Coca-Cola Returns Soda to Outer Space in New Olympics Ad

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A new Olympics-themed Coca-Cola commercial features the International Space Station while recycling the soft drink company's own history in space.

The minute-long TV ad, which shows a U.S. astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut aboard the orbiting outpost watching their two nations going head-to-head in an Olympic hockey match on Earth, includes the return of the special can that Coca-Cola designed for a 1985 space shuttle mission.

The commercial may have drawn inspiration from the real-life journey of an Olympic torch to the International Space Station (ISS) last November. The same torch was used to light the cauldron as a part of the opening ceremony of the 22nd Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

The advertisement shows the two jersey-clad crewmates rooting for their respective teams while sipping from valve-capped Coke cans. When the U.S. scores, the cosmonaut reacts by spilling out his soda in a fit of frustration. In the microgravity environment of space, the soft drink floats off in spherical blobs and bubbles. [Watch now: Coca-Colas ISS TV commercial]

The scene then switches pace, underscored by the use of the "Light Calvary Overture" by Austrian composer Franz von Supp, as the two station residents quickly float off to catch as much of the soda with their mouths. The rivalry gives way to camaraderie as the cosmonaut swoops in to avoid the carbonated drink from shorting out an exposed electronics panel at the far end of the module.

The clip, while fictional, is not too far from reality.

"I think there will be some friendly competition, especially if the Russian and U.S. hockey teams meet head to head. That would always be interesting," NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio said from the real International Space Station during a recent interview with Space.com.

Just as is shown in Coca-Cola's commercial, Mastracchio and his crewmates are able to watch the Olympic games via video uplinked by NASA's Mission Control in Houston.

"We will have some of the Olympic events sent up to us, tape delayed, but we will also get some live," Mastracchio said. "On the weekends, they'll often uplink a TV station, and of course we'll ask for the Olympic events to be sent."

The crew doesn't have to have to worry about spilling their Cokes, however the space station is soda free. While Mastracchio and his five Expedition 38 crewmates have other drinks they can sip from, including juice and coffee, the Coca-Cola Company's plans to launch a zero-g Coke machine fizzled out in the mid-1990s.

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Coca-Cola Returns Soda to Outer Space in New Olympics Ad

Image: Solar array panels on Russian segment of space station

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1 hour ago Credit: NASA

Solar array panels on the Russian segment of the International Space Station and a blue and white part of Earth are photographed by an Expedition 38 crew member while the crew watches for the arrival of the ISS Progress 54 cargo spacecraft, loaded with 2.8 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the station crew.

The new Progress, which docked to the station at 5:22 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Feb. 5, is loaded with 1,764 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen, 926 pounds of water and 2,897 pounds of spare parts, experiment hardware and other supplies.

Progress 54 is slated to spend about two months docked to the complex before departing to make way for ISS Progress 55.

Explore further: Image: Mars Express orbiter reveals overflowing craters

(Phys.org) -- In this photo taken from the International Space Station, the European Space Agencys Automated Transfer Vehicle-3 (ATV-3) is seen on approach for docking. The unmanned cargo spacecraft ...

A Russian Progress spacecraft loaded with more than 2.5 tons of supplies and equipment docked with the International Space Station at 1:10 a.m. EDT Tuesday.

A new Russian Progress cargo spaceship was being prepared Monday for its launch later this week to the International Space Station.

The International Space Station crew was preparing for the arrival of a new Progress freighter spacecraft that will deliver more than 2.5 tons of supplies.

A Russian Progress cargo vessel successfully docked with the International Space Station on Wednesday after its launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, mission control said.

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Image: Solar array panels on Russian segment of space station

syria-homs-crisis-red-cross-reuters-100214.JPG

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February 10, 2014

Syrian Arab Red Crescent trucks stand in the besieged neighbourhoods of Homs to supply humanitarian aid, February 8, 2014. Reuters pic, February 10, 2014.Aid teams evacuated hundreds of exhausted civilians from besieged Homs city yesterday, as Syria's regime and rebels again accused each other of violating a truce ahead of new peace talks.

The evacuation of around 600 of the 3,000 trapped people came as representatives from both sides converged on Geneva.

Yesterday's evacuation was the second in three days after a UN-brokered truce for besieged districts of Syria's third city began on Friday.

Five men were killed when one besieged district was hit by mortar fire during yesterday's evacuation, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

They were the latest deaths in a nearly three-year conflict that has killed 136,000 people and displaced millions.

The Observatory and the Syrian Red Crescent said some 600 people had been evacuated from the Old City of Homs yesterday.

The Red Crescent said on Facebook "around 600 people evacuated today, registration is still ongoing".

"We managed to get 60 food parcels & 1500Kg of flour inside old city."

