After all the pushing, squeezing and screaming, the universe has finally given birth to a new
planet, in an eruption that two scientists managed to capture on film. The newborn pile of planetary pudge, named LkCa 15 b, was discovered by Drs. Michael Ireland and Adam Kraus, who, over the course of 12 months, successfully documented the event using Keck telescopes and a technique called aperture mask interferometry. Their findings, published in
Astrophysical Journal describe a Jupiter-like gaseous planet that likely began forming some 50,000 to 100,000 years ago. Located about 450 light years from Earth, it’s also the youngest planet ever observed, having dethroned the previous record-holder, which was about five times older. According to Ireland and Kraus, the LkCa 15 b is still being formed out of a circle of dust and gas (pictured above) surrounding a 2-million-year-old star. By observing a “young gas giant in the process of formation,” the researchers hope to find answers to fundamental questions that have long eluded them. “These very basic questions of when and where are best answered when you can actually see the planet forming, as the process is happening right now,” Kraus explained to the AP. Head past the break to see an artist’s rendering of the newborn, and if you get the chance, be sure to send flowers.
Continue reading Scientists capture birth of new planet on camera, mother and child doing just fine
Scientists capture birth of new planet on camera, mother and child doing just fine originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 22:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sintering is a common process for creating copper heat sinks that involves packing powdered metals into a particular shape and baking it in a vacuum. A funny thing happens though, if you leave out the vacuum part of the equation: you don’t get a solid shape, but a porous pile of particles with hollow, nanowire whiskers sticking out of it. The serendipitous discovery could lead to a new way to make heat sinks for everything from CPUs to boilers at power plants. Now researchers at MIT are trying the process with practically every material they can get their hands on. Of particular interest is zirconium, which could be used with fuel rods in nuclear reactors to improve efficiency. The idea of whisker-covered heat sinks may sound strange, but the potential for improving thermal management across a range of applications is huge. Just don’t try and pet it — these things tend to get a little toasty.
More efficient heat sinks could sport nanowire whiskers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Kids these days just don’t get thrilled by tiny projectors the way they used to. Disney Research is hoping to address the problem with its new SideBySide prototype, a pico projector that interacts with images projected nearby. The device outputs both visible and infrared light, while a built-in sensor detects the latter, allowing it to react to the image. The team showed off a handful of applications for the technology, including a few games, drag and drop file sharing and the ability to change perspectives on a 3D model. Non-interactive video after the jump.
Continue reading SideBySide makes tiny projectors fun again (video)
SideBySide makes tiny projectors fun again (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Stanford researchers figured out that, by dipping electrodes for super capacitors in a solution of carbon nanotubes or a conductive polymer they could increase the charging capacity by up to 45-percent. The team started working with composite electrodes of graphene and manganese oxide, since manganese is cheap and plentiful, but were hamstrung by its low conductivity. The thin coating of more conductive material greatly boosted the capacitance of the electrodes, and thus their ability to hold a charge. Further tests are still required to find the actual energy density of the dipped electrodes, but lead researchers Yi Cui and Zhenan Bao are already working on a way to apply the same technique to batteries.
Dipping capacitors and batteries in nanotubes could improve capacity originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If the phrase “I solemnly swear I’m up to no good” means anything to you, you’ll be happy to know that scientists have come one step closer to a Potter-style “invisibility cloak” so you can use your Marauder’s Map to the fullest. With the help of carbon nanotubes, researchers have been able to make objects seem to magically vanish by using the same principle that causes mirages. As anyone who’s been especially parched along Route 66 knows, optical illusions occur when heat changes the air’s temperature and density, something that forces light to “bend,” making us see all sorts of crazy things. Apply the same theory under water using nanotubes — one molecule carbon coils with super high heat conductivity — and scientists can make a sheet of the stuff “disappear.” Remember, it only works underwater, so get your gillyweed ready and check out the video after the break.
Continue reading Invisibility cloak made of carbon nanotubes uses ‘mirage effect’ to disappear
Invisibility cloak made of carbon nanotubes uses ‘mirage effect’ to disappear originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The eyes of the physics community are collectively fixed upon Illinois today, where, later this afternoon, researchers at Fermilab will shut down the
Tevatron particle accelerator… for good. That’s right — the world’s second-largest collider is being laid to rest, after a remarkable 25-year run that was recently halted due to budgetary constraints. Earlier this year, Fermilab’s scientists and a group of prominent physicists pleaded with the government to keep the Tevatron running until 2014, but the Energy Department ultimately determined that the lab’s $100 million price tag was too steep, effectively driving a nail through the accelerator’s subterranean, four-mile-long coffin. First activated in 1985, the Tevatron scored a series of subatomic breakthroughs over the course of its lifespan, including, most notably, the discovery of the so-called top quark in 1995. Its groundbreaking technology, meanwhile, helped pave the way for CERN’s
Large Hadron Collider, which will now pursue the one jewel missing from the Tevatron’s resume — the Higgs boson. Many experts contend that the collider could’ve gone on to achieve much more, but its ride will nonetheless come to an inglorious end at 2PM today, when Fermilab director Pier Oddone oversees the Tevatron’s last rites. “That will be it,” physicist Gregorio Bernardi told the
Washington Post. “Then we’ll have a big party.”
