JULIANA’S WORLD TRAVEL AND TOURS: Celebrity Millenium-Seopjikoji, Jeju, South Korea – Video

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JULIANA #39;S WORLD TRAVEL AND TOURS: Celebrity Millenium-Seopjikoji, Jeju, South Korea
Seopjikoji means #39;narrow cape #39; in Korean, and this was the filming location for the popular drama All In, hence its reputation as a popular tourist and local...

By: Nessa Hall

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JULIANA'S WORLD TRAVEL AND TOURS: Celebrity Millenium-Seopjikoji, Jeju, South Korea - Video

How ants in space could help researchers build a better robot

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Jan. 24, 2014 - 4:33 PM PST Jan. 24, 2014 - 4:33 PM PST

On January 12, the International Space Station crew unloaded the recently-arrived Antares rocket, which contained precious cargo like food, spare parts and tiny satellites. Along for the ride was a colony of ants with a very unique purpose: to demonstrate how the ever-efficient insects adapt to life in microgravity.

If youve ever had an ant invasion in your home, you know this pattern: A single ant finds a source of nourishment and then turns into a milling mass of ants ferrying food back to the colony. Meanwhile, individual ants fan out to investigate the rest of the room.

These behaviors do not come from the queen or some other central force. Instead, they are built on innate algorithms that ants developed over millions of years, according to Stanford University. Ants have poor vision, so they rely on smell and touch for guidance while exploring. When the number of ants is more dense, they are more likely to touch each other, which triggers them to explore in tight spirals. If they run into a low number of other ants, they walk in a straight line. This combination means that they spend more time thoroughly exploring an area that is interesting enough to attract other ants and cover a lot of ground while exploring other regions.

Its a system that interests robotics researchers. If a fleet of robots is exploring a collapsed building, they can work more quickly if they dont have to rely on a central commander to tell them where to go.

But what happens if you disrupt the very basis of the ants communication system? Stanford University researchers decided to answer the question by sending ants into space, where low gravity would alter how many times they encounter other ants. About 70 ants were placed in a container that shifted in size to reveal different behaviors.

Stanford biology professor Deborah Gordon

In microgravity, the struggle to walk interferes with interactions, in particular the relation between density and interaction rate, said biology professor Deborah Gordon, who designed the experiment. Thus each ant has less information about density, and so less information to influence its path shape and searching behavior.

How the ants react could inform robot behavior in scenarios where radio communications have been interrupted. If its smoky or dusty and they can no longer communicate, the robots could develop a new system on the spot that still allows them to search an area thoroughly and efficiently.

Gordon, whose interest in ants began with a broader interest in central control-free systems like brains and embryos, said it is very exciting to send an experiment to the ISS. Her team will now study video from the ants time aboard the space station to work out how they responded to microgravity.

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Mission Milestone Passed By NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope

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January 25, 2014

Image Caption: Artist's impression of the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: Northrop Grumman

J.D. Harrington and Lynn Chandler NASA

NASAs James Webb Space Telescope has passed its first significant mission milestone for 2014 a Spacecraft Critical Design Review (SCDR) that examined the telescopes power, communications and pointing control systems.

This is the last major element-level critical design review of the program, said Richard Lynch, NASA Spacecraft Bus Manager for the James Webb Space Telescope at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. What that means is all of the designs are complete for the Webb and there are no major designs left to do.

During the SCDR, the details, designs, construction and testing plans, and the spacecrafts operating procedures were subjected to rigorous review by an independent panel of experts. The week-long review involved extensive discussions on all aspects of the spacecraft to ensure the plans to finish construction would result in a vehicle that enables the powerful telescope and science instruments to deliver their unique and invaluable views of the universe.

While the spacecraft that carries the science payload for Webb may not be as glamorous as the telescope, its the heart that enables the whole mission, said Eric Smith, acting program director and program scientist for the Webb Telescope at NASA Headquarters in Washington. By providing many services including telescope pointing and communication with Earth, the spacecraft is our high tech infrastructure empowering scientific discovery.