The Observatory said 611 were brought out "210 women, 180 children, 91 men over 55 years old and 130 young men who surrendered to Syrian authorities under UN supervision," adding the men "will be released soon".

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Finden Ihr einen Planeten? Nasa erstellt grte Himmelskarte der Welt im Internet – Video

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Finden Ihr einen Planeten? Nasa erstellt grte Himmelskarte der Welt im Internet
http://focus.de/videos - Die Nasa hat eine der grten Himmelskarten der Welt ins Netz gestellt. Zivilpersonen knnen diese auf der Suche nach bislang unentd...

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Finden Ihr einen Planeten? Nasa erstellt grte Himmelskarte der Welt im Internet - Video

NASA just made moon mining a real possibility

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Weve heard enthusiastic talk of space asteroid mining missions before, but these ambitious plans could be one step closer to becoming a reality after NASA announced that its began accepting applications from private enterprises to fund such missions in return for access to the moons resources.

If theres one thing that weve learned from science fiction, its that financial gain is one of the biggest driving forces behind space exploration. And the moon could potentially inspire the first lunar gold rush for an element known as helium-3, which could one day revolutionize the energy industry.

NASAs project is known as CATALYST (Cargo Transportation and Landing by Soft Touchdown), and will be entirely dependent on private sector financing. The idea is that NASA will work with private companies like Virgin Galactic to develop (relatively) affordable methods of transport to and from the moon. Companies that fund the project could be given first dibs at extracting minerals from the moon, whilst helping to expedite new exploration and science missions on the lunar surface.

The project is NASAs way of getting around never-ending cutbacks in its budget. In the future, the agency is expected to outsource more of its work to commercial entities, in return for its expertise.

Anyone who can return to the moon would stand to make an absolute fortune. Among the valuable minerals scientists believe can be extracted from its surface is helium-3, an element thats incredibly rare on Earth. When combined with deuterium, a so-called heavy hydrogen thats abundant in our oceans, helium-3 becomes a very effective fuel for nuclear fusion that could potentially revolutionize the energy industry, affording us clean energy for very little cost.

One of the biggest proponents of moon mining has been Naveen Jain, the founder of Moon Express, a space company thats also competing for the Google Lunar X Prize and the chance to extract minerals from the lunar surface.

In an interview with Wired.com last year, Jain pointed out that humans already possess the technology and the experience to reach the moon. After all, NASA did just that more than forty years ago now throw in the financial resources of believers like him, and theres little to stop us from returning.

We fight over minerals and fuel here on Earth, said Jain.

All those things are plentiful in space. We must be able to create more of what we need and change to a mindset of abundance rather than one of scarcity.

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NASA just made moon mining a real possibility

NASA joins 3D manufacturing bandwagon

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NASA has looked into 3D printing, also called additive manufacturing, to fill its unique requirements for highly customized spacecraft and instrument components. According to the organization, the process offers a compelling alternative to more traditional manufacturing approaches.

"We're not driving the additive manufacturing train, industry is," said Ted Swanson, the assistant chief for technology for the mechanical systems division at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Swanson is the center's point-of-contact for additive manufacturing. "But NASA has the ability to get on-board to leverage it for our unique needs."

Led by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, the agency has launched a number of formal programs to prototype new tools for current and future missions using this emerging manufacturing technique. Additive manufacturing involves computer-aided device, or CAD, models and sophisticated printers that literally deposit successive layers of metal, plastic or some other material until they are complete.

Goddard technologists Ted Swanson and Matthew Showalter hold a 3D-printed battery-mounting plate developed specifically for a sounding-rocket mission. The component is the first additive-manufactured device Goddard has flown in space. (Image Credit: NASA)

In addition to the U.S. Air Force, DOE, NIST and NSF, NASA is part of the government team investing in, America Makes, formerly known as the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, a public-private partnership created to transition this exciting technology into mainstream U.S. manufacturing.

America Makes is part of the National Manufacturing Initiative, a forward-leaning effort that recognizes our economy requires an advanced, globally competitive manufacturing sector that invents and makes high-value-added products and leading-edge technologies here in the U.S.

"NASA's work with additive manufacturing should enable us to be smart buyers and help us save time, expense and mass," said LaNetra Tate, the advanced-manufacturing principal investigator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate's Game Changing Development Program. "With additive manufacturing, we have an opportunity to push the envelope on how this technology might be used in zero gravity, how we might ultimately manufacture in space."

As a result of these efforts and others sponsored around the agency, teams of NASA engineers and scientists are investigating how their instruments and missions might benefit from an industry that actually began more than two decades ago, with the introduction of the world's first 3D system.

"This effort really goes beyond one center," said Matt Showalter, who is overseeing Goddard's disparate 3D printing efforts. Showalter believes Goddard technologists and scientists will benefit most from collaborations with others also investigating the technology's benefits. "It's in the national interest to collaborate with other institutions. This is a powerful tool and we need to look at how we can implement it. For us, it's a team effort."

