Global Temperature Puzzle

The last decade has been measured as the hottest on record all around the globe. This overall result is derived from a patchwork of readings with widely varying effects on local climates. Scientists agree that the change is being spurred by rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This clip was produced by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Feathered Dinosaur Plumage

Professors Richard Prum, the William Robertson Coe Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Derek Briggs, the Frederick W. Beinecke Professor of Geology and Geophysics and director of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, and graduate student Jakob Vinther discuss how they discovered the plumage colors of an extinct feathered dinosaur for the first time.

Whilst the traditional view on the evolution of feathers was in relation to flight, new discoveries of feathered dinosaurs in China have changed this to focus on thermoregulation and display.

Certain organisations continue to parrot the phrase "no transitional fossils have ever been found". However, the list of species which possess transitional features continues to grow.

Anchiornis huxleyi, Epidexipteryx hui, Protoavis, Protarchaeopteryx, Archeopteryx, Avimimus, Sinosauropteryx, Caudipteryx, Rahonavis, Shuvuuia, Sinornithosaurus, Beipiasaurus, Microraptor, Nomingia, Epidendrosaurus, Cryptovolans, Scansoriopteryx, Yixianosaurus, Dilong, Pedopenna, Jinfengopteryx, Sinocalliopteryx, Sinornis, Ambiortus, Hesperornis, Ichthyornis

This video is courtesy of YaleUniversity please subscribe to them.

What Can Embryos Tell Us About Evolution?

EVOLUTION IS REAL SCIENCE:

1. Does The Evidence Support Evolution?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1R8w_...
2. Vitamin C And Common Ancestry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF2N2l...
3. Are We Descended From Viruses?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIsWZC...
4. Does The Fossil Record Support Evolution?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWVoXZ...
5. Where Are The Transitional Forms?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfTbrH...

FACTS OF EVOLUTION:

1. Introduction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43SskX...
2. Universal Common Descent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0UGpc...
3. Good Design, Bad Design
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mtr3C...
4. Speciation And Extinction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5kumH...
5. How Fast Is Evolution?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XgeSi...

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Embryo drawing refers to any representation of the illustration of embryos in their developmental sequence. In plants and animals, an embryo develops from a zygote, the single cell that results when an egg and sperm fuse during fertilization.

In animals, the zygote divides repeatedly to form a ball of cells, which then forms a set of tissue layers that migrate and fold to form an early embryo. Images of embryos provide a means of comparing embryos of different ages, and species. To this day, embryo drawings are made in biology undergraduate developmental biology lessons.

Comparing different embryonic stages of different animals is a tool that can be used to infer relationships between species, and thus biological evolution. This has been a source of quite some controversy, both now as in the past.

A biologist who pioneered in this field was Ernst Haeckel. By comparing different embryonic stages of different vertebrate species, he formulated the Recapitulation theory. This theory states that an animal's embryonic development follows the exact same sequence as the sequence of its evolutionary ancestors.

Haeckel's work and the ensuing controversy linked the fields of developmental biology and comparative anatomy into comparative embryology. From a more modern perspective, Haeckel's drawings were the beginnings of the field of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo).

The study of comparative embryology aims to prove or disprove that vertebrate embryos of different classes (e.g. mammals vs. fish) follow a similar developmental path due to their common ancestry.

Such developing vertebrates have similar genes, which determine the basic body plan. However, further development allows for the distinguishing of distinct characteristics as adults.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embryo_d...
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Goodnight Moon

Here on Earth, the occasional alignments of the Sun and Moon with our planet are greeted with much fanfare. Solar and lunar eclipses are often spectacular sights. However, our solar system undergoes many other more subtle alignments that come under the general name of occultations.

From Earth's ever-changing viewpoint, planets can be occulted by our Moon and other moons can be occulted by their planets. Consider the chances for such occultations on Jupiter, which has four of the seven large moons in the solar system.

In this episode, we examine Hubble's observations of these otherworldly and somewhat poetic events.

Notes

- Eclipses of the Sun can be seen from some point on Earth about every 6 months. Total solar eclipses occur, on average, about once every 18 months. The next total solar eclipse is on July 22, 2009, and is visible in India, through China, and across the southwest Pacific Ocean. A great place to get dates, maps, and other info about solar and lunar eclipses is the NASA Eclipse Web Site

- The similar apparent size on the sky of our Moon and the Sun does not occur for any of the other large moons of the solar system. For Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune, the Sun is much farther away, and therefore much smaller in their skies. The large moons are similar in size to our Moon, though their orbital distances can be up to five times larger. Still, the combination of sizes and distances always produces moons that are much larger in the sky than the Sun. The closest is Callisto, which appears about 1.5 times the size of the Sun from Jupiter's view. The amazing views of the solar corona we get during total eclipses are a unique treat for our planet.

- In addition to the image from Bernd Nies used in the video podcast, I found several other very nice images of the Moon occulting Saturn. For example, here are two others by DJLand Job Gehenia

- Hubble has also seen occultations on Saturn. It is interesting that while Jupiter has four large moons, the rest of its moons are rather small. Not so with Saturn. Saturn has one large moon, Titan, and several medium-sized moons as well. These medium-sized moons cast shadows that Hubble can see, setting up this opportunity for an observation of four shadows on Saturn. Another cool observation occurred when Saturn's rings were edge-on to the Sun, and Hubble observed moon shadows across Saturn's rings.

• http://hubblesite.org/
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Robot Astronomy: Earth-threatening Asteroids

NASA Spitzer's IRrelevant Astronomy (Episode 3): Robot Astronomy Talk Show - Earth-threatening Asteroids.

Will an asteroid strike the Earth and wipe out all life as we know it? IR-2 and his robotic crew make random phone calls to find out. IRrelevant Astronomy - It's infrared-relevant!

Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, especially in the inner Solar System; they are smaller than planets but larger than meteoroids.

The term "asteroid" has historically been applied primarily to minor planets of the inner Solar System, as the outer Solar System was poorly known when it came into common usage. The distinction between asteroids and comets is made on visual appearance: Comets show a perceptible coma while asteroids do not.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid

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IRrelevant Astronomy is a video podcast feed produced by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Unlike many other podcasts, it is set up more like a television network, with multiple series and stand-alone videos released on this single "channel."

To date, the content included on the feed has all incorporated animation in some manner, and generally tends to be comedic. The "IR" in the title stands for "infrared", meaning the title actually refers to "infrared-relevant astronomy."

In October 2008, IRrelevant Astronomy was nominated for "Best Technology/Science Podcast" at the 2008 Podcast Awards. It was one of 10 finalists in this category following a nomination process that included 281,000 votes.

In October 2009, the IRrelevant Astronomy episode "Psych Out" was an official selection at the 2nd annual Imagine Science Film Festival.

• http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/
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The Science Behind 'IMAX Hubble 3D'

IMAX explores the legacy of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and its impact on our views about the universe.

The final space shuttle mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope is the subject of a new IMAX film. Narrated by Leonardo Di Caprio, "Hubble 3-D" was premiered during a special event held at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.

The movie features the NASA astronauts from STS-125 who serviced Hubble in May 2009; an IMAX 3D camera mounted in space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay filmed their progress.

• http://www.youtube.com/NASAtelevision

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Vividly captured in IMAX 3D, "Hubble 3D" recounts the amazing journey of the most important scientific instrument since Galileos original telescope and the greatest success in space since the Moon Landing—the Hubble Space Telescope. Audiences will accompany the space walking astronauts as they attempt some of the most difficult tasks ever undertaken in NASA's history, and will experience up close the awesome power of the launches, the heartbreaking setbacks, and the dramatic rescues of this most powerful story.

Hubble 3D will also reveal the cosmos as never before, allowing viewers of all ages to explore the grandeur of the nebulae and galaxies, the birth and death of stars, and some of the greatest mysteries of our celestial surroundings, all in amazing IMAX 3D.

• http://www.youtube.com/imaxmovies

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Director: Toni Myers
Narrator: Leonardo DiCaprio
Astronauts: Scott D. Altman (Shuttle Commander), Andrew J. Feustel (Astronaut), Michael T. Good (Astronaut), John M. Grunsfeld (Mission Specialist), Gregory C. Johnson (Shuttle Pilot), Michael J. Massimino (Mission Specialist), K. Megan McArthur (Astronaut)

• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1433813/
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Understanding The Sun - The Heliophysics Program

Heliophysics Science

We live in an exciting environment: the heliosphere, the exotic outer atmosphere of a star. The space beyond Earths protective atmospheric cocoon is highly variable and far from benign. It is the one part of the cosmos accessible to direct scientific investigation, our only hands-on astrophysical laboratory.

Our technological society is increasingly susceptible to space weather disturbances in this curious region. A host of interconnected physical processes, strongly influenced by solar variability, affect the health and safety of travelers in space and the habitability of alien environments. We call the science of the Sun-Solar System Connections "Heliophysics".

Building on NASAs rich history of exploration of the Earths neighborhood and distant planetary systems, we are poised to develop the quantitative knowledge needed to help assure the safety of the new generation of human and robotic explorers. The Heliophysics Program has been completely reevaluated to address the needs of the Vision for Space Exploration.

NASAs future research and exploration within its Heliophysics program aims to "explore the Sun-Earth system to understand the Sun and its effects on Earth, the solar system, and the space environmental conditions that will be experienced by explorers, and to demonstrate technologies that can improve future operational systems."

We have unfolded this articulated strategic goal into the three broad science and exploration objectives:

• Open the Frontier to Space Weather Prediction: Understand the fundamental physical processes of the space environment from the Sun to Earth, to other planets, and beyond to the interstellar medium.

• Understand the Nature of Our Home in Space: Understand how human society, technological systems, and the habitability of planets are affected by solar variability interacting with planetary magnetic fields and atmospheres.

• Safeguard the Journey of Exploration: Maximize the safety and productivity of human and robotic explorers by developing the capability to predict the extreme and dynamic conditions in space.

• http://sec.gsfc.nasa.gov/

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The Heliophysics Science Division (HSD) is located at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, MD, USA. It provides scientific leadership and expertise necessary to achieve NASAs strategic science goals in solar physics, heliospheric physics, geospace physics and space weather.

It leads the definition and development of missions in support of these goals and performs fundamental research into solar structure and magnetic activity, the origins and acceleration of the solar wind, the effects of solar outbursts on the heliosphere, the response of the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere system at the Earth and other planets to solar variability including solar irradiance.

• http://hsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/
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Science Bytes - Episode 15

The Largest Black Holes in the Universe

We've never seen them directly, yet we know they are there, lurking within dense star clusters or wandering the dust lanes of the galaxy, where they prey on stars, or swallow planets whole. Our Milky Way may harbor millions of these black holes, the ultra dense remnants of dead stars. But now, in the universe far beyond our galaxy, there's evidence of something even more ominous: a breed of black holes that have reached incomprehensible size and destructive power. How big can they get? What's the largest so far detected? Where does an 18 billion solar mass black hole hide?

Star Size Comparison HD

Evolution of Altruism

How altruism evolved, kin selection, etc.

Hidden Universe: The WISE Sky

The Hidden Universe (Episode 30): The WISE Sky.

This is the Hidden Universe of the Spitzer Space Telescope, exploring the mysteries of infrared astronomy with your host Dr. Robert Hurt.

On the morning of December 14th, 2009, NASA launched its latest infrared telescope, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE).