Goddard Space Flight Center manages the mission. Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, Calif., leads the design and development effort.

Our Northrop Grumman team has worked exceptionally hard to meet this critical milestone on an accelerated schedule, following the replan, said Scott Willoughby, Northrop Grumman vice president and James Webb Space Telescope program manager in Redondo Beach, Calif. This is a huge step forward in our progress toward completion of the Webb Telescope.

The James Webb Space Telescope, successor to NASAs Hubble Space Telescope, will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. It will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the first galaxies formed and see unexplored planets around distant stars. The Webb telescope is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

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Mission Milestone Passed By NASA's James Webb Space Telescope

Space flight ban on Chinese tourists

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On the 10th of January 2014, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo completed it's third powered test flight. Courtesy: Virgin Galactic

CHINESE nationals have been banned from boarding Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space flights - in case they steal the rocket technology.

Tycoons from China have been told they cannot be among the space tourists because of anti-espionage regulations in the US, from where the British firm's first commercial flights are due to take off later this year.

Sir Richard Branson dons the space suit travellers will wear on their galactic adventure aboard Virgin Galactic flights into space. Source: News Limited

Ironically, the ban comes as Britain opens its doors to Chinese involvement in the nuclear and telecom industries and considers asking China to build the new high-speed rail network.

But because Virgin's craft has a rocket engine, it is seen as potentially military technology by the US's International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

These rules, introduced in the Cold War, bar people from countries such as China, Iran and North Korea from having access to weapons technology.

The restriction freezes out a huge market in China, where wealthy entrepreneurs are willing to pay the $250,000 ticket price for a space flight. Some 600 people worldwide have already put down deposits.

"We have had calls from people in China but we have to tell them we can't accept them if they only have a Chinese passport," said a Virgin Galactic salesman based in Hong Kong.

"We advise them on how they can make themselves eligible for a space tour. For example, they can get another nationality's passport or they can apply for a (US) Green Card."

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Space flight ban on Chinese tourists

Central Red Devils capture EM Class C cheerleading title

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BANGOR, Maine When the Central High School cheerleading team is performing, there are 20 girls dancing, jumping and tumbling around the mat.

While that means there is more potential for a catastrophic mistake, the Red Devils instead showed Saturday afternoon that there is strength in their considerable numbers.

Central of Corinth demonstrated energy, precision and overall cohesiveness while taking home the Maine Principals Association Eastern Maine Class C cheerleading championship at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

The Red Devils racked up 127.4 points to register a comfortable victory over runner-up Narraguagus of Harrington, which scored 113.3 points, and third-place Houlton (109.8).

So much could go wrong, but we practice so much, said Central senior co-captain Melyssa Prescott.

We have a lot of different stunts this year, like our waterfalls, she added. We use everyone in our pyramid and not a lot of teams do it.

Sumner of East Sullivan (108.8), Orono (106.4) and Dexter (102.7) were the other three teams to earn spots in the state championships, which are scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 8, at the Augusta Civic Center.

The other scores were: Bucksport 101, Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln 99, Washington Academy of East Machias 90.5, Calais 87.9, Penquis of Milo 84, Lee Academy 83.8 and George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill 54.

More than 2,500 fans turned out to watch the days three competitions in Classes B, C and D.

Central, directed by co-coaches Cristy Strout and Whitney Susee, won the first regional cheering championship for the school. The Red Devils, who tuned up for the Eastern Maine competition by winning the Penobscot Valley Conference crown a week earlier, will try to win their second state championship in three years.

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Central Red Devils capture EM Class C cheerleading title

Red Storm top Butler for third-straight win

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INDIANAPOLIS Butlers first four home games as a member of the Big East Conference had each gone to overtime.

St. Johns saw to it that wouldnt happen again.

JaKarr Sampson scored 20 points and the Red Storm rolled to a 69-52 win on Saturday, St. Johns first win outside of New York City this season.

I thought this was a good win for our team in a tough environment, St. Johns coach Steve Lavin said. Its no secret weve had our struggles in January and to open this conference season.

