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Prof HAWTIN'S POPULAR SCIENCE THREAD
wookie- vvwi
- Number of posts : 4123
Location : casa del bramley
Fandango Widewheels- Moderator
- Number of posts : 6539
Location : The frozen wastes of the north east
From holographic theory to wannabe models and coming to America in 3 posts 
I love this forum.
I love this forum.
elrusto- vw
- Number of posts : 364
Location : Leeds
Yeah, I've definitely lowered the average IQ with my 'contributions' to the science thread! 
Ben- vvwi
- Number of posts : 752
Location : London
If you have not seen it I would highly recommended that you watch - Journey to the Edge of the Universe!!
Bloody amazing, fantastic documentry.
Bloody amazing, fantastic documentry.
Son of Nod- vvwi
- Number of posts : 4046
Location : In a Box
Read aboot this...fact!!
Earth's magnetic field has flipped many times over the last billion years, according to the geologic record. But only in the past decade have scientists developed and evolved a computer model to demonstrate how these reversals occur.
"We can see reversals in the rocks, but they don't tell us how it happens," said Gary Glatzmaier, an earth scientist and magnetic field expert at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Based on a set of physics equations that describe what scientists believe are the forces that create and maintain the magnetic field, Glatzmaier and colleague Paul Roberts at the University of California, Los Angeles, created a computer model to simulate the conditions in the Earth's interior.
The computer-generated magnetic field even reverses itself, allowing scientists to examine the process.
Computer Model
Scientists believe Earth's magnetic field is generated deep inside our planet. There, the heat of the Earth's solid inner core churns a liquid outer core composed of iron and nickel. The churning acts like convection, which generates electric currents and, as a result, a magnetic field.
This magnetic field shields most of the habited parts of our planet from charged particles that emanate from space, mainly from the sun. The field deflects the speeding particles toward Earth's Poles.
Our planet's magnetic field reverses about once every 200,000 years on average. However, the time between reversals is highly variable. The last time Earth's magnetic field flipped was 780,000 years ago, according to the geologic record of Earth's polarity.
The information is captured when molten lava erupts onto Earth's crust and hardens, much in the way that iron filings on a piece of cardboard align themselves to the field of a magnet held beneath it.
Most scientists believe our planet's magnetic field is sustained by what's known as the geodynamo. The term describes the theoretical phenomenon believed to generate and maintain Earth's magnetic field. However, there is no way to peer 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) into Earth's center to observe the process in action.
That inability spurred Glatzmaier and Roberts to develop their computer model in 1995. Since then, they have continued to refine and evolve the model using ever more sophisticated and faster computers.
The model is essentially a set of equations that describe the physics of the geodynamo. The equations are continually solved, each solution advancing the clock forward about a week. At its longest stretch, the model ran the equivalent of 500,000 years, Glatzmaier said.
By studying the model, the scientists discovered that, as the geodynamo generates new magnetic fields, the new fields usually line up in the direction of the existing magnetic field.
"But once in a while a disturbance will twist the magnetic field in a different direction and induce a little bit of a pole reversal," Glatzmaier said.
These bits of a pole reversal are referred to as instabilities. They constantly occur in the fluid flow of the core, tracking through it like little hurricanes, though at a much slower pace—about one degree of latitude per year.
Typically, instabilities are temporary. But on very rare occasions, conditions are favorable enough that the reversed polarity gets bigger and bigger as the original polarity decays. If this new polarity takes over the entire core, it causes a pole reversal.
"It's a very complicated, chaotic system, and it has a life of its own," Glatzmaier said.
Weak Spot
Peter Olson, a geophysicist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, said scientists can now pinpoint the core-mantle boundary where these instabilities in the magnetic field are happening.
One such disturbance Olson has been observing recently formed over the east-central Atlantic Ocean. Like a little hurricane, the anomaly swept toward the Caribbean and is moving up in the direction of North America.
"It's a new one, a little thing," Olson said. "Time will tell whether it develops into something significant. But it is here in the North Atlantic, moving towards the Pentagon. We can track it over the next couple of decades."