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, will scan the entire sky in infrared light, picking up the glow of hundreds of millions of objects and producing millions of images. The mission will uncover objects never seen before, including the coolest stars, the universe's most luminous galaxies and some of the darkest near-Earth asteroids and comets.

Its vast catalogs will help answer fundamental questions about the origins of planets, stars and galaxies, and provide a feast of data for astronomers to munch on for decades to come.

Thanks to next-generation technology, WISE's sensitivity is hundreds of times greater than its predecessor, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, which operated in 1983.

WISE will join two other infrared missions in space -- NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the Herschel Space Observatory, a European Space Agency mission with important NASA participation.

WISE is different from these missions in that it will survey the entire sky. It is designed to cast a wide net to catch all sorts of unseen cosmic treasures, including rare oddities.

The closest of WISE's finds will be near-Earth objects, both asteroids and comets, with orbits that come close to crossing Earth's path. The mission is expected to find hundreds of these bodies, and hundreds of thousands of additional asteroids in our solar system's main asteroid belt.

By measuring the objects' infrared light, astronomers will get the first good estimate of the size distribution of the asteroid population. This information will tell us approximately how often Earth can expect an encounter with a potentially hazardous asteroid.

WISE data will also reveal new information about the composition of near-Earth objects and asteroids -- are they fluffy like snow or hard like rocks, or both?

• http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WIS...
• http://spitzer.caltech.edu/
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A Nearby Starburst Galaxy

The Hidden Universe (Episode 2): A Nearby Starburst Galaxy - Exposing the Exploding Cigar Galaxy.

This is the Hidden Universe of the Spitzer Space Telescope, exploring the mysteries of infrared astronomy with your host Dr. Robert Hurt.

M82 has been called an exploding galaxy, and three of NASA's Great Observatories have teamed up to show it like it's never been seen before.

Its been called an exploding galaxy, and three of NASAs Great Observatories have teamed up to show it like its never been seen before.

Sigmund Freud once protested that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. However, astronomers studying the so-called "Cigar Galaxy", have discovered theres much more going on than meets the eye. Thats why theyve looked beyond just visible light to understand this galactic oddity ...

The Cigar Galaxy, more commonly known as M82, lies in the northern skies in the constellation of Ursa Major. Its about 12 million light years away not exactly a next-door neighbor, but pretty close as galaxies go. And while it does look a bit like a cigar, its actually shaped like a disk.

• http://spitzer.caltech.edu/

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Messier 82 (also known as NGC 3034 or the Cigar Galaxy) is the prototype nearby starburst galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. The starburst galaxy is five times as bright as the whole Milky Way and one hundred times as bright as our galaxy's center.

In 2005, the Hubble revealed 197 young massive clusters in the starburst core. The average mass of these clusters is around 2 × 105 M⊙, hence the starburst core is a very energetic and high-density environment.[5] Throughout the galaxy's center, young stars are being born 10 times faster than they are inside our entire Milky Way Galaxy.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82

Facts Of Evolution

In biology, evolution is the change in the inherited traits of a population of organisms through successive generations. When a population splits into smaller groups, these groups evolve independently and develop into new species.

Anatomical similarities, geographical distribution of similar species and the fossil record indicate that all organisms are descended from a common ancestor through a long series of these divergence events, stretching back in a tree of life that has grown over the 3,500 million years of life on Earth.

Evolution is the product of two opposing forces: processes that constantly introduce variation in traits, and processes that make particular variants become more common or rare. A trait is a particular characteristic such as eye color, height, or a behavior that is expressed when an organism's genes interact with its environment.

Genes vary within populations, so organisms show heritable differences (variation) in their traits. The main cause of variation is mutation, which changes the sequence of a gene. Altered genes are then inherited by offspring. There can sometimes also be transfer of genes between species.

Two main processes cause variants to become more common or rare in a population. One is natural selection, which causes traits that aid survival and reproduction to become more common, and traits that hinder survival and reproduction to become more rare.

Natural selection occurs because only a few individuals in each generation will survive, since resources are limited and organisms produce many more offspring than their environment can support.

Over many generations mutations produce successive, small, random changes in traits, which are then filtered by natural selection and the beneficial changes retained. This adjusts traits so they become suited to an organism's environment: these adjustments are called adaptations.

Not every trait, however, is an adaptation. Another cause of evolution is genetic drift, an independent process that produces entirely random changes in how common traits are in a population. Genetic drift comes from the role that chance plays in whether a trait will be passed on to the next generation.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution
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How Fast Is Evolution?

Rates of Evolution

Evolutionary rates can be measured quantitatively for a character within a lineage, and we begin by seeing how this is conventionally done. We then look at a large compilation of over 500 such measurements and ask whether fossil evolutionary rates fit in with the theory of population genetics.

Punctuated equilibrium is an influential modern idea about evolutionary rates in fossils and we discuss the theory, how to test it, evidence for and against it, and its conceptual relation with the modern synthesis.

The rate of evolution is a measurement of the change in an evolutionary lineage over time.

The method for measuring the rate of evolution can be illustrated by work done by MacFadden on horse teeth: horse teeth are classic materials in the study of evolution.

The rate of evolution is measured as follows:

Suppose that a character has been measured at two times, t1 and t2 ; t1 and t2 are expressed as times before the present in millions of years.

The time interval between the two samples can be written as:Dt = t1 - t2,

which is 1 million years if t1 = 15.2 and t2 =14.2 The average value of the character is defined as x1 in the earlier sample and x2 in the later sample; we then take natural logarithms of x1 and x2 (the natural logarithm is the log to base e where e = 2.718, and it is symbolized by ln).

The evolutionary rate (r) then is

r = (ln(x2) - ln(x1)) / Dt

The rate of evolution is measured in 'darwins'.

