Bell III 1Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA Mars 5, 76-128, 2010 | doi:10.1555/mars.2010.0004 Received November 15, 2009 | Accepted July 13, 2010 | Published September 14, 2010 We mapped the geomorphologic units of the Gale crater central mound and the proposed Mars Science Laboratory landing site, developed an inferred stratigraphy, and assessed hypotheses for the origin of the mound. PDF 25.8 MB | ZIP 173 MB | TAR.GZ 173 MB | Supporting Files
SETI@home Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence at home 2012 - 10 - Meet ESA, the space agency for Europe Meet ESA, the space agency for Europe 4.88 /5 ( 57 votes cast) Rate this Video Currently 5 out of 5 Stars. Thank you for rating! You have already rated this page, you can only rate it once! Your rating has been changed, thanks for rating! Embed Code Details Meet ESA, the space agency for Europe English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Czech Documentary You, together with your 500 million fellow citizens from ESA’s 20 European member nations, are the collective owners of one of the world’s leading space agencies. The European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organisation, a cooperative coming together of its Member States in their national interest and common good. This new video offers a quick introduction: Europe, meet ESA. Click on the tags to find the matching videos. Corporate Galileo , Mars Express , Planck , Vega Jean-Jacques Dordain , Thomas Reiter Ariane 5 , ATV , Cryosat 2 Satellite , EGNOS (European Geostationnary Navigation Overlay System) , GMES , Mars Express Orbiter , Soyuz launcher