Instabilities such as this, Olson added, are causing Earth's magnetic field to weaken. Today the field is about 10 percent weaker than it was when German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss first began measuring it in 1845. Some scientists speculate the field is headed for a reversal.
(copied and pasted)
Earth's magnetic field has flipped many times over the last billion years, according to the geologic record. But only in the past decade have scientists developed and evolved a computer model to demonstrate how these reversals occur.
"We can see reversals in the rocks, but they don't tell us how it happens," said Gary Glatzmaier, an earth scientist and magnetic field expert at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Based on a set of physics equations that describe what scientists believe are the forces that create and maintain the magnetic field, Glatzmaier and colleague Paul Roberts at the University of California, Los Angeles, created a computer model to simulate the conditions in the Earth's interior.
The computer-generated magnetic field even reverses itself, allowing scientists to examine the process.
Computer Model
Scientists believe Earth's magnetic field is generated deep inside our planet. There, the heat of the Earth's solid inner core churns a liquid outer core composed of iron and nickel. The churning acts like convection, which generates electric currents and, as a result, a magnetic field.
This magnetic field shields most of the habited parts of our planet from charged particles that emanate from space, mainly from the sun. The field deflects the speeding particles toward Earth's Poles.
Our planet's magnetic field reverses about once every 200,000 years on average. However, the time between reversals is highly variable. The last time Earth's magnetic field flipped was 780,000 years ago, according to the geologic record of Earth's polarity.
The information is captured when molten lava erupts onto Earth's crust and hardens, much in the way that iron filings on a piece of cardboard align themselves to the field of a magnet held beneath it.
Most scientists believe our planet's magnetic field is sustained by what's known as the geodynamo. The term describes the theoretical phenomenon believed to generate and maintain Earth's magnetic field. However, there is no way to peer 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) into Earth's center to observe the process in action.
That inability spurred Glatzmaier and Roberts to develop their computer model in 1995. Since then, they have continued to refine and evolve the model using ever more sophisticated and faster computers.
The model is essentially a set of equations that describe the physics of the geodynamo. The equations are continually solved, each solution advancing the clock forward about a week. At its longest stretch, the model ran the equivalent of 500,000 years, Glatzmaier said.
By studying the model, the scientists discovered that, as the geodynamo generates new magnetic fields, the new fields usually line up in the direction of the existing magnetic field.
"But once in a while a disturbance will twist the magnetic field in a different direction and induce a little bit of a pole reversal," Glatzmaier said.
These bits of a pole reversal are referred to as instabilities. They constantly occur in the fluid flow of the core, tracking through it like little hurricanes, though at a much slower pace—about one degree of latitude per year.
Typically, instabilities are temporary. But on very rare occasions, conditions are favorable enough that the reversed polarity gets bigger and bigger as the original polarity decays. If this new polarity takes over the entire core, it causes a pole reversal.
"It's a very complicated, chaotic system, and it has a life of its own," Glatzmaier said.
Weak Spot
Peter Olson, a geophysicist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, said scientists can now pinpoint the core-mantle boundary where these instabilities in the magnetic field are happening.
One such disturbance Olson has been observing recently formed over the east-central Atlantic Ocean. Like a little hurricane, the anomaly swept toward the Caribbean and is moving up in the direction of North America.
"It's a new one, a little thing," Olson said. "Time will tell whether it develops into something significant. But it is here in the North Atlantic, moving towards the Pentagon. We can track it over the next couple of decades."
Instabilities such as this, Olson added, are causing Earth's magnetic field to weaken. Today the field is about 10 percent weaker than it was when German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss first began measuring it in 1845. Some scientists speculate the field is headed for a reversal.
(copied and pasted)
Ben- vvwi
- Number of posts : 752
Location : London
Ben wrote:If you have not seen it I would highly recommended that you watch - Journey to the Edge of the Universe!!
Bloody amazing, fantastic documentry.
Here is the link to the full documentry. Really enjoyed it and will have to watch agin some time.
Journey to the Edge of the Universe
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/journey-edge-universe/
Enjoy xx
Ben- vvwi
- Number of posts : 752
Location : London
Possible new car for Fandango Widewheels???
