SIM - Structured Illumination Microscopy

SIM - Structured Illumination Microscopy
The view inside living cells is getting clearer. Scientists at Howard Hughes Medical Institute are pushing the abilities of super-resolution microscopes to record the actual processes going on inside the smallest units of life in real time. 

New insights are already flowing from the imaging instruments behind structured illumination microscopy (SIM). One SIM technique has achieved a resolution of 62 nanometers, small enough to watch proteins move, cellular transport of molecules and cytoskeletal dynamics. What’s more, SIM views into the cell delicately, avoiding using so much light that it alters or damages normal functioning. It can also acquire images much faster, allowing scientists to see minute changes within the cell.

Paper:
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/349/6251/aab3500

Article:
http://txchnologist.com/post/128029145177/the-view-inside-living-cells-is-getting-clearer

#science   #SIM   #cells   #imaging  

Distant Neutrinos Detected Below Antarctic Ice

Distant Neutrinos Detected Below Antarctic Ice
 From where do these neutrinos come? The IceCube Neutrino Observatory near the South Pole of the Earth has begun to detect nearly invisible particles of very high energy. Although these rarely-interacting neutrinos pass through much of the Earth just before being detected, where they started remains a mystery.

Pictured here is IceCube's Antarctic lab accompanied by a cartoon depicting long strands of detectors frozen into the crystal clear ice below. Candidate origins for these cosmic neutrinos include the violent surroundings of supermassive black holes at the centers of distant galaxies, and tremendous stellar explosions culminating in gamma ray bursts far across the universe. As IceCube detects increasingly more high energy neutrinos, correlations with known objects may resolve this cosmic conundrum -- or we may never know.

Image and info via APOD
Image Credit: IceCube Collaboration, U. Wisconsin, NSF 
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

#space   #neutrinos   #nasa   #apod

The largest species of jellyfish, the lion’s mane, has tentacles that can extend more than 100 feet, longer than a...

The largest species of jellyfish, the lion’s mane, has tentacles that can extend more than 100 feet, longer than a blue whale.
The Lion’s mane jellyfish is a large species of jelly that tends to vary in color. Larger jellies can range from bright red to dark purple, while smaller ones are typically to tan to orange. This species earned its name from its red and yellow tentacles, which resemble the color of a lion’s mane.

Like other jellies, the Lion’s mane jellyfish is capable of asexual reproduction early in life. But when it reaches full maturity, it reproduces sexually. The female jellyfish will carry the fertilized eggs in her tentacles until they become larvae.

How Does A Jellyfish Sting?
Watch TED Lesson:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu_ijC8HFRU

Animation by Cinematic

#biodiversity   #jellyfish   #TEDlesson

Dr.

Dr. Oliver Sacks, the neurologist who studied the intricacies of the brain and wrote eloquently about them in books such as Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, died on Sunday at the age of 82.

Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/science/oliver-sacks-dies-at-82-neurologist-and-author-explored-the-brains-quirks.html?_r=0

#neuroscience   #oliversacks

Microtubules in vitro

Microtubules in vitro
This striking Edvard Munch-like image presents a surprising perspective on ‘Microtubules in vitro’. Microtubules are found in eukaryotic cells where they help form a cell’s cytoskeleton. Amongst other roles they also play a part in cell division.

Copyright: Ian Newton
Source:
http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/fundamental-bioscience/2014/141126-pr-winners-announced-images-with-impact/

#microtubules   #cells   #biology   #science

Umbonia Spinosa

Umbonia Spinosa
These thorn bugs are related to cicadas, and use their beaks to pierce plant stems to feed upon their sap. Their strange appearance still poses many questions to scientists.

Females lay their eggs in the tender bark of twigs and the eggs hatch about 20 days later. The female actively tends her brood or colony, which can number from 15 to 50 individuals. Young nymphs have three horns instead of the one seen on the adults. While four generations occur per year, females lay only a single clutch of eggs.

Know more:
http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/thorn_bug.htm

Image credit: Colin Hutton

#biodiversity   #thornbug   #coolcritters

Brida + messy hair + Irish Coffee = my sunday morning

Brida + messy hair + Irish Coffee = my sunday morning 

#bookday

Stanene

Stanene
Two years after physicists predicted that tin should be able to form a mesh just one atom thick, researchers have made the material, which is called stanene (from the Latin stannum, for tin; Sn is the chemical symbol for the element).

