Solar flares, beauty and the Sun

This week marks the celebration of Earth Day on April 22. On this occasion,  I would like to share this amazing video, which gives a greater perspective of what is going on in our Sun. Solar flares are nothing but the ejection of superhot clouds of plasma from the Sun's corona at very high speeds even greater than 1 million miles per hour or simply put, Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). This intense radiation of plasma waves could pose threat to the on-board computer electronics of communication satellites and spacecrafts in its path and can affect the power infrastructure on the surface of these satellites and their navigation systems. It has been three years since NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) orbiting our planet started sending the images of the Sun. We have witnessed several things during this period including intense solar flares, planets transiting the solar face and the amazing solar rain. This video compresses these three years of intense activity into little over 3 minutes. The spacecraft SDO captures the shot of the Sun every 12 seconds in 10 different wavelengths and the images shown in this video are based on a wavelength of 171 Angstroms, and then four synchronized wavelengths of 171, 304, 193, and 4500.

The subtle changes seen in apparent size of the Sun during the course of this video are due to the changes in orbiting distance of SDO from the Sun since SDO orbits the Earth at 6,876 miles per hour while the Earth orbits the Sun at 67,062 miles per hour. The four-wavelength view presented at the end of the video shows light at 4500 Angstroms, the visible light view of the Sun, which highlights the material at 6,000 K and reveal the Sun spots and the photosphere of the Sun; light at 193 Angstroms highlights the material at 1 million Kelvin and reveal the features in the corona, the flare plasma, and the dark areas called coronal holes, where the high-speed solar wind originates; light at 304 Angstroms highlights the material at 50,000 Kelvin and show the features in the chromosphere of the Sun; and light at 171 Angstroms highlights the material at 600,000 Kelvin and reveal the features of the quiet corona. Take a look! Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO

Star Streaks, Earth, & Oceans - DSLR time-lapse images from the International Space Station

Here's an amazing short film produced by the Austrian photographer Christopher Malin featuring a time-lapse photography taken by  Dr. Don Pettit, NASA Austronaut and ISS Astrophotographer, who uses Nikon DSLRs to capture the unique perspective of Earth from aboard the ISS. A tribute to the International Space Station Program, this video combines time-lapse footage as well as the lecture by Dr. Pettit in which he discusses the considerable challenges of photographing from space. Everyone must see this incredibly breathtaking video and I am sure you wouldn't complain what with its scintillating sound background and narration! Take a look. Video credit: Vimeo.

Caffeine enhances memory In Bees!

Honey bee extracting nectar from a flower. Image credit: John
Severns via Creative Commons.

We all know what a cup of coffee can do ^__ it instantly stimulates the body and mind and keeps us mentally alert and awake. The anti-oxidant caffeine present in coffee improves the insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism apart from preventing cell damage. Effects of caffeine on human memory are unclear as some studies indicate caffeine impairs the short-term memory and working memory whereas the others contradict these results. Researchers at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom have found that caffeine boosts the memory in bees. In an article published in this week’s Science magazine, Wright et. al have shown that the honeybees, which received a natural dose of caffeine displayed preferential selection for the nectar present in the flowers when pollinating and were three times more likely to remember a learned floral scent than those which received sucrose alone (Science 8 March 2013: Vol. 339  no. 6124  pp. 1202-1204 ).

Gaint Star Makes Waves In Space

This gaint star Zeta Ophiuchi, a relatively young, located about 370 light-years away, makes waves in the surrounding dust clouds of space, according to NASA experts. Zeta Ophiuchi is about twenty times massive, eight times hotter, and thousands of times brighter than the Sun and travels at a speed of 55,000 miles/hour. This infrared image captured by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveals 'shocking' bow effect produced by this fast moving hot blue star on the surrounding dust clouds seen here as red bow. Credit: NASA.

The ISS and the Spacetalk

The plasma trail of a Russian-built Soyuz TMA-05M space capsule (inset) while re-entering the earth’s atmosphere on Nov’19, 2012. The space capsule landed safely in Arkalyk, a remote town of Kazakhstan bringing back to earth the three astronauts; Commander Sunita Williams, and Flight Engineers Yuri Malenchenko and Aki Hoshide from the International Space Station, ISS. (Right) Astronauts busy constructing the Space Station over New Zealand. Image courtesy: NASA.