Fandango Widewheels- Moderator
- Number of posts : 6539
Location : The frozen wastes of the north east
Ben wrote:Possible new car for Fandango Widewheels???
At least the fucker goes, which is more than can be said for mine at the moment
T.B- Moderator
- Number of posts : 3939
Location : East London
i shouldn't laugh but
bigdaddy- Moderator
- Number of posts : 1233
Location : lost underwater city of shoreditch
See! SCIENCE!
Son of Nod- vvwi
- Number of posts : 4046
Location : In a Box
Cracking read that!
Fandango Widewheels- Moderator
- Number of posts : 6539
Location : The frozen wastes of the north east
Token Bird wrote:
i shouldn't laugh but
I've got proper gremlins. It's making me upset.
Son of Nod- vvwi
- Number of posts : 4046
Location : In a Box
Ben- vvwi
- Number of posts : 752
Location : London
I have been doing a little research and stummbled accross this.....
4.5-Billion-Year-Old Antarctic Meteorite Yields New Mineral
A meteorite discovered in Antarctica in 1969 has just divulged a modern secret: a new mineral, now called Wassonite.
The amount of the new mineral
found in the 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite was tiny — less than
one-hundredth as wide as a human hair. Still, that was enough to excite
the researchers who announced the discovery Tuesday (April 5).
"Wassonite is a mineral formed from only two elements, sulfur and
titanium, yet it possesses a unique crystal structure that has not been
previously observed in nature," NASA space scientist Keiko
Nakamura-Messenger said in a statement.
The mineral's name, approved by the International Mineralogical
Association, honors John T. Wasson, a UCLA professor known for his
achievements across a broad swath of meteorite and impact research.
Grains of Wassonite were analyzed from the meteorite that has been
officially designated Yamato 691 enstatite chondrite. Chondrites are primitive meteorites
that scientists think were remnants shed from the original building
blocks of planets. Most meteorites found on Earth fit into this group.
Yamato 691 likely originated from an asteroid
orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. It was discovered along with eight
other meteorites by members of the Japanese Antarctic Research
Expedition on the blue ice field of the Yamato Mountains. They
constituted the first significant recovery of Antarctic meteorites.
Follow-up searches by scientists from Japan and the United States have recovered more than 40,000 specimens, including rare Martian and lunar meteorites.
The research team used NASA's transmission electron microscope to
isolate the Wassonite grains and figure out their chemical makeup and
atomic structure.
When meteors hit the ground they are called meteorites. Most are
fragments of asteroids, and others are mere cosmic dust shed by comets.
Rare meteorites are impact debris from the surfaces of the moon and
Mars.
"Meteorites, and the minerals within them, are windows to the formation
of our solar system," said co-discoverer Lindsay Keller, space
scientist at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "Through these
kinds of studies we can learn about the conditions that existed and the processes that were occurring then."
4.5-Billion-Year-Old Antarctic Meteorite Yields New Mineral
A meteorite discovered in Antarctica in 1969 has just divulged a modern secret: a new mineral, now called Wassonite.
The amount of the new mineral
found in the 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite was tiny — less than
one-hundredth as wide as a human hair. Still, that was enough to excite
the researchers who announced the discovery Tuesday (April 5).
"Wassonite is a mineral formed from only two elements, sulfur and
titanium, yet it possesses a unique crystal structure that has not been
previously observed in nature," NASA space scientist Keiko
Nakamura-Messenger said in a statement.
The mineral's name, approved by the International Mineralogical
Association, honors John T. Wasson, a UCLA professor known for his
achievements across a broad swath of meteorite and impact research.
Grains of Wassonite were analyzed from the meteorite that has been
officially designated Yamato 691 enstatite chondrite. Chondrites are primitive meteorites
that scientists think were remnants shed from the original building
blocks of planets. Most meteorites found on Earth fit into this group.
Yamato 691 likely originated from an asteroid
orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. It was discovered along with eight
other meteorites by members of the Japanese Antarctic Research
Expedition on the blue ice field of the Yamato Mountains. They
constituted the first significant recovery of Antarctic meteorites.
Follow-up searches by scientists from Japan and the United States have recovered more than 40,000 specimens, including rare Martian and lunar meteorites.
