The Enlightening Science Thread

NASA develops "Invisible Arm" Technology



A Guy

Well, after reading how they do it, I still lean toward Curiosity being at Area 51.

Queue the X-Files theme..........

Grin. "The truth is out there" but they won't tell us what it is.

If you're interested in wind patterns, especially Hurricane Arthur go here: earth :: an animated map of global wind and weather

nullschool is like goggle maps, you can drag and zoom, click on Earth in the lower left corner and you can set parameters.

Enjoy.

Background for nullschool's developer: Global wind map: Cameron Baccario's visualization of world weather patterns.

National Hurricane Center

This incredible floating display belongs in a sci-fi movie

Floating displays may be the stuff of science-fiction, but one research team is looking to make them real, using a carefully tuned acoustic-potential field to create swarms of particles clustered into physical graphics. Dubbed Pixie Dust - after the Peter Pan quote - the system can cause objects up to 7g per cubic centimeter to hover in moving forms, effectively translating digital objects into real, and with a Kinect sensor thrown in they can even respond to the viewer's movements.


Using acoustic fields to levitate particles like polystyrene balls isn't new, but this new research from Yoichi Ochiai and his team at the University of Tokyo takes it one step further and animates them.

To do that, multiple particles are levitated on standing waves created by not one emitter bank but four, spread around the display area. That creates an area in which each object can be positioned with half-millimeter accuracy, and moved at up to 72 cm/s.

Source

A Guy

Bill,

Super conductivity, "pixie dust" and other experimentation are the first small steps to not only warp drive, but other scientific breakthroughs.

The year 2014 has a total of five supermoons. They are the two new moons of January, and the full moons of July, August and September. Next supermoon: July 12. Follow the links below to learn about the supermoons of 2014.

Source: What is a supermoon? | Human World | EarthSky

It has been a rough few months for me, personal matters that I do not like to advertise, then I see the news about Gary's passing and I feel like I've been punched in the gut and my head hurts from all the thoughts that I am feeling.

Although not on as friendly a basis as some of our other esteemed members I still considered Gary my friend and enjoyed the banter we engaged in when he would question some of the enlightening facts about the Universe that I would post here.

So for you my friend, Gary, I offer this post about a celestial event that I know you have a ringside seat to.

When I look up at the Moon tonight and tomorrow night I will offer my thoughts, prayers, and deepest condolences to you and your family.


Steve

Electricity-eating bacteria are all around us, says researchers

Bacteria that feed on pure electricity are all around us, say researchers who have demonstrated their findings by growing the bacteria directly on battery electrodes. In their habitat, the bacteria survive on -- and subsequently excrete -- pure energy.

Source

A Guy