02 dezembro 2014

Eta Carinae and the Expanding Homunculus Nebula



How did the Eta Carinae star system create this unusual expanding nebula? No one knows for sure. About 170 years ago, the southern star system Eta Carinae (Eta Car) mysteriously became the second brightest star system in the night sky. Twenty years later, after ejecting more mass than our Sun, Eta Car unexpectedly faded. Somehow, this outburst appears to have created the Homunculus Nebula. The three-frame video features images of the nebula taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995, 2001, and 2008. The Homunculus nebula's center is lit by light from a bright central star, while the surrounding regions are expanding lobes of gas laced with filaments of dark dust. Jets bisect the lobes emanating from the central stars. Expanding debris includes streaming whiskers and bow shocks caused by collisions with previously existing material. Eta Car still undergoes unexpected outbursts, and its high mass and volatility make it a candidate to explode in a spectacular supernova sometime in the next few million years.



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science-junkie: Nature makes all articles free to view All...





science-junkie:



Nature makes all articles free to view


All research papers from Nature will be made free to read in a proprietary screen-view format that can be annotated but not copied, printed or downloaded, the journal’s publisher Macmillan announced on 2 December.


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This Katzensymphonie, by Moritz von Schwind (1804-71), resides...





This Katzensymphonie, by Moritz von Schwind (1804-71), resides in the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe in Germany.


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Palliative Care (From GetPalliativeCare.org)





Palliative Care


(From GetPalliativeCare.org)


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NASA's Journey to Mars



NASA is developing the capabilities needed to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in the 2030s – goals outlined in the bipartisan NASA Authorization Act of 2010 and in the U.S. National Space Policy, also issued in 2010. Mars is a rich destination for scientific discovery and robotic and human exploration as we expand our presence into the solar system. Its formation and evolution are comparable to Earth, helping us learn more about our own planet’s history and future. Mars had conditions suitable for life in its past. Future exploration could uncover evidence of life, answering one of the fundamental mysteries of the cosmos: Does life exist beyond Earth? While robotic explorers have studied Mars for more than 40 years, NASA’s path for the human exploration of Mars begins in low-Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station. Astronauts on the orbiting laboratory are helping us prove many of the technologies and communications systems needed for human missions to deep space, including Mars. The space station also advances our understanding of how the body changes in space and how to protect astronaut health. Our next step is deep space, where NASA will send a robotic mission to capture and redirect an asteroid to orbit the moon. Astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft will explore the asteroid in the 2020s, returning to Earth with samples. This experience in human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit will help NASA test new systems and capabilities, such as Solar Electric Propulsion, which we’ll need to send cargo as part of human missions to Mars. Beginning in FY 2018, NASA’s powerful Space Launch System rocket will enable these “proving ground” missions to test new capabilities. Human missions to Mars will rely on Orion and an evolved version of SLS that will be the most powerful launch vehicle ever flown. A fleet of robotic spacecraft and rovers already are on and around Mars, dramatically increasing our knowledge about the Red Planet and paving the way for future human explorers. The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover measured radiation on the way to Mars and is sending back radiation data from the surface. This data will help us plan how to protect the astronauts who will explore Mars. Future missions like the Mars 2020 rover, seeking signs of past life, also will demonstrate new technologies that could help astronauts survive on Mars. Engineers and scientists around the country are working hard to develop the technologies astronauts will use to one day live and work on Mars, and safely return home from the next giant leap for humanity. NASA also is a leader in a Global Exploration Roadmap, working with international partners and the U.S. commercial space industry on a coordinated expansion of human presence into the solar system, with human missions to the surface of Mars as the driving goal. Follow our progress at http://ift.tt/11EgZee and www.nasa.gov/mars. > NASA's Orion Flight Test and the Journey to Mars Image Credit: NASA



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Psychology Book of The...





Psychology Book of The Month


The All About Psychology website book of the month for December is - The Upside of Your Dark Side By Todd Kashdan & Robert Biswas-Diener. See link above for details of this excellent book and all the previous book of the month entries.

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December 2nd 1988: Bhutto sworn in On this day in 1988, Benazir...



Benazir Bhutto (1953 - 2007)





Memorial to Bhutto at the site of her assassination



December 2nd 1988: Bhutto sworn in


On this day in 1988, Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of a Muslim state. Bhutto was a democratic socialist and the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan. As Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto’s tough stance with trade unions earned her the nickname ‘Iron Lady’. Her government was dismissed in 1996 by President Leghari on charges of corruption. In 2007, Bhutto returned to Pakistan having received amnesty from President Musharraf. On December 27th of that year, while campaigning for the general election, she was assassinated.


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(From The Commonwealth Fund)

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mylifewithtics: Here’s a cool little info graphic I found about...





mylifewithtics:



Here’s a cool little info graphic I found about Tourettes.


Credits: http://ift.tt/1Ab7j8Q



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