Paper:
http://www.nature.com/news/physicists-announce-graphene-s-latest-cousin-stanene-1.18113

#physics   #Sn   #graphene   #research

Cosmic Couple

Cosmic Couple
Here we see the spectacular cosmic pairing of the star Hen 2-427 — more commonly known as WR 124 — and the nebula M1-67 which surrounds it. Both objects, captured here by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope are found in the constellation of Sagittarius and lie 15,000 light-years away.

The star Hen 2-427 shines brightly at the very center of this explosive image and around the hot clumps of surrounding gas that are being ejected into space at over 93,210 miles (150,000 km) per hour.

Hen 2-427 is a Wolf–Rayet star, named after the astronomers Charles Wolf and Georges Rayet. Wolf–Rayet are super-hot stars characterized by a fierce ejection of mass.

The nebula M1-67 is estimated to be no more than 10,000 years old — just a baby in astronomical terms — but what a beautiful and magnificent sight it makes.

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt
Source: NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/a-hubble-cosmic-couple

#nasa   #esa   #cosmos   #stars   #Hubble

Stop! the Bad War's Law in every place, about 400places, about 600000peoples gather! Stop the War in Japan!

Originally shared by Nishioka Yoshio

Stop! the Bad War's Law in every place, about 400places, about 600000peoples gather! Stop the War in Japan!
Badman Nishioka/Japan/

Indio boy Care the animal! So they live in many forests and animals! Arigatou! Mr.Ronaldo!

Indio boy Care the animal! So they live in many forests and animals! Arigatou! Mr.Ronaldo!
Badman Nishioka/Japan/rainforest group/

Originally shared by Ronaldo Nobre

Brazilian indian child from Xingu by Alice Kohler

Indio friends By Mr.Ronaldo!

Indio friends By Mr.Ronaldo!
Badman Nishioka/Japan/rainforest group/

Originally shared by Ronaldo Nobre

Indigenous beauty from the Amazon Rainforest, Brazil

Sleeping Jager by Mr.Ronaldo!

Sleeping Jager by Mr.Ronaldo!

Originally shared by Ronaldo Nobre

Sleeping jaguar in the Amazon, Brazil

Launching Galileo

Launching Galileo
The next two satellites in Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system will be launched together on 11 September, taking its orbital constellation a step closer to initial services.
Galileo is the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) that is currently being created by the EU & ESA. The project is named after the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei. One of the aims of Galileo is to provide an indigenous alternative high-precision positioning system upon which European nations can rely, independently from the Russian GLONASS and US GPS systems, in case they were disabled by their operators.

Reference:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Navigation/The_future_-_Galileo/Launching_Galileo/Call_For_Media_Press_briefing_on_launch_of_Galileo_satellites_9_10

#esa   #Galileo   #space   #satellite

Frog Love

Frog Love
Sometimes humans make a choice that seems to make no sense at all when it comes to love...but hey, we are not the only ones ;)
In a recent experiment, when female tungara frogs had a choice between two males, they chose the one with the best call. But, when a third frog with a clearly inferior call was introduced to the mix, the females chose the frog with the second best call. This strange phenomenon is known as the decoy effect.

Full story:
http://www.npr.org/2015/08/27/434599099/froggy-went-a-courtin-but-lady-frogs-chose-second-best-guy-instead

#biodiversity   #decoyeffect   #frogs

I Have a Dream...

I Have a Dream...
August 28, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vDWWy4CMhE

#history   #MartinLutherKing

Already somebody will show or not by NASA's database!

Already somebody will show or not by NASA's database!
Badman Nishioka/Japan/rainforest group

Originally shared by NASA

Tomorrow, we're presenting an expert panel of scientists to give you an up-to-date outlook on how the world’s seas are rising and how they will continue to rise in the future. To listen to the live stream, visit: http://go.nasa.gov/1NHFOwo #EarthRightNow

Puppis A Supernova Remnant

Puppis A Supernova Remnant 
Driven by the explosion of a massive star, supernova remnant Puppis A is blasting into the surrounding interstellar medium about 7,000 light-years away. At that distance, this colorful telescopic field based on broadband and narrowband optical image data is about 60 light-years across.

