Updated 1st Febuary 2010



“There are two primary choices in life:
to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.”
~ Anonymous

 


Comets, Stars, Galaxies & Supernovas
Distant Galaxies Unlock New Secrets of Dark Matter
To weigh the universe, scientists use two kinds of cosmic scales: one to measure all the regular matter out there, and another to deduce how much invisible dark matter remains hidden underneath.These calculations have been taken further than ever before by a new study that tallied both types of mass in smaller and more distant groups of galaxies than any previous projects. The project found that these faraway galactic clusters have roughly the same proportion of dark matter to regular matter as the closer galaxy groups do.The findings could help astronomers
understand more about dark matter, as well as its even stranger sibling – dark energy.

This image shows the galaxy density in the COSMOS field surveyed by the Hubble Space Telescope, with colors representing the distance of the galaxies. The X-ray contours (in pink) show the extended X-ray emission as observed by the XMM-Newton spacecraft		 .
Light from distant galaxies is stretched by gravitational lensing caused by foreground matter in this Hubble image of the Galaxy Cluster Abell 2218. Similar distortions – called weak lensing – are less obvious, but their widespread nature can help reveal the nature of dark energy.

The Island Galaxy of Pegasus - "What Lies Within?"
Spiral galaxy NGC 7331, located 49 megalight years distant in the constellation Pegasus, is often touted as an analog to our own Milky Way. When the Daily Galaxy staff views the ethereal beauty of the object, we are inspired to wonder: what lies within; what mysteries life forms make this island in the cosmos their home? Since the galaxy's disk is inclined to our line-of-sight, long telescopic exposures often result in an image that evokes a strong sense of depth. The effect is further enhanced in this well-framed view by the galaxies that lie beyond this beautiful island universe.


The Magellanic Stream
Spanning the sky toward the majestic Clouds of Magellan is an unusual stream of gas: the Magellanic Stream. The origin of this gas remains unknown but likely holds a clue to the origin and fate of our Milky Way's most famous satellite galaxies: the LMC and the SMC. Until recently, two leading genesis hypotheses have been considered: that the stream was created by gas stripped off these galaxies as they passed through
the halo of our Milky Way, or that the stream was created by the differential gravitational tug of the Milky Way.


Dark Matter, Black Holes, Pulsars & Quasars
A newfound black hole leftover from the explosion of a star is the most distant yet to be discovered by astronomers. The newly discovered
black hole, which is about 15 times the mass of our sun, is also the second most massive on record.And if that wasn't enough, the black hole is entwined with a star that will also soon become a black hole.Up until now, the only star-mass black holes known to astronomers were
found within the confines of our local cluster of nearby galaxies, the Local Group. These black holes weigh in at up to
10 times the mass of the sun.The newfound black hole is leaving these records in the dust.


Are Black Holes Sucking the Heat Out of Universe?
Supernova-Black Hole Duo Found in Distant Spiral Galaxy
Astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope have detected a stellar-mass black hole much farther away than any other previously known in a spiral galaxy called NGC 300, six million light-years from Earth. With a mass above fifteen times that of the Sun and joined with a star that will soon become a supernova, then a black hole itself. This is also the second most massive stellar-mass black hole ever found. 



The Birthing & Death of Stars
Mystical Beauty of Star Birth
The awesome beauty of the Cocoon Nebula shown here, IC 5146, is the H II region located about 4,000 light years away toward the constellation of Cygnus. The 'II' in H II indicates that the hydrogen gas that enshrouds these young stars is ionized, which is the result of the hot, young stars that have formed recently, and are starting to burn away the cooler gas that condensed to form them.  Based on recent measurements the massive star in the center is believed to have opened a hole in an existing molecular cloud through which much of the glowing material flows. The star, which
formed about 100,000 years ago, provides the energy source for much of the emitted and reflected light from this nebula.


Nebular Currents
Electric Universe theory proposes that most of the Universe is behaving according to the laws of plasma dynamics. In every science
journal discussing the behavior of planetary nebulae, the prevailing description of regions like RWW49 usually involves gases and dust
"blowing" through them, as well as "winds" created by "shock waves" from exploding stars. In many cases, such as RCW49, the nebula
is describedas "star forming," because intense points of x-ray radiation, or extreme ultraviolet, indicate to astronomers
that new thermonuclear fusion reactions have begun within the cloud

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Earth's Moon: Created By a Massive Impact or Natural Nuclear Explosion?
 Was the Moon formed after the impact of a massive object with the Earth, or as a new theory suggests, by a natural nuclear explosion in the Earth's mantle? The problem with the impact hypothesis is that simulations calculate the Moon should be composed of 80% impactor and 20% Earth, whereas in fact the isotope ratios of light and heavy elements found in Moon rocks so far examined are virtually identical to those on Earth.

