Amazing images from the Cassini spacecraft

Some great images from the Cassini spacecraft have been released by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

An image of Saturn captured by the Cassini spacecraft (click on image to see full resolution)

Image Title: “Angling Saturn”

Date Captured: 15th June, 2012

Image size: 1020×1020 pixels

Image Scale: 17km per pixel

Details: This is an image of Saturn with its moon Enceladus, some 504km across, appearing in the bottom right hand corner of the image as a bright speck.

More Information: Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA)

An image of Saturn’s moon Titan, captured by the Cassini spacecraft (click on image to see full resolution)

Image Title: “Polar Vortex in Color”

Date Captured: 25th July, 2012

Image size: 652×1239 pixels

Image Scale: 6km per pixel

Details: Cassini observes a recently formed vortex at Titan’s south pole.  This is a natural colour image constructed from images taken with red, green and blue spectral filters.

More Information: Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA)

A closeup of Titan’s southern polar vortex, captured by the Cassini spacecraft (click on image to see full resolution)

Image Title: “Titan’s Colorful South polar Vortex”

Date Captured: 27th June, 2012

Image size: 479×515 pixels

Image Scale: 3km per pixel

Details: This natural colour image shows the swirling vortex occupying Titan’s south pole.  Titan has a diameter of 5,150km.

More Information: Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA)

An image of Titan looking from the night side, captured by the Cassini spacecraft (click on image to see full resolution)

Image Title: “A Ring of Color”

Date Captured: Unknown

Image size: 914×914 pixels

Image Scale: 13km per pixel

Details: Looking back towards Cassini from its night side, sunlight is visible scattering through Titan’s atmosphere.

More Information: Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA)

Learn more about the Cassini scpacecraft and Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn @ NASA

Bringing the science into science fiction

Space warfare in science fiction is often analogous with naval  warfare (image source: Wikimedia)

Michael Peck at Foreign Policy has a great interview with naval analyst Chris Weuve about space warfare.  Chris talks about warfare operating mediums (physical environment) that different military machinery operate within and covers notions such as “history, hiding and hydrodynamics”, among other very intersting things.  If you like your sci-fi television shows, movies or books, this interview is a must read!

Get your fill @ Foreign Policy

Cells to get DNA cellular connection dubbed ‘Bi-Fi’

Is this the next technology revolution? (image source: Shelf Company X)

Researchers at Standford University have developed a method for increasing information flow between cells according to Andrew Myers from Stanford University’s School of Medicine.  By modifying a virus, Monica Oritz, and Stanford bioengineering assistant professor, Drew Endy, have been able to increase the complexity and volume of information flowing between cells in what the researchers dub ‘Bi-Fi’.  In what sounds like the perfect plot device for a Hollywood doomsday movie,

“M13 is a packager of genetic messages. It reproduces within its host, taking strands of DNA — strands that engineers can control — wrapping them up one by one and sending them out encapsulated within proteins produced by M13 that can infect other cells. Once inside the new hosts, they release the packaged DNA message.”

The advantage of DNA is that the message can contain any sort of genetic instruction, whereas other biological processes are more limited to basic notions of more, less and none, such as with sugars.

Cells infected with M13 have been able to communicate over a distance of over 7cm in a gelatinous medium with DNA strands containing 40,000 base pairs.  This capability will allow bioengineers to create complex multicellular communities which can be applied to the development of biosynthetic factories that produce pharmaceuticals and other complex biological products such as fuels.

In the future, the researchers hope to use ‘Bi-Fi’ to allow complex 3D programming that can regenerate body tissue or organs.

Either this is going to be amazing, or utterly terrifying.

Read more @ Stanford School of Medicine

Watch SpaceX Oct 7 launch on NASA tv (Aus time now included)(UPDATED)

The ISS robotic arm guides SpaceX’s Dragon module for attachment to the station (image source: NASA via SpaceX)

In a few days, SpaceX will launch its first ‘official’ commercial flight to the International Space Station (ISS) with a Falcon 9 rocket after successfully conducting a test mission earlier this year.  SpaceX, who holds a resupply contract with NASA, plans to launch the Falcon 9 rocket on Oct 7, at 8:34pm EDT (Oct 8, at 10:34am in Australia), with around 400kg of resupply goods on board, which includes materials for over 60 new experiments.  Rendezvous with the ISS should occur Oct 10.

If your keen to watch the launch or docking of the SpaceX Dragon module live, click the link below.

(UPDATED: Corrected description of rocket from Dragon 9 to Falcon 9)

NASA TV HERE

Silicon may be replaced by graphene in semiconductors

An illustration of graphene from Wikipedia

The Research Council of Norway has announced the development of a method to produce semiconductors with graphene instead of silicon.  In what is expected to lower manufacturing costs of semiconductor components, graphene will also allow hundreds of times thinner and stronger designs.  Dr Weman from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology says that due to graphene’s transparency and pliability characteristics, that graphene

 “may bring about a revolution in the production of solar cells and LED components. Windows in traditional houses could double as solar panels or a TV screen. Mobile phone screens could be wrapped around the wrist like a watch. In short, the potential is tremendous.”

Graphene is a single networked layer of carbon atoms that are arranged in an hexagonal pattern that is not affected by temperature or light.  By bombarding graphene with gallium atoms and arsenic molecules, a series of nanowires are grown creating a nanowire network on the graphene, which turns it into a hybrid material semiconductor.

Companies such as IBM and Samsung have shown interest in producing semiconductors with graphene.

Read more @ The Research Council of Norway

ANNOUNCEMENT: Prison Architect

Ever wanted to design and run your own prison?  It seems like the natural thing to aspire to if you have a love of criminology and architecture.  But if you don’t want to spend 7 or 8 years of your life studying these things to have a crack at the big job, how about just playing Prison Architect?  This game is in alpha now and ready to take your money and give you perks, such as becoming a prisoner or warden.  Check the video below.