November has been the month of space exploration and it was on November 20, 1998 that a first module 'Zarya' was launched into the space and the works began on the assembly of International Space Station (ISS) at an orbital altitude of 350 km; the final assembly of which was only completed last year. The Space Station now enters the fifteenth year of its existence and therefore, it is only appropriate to mark the occasion and comment on what is one of the largest and most complex international projects in the history of mankind. As an outsider looking into the Space and while sifting through the volumes of available information, I was profoundly struck by the enormous progress that has been made in space exploration by the human being and all credit goes to NASA and the Project Team of ISS, which comprises of 16 nations including USA, Russia, Japan, 11 European nations, Canada, and Brazil. Surely, many more surprises are in store as NASA nurtures its ambitious plans to move away from the lower Earth orbit (LEO, an orbit below an altitude of 2000 kms or 1200 miles from Earth) to deep space exploration: Moon,  Mars, and beyond!

Space Station orbits the Earth 16 times a day or once  every 
90 minutes with a speed of  nearly 28,000 km/h. Credit: NASA..

Of late, the project has been mired in a controversy and attracted much criticism from both scientific and political circles alike on the grounds of delays in completion, budgetary overruns, access to the space station and optimal laboratory facilities. This may be untrue because much of the initial phase of ISS has been relegated to the assembly and the research on biomedical, materials science, and the development of space technology for obvious reasons as maintaining the safety, health, and optimum performance of the astronauts and or the space station is of paramount importance and that the human presence in space is vital to any mission success. The achievements cannot be understated as more than 200 research publications have resulted from the direct offshoot of the experiments conducted under microgravity conditions aboard ISS.

Earthrise: Planet Earth rising over the Moon's horizon
captured by the crew of Appollo 8. Image courtesy:NASA

Isn't it high time that the Nobel Committee take a serious look at the unprecedented cooperation between the nations cross continents and the tremendous progress achieved by the multinational Team ISS and award its coveted Peace Prize to the mission. I am sure such a move would send positive signals across the international community and open up new avenues for the exchange of cooperation on a similar scale  between the nations not only in the softer areas of science and technology but also harder aspects of missile defense and guided technologies and in reducing the arsenals of mass destruction thus directly furthering the cause of global peace.

Big Bang Revisited!

This computer animation, created using new software called Arepo, simulates nine billion years of cosmic history. Created by a team at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics (CfA) in collaboration with researchers at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), Arepo can accurately follow the birth and evolution of thousands of galaxies over billions of years. Credit: CfA/UCSD/HITS/

Open Access Explained!

Here's an interesting video on open access journals. It is hilarious and raises some interesting questions on this practice of journals drawing rather expensive research material at no cost from the authors while charging exorbitant subscription fees. The original video is from http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php? comicid=153.  Have a look and draw your own conclusions.

Barack Obama Re-elected As The President Of The United States

Game over! Here's the latest on the US elections. Several leading news channels around the world including "The Big Picture" project Barack Obama's re-election as the  President of the United States. Contrary to predictions, all the talk of a tie, and prolonged election night; even before midnight, it's game over for Mitt Romney.

On Writing Styles

I find this interesting vimeo of an interview with Steven Pinker on writing, wherein he talks about where to begin, style, and the importance of knowing your audience; very informative, analytical, and helpful for all those upcoming writers out there. Steven is Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University and this vimeo is from:  http://www.cambridgenights.com. Here's another Link to his hour-long lecture given at MIT on "Communicating Science and Technology in the 21st Century". Take a look!

Hurricane Sandy Batters U.S. East Coast

Hurricane Sandy moves along the U.S. East Coast and into the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern U.S.(right). Predicted storm surge probabilities in percentages across the cities in the East Coast (left). Courtesy: NASA/NOAA.

Hurricane Sandy slams densely populated East Coast of the United States virtually disrupting the life of nearly 75 million people in its path from North Carolina to New England.  Total shut down is reported in almost eight states including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.  Millions of people are without power. Atlantic City, New Jersey is the hardest hit as most of the city inundated with 3-5 ft flood water per latest reports.  New York City, the city that never sleeps, is completely shut down as nearly 8 million New Yorkers have been ordered to stay home and do nothing.  No local and international flights are going in and out of the city and so do train or bus services.  President Barak Obama cut short his scheduled presidential campaign and returns to White House to oversee the emergency operations.  President later signs the emergency disaster declaration for the eight affected states. Wall street will be shut down for Monday and Tuesday as the financial losses due to hurricane Sandy is estimated at $17.2b with most of the losses are expected from damages due to flooding and storm water inundation of the cities and boroughs across the coastline.