Pour one out for the Tevatron particle accelerator, because it’s shutting down today originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 08:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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In one small win for Einstein, one giant win for mankind, scientists at the Niels Bohr Institute have proved his General Theory of Relativity on a cosmic scale through their research of large galaxy clusters. Accordingly, the clusters — which are the largest known gravity-bound objects — have such a strong pull that they should cause light to “redshift,” or proportionally increase in wavelength, shifting towards the red end of the visible spectrum. To test it, researchers measured beams from 8,000 clusters, revealing that they do indeed cause a change in light’s wavelength, supporting Einstein’s theory to a T. One good turn deserves another, right Albert? Armchair cosmologists can hop on over to the source link to learn more.
Galaxy cluster research supports Einstein’s Theory of Relativity on a cosmic level originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 02:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Perhaps calling an immobile plastic bug with explosives strapped to its underside a “jumping robot” is a bit of a stretch, but who are we to argue with the Army Research Laboratory and the University of Maryland. The two groups have collaborated to create a pair of “robots” that measure just a few millimeters in size but can jump several centimeters in the air. One uses a spring like mechanism (which an operator must press down with a pair of tweezers) to propel it, while the other uses a small rocket, which can be triggered either by current applied over wires or a phototransistor (for untethered flight). It all makes for a pretty neat video, which you can find after the break – even if your sister’s Furby was more robot than these tiny things.
Continue reading Tiny ‘jumping robots’ have more in common with firecrackers than Johnny 5
Tiny ‘jumping robots’ have more in common with firecrackers than Johnny 5 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 01:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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You can test drive a car before buying it, so why not take the same approach to pregnancy? Such is the idea, apparently, behind the “Mommy Tummy” — a system that gives women (or men) a taste of what it would feel like to have a bun in the oven, even if they haven’t received any lovin’. Developed by researchers at Japan’s
Kanagawa Institute of Technology, this simulator invites users to don a jacket replete with rubber balloons, vibrators, a water bag and other things you’d expect to find in Buffalo Bill’s basement. Once strapped on, the jacket’s midsection gradually expands as it swells with warm water funneled in from an adjacent tank, resulting in an immaculately conceived baby bump. A compressor, meanwhile, slowly augments the jacket’s chest area, while a separate array of balloons rapidly inflate and deflate, thereby mimicking the kicking and side-to-side movements of a real-life fetus. KIRF mothers can monitor their KIRF baby’s vital signs on a monitor, though they’ll have to pay close attention. Unlike real pregnancies, the Mommy Tummy’s gestation period lasts a merciful two minutes, giving your boyfriend just enough time to formulate a coherent response. Must-see video footage after the break.
Continue reading ‘Mommy Tummy’ simulator takes you from normal to pregnant in two minutes (video)
‘Mommy Tummy’ simulator takes you from normal to pregnant in two minutes (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Sep 2011 09:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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No gamer’s escaped the throes of adolescence without hearing the damning refrain, “Video games’ll rot your brain.” While scientific research into that claim has so far proved inconclusive, it turns out the preferred pastime of our digital era could potentially cure cancer, and even help prevent AIDS — in monkeys. Utilizing crowdsourced results from the downloadable protein-manipulating “game” Foldit, scientists at the University of Washington were able to attain a successful model of the simian AIDS-causing Mason – Pfizer monkey virus retroviral protease. For over a decade, researchers have been arduously attempting to reconstruct the folded shape of M-PMV with the aid of the task-specific Rosetta software, but to no avail. Now, in what they’re calling a possible first, gamers were able to do what scientific brains and algorithms could not, creating a sufficient model for molecular replacement — all in just three weeks. Feel like dedicating your leisure hours to this worthwhile cause? Then be sure to hit up the source link below, and transform yourself from couch potato to couch crusader.
Continue reading Gamers pwn University of Washington scientists, solve decade-long simian AIDS protein conundrum (video)
Gamers pwn University of Washington scientists, solve decade-long simian AIDS protein conundrum (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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