Haldane defined a 'darwin' as a unit to measure evolutionary rates; one darwin is a change in the character by a factor of e in one million years.

The formula above for r gives the rate in darwins provided that the time interval is in millions of years.

• http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/ri...
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_%...
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The Dark Matter Mystery: Most Of The Universe Is Missing

The Mystery of Dark Matter (4/4): Most Of Our Universe Is Missing.

A mystery exists! Galaxies do not seem to have enough mass for stars to orbit at their observed speeds. Galaxies should be flying apart, but they don't. Why not? Explore the surreal world of dark matter - one of the universe's greatest mysteries.

This presentation is available to educators on DVD and comes complete with specially-crafted teacher notes.
• http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca

The Mystery of Dark Matter Video Game
• http://perimeterinstitute.ca/dark_mat...

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In astronomy and cosmology, dark matter is a form of matter that is undetectable by its emitted electromagnetic radiation, but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter and background radiation. According to present observations of structures larger than galaxies, as well as Big Bang cosmology, dark matter accounts for the vast majority of the mass in the observable universe.

Dark matter was postulated by Fritz Zwicky in 1934, to account for evidence of "missing mass" in the orbital velocities of galaxies in clusters. Subsequent to then, other observations have indicated the presence of dark matter in the universe, including the rotational speeds of galaxies, gravitational lensing of background objects by galaxy clusters such as the Bullet Cluster, and the temperature distribution of hot gas in galaxies and clusters of galaxies.

Dark matter plays a central role in state-of-the-art modeling of structure formation and galaxy evolution, and has measurable effects on the anisotropies observed in the cosmic microwave background. All these lines of evidence suggest that galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and the universe as a whole contain far more matter than that which interacts with electromagnetic radiation: the remainder is frequently called the "dark matter component," even though there is a small amount of baryonic dark matter. The largest part of dark matter, which does not interact with electromagnetic radiation, is not only "dark" but also, by definition, utterly transparent.

The vast majority of the dark matter in the universe is believed to be nonbaryonic, which means that it contains no atoms and that it does not interact with ordinary matter via electromagnetic forces. The nonbaryonic dark matter includes neutrinos, and possibly hypothetical entities such as axions, or supersymmetric particles. Unlike baryonic dark matter, nonbaryonic dark matter does not contribute to the formation of the elements in the early universe ("big bang nucleosynthesis") and so its presence is revealed only via its gravitational attraction. In addition, if the particles of which it is composed are supersymmetric, they can undergo annihilation interactions with themselves resulting in observable by-products such as photons and neutrinos ("indirect detection").

Nonbaryonic dark matter is classified in terms of the mass of the particle(s) that is assumed to make it up, and/or the typical velocity dispersion of those particles (since more massive particles move more slowly). There are three prominent hypotheses on nonbaryonic dark matter, called Hot Dark Matter (HDM), Warm Dark Matter (WDM), and Cold Dark Matter (CDM); some combination of these is also possible. The most widely discussed models for nonbaryonic dark matter are based on the Cold Dark Matter hypothesis, and the corresponding particle is most commonly assumed to be a neutralino. Hot dark matter might consist of (massive) neutrinos. Cold dark matter would lead to a "bottom-up" formation of structure in the universe while hot dark matter would result in a "top-down" formation scenario.

As important as dark matter is believed to be in the universe, direct evidence of its existence and a concrete understanding of its nature have remained elusive. Though the theory of dark matter remains the most widely accepted theory to explain the anomalies in observed galactic rotation, some alternative theories such as modified Newtonian dynamics and tensor-vector-scalar gravity have been proposed. None of these alternatives, however, has garnered equally widespread support in the scientific community.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter

Plastics In Our Oceans - The 'Plastiki' Expedition

Plastics In Our Oceans: The 'Plastiki' Expedition. David de Rothschild and his boat, the 'Plastiki', will set sail across the Pacific soon. Find out how a boat made entirely of plastic hopes to rid the oceans of the stuff.

A voyage across the ocean in a plastic boat seems an unlikely way to fight the buildup of plastic in the ocean. Yet that is just what David de Rothschild and team are planning as they build a 60 foot boat made entirely from recycled plastic.

Dubbed 'Plastiki', after Thor Hyerdahls 'Kon-Tiki' that made a similar voyage in 1947, the vessel is being manufactured out of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) - the same material used to make water bottles.

Their goal is to change the public view of plastic as a one-use material into one that sees plastic for what it really is - a cheap and versatile raw material that can be reused time and time again.

The voyage calls attention to the toxic soup created from decades of dumping used plastic into the ocean. The mess created by our throw-away society has been consolidated by the winds and currents of the North Pacific Gyre into vast floating garbage patches.

Much of the plastic is visible - bottles, toys, bags, netting, etc., but most of what is floating is invisible, because over time, plastic breaks apart into micro-particles. In some areas of the gyre the ratio of plastic to plankton is as high six to one.

Birds, fish and mammals choke on and are poisoned by the bigger pieces, while the tiny particles are ingested by small marine life and enter the food chain. To make matters worse, the micro-particles attract and absorb toxic chemicals that are ingested as well.

As de Rothschild likes to say, the solution to pollution is not dilution. We need to change our thinking about the life cycle of plastic. The voyage of "Plastiki" demonstrates that plastic is not the problem its how we use plastic.

We dont think of steel as a material to be dumped in the ocean after a single use. Steel is melted down and reformed. We can do the same with plastic - it is a matter of changing how we view it.