As the supernova remnant expands into its clumpy, non-uniform surroundings, shocked filaments of oxygen atoms glow in green-blue hues. Hydrogen and nitrogen are in red. Light from the initial supernova itself, triggered by the collapse of the massive star's core, would have reached Earth about 3,700 years ago.

The Puppis A remnant is actually seen through outlying emission from the closer but more ancient Vela supernova remnant, near the crowded plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Still glowing across the electromagnetic spectrum Puppis A remains one of the brightest sources in the X-ray sky.

Image and info via APOD

#nasa   #space   #supernova

The voice in your head

The voice in your head
Do you have a little voice in your head?
If your mind said yes, then you’ll be interested to know that science is getting closer to understanding where it comes from.

“Psychologists have a long history when it comes to studying the inner voice. Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky suggested back in the 1930s that our internal monologue was tied to our ability to speak aloud. And the technique of electromyography, which measures muscle movement, shows that our larynx is actually active during inner speech."

But it’s more recent research that’s getting us closer to understanding where the internal monologue really comes from. Neuroimaging testing performed in the 1990s demonstrated that parts of Broca’s area - the region of the brain responsible for speech - are also active when our inner voice is speaking to us. 

Either way, it’s just weird, though since we all do it to some degree it seems normal, right?

Try this, in your mind ask the question:  “Who is hearing this..” 

You might find that when you ask yourself that you’ll naturally answer, “I am.”
Well then, what’s hearing your answer? You’ll find there is no primary “listener.” Or maybe their is?

Article:
http://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2014/aug/21/science-little-voice-head-hearing-voices-inner-speech
http://www.sciencealert.com/where-does-the-little-voice-inside-your-head-come-from

Hearing the Voice Project:
https://www.dur.ac.uk/hearingthevoice/

Image courtesy of Jim Tsinganos

#innervoice   #neuroscience   #thinking   #research

Which sleep position is healthiest?

Which sleep position is healthiest?
Sleeping in the lateral, or side position, as compared to sleeping on one’s back or stomach, may more effectively remove brain waste and prove to be an important practice to help reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurological diseases, according to researchers at Stony Brook University.

PR:
http://sb.cc.stonybrook.edu/news/general/150804sleeping.php?=marquee2#sthash.vP5LnGMP.dpuf

Image:
The brain’s glymphatic pathway clears harmful wastes, especially during sleep. This lateral position could prove to be the best position for the brain-waste clearance process.

#neuroscience   #sleep   #bodyposture

Glass 3D printing (or G3DP) is based on a dual-heated chamber concept, with the top chamber heating the glass and...

Glass 3D printing (or G3DP) is based on a dual-heated chamber concept, with the top chamber heating the glass and lower chamber slowly cooling it to prevent internal stresses. The top chamber operates at approximately 1900°F, and funnels the molten material through an alumina-zircon-silica nozzle into its programmable shapes.

Mediated Matter group at the MIT Media Lab and the MIT Glass Lab collaborated on the development of 3D printing glass objects. They produced a printer that uses molten glass to create intricate glass vessels. Not only the objects are beautiful but the printing process itself is also amazing.

Watch:
https://vimeo.com/136764796

Reference:
http://matter.media.mit.edu/environments/details/g3dp#prettyPhoto

#3dprinting   #scitech   #glass

Stephen Hawking may have just solved one of the most vexing mysteries in physics — the "information paradox."

Stephen Hawking may have just solved one of the most vexing mysteries in physics — the "information paradox."
Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that the physical information about material gobbled up by a black hole is destroyed, but the laws of quantum mechanics stipulate that information is eternal. Therein lies the paradox.

Hawking — working with Malcolm Perry, of the University of Cambridge in England, and Harvard University's Andrew Stromberg — has come up with a possible solution: The quantum-mechanical information about infalling particles doesn't actually make it inside the black hole.

