20 novembro 2014

LDN 988: Dark Nebula in Cygnus



Obscuring the rich starfields of northern Cygnus, dark nebula LDN 988 lies near the center of this cosmic skyscape. Composed with telescope and camera, the scene is some 2 degrees across. That corresponds to 70 light-years at the estimated 2,000 light-year distance of LDN 988. Stars are forming within LDN 988, part of a larger complex of dusty molecular clouds along the plane of our Milky Way galaxy sometimes called the Northern Coalsack. In fact, nebulosities associated with young stars abound in the region, including variable star V1331 Cygni shown in the inset. At the tip of a long dusty filament and partly surrounded by a curved reflection nebula, V1331 is thought to be a T Tauri star, a sun-like star still in the early stages of formation.



from NASA http://ift.tt/1yVkqK0

via IFTTT
Read More

"The brain is a tissue. It is a complicated, intricately woven tissue, like nothing else we know of..."

“"The brain is a tissue. It is a complicated, intricately woven tissue, like nothing else we know of in the universe, but it is composed of cells, as any tissue is. They are, to be sure, highly specialized cells, but they function according to the laws that govern any other cells. Their electrical and chemical signals can be detected, recorded and interpreted and their chemicals can be identified; the connections that constitute the brain’s woven feltwork can be mapped. In short, the brain can be studied, just as the kidney can."”



- David Hubel, “The Brain”
Read More

What’s behind our music tastes? Some common...









What’s behind our music tastes? Some common perceptions


What do we really hear when we listen to music? Researchers from Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology have attempted to close in on the answer by boiling our perception of music down to nine basic elements — or what they call “perceptual features.”


Their findings could help improve computational models that the music industry uses for predicting the individual tastes of listeners.


So-called music information retrieval (MIR) models combine audio signal processing measurements with analysis of musical elements, which are usually drawn from concepts of music theory and music perception, such as beat strength, rhythmic regularity, meter and mode. The models also include analysis of musical genre (for example, punk, dance, experimental), emotion (sad, happy, tender) and other contextual qualities.


But a big limitation arises from how consistently music is perceived by listeners with different backgrounds and varying familiarity with music, not to mention their individual biases and cultural references.


The reliance on music theory could be one of the weaknesses in the ability of MIR programs to capture any commonalities in perception. Not everyone understands music, yet they know what they like. So what is the basis on which these preferences are formed?


The researchers at KTH — Anders Friberg, Anton Hedblad, Marco Fabiani and Anders Elowsson — argued that when people listen to music, their brains may rely on an “intermediate analysis layer” where more basic features of the music are naturally perceived.


Getting a group of people to agree on anything having to do with music is — as any dj can attest — not easily done. But by focusing on nine key features of music, the team was able to find some commonalities in perception that could prove useful.


They conducted an experiment in which 20 people listened to 100 ringtones and 110 snippets of film music and then rated what they heard in terms of each of the nine so-called “perceptual features”:



  • Speed — slow or fast

  • Rhythmic clarity — a pulse that’s firm or flowing

  • Rhythmic complexity — simple patterns or more complex ones

  • Articulation — the duration of tones, staccato or legato

  • Dynamics — relates to the estimated effort of the players

  • Modality — major or minor key

  • Overall pitch — overall pitch height of the music, high or low

  • Harmonic complexity — the progression of harmonics

  • Brightness — dark or light


Friberg says the nine perceptual features reflect how non-musicians try to understand what they are hearing. For example, instead of rating tempo, which refers to the amount of notes in a given time measure, they chose to use the less complicated concept of speed — which non-musicians associate with movement.


The idea was to see whether the ratings they got from the subjects matched up in any significant way.


The subjects used a Likert scale to evaluate each feature, scoring the music for example somewhere between slow and fast, or soft and loud.


"If there was a high agreement among any of them, this would then indicate that a given feature corresponds to something relating more closely to the real music perception going on in our brains," he says.


Friberg says that for the most part, the nine features did generate common agreement among the participants.


"The nine perceptual features work, and the test subjects’ own references and cultural differences do not matter.


"We could take 20 new volunteers, and the result would be the same," he says.


While Friberg says the study is by no means the final word on music information retrieval, it does offer a path toward a better understanding of human perception, which could result in better and simpler computational models.