• http://www.calacademy.org/science/sia...
• http://www.calacademy.org/sciencetoda...
• http://www.youtube.com/ThePlastiki

Big Bang! With Evidence

Keeping The VLT's Eyes Clear: Recoating A Giant Mirror

Every night, all year round, the ESO Very Large Telescope, or VLT, opens its four giant eyes to scrutinise the beautiful southern skies. Each eye is a huge mirror, 8.2 metres in diameter, that gathers the light of the night sky, and reflects it into optical systems that form ultra-sharp images of the Universe. But keeping the VLT´s eyes clear requires each mirror to be cleaned and recoated occasionally, a delicate and complex procedure.

• http://www.eso.org/public/

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The world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory

The skies over the ESO sites in Chile are so dark that on a clear moonless night it is possible to see your shadow cast by the light of the Milky Way alone.

The Very Large Telescope array (VLT) is the flagship facility for European ground-based astronomy at the beginning of the third Millennium. It is the worlds most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter and four movable 1.8m diameter Auxiliary Telescopes.

The telescopes can work together, in groups of two or three, to form a giant interferometer, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes.

The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres.

With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.

The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye.

• http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr...

Debunking The Myths About the "Obesity Epidemic" and Exploring Popular Diet Trends

There are many health gurus and experts claiming that obesity is an epidemic that is sweeping the nation, here in America, and in other countries. This is a complete misunderstanding of the words "obesity" and "epidemic." According to the Urban dictionary, an epidemic is a widespread contagion, usually a bacteria or virus, that kills or severely sickens a large number people in a particular geographic area. Obesity, according to Wikipedia, is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. Do you see how the term "obesity epidemic" is misleading? Sure, more people are gaining weight, but to call it an epidemic is a joke.

One main cause that people associate with obesity is overeating. What a lot of people don't take into consideration is that some people are overweight or obese due to their genetic make-up, and/or medical and psychiactric illnesses.

In individuals whose obesity is caused genetically, this is due to a mutation in their DNA which controls their bodies' abilities to control appetite and metabolism. Scientists say that there are some ethnic groups who are more prone to obesity than others. One such ethnicity was the Native American race Pima, who inhabited the desert environment in southern Arizona and northern Mexico. This is called the thrifty gene hypothesis. This dictates that certain adverse health problems are favored by natural selection due to the environment that a species is in. In obese individuals, the pros to their abundance in weight allows them to survive better when food is scarce and pregnant women to help their bodies support the growth of a fetus. Some women can be at a healthy, normal weight before pregnancy and remain overweight or obese after they've given birth due to this mutation. My mother, who is 4' 10", weighs between 135 and 150 pounds, and gave birth to four kids( three girls and one boy), is an example. There is a chance that this mutation can be passed down to my siblings and me, or any of our non-existing children.

For individuals whose obesity is caused medically, due to not only the genetic mutation as described above, there are a host of different medical conditions where obesity is a symptom. You can read up on such conditions in this link here.

It should be noted that the American Heart Association is against using fad diets as a means to lose weight and suggests healthier alternatives, as described in this link.

One of the ways used to determine obesity in American citizens and residents is the BMI (body mass index). However, in Penn & Teller's Bullshit, we discover that this method fails and is not meant for the use of determining proper height and weight ratios in today's society. Here's a clip of the "Obesity" episode:

The BMI Height and Weight Index and How It Fails In Determining Obesity:


Here's the episode "Eat This" from Penn and Teller's TV show, "Bullshit." They show that "quick weight loss" fads, products, and diets are harmful. However, people are so desperate to conform to society's idealistic view of beauty, that they don't even read the warning labels on these diets, and they do know research to see if it really works or not (specifically in part 1).

Part 1 of 3:


The amount of calories recommended by nutritionists and dietitians is 1200 to 1800 calories a day for women, and 1800 to 2000 calories a day for men. Keep this in mind as we explore four examples some of the most popular diet trends out there. Also, not all cholesterol is bad. The good cholesterol a.k.a. HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol needs to be higher than bad cholesterol a.k.a. LDL (low-density lipoprotein).

The Hollywood Celebrity Diet:
In the clip from Penn & Teller's Bullshit, the guy was on the Hollywood Celebrity diet, which is fasting and drinking a specialized juice. If you watched the video, you've seen how well that works. Whenever the man was around food, his appetite increased, and it caused him to urinate more often than normal.

The Atkins Diet:
One of the most popular methods people are using to lose weight is the Atkins diet. This particular diet tells you to stop consuming carbohydrates, and consume very high amounts of fatty foods, especially meat, seafood, lard, butter, and limited fruits and vegetables.

The main problem with this diet is that, you're burning fat and proteins for energy, when you're supposed to be burning fat and carbohydrates for energy. You will lose weight with this diet, but not much and with negative consequences. According to some experts, this diet could raises your uric acids and ketone levels. Because of the lack of carbohydrates, your body does through ketosis to burn energy, which can cause kidney problems, the gout, and headaches. Other possible side effects are osteoporosis, halitosis (bad breath), dehydration, adverse affects on your body's calcium levels, hypotension, and possible liver problems. Not many people stay on the diet, because it changes their appetites, which doesn't help nutrition scientists find out what the long-term affects of this diet are. Because your fiber intake is low when you're on this diet, this can cause constipation and chronic bowel disease. High amounts of animal fats (primarily from red meats) can raise HDL levels and give your heart problems and the diet doesn't sit well with the American Heart Association's guidelines to having a healthy heart.

The guidelines are pretty simple. The first being to know how your calorie intake, and know how to utilize at least as many of them as you take in. Here's an example of what my average calorie intake should be according to my age, gender, height, weight, and activity level: http://www.myfatstranslator.com/fats_results.html?age=22&gender=2&weight=110&heightfeet=5&heightinch=1&activity=3&

The second is to eat a healthy variety of food from ALL of the food groups. The Atkins diet goes against this with its high-fat, high-protein, and low-carbohydrates approach.