Article:
http://www.space.com/30366-stephen-hawking-black-hole-mystery.html

#physics   #informationparadox   #blackhole

Surprising Link Between TBI and ADHD

Surprising Link Between TBI and ADHD
A new study has found a “significant association” between adults who have suffered a traumatic brain injury at some point in their lives and who also have attention deficit hyperactive disorder.

PR:
http://www.stmichaelshospital.com/media/detail.php?source=hospital_news/2015/20150820_hn

#neuroscience   #TBI   #ADHD

There is nothing very remarkable about being immortal; with the exception of mankind, all creatures are immortal,...

There is nothing very remarkable about being immortal; with the exception of mankind, all creatures are immortal, for they know nothing of death. What is divine, terrible, and incomprehensible is to know oneself immortal.

~ Jorge Luis Borges ~ (August 24, 1899 - June 14, 1986)

#wordsofwisdom   #philosophy

Universal vaccine for influenza

Universal vaccine for influenza
A universal vaccine is on the horizon that could stem influenza’s deadly human toll regardless of what strain of the virus happens to be circulating each year. The breakthrough is being reported  in two influential science journals by a pair of international research teams in the U.S., Japan and Europe.

Paper:
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2015/08/24/science.aac7263.1
http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nm.3927.html

#influenza   #vaccine   #research   #medicine

Perseid meteor shower over Mt. Rainier, Washington

Perseid meteor shower over Mt. Rainier, Washington 
The image was created from a two-hour time lapse video, snaring over 20 meteors, including one that brightened dramatically on the image left. Although each meteor train typically lasts less than a second, the camera was able to capture their color progressions as they disintegrated in the Earth's atmosphere.

Here an initial green tint may be indicative of small amounts of glowing magnesium atoms that were knocked off the meteor by atoms in the Earth's atmosphere. To cap things off, the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy was simultaneously photographed rising straight up behind the snow-covered peak of Mt. Rainier. Another good meteor shower is expected in mid-November when debris from a different comet intersects Earth as the Leonids.

Image & info via APOD

#space   #perseid   #nightphotography   #nasa

Caffeine

Caffeine
If you're like most adults, caffeine is a part of your daily routine. But do you know the caffeine content of your favorite drink?
You may want to take a look at just how much caffeine you get in a typical day, especially if you're bothered by headaches, restlessness or anxiety. If your caffeine habit totals more than 500 milligrams (mg) a day, you may want to consider cutting back.

Article:
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-caffeine-affects-the-body-2015-8#ixzz3jkrWIgPa

Reference:
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/caffeine.html

#caffeine   #infographic   #healthyliving

Dione

Dione
What's happening in this strange juxtaposition of moon and planet? First and foremost, Saturn's moon Dione was captured here in a dramatic panorama by the robotic Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting the giant planet. The bright and cratered moon itself spans about 1100-km, with the large multi-ringed crater Evander visible on the lower right.

Since the rings of Saturn are seen here nearly edge-on, they are directly visible only as a thin horizontal line that passes behind Dione. Arcing across the bottom of the image, however, are shadows of Saturn's rings, showing some of the rich texture that could not be seen directly. In the background, few cloud features are visible on Saturn. 

Image & info via APOD

#cassinispacecraft   #nasa   #dione   #saturn   #space

Mr.Ronaldo! Arigatou! Mat Grosso!

Mr.Ronaldo! Arigatou! Mat Grosso!

Originally shared by Ronaldo Nobre

Jacarés ao nascer do sol no Pantanal, Mato Grosso, Brasil

For any triangle, you can draw a circle that fits perfectly inside (the incircle) and also one that connects all its...

For any triangle, you can draw a circle that fits perfectly inside (the incircle) and also one that connects all its corners (the circumcircle). This shows the path of the centre of the incircle, as a triangle is shuffled around its circumcircle.

Credit:
http://blog.matthen.com/

#mathematics   #geometry   #animation

The star finch is a distinctive small bird with a bright red face and conspicuous white spots on its throat and...

The star finch is a distinctive small bird with a bright red face and conspicuous white spots on its throat and breast.
The star finch is a species of estrildid finch found in Australia. It inhabits dry grassland and dry savannah habitats. It has three subspecies. The habitat of the star finch is threatened by overgrazing of grasslands, removing essential cover for their survival as well as sources of food and water.