The research team used NASA's transmission electron microscope to
isolate the Wassonite grains and figure out their chemical makeup and
atomic structure.
When meteors hit the ground they are called meteorites. Most are
fragments of asteroids, and others are mere cosmic dust shed by comets.
Rare meteorites are impact debris from the surfaces of the moon and
Mars.
"Meteorites, and the minerals within them, are windows to the formation
of our solar system," said co-discoverer Lindsay Keller, space
scientist at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "Through these
kinds of studies we can learn about the conditions that existed and the processes that were occurring then."
T.B- Moderator
- Number of posts : 3939
Location : East London
Science April Fool. Bet you.
mundyke- very valued guest
- Number of posts : 30
Location : Leeds
Habitable planet found outside our solar system:
A planet 20 light years away is the first outside our solar system to be officially declared habitable by scientists.
The 'exoplanet' Gliese 581d has conditions that could support Earth-like life, including possible watery oceans and rainfall.
Yet any future space voyagers landing there would find themselves in truly alien surroundings. The sky is likely to be murky red, not blue, and gravity is twice what is on Earth, doubling the weight of anyone standing on the surface.
An artist's impression of the possible surface temperatures of Gliese 581d. It orbits a red dwarf star called Gliese 581 (right), located around 20 light years from Earth. Cooler temperatures are represented with blue colours and warmer temperatures red. The arrows represent winds at two-kilometres altitude
In addition, the planet's carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere would almost certainly not be breathable by humans.
Scientists were surprised by the discovery because Gliese 581d was previously ruled out as a habitable planet candidate.
But a new computer model capable of simulating extraterrestrial climates has shown the previous assumption to be wrong, and confirmed that Gliese 581d really could harbour life.
Scientists believe the findings could pave the way to more discoveries of potential havens for life among the stars, including some that are strange and unexpected.
Dr Robin Wordsworth, a member of the French team from the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace in Paris, said: 'This discovery is important because it's the first time climate modellers have proved that the planet is potentially habitable, and all observers agree that the exoplanet exists.
'If you look at the history of the search for habitable planets, there's been at least two instances so far when scientists have announced that a habitable world has been discovered, only to have the claim contradicted later, either by climate experts or by other observers.
'The Gliese system is particularly exciting to us as it's very close to Earth, relatively speaking. So with future generations of telescopes, we'll be able to search for life on Gliese 581d directly.
'This said, the fact that a planet so unlike the Earth could be habitable bodes pretty well for the search for life in general.
'I think it's becoming clearer with every discovery we make in exoplanet science that the variety of worlds out there in the universe is going to be far greater than the few examples we are used to from our Solar System.'
A planet 20 light years away is the first outside our solar system to be officially declared habitable by scientists.
The 'exoplanet' Gliese 581d has conditions that could support Earth-like life, including possible watery oceans and rainfall.
Yet any future space voyagers landing there would find themselves in truly alien surroundings. The sky is likely to be murky red, not blue, and gravity is twice what is on Earth, doubling the weight of anyone standing on the surface.
An artist's impression of the possible surface temperatures of Gliese 581d. It orbits a red dwarf star called Gliese 581 (right), located around 20 light years from Earth. Cooler temperatures are represented with blue colours and warmer temperatures red. The arrows represent winds at two-kilometres altitude
In addition, the planet's carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere would almost certainly not be breathable by humans.
Scientists were surprised by the discovery because Gliese 581d was previously ruled out as a habitable planet candidate.
But a new computer model capable of simulating extraterrestrial climates has shown the previous assumption to be wrong, and confirmed that Gliese 581d really could harbour life.
Scientists believe the findings could pave the way to more discoveries of potential havens for life among the stars, including some that are strange and unexpected.
Dr Robin Wordsworth, a member of the French team from the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace in Paris, said: 'This discovery is important because it's the first time climate modellers have proved that the planet is potentially habitable, and all observers agree that the exoplanet exists.
'If you look at the history of the search for habitable planets, there's been at least two instances so far when scientists have announced that a habitable world has been discovered, only to have the claim contradicted later, either by climate experts or by other observers.