The third is to eat less unhealthy foods than normally, and try to only eat junk food in moderation. This is a major problem when comparing this with the Atkins diet, which suggest fattier foods and a higher usage of saturated fats in cooking.

The fourth is to either quit any tobacco use or don't start any tobacco use. This guideline, however, has nothing to do with the Atkins Diet, though.

Here is a Horizon, a BBC produced, story about the diet:
Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Part 4:


Part 5:


Here is a detail of a one-year comparison of the Atkins Diet and a Low-fat diet done by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/348/21/2082?journalcode=nejm&tdate=7%2F31%2F2003&HITS=20&sortspec=Score%2Bdesc%2BPUBDATE_SORTDATE%2Bdesc&hits=20&fdate=7%2F1%2F2000&FIRSTINDEX=0&fulltext=atkins%2Bdiet&searchid=1059134481857_2521&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

The South Beach Diet:
The South Beach diet is a low-fat and low-carbohydrate diet, which is advocated by the American Heart Association. It discourages high sugar and saturated fats, and encourages unprocessed whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meats, lean fish, and nuts. This particular diet is also noted for helping lower LDL and lowering your risk of heart disease. It also gets rid of the necessity to count carbohydrates when eating.

However, there are some drawbacks to this diet as well. In the first phase, the diet eliminates many different grains, breads, pastas, and fruits, causing people on the diet to feel too constricted. The lack of carbohydrates can cause gastointestinal problems, weakness, glucose and calcium depletion, dizziness, fatigue, and dehydration. The lack of certain fruits can cause loss of fiber, vitamins, and minerals that are vital to your health such as zinc, calcium, vitamin B, and iron. Such lack of these important nutrients can lead to abnormalities in the liver, kidneys, heart, and bones. The second and third phases are a little less restrictive, but the diet doesn't fit many people's individual needs when it comes to losing weight. For some, there is a risk of losing too much weight to quickly. For others who don't consume dairy for whatever reasons, their options are limited. Also, the recipes for this diet are too demanding and too time consuming. Like the Atkins diet, no one has done a study to see what the long-term effects of staying on this diet are.

The Zone Diet:
The Zone diet is one that demands a 40:30:30 ration of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in that order. It's said to produce reasonable weight loss in the individuals who prefer this method. What possible drawback can come from this one? It seems legit to me!

Like many other fad diets, there are no records of its long term effects. This diet also has the least evidence supporting it than the Atkins and South Beach diets and has never been seriously studied by experts. However, like the Atkins diet, it lowers intake of carbohydrates and calories and, like the South Beach diet, depletes the body's storage of glucose. For individuals with kidney disease or have family history with kidney disease, they're warned to try this diet at their own risk. This diet also dramatically reduces one's calorie intake. I made a note above of what the average man and woman's healthy calorie intake should be. The amount of meat required in this diet can lead to consuming an unhealthy amount of saturated fats. Expect your doctor to note defficiencies in many important vitamins and minerals such as vitamins A, D, and E, calcium, iron, and folic acid. It also limits your consumption of whole grains, which provide fiber among other nutrients.

The Dark Matter Mystery: Gravitational Lensing

The Mystery of Dark Matter (3/4): Gravitational Lensing.

A mystery exists! Galaxies do not seem to have enough mass for stars to orbit at their observed speeds. Galaxies should be flying apart, but they don't. Why not? Explore the surreal world of dark matter - one of the universe's greatest mysteries.

This presentation is available to educators on DVD and comes complete with specially-crafted teacher notes.
• http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca

The Mystery of Dark Matter Video Game
• http://perimeterinstitute.ca/dark_mat...

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A gravitational lens is formed when the light from a very distant, bright source (such as a quasar) is "bent" around a massive object (such as a cluster of galaxies) between the source object and the observer.

The process is known as gravitational lensing, and is one of the predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity.

The gravity from a massive object (such as a galaxy cluster or black hole) is warped space-time, bending everything in it—including the paths followed by light rays from a bright background source.

This alters the time taken for the light to reach an observer, and can both magnify and distort the apparent image of the background source.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitat...

The Dark Matter Mystery, Parts 1 and 2

Part One:


The Mystery of Dark Matter (1/4): Stars Are Moving Too Fast.

A mystery exists! Galaxies do not seem to have enough mass for stars to orbit at their observed speeds. Galaxies should be flying apart, but they don't. Why not? Explore the surreal world of dark matter - one of the universe's greatest mysteries.

Shedding Light on Dark Matter

Over the last few decades, physicists have discovered that around ninety percent of every galaxy in the universe is made of an unseen substance called dark matter. Damian Pope, PIs Senior Manager of Scientific Outreach, comments, Its currently one of the hottest topics in physics. The module provides teachers with tools to show how dark matter was discovered, to explain why it remains a mystery, and to share the passion of scientists who are trying to discover what its made of.

This presentation is available to educators on DVD and comes complete with specially-crafted teacher notes.

• http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca

The Mystery of Dark Matter Video Game
• http://perimeterinstitute.ca/dark_mat...

In astronomy and cosmology, dark matter is a form of matter that is undetectable by its emitted electromagnetic radiation, but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter and background radiation. According to present observations of structures larger than galaxies, as well as Big Bang cosmology, dark matter accounts for the vast majority of the mass in the observable universe.

Dark matter was postulated by Fritz Zwicky in 1934, to account for evidence of "missing mass" in the orbital velocities of galaxies in clusters. Subsequent to then, other observations have indicated the presence of dark matter in the universe, including the rotational speeds of galaxies, gravitational lensing of background objects by galaxy clusters such as the Bullet Cluster, and the temperature distribution of hot gas in galaxies and clusters of galaxies.