I think today we took a step in the right direction.

Rysheed Jordan added 16 points and DAngelo Harrison scored 12 for the Red Storm (12-8, 2-5), who have won three in a row and followed Thursdays home win over Seton Hall with its first true road win of the season. St. Johns two victories away from campus had both been at Brooklyns Barclays Center.

The Bulldogs had made extra sessions a part of their first season in the Big East. But their efforts to rally on Saturday were done in by a woeful second half.

Butler (11-9, 1-7) was just 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) from the field in the second half after scorching the Red Storm for 61.9 percent shooting (13-of-21) in the first half.

I felt if we could force a faster tempo, our deeper bench would help us, Lavin said.

Khyle Marshall had 16 points and Kellen Dunham scored 13 for the Bulldogs, whose streak of 18 seasons with at least 10 home wins is in jeopardy. The Bulldogs are 7-4 this year with four home games remaining.

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Red Storm top Butler for third-straight win

Space Dust Possible Source Of Water On Moon And Maybe Even Life On Other Planets

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Researchers from the University of Hawaii, Manoa, the University of California, Berkeley, and Californias Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used state-of-the-art electron microscopes to get a close-up look at particles of interplanetary space dust. What they found was that solar wind radiation had changed the outer rims on the silicate minerals in space dust to water, something scientists previously believed to be the case but werent able to prove because of limited technology.

Their study, published in the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concluded that the water found on interplanetary dust forms from the reaction of solar wind and oxygen in the silicate mineral grains. Solar wind, which bombards the particles with ionized hydrogen atoms, reorganized the atoms in the dust particles, leaving oxygen more available to react with hydrogen to create water. Researchers say the implications of finding water on the rims of space dust are huge.

It is a thrilling possibility that this influx of dust has acted as a continuous rainfall of little reaction vessels containing both the water and organics needed for the eventual origin of life on Earth and possibly Mars, study co-author Hope Ishii, a researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, said in a statement.

Interplanetary dust, the tiny particles left over from the formation of planets, comets and asteroids, measure just a few molecules to .1 micrometers in size. Scientists have estimated that about 40,000 tons of space dust reaches the Earths surface every year.

In 2011, researchers first reported that interplanetary dust contains organic matter created by stars. The chemical structures of the organic material mirrored the makeup of coal and petroleum.

Such chemical complexity was thought to arise only from living organisms, but the results of the new study show that these organic compounds can be created in space even when no life forms are present, Space.com noted in 2011. In fact, such complex organics could be produced naturally by stars, and at an extremely rapid pace.

If space dust is carrying organic matter and water all over the solar system, scientists may be able to pinpoint the beginning of life on other planets using this model, or even prove that life on earth came from outer space.

"In no way do we suggest that [water formation on space dust] was sufficient to form oceans, for example, Ishii said. "However, the relevance of our work is not the origin of the Earth's oceans but that we have shown continuous, co-delivery of water and organics intimately intermixed."

The results of the teams research could offer an explanation for measurements of the Moon that discovered OH and preliminary water deep beneath the surface.

Scientists have always assumed the moon was a dry, waterless wasteland. With no atmosphere, sunlight decomposes water vapor and hydrogen is quickly lost to outer space. But since the 1960s, scientists have surmised that water in the form of ice could, theoretically, exist on the moons surface, hiding in the shadows of the Moons craters.

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Space Dust Possible Source Of Water On Moon And Maybe Even Life On Other Planets

Space dust capable of carrying water and organic compounds to planets like Earth

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Washington, Jan. 25 : Researchers have discovered that interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) can deliver water and organics to the Earth and other terrestrial planets.

Interplanetary dust, dust that has come from comets, asteroids, and leftover debris from the birth of the solar system, continually rains down on the Earth and other Solar System bodies. These particles are bombarded by solar wind, predominately hydrogen ions.

This ion bombardment knocks the atoms out of order in the silicate mineral crystal and leaves behind oxygen that is more available to react with hydrogen, for example, to create water molecules.

