ALMA and the Cosmos – Episode 4 of Astronomy: Secrets of the Universe Revealed – Video


ALMA and the Cosmos - Episode 4 of Astronomy: Secrets of the Universe Revealed
The Richest Planetary System and Constructing ALMA - Episode 4 of Astronomy: Secrets of the Universe Revealed Segment 1: Richest planetary system discovered [5:28] Astronomers using ESO instrumen...

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ALMA and the Cosmos - Episode 4 of Astronomy: Secrets of the Universe Revealed - Video

Burke Teachers Taking Flight

Omaha Burke High School teachers Judi Little and LeeAnn Vaughan are among 24 educators who have been selected to fly on NASAs Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy aircraft, carrying the worlds largest airborne telescope.

Their flights are set to take place May 5th-10th as part of the Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program.

SOFIA is an extensively modified Boeing 747SP jetliner equipped with a 100-inch (2.5 meter) diameter telescope. The observatory flies from its home base in Palmdale, California, and the educators aboard work side-by-side with NASAs own astronomer teams. The educators witness all stages of scientific research from preparations and observations to data analysis and publication. The observatory enables the analysis of infrared light to study the formation of stars and planets, the chemistry of interstellar gases and the composition of comets, asteroids and planets.

Typically, educators make two flights in the NASA aircraft, then implement classroom lessons and public outreach programs based on their experiences.

SOFIAs Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program began in 2010. During its brief history, the program has already flown 26 educators from 14 states on science flights.

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Burke Teachers Taking Flight

Do cement nanoparticles exist in space ?

G. Bilalbegovic, A. Maksimovic, V. Mohacek-Grosev

(Submitted on 29 Apr 2014)

The calcium-silicate-hydrate is used to model properties of cement on Earth. We study cementitious nanoparticles and propose these structures as components of cosmic dust grains. Quantum density functional theory methods are applied for the calculation of infrared spectra of Ca4Si4O14H4, Ca6Si3O13H2, and Ca12Si6O26H4 clusters. We find bands distributed over the near, mid and far-infrared region. A specific calcium-silicate-hydrate spectral feature at 14 microns, together with the bands at 10 and 18 microns which exist for other silicates as well, could be used for a detection of cosmic cement. We compare calculated bands with the 14 microns features in the spectra of HD 45677, HD 44179, and IRC+10420 which were observed by Infrared Space Observatory and classified as remaining. High abundance of oxygen atoms in cementitious nanoparticles could partially explain observed depletion of this element from the interstellar medium into dust grains.

Comments:

accepted for publication in MNRAS

Subjects:

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR); Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA); Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci); Atomic and Molecular Clusters (physics.atm-clus)

Cite as:

arXiv:1404.7392 [astro-ph.SR] (or arXiv:1404.7392v1 [astro-ph.SR] for this version)

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Do cement nanoparticles exist in space ?

Can you exercise your way to youthful skin?

Health Advisor is a regular column where contributors share their knowledge in fields ranging from fitness to psychology, pediatrics to aging. Follow us @Globe_Health.

If you need a nudge toward the gym or your running shoes, science has delivered yet another reason your skin.

According to new research, exercise may prove to be the best kept anti-aging secret for youthful skin. We have long appreciated the benefits of regular exercise on our heart, brain, bone and muscle, but now it appears that exercise may also keep your skin youthful as well.

Facial aging and skin deterioration are the undeniable rites of passage with aging. With time, the skin ages with the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, pigmentation, loss of elasticity and textural changes.

Despite the certainty of these changes, scientists are still unsettled on the causes. Over the past decade there has been a shift in our understanding of the causes of facial aging. What we once thought was a process of stretching and sagging, we now know has much more to do with deflation and deterioration.

Using powerful microscopes to magnify skin and wrinkles and better understand the cellular changes underpinning aging, detailed scientific surveys have shown that all layers from the deep subcutaneous tissues (bone, fat, muscle) to the soft tissue matrix of the dermis and epidermis (including collagen and elastin fibres) deflate and deteriorate as we age.

The loss of structural support leads to deflation and the appearance of deep folds and those infamous jowls. While these living skin layers thin dramatically, the outermost layer, the stratum corneum, comprised of dead cells, grows thicker. As a result, aging skin becomes more coarse, dehydrated and lax.

Researchers from McMaster University have found that in mice models, regular exercise has been shown to stave off and reverse the signs of early aging. As compared to sedentary mice, those given access to running wheels maintained healthier brains, hearts, muscles, reproductive organs and fur over a longer period of time.

The active mices fur did not grey and they did not develop furrows and wrinkles. In mice, exercise was having a beneficial impact on preventing and reversing common signs of aging.

Not all mouse models bear true in humans. The McMaster anti-aging exercise study recalls another mouse model that showed age reversal with rejuvenative effects on tissue and reproductive potential. Repeated mice studies showed that caloric restriction in aging female mice stopped reproductive aging, diminished the appearance of fat depots, wrinkles, greying of the fur, and prevented diabetes, heart disease and bone loss. Caloric restriction, though, did not prove a successful anti-aging strategy in human subjects.

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Can you exercise your way to youthful skin?