"A common description in terms of different features would then be able to describe some aspects of the music that most listeners have in common," he says. "Thus, we avoid the huge individual differences in preferred music, what is considered good or bad."


Read More

Photo
























Read More

think-progress: 7 shocking consequences of one billion people...

Read More

ageofdestruction: skylark: Venus, Mars, and Mercury,...





ageofdestruction:



skylark: Venus, Mars, and Mercury, photographed by STEREO A, May 2012.


Venus, very bright, moves right to left. Behind it, Mars appears to move more slowly in the same direction. At bottom right, Mercury moves left to right.


34 images, one every 5 hours 3rd-9th May.


Image credit: NASA/STEREO. Animation: AgeOfDestruction.



age
Read More

King Alexandros I of Greece (1917–1920) died from blood poisoning after being bitten by his pet...

King Alexandros I of Greece (1917–1920) died from blood poisoning after being bitten by his pet monkey


Read More

starter-packs: The “Iggy Azalea” starter pack





starter-packs:



The “Iggy Azalea” starter pack



Read More

Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission Marks Ten Years of Discovery



On Nov. 20, 2004, NASA's Swift spacecraft lifted off aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., beginning its mission to study gamma-ray bursts and identify their origins. Gamma-ray bursts are the most luminous explosions in the cosmos. Most are thought to be triggered when the core of a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel, collapses under its own weight, and forms a black hole. The black hole then drives jets of particles that drill all the way through the collapsing star and erupt into space at nearly the speed of light. Astronomers at NASA and Pennsylvania State University used Swift to create the most detailed ultraviolet light surveys ever of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, the two closest major galaxies. Nearly a million ultraviolet sources appear in this mosaic of the Large Magellanic Cloud, which was assembled from 2,200 images taken by Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) and released on June 3, 2013. The 160-megapixel image required a cumulative exposure of 5.4 days. The image includes light from 1,600 to 3,300 angstroms -- UV wavelengths largely blocked by Earth's atmosphere -- and has an angular resolution of 2.5 arcseconds at full size. The Large Magellanic Cloud is about 14,000 light-years across. Viewing in the ultraviolet allows astronomers to suppress the light of normal stars like the sun, which are not very bright at such higher energies, and provides a clearer picture of the hottest stars and star-formation regions. No telescope other than UVOT can produce such high-resolution wide-field multicolor surveys in the ultraviolet. Pennsylvania State University manages the Swift Mission Operations Center, which controls Swift's science and flight operations. Goddard manages Swift, which was launched in November 2004. The satellite is operated in collaboration with Penn State, the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and Orbital Sciences Corp. in Dulles, Va. International collaborators are in the United Kingdom and Italy, and the mission includes contributions from Germany and Japan. Image Credit: NASA/Swift/S. Immler (Goddard) and M. Siegel (Penn State)



from NASA http://ift.tt/1xWOvuu

via IFTTT
Read More

CYCHOLOGY http://ift.tt/1ueTpwY Love this! Perfect...





CYCHOLOGY


http://ift.tt/1ueTpwY


Love this! Perfect Holiday Season gift for all you psychology studying cycling enthusiasts.


Read More

Simpatia para perder a barriga e emagrecer rápido

Read More

November 20th 1969: Occupation of Alcatraz beginsOn this day in...



Protestors occupying Alcatraz





Grafitti on the island - much of which remains there today



November 20th 1969: Occupation of Alcatraz begins



On this day in 1969, the occupation of Alcatraz in San Francisco by the Indians of All Tribes movement began. The occupation lasted for nineteen months, ending on June 11th 1971. Inspired by wider civil rights efforts in the 1960s, the Red Power movement advocated the cause of American Indians. Activists argued that Alcatraz island, site of a disused penitentiary, belonged to indigenous Americans by an 1868 treaty between the US government and Sioux. A small group first occupied the island, for only four hours, on March 8th 1964; they offered to pay the government the same as was offered the Sioux - just under $10 for the whole island. However, the long-term occupation did not begin until November 20th 1969 when fourteen activists (79 tried to get to the island but were blocked by the Coast Guard) took the island. They intended to reclaim the island and establish Native American museums and research centres. Supporters brought food and supplies to the occupiers and some joined the group, with 400 protestors at the occupation’s height. Public support for the occupation eventually dwindled and protestors began to leave, allowing the government to come in and remove the remaining fifteen protestors. While immediately unsuccessful, the occupation of Alcatraz helped draw international attention to the situation of American Indians and promoted the rise of indigenous activism. Between 1970 and 1971, the Nixon administration increased funding for Indian health care and scholarships. The occupation of Alcatraz is commemorated today with the island’s ‘Unthanksgiving Day’ which celebrates the rights of indigenous Americans.