Earth
The Search for Earth's Twin: Will We Encounter an ET Google?
Columbus forced everyone to rethink, redesign and rebuild their world view.That's what we're doing here. To put it in 15th-century
terms, we've reached the Canary Islands. Getting to where we ultimately want to go is a slow process that involves
astronomers, aeronautical engineers, biochemists, anthropologists and businessmen.

Exploring Deep Space
The Eerie Silence: Should We Be Sending Messages Into Space?
If we should pick up signals from alien civilizations, Stephen Hawking, our century's Einstein, warns: "we should have be wary of answering back, until we have evolved" a bit further. Meeting a more advanced civilization, at our present stage,' Hawking says "might be a bit like the original inhabitants of America meeting Columbus. I don't think they were better off for it."Mankind has always been driven by contradictory drives.  The relentless curiosity that pushes us forward and is directly responsible for our progress from caves to  cities.  The fear of change
that tells us "hang on, these caves/cities are really nice, we don't want to risk losing them."  There isn't any greater potential
threat to the status quo than the discovery of extraterrestrial life, which is why some people would prefer we didn't try.


Daily Updated every 10 minutes
Space Weather for Today
Current Solar Data



Global Warming; Climate; Nature; Geochemistry

Climate
Ozone Healing May Accelerate Global Warming
The Antarctic ozone hole was once regarded as one of the biggest environmental threats, but the discovery of a previously undiscovered
feedback shows that it has instead helped to shield this region from carbon-induced warming over the past two decades, according to
scientists at the University of Leeds.High-speed winds in the area beneath the hole have led to the formation of brighter summertime
clouds, which reflect more of the sun's powerful rays.

Ice in Chinese Ports Exceeding Anything Experienced in 30 years
Freak weather conditions and/or abnormal weather patterns have been reported in several parts of the world during recent months.
One of the most glaring is a freakish build-up of sea ice in some major northern Chinese ports, the volume exceeding, it says,
anything experienced in more than 30 years.

Geology & Oceanography
The Electrical Origin of Kimberlite Pipes
One of the more perplexing mysteries in geology is the mechanism behind kimberlite
eruption at the Earth’s surface, because these eruptions have never been witnessed.


Earthquakes
Is Haiti Poised for Another Major Quake? Scientists Arrive to Assess Possibility
In 1946, a M8.1 quake hit the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola, and produced a tsunami that killed almost 2,000 people. The last major earthquake in this part of Haiti was 150 years ago.The greater geological setting is the northern boundary between the Caribbean and North America tectonic plates where vast slabs of the Earth's surface grind past each other in a horizontal motion.


NASA Airborne Radar Studies Haiti Earthquake Faults



Rare Volcanic Lightning Sighted
In the late morning of 12 July 2008, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) received an unexpected call from the U.S. Coast Guard, reporting an explosive volcanic eruption in the central Aleutians in the vicinity of Okmok volcano, a relatively young 2000-year-old caldera. The Coast Guard had received an emergency call requesting assistance from a family living at a cattle ranch on the flanks of the volcano, who reported loud thunder,lightning, and noontime darkness due to ashfall. AVO staff immediately confirmed the report by observing a strong eruption signal recorded on the Okmok seismic network and the presence of a large dark ash cloud above Okmok in satellite imagery. Within 5 minutes of the call, AVO declared the
volcano at aviation code red, signifying that a highly explosive, ash-rich eruption was under way.


Physics, Chemistry Mathematics & Nanotechnology

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Stemcell & Genetics
Is DNA a Fossil of the Origin of Life? Two Leading Scientists Say "Yes"
"In some sense, the genetic code is a fossil or perhaps an echo of the origin of life, just as the cosmic microwave background
is a sort of echo of the Big Bang. And its form points to a process very different from today's Darwinian evolution." 
Extreme Life! Are Hidden Lifeforms Reshaping the Planet?
Extremobiologists among you may have heard of (and been suitably impressed by) organisms clinging to existence under kilometers of ocean and enough pressure to turn you into "Internet reader soup" at the bottom of the sea. But it seems life always has another trick up its sleeve, and now scientists have found bacteria buried in tiny rock fissures hundreds of meters after even the sea itself gives up and stops. A preview, perhaps, of lifeforms elsewhere in our Solar System on places like Mars and Jupiter's Europa and Saturn's moon, Titan.


