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

Ununquadium: Element 114

Named Ununquadium, the latest addition to the periodic table is an artificial radioactive element that is the heaviest know.  The nucleus decays to lead and the element is known to stay stable for approximately 2.6 seconds before decaying.


Element 114 on the brink of recognition - physics-math - 24 June 2010 - New Scientist


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ununquadium


Photo from the Knight Science Journalism Tracker

BBC News - US experiment hints at 'multiple God particles'

The Higgs Boson is the subatomic particle that physicists theorize as the particle responsible for attributing mass.  However, it has yet to be detected. Summer results from Fermilab, the LHC's US rival, suggest physicists could be hunting five particles, not one. The idea of multiple Higgs-like bosons is supported by results gathered by the DZero experiment at the Tevatron particle accelerator

"The DZero results showed much more significant "asymmetry" of matter and anti-matter - beyond what could be explained by the Standard Model.

Bogdan Dobrescu, Adam Martin and Patrick J Fox from Fermilab say this large asymmetry effect can be accounted for by the existence of multiple Higgs bosons."

BBC News - US experiment hints at 'multiple God particles'

Images from CERN, AAAS

Understanding Clouds: How Much Do We Know?

Clouds are more than just the muse of a poet. They play a major role in climate change yet there are still many unanswered questions. Clouds are known to be the result of "a complex interplay of fluid dynamics, turbulence, convection and mixing" that are not exactly scalable or easy to predict.  Click the link below and hear a podcast on what we know and what we don't.


The Complex Physics of Clouds: Scientific American Podcast
Image by Barto