21 janeiro 2015

The Complex Ion Tail of Comet Lovejoy



What causes the structure in Comet Lovejoy's tail? Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy), which is currently at naked-eye brightness and near its brightest, has been showing an exquisitely detailed ion tail. As the name implies, the ion tail is made of ionized gas -- gas energized by ultraviolet light from the Sun and pushed outward by the solar wind. The solar wind is quite structured and sculpted by the Sun's complex and ever changing magnetic field. The effect of the variable solar wind combined with different gas jets venting from the comet's nucleus accounts for the tail's complex structure. Following the wind, structure in Comet Lovejoy's tail can be seen to move outward from the Sun even alter its wavy appearance over time. The blue color of the ion tail is dominated by recombining carbon monoxide molecules, while the green color of the coma surrounding the head of the comet is created mostly by a slight amount of recombining diatomic carbon molecules. The featured three-panel mosaic image was taken nine days ago from the IRIDA Observatory in Bulgaria. Comet Lovejoy made it closest pass to the Earth two weeks ago and will be at its closest to the Sun in about ten days. After that, the comet will fade as it heads back into the outer Solar System, to return only in about 8,000 years.



from NASA http://ift.tt/1xwpV0r

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swoilli: interesting-linkz: What Kind of Tumblr Blogger Are...





swoilli:



interesting-linkz:





literally me the rest of the night, just clicking every link like




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swoilli: interesting-linkz: What Kind of Tumblr Blogger Are...





swoilli:



interesting-linkz:





literally me the rest of the night, just clicking every link like




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clouds over northern california, photographed by goes-15, 18th...









clouds over northern california, photographed by goes-15, 18th january 2015.


9 frames in visible light, photographed between 10:30am and 12:30pm pst.


san francisco is at centre. the central vally runs diagonally to the right (\). filled with cloud.


image credit: noaa/nasa, animation: ageofdestruction.


age
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Tumblr Being Weird, Sorry

My last post, the text did not show for some reason, only the link. I’ve put the intended post in the title. Hopefully that will solve it until tumblr staff fixes whatever is wrong with links today.


Sorry about the confusion!


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Lyndon B. Johnson - Presidential Recordings

Lyndon B. Johnson - Presidential Recordings:

LBJ had a habit of recording all of his phone calls while President. They are all now digitized and up on the web! My personal favorite is LBJ explanating to his tailor that the slacks in his order need more room for his “bunghole.”


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Lucid dreams and metacognition: Awareness of thinking –...









Lucid dreams and metacognition: Awareness of thinking – awareness of dreaming


To control one’s dreams and to live out there what is impossible in real life – a truly tempting idea. Some persons – so-called lucid dreamers –can do this. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin and the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich have discovered that the brain area which enables self-reflection is larger in lucid dreamers. Thus, lucid dreamers are possibly also more self-reflecting when being awake.


Lucid dreamers are aware of dreaming while dreaming. Sometimes, they can even play an active role in their dreams. Most of them, however, have this experience only several times a year and just very few almost every night. Internet forums and blogs are full of instructions and tips on lucid dreaming. Possibly, lucid dreaming is closely related to the human capability of self-reflection – the so-called metacognition.


Neuroscientists from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry have compared brain structures of frequent lucid dreamers and participants who never or only rarely have lucid dreams. Accordingly, the anterior prefrontal cortex, i.e., the brain area controlling conscious cognitive processes and playing an important role in the capability of self-reflection, is larger in lucid dreamers.


The differences in volumes in the anterior prefrontal cortex between lucid dreamers and non-lucid dreamers suggest that lucid dreaming and metacognition are indeed closely connected. This theory is supported by brain images taken when test persons were solving metacognitive tests while being awake. Those images show that the brain activity in the prefrontal cortex was higher in lucid dreamers. “Our results indicate that self-reflection in everyday life is more pronounced in persons who can easily control their dreams,” states Elisa Filevich, post-doc in the Center for Lifespan Psychology at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development.


The researchers further want to know whether metacognitive skills can be trained. In a follow-up study, they intend to train volunteers in lucid dreaming to examine whether this improves the capability of self-reflection.


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unicef: UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Shakira, and her partner, FC...





unicef:



UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Shakira, and her partner, FC Barcelona star Gerard Piqué , are hosting a World Baby Shower to welcome their second baby! Help them celebrate by purchasing a UNICEF Inspired Gift to give other babies a healthy start in life: http://ift.tt/1CsINRg



Watch Shakira and Gerard talk about why they’re doing a second baby shower for UNICEF: http://ift.tt/1DUbhrh



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The Media Needs to Understand Differences Between Psychologists...





The Media Needs to Understand Differences Between Psychologists and Psychiatrists


See link above for an excellent article written by the Public Education and Media Relations Committee of the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology.

Studying Psychology? GO HERE —> http://ift.tt/1eWNk1f

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