Questioning The Reliability Of Research

Measuring the Life of a Human: What Events Will We Miss?

When compared to the life of the universe, the life of a human only lasts the span of a single blink. So, what won’t we get to see?

Find out at: http://futurism.com/videos/measuring-life-human-events-will-miss/

Google’s Superhuman Computer Can Tell Where Neany Any Photo Was Taken

Google knows where your photos were taken… http://futurism.com/world-googles-superhuman-computer-knows-photo-taken/

Google uses Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’ to teach girls programming

Iran Interested in Purchase of Russian Satellites

Moscow (Sputnik) Nov 20, 2015 Iran intends to cooperate with Russia in the area of aerospace after economic sanctions are lifted, to include satellites, weather satellites, and remote sensing devices, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Thursday. “Iran is interested in our plans [new federal aerospace program], they want to find their place in the market of remote sensing devices. They want their own weat Full article

One thing we’re always doing as a species is expanding our knowledge of the heavens. We send out probes, robots, satellites, spacecraft, all to map out and add to our ever-expanding picture of what the Universe looks like.

But what if that picture suddenly became smaller? That is exactly what happened when new data from the Planck satellite tightened our previous notions of the observable universe, shrinking its area by 0.7%.

If you’ve never realized, we don’t actually see all of the stars in the Universe. If we did, night time sky would be a whole lot brighter. Instead, we see everything within a particular radius, the particle horizon. Any particle of light emitted outside that particle horizon is too far to have reached us.

So if we want to know just how large the observable universe is, we just have to figure out the distance between us and that particle horizon, right?

As it turns out, not quite.

The universe, specifically spacetime, is continuously expanding, with points in the universe moving further apart. This not only changes the distance between objects but also how fast light is moving in the universe. 

The movement of spacetime has an effect on which photons reach us and can be observed.

So how do you calculate the radius? Back in 2003, scientists came up with an equation that took an event called “the recombination” as a reference point in the universe’s history. They combined that with the rate of the expansion of the universe and several other factors, in the end coming up with a number.

Back in 2003, that number was a radius of 45.66 billion light-years. Now, new data revealed a far more accurate number: 45.34 billion light-years.

“A difference of 320 million light-years might be peanuts on the cosmic scale, but it does make our knowable universe a little bit cozier,” Nick Tomasello from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia writes over at Medium.

The study has been accepted for publication in an upcoming edition of Advances in Astrophysics.

A massive reef was just discovered hiding behind the Great Barrier Reef

Holy crap!

Australian researchers have investigated signs of geological structures hidden behind the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, and have found a much deeper reef spanning more than 6,000 square kilometres (2,316 square miles).

New seafloor maps of the area have revealed a vast, underwater field of doughnut-shaped mounds, each one measuring 200 to 300 metres (656 to 984 feet) across, and some as much as 30 metres deep.

Scientists have seen hints of this enormous reef for over 30 years, but until now, haven’t had the chance to investigate it properly.

Fortunately, Royal Australian Navy aircraft fitted with LiDAR remote sensing technology have been flying over the area, and have finally mapped the shape, size, and vast scale of the deep reef.

“We’ve now mapped over 6,000 square kilometres. That’s three times the previously estimated size, spanning from the Torres Strait to just north of Port Douglas,” says one of the researchers, Mardi McNeil from Queensland University of Technology.

“They clearly form a significant inter-reef habitat which covers an area greater than the adjacent coral reefs.”

Continue Reading.

New Research Explains Why the Aurora Has Sudden Bursts of Brightness http://futurism.com/links/new-research-explains-aurora-sudden-bursts-brightness/

Gravity, who needs it

Houston TX (SPX) Nov 20, 2015 What happens to your body in space? NASA’s Human Research Program has been unfolding answers for over a decade. Space is a dangerous, unfriendly place. Isolated from family and friends, exposed to radiation that could increase your lifetime risk for cancer, a diet high in freeze-dried food, required daily exercise to keep your muscles and bones from deteriorating, a carefully scripted high-tempo Full article

Behold the most massive young galaxy cluster found in the early universe. How do these megastructures form? This newly discovered cluster, located 10 billion light years from Earth, gives us clues. Details here.

Credit: NASA’s Facebook Account

Were you the type of kid that took apart telephones, pushed pennies into (old, CRT) TV sets or mixed as many under the sink cleaning agents together to call it a potion and see what would happen?

If you answered yes to any of the above, this is the gift guide for you!