Watch:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KoaIQAnb20

Know more:
http://www.efinch.com/species/star.htm

Photo credit: JJ Harrison 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:JJ_Harrison?rdfrom=commons:User:JJ_Harrison

#biodiversity   #starfinch   #birds

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.
~ Isaac Asimov ~

#wordsofwisdom   #isaacasimov

The summer sun was not meant for girls like me. Girls like me belong to the rain.

The summer sun was not meant for girls like me. Girls like me belong to the rain.

#rainloveaffair

A rare albino humpback whale has been spotted off the Golden Coast of Australia, much to the excitement of animal...

A rare albino humpback whale has been spotted off the Golden Coast of Australia, much to the excitement of animal lovers around the world. We know of only a handful of these magnificent animals in the entire world.

Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=25&v=R1iE1ppZuGg

#biodiversity   #albinohumpbackwhale   #marinecreatures

Augustin Cauchy, (August 21, 1789 - May 23, 1857) became a civil engineer, but as his interest in engineering waned,...

Augustin Cauchy, (August 21, 1789 - May 23, 1857) became a civil engineer, but as his interest in engineering waned, his interest in mathematics grew, and he went on to become a mathematician. Thanks perhaps to his grounding in technology, Cauchy tackled problems in applied mathematics.
He strengthened the foundations of calculus, developed complex function theory and introduced the stress tensor to elasticity theory, among other contributions. 

Know more:
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Cauchy.html

#history   #physics   #science

Ferrofluid clock

Ferrofluid clock
Ferrolic is a desk clock which looks like an ever-evolving Rorschach test. Created by Zelf Koelman from the Eindhoven University of Technology, Ferrolic uses ferrofluid to tell the time, with this seemingly magical liquid moving gracefully around inside the clock as the minutes tick by.

Watch:
https://vimeo.com/116510462

Article:
http://www.gizmag.com/ferrolic-ferrofluid-time-clock/38999/

How is this sorcery possible? check the properties of ferrofluids:
http://faculty.washington.edu/finlayso/ferrofluid/Prop/prop_contents.html

#ferrofluids   #physics   #scitech

A curious robot almost completely straddles this rocky little planet.

A curious robot almost completely straddles this rocky little planet. Of course, the planet is really Mars and the robot is the car-sized Curiosity Rover, posing over its recent drilling target in the Marias Pass area of lower Mount Sharp.

The 92 images used to assemble the little planet projection, a digitally warped and stitched mosaic covering 360x180 degrees, were taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the Curiosity mission sol (martian day) 1065. That corresponds to 2015 August 5, three Earth years since Curiosity landed on the surface of the Red Planet. The composite selfie excludes images that show the rover's robotic arm and mount of the MAHLI camera itself, but their shadow is visible beneath.

Image & info via APOD

#space   #nasa   #mars   #curiosity

Simulated magnitude -8.0 earthquake

Simulated magnitude -8.0 earthquake
This is a simulation of how an earthquake would propagate along the San Andreas fault if it began in the central segment and passed all the way to the southern segment. The colors and the height of the lines show intensity of shaking. Note how you can see the rupture as it moves - the highest peaks follow the fault (dashed line) directly, but they vary in intensity as the fault strength changes.

http://www.popsci.com/extreme-science-san-andreas?src=SOC&dom=tw

#naturalphenomena   #simulation   #earthquake

The First Flexible Urinary Catheter

The First Flexible Urinary Catheter
Benjamin Franklin is credited with many inventions; the glass armonica, bifocals, the lightning rod, and many others.  However there is one invention that is truly forgotten to people today; the first flexible urinary catheter.  Today catheters are a staple of modern medicine, and the invention of the urinary catheter goes back thousands of years.  However catheters up to the 19th century were made of hard materials such as metal, and had no flexibility.

Such was the great misfortunate for John Franklin, Benjamin Franklin’s brother, who suffered from an inoperable kidney stone and had to cath daily with a hard metal catheter daily in order relief his bladder.  While Ben was known for his work with electricity, he was also interested in the fields of health and medicine.  He had studied anatomy in England, even taking part in vivisections within his own home. Thus in 1752 he put his mind into designing a better catheter for his brother.  Made from an extra soft silver alloy, the catheter was made of several dozen small flexible segments, held rigid by a stylet, and with holes bored into the sides for drainage.

