Particles, Waves and Ants
Vienna, Austria (SPX) Nov 27, 2014 -
A drunken sailor staggers onto a square with lots of streetlamps on it. Sometimes he will run into one of the lamps, change his direction and keep moving. Does the time he spends on this square depend on the number of streetlamps? The surprising answer is: no.
No matter whether there is a streetlamp on every square meter or whether the distance between the lamps is large: on average, the d ...
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Van der Waals force re-measured
Julich, Germany (SPX) Nov 27, 2014 -
Although the van der Waals force was discovered around 150 years ago, it is still difficult to quantify when predicting the behaviour of solids, liquids, and molecules. Precise measurements were only possible up to now for single atoms or macroscopic objects.
However, the van der Waals forces are particularly important at intermediate size, where they crucially co-determine the behaviour o ...
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Scientists Use Remote Satellite Imaging to Monitor Endangered Species
Moscow (Sputnik News) Dec 01, 2014 -
Researchers from the Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution and the ScanEx Research and Development Center have been using satellite imagery to study the population and movement patterns of the critically endangered saiga antelope. A researcher from the Severtsov Institute gave Sputnik the details.
Using the satellite imagery, taken between 2009 and 2014 by a variety of commercial ob ...
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Researchers develop building material that cools by reflecting heat into space
Stanford, Calif. (UPI) Dec 1, 2014 -
Researchers at Stanford say they've developed a material that cools itself by beaming excess heat into space; they hope it can one day be used to keep buildings cool on hot, sunny days.
Traditional ideas about thermodynamics suggest an object like a building can't be cooled below the temperature of the surrounding ambient air without the assistance of a something like air conditioning. ...
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'Eye of Sauron' provides new way of measuring distances to galaxies
Southampton, UK (SPX) Nov 28, 2014 -
A team of scientists, led by Dr Sebastian Hoenig from the University of Southampton, have developed a new way of measuring precise distances to galaxies tens of millions of light years away, using the W. M. Keck Observatory near the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
The method is similar to what land surveyors use on earth, by measuring the physical and angular, or 'apparent', size of a stand ...
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Boeing Completes First Milestone for CCT
Washington DC (SPX) Dec 02, 2014 -
NASA has approved the completion of Boeing's first milestone in the company's path toward launching crews to the International Space Station from the United States under a groundbreaking Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract.
The Certification Baseline Review is the first of many more milestones, including flight tests from Florida's Space Coast that will establish th ...
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Ground-Based Detection Paves Way to Remote Sensing of Small Exoplanets
Boston MA (SPX) Dec 02, 2014 -
Astronomers have measured the passing of a super-Earth in front of a bright, nearby Sun-like star using a ground-based telescope for the first time. The transit of the exoplanet 55 Cancri e is the shallowest detected from the ground yet.
Since detecting a transit is the first step in analyzing a planet's atmosphere, this success bodes well for characterizing the many small planets that upc ...
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NASA Glenn Expertise Instrumental in Orion Spacecraft
Cleveland OH (SPX) Dec 02, 2014 -
Space exploration projects like Orion require putting together a top team of scientists and engineers from all the NASA centers across the United States. Experts from NASA's Glenn Research Center have been an instrumental part of the team working to ensure the success of the upcoming exploration flight test of Orion on December 4.
Glenn's contributions were essential to the design and deve ...
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Orion Test Flight a Critical Step on NASA's Journey to Mars
Washington DC (SPX) Dec 02, 2014 -
America embarks on a long-lasting trip to Mars this Thursday. Orion's maiden flight, Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), slated to test spacecraft's crucial systems is a critical first step on our journey to destinations beyond Earth never before visited by humans, like asteroids and Mars.
"Everyone is very excited about this mission," Stephanie Schierholz, NASA spokesperson told astrowatch ...
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NASA's Orion Flight Test and the Journey to Mars
Washington DC (SPX) Dec 02, 2014 -
In the not-too-distant future, astronauts destined to be the first people to walk on Mars will leave Earth aboard an Orion spacecraft. Carried aloft by the tremendous power of a Space Launch System rocket, our explorers will begin their Journey to Mars from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying the spirit of humanity with them to the Red Planet.
The first future human mission to ...
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Russia Puts Second GLONASS-K Satellite Into Orbit: Defense Ministry
Moscow, Russia (Sputnik) Dec 02, 2014 -
The second new-generation GLONASS-K Russian navigation satellite has been put into orbit, a Defense Ministry spokesperson told RIA Novosti Monday.
"The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket...has successfully put the new-generation Russian navigation satellite 'Glonass-K' into orbit," Col. Alexei Zolotukhin, a spokesperson for Russia's Aerospace Defense Forces, said.
The satellite was launched f ...
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Republican Budget Cuts Threaten NASA's Space Exploration Plans
Moscow (Sputnik) Dec 02, 2014 -
NASA's space program is facing budget cuts from a Republican-controlled Congress from January, which will likely have in its sights a controversial plan to redirect an asteroid around the Moon as a stepping stone to a future Mars mission.
"Those who say we've got to go back to the Moon instead of an asteroid, well, show me the money," Bill Nelson, the Democrat who currently chairs the Sena ...
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Observing Solar System Worlds as if They Were Distant Exoplanets
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Dec 02, 2014 -
"It takes one to know one," as the old truism goes. When it comes to unraveling the mysteries of far-off exoplanets, the same holds true - one more reason why astronomers want to thoroughly understand the local planets right here in our Solar System.
A new scientific paper moves the ball forward in this regard by simulating how several rocky Solar System bodies would look if glimpsed at th ...
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NASA's Orion capsule poised for first test launch
Miami (AFP) Dec 02, 2014 -
NASA's multi-billion dollar Orion capsule is poised for its first test launch Thursday, in a demonstration flight that aims to propel it higher than any spacecraft meant to carry humans in 40 years.
After launching from Cape Canaveral, Florida atop a powerful Delta IV rocket at 7:05 am (1205 GMT), the unmanned spacecraft should circle the Earth twice and reach a height of 3,600 miles (5,800 ...
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