Human Interest
Beyond the Human Genome: MIT Mapping the Planet's Most Awesome Computer -The Brain
MIT neuroscientists are making computers smart enough to see the connections between the brain's neurons. A handful of researchers scattered across the globe are attempting to find connectomes of brains more like our own. The scientists, including several at MIT intend to map the connectomes of our animal relatives, and eventually those of humans. Their results could fundamentally alter our understanding of the brain. A connectome is a synapse-resolution mapping of connections between all neurons in a model organism's brain. In other words, a synapse-resolution circuit diagram of the
brain. The only connectome that has been mapped out to date has been from the flatworm, C. elegans, which has only around 300 neurons.
Candidate future connectomes include the fly, with around 10,000 neurons, and the mouse brain, with 100 million neurons. 

"Artificial Intelligence Will Leapfrog Human's By 2020"
Artificial intelligence will surpass human intelligence after 2020, predicts Vernor Vinge, a world-renowned pioneer in AI,
who has warned about the risks and opportunities that an electronic super-intelligence would offer to mankind.

Technology & Design
The Emergence of a Global Brain - Will It Happen?
"It seems plausible that with technology we can, in the fairly near future create (or become) creatures who surpass humans in every intellectual
and creative dimension. Events beyond such an event -- such a singularity -- are as unimaginable to us as opera is to a flatworm."


Computer Mimics Nature by Watching TV


Biology & Nature

“There is a force within that gives you life ~ Seek That.
In your body there lies a priceless jewel ~ Seek That.
Oh, Wandering Sufi, if you are in search of the greatest treasure,
don’t look outside, look within, and Seek That.” ~ Rumi










 



"Space Zen" -Will Humans' Brains Change During Space Travel?
In February, 1971, Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell experienced the little understood phenomenon sometimes called theOverview Effect. He describes being completely engulfed by a profound sense of universal connectedness. Without warning, he says, a feeing of bliss, timelessness,
and connectedness began to overwhelm him. He describes becoming instantly and profoundly aware that each of his constituent atoms were connected to the fragile planet he saw in the window and to every other atom in the Universe.


NASA's "ET Eyes" - Piercing the Mysteries of the Universe
"Our personal window on the Universe is terribly small within a stunnng range of wavelengths. With our eyes we see wavelengths
between 0.00004 and 0.00008 of a centimeter (where, not so oddly, the Sun and stars emit most of their energy). The human visual spectrum
from violet to red is but one octave on an imaginary electromagnetic piano with a keyboard hundreds of kilometers long."James Kaler,
astronomer and author of "Heavens Gate: From Killer Stars to the Seeds of Life, How We are Connected to the Universe."

 
 
Brain
"The Human Camera" -Scientists Explore One of the World's Most Extraordinary Brains
 The Importance of Being Forgetful, featured the built-in neural process of forgetting, which discussed why the average human brain is equipped with the ability to filter through seemingly irrelevant details. While the average person may not have vast memory resources, it appears to be an evolutionary trade-off that allows the majority of us to focus on the most relevant facts. However, some of the most incredible minds on Earth lack this ability to filter irrelevant facts, or perhaps it is more accurate to say that to a savant, the irrelevant IS relevant, and incredibly so. Somehow their brains are able to store and access incredible loads of information, even perceiving and relating to this information in an entirely different way.

Magnesium supplement helps boost brainpower

Temple of Ancient Egyptian Cat Goddess Discovered in Alexandria
Photos: Queen's Cat Goddess Temple Found in Egypt
An ancient temple filled with about 600 cat statues was built for the goddess Bastet by
Queen Berenike II, say archaeologists who found the ruins under modern-day Alexandria.
The Mysterious Voynich Manuscript
The ancient text has no known title, no known author, and is written in no known language: what does it say and why does it have
many astronomy illustrations? The mysterious book was once bought by an emperor, forgotten on a library shelf, sold for thousands
of dollars, and later donated to Yale. Possibly written in the 15th century, the over 200-page volume is known most
recently as the Voynich Manuscript, after its (re-)discoverer in 1912.

Planetology
Dinosaur "Death Pits" Created by Giant's Footprints?
Chinese pits filled with an astounding array of small dinosaur fossils may have been created by a 20-ton behemoth wandering a volcanic landscape
New "Destroyer" Dinosaur Found, Was T. Rex Relative
The 29-foot-long predator reigned over the U.S. West about 75 million years ago, rare dinosaur fossils from New Mexico reveal.


Dinosaur True Colors Revealed for First Time
Pigments have been found in fossil dinosaurs for the first timetaking
"dinosaur color out of the realm of art and into the realm of science."


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