Franklin had the catheter produced by a local silversmith, then sent to his brother in Boston with a letter stating, “It is as flexible as would be expected in a thing of the kind, and I imagine will readily comply with the turns of the passage”

Book:
https://books.google.ro/books?id=L64OOJGaCKIC&pg=PA132&dq=benjamin+franklin+catheter+invention&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAGoVChMIgZz587K5xwIVQdcUCh31hAiA#v=onepage&q=benjamin%20franklin%20catheter%20invention&f=false

Reference:
http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/l3_inquiring_medical.html

#history   #medicine   #catheter

Researchers use solar power to make carbon fiber out of thin air

Researchers use solar power to make carbon fiber out of thin air
I read yesterday this article, which made me wonder if  will reverse climate change. Interesting ideas bouncing in my cranial vault ;)

Carbon capture is an idea that’s been around for a while, but it’s always seemed like a bit of an afterthought, a way to slightly slow the pace at which we’re pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But what if we could do at a scale that would suck all the carbon we’ve emitted since the industrial revolution right out out of the atmosphere, and turn it into something incredibly useful?

This is the claim being made by Stuart Licht, a professor of chemistry at George Washington University, who earlier this month published a paper in Nano Letters demonstrating a method of turning atmospheric carbon dioxide into solid carbon using concentrated solar power, with only oxygen as the byproduct. The process, called Solar Thermal Electrochemical Photo (STEP) carbon capture, is highly efficient, as it uses both the visible light and heat of the concentrated solar radiation..

Source and further reading:
http://www.salon.com/2015/08/20/researchers_use_solar_power_to_make_carbon_fiber_out_of_thin_air/

Paper:
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b02427

#research   #nanoworld   #Science   #climatechange   #STEP

Doll's Eyes (Actaea pachypoda)

Doll's Eyes (Actaea pachypoda)
This is one of many wonderful wildflowers that can be found in eastern deciduous woodlands during the spring. Doll's Eyes has attractive foliage and striking white berries, which become mature during the late summer or early fall. These berries resemble the eyes of old-fashioned china dolls, hence the common name. Another common name of this species is White Baneberry, which refers to the appearance of the berries and their toxic nature to humans.

Know more:
http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/doll_eyes.htm

#botanics   #dollseyes   #flowers

Messier 27 (M27) is an excellent example of a gaseous emission nebula created as a sun-like star runs out of nuclear...

Messier 27 (M27) is an excellent example of a gaseous emission nebula created as a sun-like star runs out of nuclear fuel in its core. The nebula forms as the star's outer layers are expelled into space, with a visible glow generated by atoms excited by the dying star's intense but invisible ultraviolet light

Known by the popular name of the Dumbbell Nebula, the beautifully symmetric interstellar gas cloud is over 2.5 light-years across and about 1,200 light-years away in the constellation Vulpecula. This impressive color composite highlights details within the well-studied central region and fainter, seldom imaged features in the nebula's outer halo. It incorporates broad and narrowband images recorded using filters sensitive to emission from sulfur, hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

Image & info via APOD

#space   #M27   #nasa   #universe   #nebula

North American researchers at UC Berkeley and California Academy of Sciences have found that the larger...

North American researchers at UC Berkeley and California Academy of Sciences have found that the larger Pacific-striped octopus has a unique hunting strategy: Rather than pounce on its prey, it stalks and gently taps it to startle it. Often this drives it into the octopus’s waiting arms…. 

The larger Pacific striped octopus , is, despite its name, no bigger than a tangerine.  Also uses a “slow bounce” to hunt. With its body flattened, and dorsal arms reaching forward, the octopus glides with sporadic bursts of hopping movements before it snatches up its prey of choice.

Source & further reading:
http://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/news/octopus-shows-unique-hunting-social-and-sexual-behavior

#biodiversity   #research   #octopus

The Tree of 40 Fruit is an ongoing series of hybridized fruit trees by contemporary artist Sam Van Aken.

The Tree of 40 Fruit is an ongoing series of hybridized fruit trees by contemporary artist Sam Van Aken. Each unique Tree of 40 Fruit grows over forty different types of stone fruit including peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, cherries, and almonds.