Dark matter plays a central role in state-of-the-art modeling of structure formation and galaxy evolution, and has measurable effects on the anisotropies observed in the cosmic microwave background. All these lines of evidence suggest that galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and the universe as a whole contain far more matter than that which interacts with electromagnetic radiation: the remainder is frequently called the "dark matter component," even though there is a small amount of baryonic dark matter. The largest part of dark matter, which does not interact with electromagnetic radiation, is not only "dark" but also, by definition, utterly transparent.

The vast majority of the dark matter in the universe is believed to be nonbaryonic, which means that it contains no atoms and that it does not interact with ordinary matter via electromagnetic forces. The nonbaryonic dark matter includes neutrinos, and possibly hypothetical entities such as axions, or supersymmetric particles. Unlike baryonic dark matter, nonbaryonic dark matter does not contribute to the formation of the elements in the early universe ("big bang nucleosynthesis") and so its presence is revealed only via its gravitational attraction. In addition, if the particles of which it is composed are supersymmetric, they can undergo annihilation interactions with themselves resulting in observable by-products such as photons and neutrinos ("indirect detection").

Nonbaryonic dark matter is classified in terms of the mass of the particle(s) that is assumed to make it up, and/or the typical velocity dispersion of those particles (since more massive particles move more slowly). There are three prominent hypotheses on nonbaryonic dark matter, called Hot Dark Matter (HDM), Warm Dark Matter (WDM), and Cold Dark Matter (CDM); some combination of these is also possible. The most widely discussed models for nonbaryonic dark matter are based on the Cold Dark Matter hypothesis, and the corresponding particle is most commonly assumed to be a neutralino. Hot dark matter might consist of (massive) neutrinos. Cold dark matter would lead to a "bottom-up" formation of structure in the universe while hot dark matter would result in a "top-down" formation scenario.

As important as dark matter is believed to be in the universe, direct evidence of its existence and a concrete understanding of its nature have remained elusive. Though the theory of dark matter remains the most widely accepted theory to explain the anomalies in observed galactic rotation, some alternative theories such as modified Newtonian dynamics and tensor-vector-scalar gravity have been proposed. None of these alternatives, however, has garnered equally widespread support in the scientific community.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter
.
Part Two - 39 Billion Missing Suns:


A mystery exists! Galaxies do not seem to have enough mass for stars to orbit at their observed speeds. Galaxies should be flying apart, but they don't. Why not? Explore the surreal world of dark matter - one of the universe's greatest mysteries.

The Dark Side of the Cosmos

Much of the picture of cosmic evolution, called standard cosmology, is well grounded in fundamental physics, but makes up only part of the story. Standard cosmology involves detailed models, whose predictions agree with, and explain, much of what astronomers see. However, there are a growing number of observations that are deeply puzzling.

For example, a number of independent astronomical observations have provided strong evidence for the existence of vast quantities of matter that do not emit or reflect electromagnetic radiation of any type (visible light, microwaves, gamma rays, etc), and thus cannot be seen. It is called dark matter. How do we know it's there? Even though we cannot see it, it exerts very clear gravitational influences on the matter and radiation we can see.

For example, Albert Einstein's theory of space, time, and gravity, called general relativity, tells us that any gravitating mass (the Sun, a galaxy, a cluster of galaxies, etc.) warps the spacetime around it in such as way that a light ray passing nearby is deflected. Gravity bends light. Astronomers find that the amount of bending around, say, a typical cluster of galaxies, is far greater than can be accounted for by the visible mass in the cluster. There appears to be a great deal of invisible mass. Current data suggests that there is more than five times as much dark matter as ordinary matter (atoms) in the universe. What is dark matter made of, and can it be detected in laboratories here on Earth? An intense, worldwide effort is currently underway to try to answer these questions.

Another profound puzzle stems from astronomical observations indicating that the cosmic expansion of space is happening at an accelerating pace. But in a universe with only matter (dark or otherwise), gravitational attraction would slow down the expansion, just like a ball, thrown upwards, slows down due to Earth's gravitational pull. The acceleration can be explained by the assumption that the universe is filled with an unusual form of energy called dark energy that makes up 70% of the universe's total energy. But what, exactly, is this dark energy, and how does it fit in with the rest of physics? To date, no one knows the answer.

• http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca/en/O...

This presentation is available to educators on DVD and comes complete with specially-crafted teacher notes.
• http://www.perimeterinstitute.ca

The Mystery of Dark Matter Video Game
• http://perimeterinstitute.ca/dark_mat...
.

The LHC - Dangerous To The World?

Will the Large Hadron Collider create a black hole that will destroy the world? No, but it may solve mysteries about the origin of the universe.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator, intended to collide opposing particle beams of either protons at an energy of 7 TeV (1.12 microjoules) per particle, or lead nuclei at an energy of 574 TeV (92.0 microjoules) per nucleus.

The term hadron refers to such particles that are composed of quarks. It is expected that it will address the most fundamental questions of physics, hopefully allowing progress in understanding the deepest laws of nature. The LHC lies in a tunnel 27 kilometres (17 mi) in circumference, as much as 175 metres (570 ft) beneath the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, Switzerland.

The Large Hadron Collider was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) with the intention of testing various predictions of high-energy physics, including the existence of the hypothesized Higgs boson and of the large family of new particles predicted by supersymmetry. It is funded by and built in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and engineers from over 100 countries as well as hundreds of universities and laboratories.

In September 2008, the operations were halted due to a serious fault between two superconducting bending magnets. Repairing the resulting damage and installing additional safety features took over a year. In November 2009 the proton beams were successfully circulated again and the first proton-proton collisions were recorded, at the injection energy of 450 GeV per particle.