Read More

ORAÇÃO À SÃO MARCOS E SÃO MANSO PARA PROTEÇÃO PESSOAL E DE CASA

SÃO MARCOS ME MARQUE! SÃO MANSO ME AMANSE!

JESUS CRISTO ME ABRANDE O CORAÇÃO E ME APARTE O SANGUE MAU!

A HÓSTIA CONSAGRADA ENTRE EM MIM E, SE MEUS INIMIGOS TIVEREM MAU CORAÇÃO, NÃO TINHAM CÓLEA CONTRA MIM, ASSIM COMO SÃO MARCOS E SÃO MANSO FORAM AO MONTE E TINHAM NELE TOUROS BRAVOS E MANSOS CORDEIROS E OS FIZERAM PRESOS E PACÍFICOS NAS MORADAS DE SUAS CASAS, DEBAIXO DO MEU PÉ ESQUERDO, ASSIM COMO AS PALAVRAS DE SÃO MARCOS E SÃO MANSO SÃO CERTAS, DIZ: - FILHO, PEDE O QUE QUISERES, QUE SERÁS SERVIDO, SÓ NA CASA QUE EU POUSAR SE TIVER CÃO DE FILA, RETIRE-SE DO CAMINHO, QUE COISA NENHUMA SE MOVA CONTRA MIM, NEM VIVOS NEM MORTOS E BATENDO NA PORTA COM A MÃO ESQUERDA DESEJO QUE IMEDIATAMENTE SE ABRA.

JESUS CRISTO, SENHOR NOSSO, DA CRUZ DESCERA, ASSIM COMO PILATOS, HERODES E CAIFÁS, FORAM ALGOZES DE CRISTO E ELE CONSENTIA TODAS ESSAS TIRANIAS NO HORTO, VIROU-SE E VIU-SE CERCADO DE INIMIGOS, DISSE: “SURSUM CORDA”, CAÍRAM TODOS NO CHÃO ATÉ ACABAR SUA SANTA ORAÇÃO.

ASSIM COMO AS PALAVRAS DE JESUS CRISTO, DE SÃO MARCOS E DE SÃO MANSO ABRANDARAM O CORAÇÃO DE TODOS OS HOMENS DE MAUS ESPÍRITOS, OS ANIMAIS FEROZES E DE TUDO O QUE CONSIGO SE QUISER OPOR, TANTO VIVO, QUANTO MORTO, TANTO NA ALMA COMO NO CORPO E DOS MAUS ESPÍRITOS, TANTO VISÍVEIS COMO INVISÍVEIS NÃO SEREI PERSEGUIDO DE JUSTIÇA NEM DOS MEUS INIMIGOS QUE ME QUISEREM CAUSAR DANO TANTO NO CORPO COMO NA ALMA.

VIVEREI SEMPRE SOSSEGADO NA MINHA CASA, PELOS CAMINHOS E LUGARES POR ONDE TRANSITAR, VIVENTE DE QUALIDADE ALGUMA ME POSSA ESTORVAR, ANTES TODOS ME PRESTEM AUXÍLIO NAQUILO QUE EU NECESSITAR.

ACOMPANHADO DA PRESENTE ORAÇÃO SANTÍSSIMA, FAREI AMIZADE COM TODO MUNDO E TODOS ME QUERERÃO BEM E NINGUÉM ME ABORRECERÁ OU ME PREJUDICARÁ, NEM MESMO ESTA PRAGA QUE ME ROGARAM E QUE VOLTARÁ PARA QUEM ME MANDOU. QUE ASSIM SEJA!




via @notiun


Related post







// "; var maxNumberOfPostsPerLabel = 10; var maxNumberOfLabels = 10; function listEntries10(json) { var ul = document.createElement('ul'); var maxPosts = (json.feed.entry.length textLabel = ""; var test = 0; for (var i = 0; i //]]>


Read More
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
eXTReMe Tracker
Designed ByBlogger Templates