'The Gliese system is particularly exciting to us as it's very close to Earth, relatively speaking. So with future generations of telescopes, we'll be able to search for life on Gliese 581d directly.
'This said, the fact that a planet so unlike the Earth could be habitable bodes pretty well for the search for life in general.
'I think it's becoming clearer with every discovery we make in exoplanet science that the variety of worlds out there in the universe is going to be far greater than the few examples we are used to from our Solar System.'
Son of Nod- vvwi
- Number of posts : 4046
Location : In a Box
Sherrers- Admin
- Number of posts : 9331
Location : the internet
Son of Nod wrote:
Nothing can survive the gravitational pressure even before reaching the singularity of a black hole. Not even light. So I'd rather go the long way mate.
Fandango Widewheels- Moderator
- Number of posts : 6539
Location : The frozen wastes of the north east
Sherrers wrote:Son of Nod wrote:
Nothing can survive the gravitational pressure even before reaching the singularity of a black hole. Not even light. So I'd rather go the long way mate.
Yeah, haven't you seen Event Horizon
Son of Nod- vvwi
- Number of posts : 4046
Location : In a Box
Fandango Widewheels wrote:Sherrers wrote:Son of Nod wrote:
Nothing can survive the gravitational pressure even before reaching the singularity of a black hole. Not even light. So I'd rather go the long way mate.
Yeah, haven't you seen Event Horizon
Bet Tim has....I have, loved it!
Sherrers- Admin
- Number of posts : 9331
Location : the internet
I don't like scary films. They don't scare me they annoy me.
I've seen 'The Black Hole' though. I liked the bad robot that was upholstered in burgundy leather for no apparent reason. I think he was called Maximillian. But I could be confused cos the actor who played the bad mad scientist guy was Maximillian Schell. I think the good robot was called Vincent.
That's all the dull robot news I have for the day.
I've seen 'The Black Hole' though. I liked the bad robot that was upholstered in burgundy leather for no apparent reason. I think he was called Maximillian. But I could be confused cos the actor who played the bad mad scientist guy was Maximillian Schell. I think the good robot was called Vincent.
That's all the dull robot news I have for the day.
Fandango Widewheels- Moderator
- Number of posts : 6539
Location : The frozen wastes of the north east
Sherrers wrote:I don't like scary films. They don't scare me they annoy me.
I've seen 'The Black Hole' though. I liked the bad robot that was upholstered in burgundy leather for no apparent reason. I think he was called Maximillian. But I could be confused cos the actor who played the bad mad scientist guy was Maximillian Schell. I think the good robot was called Vincent.
That's all the dull robot news I have for the day.
I've seen that film as well, it was shocking. I'm not really a science fiction person, which didn't help.
Event Horizon was pretty good. I like scary films, they don't scare me though cos I'm 'ard
T.B- Moderator
- Number of posts : 3939
Location : East London
How can a man come on here and say "I'm not really a science fiction person"?
Even the girls on here are science fiction people,
What a non conformist you are!
Even the girls on here are science fiction people,
What a non conformist you are!
Son of Nod- vvwi
- Number of posts : 4046
Location : In a Box
Sherrers wrote:I don't like scary films. They don't scare me they annoy me.
I've seen 'The Black Hole' though. I liked the bad robot that was upholstered in burgundy leather for no apparent reason. I think he was called Maximillian. But I could be confused cos the actor who played the bad mad scientist guy was Maximillian Schell. I think the good robot was called Vincent.
That's all the dull robot news I have for the day.
BOB
I liked him more than any other robot in that film....
T.B- Moderator
- Number of posts : 3939
Location : East London
But who is the best robot ever?
wookie- vvwi
- Number of posts : 4123
Location : casa del bramley
r2d2
T.B- Moderator
- Number of posts : 3939
Location : East London
Give us a picture I don't know which one that is.
Son of Nod- vvwi
- Number of posts : 4046
Location : In a Box
Son of Nod- vvwi
- Number of posts : 4046
Location : In a Box
T.B- Moderator
- Number of posts : 3939
Location : East London
Come on, I might be a girl but I know the difference between a robot and a tinned midget.
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