In December 2009, the LHC was shut down after its initial commissioning run, which achieved proton collision energies of 2.36 TeV, with multiple bunches of protons circulating for several hours and data from over one million proton-proton collisions. The LHC resumed operations in February 2010, but it will operate at only half of the design collision energy. In 2012 it will be shut down for the repairs necessary to bring it to its full design energy, and then it will start up again in 2013.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Ha...

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Since 1853, the California Academy of Sciences has been dedicated to exploring, explaining, and protecting the natural world. It is the only place in the world to combine an aquarium, natural history museum, and planetarium all under one living roof.

• http://www.calacademy.org/

Science Bytes - Episodes 1 - 14

Episode 1- Top 10 Facts You Didn't Know Weren't Facts:


Episode 2 - 10 More Facts You Didn't Know Weren't Facts:


Episode 3 - "Fact" Busting, Round 3:


Episode 4 - Pareidolia:


Episode 5 - RAS Syndrome:


Episode 6 - The Placebo Effect:


Episode 7 - "Fact" Busting, Round 4:


Episode 8 - Familiarity Principle and Exposure Effect:


Episode 9 - 2012 Apocalypse:


Episode 10 - Ideomotor Effect:


Episode 11 - Christmas:


Episode 12 - Nursery Rhymes:


Episode 13 - Polygraphs:


Episode 14 - Herd Mentality:

An Astronomical Success Story: The La Silla Observatory

ESOcast 05: An Astronomical Success Story - ESO's First Observatory Celebrates 40th Anniversary.

ESO's La Silla Observatory, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, became the largest astronomical observatory of its time. It led Europe to the frontline of astronomical research, and is still one of the most scientifically productive in ground-based astronomy.

La Silla is a 2400-m mountain, bordering the southern extremity of the Atacama desert in Chile. It is located about 160 Km north of La Serena.

Originally known as Cinchado, the mountain was renamed La Silla (the saddle) after its shape. It rises quite isolated and remote from any artificial light and dust sources (astronomy's worst enemies). La Silla was the first ESO observatory built in Chile. Its history is full of optimism and disappointments, ups and downs, since its beginnings in the 50's until the middle of the 70's when the observatory became a reality.

http://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/las...

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La Silla Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Chile with eighteen telescopes. Nine of these telescopes were built by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) organisation, and several of the others are partly maintained by ESO. The observatory is one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.

La Silla is a 2400 m high mountain, bordering the southern extremity of the Atacama Desert in Chile. It is located about 160 km north of La Serena, 27 km south of Las Campanas Observatory, and 100 km north of Cerro Tololo Observatory. It rises quite isolated and remote from any artificial light and dust sources. La Silla was the first observatory in Chile used by ESO.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Silla...

Chiropractic VS Science Based Medicine

Part One:


Part Two:


The truth about chiropractic, as I see it.

Chiropractic is based on a pseudoscientific belief in vitalism, but within the field, there are many diverse groups, ranging from completely ineffective modalities to a competent integrative medicine approach. There is some evidence that chiropractic can give some subjective relief to back pain sufferers, but the effect is pretty modest, and comparable to exercise, massage and heat therapy.

I highly recommend Chirobase, the skeptic's guide to chiropractic. An excellent and deep site.
http://www.chirobase.org/

An article on the risks of chiropractic.
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryR...

"What's the Harm?" article on chiropractic:
http://whatstheharm.net/chiropractic....

Skeptic's Dictionary entry on chiropractic:
http://skepdic.com/chiro.html

Saturn's Largest Moon Titan: A World Much Like Earth

Titan Saturn System Mission - Titan Canyon Country.

Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) is a joint NASA/ESA proposal for an exploration of Saturn and its moons Titan and Enceladus, where many complex phenomena have been revealed by the recent CassiniHuygens mission.

With an estimated NASA cost of $2.5 Billion (FY07), TSSM was originally proposed to launch in 2020, get gravity assists from Earth and Venus, and arrive at the Saturn system in 2029. The 4-year prime mission would include a two-year Saturn tour, a 2-month Titan aero-sampling phase, and a 20-month Titan orbit phase.

The Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) was officially created in January 2009 by the merging of the ESA's Titan and Enceladus Mission (TandEM) with NASA's Titan Explorer 2007 study, although plans to combine both concepts date at least back to early 2008

TSSM was competing against the Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) proposal for funding since then, however in February 2009 it was announced that NASA/ESA had given EJSM priority ahead of TSSM, although TSSM will continue to be studied for a later launch date, probably sometime in the 2020s. Detailed assessment reports of the mission elements as well as a specific concept for the lake landing-module called Titan Mare Explorer (TiME) have been released in February and October 2009, respectively.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_Sa...

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Since its discovery in 1655 by the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, the surface of Titan has remained largely a mystery. A thick, cloudy atmosphere, largely impenetrable by telescopes and cameras, envelops Saturn's largest moon.

In December 2004, the robotic Huygens probe detached from the Cassini spacecraft and descended into Titan's thick, hazy atmosphere in January of 2005. Lasting a mere 3 hours in the cold atmosphere and on the surface of Titan (about minus 178 degrees Celsius, or minus 289 degrees Fahrenheit), the probe revealed a thick atmosphere, land masses with signs of erosion, and seas of methane on the surface. The Huygens probe came to rest on what appeared to be a floodplain, surrounded by rounded cobbles of water ice.

About 100 kilometers smaller in diameter than Jupiter's moon Ganymede, Titan is the second largest moon in our solar system. With an equatorial radius of 2,575 kilometers (1,600 miles), Titan is larger than both the Earth's moon and the planet Mercury.

Titan orbits Saturn at a distance of about 1.2 million kilometers (745,000 miles), taking almost 16 days to complete a full orbit. Titan is of great interest to scientists because it is the only moon in the solar system known to have clouds, a mysterious, thick, planet-like atmosphere and surface lakes.

• http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov/scitech/displ...