Sculpted through the process of grafting, the Tree of 40 Fruit blossom in variegated tones of pink, crimson and white in spring, and in summer bear a multitude of fruit. Primarily composed of native and antique varieties the Tree of 40 Fruit are a form of conversation, preserving heirloom stone fruit varieties that are not commercially produced or available.

What is grafting?
Grafting involves collecting young shoots or cuttings from trees and then inserting these budding branches into strategic points on a base tree.
These grafts are taped into place and allowed to bond with the tree, drawing water and nutrients from it like any other branch. If the grafts take to the tree, they'll start to grow again in the spring.


Source:
http://www.samvanaken.com/?works=tree-of-40-fruit

Article:
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/imagine-a-tree-that-grows-40-kinds-of-fruit

#botanics   #treeof40   #grafting

Meet Atlas, an anthropomorphic robot developed by Boston Dynamics, demonstrating its ability to run through the...

Meet Atlas, an anthropomorphic robot developed by Boston Dynamics, demonstrating its ability to run through the woods.
This version needs the ‘power tether’ but the team is working on one that doesn’t, which would allow for a whole lot more freedom.

Sort of exciting and scary ;)

Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/science/atlas-a-humanoid-robot-takes-a-walk-in-the-woods.html?_r=0

#atlas   #robotics

Rotifers, commonly known as wheel animalcules, are tiny 0.1-0.5mm multicellular creatures found in most freshwater...

Rotifers, commonly known as wheel animalcules, are tiny 0.1-0.5mm multicellular creatures found in most freshwater sources. This organism eats by sucking in water through its ciliated mouth and pulling out the bits of organic matter. They are essential to keeping water free of excess organic matter.

Know more:
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/phyla/rotifera/rotifera.html

Watch:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYNJOVDQexA

#biodiversity   #rotifers   #science

What is the Oort Cloud?

What is the Oort Cloud?
The Oort Cloud is a theoretical spherical cloud of predominantly icy planetesimals that is believed to surround the Sun at a distance of up to around 100,000 AU (2 ly). This places it in interstellar space, beyond the Sun’s Heliosphere where it defines the cosmological boundary between the Solar System and the region of the Sun’s gravitational dominance.

Like the Kuiper Belt and the Scattered Disc, the Oort Cloud is a reservoirs of trans-Neptunian objects, though it is over a thousands times more distant from our Sun as these other two. The idea of a cloud of icy infinitesimals was first proposed in 1932 by Estonian astronomer Ernst Öpik, who postulated that long-period comets originated in an orbiting cloud at the outermost edge of the Solar System.

Thanks for the interesting reading :)

Reference:
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=KBOs&Display=OverviewLong

Article:
http://www.universetoday.com/32522/oort-cloud/

Image: The layout of the solar system, including the Oort Cloud, on a logarithmic scale.
Credit: NASA

#space   #nasa   #oortcloud   #solarsystem

Pseudocolochirus axiologus

Pseudocolochirus axiologus
Pseudocolochirus axiologus is a sea apple, a colorful and somewhat round sea cucumber. They can be found primarily in Indo-Pacific waters. Sea apples are filter feeders with tentacles, ovate bodies, and tube-like feet. They can release their internal organs or a toxin into the water when stressed. The sea apple feeds primarily on plankton, which it filters from the water with its tentacles. It alternately brings each tentacle to its mouth, scraping off the captured plankton.

Know more:
http://www.aquariumdomain.com/viewMarineInvertSpecies.php?invert_marine_id=2

#biodiversity   #seaapple

Google Art

Google Art
Do you love art as much as I do? If so, you need to check Google Art ;)
Google Art offers a virtual visit to museums and galleries around the world, including 360 degree views of institution interiors in some instances, as well as high resolution images of selected works.
Over 200 museums have joined the project, since it launched on February 1, 2011, with images of more 40,000 art works and artifacts uploaded to the website.

Image: Ancient Chinese bronze boar shaped wine vessel, Shang Dynasty (1600BC - 1,000BC) via Google Art

Visit Google Art:
https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/project/art-project

#art   #history   #GoogleArt