This battery case, created with a material called Polyetherketoneketone, is the first 3D-printed component Goddard has flown. Developed under a university-industry partnership, the part was demonstrated during a sounding-rocket mission testing a thermal-control device developed with R&D funding. (Image Credit: NASA)

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NASA Mars Orbiters Find Strongest Evidence Of Possible Liquid Water In Seasonal Dark Flows [PHOTOS]

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Recurring Slope Lineae appear during warmer weather on Mars and could be a possible indicator of liquid water. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

According to the space agency, dark flows, or RSL, are thin markings seen on some slopes on Mars during warmer temperatures. These seasonal lines disappear in the Martian winter and only occur in a few areas of the planet. While the researchers cannot conclusively say the RSL are the result of seasonal liquid water running down Martian slopes during the summer, all the evidence suggests the presence of liquid water.

Lead author Lujendra Ojha, a graduate student at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said in a statement, We still don't have a smoking gun for existence of water in RSL, although we're not sure how this process would take place without water.

Ojhas team observed 13 RSL sites using the MROs Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) instrument and the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. The researchers discovered iron-containing minerals, with different oxidation states, in the RSL sites with levels that increased during warmer weather.

Any explanation for these seasonal changes in mineral levels requires water, notes NASA. The darkening could be due to moisture or an increase in ferric minerals, iron-containing material with a higher oxidation state than ferrous minerals. The source of these seasonal dark flows may be near-surface water that did not freeze due to the presence of salt.

The CRISM data is mapped over the HiRISE image with purple/pink areas indicating a ferric mineral reading NASA/JPL-Caltech/UA/JHU-APL

RSL vary year-to-year and the next step in finding liquid water on Mars may require forecasting models that can predict wet areas. James Wray, from Georgia Tech, said in a statement, "NASA likes to 'follow the water' in exploring the Red Planet, so we'd like to know in advance when and where it will appear. RSL have rekindled our hope of accessing modern water, but forecasting wet conditions remains a challenge.

Alfred McEwan, from the University of Arizona in Tucson, had previously discovered RSL near the Martian equator. The new research builds off his findings and adds new RSL sites as well as a spectral analysis of these areas. Ojhas spectral analysis of RSL using MROs CRISM instrument will be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The observation of candidate RSL sites and the discovery of new RSL sites using the HiRISE camera will be published in the journal Icarus.

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NASA Mars Orbiters Find Strongest Evidence Of Possible Liquid Water In Seasonal Dark Flows [PHOTOS]

FATE OF NANO-TECHNOLOGY IN NIGERIA – Term Papers – Juliustip

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Nanotechnology is the Science and technology of materials and appliances that of the size of a billionthof a meter (precisely nanometer = 10 -9 meter, 10 Angstroms). This situation has been described by C.N. Rao, FRS, a distinguished world renowned Professor, as akin to having 1000 CDs in a wristwatch.

In other words, Nanotechnology is the creation and utilization of materials, devices, and systems through the control of matter on the nanometer-length scale. That is, at the level of atoms, molecules, and supermolecular structures. It is a highly multidisciplinary field, drawing from fields such as colloidal science, device physics and supramolecular chemistry. Nanotechnology is one of the emerging technology areas where Nigeria is lacking in expertise. It is classified in the same group as ICT and biotechnology. Already, the technology is being used in advanced economies of the WEST and SOUTH-EAST Asia, to create high technology industries in areas of electronics, medicine, development of new materials and space. Nanotechnology has been identified as one of the technologies of the technologies of the future for Nigeria. This is therefore the time to key into the global network of research and development efforts. NASENI has been charged with this responsibility.

The technology has potential applications in energy, medicine (diagnosis and treatment of diseases and environmental ills), nano-porous materials for water filtration, agriculture, electronics etc. Currently, a road map and business plan for the successful take off of Nigeria's Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials Programme is being drawn whichare in the areas of Nanomedicine, Nanoelectronics and Nano Structured and Nanoporous materials. A National Centre for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials is being established to be located under NASENI. Under the Nigerian Nanotechnology Initiatives, the programmes currently running includes: *. NASENI's Nanoparticle Production Workshop and Training... [continues]

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FATE OF NANO-TECHNOLOGY IN NIGERIA - Term Papers - Juliustip

Genomic Medicine in Pediatric Patients – Obstacles & Future Directions (Reaction) – Robert Nussbaum – Video

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Genomic Medicine in Pediatric Patients - Obstacles Future Directions (Reaction) - Robert Nussbaum
January 22, 2014 - Future Directions for the eMERGE Network More: http://www.genome.gov/27555919.

By: GenomeTV

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Genomic Medicine in Pediatric Patients - Obstacles & Future Directions (Reaction) - Robert Nussbaum - Video