Co-author Hope Ishii, new Associate Researcher in the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) at UHM SOEST, said that it is a thrilling possibility that this influx of dust has acted as a continuous rainfall of little reaction vessels containing both the water and organics needed for the eventual origin of life on Earth and possibly Mars.

This mechanism of delivering both water and organics simultaneously would also work for exoplanets, worlds that orbit other stars. These raw ingredients of dust and hydrogen ions from their parent star would allow the process to happen in almost any planetary system.

Using a state-of-the-art transmission electron microscope, the scientists have now actually detected water produced by solar-wind irradiation in the space-weathered rims on silicate minerals in interplanetary dust particles.

Futher, on the bases of laboratory-irradiated minerals that have similar amorphous rims, they were able to conclude that the water forms from the interaction of solar wind hydrogen ions (H+) with oxygen in the silicate mineral grains.

--ANI (Posted on 26-01-2014)

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Space dust capable of carrying water and organic compounds to planets like Earth

Interplanetary dust particles could deliver water and organics to jump-start life on Earth

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Researchers from the University of Hawaii -- Manoa (UHM) School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and University of California -- Berkeley discovered that interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) could deliver water and organics to Earth and other terrestrial planets.

Interplanetary dust, dust that has come from comets, asteroids, and leftover debris from the birth of the solar system, continually rains down on Earth and other Solar System bodies. These particles are bombarded by solar wind, predominately hydrogen ions. This ion bombardment knocks the atoms out of order in the silicate mineral crystal and leaves behind oxygen that is more available to react with hydrogen, for example, to create water molecules.

"It is a thrilling possibility that this influx of dust has acted as a continuous rainfall of little reaction vessels containing both the water and organics needed for the eventual origin of life on Earth and possibly Mars," said Hope Ishii, new Associate Researcher in the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) at UHM SOEST and co-author of the study. This mechanism of delivering both water and organics simultaneously would also work for exoplanets, worlds that orbit other stars. These raw ingredients of dust and hydrogen ions from their parent star would allow the process to happen in almost any planetary system.

Implications of this work are potentially huge: Airless bodies in space such as asteroids and the Moon, with ubiquitous silicate minerals, are constantly being exposed to solar wind irradiation that can generate water. In fact, this mechanism of water formation would help explain remotely sensed data of the Moon, which discovered OH and preliminary water, and possibly explains the source of water ice in permanently shadowed regions of the Moon.

"Perhaps more exciting," said Ishii, "interplanetary dust, especially dust from primitive asteroids and comets, has long been known to carry organic carbon species that survive entering the Earth's atmosphere, and we have now demonstrated that it also carries solar-wind-generated water. So we have shown for the first time that water and organics can be delivered together."

It has been known since the Apollo-era, when astronauts brought back rocks and soil from the Moon, that solar wind causes the chemical makeup of the dust's surface layer to change. Hence, the idea that solar wind irradiation might produce water-species has been around since then, but whether it actually does produce water has been debated. The reasons for the uncertainty are that the amount of water produced is small and it is localized in very thin rims on the surfaces of silicate minerals so that older analytical techniques were unable to confirm the presence of water.

Using a state-of-the-art transmission electron microscope, the scientists have now actually detected water produced by solar-wind irradiation in the space-weathered rims on silicate minerals in interplanetary dust particles. Futher, on the bases of laboratory-irradiated minerals that have similar amorphous rims, they were able to conclude that the water forms from the interaction of solar wind hydrogen ions (H+) with oxygen in the silicate mineral grains.

This recent work does not suggest how much water may have been delivered to Earth in this manner from IDPs.

"In no way do we suggest that it was sufficient to form oceans, for example," said Ishii. "However, the relevance of our work is not the origin of the Earth's oceans but that we have shown continuous, co-delivery of water and organics intimately intermixed."

In future work, the scientists will attempt to estimate water abundances delivered to Earth by IDPs. Further, they will explore in more detail what other organic (carbon-based) and inorganic species are present in the water in the vesicles in interplanetary dust rims.

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Interplanetary dust particles could deliver water and organics to jump-start life on Earth