How ‘UFOs’ Curb Black Hole Growth | Basic Space, Scientific American Blog Network

Artist's impression of a galaxy that is releasing material via two particle jets (red/orange) as well as via ultra-fast outflows (grey/blue), both powered by a black hole. Credit: ESA/AOES Medialab

Here is an excellent post about particle jets that take material from around a black hole, (around one solar mass per year) and eject it at speeds of up to 100,000 kilometers per second. It is these outflows that limit a black hole's growth since that material would otherwise be eaten or released via the primary particle jet.

How ‘UFOs’ Curb Black Hole Growth | Basic Space, Scientific American Blog Network:


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The World in 2100 by Michio Kaku

An excellent vision of 2100 by Michio Kaku.  I often think about what life will be like 100 years from now, just think about how different life is from 100 years ago.  Also keep in mind that the rate of scientific advancement is also increasing.

The World in 2100 - NYPOST.com

Image Credit: http://www.space.com/

Makes You Think Twice...

What if humans were twice as intelligent? - Technology & science - Science - LiveScience - msnbc.com:

Would it be a blessing or a curse?
"Experiencing the world with a higher IQ might be more interesting for most people. They might enjoy reading more, might have a greater depth of appreciation for certain things and more insight into life,"  said Richard Haier, a neuroscientist and professor emeritus at the University of California at Irvine who studies intelligence. 


"Intelligence is independent of personality and emotion, so you can have very intelligent people who are also just kind of crazy people," Haier said. "Even if everyone had an IQ of 200, you'd have exactly the same range of personalities as you have now, and because that's a determining factor in how good your society is, you won't necessarily have a better society."  
But it comes with a warning: "The evil corporate villains would be smarter than ever, but so would the government officials who were writing and enforcing the safety regulations! Who would win? Who knows?" he wrote.


I think the good outweighs the bad.  Think of how politics would be changed by a better educated constituency.  What about the effect on science? Or crime.  One good point made by Natalie Wolchover is that there will likely be a distinction between the haves and the have-nots.

Help Kepler Find A Planet!

Similar to the old SETI interface, the Kepler project is using the general public to help them sort through huge amounts of data collected by NASA's Kepler mission.  Just takes 5 minutes to do the tutorial and now even YOU can be a planet hunter!  Check it out:

http://www.planethunters.org/

Image Credit: NASA

Sciguy's Interesting Science News Radio Program

So, I will be on the radio today at 2pm AZ time talking about new science...listen live or download at your leisure: http://goo.gl/ajG5L

X Particle Explains Dark Matter and Antimatter

Two of the fundamental mysteries of physics now has a new theory to explain them both.  The "X-Particle" is a hypothetical particle that is thought to decay into matter and neutrons.  Created by the big bang, the X-particle had a companion particle the Anti-X-particle, which decayed into anti-matter and neutrons.  It is these particles which have decayed into the matter which we can see and the dark matter we cannot.  This theory has proposed new concepts that could explain why dark matter is so prevalent in the universe.

X Particle Explains Dark Matter and Antimatter at the Same Time | Wired Science | Wired.com: "out dark matter is that it is mysterious stuff that makes up a quarter of the energy density of the unive"

Largest 3D Map Of The Night Sky Ever Assembled

This is the largest 3D image of the cosmos that has ever been shown.  With over a trillion pixels, it would require over 500,000 high definition TVs to show in it's entirety.  According to David Shinga of New Scientist; "It is actually a collection of millions of images taken since 1998 with a 2.5-meter telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico. The project, called the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, is now in its third phase, called SDSS-III"

It's thought that this map will be helpful in understanding dark energy, which is believed to comprise 70% of our universe.  It has also helped scientists to discover tiny "dwarf" galaxies that orbit the Milky Way.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19948-most-detailed-image-of-night-sky-unveiled.html

(Image: M. Blanton and SDSS-III)

Are We Inside a Black Hole?

Does the fact that time moves forward mean our universe is inside a black hole?  Interesting theory:


Was our universe born inside a black hole in another universe?


Paper: http://arxiv.org/abs/1007.0587


Credit: By Alasdair Wilkins

BBC News - Neutrino 'ghost particle' sized up by astronomers

Neutrinos are particles that can travel through 1 light year of lead without interacting with any of the lead atoms.  It is extremely small and light and is responsible for a small portion of dark matter.  Professor Lahav believes neutrinos are a minor component of cold dark matter, the mysterious "stuff" which comprises some 25% of the Universe and more than 80% of matter in the Universe.

"The neutrino is squeezed into that slice [of the Universe] that is dark matter. But it probably accounts for less than one percent of that dark matter," he told BBC News.

The neutrino particle comes in three "flavours": muon, tau and electron. In a recent experiment, physicists caught a neutrino in the act of changing from one type to another.

BBC News - Neutrino 'ghost particle' sized up by astronomers

Hubble Ultra Deep Field 3D

A beautiful video made from the Hubble peering into the blackest of black space.

Hubble Ultra Deep Field 3D